Finished Swallowtail

I like the way it came out.



Cast on for Helena and I'm already worried it might not fit for the fall even though I cast on for a four year old's size. It's going very quickly as I had to sit a lot this week. We had a terrific storm here last Monday or Tuesday. The black cohash out front got squished by a large branch. Had flippers on when I was trying to save it and got bit in the toes by a spider who was not inclined to present herself further.



Not much else going on. The garden is a mess. I sorted out WIPs this morning and the list is long. Frogged some (Cozy Vest and Saratoga Shrug) and tucked the others in a nearby basket to work on.

Hope everyone is having a really nice weekend!

I've got the old man on my mind

"I wish I could translate these hints
about the dead young men and women.
and the hints about old men and mothers,
and the offspring soon out of their laps.

What do you think has become of them?

They are alive and well somewhere.
The smallest sprout shows there is really no death.

All goes outward, and nothing collapses.
And to die is different from what any one supposed,
and luckier."

- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Knit in Public Day

For knit in public day, I knit on the front lawn instead of the back. Maybe someone saw me.

Nupps are tricksy little beasties. For the life of me, I can't purl 5 together so the way I've been knitting them is to slip 2, purl 3 tog, pass 2 over. It works for the most part, though even with keeping the yos as loose as I can, pushing the three to the edge of the needle and pulling the three stitch base down with my left forefinger and thumb I still have trouble. Often I end up slipping four, stretching that fifth yo out an inch and slipping two back to purl 3 together. It gets convoluted and slow but I am happy to say I only have two rows of nupps left. They are kind of bi polar nupps in that they aren't lined up neatly and in order, but nupps they are. As troublesome as it sounds, I've loved knitting Swallowtail. The yarn is just beautiful too.



When I finish Swallowtail, I want to make Helena for little Emily. It's the prettiest little sweater and I think she'll look adorable in it.

My rumpled garden looks like a crazy quilt. I pretty much suck at taking pictures of it entire, but here is a white rose. I have not (knock on wood) seen one Japanese Beetle yet this season so this little one has had a grand time. I counted at least fifteen blooms so far.



Can't resist the delphiniums again! I am so in love with them. That's yellow strife to the right and wild indigo pods on the bottom left. I absolutely must remember for once to save the pods for seeds.



The clematis and sweet pea are in a race and should bloom in the next week. I never got around to giving all the sweet pea here a place to grow on instead of sprawled out on the ground so I'm really excited.



Pink stuff, weeds and yellow primrose. I really should keep a garden journal.

What I've Been Up To

I don't know where to start! I guess outside because that is where I've been spending the most time. The lilacs and quince came and went:



The bridal wreath bushes are blooming with the wigelia:





One of my jobs was supposed to have been to paint the trim on the house but I got to paint chairs instead:



The trim was a nasty, flesh color. I don't know what the hell I was thinking, but now its a pretty blue:



Phoenix and Max in front of the garden a month ago. Phene just had his fourteenth birthday.



And what the garden looks like now:



I can't resist a couple of shots of flowers.





We cleared an area in the back. This ropey trunk is wysteria (otherwise known as hysteria).



I finished Blue Jeans Lace Shawl:



And have been working on Swallowtail:



Friday night, I was having such a good time I whaled through an entire repeat without counting. I spent what felt like ages tinking back rows and this morning I started the Lily of the Valley border 1.

I've been spinning also but forgot to take photos.