Author: Marie Haigh

I started knitting 15 years ago right around the time of my marriage and the birth of my niece.

Lovely Packages of Wool

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Look what came in the mail yesterday!

and

The skein is 100% merino wool in a lace-weight. It was hand-dyed by Yarn Chef. The color matches perfectly with the yellow paint in my living room. I plan to use the yarn to make a curtain for the window in our front door.

The last picture features 2 four-ounce roving of Shetland Wool from Serenity Sheep Woolens, Montana. It arrived not a moment too soon. I should finish spinning the last of my Corriedale roving tonight while watching my Phillies play the Jays.

Speaking of the Phillies, did you see Worthy (Jayson Werth) last night? He was on fire! He tied a Phillies record by hitting 8 RBIs (Runs Batted In) via 3 home runs with one being a grand slam. The only other Phillies MLB player to do so was Schmidty (Mike Schmidt).

A Frame, Another Tie and Baseball

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I couldn’t think of a snappy sounding title. So, I just rattled off all of the things I want to tell you about.

First, I received a package today from Kodak. Inside were the two pictures of my garden I had printed out. Typically, I don’t print out any of the pictures I take with my digital camera. I upload them to our computer and then I forget about them. If it wasn’t for friends and family, I wouldn’t have any pictures in my photo album or on our photo wall.

Our home still has lots of empty space on the walls. Sometimes I wonder if people actually live here or if this is just a fortified tent for sleeping. 

In a desire to make this house feel more like a home, I printed out two of my favorite garden pictures. Of course, I realized after they arrived that I didn’t have frames to put them in. I had to steal one that had been holding a hand-painted flower. I couldn’t find a frame in my house suitable for the other picture. I hope to find something over the weekend.

In knitting news, I finished the 5th tie in my Christmas Tree Skirt this morning.

True, it is in desperate need of a good blocking, but I am pleased with how it is coming along. I still need to find a more flashy star for the top of the white trees. I should have leftover Christmas yarn, so I could knit 6 small stars out of it. That is unless I use the Christmas yarn to crochet around the edges. It might be wise to wait until the entire skirt is assembled before I make any embellishment decisions. I would prefer to not run out of yarn again. I had to place an order this morning from Knit Picks for more white wool. I should mention that had I stuck to my original design, I would have had enough yarn, but of course, I didn’t do that. I had to add points at the bottom of each tie.

Onto my baseball topic, I received my tickets for Phillies’ Stitch ‘n Pitch night!

Dan will be attending with me. Although I have asked him many times if he would like to learn how to knit, Dan only knows that the craft involves a lot of yarn and an equally large selection of needles. No, he will not be knitting. Instead, he will make himself useful by scoring the game and periodically retrieving any wayward balls of yarn.

Last year, I attempted to knit a scarf and watch the game at the same time. It was unbearably hot though. The yarn kept sticking to me, the needles and my clothes. What started out as a nice, loose gauge ended up into a tight, sticky mess. I plan to bring a project with me, but I may only end up using it for show-and-tell rather than something to knit on.

Growing a Garden

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One of my very first gardening projects was to transfer a shrub I named “Two Flowers”, since only two clumps of flowers bloomed on its branches in the Spring of 2006.

It had been planted in the shade of a large conifer tree and a pin oak tree. It simply wasn’t getting enough sun. It took me all afternoon to dig it out of its shady home and transfer it to the other side of the house where it would get at least 6 hours of full sun. Halfway through the summer, I was certain I had killed it. Half of its foliage was dead. Two years later, I have a hard time recognizing it as the same bush.

This bush isn’t the only thing growing in my garden.

My onions are growing!

After being rained on continuously for two days, they decided to stick their heads out of the ground. These little green sprouts are all throughout my raised bed. I forget how many I planted. I think the answer is ‘a lot’.

A Block Party

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I am hosting a Knitter’s block party in my basement today. It’s a BYOUFO (Bring Your Own UnFinished Objects).

Such parties are necessary when a Knitter has failed to block the items as they are completed, preferring to pile them in a drawer, unseen. When the drawer will no longer close or when knitting is interrupted because the bits need to be seamed together first, then a Knitter must grudgingly participate in a block party.

I have only accumulated three such pieces and can still close the drawer, but I don’t want to waste time knitting a second Happy Marriage lace block until I ensure the 1st came out to spec. Here is a pic of the Happy Marriage unblocked.

I will upload revised pictures on Monday after it has been blocked. But, can you see the design? If you recall, a Chinese symbol was my inspiration.

In related fiber news, I am approximately halfway through spinning my first 4oz of Corriedale roving. There have not been a lot of baseball games to spin in front of, since my team (Go Phillies!) is on the west coast right now. Games typically have been starting at 10 pm. I’m a loyal fan, but I also treasure my sleep. Hopefully, they will be home soon and I can get back to my spinning schedule.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Doing the Spring Shuffle

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It is supposed to climb to 80 degrees F today. I have drug my feet long enough. It is time to put away the long underwear and wool sweaters.

