off i go

i’m not regular about doing friday flowers but my row of squash plants is putting on quite a show today, just begging to be blogged. every day i’m more flabbergasted by how the garden is flourishing this year. these plants are covered with giant flowers and healthy fruit

the zucchini plants have five or more squashes each and the ronde de nice is about the same; i’ve never seen anything like it in our yard.

i always over-plant because our yields just haven’t been that great. i’m really hoping this is changing—i’d love to plant fewer tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant so as to have room for a wider variety of green vegetables or even some potatoes.

we had our soil tested this year and made some amendments recommended by our local organic garden center. surprisingly, we were already very high in calcium, phosphates, and hydrogen, but low in potassium. we applied jersey greensand for potassium and sulphur to balance the hydrogen, plus some nitrogen. then we planted according to the biodynamic calendar. it’s hard to believe that minor corrections like this make such a difference—i honestly don’t recognize my own garden.

the most stunning success is the spinach—every seed germinated and it’s growing like crazy.
i remember last year feeling like i was literally “scratching a meager existence from the soil” like a character in grapes of wrath.

we’ve also had a nice mix of weather this year—a few days of heat and sun which the tomatoes and squash enjoy, alternating with cooler, watery days (like today); nice for the greens and lettuces

today i’m heading out to TNNA in columbus, a pleasant two-hour drive from my house (i.e, great for listening to an audiobook and doing some mental knitting). i’m looking forward to seeing jess, casey, and mary-heather along amy, abby, kate and julia (ok, my photos of them aren’t so hot so we won’t see those!), and clara, among many others. i’ll be bunking with cookie and janel, so i’ve rested up in preparation for a few late-into-the-night conversations with them.

sorry to be a name dropper there, but i really do look forward to seeing colleagues in this environment a couple of times per year—open only to industry professionals, TNNA provides a space where we can make connections, exchange ideas and experiences, discuss future plans, and socialize freely. the summer show is when all the new fall yarn lines are presented and the place buzzes with people and activity. plus, there is easy access to some of the best ice cream in the country. you can’t beat that.

like i said the other day, i have a few small, totable projects all set to go—they hardly weigh anything (i must remember this strategy when i travel to california next . . .).

my new sock is getting bigger and i’m almost to the heel now—you can see the little waves of rippling “water” trails along the top of the foot the will lead to the fancier cuff pattern. i like the way the colors in the yarn are pooling; it reminds me of how light creates different color effects on the surface of the water. it’s the perfect sunny-blue colorway for what i had in mind.

and i’m loving the signature needles (who wouldn’t?). i happen to prefer metal needles in general and have long (LONG) pined for the perfect metal DPNs.

i liked the old gray inox ones a lot, but there are two issues with those—they don’t come in standard sizes (only “between” sizes) and lately, they seem weaker than they used to be. the 2mm set i used recently was all bent and stripped of its coating by the time i finished my project and i am not unusually hard on needles. the knitpicks metal DPNs are just too heavy and a bit too pointy—i’ve tried them, but they’re not right for me.

these, however, are very, very nice (thank you cathy)—and they should be for what they cost. however, these are the tools of my trade which i use almost nonstop; i can totally get behind paying the price when they suit me very well. i’m using the size 0 (2 mm) here, which are unlike the larger sizes in that they are made of steel. this means they are proportionately heavier than the size 1s and up, but since they are a tin size, that’s not bothering me. in fact, the weight feels good—i’m not in any danger at all of putting a bend them.

i didn’t get to knit much yesterday since i wanted to get a couple of patterns written up before going away, but last night i worked on my new red scarf a little to test out the chart i’d made up

i decided to call this one pompa which is the spanish word for pageant; i dunno, this pattern just reminds me of parading medieval flags (plus, i just love saying pompa. it’s a happy word).

the other project that’s going along with me is the green cashmere scarf—i didn’t get to work on that one since i showed it last, but hopefully when i get back, it will be lots longer.

it’s a great little pattern for mindless knitting. and i think this photo shows the color a little better than the one i posted the other day.

now, i better get going—i still need to pack my suitcase and get ready. i’m not taking my computer this time—at the last two TNNAs, i barely glanced at it. david will be checking email and keeping in touch about anything urgent. plus, it’s a good time for david to do a sorely-needed upgrade on my hard drive and a clean reinstall of my software.

so i’ll be out of touch for a couple of days . . . i’ll miss you. maybe when i get back, these will have bloomed