now it’s summer

Posted on Posted in designing, food and garden, lace/shawls, projects

a week ago it was going down into the 40s at night; now we’re lucky if it goes below 90. welcome to our midwest summer.
the ten-day forecast looks like a scene from groundhog day; hot sun, hot temps, humidity. it’s high summer now for sure . . .

i don’t mind the heat as much as some people do, but when it’s this hot and humid (especially the humid part), even i get distracted and sluggish. it’s hard to be efficient. the only activity i truly enjoy now is bike riding—racing through super-light air and feeling the breeze we generate is priceless (we don’t have AC at our house).

i ended up spending a good part of the weekend in the garden and the kitchen; the heat brought on a big growth spurt in the garden, which meant there were a ton of greens to pick and put up in the freezer.

six bags of chard and beet greens and a couple of bags of fresh basil. and more on the way. i made a great stir-fry with some rapini and zen greens, shitakes, shrimp, and scallions. yum, yum.

the beets are getting to be a good size for digging up, but i want to keep them in the ground a little longer to take advantage of the greens they produce—i discovered last year that beet greens are among my favorite. once i do dig up the roots, i’ll replant more, along with some swiss chard—greens were the one thing we could have used more of for the freezer.

all the plants are so healthy right now; i hope it stays that way. just look at these big bunches of tomatoes—they’ll be ripening soon and then we’ll really be busy (though i certainly don’t need to put up as many of them as i did last year, heh).

and look what i found today

pear tomatoes that actually ARE getting ripe. i’ve been pining for my summer lunchtime tomato sandwiches and it appears it won’t be long . . .

the peppers too are coming along—this is the first year we’ll have red ones and i’m excited. and i believe the tiny green beans i showed you the other day will be ready to pick tomorrow. mmm.

most of the flowers have come and gone already, but these stargazers just began opening this morning; soon their heavy scent will be all over the yard and wafting in the windows (that’s the PLUS side of not having AC)

we went to a wonderful party on sunday at my friend debby’s house, so i got up early that day to get some potato salad and cornbread started before spinning class.

i hardly knit a stitch all weekend, save for my late night work on the baby blanket.

haha, this really IS a new photo from this morning, even though it looks like every other photo i’ve posted for this piece. it growing, i promise.

in fact, i’m at the end of the second section and done with the rosebud eyelets. next i’ll begin the last section of a vertical lace stripe that forms a deep band all around the outside (like a fence around the rose garden). and after that, there’s just the edging to do.

i’ve been mainly working on it while we watch the tour—it’s an easy knit and i can get four or six long rounds done during one stage of the race (i’m afraid to count the sts so far). my goal is to finish it by the end of the tour, but maybe it will go even faster than that. now that it’s gotten so hot and the blanket has grown so much, i’m really glad i picked a sock weight yarn to work with—the fearless fibers MCN luxury is light and airy and not at all hard to knit with in the heat.

beckie came over last night with a bucket of margaritas and we sat on the porch knitting and trying not to move, save to reach for a glass (that’s her telling me not to blog this photo, but she was slurring and it sounded to me like she said she loves being famous on the blog).

she worked on her jackie jacket in briar rose fourth of july—isn’t it gorgeous? we just love the yarn colors with this pattern.

she’ll be able to wear this jacket with at least half the things in her closet. it might seem strange to choose a heavy sweater to knit in the height of summer, but actually, the individual pieces are small and light and (VERY) easy to knit. it’s a good project to travel with and not heavy in your lap, like a circular sweater would be.

while she worked along on that, i worked on creating just the right firefly for the next shawlette. i worked one up in the project yarn the other day that i like

i LOVE the yarn (spirit trail penelope) and colorway (falcon’s eye) for this pattern; it’s like a night sky color with flashes of gold; the silk content makes that illusion even more real—it’s just perfect.

i wanted to see if i could expand the size a bit and play with what to put around the fireflies. i didn’t want to spend a lot more yarn on experimenting because i may need every inch of it. so i pulled out a similar leftover yarn for playing around.

this is definitely the firefly i want (i need to tweak a couple more tiny things), but i’m not sure yet about what should go around it, so it will be a few more days before i can cast on (even though i want to, right now).

