and i think we’ll have that order filled—the rambler that spreads across the side of the back yard fence is filling up with buds that seemingly weren’t there a few days ago. not being a rose person, i hardly pay this shrub any mind, but it rewards us anyway with a multitude of red blooms each june. we also have a regular rose bush that sometimes blooms in the prettiest lipstick pink later in the summer (that one has even put out out new flowers in the early fall snow here and there).
the lady’s mantle is also in bloom right now—not a plant i think of as “flowering” but in its maturity it has shown itself to be just that.
the vegetable garden seems to like what we’ve done with it this year—a comfy straw bed of mulch underlain with newspaper to keep the weeds down. the plants i put in a week ago have doubled in size
(these yummy peppers were just wee things seven days ago) and nothing looks to be in danger of failing. though i was worried when a few of the biggest tomato plants seemed to catch a good sunburn in those first couple of days, they seem to have recovered nicely. some rain and cooler weather have helped things take hold well.
the spinach seems to have germinated very well in its box and the lettuce in the box next door is all up, too.
the nicest thing of all is that this garden will be a lot less work for me—at least until harvest time (if we have a good harvest, anyway). good thing too, because i have an extremely busy summer of knitting and design work ahead.
the hillflowers wrap knit up by kari arrived the other day, so i put it on to soak first thing yesterday morning to prepare for blocking.
we were a little short on yarn for it, so i stretched and stretched
and managed to get it blocked out the correct petite size. this one is knit in the lovely sweet sheep sweet socks tight twist yarn dyed by michele in colorway no comment a mix of cream, browns and grays (i don’t see any of this color on the site but i’m sure it can be made available).
we both just love how the smudges of neutral color accent the rolling lines of the stitch pattern (and the beautiful stitchwork, thank you kari!). here’s the join
didn’t she do a beautiful job?
this morning i unpinned it and took a half hour to play with it on the dress dummy (apparently my old love for dolls and dressing them up has not abandoned me; good thing i have an outlet . . .).
i just love draping shawls and fabric on the form
finding just the right pin to accent the folds near the neck (hee! i’ve been hiding this one from kim since i bought it at thanksgiving time in the albany history and art museum—i just know she’s going to want one and i don’t know where to find another)
or maybe this one—bees seem like just the right thing to accent hillflowers.
well, enough of the teasers—you’ll see more of these photos on monday when we release the pattern . . . oh, ok, you talked me into it—just one more
last night i was able to start knitting fairly early in the evening for the first time all week, so i took up the gold maze sweater and worked on establishing the patterns in the front half of the upper body—once it’s set, it’s easy to relax into, but i needed just a little quiet time to make sure i got off on the right foot with it
all set now; i’m not very far from the neck shaping (if i decide this is the front).
once i felt comfortable with that, i switched to working on the nightingale stole. i added another repeat before it was time to go relax with david and watch a little TV.
it’s growing, really it is. but i know i have to be patient to really appreciate the gains i make on it. i can actually work on this in front of the TV too, but i chose to switch to the roger sock and get a few inches done on it. the pattern is all set, we just need a second sock, i gotta finish it up.
i managed to get it almost to the start of the heel—a few more rows and i’ll be there.
it’s the only sock i have going right now so i’m thinking about what i’ll do with the lorna’s laces yarn i showed you the other day. i’m thinking something with sailboats might be fun—a bright blue one to represent sunny sailing and the neutral one to represent moonlight sailing. maybe something like that . . .
i also cannot WAIT to get my hands going with those needles, hehehe.
it’s a gorgeous day outside so i’m not going to linger—it’s too nice to stay in and my bike is calling to me from the front hall. i have no set plans other than to knit, work on patterns a bit, ride my bike, and have my spinning class tomorrow, which feels very good (although, i really should do some cooking, too).
who knows, i might even get out for some much-needed shopping—my one favorite pair of knee shorts isn’t really enough, i think, to get me through the summer, and baby, summer IS coming . . .
26 thoughts on “come june, there must be roses . . .”
