Wednesday 28 March 2012

yarn along

Joining in with Ginny's yarn along.

Knitting has been taking a back seat recently. I am still working on the gloves which require double pointed needles, but it's knitting which requires concentration and not being interrupted by small people and so isn't getting anywhere fast. I need to start an easy knit I can take around with me, but haven't been inspired by anything yet.


I was knitting a jumper for one of the dolls at the weekend, whilst dreaming of all the things I will grow when I have a bigger garden.

Saturday 24 March 2012

in the garden

Things are growing.

These are cabbage seedlings which have been in our mini-greenhouse.


All available inside windowsills have been put to work. Here we have tomato and bean seedlings. I've moved the beans to the greenhouse as they were getting too tall, but there isn't anywhere inside with more light. Looking at the sunny weather forecast for the next week, they should be ok I hope.


Cornflowers and lettuce have also started to emerge, and I also have a couple more trays of tomato seedlings. I am wondering where I am going to put all these tomatoes when I pot them into bigger pots. Some will just have to go and take their chances in the greenhouse. No sign of the peas or courgettes yet.

I found one of the rhubarb crowns hiding under some dead leaves, and I've covered it with this black pot in the hope of forcing some rhubarb in the next few weeks. I did have two other crowns somewhere but they havent' surfaced yet.

I have planted radishes and lettuce in the black pots, and carrots and spinach beet in the small sections of bed.

We have some lovely primroses brightening up the shady parts of the garden.


I have plans for a few sack gardens, hanging baskets for tomatoes and planters that I can attach over the wall...........


Saturday 3 March 2012

in the garden

Our garden is really rather small (though the rental agency assures us it is medium). Also most of it is lawn and as we are renting we can't dig any of it up. And the border along one side is in the shade and has lots of prickly bushes planted in it. So I have grand garden dreams that have to be pared down to fit to the real garden size. However, as there is nothing I can change about this,  I like to approach it as a challenge to fit as many edible plants in as possible.

This is the sunny border. There are various shrubs in it that I can't dig up so last year I planted stuff in pots. This year I've been adding compost around the shrubs (the garden soil is pretty bad) and am going to plant directly in to that.

These are my two teeny weeny beds. Hannah has planted a pea next to one of the sticks ! I have planted spring onions at the end of the green bed.


Here's a small amount of garlic. Not sure why we didn't plant more, I think perhaps we only had a few cloves left and just stuck them in to see if anything would happen. I've planted some more spring onions in here.

Planted so far:
Feb 29 tomatoes inside on windowsills and beans in the shed with fleece on top.
March 3 spring onions

the makings

It's a long time ago already, but I'm finally getting round to posting the things I made for Christmas gifts.

First some teacup candles for the kindergarten teachers. (I followed the instructions here)



Some quick handwarmers. No finished photo for these. I mistakenly put the edging on the wrong edge, but then decided they fit better that way anyway.


Several jars of handcream. I love making this because it's really easy and quick, and the finished product is very nice.


A baby surprise jacket (I actually started knitting this a few years ago but the baby grew too big before it was finished. Luckily another one came along!)


A knitted crown. I like how it looked after I stitched the letters on.

And a colourful scarf (it's the child's rainbow scarf in 'Last minute knitted gifts' by Joelle Hoverson). I enjoyed making this one, I love knitting in Noro and watching the colours change is quite addictive).