i need to save my neck

Posted on Posted in designing, projects

the end of the gardening season is only somewhat signified by dying back; there is still so much color out there to take in. i’m not planting anything new right now (though i could; if we weren’t drowning in greens i’d plant more if only to see them sprout. and garlic—i really should plant some of that. hmm, must look up where i can get some . . .).

anyway, i’m still out there gathering stuff a few times a week, and it’s good entertainment to watch the change of color all around.
most days i come back in with full colander of various items that can be used for dinners.

today it was mostly tomatoes; other days there are more peppers and eggplant. on the weekends i’ve been taking in larger amounts of things that need to be cooked and put in the freezer. saturday i processed about six pounds of rapini. um, i think now we have enough for winter . . .

we have great lettuces right now thanks to the planting i did in august using the lettuce boxes david made for me. i didn’t thin them early enough and they have long stems from being squeezed a little, but they still taste great.

even my summer squash—which i admit, i was just too lazy to pull out when i thought it was dead—is making a valiant effort at being productive again

i’m leaving it in the ground now just to see what it does next. can it do something even more spectacular than come back from the dead?

and this next i think makes me proudest (never give up, norma!)

spinach! real, good-sized, leafy green spinach in a quantity big enough to make a meal with. maybe two. yes, the greens god smiled on my garden this year. sigh. i’m happy.

(speaking of norma, she is doing some begging for the red scarf fund; if you read even a little bit about what this organization is doing to help foster kids get through college and start a life, i think you’ll be persuaded to send a few bucks to help. after you wipe your eyes of tears of pride for these kids and their mentors, that is)

ok, where was i?? oh yeah, the garden . . .
and then there are the seemingly ever-fertile eggplant

they really like makin’ babies. we’ve eaten eggplant at lease twice a week since, what—july? and i’ve put up quite a bit of roasted ones in the freezer, so that isn’t going to end too soon. nice.

i’m noticing a lot of plum, purple, and dark green in all those photos . . . kinda reminds me of something i’m knitting

see what i mean?

i love, love, love this yarn—glory days from briar rose fibers. it’s a good, sturdy sweater yarn with gre-e-e-eat color.
and for all the ripping and reknitting i did whilst getting this sweater started, the yarn shows none of that. of course the real test will be when i wear it, but i’m thinking it will be great-looking for a good, long while (always a plus!).

i also finished up my little lace socks this weekend

and got the pattern straightened out pretty well; i just need to get the last info on one size, then i can send it to rachel for proof reading. yay.

(read that as: yay, now i can start something ELSE. actually, i have a scarf i’ve been neglecting and it’s one i really really want for fall so unless i attend to it soon, fall will be over.)

you might have noticed that i knit a good portion of the forefoot of this sock in solid stockinette . . . the pattern is very open and lacy once it’s on, so i decided that i’d like a little more solid fabric near my toes for better wear and comfort. normally i stop the patterning about .5 inch before the toe shaping but this time it is more like 1.5 inches or maybe more. not enough to be visible in clogs, though.

i also spent a whole lotta time over the weekend working on a project for the retreat i’m teaching at in october‚ a project i thought had to be secret, but turns out it doesn’t. it’s a short little project that should not have taken all weekend but i have seized this opportunity to obsess over the bottom hem.

it’s a neck warmer (it’s not blocked so it’s a little rumpled here). the last few rows are driving me nuts. i don’t even know why.

(ok, i know you are too distracted to pay attention right now because the yarn is so gorgeous so i’ll break here to tell you that it is shivaya naturals silky merino in the colorway sunset, which perfectly captures the color of the red hills in new mexico and couldn’t be more perfect for this project)

so next i’m going to work it out again in the same body stitch and top edge, but a completely different solution for the bottom edge. i’ll use the silky merino again, but this time in colorway iris

which perfectly captures the color of the big sky over the desert as evening turns to twilight.
(BTW, each skein will make at least two of these neckwarmers).

so, hopefully when i’m back next i will have worked out something satisfactory, becasue jocelyn is panting to get started on the test knit, heh.

16 thoughts on “i need to save my neck

  1. Neckwarmer, socks, sweater and garden are all yummy! I love reading about your garden and hope that someday I will be inspired sufficiently and will start vegetable gardening again. In the meantime, my mouth waters every time I see photos of yours.

    Is one skein of glory days enough for a sweater, or do you have two? Fabulous color in that!

  2. the socks are looking really good to my feet… and yes, how much Glory Days yarn does one need for a good sized sweater? the Lindas apparently both want to know 🙂

  3. Yes I am, yesyesyes 😉 The socks look gorgeous — what a fun pattern. I bet they’d look great as kneesocks under a long skirt, too. And the sweater and your garden go together beautifully. How do you do that?

  4. Ha ha Jocelyn! I’d like that job 🙂
    I am most certainly branching out and planting some of the things you planted this year. The look so wonderful!

  5. That neck warmer is really cute!
    We had quite a few freezing nights already, so I had to take my herb garden inside. It gave me the pleasure of seeing some of the plants that I thought were dead coming back to life again! It seems that my black thumb is turning a tiny bit greener, yay! I’m glad I didn’t leave those “dead” plants outside as I first thought I’d do (hey, I thought they were hopeless) – just like your summer squash, you never know what they’re up to!

  6. Love the neck warmer. I’m test knitting some of Heather’s yarns and can barely put it down! I can’t wait to see how your sweater turns out.

  7. I love looking at your garden as you already know.
    Everything looks so good. I can’t eat any of those things any more, but I remember what they
    taste like and I remember when I grew my own.
    I love your new neck warmer. I promised myself
    I wouldn’t buy anything until I got some of my
    projects under control, but I probably will buy
    your pattern when it comes out.

  8. Your blog made me hungry…all of it – from the vegetables down to the yarn! I simply MUST have some of that silky merino from Shivaya. Honestly, I think I need to stay away from the computer for a while – I just purchased some yarn from Briar Rose today to do your Morning Glory wrap!!

  9. Questions: Is the sweater for us? Is the neck warmer going to be for us, later, after the retreat? I love the socks!

  10. Anne, when are you going to publish a cookbook? You’ve made me re-think veggies as a meal instead of the meat routine. The yarn is beautiful and the knitting is luscious. Ditto to Debbie’s questions.

  11. You still get so much produce out of your garden !
    Over here fall has definetely set in after some wonderful warm days.
    Love the neckwarmer, they are such a good substitute for scarfs. And the yarns ! Oh my !

  12. If you have any garlic cloves around that are older, or are beginning to sprout, just plant those. That’s what we do. I planted some here in NC last weekend and I’ll harvest it in the spring. After the sprouts appear above ground I usually mulch it to protect it some through the winter. We usually do pretty good with garlic here, I just wonder if it gets too cold where you are.

  13. love those lacey socks – and that neck warmer is just the thing to have right about now (warm days – cold nights)
    Aren’t gardens amazing – just when I thought mine had gone to sleep, out pops a resurgence of stock, cosmos, false mallow and roses. wow.
    You have some serious eggplant mojo goin’ on my friend 🙂

  14. I absolutely love the colors in that first photo. (All the photos are beautiful, but that one made me gasp!) And like Teyani says, you have some serious eggplant mojo goin’ on. Our garden has just about had it, I’m going back to knitting!

  15. I am working like crazy on the sock when I get any time lol, hopefully I’ll have it done soon! LOVE the eggplants in the garden, so pretty.

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