The idea started when I noticed that the grape hyacinth bulbs were poking up out of the ground. Not in a growing way, but that the soil was washing away. We have leftover native stone from the back porch project, so I hauled some rock to the front yard to redefine the flower bed and make a soil stop to keep the dirt from washing away.
Photo description: an almost before picture. I just started digging out the exposed hyacinth bulbs and realized I should take a picture. The old bed was outlined with brick.Photo description: end of day one. The brick is gone and the new line of the flower bed has been set with stone.Photo description: end of day two. The entire front bed has been lined with flagstone. This is the opposite view looking back toward the driveway.Photo description: angry frog. This leopard frog was not happy that I took the lid off his home.
I’ve ordered some additional grape hyacinth and will replant the bulbs I removed and the new bulbs in the next stage, along with cleaning up the original bed area.
I finished a pair of socks in three months! This is much better than the year and a half for the last pair. It must be noted that I can only knit for about 15 minutes before I get distracted; I am not a power knitter. I usually knit as a time filler between other activities.
Photo description: newly finished toe-up striped purple socks with ribbed arch knitted from Cascade Yarns self striping yarn, toe and heel from Cascade solid color yarn
I knitted these by feel and measurements, rather by row, and that also helped save me time. The ribbed arch is a personal preference that I added to the basic sock instructions.
Photo description: socks on feet, ribbing is right on the arch
That the socks match almost perfectly is pure serendipity. Or fabulous planning by the yarn manufacturer. I split the skein of yarn in two by winding one cake until I reached half the weight, then wound the second cake of yarn. I knitted from the center of each yarn cake, one per sock. I used a coordinating solid color for the toes and heel to avoid disrupting the stripe pattern. To be honest, I’m a little sad that they match so well, I rather like coordinated mismatched socks. Hm.
Here is a cute teacher gift: crocheted pencil bookmarks. They make up quickly, use just single crochet, and use up yarn scraps, or those cute tiny skeins. I made these in May of 2015 using this pattern from LittleOwlHut on Ravelry.
Important note, as you crochet these curl. To get them flat, steaming them works well. You can also iron them between two thin layers of cotton. If you choose to do blocking (getting them wet and laying flat to dry), pin them down well.
Critters and Craft 