first plantings

Today I planted some 'Straight Eight' cucumber seeds and Black-Eyed Susan Vine (Thunbergia Alata) seeds in peat pots. I plan to transplant these together into planters on the back patio and train them to crawl up a trellis. Because I have so little gardening space I'm trying to combine veggies into my potted plants. I have a couple of beds that I'm allowed to plant in, but I'm afraid of all of the fertilizers that the lawn people use and the run-off from the roof. So, no vegetables or herbs in those beds. I also planted 5 Harvest Yellow Cannas. There were supposed to be 4 in the bag, but I got a bonus! I'll transplant these into the flower beds once they mature some.

I stopped by the hardware store to get a rake and ended up with more seeds and bulbs. Well, I had to walk right past them to get to the rakes! Seriously, who designed that store? Anyway, I'll be planting those in the next day or so. I love spring!

when life gets in the way of knitting

Things have been a bit slow in the knitting front lately. I've been focusing the majority of my efforts on decorating the house. The Living Room is for all practical purposes complete, and the Bedroom is well on it's way. I'm also painting a faux wallpaper on the Powder Room wall, which I'm unsure about at this time. I'll just need to complete it and live with it for a few days before making a final judgement. I'm also getting busier with my Master Gardener training and will be volunteering for the program by the end of this month.

My sweater has been set aside as of late because I can't make the neck look decent. It looks more like a tall boat neck which is so not the look I'm going for. I've already taken it back once and although this version looks better, it's still not wearable for me. I may need to research some patterns and see how the neck of a sweater is normally done. I should have knit my first sweater from a pattern instead of the recipe from Elizabeth Zimmerman, so that I had the basics down. Oh well, it's all a learning experience.

Most recently I've begun to knit a pair of basic socks for myself out of Koigu KPPPM 537. It's the perfect colorway for spring socks.

spring has sprung!

It's official, spring has made it to Northern Illinois! I found my Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis) sprouting near the front walk! It was 65°F here yesterday and we're hoping for similar temperatures today. I love this time of the year and I love watching my plants grow, it makes me feel like a proud papa!