Garden in a Barrel

On Sunday I looked at this  barrel and the  sad looking impatients and decided it needed a sprucing up    The original flowers that were planted were a light pink and corral impatients.  I did not plant them so I couldn't say anything about it, but the corral waas not my favourite in that combination  But with all the rain the last month or so, the impatients needed an uplift.  So I went to a local nursery and picked up a potato vine, bacoppa and a small fuchia plant.  These are semi-shade lovers as that was I needed for this space.  I was aiming for a cascading of plants to trail over the barrel. 

 Being that I am an admirer of flowers but not usually the Gardener, which is what my husband loves, I didn't know what I was doing.   I planted these and was so impressed with myself and how it turned out I had to share.    I did keep the original pink impatients and transferred the corral ones to elsewhere in the garden.

Now everytime I  go back the barrel I fuss around the flowers to see how they are doing.   I can see how people get attached to their flowers and gardens !!

Alice xox

Knitted Flower

I decided today to show how I make a knitted flower. This is a flower I'm making for the legwarmers that I just completed. I hope you try it out. 

I started out with some left-over yarn, use a DK weight.  I used  Malabrigo Yarn Silky Merino and a size 4 mm circular needle.  You don't need a circular needle but I just prefer to use it  instead of a straight needle.


The pattern comes in different sizes but I chose a 6 petal flower, so here is what you do:

Cast  on 74 stitches  using the  long-tail cast on method..here is a video on cast on method

Row 1:  Purl

 

Row 2: :  K2, *K1 slip this st purlwise back onto left needle, lift next 9 sts on left needle one by one over this st and off the needle, yfwd twice, then knit first st again, k2.  Repeat from * to end.

Row 3: K1, *P2tog, K1,K1tbl, P1.  Repeat from *to last st, K1.

Row 4:  Knit

Row 5: P2tog to end of row.

Break yarn and thread through remaining stitches.  Use as a single flower or stack 2 together.

Tadah...  Here is the finished flower.  So simple....so sweet.  I will put a button in the center for a  finishing touch.

I hope you enjoy it !!

Alice xox

Drifting Along




Drifting by Cecily Glowick Mackdonald

 This is the back view of my current work in progress.   I have been admiring  Cecily Glowan MacDonald  patterns lately, there so many of her designs that I enjoy.    I had seen  Drifting done by one of my friends from my knit night and decided that this was something I also wanted  for summer.    I decided to work with cotton for something different and I loved this colour, it's called baked red.     It will be a super summer top, you can wear over top of a summer dress or tank top.

Once again I am challenging my knitting skills with Drifting.  I did get stumped with one of the increase instructions, right at the beginning and  couldn't find anything online, then sent my friend an email  who had knit this before and she kindly provided me with a link to a video on it.   Here is my link to my notes .

This is where I have stopped my Drifting , it would take no time to complete it, but I have legwarmers that I need to complete for  a birthday in July.   Don't know why, but I'm just not getting to those legwarmers like I should be, they really take no time to make, but I would rather pick my cardigan.   

As summer weather seems to be shy so far, it has not been too hot to knit.   I'm glad I'm working with the cotton on my cardigan, it's a different experience than working with wool all time.  Cotton is so much cooler too.

Now that I have a proper picture of my Drifting in progress it will inspire me to complete the legwarmers and get back to it, so I can enjoy wearing it this summer.

Alice xox

Kalanchoe

This morning I saw this little plant and thought I would clip the old flowers off.  But after doing it I realized that it had still lots of new buds that had not bloomed yet...too late.    This picture was taken after the clipping was done.


The plant is called Kalanchoe.   I have 2 of them and they have been my favourite flowering  house plants.  I only have had since the beginning of the year.   The ones I have are covered with fuschia pink or red flowers.   The flowers last for a couple of months and they look so fresh.   I started to dead head the flowers and discovered that new ones came back.   I guess this time I got a little ahead of the game.   

After the initial hair cut I saved the flowers and put them in this pottered water glass.

So If you want a flowering house plant that's hardy and looks beautiful and not too much fussing..this is a great one.  I don't do anything else with it except water it.    So I am learning what they are like.  One is in the bathroom and it seems to bloom longer as it's not in direct sunlight, but this one is getting alot of direct light and sun.  I don't think it will like it through the summer months of direct sunlight.   Have to find a new home.