Wow! The hillflowers looks amazing all blocked out. I wasn’t sure when I sent it off how it would size up, but yeah!!! You garden is looking wonderful. Can’t wait to here further stories about the garden as the summer progresses.
will trade gardening skills including but not limited to: weeding, watering, nurturing, magic grow songs, nighttime nourishment-enhancement dancing, and more; window washing and refrigerator defrosintg ~ for: knitspot patterns….
Oooh Monday. I’ve been on pins and needles waiting for that to be released!
mmmmm hillflowers has that same sculptural feel that i love so much in my autumn arbor. of course the sweet sheep site has only one or two colors in stock. that’s my next project. surely there is something amazing in my stash! have a great weekend. and the garden looks spectacular.
I can hardly wait until the “gold maze” sweater pattern becomes available. I loved it in grey and it is fabulous in gold.
(a differnt Nancy)…. love the ‘no comment’ colorway! The three inches + of rain we’ve gotten here in western pa plus cool air really has made an amazing difference in all that grows here, too.
I really miss my roses! I love when you post about your garden. I can’t wait to have a place of my own so I can have a big garden. For now I have to settle for a few container planted tomatoes, lettuce and spring onions. My tomatoes are loving the warmer weather and have been flourishing.
we don’t have roses but we have geraniums, poppies, foxgloves, and columbine.
The foxgloves are out, and so are some of the geraniums, and the columbine has been flowering for a while now, but the poppies are still hanging on to their buds!
It’s so exciting to see the flowers grow and return after such a time as winter.
Everything looks just beautiful. I love the little dips in the flowers in the shawl. Grate name, by the way. I can’t believe the flowers are going full speed ahead. It’s been so cold and rainy, here, that I tend to forget what it’s like in the Midwest!
I love your garden. I’m so envious. I’m too lazy to have a garden that nice though so I have no excuse for being envious. The Hillflowers wrap looks beautiful. I love that blend of neutrals. Hmmmmm I have a skein of Handmaiden Camelspin in Mineral that I might do the scarf size in. Now that I see some variegation doesn’t detract from the pattern. Although, the Mineral is a bit more variegated than that. Still, couldn’t hurt to try.
Wanna come and do my garden? And knit for me too? New scarf is lovely!
Hillflowers looks amazing! I can’t wait to knit it 🙂 And that blue shawl is just the most gorgeous color… The garden looks very happy, and I’m betting it’ll keep you fed well for a long time to come.
ooh, I want that pin too. garden looks great!
The Hillflowers stole is just lovely, especially in that subtle coloration. Many, many years ago I had a favorite wool plaid dress in those shades. The colors and pattern were soft (for the time) and this scarf brings back nice memories of a pretty dress and actually dressing up for work.
Wow! The Hillflowers wrap is beautiful! And it never ceases to amaze me how fantastic a job you always do in blocking!
I do like your latest creation, and your growing garden. I have been following your blog for some time now, and just LOVE your knitting progress, designs, and the evolving garden through the seasons.
an avid fan, keep on blogging….
Paula, Brisane, OZ
lovely, as usual!! & where oh where did you get the bee pin??? gorgeous!
Beautiful stuff, Anne…aren’t the gardens lovely this year?
I have to tell you, I planted spinach for the first time this year, and only about half of it came up, but what did come up looked, well, like grass,not anything resembling spinach. But now that I see your little spinach sprouts, I guess that’s what they’re supposed to look like! LOL Yeay! Now to reseed the areas that didn’t germinate and hope the do better second time around.
Tell me, when the pattern of the hillflower wrap will appear – i just can not wait
petra from germany
GORGEOUS!!!!! I can’t wait to get this one. Can you tell anything about the shawl pins pictured?
You were holding out on me! Oh My…….I didn’t catch the little bee pin in this post, but I surely caught her in your last post. She is LOVELY!!!
LOVE the bumblebee pin!!!
The maze pattern… I can’t help but think that it would make an amazing hat!
I really need to find some shawl pins… They’re the perfect finishing touch to really accent a beautiful piece of lace, aren’t they?
Beautiful. Love the gold with grey! Yum!
Comments are closed.