darkcedars

I planted the baby roses this morning. They had shipped on 4/10 but then the frost warnings developed. I should pick a later shipping date in future.

Zephirine Drouhin - bourbon rose, climber, pink raspberry scented blooms, thornless. Planted on NE corner of the porch (mailbox area).
Diamond Eyes - miniature, purple/black/magenta, spice fragrance. In a pot on the south side of the house.

Origin - High Country Roses. Healthy little plants and had a lot of roots when I pulled them out of their nursery pots.

In other rose news:

Peace Hybrid Tea looks healthy and the new cane from center graft has a bud. I'm reasonably certain it is true.
Big red HT also looks healthy.
Little red HT mostly died back to the ground. Waiting to see if it will put up a cane or not.
Apple floribunda looks great and has a lot of buds.
Red Drifts are both looking well.

I had no idea it was white! We had chopped it back to the ground when we moved in because it was so enormous and straggly (seriously up to the second floor windows), so it didn't bloom last spring.

Going to consider taking out one of the spirea (there's a bunch) to make some room for a purple lilac.

white lilac flowers against the greenery

white lilac flowers against the greenery

square small blanket with white in the center and then three blues

Pattern: Tumbling Blocks version 2, from CrochetFix (have made this before)

Started: 17 March 2023

Completed: 30 March 2023

For: Gabriel & Crystal baby (neighbors)

Hook: K / 6.50mm

Yarn: Vanna's Choice in white, silver blue, sky blue, and midnight blue

Size: 23" square

Notes: Quick gift and using up yarn, some had been slightly used and were not complete skeins.

red crochet tulip with stem and two leaves

I liked the giant stars I made for porch decoration in December so much I decided to try another.

Pattern: Yarnspirations Crochet Tulip Potholder, with tweaks as below.

Started & Completed: 19 March 2023

Hook: Q / 15mm

Yarn: 2 strands Vanna's Choice (worsted weight) in scarlet

Size: tulip is 14"x18", entire thing is 36" tall.

Notes:

after making the first round (it's in HDC), I realized this wouldn't be as big as I wanted. Subsequent rounds are DC.
Made 6 rounds instead of 7 (allowed it to be less rounded in the end)
made the final row as written, then turned and slip stitched up to the points, where I replicated the pattern for a second row.
Stem is just a long chain with DCs.
Leaves are chain 20; then sc, 2 hdc, and dc to the end, where the last chain held 3 dc. turn, dc down most of the length, dropping to hdc then sc as I felt looked nice.

It's identifiable as a tulip from the road, which is what I was hoping.
white house showing the red crochet tulip on the porch next to the door

yellow and orange long narrow pouch with 2 tunisian hooks

Pattern: this is just a rectangle in Tunisian knit stitch. Crochet Kim has a lot of lovely instruction on this and many other Tunisian stitches.

Started: 4 March 2023

Completed: 15 March 2023

For: ME. My Tunisian hooks have always been loose in the bottom of the craft tool box. Decided I should make something in Tunisian to keep them together (have a few in both 14" and 9" length and 2 double-ended)

Hook: Tunisian regular G, 14"

Yarn: J&P Coates Royale Fashion Crochet Thread size 3. Normally you'd use an E/3.5mm for this thread, I always increase my hook size at least by 2 for Tunisian. I have had this thread leftover in four colors for ages, used up 2 colors worth.

Size: rectangle was 14." x 6.5" before folding.

Notes:

folded the bottom up to nearly the color change, and stitched SC down the edges.
decided to chain yellow & orange together to make a strap, to wind around the case (it's long and narrow). Each end has a button tied on, so a knot doesn't have to be pulled tight to hold.

( a couple more photos: )

Started: 11 March 2023

Completed: 13 March 2023

For: me - this was tried on and altered as I made it.

Hook: I / 5.50mm

Yarn: Herrschners Worsted Wool Mill Ends (single ply, worsted weight, no label), used about 4oz of yarn
( How I made this: )

I have been having so much fun feeding the birds that my dad made a birdfeeder for me. Piece of barn board from the family farm (we haven't used the actual barn in decades now). I can see this from the living room window, is between the lilac and forsythia.

house type platform bird feeder with a plexiglass window

house type platform bird feeder with a plexiglass window

And I was having trouble with the starlings eating all the suet, so I asked my husband to 3D print a little house, this should let the woodpeckers have a chance (feeding from below). he took the opportunity to use up the gold filament that he hates.

gold plastic house partially enclosing suet cage

gold plastic house partially enclosing suet cage

The first bloom on the amaryllis is fully open. I think it will have 4. I thought it wasn't going to bloom because it put out some leaves first.

