Garden Report

I forgot to do a weekend wind-up; I didn't actually do much crafting, though, since it was Easter. I did get a few pictures of the boys at the church Easter egg hunt.

On Easter Sunday, though, I could not get them to look at the camera. Or even stand close enough to let me get a picture of them. This was the best I could do:

Of course, I did manage to indulge my Pinterest-loving self, and made these deviled eggs:

By the way, they tasted great. I thought the apple cider vinegar used in the dye bath would alter the flavor, but it didn't.

Anyway. On to the real reason for today's post: The garden.

My vegetables are not having the greatest time of things. Not all of them, anyway. The carrots that managed to sprout, look like they're coming along.

I just kind of wish there were more of them. Still, 4 carrots in a container is 4 more carrots than I've ever grown before. These have another 5 or 6 weeks left to grow. I'll plant more in the fall, and hopefully have more success.

My cucumber plants are getting big.

Cucumber

So is the basil - I'm planning to make pesto soon, because look at it!

Basil

The beans are struggling a little bit. I don't know what's wrong, but the plants are still growing, so I guess we'll see how it goes. (It's a good thing I live in a time & place where my family's survival is not dependent on my ability to grow vegetables.)

Know what is doing great, though? The roses.

Seriously.

I even brought some of these inside.

(Also, the purchase of floral foam was one of my better ideas.)

It's almost here...

We're getting ready for Thanksgiving! Or, rather, I'm getting ready for Thanksgiving, Tim is steeling himself to deal with my family for a week, and the boys have no clue what's coming.

Yes, we'll be spending Thanksgiving with my parents & sisters this year! The last time we had Thanksgiving with either of our families was back in 2010, when we got married. Why, yes, that does mean we're celebrating five years of marriage next week!

Kind of crazy, really. In five years, we've moved across an ocean and back again, had two children, left the Navy, and adjusted to being civilians again. Well, I've managed to adjust. Tim never actually stopped being a civilian, so I don't think the transition was difficult for him. And I know he was happy to hand over the homemaking and child-rearing roles to me.

Anyway, next week the boys will get to see their grandparents again. And I'm looking forward to that, because Clinton adores his Gram and Grandpop. (I'm also looking forward to having a date night with my husband, since my mom offered to babysit for an evening.)

I'm also looking forward to someone else being responsible for cooking the turkey. I roasted a turkey last year, and it was kind of stressful for me. The bird was delicious, but I was terrified of under- or over-cooking it, despite having a meat thermometer that showed me exactly when it was done. And I'm not the greatest at timing, so the mashed potatoes were a little cold, then a little too hot because I put them in a casserole dish and warmed it in the oven. The cranberry sauce was awesome, as always...but that's such a simple thing to make!

^ That's last year's feast. Of course I took a picture of it.

In Japan, we had Thanksgiving dinner with the rest of my command, and I never had to cook a turkey. And for Christmas, we ate at the Harbor View Club our first year, ordered a cooked turkey the second year, and the third year we went to a potluck at a friend's house. That was also the year I "stole" a recipe for buffalo chicken dip from a co-worker. (It was really yummy, and I noticed the recipe in a cookbook I already owned. So it wasn't really stealing, just discovering that I could make the same dish.)

Anyway, I'm excited about the coming week. It should be fun.

Testing...testing...

No, really. I have a pattern in testing right now. I had my DNA scarf test-crocheted by three very talented crocheters, who provided some very useful feedback in exchange for a free copy of the pattern. I've acted as a test crocheter and test knitter myself, but this time I was on the other side as a designer. Pretty neat, actually. (The free patterns I have posted here, my Fall Cables Lapghan and Oenfpp, were not tested prior to sharing. Also, my patterns published in I Like Crochet Magazine were not tested - the magazine has its own technical editors, but magazines have neither time nor resources to have patterns individually test-crocheted prior to publication.)

Now, I have another, somewhat smaller, pattern getting ready for self-publication:

Tea Wallets!

I've made quite a few samples, and most of them will be Easter gifts (and, really, with these pastels, they'll fit right in to the holiday.)

There are a few things I didn't anticipate when I decided to try self-publishing. I'm working through them, and every day I'm improving on my last efforts. 

