Yuppies*

*Young Upwardly-growing Pea Plants

I know that my Golden Sweet pole peas need some support as they reach for the sky, so I've given them their usual teepees.

But last year, what I thought were bush peas were less bushy than I expected.  So I've tried to give them something to cling to, as well.  It's for their own good.  Floppy pea plants are easy prey for slugs.  Alas, like gangly teenagers, they resist and resent my efforts at improving their posture.  Still, I keep trying to gently rein the plants in.

(For the record, I had impeccable posture in my youth.  Having babies did it in.)

 

I'm also trying something new with potato plants.  I read, at Irish Eyes, that by gradually adding dirt, one can grow many potatoes in a small space.  I used what was on hand to build my containers (sign posts and landscape fabric), and bought three fancy, small seed potatoes to plant.  Two have sprouted so far.  Potatoes are funny about when they sprout, though, so I won't give up hope for the third.

 

We had a warm, sunny week, followed by plenty of rain.  After a fortnight, look at the potatoes:

 And the peas:

 

My lettuce is actually growing this year, too.  Onward and upward!

Goldihooks at Pemberley

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who learned how to crochet.  She began with scarves and hats.  She provided a steady supply of slippers for her family.  She tried her hand at baby sweaters and afghans, then moved on to big sweaters and afghans.  She had a lot of fun with amigurumi.  But Goldihooks was quite certain that she would never, ever crochet a dress.  It just seemed like a bad idea.  

Until, that is, she met the "Afternoon at Pemberley" pattern.  She fell in love at first sight, and knew that she would never be satisfied until she had tried it.  So she ordered some yarn, bought a new hook, and began a new adventure.

In Austentatious Crochet: 36 Contemporary Designs from the World of Jane Austen, Melissa Horozewski presents enticing patterns along with facts about Jane Austen, art from her era, and fanciful interactions between Miss Austen and her characters.  They are not period patterns, as crochet had yet to become fashionable in England, but they are designed with the Regency aesthetic in mind.  And they are beautiful.  

I love lace, and was excited to see a lacy pattern made with macroscopic yarn.  Thread crochet still scares me, and the "silky bamboo blend" of Caron Spa yarn sounded delicious.  I knew this dress would be a good challenge, and I wanted to do it right.  So, for the first time ever, I made a gauge swatch.  The pattern called for the swatch itself to be blocked and pressed.  This was a tiresome part of the project, as I really wanted to just jump into the pattern.  But it is a good thing I was patient.  I ended up making three gauge swatches before finding the right hook size.  When I crocheted with the prescribed F hook, the stitches were too small.  When I tried the G hook, they were still too small.  Finally I tried the H hook, and it was just right.  So I crocheted, and I crocheted, and I crocheted.  And I renewed the book at the library a couple of times.

 

 A wonderful thing about making one's own clothes is customization.  Once one gets started, this is a long, straight pattern.  I figured out how to add an increase where I needed it, and also devised some short sleeves.  When it was long enough, I wet blocked the dress (another first!), and waited and waited for it to dry.  

Then I killed it.  Or I tried, to, anyway.  The directions included pressing the crocheted fabric to add shine and improve drape.  When I sought more information, I learned that this technique is commonly called "killing," and evokes the same sort of emotions that word brings in more literal contexts.  "Don't kill your acrylic," the naysayers warn.  "It will never bounce back again."  Interestingly, that convinced me.  I don't want to block the thing ever again.  So I pressed it, gently, under a cloth.  The jury is still out on whether I succeeded.  I'm not ready to wash it yet and find out.

I used one of my favorite patterns, Simplicity 2965, to sew a simple underdress with Casa Crepe in Celadon.  It is a shame, when a pattern actually includes pockets, to eliminate them.  But I would not be able to use pockets through the lace, so I left them out. 

"But what shall you have by way of necklace?" I could hear Miss Crawford asking Fanny (Mansfield Park, chapter 26).  I picked up this pendant at the local gem and mineral show a couple of years ago, and planned to do something with it, but hadn't gotten around to it.  When I saw that it matched the green dress so well, I knew it was time.  I didn't want the pendant to hang on a chain that might catch the lace.  So I strung it on some stretchy cord, with some oval amazonite beads, some small silverish beads, and really cheap plastic pearls from a package I'd never opened.  I'm not sure why I had them, but they worked well here.  Then I strung a green ribbon through the lace to emphasize the Empire style, and my outfit was complete.

