Speaking of food...

I love the springtime - it's exciting to get seeds started for the
garden and work outside getting the garden ready. The only problem is
that the rain gets in the way! Tim has managed to till a little bit
here and there, and the addition of 6 cubic yards of new topsoil made
the job a little bit easier. He's planted the corn and the crookneck
zucchini plants already. I'm waiting for a semi-nice day to get our
cold-resistant tomatoes out there and off of the buffet in the dining
room.

This year the plan is to grow swiss chard (which may or may not work, we're late planting it) roma tomatoes, cold set tomatoes, zucchini, corn, yellow and green beans, strawberries, basil, cilantro, rosemary, mint, parsley...and something else, but I forgot what (oh the joy of mommy brain!) I have a notoriously non-green thumb, so I think I'm going to have Tim do the planting and I'll just try to take care of the maintenance.

Watermelon!

Spring is here, and we've been really busy getting the garden in shape for planting. Before we know it, summer will be on us and we'll be enjoying the fruits of our labor. One of the best treats of summer is watermelon, in my opinion. Naturally sweet, healthy, and fun - it's part of almost every back yard barbecue and picnic. We've still got a while to wait before we can enjoy the real thing, but here is a pattern for a little watermelon wedge that you can enjoy while you wait!

Watermelon Wedge

Worsted weight yarns in red, white, green, and black.
G hook
polyester fiberfill or other fill
yarn needle
　
FRONT AND BACK
Make 2
With red, ch 2
1. Work 2 sc in second ch from hook. Ch 1, turn.
2. Sc in each sc. Ch 1, turn. (2 sc)
3. Inc in each sc. Ch 1, turn. (4 sc)
4. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (6 sc)
5. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn. (6 sc)
6. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (8 sc)
7. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (10 sc)
8. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn. (10 sc)
9. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (12 sc)
10. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (14 sc)
11. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn. (14 sc)
12. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (16 sc)
13. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (18 sc)
14. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn. (18 sc)
15. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (20 sc)
16. Inc in first sc, sc across to last sc, inc in last sc. Ch 1, turn. (22 sc)
17. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn. (22 sc)
18. Sc in first 9 sc, inc in each of the next 4 sc, sc in last 9 sc. Sw to white. Ch 1, turn. (26 sc)
19. Sc in each sc across. Sw to green. Ch 1, turn. (26 sc)
20. Sc in each sc across. Break off yarn. (this is the right side)
Using black yarn, make seeds on the right sides of the front and back by backstitching several times in the same spot. Make as many or as few seeds as you like.
　
SIDES
With red, ch 6
1. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn. (5 sc)
2 - 18. Sc in each sc across. Sw to white yarn. Ch 1, turn.
19. Sc in each sc across. Sw to green yarn. Ch 1, turn.
20. sc in each sc across. ch 1, turn.
21 - 47. Sc in each sc across. Sw to white yarn. Ch 1, turn.
48. Sc in each sc across. Sw to red yarn. Ch 1, turn.
49. Sc in each sc across. Ch 1, turn.
50 - 68. Sc in each sc across. Break off yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Sew the side piece to one of the front/back pieces starting at the tip and working your way around. I whipstitched, but use whatever joining method you like. Sew the other front/back piece to the other side, stuffing before it is fully closed. Break off yarn and weave in ends.

Have fun!

TGIF

Well, I spoke too soon. We had yet another weekend of another stomach virus, starting with the baby and hitting everyone except for the eleven year old. I finally broke down and used bleach and disinfectants to clean everything. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate using chemicals to clean, but after months of doctor visits and general misery, I just had to do something to try and prevent my family from going through all of this again.


Right before the last one struck, I finished up a small knitting project. Now, I'm not a skilled knitter. I just recently taught myself and my FO list is rather small and simple. But I had just a little bit of yarn leftover from a soaker I made for my 15 month old and it was so pretty that I couldn't just let it sit. So I just decided to cast on and start knitting and see what it would become!






I just knit in stockinette, throwing in a couple of rows of garter stitch in the trim color here and there, and decided that it would make a nice little pouch bag clutch type thingy to keep stuff in. I had the perfect button for it in my sewing box, and I found a fat quarter of cute spotted fabric that matched it pretty well to sew inside for a liner.




I had to hand sew the liner in since I don't have a machine (I broke the last one I had and just decided to give up on learning to sew for the time being).

So, it was a fun little project, but I've got to say that I don't think knitting is ever really going to do it for me the way crochet does. It's nice and all, but it's not nearly as fun IMHO. I'll keep on knitting so that I'll be able to make some of the great combo pieces I've seen, but it will never ever replace crocheting as my fiber art of choice!

BTW, the gorgeous yarn I used is DoodleBirds Beach Vacation colorway on Marvelous Merino.