My biggest challenge, I am learning, is photography. I don't have a super-fancy DSLR camera (which is probably for the best, considering I have a toddler in the house), I don't have extensive training, all I have is a willingness to take 100 pictures to (hopefully) get two or three workable ones.
Thankfully, the digital age has made this much more affordable than it was 20 years ago.

I'm also learning to create charts. This is an added challenge, since it involved learning how to use new software - I'm using Inkscape, which is open-source software similar to Adobe Illustrator. (I use open-source software whenever possible. I really don't have the budget for Adobe and Microsoft packages, even just the home versions.) But, it's pretty fun when I get that "ah-ha" moment, and the charts just magically fit together on the screen.

Anyway, the pattern for these tea wallets is on track to be released in March, just in time for some last-minute crochet Easter gifts. I'll post here when it's released, of course, but you can also stalk my Ravelry store here.

It's December What? (weekend wind-up)

It's a bit late to be posting a Weekend Wind-up, but here I am anyway.

Today was the last day to ship to/from a Fleet Post Office and be sure that your package will arrive in time for Christmas.

Momma, I am sorry, I did not get yours out in time.

But I did manage to get all the hand-knit goodies for my 6(!) nieces & nephews in the post today.
I don't want to ruin the surprise, but I don't think any of them read this blog, so here's a little peek anyway:

I hope that 1) these fit and 2) they are liked. I will even be happy with one of the two.
Oh, and those pretty hats in the middle? Both of those came from Pacific Knits, which means that this particular book can be marked as "Complete" in my little project.
(What project? The one I decided to take on a few months ago, described in this post. I'm rather terrible about updating, though - really need to work on that!)

Of course...I might have totally added a few more patterns since then. The count is up to 1091. More to come on that.

I hope you are having a lovely holiday season!

Merry Christmas!

It's getting a bit late on Christmas Eve here, in a few more hours we will find out if Santa visits Japan.
Which has me wondering, since houses here have no chimneys, how does he manage to get in? Through the shoji doors?

December has arrived.

Late last night, the wind began assaulting Sasebo. I thought it sounded spooky last night. This morning, it was so bad I was nervous to drive to work. (I didn't even leave the house until full daylight - driving was scary enough without the added factor of not being able to see the road clearly.)
It stayed windy all day. And all afternoon. And all evening. And I was working late again...hour-past-sunset late. The temperature dropped again, too. I have no cold-weather gear for work.
However, I did come home to a delicious dinner, and I put up a Christmas wreath on the front door. It's very simple - no lights, no holly, just a green wreath and a red bow. Ok, the wreath hanger does have jingle bells on it, but it's still very simple.
--as I write this, I wonder if maybe putting a wreath on the door in high winds is smart...but I just checked. It's fine.

Still figuring out what motif to use on my sister's blanket. Still just as clueless.
--ok, I haven't even made another test motif since the last few I posted. But I have an excuse. The rotary cutting set I ordered arrived yesterday, and I had to practice on some scrap fabric to get the hang of using it.

That's about it tonight. Tomorrow is Friday, though, and I have a weekend full of crafting planned! I'm even going to get the Christmas tree set up!

Post-Thanksgiving

Ok, back in the States everyone is either cooking dinner or eating dinner.
Here, it's early Friday morning, and at my house everyone is awake after the requisite post-turkey nap. Although, the restaurant where we had dinner had much better roast beef than turkey, so I supposed it should be called the post-dinner nap. Yes, we had Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant. No, I didn't cook a turkey myself. We don't have an oven.

I'm very thankful for a number of things this year:
1) I have a very wonderful family.
2) I have a 4-day weekend--especially nice considering that since I arrived, I have not had more than one day off at a time.
3) I have the two most wonderful cats on the planet (even if they do shed their weight in fur each month)
4) I have several boxes full of yarn with which to crochet fun stuff like afghans....

Speaking of which, I have been working on quite a few crochet projects. Some of them have even been completed.

For example:

This was the "practice" Crochet Kingston Hat, by Teresa Richardson. The practice was done using Caron Simply Soft yarn.

And this one was the "real deal":

Made using Berroco Lustra. I've had 4 balls of this stuff sitting in my stash drawers, waiting for the right project. Well, it's getting pretty cold here and I wanted a cool-looking, yet warm, hat. It took less than one ball of yarn, and then I had a lot left over, so...

I made this scarf to match it. It is very warm. Which is good, because our house is very cold. I definitely miss California right now. I miss central heating even more.