growing shame

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

my mom’s front entry is always such a cheerful welcome in the summer, filled as it is with plants. some of these are ones that she brings inside for the winter and others are seasonal.

my little fledgling impatiens plant made it to albany in pretty good shape, losing just one leaf on the way (that was hanging onto life by a thread anyway). i have one more plant at home with two short branches and a fresh cutting in water.

that’s all the result of a winter’s worth of pretty consistent work on our part to keep these plants going. still, we did it, right??

then we got here and what was pretty much the first thing we saw on arrival??

the plant my mom grew from a small cutting she received in may from her cousin. obviously, these two have no need of my help in the propagation department.

color me shamed.

not only that, but when i turned around, i saw  these new starts

jeez loueeze; i don’t know what it is about our house, but we can’t get any houseplants to grow this well. huh, i can’t even get the cuttings to take root very well; i really struggle with them.

of course, i’m going to be taking one of those home . . .

and maybe one of these coleus too; my cousin propagates these each year to share around the family as well. i know coleus are easy to come by, but these are especially gorgeous and it’s fun to know they originate from some old plant many years back.

we’re having a nice visit so far; my mom had to have some routine tests, so the first couple of days have been focused on that, which has provided some excellent knitting time. i’ve nearly finished my current secret project and have put in lots of time on wasp and rose as well while we stayed home in the evening.

i’m halfway through the third and final trellis section; after this i get to start the hem pattern, which is the section that contains the wasps.

it’s getting bigger!

i had extended waiting room time on my hands today, but i prepared well by bringing the second sleeve for my sweater project along

sorry for the horrible representation of the color in this photo; i just couldn’t get the camera to cooperate. the yarn color and the upholstery color just don’t play well together as they do in the previous photo and there isn’t another spot in the house with decent light. anyhow, i’m past the underarm on this sleeve and working on the raglan shaping.

one of the things i like about working a raglan sweater in pieces is that the shaping on the sleeve can be different than the shaping on the body. so instead of a box with symmetrical, geometric shaping, you can achieve some contour in the bodice that more closely molds to the actual curves of the body, which are a bit more sinuous.

one thing i keep forgetting to bring up about this new sweater is that i haven’t yet come up with a name for it—i’m at a complete loss at the moment. maybe it’s time to have a naming game on the blog? we haven’t done that in ages.

OR we could just ask kim the dyer to name it—she’s the master of names, me thinks (ok, well, her husband is). yes, now that i think of it, this would be the perfect solution—one of those sassy indigodragonfly names. my only criteria is that it be rather short, one or two words. it’s much easier for things like making ads and listing the pattern everywhere.

may we can get them to come up with a short list of ideas and the blog can vote on which one works best . . .

i’ve had a couple of really good runs since i’ve been here too—my mom lives on the edge of  the pine bush nature preserve, so even though she is also near everything she needs, there are wooded country roads very close by to get away from all that.

tomorrow we are heading to hudson, NY to visit cousins, have a nice lunch, and maybe stop to buy fruit on the way. i can’t wait.

we leave for home on thursday, but i have a nice post planned for out travel day—don’t miss it!

 

16 thoughts on “growing shame

  1. Hi Anne,
    Wow, you will be close to me tomorrow! I am in Red Hook. It would be so great to see you if you had time. I wish we had gotten more time to visit when you picked up the wheel in Maryland. I have learned so much by joining your clubs and from the clubbies. Have a great visit with your family and enjoy our local veggies and fruits!

  2. I think your Mum has greenfingers when it comes to houseplants! You have greenfingers when it comes to veggies! Glad you are having a good break. By the way, did your Mum ever knit up that glorious pink Briar Rose yarn she was given? If so, I’d love to see a photo.

  3. It sounds like the visit has been nice! I love the texture of the new sweater – I keep thinking it should be called something like Pebble Brook. Whatever it ends up being, my husband is already asking me to make him one. 🙂

  4. Sounds like you’re having a great visit so far. I’m headed home to Albany on Thursday, so we’ll just miss being in the same place! We’re hoping to get some fresh NY apples while we’re home (I hear the crops are ripening early this year). Safe travels!

  5. That trellis shawl is beautiful! I can hardly wait to see the wasps. I hope it takes you a bit longer to get it finished because I have my annual knitting for my kids to finish and I don’t need a distraction like wanting to knit that shawl to keep me from getting it done, LOL!

  6. Your mom and my mom share a green thumb; mine complains bitterly about how the deer are eating ‘everything’, but there’s so much in her yard in such variety that the rest of us can never tell that the deer have been there at all. Best wishes to your mom, and safe trip home.

  7. Maybe the difference is the NY Water! That’s what makes bagels and pizza from NY taste so great. Maybe its better for plants. Enjoy your trip.

  8. Anne, please be careful when you run in the Pine Bush Preserve as there are all kinds of crazies that wait in the bushes. Don’t wear earphones and carry a long knitting needle for protection. We love you!

  9. lots of comments from people familiar with the Albany area. i flew into Albany once on my way to a conference at the Sagamore Hotel on Lake George. The beauty of upstate NY blew me away. Here in Colorado, we grow impatiens as a summer annual–flowers look the same, but the foliage isn’t nearly as lush. It must be fun to jave a mom who knits…

  10. i love this new pattern and have (gulp) already bought yarn for it without seeing the final design! what i love is the texture and the juxtaposition of the seed stitch and garter stitch squares- looks like it would be very fun to knit. it is so fun and interesting (and inspirational) to be allowed to see a bit of your design process. How about Pebble Pine for a name?

  11. Wasp and Rose is looking gorgeous, Anne…its completion is so near that I can almost feel it around my shoulders! Wishing you much R&R and a lovely visit with your mom.

  12. Your Mom may have a green thumb in the plant area, but you have the greenest thumb in the garden area. You two can share your talents! A bountiful and beautiful harvest for the both of you! Have a great visit with your Mom!

  13. Loving the cardigan — Spruce? Sort of a cross between the evergreen tree and to spiff up — it is a spiffy design.

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