So Goldihooks put on the crocheted dress, and it was just right.  She wore it happily, and looked forward to crocheting ever after.


I'm entering this project into the Signature Look Sew-along challenge at Project Sewn.  Is this my signature look?  Well, I certainly don't wear a dress like this every day.  But it is normal for me to wear something I've made, my own take on a classic style, regardless of trends.  And I think this outfit is pretty unique, just like my signature.  So I'll claim it!  Check out the other signature looks, and be sure to vote for your favorite on Friday!

Stash to Treasure: Completing the Set

Scoot likes to be organized.  Kind of.  Not enough to, say, keep his room clean.  That is, he claims that all his things are put away, and blames the mess on the Caterpillar.  It's mostly true.  Anyway, Scoot definitely likes to know where his sports equipment is.  Thus, when we received a promotional drawstring backpack from a pro soccer team, he immediately laid claim to it.  He packed it with shin guards and gloves, and used it well.  That bag inspired me to sew similar bags for Rollo and the Caterpillar.

But there's only so much use a cheap nylon bag can take, and it reached its limit last fall.  So I sewed a new bag for Scoot, out of the usual old denim, purple fabric left over from some long-gone maternity trousers, and the cord from his original bag.

I forgot to take a picture of it, probably because I had promised to sew one for D2, also, and intended to display them together.  D2 was at the very beginning of his sports career, and needed to hang onto his shin guards.  But suddenly it was the end of the soccer season, and I hadn't gotten around to his bag.  And he didn't seem to need one very much, until Dandelionslayer signed him up for tee-ball this spring. 

Tee-ball.  Where kids learn to swing at the ball and hit the tee, dance in the outfield, fight their teammates for possession of said ball, and throw it in the general direction of the first baseman, who is looking somewhere else.  The sport's only redeeming value is the cuteness of the children . . .

which is undeniable.

Guillemot Cove

We didn't go very far afield during the boys' spring break this week, but we did take a little hike one day. We visited Guillemot Cove, which I was afraid to pronounce when I told them where we were going. It just looks so French.

 According to an online dictionary, the pronunciation is not that bad: gill-uh-mot, almost like it looks.  It is named after a kind of bird.  The Pigeon Guillemot is supposed to live up and down the Pacific coast, but we didn't see any.  We did see a Great Blue Heron fly up and perch in a tree--kind of a weird sight.  And we saw robins, and a hummingbird, but they wouldn't stop to pose.

We hiked this trail once before, when D2 was a babe in arms and the Caterpillar and Scoot looked like this.

They're still on top of things, but a they were a little taller this week.

The Cove was so marshy we couldn't get to the beach.

So we ate a picnic and looked for signs of spring,

 like currant blossoms,

and, um, this.

This tree is probably more interesting without any leaves, so I'm glad we caught its curly branches in early spring.

It was a nice little excursion.  Where have you found spring?

Dragon Tongue Tee

Rollo recently attended a friend's belated birthday party.  Since this friend likes to play dragon games with Rollo, and it was a knight-themed party, it seemed appropriate to give him a dragon shirt.

I found a Dragon Head Silhouette by Kuba at the Open Clip Art Library.  What a fun resource!

Then I used scraps of red flannel, yellow satin, and something white to make the different parts.  I was quite pleased with the print I found for the eye.  I appliquéd the dragon to the tee shirt with a zigzag stitch, and sent it off to the fray.

Easter in the Garden

It has been a beautiful Easter day.  Here are the guys in front of the weeping cherry tree.  Aren't they handsome?  Or making weird faces, as the case may be?

The bunny over Scoot's head was a member of this family.  We all tried our hands at folding napkin bunnies, with varying success.  It was fun, though.

It was warm enough to hunt eggs outside.  The boys found them all over.

I actually took the precaution of making notes of the eggs' locations this time. 

It turned out to be unnecessary, but I felt safer with the list in my pocket.

I think we like blue and green, and we kept hoping the purple dye would turn out better.

We had some fun this morning.  More importantly, we were touched by words and music at church this afternoon.  We are so grateful for the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, and the glorious resurrection he promises to share with us. 

Happy Easter!

Musical Monday

Scoot has been studying Russia at school.  One of his recent assignments was to paraphrase the lyrics of Sting's song, "Russians."  You know, to see if he got it.  The paraphrase was supposed to reflect the ideas more than rhyme or meter, but Scoot wanted to write something singable.  So we got to hear the song quite a few times as he tried out his words.  Good thing we like it.

Here's Sting in all his eerie Cold War glory.