Spring-ing

Oh, where to start?

Well, first, with knitting I suppose, since this is a yarn shop I’m trying to run here.

On April 1st we started the shop’s very first make-a-long, the Arewa short-sleeve pullover by Kunbi Ayo-Okanlawon and on May 8th I finished mine. I had some doubts in the beginning because the shifting lace pattern was making me worried it wouldn’t look right, but this is one of those patterns where you literally have to TRUST. THE. PATTERN. Go with the flow, pretty literally. If you’re a lace knitter and you’re used to watching your pattern line up exactly, you’re going to want to just let go of some of that perfectionism as you do the increases and the leaves shift and change. And it’s hard for me to do that, to be honest. But once I got past the increases and divided off the sleeves, that’s when my little bit of knitting zen returned and I was able to zoom along on the lace.

I knit the pattern pretty much as-is except on the length. I posted a video up on Instagram and Facebook showing my progress, and I didn’t like how the shorter length was going to be on me, so I added a pattern repeat or so before doing my ribbed edging. The downside to this was that the spare yardage I expected to have (the yardage was only about 2.6 skeins) was no longer there. I had originally thought I would lengthen the sleeves a bit so they weren’t so cap-sleeved on me but without the extra yardage available I ended up just picking up my stitches on the sleeves and doing the ribbing. I’m actually glad I did that because it’s a perfect spring wardrobe piece for those days like today when it’s not warm, but not cold – perfect for a light knit layer.

Last week I did some stash diving and pulled out this Indigo Dragonfly yarn for a Casapinka Noncho. I have no idea why I’m so drawn to this silly little pattern. I don’t even know if I’ll actually wear it. But I figured if nothing else it’ll be a good thing to display at the shop as a sample. This is made with 1 skein of sock yarn (the grey speckled yarn) and then 5 mini skeins that coordinate as part of the 2020 Bike Rally yarn that was dyed for the Yarn Harlot. I also used some random black sock yarn I had in my stash that I lost the ball band on.

This project has knit up crazy fast, partially because I spent the entirety of Mother’s Day knitting. I’ll actually probably have the project finished tonight after I finish writing this up, as I’m about 4 rows away from binding off and then I can block it and maybe wear it this weekend… maybe not. We’ll see. I still have mixed feelings on the actual wearability of this thing.

Declan has rediscovered his desire to learn to knit, and has been working relatively hard (for a 6 year old, anyway) on his project. We just cast on 20 stitches on some size 7 “learner” needles and he’s working on garter stitch right now. He keeps asking me every other stitch if he dropped one, but so far he’s getting really into a rhythm and is needing less and less help every row. I’m so proud of him! <3

Last, but not least… we’re heading into prime garden season. If you know me, you know that I LOVE gardening and have for years been really heavy into trying to grow as much as I can and then preserve/can/dehydrate it all so we can eat over winter. We have raspberries off the front porch, and I added a strawberry planter last year that Sean built for me, plus there are always tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, peas and beans, zucchini, and it has just grown from there every year. I’m a wannabe homesteader and I can’t help it. Doing things the hard way runs in my DNA, but the upside is if the world really does end I’m pretty damn valuable what with knowing how to knit, spin, sew, garden, etc. 🙂

Last year I planted this kale from seeds that a friend in PA sent me. The kale survived all winter long, and we’ve been able to eat off the plant quite a bit this spring, even! But it has since started to go to seed, and I just let it because it adds such a pretty flower patch this spring AND it’s pollinator-friendly… plus I like saving the seeds for the future so I don’t have to buy more later. I’ve never let a kale plant go to seed before this, so I didn’t know what to expect. Turns out, the flowers and the subsequent seed pods are a lot like when my radishes go to seed! After the blooms are pollinated, these little seed pods start growing in the same manner. I haven’t yet tried to eat one yet like I can with the radish pods, but I’m definitely going to try it soon! Google tells me the flowers are edible, too, so I might try to throw some in a salad and surprise Declan – I’m sure he’ll be thrilled by the idea of eating a flower much in the same way he is when I make my violet jelly every-ish spring!