Well I wasn't planning on...

Well I wasn't planning on blocking it. And it's going to drive me crazy. must be time to rip...iI'm only 8 rows in. better now than later.

Here is the beginning of my Citron shawl. I think I need tl start over. See the column on the right lf stktches that are bigger than the others? That means I have to redo, right?

Going green all around

Today I did many green things. I just watched the documentary No Impact Man. Earlier today I stirred up my compost bin and added more paper and soil because the mix has gotten a bit wet. I set up a light and moved my smallest plant seedlings under it to get them a bit stronger. I took photos of my lovely green malabrigo yarn and started knitting a swatch to make sure my needle size is correct. I still need to split up the seedlings so they have enough room to grow, but I figured the light is the most important piece of this equation.

Shawl sans spine in green

I was wandering around on Ravelry yesterday and wondered if Knitty had a new issue out for spring. Well no, they don't, but apparently I never looked at the Winter 2009 issue. In that issue I found my new project. Citron is a lovely little shawl/scarf with a ripple to the edge and some texture without really being lace. Sure, the pattern uses lacewight yarn, and knits up like lace, but the end result looks much more solid than a typical lace shawl. Here is the shawl on Ravelry.

I love the color used in the demo shawl, but when I got to Windsor they didn't have that in laceweight (lettuce, here on the right). Well, I found it in worsted and the color is much for yellow for me to wear anyway. Problem solved. Or so I thought, when I approached the Malabrigo lace basket and found two different greens and a light blue that all wanted to come home with me and become a shawl. I bought 2 skeins of Sapphire Green (in the middle). This is my first malabrigo purchase!! I'm excited, can you tell? The others in my knitting group rave about this yarn, and I fondle it every time someone brings a project with this yarn. I think it's time for me to make myself something decadent, that will be worn next to the skin, that will hopefully be my go to item. I bought some size 8 Addi lace needles, but I'll have to swatch and make sure that my isn't so tight that I need to up another needle size. The pattern calls for 6s, but I typically need to up two needle sizes.

Amy, if you're reading this, weren't you looking for a shawl pattern without a spine? I think this might be the one for you!

Grumpy

Seeds Update

Yesterday I checked on the seeds and the 3 pots with lavender had white fuzz mold on them. I cut those 3 out and tossed them so the mold won't spread. Those seeds were old and I wasn't sure they were going to grow, but I didn't think they would mold on top. Guess I need to get some lavender seeds, though I read that planting marigolds around your vegetable garden will keep the bugs away so maybe I should get seeds for marigolds instead.

I realized I didn't list what I planted on Sunday, and I also wanted to make a chart of the germination times, so here we go!

Seed Company	Vegetable Type	Germination Rates
Burpee	Garden Bean - Greensleeves	7-14 days
Burpee	Garden Bean - Royal Burgundy	7-14 days
Burpee	Garden Bean - Super Wax	7-14 days
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds	Pepper - Purple Beauty	not listed
Burpee	Letuce - Burpee Bib	7-10 days
Botanical Interests	Carrot - Tonda di Parigi	10-25 days
Crosman's Seeds	Kale - Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch	7-10 days
Botanical Interests	Summer Squash - Black Beauty Zucchini	5-10 days
Seed Company	Herb Type	Germination Rates
Botanical Interests	Sage - Garden Broadleaf	5-15 days
Burpee	Sweet Basil	7-14 days
Seed Company	Flower Type	Germination Rates
Botanical Interests	Sweet Pea - Princess Elizabeth and Cupid Pink	10-15 days
Burpee	Viola - Helen Mount	7-14 days