2012 March 20 — Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara

Texas Wild Flowers

March 20, 2012 · by JudyL

All these pictures were taken with my phone. No photoshopping! I feel like I have to say that because the scenery here is just so pretty . . it’s hard to believe the shots haven’t been manipulated.

This afternoon we had to go back to town and this is what we see between our house and town. The hill sides are covered in bluebonnets.

Folks come to this area from far and near to see the bluebonnets and all we have to do is head towards town and there they are, along the highways. Years ago, we used to travel to this area just to see the bluebonnets bloom. We never thought we’d live here and see them every day during their blooming season.

They’re absolutely gorgeous!

And on the other side of the road, where the bluebonnets aren’t blooming, it’s still gorgeous!

The fields are beautiful, the pond is beautiful and the sky is beautiful.

And then, you get to where you’re going, you park, you get out of the car and you see this:

All the way home, we were looking at the clouds and seeing what the shapes were. We saw Kentucky!

· Filed Under: Home & Garden · 22 Comments

Socks #5 for 2012

March 20, 2012 · by JudyL

The Zora socks are finished. This will not be my last pair of Zora socks. Cables are one of my favorite things to knit.

The Pattern: Zora is a well written, easy to memorize pattern. Knitting this pattern was as easy and just about as quick as knitting the plain socks pattern that I use so much. These were very simple to knit without even referencing the pattern once I got going. The only mods I made were that the instructions say to keep the stitches divided across four needles. I prefer working with stitches divided across three needles, half the stitches on one needle and one fourth of the stitches on each of the other two needles. Stitch markers were not needed but I used a counter so I didn’t have to keep counting stitches in my head.

The Yarn: The yarn is String Theory Caper sock yarn. My favorite sock yarn is always subject to change and it often changes depending on the project but I do believe my overall favorite yarn for a very long time is probably going to be this Caper yarn. It’s springy, it’s fluffy but yet tightly woven. It’s 80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon. It’s a joy to work with and so far, the socks I’ve worn that were made with Caper yarn have held up well.

The yarn color used in this project is “Bye Bye Blues”. It was a special color made for The Loopy Ewe. I couldn’t remember how I managed to get it but I think it was offered to those of us who didn’t get our lotto number drawn for The Loopy Ewe Sock Club in 2010. We were able to purchase a “consolation prize” and this yarn was included so I don’t believe it’s a color that is available now but if you look at the String Theory web page, there are lots of gorgeous blues (and other colors as well!).

These socks are a gift and I will get them in the mail tomorrow so I hope the recipient loves them as much as I do! And now . . I’m off to figure out what to knit next. So many choices . .

· Filed Under: Knitting & Weaving · 16 Comments

Potatoes & Onions

March 20, 2012 · by JudyL

As of Sunday afternoon, the fence is finished. The gates are made and installed. Planting time is here! Our first garden in Texas!

The first things planted in my garden are potatoes and onions. The potatoes should have been planted at least two weeks ago but I’ll hope for the best. I planted 5 pounds of seed potatoes and 60 onions.

There are lots of other things to plant.

Doesn’t look like much, huh? Especially since those strawberries don’t go in the garden . . they’re just being stored in there to keep them safe from the deer.

The trees don’t go in the garden either but, like the strawberries, the fenced in garden space is their refuge from the deer til we can get them planted and a fence around them. There’s our fig, a peach to replace a peach that was dead when we got here and a pear. They’re laying down because of the wind . . til we can get them planted and tied down, they’re safe.

I have lots of seeds to plant – carrots, peas, beans, okra, beets . . some are ready to plant now, the cream peas and okra need to wait another few weeks before I plant those. We’re going to be busy!