Once I started, it was a joy to see all my summer dresses again. Dan, ever the laid-back man, was just as relieved to have his short sleeved work shirts back. Two crates of summer clothes came out of the cedar closet. Four crates and one basket have to fit back in. Unless I remove some of my wool, they won’t make it.

I am NOT removing my wool from the safety and security of the cedar closet. There are wicked and evil moths flitting about. I have skeins of wool that are OOAK (one of a kind).

I will be as reasonable as a yarn lover can be. I will tuck the hand knit and 100% wool sweaters into the cedar closet. My treasured stoles and shawls will remain tucked away in my cedar drawer. However, the cotton and acrylic clothing will have to make do in our guest bedroom closet.

None of this needs to be mentioned to Dan. If you see him, mum’s the word.

A Vegetable Garden planted

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There is something besides just dirt in my raised bed!

The following seeds or seedlings were planted on Saturday:

9 Roma tomato seedlings
2 Big Boy tomato seedling
3 store-bought Strawberry seedlings
3 wild strawberry seedlings from the patch growing in my backyard (I’m not sure how this patch came to be, but it is starting to take over a large swath of land behind my Sweet Gum tree. I may have to do something about it in the next year or so).
Several bulbs from 1 onion set
1 seed packet of Anise
1 seed packet of Mint (Ostracized in the small container to the right of the raised bed because mint has a nasty reputation)

Though I wanted to plant pumpkin squash (Neck pumpkins), Dan was adamant that I not plant pumpkins of any sort in the bed. He said it would ruin my garden, since they are a hearty and invasive plant. Determined to have enough strawberries to make jam, I opted to forgo fresh pumpkin. I won’t have any other plant undermining my jam efforts.

The amount of tomato plants may seem large, but I have yet to plant enough to make one large batch of homemade tomato sauce or tomato soup without supplementing the recipe with store-bought canned tomatoes. Three years ago, I had dreams of canning my own tomatoes. I assumed that tomatoes were a very prolific plant, similar to a zucchini plant. Alas, it’s not so. Part of the problem, perhaps, lays on my head. I love tomatoes. I am a firm believer that tomatoes make everything taste better. Of course, some of the tomatoes don’t even make it into the house. What sort of a cook would I be if I didn’t sample the ingredients? Rather than try to eat fewer tomatoes, I decided that my only option was to plant more tomatoes. Here’s hoping 11 tomato plants is enough to quench my appetite.

Every morning before I venture into the garden, I have been knitting a few rows on my Happy Marriage lace design.

It is slowly starting to take shape.

Jake’s Birthday Presents

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Yesterday was Jake’s birthday! He is 5 years old now.

Rather than traditional dog gifts, Jake received two chestnut tree saplings and a record player.

In a word – boring.

Ungrateful lout.

Giggle. OK. I’ll confess; the gifts were for me. They just happened to arrive on Jake’s birthday.

The trees were planted straight away. I took care of the digging, watering, and mulching while Jake supervised to ensure everything was done to spec. I have named them Cleo and Mark in the hopes that they will be renowned lovers – as Cleopatra and Mark Antony were – and lavish me with a huge crop of chestnuts every year.

It may take a while for the first batch of chestnuts to be realized. They are awfully small right now.

Later that evening, I played my record player for both Jake and Dan. Enthusiasm waned in each of their responses. I tried to live without one; I honestly did. My old record player died approximately a month ago. I piled up all my LPs and stored them in the office. I pulled out my CD collection and and drug it into the kitchen with the hopes they would help me forget. The trick worked for about a week. Yet, there is no lap over between the two collections. None of my CDs include artists from my LP collection and vice verse. I could, as many people have done, purchase CD versions of all the LPs that I own. Yet, it seems like a waste of good money. I already own the music. Why should I buy it again? Plus, I would lose the sound of the vinyl and the joy I get from finding old LPs for sale.

I caved. I bought a Crosley stack-able record player (model #CR85) from Second Chance Crosleys.

It’s so wonderful to be able to listen to my LP’s again.

Gardening and Knitting Progress

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It is resting right now.

I finished shoveling the topsoil into the beds on Monday. My gardening book, The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible by Edward C. Smith, recommends that the bed be allowed to rest for a week before you start jamming seeds and seedlings into it. I’m too impatient to allot it a whole week. Five days is going to have to suffice. Weather permitting, my tomatoes are going in this weekend. I’ve also added one more plant to my list of veggies/herbs to grow this season: mint. I mix dried mint leaves into several of my daily teas; it is divine in a cup of Irish Breakfast. To be able to grow my own mint leaves and then dry them in the basement would save me a lot of money.

Onto knitting news, my 4th tie in the Christmas Tree skirt is complete. Well, complete is a bit of a stretch. I have finished knitting it – would be more accurate. Ends still need to be woven in. Then, it has to be washed and blocked. Finally, it has to be seamed to the 3rd tie.

