My Blue July

Last week was cloudy, gray, and humid with only spots of blue sky here and there. The only evening I could sit on the patio and look up into blue sky (with puffy white clouds) was Wednesday and I took full advantage. As I sat there, enjoying the warmth, Project Spectrum popped into my head and I ran to grab the camera. My favorite blue is the sky, any shade of sky from dawn to dusk, as long as it's shades of blue. I'm ready for summer to cough up blue skies again.

I have been derelict in my duty of showing the skyline. There was a time my camera was a constant companion but, I've fallen out of the habit of carrying it around. I will try to do better and I'll try to blog a little more frequently. I love my blog peeps, my friends, and I don't want to go away (not at this time). Things could still get dicey from time to time but, if I plan ahead a little, blogging may be doable.

As it turns out, everything on my needles is a shade of blue.  The long-suffering Pyromania has been hidden deep inside my knitting bag.  I haven't put in the time to start the stockinette leg, as the side detail has derailed forward progress (due to the age old mental block).  Knit will happen.

Blue Whale is hot off the needles, but OMG! I ran out of yarn 15 stitches before the bind off was complete! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?  I admit this happenstance just about defeated me, as I was already thinking this scarf was an endless project.  Looking in the stash for a suitable yarn, to finish the last few bind off stitches, left me totally deflated. BUT, when I saw the little sock bag, tucked inside my knitting bag, I knew, KNEW instantly, Forever in Blue Jeans would save me, and it did.  Thank GOODness! Show and tell later.

There is one project I've been knitting without full disclosure. My Blue Mondo, the Profundo Azul edition, has been growing in fits and starts but, dooode, it is growing and I'm loving its depths of blue with hints of sea green. 

July has the possibility of becoming my blue heaven.

The Rain Stopped

...and the veggies came on big time! 

Friday night, and Saturday morning,we spent quite a bit of time in the garden and I thinned the carrots, cut the garlic scapes, thinned the beets, and weeded my already miniscule ass right off.  It was exciting to see that recent rains have not dampened the gardens desire to grow goodies!  There are little peppers and baby squash, as well as blossoms, and bees, and peas and, and, and! It's quite exciting.(Sorry I didn't get a picture of the beet greens.  They were young and delicious.)

See the baby squash behind the blossom? 
Growing a green and beautiful garden is worthy of Project Spectrum's June selection of GREEN! Right?

Got A Life

My intention was to post at least 4 days this week, but life, my life, got in the way.  Nothing major, nothing urgent, just living and doing and being kept me from the blog. The garden is a big draw in the summer months, but the weather was frightful on Sunday! Over an inch of rain fell in less than 24 hours (can't believe it? check out Steph's blog) and, it was cold enough we turned the heat back on AND, I had to wear socks again! (And, if you want to see how much snow is still in the mountains check out Cheryl's pictures--and her fabulous new shawl.)  Holy macaroni!  Anyway, we decided to go on our annual movie trek.  We saw the new Pirate movie, which was fun, but being in a theater also renewed our understand of the lack of desire we have to sit confined with 100 strangers.

Monday the weather was beautiful and after work I headed to the garden.  While Smith planted and tended his darlings, I did a little weeding, and then walked over the check the neighbors strawberry patch*. How's this for June's Project Spectrum color?

There is so much potential in this little strawberry patch and, while the birds (robins) eat their fair share along the edges, betwixt and between, the intrepid searcher can find many hidden gems. 

Since I was quite intrepid, we had plenty of the little jewels to eat with a bowl of ice cream. Finally, or so it seems, summer has arrived. Everyday has been beautiful and warm since since the longest day of the year.  Thankfully.

*The neighbor is out of town and gave me permission to harvest anything and everyting. We've enjoyed lettuce, peas, beets (baby beets from thinning the plants), as well as the strawberries from his garden. 

Spectrum Perfection

The weekend weather was a mixed bag of clouds and sun, but temperatures stayed in the mid-70 range, just right for patio time. I sat in patches of shade to read, knit, sip a bit of tea, and completely relax.  The sky was beautiful at all times; the sunrises, the sunsets and every hour in between, as clouds wove colors of gray, lavender, pink and salmon through the shades of blue.

Sunrise Sunday

Last Sunday, thunder rumbled and for a short time rain danced in the streets, but the weather never quite forced us in.  The occasional, and short lived rain, covered the hosta leaves with pearls and freshened the air.

The greens of the natural world feed my soul, the jewels left by a summer storm a crowning glory.

You May Be Surprised

The truth is, I have a favorite green. It's sharp, springing and some would say, poisonous. My embroidery teacher used the term "poison" for a color that would change the viewers perception of the colors around it.

This jar is the first thing I thought of when Beverly asked if we could share our favorite red or green objects and, since declaring my dislike of the color green, I thought I'd surprise you by sharing the only green object in my house. 

