Month: February 2024

Triple bud

On By CarynIn Garden

My Thanksgiving cactus has a triple bud!

Photo description: closeup of a Thanksgiving cactus leaf with three small pink knobs emerging from the end. Another single bud visible in the background.

I’m quite excited to see it in full bloom. I have had a realization on the cactus’ blooms. I have read that in order to get a Thanksgiving cactus, or a Christmas cactus (related, but different species), to bloom, you need to water it less and put it in a cold (50 degrees F or so) environment. I noticed that my cactus gets buds on the window side, so I frequently turn it around. Our ambient temperature in the house is around 70-72, but the plant hangs in the catio access window, which is usually open, and the leaves touch the window, which is considerably colder despite being double pane. I also only water twice a week, year-round. Mystery solved, but I’m still glad it is a happy cactus. If blooming indicates well-being in cactus, that is. Hm.

Still sewing

On By CarynIn Craft

Now I’m sewing strips of scrap fabric together with the Singer model 66 treadle sewing machine. I’ll figure out something to make with the pieced together fabric later (probably bags, I like bags), but for now it is an easy way to exercise the machine. My treadling is getting better as well; in those long straightaways I can really get the speed up!

Photo description: Singer model 66 treadle sewing machine from 1916 with strips of red and cream fabric sewn together lying on the work surface.

With an electric sewing machine there isn’t quite the thrill going top speed as there is with a treadled machine, knowing you are providing the power boost.

Ornery Old Man

On By CarynIn dog

Griffin the dog has become quite crotchety in his old age (he’s 10). In his younger years he respected fences and didn’t dig or escape, even when the gate was left open. Now, however, he pushes boundaries more, literally. I was on hold on the phone when I went outside to find him, so “snuck” up on him trying to dig under the fence behind our propane tank. Stinker. I’m not sure whether there is something living in the wood pallets, or if he is trying to get to the neighbor’s cats, but there were definite signs that he had been pushing out the bottom of the wire fence and reaching through with his paws. I stacked some rock across the bottom of the fence to curtail his landscaping attempts.

Photo description: no-climb wire fence with blocks of sandstone against the bottom edge. Behind the fence a black dog looks forlornly out as he stands between the fence and large white propane tank.

Ok, I ripped

On By CarynIn Craft

So usually I am not a proponent of ripping out yarn work. If an item passes the 10 second rule (someone who is not an expert can’t find the mistake in under 10 seconds) it’s fine. I’ve put dozens of hours into knitting a fingering weight cardigan, finally getting it to the point it could be tried on. The intended target doesn’t like it. Honestly, I don’t either. The colors look fabulous in the skein, but I really dislike color pooling in knitting, and this one is particularly jarring.

Photo description: partially knit cardigan with arm holes, back, and sides in a variegated yellow and blue yarn with a small repeat, very visually busy.

So I had a choice: put a couple more dozen hours into an ugly item no one will ever wear, or rip it out and make socks that everyone will wear. Frog it time. (Rip it, rip it, rip it.)

Photo description: partial cardigan laying on the counter with the yarn attached to a wool winder.

I say “frog it” flippantly, but it is a heavy duty to destroy your own work, even when the intension is to make anew. To cushion the heartache, I shot some video of the deconstruction and posted YouTube shorts. It did provide some catharsis.

Photo description: yarn cake of fingering weight yellow, white, and blue superwash merino and nylon yarn.

Winding it back into a cake will help the kinks from knitting straighten out too.