May Sunshine

May has given us balmy days of sunshine and more sunshine. The iris are blooming and the garden is planted. The tomato plants bide their time, waiting for hotter summer weather. One hill of cucumber seeds germinated and the other did not. I replanted. Out the front window, the street is dusted with yellow-green pollen from the locust trees in the parkway. The city required the developer of the subdivision to plant the trees. When we moved in, they were spindly things. Many, including the one in front of our home weren't planted deeply enough and they died. Being the rebel that I am, I suggested we plant an ornamental pear tree. Now they have all grown up and provide a lovely canopy.

Sunday I spent a glorious few hours in the back yard, sort-of weeding with my hoe. and watering. I dragged out an old lawn chair, sat in the shade with wash cloth knitting in between moving the hose. We are in for another dry growing season. Here, average rainfall in May is four inches and to date we have received .5 inches. It's a tough way to head into summer. We conserve water by using soaker hoses or in some areas just laying a hose at the base of plants. The perennial strip of flowers along the fence slopes gently downhill so watering with a hose, although time consuming, makes sense - at least to me.

This is my midweek post with Kat and the Unravelers. After working a bit on the fingerless mitts, (see above photo) I frogged them. This is not the fault of the pattern. My knitting tension is loose. I went down two needle sizes but the mitts were still big. I hope I have finally learned my lesson about colorwork mittens and this yarn. I've tried three different patterns. Maybe I could have ripped them out and made them smaller but I didn't want the mitts enough to work it all out.  

Instead I cast on a pair of Irish Hiking Mittens from the second skein of handspun BFL. The cables may not pop in the handspun but I like this pattern. I have knit it several times so I know these will fit. 

I need a baby gift so I cast on a Berry Baby Hat. Since I'm knitting with DK Swish instead of a worsted weight yarn, I increased the number of stitches. I'm not sure whether I'll knit the contrasting top in the lavender or green yarn. The lavender is also Swish so the two would go together well. Maybe the hat will end up with a purple flower with a green leaf. The baby won't care one way or another. 

The three quilt blocks in this table runner have been in my sewing chest for a long time. Although I liked the pattern, they were challenging to piece. At the time, they weren't precise or perfect enough for me. 

These days I enjoy hand quilting more than piecing. Last winter I decided the imprecise points didn't matter. I chose fabrics from my supplies and created a table runner. Eventually, I bought a new soap-stone marker to use on the darker fabrics, traced quilting designs from a stencil, and basted the piece together. I'm enjoying the hand stitching. When I use this table runner, I'll just strategically place a salt shaker or a dish of pickles on the offending corners. 

I continue to read The Wise Hours: A Journey into the Wild and Secret World of Owls, the nonfiction book about the owls of Europe. The research niches that interest scientists are so interesting. Large scale mono-crop agriculture methods as well as poisons used to kill rodents affect owls and birds of prey, no matter the location. When the owl population is healthy, they keep rodents from eating crops. When poisoned rodents are consumed by the owls, the owls sicken and die and the need for poison goes up. What European scientists have been able to do with education about this conundrum is hopeful. They have also accomplished change by working with citizen scientists. Imagine, working together as a way to make progress. What a concept.

Where ever you are, I hope you are enjoying May flowers or in the southern hemisphere, the changes in autumn foliage. 

Ravelry Links

Handspun Mittens 

Baby Berry Hat