…Joining Ginny’s YarnAlong, sharing what I’m knitting and reading…

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I saw some adorable knitted baby booties here on Ginny’s blog awhile back and added them to my Ravelry queue. My stepsister and her husband had a baby boy that just turned two months old and I’ve been wanting to knit something for him. (I don’t think they ever read my blog, so don’t think I’ll be ruining the surprise by writing this.) These booties popped into my head and I knew they’d be the perfect thing to knit. I just finished the first one and started on the second. I’m knitting with some handspun alpaca yarn from Melissa’s shop on Etsy: Wild Faerie Caps. I love this yarn (it’s so soft) and took awhile to knit with it because I used it to put next to our buttons when I photographed them for Etsy. Ha! I’m so glad I’m finally knitting with it, rather than using it for my photography prop. These booties are not using up all the yarn I have, so I’m planning on using the rest towards some fun multi-colored socks for Bracken.

I think this pattern will become a favorite go-to knit for baby gifts. I was surprised when I first started knitting them since they are knit flat, rather than in the round, and then stitched up the back. It was fun to see them transform into something with shape! The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn and this handspun yarn is a little chunkier so the booties are a little bigger, which is fine by me.When I cast off, it was tighter than I would like. Next time I make them it would be good to learn a cast off method that gives more stretch.

(Posted on Ravelry here.)

I’m still reading Steve Solomon’s gardening book. I’m learning a lot and think it’s a must read for anyone gardening in this area. I’m learning how important it is to put nutrients into your soil so that the food you grow in it has nutrients! So simple, really, but such a good message. We read that certain vegetable contain certain nutrients. But what if the soil is depleted? Then the food we grow in it is depleted. This is an important topic! After reading about compost, I’ve been getting some ideas. I’d like to keep our compost out back for garden refuse. And then the compost from our kitchen (the bits that don’t get fed to the chickens), I’d like to put in a small compost barrel out the back door with worms. Worm composting- a whole other area to learn about. 

I like learning about the soil and composting and it’s an important foundation to learn about gardening, but I’m getting anxious to start learning about the specific vegetables.

How about you? 

Reading any good books? Any knitting projects on your needles?