squash heaven

ok—this year i will try not to post squash flowers so often as to bore anyone.
but how could they?

it’s just . . . well, i love their rich, exuberant color, and the shape of those petals, and, and . . .
the hairs.

i have lots of garden pix today but i want to talk about knitting first.
hehe. well there still isn’t a whole lot i can show you.

i am completely addicted to my secret knitting . . . i keep saying i will work on something bloggable, and the next thing i know, it’s four hours later and i’m rushing to get a few repeats onto the scarf or sock so i can take a picture in the morning (how lame is that??).

ok, it’s not quite that bad, but i do feel like it’s been forever since i finished something (i know—first i was pining for a big project, now i am lamenting the lack of constant FOs that i got addicted to last month small projects offer. i’m never happy.).

however, that is about to change. last night i took the scarf to class, and then also worked on it while we watched TV, and i got almost all the way through to the opposite hem border

i think i can finish it tonight. the pattern is done and with the testers, and it seems to be going well on their end. i’d love to knit a green scarf in sock yarn to match those green mitts before i release the pattern. we’ll see. maybe i can bribe sweet-talk debbieKnitter into doing one . . .

ok, so because i did work on my secret knitting yesterday, instead of other things, that’s all the knitting i have that i can show you. today i’m going to hide the secret thing where i can’t find it, and work on the elm leaf scarf i started last week.

here’s a knitterly tidbit that you might like though: little knits has been sponsoring a design contest featuring shaefer yarns . . and the voting is on! if you haven’t been there yet, please visit this link to cast your vote. but be prepared—there are some tough choices.

it’a also amazing how much taking care of the garden cuts into my knitting time. i usually go out there planning to spend just an hour on it, and before i know it, it’s been 2 or 3 hours, it’s getting dark, and i’m filthy and need a bath. i need to try to stick to something like a schedule, now that all the planting is done. i’m gonna try for just an hour per day in the garden . . . we’ll see if it works.

BUT. that pays off.
i’m starting to see fruit on the plants.

here’s a tiny white eggplant. white eggplant always makes me think of a baby’s cheek—so smooth and pure-looking.
and then we have peppers coming on already too . . . that rogue-ish pepper i showed yesterday is the biggest one so far.

and we have something like a field of greens

this is my rapini patch—it’s been growing about an inch each day. i need to get out there and thin it this weekend. it needs desperately to be weeded too.

i have my greens all in one patch. i use the casting method of sowing these seeds, rather than plant them in rows—this has proven to result in better germination for me than row planting (but i don’t know why).

anyway, one drawback of this method is that when the seeds sprout, they are nearly indistinguishable from all the weeds that sprout with them (since there is no row formation to guide me). it’s hard, but i wait a week to do the weeding. after a few days of strong growth, the greens start to put out leaves with more identifying character, and i can easily tell them apart from the weeds.

so. with the weekend approaching, i have my work cut out for me. i might start tonight, even though i should knit, too. ACK—you see the dilemma? knitting . . . or this