royal purple princess rabbit

The Spanish Inquisition's favourite colour is purple. Consequently, there's a lot of that going around our house right now.


The matching wasn't actually on purpose, although I don't think Pd believes me. The dress on the right is from Roots, which so far she has refused to wear, but I am harbouring hopes. (The upside of having a toddler with definite opinions is that she changes her mind like a toddler — which is to say, like the wind.) The knit on the left is  Roo, from Twist Collective.

I have had this pattern queued since before the Spanish Inquisition was born — since before I was even pregnant. I even waited patiently until she was old enough to really do it justice (it's not really a pattern for babies, is it?). She had a growth spurt earlier this summer, and it's become obvious that not a thing from her spring wardrobe is going to fit her this fall, so it was the perfect time. The yarn is Berroco Ultra Alpaca in "deep purple," which was surprisingly ideal; I was worried that the alpaca would be too drapey, but the merino and tight twist firm it up and it has the proper coat stiffness.

And ... it's too small (and she hasn't even worn it yet!). I'd measured her chest; it's about 20" (which, yes, is like the 18-month size, but she's a skinny bean). I knit the 22" size, to be safe, and for once I cannot even blame gauge because — and I never do this, really — I made a gauge swatch and I blocked to measurements. To measurements! And yet, it's too small. I tried to see if we could repurpose it as an open-front cardigan, but the armscye is too tight to be comfortable and she wanted it off right away.

So, no go. It breaks my heart to have to take it apart — it's a beautiful coat, it really is — so we're going to keep it for the kidlet, or give it to someone if the kidlet turns out to be the kind who doesn't like purple. It won't go to waste. And, meanwhile, I had a lot of the same yarn left over, so I am going to knit another one. A bigger one.

(I told my mother all this, and she laughed at me. It's all her fault, really: when I was growing up, she would buy or knit things for me to "grow into." Except I never grew as fast as she anticipated, so things were always baggy or too big — and now I hate baggy clothes and knit almost all my sweaters with negative ease. She's still at it, though. She likes to buy the Spanish Inquisition clothes, but this fall she's decided to up the ante to 3T so that she can "grow into it," and I've had to tell her that, yes, she will ... next year. I've now started a drawer full of 3T clothes that we can pull out when she's big enough. It's actually very useful, given the Spanish Inquisition's sudden growth spurts. But there really isn't a way to make snowpants that are three inches too long "work," and yes, we tried.)

Anyway, I haven't started yet, because while the knit itself was enjoyable (the first time), the second time 'round it's just ... demoralizing. And I've got all this to give my attention to:



Maybe I should consider doing the 3T thing after all.

easing back into it

It's that time of year again!


Okay, no, it really isn't. That would actually be a little insane; even I know that. Although — all of my "October" nesting magazines have arrived, and they all have ads on the back for their November/Christmas/entertaining issues. So it's not outside of the realm of possibility.

It's just that it's been literally years. Remember how I was going to sell some of my designs? And then I was completely bowled over by a bout of flu right at the beginning of December ... and then I got pregnant ... and then I had a whirling dirvish of an 18-month-old ... and now it's three years later, and I still haven't finished the cards I'd pre-printed in 2010. (You can see them, in the top left of the photo, the gold and red.)

So maybe it's about time. I've been feeling the itch for a few days now. Also, I'm trying to plan ahead. I think, by the time Christmas-card season rolls around, I'm going to have a bit more trouble leaning forward. And this way I can do a few at a time, instead of trying to mass-produce everything inside of a week; that part was always a bit insane (but very characteristic, admittedly).

I spent a couple of hours last night just doodling calligraphy, practicing swashes and getting my hand back. I'd forgotten how lovely and relaxing calligraphy can be.

(I just realised I'd promised you knitting, oops. There will definitely be knitting later — I just finished a sweater dress for the Spanish Inquisition; you can see it (the green thing) at the top of the photograph. I just need to get my act together and actually take pictures of things.)

catching up

The weather has turned cold, I'm wearing my beloved jackets and wooly socks (sometimes) again, so — it must be fall, and time for me to get back to blogging.

(I say this, and we are in the middle of a one-day heat wave — 40-degree Humidex and everyone is running for air-conditioned cover. O well. At least the light is right.)

I didn't mean to go dark. To be fair, that means almost nothing; I never mean to go dark. This summer passed in a haze of fatigue and nausea, which would have made me entirely cranky if I hadn't been too sick to have moods. (Pd will probably tell you that this is not true. I had moods. I had, in fact, two that I spent a great deal of time veering between: tired, and difficult. Oh, and hungry. Is hunger a mood?) Anyway, it's very hard to blog when one is trying to either a) sit very, very still whilst avoiding looking at the computer,  or, better option, b) lying prone on the sofa, so: no blogging. And, sadly, not much gardening, either, so the garden is a right mess that I have washed my hands of until next spring.