( amaryllis photo )

African violets update:

Chantaspring died - this was the micromini that I tried to wick water. Maybe a yellow wasn't my best idea to try a micromini with. Yellows are always weaker for me.
Rolling Dew Drops is looking terrible - I had planted it in the chicken pot. Previous plant in pot this had also died oddly. I had tried to spray seal this with acrylic clear paint, maybe didn't do a good enough job? Moving it into a different pot.

I'm not going to trust the spray seal. There's a second pot not in use that I did the same thing with (elephant). Wonder what is in this pottery.

Pattern: Two variations as below. Made it up as I went along. Did refer to the beanie sizing chart (as always!) to determine when to stop increasing. I can never remember.

Started: 2 Feb 2023

Completed: 17 Feb 2023

For: myself

Yarn: Herrschners Worsted Wool Mill Ends - single ply, worsted weight, no label, 3.5 oz skeins

General pattern note: while increasing, the increase stitches are the FPDC. When finished increasing, added an additional FPDC in the center stitch between two FPDCs for additional texture. Changing these per row could easily make a different design each time.

( hat notes: )

I have set up 5 milk jug greenhouses on the south side of the house, to winter start seeds, as detailed here: Penn State Extension.

Tried with: magnolia tendril peas, parsley, purple coneflower, calendula, sunflower.

The last two I'm more uncertain about but the first ones should be fine.

Parents are thinking of just planting some in the ground and plopping a milk jug with the bottom cut out over the top. I may do that with another round of seeds closer to the end of frost.

cardigan in gray teal blue orange and beige leftover yarn with a small black dog sitting on it

Lucy refused to move and I decided this photo was good enough.

Pattern: Super Chunky Hexagon Cardi

Designer: The Snugglery

Started: 28 Dec 2022

Completed: 1 Feb 2023

For: me

Hook: J / 6mm

Yarn: Herrschner's Worsted 8 in dark gray and snowbird (leftovers from basket project, I very much overbought), and blue smoke (to finish).

Size: 4XL women's US size (approx) - I was going for a 2XL but bigger is better! It will go over anything I am wearing.

Notes: I had admired this pattern for a year or so, as looking comfy and being easy, but I have so much leftover worsted weight from other projects I'm making it non-chunky.

centers of each hexagon are the charcoal gray. I'm going to make them in tandem so I can match them as well as possible, since using leftovers.
6 Jan - starting second hexagon in gray, paused the first.
13 Jan - ended the gray at 15 rows on both halves, started the striped yarn.
16 Jan - rows each of striped leftover yarn, have ordered a dark blue to finish.
22 Jan - started the new blue. Laid the pieces out on one of my store bought cardigans and think I need 10 rounds to finish. -- turned out to be 8 rows, I paused and tried it on when I got that far on the first motif.
each half weighs 18oz and is 27 rounds

salmon topped with peach glaze and a side salad

This dish isn't terribly photogenic, but I'm mostly documenting what I do now I am not flipping through the toaster oven booklet for temp/time settings. We got a Ninja Foodi as a holiday gift. Easier to cook fish especially.

--Frozen salmon fillet
--Spoonful of jam (I have been using peach)
--Ginger (have been using about a teaspoon of the frozen - we buy fresh ginger, put it through the food processor with a little peanut oil, and freeze it in tiny portions)
--Couple dashes of soy sauce

Mix the glaze ingredients a small dish, spread over top of the defrosted salmon.

Air roast setting - 400F for 10 minutes.

I've decided that this (Brightening, Imbolc, Groundhog Day) is main plant repotting time. Nearly everyone was potted up or repotted. Of note:

Chantaspring is moving to wick watering. I don't prefer this, but nothing else I've done is really working out (this one still has the parent leaf and may be the only reason I haven't lost it. The pot is a broth container cap with a hole drilled in it. My shovel is an xacto knife blade.

Lunar Lily and Summer Comfort are going to bloom soon for the first time!
Irish Flirt plantlet turned out to be TWO plantlets. I separated them.
Have decided to keep some of the duplicates at this time.
May have broke a crown on Rolling Dew Drops - need to watch it closely.

Really, really need to save some Styrofoam for the next time I repot. The chicken shaped planter is far too deep for any of my plants, and filling the bottom with rocks makes it weigh an absolute ton.

Also I should slowly document all my cute pots as their plants bloom.

EDIT Feb 3 - the wick watering is NOT working out. It is totally flooded. Pulled the wick from the reservoir. Found an eye dropper, I must only water with the eye dropper.

Yesterday I made Alton Brown's Pumpkin Soup. Usually I make this around Halloween, but my cousin brought pie pumpkins to share when she visited at Christmas. I've been making this for years. It's fun, tasty, and easy to scale depending on the size of pie pumpkin you get.