Five more ties to go. I’m looking forward to a Christmas in September. You can bet your bottom dollar that my tree is going up the moment I finish knitting the tree skirt. I won’t be adverse to small fireworks being set off afterwards. Of course, fireworks would require a discussion with Dan about what is the proper level of enthusiasm when your wife finishes knitting a large project. I suppose he would want to discuss with me the proper level of enthusiasm one is supposed to have when GTA4 (Grand Theft Auto for you non-gamers) is released. I am ashamed to say that I did not take two days off of work to play the game nor did I stay up till 6 am the morning after it was released. Guess who did?

Small Hills to Scale

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I had no idea that 7 yards of mulch would look like a small hill.

It seems like it is way too much for our 1/3 acre yard. It’s true that we do have a huge amount of our yard dedicated to flowers, shrubs, and trees. We have one garden that wraps around the entire house. Then, we have two side gardens that hug the property line between us and our neighbors to the left of us. Not satisfied with the amount of gardening that needs to get done each Spring, I have been planting more. Ground cover, a male Holly (to pollinate with my female Holly), Columbine flowers, Blue fescue, lilies, and one annual plant have already been put in the ground. I am still waiting for three more plants to arrive. Plus, I still have my wild flower garden to seed. This small hill of mulch should not only make sure these plants succeed by keeping the ground moist longer, it should also cut my summer weeding job in half. Here’s hoping!

The smaller mound, protected by the blue tarp, is 1 yard of topsoil. I’ll be planting my vegetable garden this weekend! I have only planted tomatoes and herbs in the past. I’m shaking things up this year. I’ll be planting onions, eggplant, anise, mint, and strawberries. Of course, I’ll also plant tomatoes. Maybe this year, I’ll yield enough of a crop to make homemade tomato sauce and tomato soup.

Though my plan was to take today off and work in my garden, the weather had other plans. Instead, I’ll read your blogs, knit on my Christmas tie, and make lemon bars for dessert. Despite the fact that my plans were skunked, Jake’s were not. He still got his walk this morning. Even after drying and brushing him for 15 minutes after we got home, he still smells like a wet dog.

On a more sobering note, there is another reason I titled this post “Small Hills to Scale”. You may have already noticed the new button on my blog in the left side bar.

My husband’s Aunt Kathy (my MIL’s sister) was recently informed that she would need a kidney transplant. The process to find a donor has already begun. It is almost certain that a donor will be located, since Dan comes from a large family. To help cover the many expenses associated with transplantation, fund raising efforts have begun. The family will be hosting a Beef -N- Beer event. My contribution was to create Aunt Kathy her own website on WordPress: http://KathysKidneyFund.com. Dan helped me activate the Paypal button, since it wasn’t a simple copy and paste of the code. He actually had to edit the HTML code. I know a little HTML code, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to my computer engineer husband.

Slipping into Happiness

Marie Haigh14 Comments

I swore I wouldn’t do again. I had even considered giving it all away to somebody who would put it to good use. My knitting, sewing, quilting and gardening hobbies keep me busy. I don’t have time for another hobby. I explained all of this before.

On Wednesday when I was deciding between the gorgeous yarn my MIL gave me and the true-red, practical yarn, I saw the Corriedale roving. Instantly, I remembered where I was when I bought it and how excited I was to bring it home. Master K, my nephew, was newly born. (He will be 5 in August). I was visiting my sister in Texas to help with keeping Miss K, the proud big-sister, out of the way. I purchased it in a small shop in McKinney, Texas on the one day my sister and I escaped the confines of her house. I was terribly excited to bring it home. Inside the package of roving was a drop spindle. Once I got back home to Pennsylvania, I immediately took it out of its packaging and tried to spin it up. It was a disaster. At first, I was spinning too loose. Then, I was spinning too tight. So, I bought a book. Then, I bought another book. I purchased a Turkish spindle. I bought a batt of gorgeous merino wool. I took a spinning class at Stitches East. Nothing worked. The harder I tried, the more frustrated I became. So, I packed it all up and put it away. I gradually accepted the fact that I would never spin my own wool. It was nothing to be upset about. The world is full of commercial-spun and hand-spun wool. Naturally, I just bought more wool to make up for the lack of handmade wool.

Looking at the Corriedale roving, I was inspired. I walked into the office/craft room and took down my Turkish spindle. All these years, it had been hanging from a hook. Waiting. I sat down and I started to spin. My first try was once again too loose. Then, everything I had been taught just clicked into place. I was spinning! And I was smitten.

The rationalization has already started. If I finish knitting 10 more rows, I can go spin for a half an hour. If I finish making four more quilt squares, I can spin for a full hour. It’s going to rain tonight, so the gardening doesn’t need watering. I can spin a bit more during the time I would have been watering. It’s a slippery slope.

I don’t need another hobby. Yet, I just can’t stop myself!

Speaking of my garden, I leave you with a picture of a Flowering Dogwood. Though last summer’s drought took a toll on my other four dogwoods, this one was left unscathed. It is protected in the backyard from the afternoon sun.