If you visited me or I visited you a year ago, you probably saw me working on these socks, made with KnitPicks Felici in the colorway "Afternoon." I stopped during the first sock because my foot was long, it was taking forever, I wasn't sure the short-row heel would turn out as well on the second sock, and my foot was a lot longer than I thought, so it was taking forever to get down to the toe. I believe I picked this first sock up again sometime in the spring, but I kept trying it on, and I kept needing to keep knitting.
In the meantime, I worked on some potholders, hats, and tried starting the swatch for a super cool sweater. When I gave up on the sweater, even before the 4 in x 4 in swatch was finished (due to gauge issues that I don't care to think about or discuss right now), I finally decided to get over it and just finish the pair of socks, to get them out of my project queue. I had also bought some new yarn, and needed to get these of the needles.
They turned out ok, but I must've started the second toe a little early or the second skein had a little thicker orange stripe. Whatever the reason, it always happens to me, one toe has a little extra color, even though the whole rest of the socks perfectly match. I mean, look at those heels!
-吴碧芙
I watched a baby patty pan squash form within the heart of the leaves of the plant in the bucket in our makeshift garden. The one I was watching is still on the vine, and a surprise patty pan popped up out of nowhere, so big that I had to harvest it as soon as I noticed it.
So far we have gotten two Valencia tomatoes, which are medium-sized, dark orange in color, and full of flavor. The Valencia plants have already set two more tomatoes, with flowers that look promising for more. We have also gotten over 2 pints of yellow pear tomatoes, more than we know what to do with, and two baseball-sized round zucchinis.
We originally ordered seeds from Annie's Heirloom Seeds. The squash seeds sprouted and became these great plants that actually produced. The tomato and basil sprouts did not survive, so on Mother's Day we went to the local nursery, just down the road, and got the basil, Valencia, and yellow pear plants as replacements. All were replanted in 3 gallon buckets on our little apartment patio.
This little garden was what drove us to look for a house, where we could have a real garden, and possibly enough room to cook our own produce and can or freeze food for quick dinners. After three months, we found the house that we will take possession of in a little over 1 week. Next year, hopefully we will have a more established garden, more established roots, and a bigger harvest.
-吴碧芙
For once I found a mistake and DIDN'T rip it out and re-knit it. This is not my style, especially when it comes to my Penelope accessories. This hat was not the easiest, with trying to cover the lining and figuring out how much the pattern affected my gauge. While working on it, I noticed the grey purl row around the bottom, but even at the time, I thought it wouldn't be worth it to tear it out. Over the weeks, it began to really bother me.
I thought, "There must be a way to cover it." And I came up with this ingenious little 2-stitch attached i-cord that really did the trick. It's not bulky like a regular i-cord would be, but it was enough to cover the mistake row, and it gives a nice finish to the hat.
-吴碧芙
In the meantime, I worked on some potholders, hats, and tried starting the swatch for a super cool sweater. When I gave up on the sweater, even before the 4 in x 4 in swatch was finished (due to gauge issues that I don't care to think about or discuss right now), I finally decided to get over it and just finish the pair of socks, to get them out of my project queue. I had also bought some new yarn, and needed to get these of the needles.