i sorta want a wash of sparks and stars in the background; i just need to get the placements right and then choose a field pattern for the top part of the shawlette (something simple).

i’d like to rush ahead of myself and jump right in, but i know from experience that it makes life a lot easier to get it perfect before i start, so i don’t have to fiddle and fudge the numbers.

now that i’m home for a stretch, i’m also back to working on the next big shawl project—a bit complex, this is one i started swatching for back in april, but have had to put aside several times due to travel. it requires a very focused sort of attention and planning (the pattern pictured is but one motif of many, and the simplest one at that). i’m working with fibre isle kami, a beautiful bamboo/merino/bison blend. the antique pink (colorway rose petale) is just perfect for this victorian-ish design and the drape of the fabric is like liquid silk—just ethereal. another project i can’t wait to start.

but first, more swatches are needed . . . i’ll keep you updated as they progress.

wanna see something pretty from the yard? i caught these photos the other day when i was doing some transplanting in the back shade bed.

as i thrashed my way to a spot at the very back of the bed, this funny little guy snapped his wings closed for a good while, thinking to hide against the fence (but he didn’t fly off, haha)

and it is amazing how well he does blend in with the wood, eh?

after a bit he began to relax a little and cracked open the wings ever so slightly.

then a little more

and still more (he was really showing some courage here)

then an actual flutter

and finally

i have no idea what this is but it’s brilliant, isn’t it? i’ve been admiring it for days and trying to take pictures; saturday was the first it actually let me . . .

nearby, a mourning cloak (thanks for telling me what this one is!) looked on, somewhat amused. because really, anyone can do THAT.

42 thoughts on “now it’s summer

  1. Love watching your garden grow along with the lovely swatches. The firefly first reminded me of a butterfly when I saw it and, lo and behold, beautiful butterflies were featured at the end of your post! You could call the shawl “Morning Cloak.” Just sayin.’ 🙂

  2. You are a brave women to handle this heat without air conditioning! I wishing for cool weather for you.

  3. Just curious, how do you save bunches of basil to use throughout the winter?

    Beautiful knitting goes without saying.

  4. Bless that Becky! I admire your fortitude to knit in this weather. I tried to knit a bamboo project on Sunday and could not bear even that. Love the fireflies–they have been scarce this year.

  5. Forget the tomatoes, I want one of those drinks at the beginning of the post! It looks like Vietnamese iced coffee – yum!

    I *just* got some Sunna silk to knit Les Abeilles and now you’re designing fireflies?? I am doomed. What a great motif.

  6. love the idea of the firefly shawl.

    As for the butterfly it looks like it is part of the true brushfoot family. Not sure if it is a Question Mark, Eastern Comma, or Gray Comma. Anyway I looked it up http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org

    Hope that helps.

  7. Yep, it’s definitely a Question Mark. And they are brave – it overwinters as an adult, as does the Mourning Cloak. Sometimes you’ll see them flying a bit if you get a thaw in the middle of winter…

  8. Love your blog, daily visit for me. I am new to gardening and lace. Was wondering how u freeze greens? Love love the lace shawls!!! Doing me alittle practice one to get the feel for doing lace so that I can tackel one of your beautiful ones. Thanks Debi

  9. Those butterflies are gorgeous and I love your commentary – “anybody can do that!”… sweet. With all their inspiration, I’m surprised your not coming up with some sort of butterfly motif!

    BTW, love your fireflies, but I see a definite flower with 2 petals on each side of the stem 🙂

    And how unnice of you to post all those pics of that drink and no hint as to what it is! Coffee & chocolate perhaps?

  10. OK, now we’re all drooling over the luscious drink! And you didn’t tell us what it is and how to make it! What up with that? Please???????????

  11. Mmm…that coffee looks yummy. I was just told to lay off of the caffeine for a few days, so I’ll have to make mine decaf! Love the Question Mark butterfly–they look so different when they open up. Is there a Papillion Shawl in the future? You could do a Mourning Cloak with a contrasting border. Stay cool!

