I moved the list of upcoming signings and workshops here to the blog. You can see it in the side panel there – My Booksignings & Workshops.
Hmm. I’m starting to feel organized. Think it’ll last?
Archive for August, 2008
The Garden of Tough Love
Aug 29th, 08
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Mine is the garden of tough love. I have good intentions, and I love having healthy plants and flowers, but I don’t always get to the weeding and the watering in time. So, the household joke is that the plants are on their own out there.
It’s been a good year in the garden of tough love for a lot of things, because we’ve had a bunch of rain. The borderline-drought a year ago wasn’t nearly so pretty. Things have survived quite well. We didn’t have as much sunshine as typical, though, so the vegetables didn’t do as well as I might have hoped. The weeds won over there.
But the most marvelous thing happened on the patio. I have a few hybrid hibiscus plants because I think the flowers are beautiful. They are fussy beasts, though, so you can imagine that my tough love philosophy doesn’t work out so well with them. And usually it doesn’t. Last year, they all had spider mite infestations and I went through gallons of insecticidal soap. When I brought them in for the winter, they didn’t bloom much. They often are pretty in the winter because the light is changing, but not last year. One, in fact, didn’t bloom for a year and a half.
I was fed up. I put them all on the patio in the spring and left them to their own resources.
Well, all that rain did the trick. They are lush and lovely, and blooming their little hearts out. Here’s the one that hadn’t bloomed in a year and a half:
The picture doesn’t do it justice. The flowers are each 8″ across and the colour is much deeper than it appears, more like burgundy velvet. This picture was taken last week but yesterday, the beast had EIGHT blossoms open.
So, I guess sometimes a little tough love is just the ticket.
The tricky part is that fall is coming. There’s going to be a frost one of these nights, which means the hibiscus will have to come back inside. They’ve grown so much though – in their summer of tough love – that I don’t know where to put them!
Tell me then – are the plants pampered in your garden, or are you another tough-love gardener?
New Workshop Page
Aug 28th, 08
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I finally got around to this bit of admin. The list of workshops I’ve taught – and where I’ve taught them – now has its own home on the Delacroix site.
Workshops are HERE.
Don’t you love getting those items off your To Do list that have been there half of forever? I do.
Knitting Shawls from Sock Yarn
Aug 28th, 08
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I’ve been thinking about this, since so many of you are interested. The fact is that you can make any lace pattern with a heavier yarn – it will just come out bigger! So, if there’s a pattern you like, give it a try on larger needles. (It will also knit up faster, which is another neat bonus.)
Remember as well that if the yarn you choose has acrylic in it (or is mostly acrylic) it won’t block. You can chuck it into the washer, lay it flat to dry and be done with it. Not everyone has blocking wires or the inclination to block, so fibre content is something to take into consideration when shopping for yarn for yourself or someone else.
While scheming my own easy lace shawl pattern from sock yarn to share with you, I had a peek around the ‘net to see what was already available. Here are a few of my favourites, all of which are free downloadable patterns:
The Woodland Shawl. The sample is knit in Mega Boots Stretch, one of my fave sock yarns, which has a very slow variegation. The leaves are pretty and it’s not as hard to knit as you might think.
Clapotis. This shawl is a knitting sensation. I sometimes think I’m the only knitter on the planet who hasn’t knit one. Ignore the gauge – just pick a yarn you like and needles that give you a good fabric and go for it.
Regina. The sample is knit in Lorna’s Laces, a nice American sock yarn. I like this shawl a lot and will get to it one of these days.
Luna Moth Shawl. One of many very pretty lace shawl patterns available from Elann.com.
Branching Out. Another easy and very pretty lace scarf pattern. It’s easy to double or even triple it up to make a wider piece.
If you think these are too difficult for you, fear not. Next week, I’ll give you my pattern for the Slippery Slope Scarf/Shawl. It’ll be easy.
Promise.
This Made Me Laugh
Aug 27th, 08
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Knitpicks has a new line of sock yarn, which looks scrumptious. What made me laugh, though, were the names of the various colourways.
Check out the Imagination line HERE.
This yarn is out of stock and has a waiting list for the new shipment. Who ever imagined that we’d be willing to wait for an Evil Stepmother or a Frog Prince?
I think that’s funny!