Knitting in shades of Spring

Stress knitting, or rather knitting to un-stress has been my thing these days. Especially knitting little bitty things that give me quick results and cuteness. And with the seemingly endless waiting that is such a big part of our life right now in the world of domestic adoption. (waiting for "the call" waiting for a match, waiting for the Goober to find us...) I've done quite a bit lately!

First in pictures is this little baby cap the Fixation Newborn Hat from Ravelry. I love this pattern for the simplicity and cuteness factor. And since I was knitting and sitting and listening alot, at a performance my sister-in-law was in, this was the perfect thing.

And then I discovered the Milo!


I know I'll be making many of these little vests. The pattern is so easy once you see how it goes together and it is a total stash buster, using such a small amount of yarn. I love it! The cable variations that the pattern suggests will make for some nice little changes and with different yarns and sizing from 3 months to 4 years, I'll be knitting these for years! This one reminds me of celeriac so that's what I call it.

So, as for the news on the adoption front, there's no baby to report. We have now been officially waiting for over 17 months and trying to keep our spirits up. Our agency is going through some major personnel changes, which is very disconcerting. And it seems that many folks are waiting a very long time, not just at our agency. We did just attend a big Adoption Conference and immersed ourselves in classes and conversations about birth families, open adoption and openness in adoption. We did meet up briefly with the new director of our agency, which was a nice surprise and spent a few minutes catching up with our social worker as well. We'll be meeting with the new director next week to discuss where things stand and talk about opportunities for networking and anything else we can do to ease the waiting.

Luckily, we're heading quickly into planting, harvesting and preserving season. We have plans for garden and season expansions, as well as gaining some new food preserving skills. And maybe starting to plan the chicken coop! So, we'll keep ourselves busy and out of trouble as much as possible...but always ready to drop everything at a moment's notice to go and meet our Goober.

Spring socks and seedlings

I finally finished Michael's Valentine's Day socks. They are a basic top-down sock recipe made up in a lovely sock yarn called "Smooshy" in color Blue Lagoon by Dream In Color. Not totally dye-fast. My fingers and bamboo needles had telltale signs of blue, but lovely stuff none-the-less. And now that Michael is a convert to home-made sock goodness, I need to keep this thing going!


I'm prepping another round of seedling pots for the next week of seed starting in the basement.


I'm happy to say the halved TP rolls with newspaper strip bottoms have worked out pretty well. This is the second year I've used them filled with purchased seeding mix from Gardener's and I've had pretty good luck. A little bit of a mold thing happens on the sides of the pots, but my chamomile tea spray and setting the trays out when it is sunny, seems to keep it in check. Hard to say wether that has something to do with the cardboard, the plastic trays or the basement itself. But, it doesn't seem to be holding us back. This week the tomato and basil seedlings are starting to take off!

So, onto the IDC update...

Plant something – Planted turnips and parsnips outside. Cleared out and amended a few more beds for planting. Started more sprouts in the kitchen.

Harvest something – Asparagus

Preserve something – Started a new Sourdough starter and started a new yogurt culture.

Waste Not – The usual.

Want Not – Pulled out a bunch of clothes for mending. Finished making another pair of socks and a few bits for the Goober.

Build Community Food Systems – Wrote the first article of the season for the organic garden at work. Helping on the Earth Day Committee at work.

Eat the Food – Made a fresh batch of yogurt, enjoyed the first warm slices of a fresh loaf of sourdough bread, enjoyed steamed asparagus a few times this week, great with local eggs!

Signs of Spring!

Raspberry canes leafing out.

Garlic coming up in rows.

Asparagus heads poking up last week...

...and this morning.
Rhubarb last week...

...and this morning.
And as for the IDC update, things are beginning to gear up!

Plant something – started tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, flowers and herbs inside under grow lights. Spread clover on a few beds for green cover. Cleared out and amended a few beds for planting.

Harvest something – Chives

Preserve something – Nothing this week.

Waste Not – Using more TP rolls and newspaper for my seedling pots. Saved rinsed out paper coffee cups from work for repotting some seedlings. Started another compost pile. Brought my Nana's sewing machine in for a tune-up.

Want Not – Found another pyrex small casserole dish with cover and a large pyrex measuring cup at Salvation Army.

Build Community Food Systems – Volunteered to help with the garden at church. Scheduled a meeting with a friend to help her plan her garden.

Eat the Food – Down to the last of the beets, sweet potatoes and butternuts from winter storage. Planning some meals around those... butternut parmesan soup, butternut pecan muffins, sweet Potato fries, sweet potato pancakes, maple roasted beets and beet slaw...not all at once!