  12. You’ve just got some beautiful butterflies!!! What a pretty question mark – so nice of it to pose for you – they’re hard because I usually see them flying off here and there!! Good luck with the heat – it is more like Arkansas weather here in MD than what we usually get…..

  13. Echoing lots of prior comments…what is that bevy? Looks yummy! And I would also love to hear any basil-saving tips you have! The knitting is wonderful!

  14. Do you know what # Beckie’s 4th of july is? I really want to knit a Jackie with briar rose–but since it will be quite $ — it would be good to know how the colors knit up. As always, your fireflies look great!

  15. What is that delicious looking drink? – I want one! Looks like coffee, chocolate, cream, ice, …am I right?
    No AC – I am too spoiled for that – I love my house & car with AC!
    Thanks for the lovely pics, the knitting is beautiful!

  16. You have to love the scientific name of the Question Mark Butterfly: Polygonia interrogationis. Like something out of a Road Runner cartoon!

  17. Nice pictures of the Question Mark (or is it the Comma…)! I love the firefly design – can’t wait to see what it becomes!
    We harvested our first vegetable today – a huge, extremely pale zucchini. Zukes!!! LOL!

  18. Oh Anne…that firefly sample makes my heart skip a beat…..I guess I am just a sucker for pretty insects…LOL. I can already tell I am going to love this next shawl. 🙂

    Those butterfly/moth pictures are stunning!

  19. Loving those fireflies…even had to click over to the SpiritTrail website to decide on a color. 🙂

  20. All your lace is so, so lovely. I’m working on becoming more comfortable knitting lace, and I marvel at the creativity and vision required to design it.

    I’d love to know more about your freezing techniques for leafy greens.

  21. Do you have any advice for freezing greens? I’d be worried about wilting once they’re taken out to thaw.

  22. Hi, Anne. I have to jump in here with the very same questions regarding freezing greens???????? I also want to know just how you prepare beet greens to make them taste so good they have become your favorite???????

    The knitting is gorgeous although I cannot imagine knitting in such heat w/out AC. Here in the Sonoran Desert we have our AC running 24/7 all summer. No, not quite right. Our mornings have been very nice – high 60s – low 70s and therefore I have the house open for awhile. It’s not even steamy here – not yet anyway – but it will be in a few more weeks.

    I absolutely love the insect pics – have never seen a “Question Mark Butterfly”.

    Lindy – 110 degrees is our forecast for this afternoon.

  23. They’re called question mark butterflies because of the small mark on the backside of the wings–see the little curve and the dot? If it were just the curved mark, it would be a comma butterfly. They look pretty similar, I just refer to them as punctuation butterflies.

  24. Have you tried roasting golden beets? Cut them in half, scrubbed, and rub them with olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Enclose in a double layer of foil with some fresh thyme and put them in the oven or the BBQ for about an hour or so, peel them and cook the beet tops. Drain the beet tops, put peeled sliced golden beets on top and sprinkle with candied pecan bits and goat cheese. Throw in some grapes or mandarin oranges. Yummie!

    I would like to know how to freeze them successfully as well.

  25. We are freezing here with cold mornings below 5C & nothing growing in the garden. Love the pictures of the butterflies.

  26. I’d love to know how you choose stitch patterns that go together – how do you come up with such lovely combinations? So cold here…thanks for the virtual sunshine!

  27. WOW – admiring your garden (mine is a mess at the minute… not enough time in a day.

    Absolutely your knitting !!!

  28. Have you ever considered posting recipes? The dishes you make with fresh vegetables always sound so delicious.

  29. You had me at the first picture. I love the deep heat of summer and the beginning of the iced coffee season!

    Your garden – OH, your garden – what a pleasure. I read that you prune your tomatoes. I’m not sure how, but I did a bit yesterday out of necessity so that I could try to FIND my tomatoes in all those leaves. I’m off to the internet to find out more about pruning those tomatoes.

  30. cannot wait to see more of big shawl project. it looks absolutely stunning. 🙂

  31. Ah, nothing like Vietnamese coffee… No idea if that’s what it actually is, but that’s what your drink reminds me of! Summer has hit us up in Canada as well. We’ve been having a crazy heatwave! Far be it from me to complain though, especially since we also get 6 months of winter!

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