Enjoying them side by side.

Alice xox

Day 1

I've decided to challenge myself to post something everyday here on my blog.  I want to improve my  photography skills, which I so admire in others as well as writing. .   It will be a random post.      Here is my first day.


 This is a sunflower seedling.  I planted about 6 of them a couple of weeks ago.   I wanted to show how they grow and the size they get.  I purposely place a ruler (yes that is a ruler) just for you to get a visual on the size.     Exciting..hey. !!




 This flower or vine I should say is called Bougainvillea.   It is a tropical flower.  No, we don't live a tropical climate. More like a rainforest of lately.  This is probably the 2nd time we've had it in the garden.  I honestly can't remember what happened to the first one, so we shall see with this


So, stay tuned to Day 2 tomorrow..

Alice xox

Summer Smiles

Yesterday was a day of overcast but no rain.   My husband was outside, and I followed him to see one of our clematis that was in bloom.  It was covered with the most beautiful flowers I've seen on it before.  So I quickly ran in the house for the camera to capture these awesome pictures before the rain came..   

 
 

Makes you smile

       

Up close and beautiful

   

  

Recently started a second pair of legwarmers for my nephews daughter's birthday in August.   She loves pink, so it was an easy decision.  It's the same pattern I just finished for her sister this month, I wrote about in the previous post "Ballerina Girl".     It was very much received with excitement and has been worn consistently.  A true winner of a gift !!!
 
Today this 24th day of summer and the rain has been pouring, but there really is something special to summer rain.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Alice xox

Ballerina Girl

It seems for the last couple of years I struggle with coming up with a knitted  gift to give for  my nephew's girls.  They are now 4 and 6.  As babies it was easier.   They didn't have much say in what they liked.   But now it's about getting the right size without having to get the parents involved with all sorts of measurements emailed back and forth.   I also have to mail the gift as they live out of town.     So to be  creative and fun is important at this age group.    

This year for Erin's 7th birthday I debated whether to knit a garment, which meant I have to get knitting really quickly or just go and buy something.   Of course I scoured ravelry and decided on this pattern for legwarmers.   I guess I need to back track a bit.  The reason for the legwarmers is that Erin is in ballet and  they looked so like they would be fun to knit.

The pattern I found was Legwarmies by Alana Dakos, I have always liked any pattern by Alana Dakos so I felt confident that this free online pattern was going to fit the bill.   What I didn't take into consideration was the size was geared more to a toddler size.  Not any of the finished projects on Ravelry showed girls of Erin's age.  I needed to get some advice with sizing.  

I did get a knitting friend of mine who has a seven year old daughter to give me an idea on length, the pattern asked for 9" length before blocking and it sounded small.   I was planning  to add a couple of inches for safe measure and decided to do 12" .   Once I started knitting the pattern , the cuff was in ribbing and the rest  in stocking stitch, it was starting to look loose.   I knew this little girl did not have chunky legs.   So after going to my yarn store it was suggested to knit it all in 2x2 ribbing and go down a needle size.    In other words I was going to knit a tube like sock with no feet.   Well that is exactly what I needed to do to make a wearable leg warmer that was going to stay up.

The original pattern was done in stripes and most of the projects were also done in stripes and it certainly does give a more fun appearance, but with time being a factor I didn't want to fiddle with changing colour so I went for a solid colour in washable yarn.  Erin loves pinks , but I didn't want to do a pink colour so I chose a lilac colour instead

The best part of these legwarmers was adding the knitted flowers.  I knew there was something that I needed to add to make them more fun and girlie.  I decided with a flower and a vintage button in the center.  The flowers were so quick to make and I had the perfect left over yarn to make it with,  it has a variation of purples and lilac shades.    Turned out so cute !!!

I did get pictures before I put them in the mail today.  



Pattern:  Legwarmies by Alana Dakos 

Yarn:  Debbie Bliss Cashmerino



Here is Pixie, she is checking out the action, she stepped into the shot at the last second.  

I hope that Erin will have fun with them and enjoy wearing them.

Alice xox