Alton Brown's Pumpkin Soup
Edits I make: apple peel left on, no garlic (I'm allergic), regular salted butter and broth BUT leave the salt itself out & allow people to salt to their own taste. If I don't have fresh thyme I add dried at the start instead of the end.

( Images and process - )

When you've eaten all the soup, pull the pumpkin open and scrape off any cooked pumpkin left on the shell. This makes a good side dish for later (add some extra butter, salt, goat cheese, whatever).

Started: 30 Dec 2022

Completed: 1 Jan 2023

For: Dad - he has noticed that if he wears a small hat indoors, he's getting less sinus congestion. Making several.

Hook: H / 5mm

Yarn: Vanna's Choice in a variety of colors (I still have a lot of scraps of this)

Size: adult, short

Formula for sizing:

Rnd 1 - 10 dc in magic ring
Rnds 2-8 - increase rounds
Rnds 9-16 - straight, no increases. If wishing a lower riding hat, add 2 more straight rounds.

Notes: was fun to make these out of scraps, may make one for myself later. Have some grapefruit pink and pale green.

14 Dec 2023 - made another in olive green and brown for a stocking stuffer.

arm warmer or fingerless gloves in a gray and white marled yarn

Pattern: Simple, Easy, and Quick Arm Warmers

Designer: Stitch 11

Started: 22 Dec 2022

Completed: 23 Dec 2022

For: me -- we've had sub 0F temperatures, apparently what it takes for me to make something for myself.

Hook: H/5.00mm

Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool Worsted (gray marl) -- one skein - I have had this in stash for ages.

Size: 10" long

Notes: I used the pattern as a guide. I had both a smaller hook and larger hands than average. May decide to turn these into mittens or make a second pair that is mittens from the start.

30 fsc
6 rounds hdc to thumb gap
7 rows thumb gap, join at last. Skip Decrease round - will be wearing with thin gloves sometimes
4 rows hdc to cover wrist
DC in 9 stitches, 2dc in 10th around (DC increase)
4 rounds DC
DC in 7 stitches, 2dc in 8th around
2 rounds dc

In a few minutes the sun sets.

These last years, I've been tied to the day cycle. I can't be active outside of daylight hours. I know when the sun rises and sets. It is like a pull.

If I wake before sunrise, I can browse the internet or some other quiet thing in bed, but not all the sections of my brain are on. It's a mistake to try to do anything that takes decision. Or anything with too much walking around the house.

And sometimes, I sundown. Which was even more confusing until I realized what it was.

So the progress of the year is more impactful on me than most. Midwinter day.

three large stars in green red and yellow

Started: 4 Dec 2022

Completed: 6 Dec 2022

For: my front porch - planning to stretch on hoops and hang on some pre-existing hooks.

Hook: Q / 15mm

Yarn: 3 strands of worsted weight acrylic

Size: large 18" - medium 15" - small 10"

Notes: end at row 4 for medium and row 3 for small.

( Read more... )
On the porch
three large crochet stars in wire hoops on a white porch wall

Pattern: Swirly Heart
Designer: Atty's
Started: 3 November 2022
Completed: 1 December 2022

For: 2022 holiday cards

Hook: D / 3.25mm
Yarn/Thread: size 8 embroidery thread (white is DMC Perle and red is ancient ball of Coats boilfast)
Size: 2" across

Notes:

previously made this pattern as a coaster, thought it would be good for this year's holiday cards.
altered two DCs into HDC at the top crease to make it deeper. This allowed me to use only treble instead of double-treble and have it still be heart shaped. I think they are also laying more flat (still will block)
finished 12 of them on 29 Nov and wove in the ends.
starched heavily to keep them crisp. I'm sending them out a few at a time so sewing them to cards etc doesn't take up all of a morning.

Pattern: none, I made it up
Started: 30 Sept 2022
Completed: 3 Oct 2022

For: me - my headboard is the bookcase type, these are to hold things in the cubbies.

Hook: G /4.25mm
Yarn/Thread: Sugar n' Cream in country green and white
Size: larger is 12" long, smaller 5" across

Notes:

rectangular basket - just did no-starting-chain DC until the right size for the cubby, continued flat to make rectangular base. Went around with SC to even out and make a good foundation to continue the sides.
square - made a solid granny base to be the right size to hold my glasses, then continued up sides.

Baby roses planted

Lilac first blooms

Little Blue Blanket

Giant Tulip

Tunisian Hooks Pouch

Split Mittens

Birdfeeders!

Amaryllis blooming & AV update

FPDC Hats

Winter Seed Starting

Big Scrappy Hexagon Cardigan

Salmon with Ginger & Jam

Repotting Nearly Everyone

Alton Brown's Pumpkin Soup

Dad Hats

Quick Arm Warmers

Longest Night of the Year

Giant Star Ornaments

Peppermint Heart Ornaments

Headboard Cubby Baskets

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