Random Garden Photos

Wandering around the garden deadheading and weeding yesterday and I happened upon the bud for this new plant in our garden this year.  It is called Lucifer Crocosma and I believe, based on the photo that came with the plant, the little spikes turn into bright red flowers.  I'll enjoy watching its continued evolution.

Since the camera was out, I snapped a couple of roses that are looking very good right now too.

The red rose isn't new to our garden but I don't remember it being so bright before.  This might have been one of the ones we moved to a more sunny location but who remembers these details?   

Garden State

I haven't knit socks for a long time.  With the stash reduction initiative I have been focused on using up odd bits and pieces.  But I do have various skeins of sock yarn in the stash too.

Since I was headed to New Jersey for work, like to knit on the plane and think socks are the perfect travel project, I cast on to make these socks.  The pattern is Elm by Cookie A from The Knitter's Book of Socks.  The faux cables make this a very quick pattern to knit.  The variegated yarn does hide the pattern a little bit but overall it still shows up well enough to make me happy.

And I remembered that, in addition to the reasons above, I just like knitting socks.  I think I'll get started on another pair.

It is strawberry season and I am just a little bit crazy

So on the hottest day of the year so far, I decide to make strawberry jam. Not much new there. But at least the new kitchen has a very good hood fan. To be better than the previous fan, it would just have to work. And it does. Very well.

Anyway, back to the jam.  I really like making jam and having a better kitchen really helps with the workflow. This will be a summer of preserving if I have anything to say about it. I made 3 kinds of jam today. Straight up strawberry. Vanilla-rhubarb jam from Food in Jars (which included some strawberries to top things up to 8 cups - my rhubarb patch couldn't quite get there on its own) and strawberry balsamic black pepper jam from Canadian Living's Complete Preserving.  All very tasty on the spoon and only one jar lid hadn't popped at last check. 

Next up - wild blueberries - can't wait!

Another wavy blanket

I really like this little blanket. It uses leftover bits of sock yarn that I always have available. For this version, I used a fat sock yarn and doubled the number of rows per colour way over the amount suggested in the pattern. 

On to the next project (other than finishing the travelling sock). I almost started a new project but when I went to take out my ball winder and swift happened upon an in progress sweater that I decided would be a better choice. 

And coincidences happen in threes ...

Yesterday I mentioned that two people I met on my trip to New Jersey over a year ago were people I met again this time.  This morning it was the limo driver.  A very nice guy who could have given lessons to James Joyce on stream of consciousness.  But fun to listen to.  He really just need the occasional, "I hear what you are saying" from me to keep the fires burning.

I felt like a comparatively relaxed flier on the plane today (and I am so not a relaxed flier).  There was an unusual guy to one side behind me talking to himself most of the takeoff and landing.  During the rest of the flight I was listening to Q on my iPod but he seemed to fidget most of the way.  Right behind me was a very nice lady praying on the landing.  I wondered if she knew something I didn't but we got here ok.

And I saw another knitter waiting to catch the flight.  She was knitting something blue on circulars.  I didn't seek her out and she didn't seek me out which was fine.  See above comment on not being a relaxed flier.

It's raining in Jersey

I've been in New Jersey for the last few days for work and some fun. Dinners with colleagues that were enjoyable and an evening spent with my oldest friend tonight. In a strange combination of coincidences, the taxi driver who drove me from the hotel to the local mall remembered me from the last time I was here (over a year ago) and the waiter at the restaurant my friend and I went to again (bonefish grill because we liked it so much the last time) was the same too. Strange indeed. 

It has been raining steadily all day and we spent most of the evening drying off but we had a good time.  I've even managed to get a little shopping done. 

On the knitting front, this sock is going really well. It is from the Knitter's Book of Socks and is a Cat B pattern (don't remember how to spell her last name and am not sure if I flip to the Internet to look up the spelling whether I'll lose this post so I'm not going to check. I'll be knitting it in public tomorrow and hoping that my flight gets out ok. 

Wavy

I just finished the crochet surround on the Lizard Ridge blanket last night while watching Monte Carlo on Netflix.

This project was largely completed in the car (when in the passenger seat, of course).  On the way to curling, driving around to stores, touring vineyards, or whatever.  As a result, it took a lot longer to finish than it should have so has been hanging over my head as something that needed to be done.  That means it was probably not as enjoyable as it might have been had I worked on it in a more concentrated way.  It looks pretty neat though.  I used 2 Noro colour ways in Silk Garden (from shash!) and love the way the long strands of Noro colour create the contrasting waves.

As for the movie, the IMDB 3 star rating is about right.  Had some cute moments, highly predictable but watchable.  A perfect knitting movie, actually.