 Because, yes, absolutely, I think it is going to be so much easier to garden when we've got a toddler and another wee kidlet. I'm starting to imagine the garden as something akin to retirement planning — and by "akin," I really mean "part of; not executed until." This could be applied to other things, too, like "time," or "positive bank account balance."

Meanwhile, the Spanish Inquisition turned two. She continues to be a reasonably happy kid, and we are very lucky that, so far, the two's have not hit the terrible stage. On the other hand, there is definitely a palpable change from, say, 18 months. To whit: the kid runs (see picture). She started walking later than usual, and so is making up for lost time by being speedy. Consequently, I have lots of summer vacation photographs, not so many not-blurry ones. And even then, they are usually of her moving.

Enough, now. I'm still organizing photos back into Flickr so it will probably be a couple of days before the next post, but I will be back. I have so much knitting to show you! The kidlet is due in winter, so my mind has been living there — that's what pregnancy does; it collapses the seasons in between. So I have been planning and planning, and knitting like a fiend.

weekly bloom: rose in bloom

Last week was a wash, literally: so wet and wild that there was no gardening, nor gardening pictures, to be had.  All that rain destroyed the Oriental poppies, which had just started to bloom:


Poppies are not terribly robust flowers (though the foliage is fine), so the plants were flattened and pushed by the rain. This was the best picture I could get, and you see, it's lying on the ground. All of the other blooms have been smashed to pieces by the heavy rain. It looks like there may be a second wave of bloom, a very small one, in the next few days — but they'll be done for the season after that, I'm afraid. Which is a pity. Otherwise I'm very pleased, though; they're exactly what I wanted: white with deep purple streaks.

There was another peony, too, on the second shrub — the one I planted last year — and it was of generally the same shade and size as the first. I'm surprised at how well they match, and very pleased that it bloomed the first year, even if it's just one. The garden is fast establishing itself, finally.

Speaking of which: roses! The backbone of the front garden are the roses, which hem it on two sides. (The anchor is the serviceberry tree, which I can't do anything about. And I don't know what to call the lavender — carpeting, maybe? Filler?) I planted them in the spring of 2012, three species: 'The Fairy,' which are miniature pink roses, maybe a foot or two tall; 'Amber Sun,' which are slightly bigger and vermillion, and 'Graham Thomas,' which is the most traditional of the three, with big, robust flowers on a six-foot shrub. The first two roses took to their new digs like ducks to water, but 'Graham Thomas' merely sent out one lonely (but beautiful) bloom before dormancy in October.

It's still a bit too early for 'The Fairy' — although I can see the buds forming now — but both the 'Graham Thomas' and 'Amber Sun' shrubs burst into bloom this week. I was so excited that I ran outside and took some quick pictures yesterday, despite the dreary weather:





The 'Graham Thomas' roses are the most perfect buttery yellow, and there are oh, so many of them, and the 'Amber Sun' roses are as adorable (and prolific) as ever. And the best part is that they are both repeat bloomers, which means now that they've started, they're liable to keep going until fall. Which, again,  is just about perfect.

weekly bloom: at long last

I'm a little late posting this. This picture was actually taken last Thursday and, given the heavy rain we've had since, this particular bloom is no more. It bowed more and more throughout the week, until one day I came home and the petals had exploded away.

Still, though. A peony! This one came from a root I planted three years ago, which originally came from my father-in-law's garden, and it's a complete surprise: one, because the dratted plant hadn't bloomed yet, though it had grown foliage every year (this year was its Last Chance; I said this year I would replace it with a rose if it didn't bloom; perhaps it heard me); and two, because it came from a clump of peonies my father-in-law had divided, no one had any idea what colour it would. It could conceivably have been white, pale pink, or this, a deep magenta.

There's another peony that I think is about to bloom; it's the one I planted last year and it's a singleton, as well. I suspect it's also a dark magenta. I had to admit that I am partial to pale pink peonies myself, but I'm quite fond of the magenta, too. Also: it's a peony. There's nothing not to love. Maybe next year there will even be more.

It's been very dreary and rainy (and relatively cold!) this week, so I haven't really worked on the garden or taken any pictures. The Oriental poppies are starting to pop up, and the irises have come and are thinking of leaving. On the weekend, I planted a large hosta (to replace the one that hadn't made it through the winter), an alpine anemone, and some lovely blue delphiniums. I don't think the delphiniums are going to take, though. I may have been a little too rough on them during transplant — we shall see. But they are so lovely that I may just swallow my pride and get more.