Bird's Nest Knits: May 2007

It's been a busy month to say the least, and finally after weeks and weeks, I have the time and the motivation to catch you all up on life at the bird's nest.

The weather has warmed up considerably and with that comes the bounty of spring gardening. Absinthe had mentioned to me last year that she was growing her tomatoes using EarthBoxes. I tried to make my own which was an exercise in poor execution so this year I bought myself a few of them and have been absolutely pleased as punch. The tomatoes and green beans are growing out of control and I'm expecting within the next couple of months to be swimming in tomatoes which will end up being stewed and jarred for sauce.

I've got three Earthboxes set right now, two with tomatoes and various beans and peas, and another that has my herbs, peppers and bibb lettuce. I tried doing strawberries but no such luck with that one. I've got two more boxes in the garage that I'm waiting on some seedlings to get a little bigger to plant.

The roses have also been going crazy and I've been cutting flowers almost every day to bring into the house. Kind of interesting to see how they've grafted on a lovely variety onto the trunk of a cheaper, hardier version. Which really just means that I have not kept up on my pruning of said roses. Shocker eh?

Mr. Bird was sad to hear that my favorite flower is now the two color rose as opposed to my standard tulips, which in the greater scheme of things is much more affordable. Heh. I'm going to plant some more of the bi-color roses on the side of the driveway so I can have as many as I could possibly desire.

I did a bit of traveling in April, out to Virginia for a wedding, and then up to NYC to visit my brother in law. I don't get to see my East Coast cousins all that much and we aren't very close. I did enjoy spending time with Tina and Vu, my dad's younger brother's children who I hadn't seen since my sister's wedding two years ago. They are quite a bit younger than myself and Mr. Bird, still kids really, but totally great. We had a chance to get closer with them, and with my cousin Liz and her 4 sisters. It was her younger sister who was getting married. They say that all brides look beautiful on their wedding day but I'll have to assert that she looked especially stunning. Mr. Bird and I were there with my parents and my younger sister.

After the wedding we hopped on the train at Union station and went up to NYC. It was a pretty quick trip, only about 3 hours there and I was armed with what all travelers should have - ticket, iPod, and knitting.

I made it through the Book Thief which is this month's reading for our little knitters Book Club. I'm still trudging along on Mariah - moving onto the back now. I'm going to keep some ribbing and a couple of cables going up the side to the underarm I think instead of straight stockinette. Would it kill me to strictly follow the directions? I wouldn't know - I don't think I've ever NOT made some change to just about every pattern I've done.

I have actually finished something - my first finished product of the year. Considering that it's May that doesn't bode well for my track record so far.

Yarn: Curious Creek Fibers - Serengeti 100% Superwash Merino
Needles: Size 5 KnitPicks Options
Pattern: Basic short row toe-up with a short row heel. The cuff pattern is my own, just a wee pair of mini cables up each side. Picot bind off for stretchiness.