Instant garden - well almost....

Just yesterday morning this area was empty, except for weeds, and the large herbs on the left!

With all the different things we're trying to juggle this year, much of what is usually a vegetable garden is still full of weeds or overgrown oregano, as it has taken over the strawberry beds! My husband did manage to till two of the beds, but one still has grass that needs to be dug out, before it can be planted. Lucky for me, we have a local garden center, which still had lovely large plants, so I could "pretend" that I had grown them from seeds as usual, but instead, quickly weeded, fertilized, and planted some tomatos, peppers, cucumber and watermelon plants, then added mulch to keep in the moisture as much as possible - it also looks nicer than dirt. In the past, melons have not always done well, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will end up with at least a few to eat.

Right now it may look like I could have put in more plants, but for the first time, I did not over plant the space! When I begin with seeds, I always end up cramming all the ones that sprout and grow into the space, and then later in the season, can hardly get in to harvest the fruits of my labor.

Knitting on the bus

I had the pleasure of taking the bus to visit quilt shops on the Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop yesterday. During the time between shops, I was able to finish my Leyburn socks! There are more stitches around the ankle than the foot, and the first is a bit snug on my foot, with a loose ankle, so I tried to adjust my tension on the second, and it seemed to help, as it fits much better.

I did try to work on my Roller Coaster socks from Sockamania, but ended up ripping out what was knit on the second sock, due to finding an error in one of the first few rows. It was one of those little errors that are difficult to see, until you have tried to make it work by fudging the stitches many, many times, and in a way it was a relief to find the source of the problem. It will be cast on again during the next road trip, waiting room, or other available time, and hopefully will progress more smoothly.

Black Bunny Hanspun

Earlier in the week I finished spinning my shipment from the Black Bunny fiber club. The color is called Spellbound, and after much thought, I decided that I would spin reasonably thin singles, and then try Navaho plying to try for a DK or Worsted weight. The fiber arrived looking like this:

and has now turned into this lovely, 3-ply yarn, which I'm guessing to be around the DK / Worsted that I was hoping for. I haven't measured the yardage, or WPI yet, as I'll do that when I wind it into a ball. Right now, I'm thinking a scarf, maybe the drop stitch scarf pattern that I saw in Spin-Off Magazine.

Block Party Quilt Show

My first quilt show booth! (Picture quickly taken before the show opened Friday morning.)

I must say I did have lots of unexpected help from other ladies in the guild and my friend Angie to get it set up so that I would be able to attend my son's graduation Thursday night. It was a super busy day, but well worth it! [I'm hoping I can take a few more pictures this morning because you can't see quite all of it in this picture (I could only back up so far), and there is a bit more to see. ]

Angie is helping man my booth for the show, and I think we have one of the nicest spots in the show, as we are not too far from the entrance, and have a great view of the show. This harp player is right in front of our booth, so we have musical entertainment too! (Before we get busy today, I'll have to find out his name.)

There's a first time for everything...

and Thurday I will be busy setting up my first vendor booth at the Block Party Quilters Show in Issaquah, WA. The show runs Friday through Sunday, and there are quilts and demonstrations to view, vendors to visit, and grownups and kids can help create blocks for our Ronald McDonald house charity quilts. Don't forget to purchase a ticket for the raffle quilt!

I'm getting ready, but it takes quite a while, as there are patterns to sort, price and pack...


Samples and fabric to pack...

velvet, and rayon / silk make-up or toiletry bags. There is one kit for my Harvest Gathering quilt - I know I've been asked about these before, and found I still had this one, so it will go to some lucky customer.

I also decided it might be a good time to let go of some of my stashed fabrics that I'm no longer interested in, so those are priced right.

Then there are beads, more samples, and of course, all the other bits and pieces that are necessary, or I think might be needed to run the booth.

I'll probably bring excess inventory, and of course a stepladder so I can hang and take down the booth, as well as the pop-up booth framework that my wonderful husband helped me find (I had seen the new ones online, and they were way out of my price range, but he managed to find some on Craig's list, and I'm looking forward to using them).

I'm sure my suv will be packed to the gills on Thursday, trying to get everything there and set up, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't forget anything important! I'll try to remember to take at least one picture to show you how it turned out.

What's this?

Oh yeah, it's another Baby Surprise Jacket for the third baby girl that is due this year. For a mom of three boys, it is quite different to have a chance to make girl things. Since I used most of the white in the lacy baby sweater, it's back to this pattern so I can change colors, using the multi, white and orangy peach. The other one was begun with the peach, but this time I'm starting with the multicolor yarn, and it will evolve as I go.

Details: I'm using the pattern from Meg Swansen's video, although the pattern has been printed in Knitting Workshop, both the Baby Surprise Jacket, and the Adult Surprise Jacket can be found in The Opinionated Knitter, along with more color pictures.

New Logo?

Well, I've been wanting to change my logo for quite a long time. Playing with Photoshop and InDesign today, I finally came up with these that I kind of like. What do you think?