This jar is not only my favorite green object, it's one of my favorite objects period. The color, the relief on the sides, the fact that it was given to me by a friend, and that it's a jar...every bit of it gives me a lift.

You may not be surprised to learn I have a lone skein of green yarn. Just one. It's in was a kit for a pair of socks I have yet to knit. The depths of the color green Kim achieves are glorious, even to an eye of a non-green lover.

That's it...there isn't much green in my daily life except for flora, my favorite style of green.

Green(s)

It's no secret, green is not a color I like, wear or enjoy.  There are a few green colors (I won't name names), that turn me cold, greens I truly do not like, but do not dispair the world is full of good greens.

Smith planted half a row of kale, a beautiful green row of kale, and the first thing I thought of was kale chips.  Several friends have made and enjoyed this healthy snack, so I did a little research and found a recipe I liked.

After cutting, washing, and drying (thoroughly) the kale I mooshed it around in a baggy to give it a lovely olive oil bath.  The leaves were then laid out in a sinlge layer on a cookie sheet, sprinkled with red chili flakes, and put it into a 350 oven.

Fresh from the oven they were lightly sprinkled with kosher salt and left to cool. The first batch was consumed completely by moi. I could.not.stop. eating. I made six batches (about 8 large leaves), but made a couple of goofs...I left in the stems (...lazy...next time I'll cut them out) and the leaves were a little too large for easy consumption.  The next batch will be perfect.

Within hours we had consumed all of the kale, in the form of roasted, spicy, crispy and lovely green kale chips. Healthy, delish, and addicting.

It's June!  Time for some green PS love. Yes, truly.

Finding Voice

It's gray, dreary and chilly.  I feel silly for complaining about the weather when I am safe, dry and have a roof over my head.  But, (isn't there always a "but") this constant gray, lack of warmth and sun, and general wetness (we are not used to wet) has just about frayed my last nerve. 

On the good side, while picking arugula and radishes Sunday afternoon, I found it exceptionally easy to weed.  Just giving the weed a little push with the thumb, which releases the ground around it, and the whole plant comes right out, down to its tiniest root.  I quite easily plucked a bucket full of various noxious weeds and actually found joy in the process.  The real joy was our first taste of the garden, a delicious salad of arugula, radishes and chives (flowers and all).

My knitting has been monogamous as Curatio has been a cure for gloom.  Kim's Pearl, in the New England Red colorway, has been sunshine on my needles. The bright and happy color has been just what I need and looping its soft strand around the needles has given me hours of pleasure.  I've made many mistakes, silly, stupid mistakes which are too numerous to count.  Tinking back, or frogging, has been a big part of the process but, I just keep plugging along, and Curatio will soon be finished.  She is the sunshine of my life and perfect knitting for May's Project Spectrum (which doesn't mean I'll be knitting something in every color of PS).

Have a wonderful Holiday weekend, everyone!  Here's hoping it will BE a summer kickoff for those of us in need of warmth.

PS - I Love You

The sewing up of a pair of pajama pants went much as my knitting does.  I'll need to invest in a seam ripper if this sewing hobby decides to stick around.  After getting the machine oiled, properly threaded, the bobbin wound, and cutting out two pattern pieces, (front and back), I sat down and started the process of seaming. 

Sewing felt good, the seams went together quickly, but when I held up my finished project, it was impossible to make heads or tails of it.  It was impossible to make legs or waist from it....seriously, what did I do?  Slowly, carefully, I unpicked the seams, then laid the pieces on the floor to better see the problem. One by one (as the light bulb went on) I picked them up, and began anew, to sew a very easy pair of pants together. Apparently, my MO is to make everything harder than it is.

It didn't take long to hem the legs and thread twill tape for a drawstring, and while they're not what you'd call chic, they're not too shabby, either.  Mission accomplished, a fancy, dancy pair of RED PJ pants for lounging around the house.  Where's my martini!?

PS5 - Red!

The minute Lolly posted a reprise Project Spectrum, I knew I was in.  And now, it's MAY, time to celebrate the return of Spring with something Red!  This time Project Spectrum will be stress free, totally into inspiration and fun...playing with color as the main attraction.

Like Vicki, I hope to do some dyeing, natural dyeing, perhaps and there will be photography, cooking, sewing, knitting and anything else that strikes my color fancy. This is the merry Month of RED and kick of Project Spectrum with a celebration, I pulled out my trusty sewing machine, circa 1970. (Is it an antique yet?)

She's stood me well all these years and, even though it took an epiphany to remember how to wind a bobbin, she's still working well (it's me I'm not sure of).

Finding needles for this little puppy, procuring fabric and pattern, washing and drying said fabric, took most of Saturday. All I really want, and what started this whole sewing thing, is a simple pair of pajama pants, no elastic in the waist,  no pockets, just plain cotton pj pants with a tie.

I've pulled out the very infrequently used shears...

...and my favorite pin cushion.  Ready set....