Knitting and sowing

 I started a new project at the end of February, It's one I've knitted before, the Whitmore sweater by Ami Louden.  I'm using yarn that's been in my stash for a few years, Hayfield Sundance DK which I bought at one of the NEC shows with this project in mind.  It's a 50% acrylic cotton mix so should be perfect for the Spring/Early Summer.

I got the ribbing done on the neck the first night.

And this is how it's looking five days later.  It doesn't look very much for five evenings of knitting, but in my defence it is a lace pattern and each row is different so you are constantly checking what needs to be done, although with the exception of a couple of rounds that I found difficult to memorise once you have knitted a few repeats you get a feel for it. 

Forty nine rounds made up the first part of the yolk followed by second part of eight rounds.

Each section of lace pattern is separated by stitch markers, so if you do make a mistake it's easy to see where you've gone wrong.  I've put the stitches on a stitch cord to try it on, and so far so good.  Once I split for the sleeves I've try it on again.

That's all I'm working on at the moment, I'm enjoying it and as yet don't have the urge to cast on anything else.  I still haven't picked up any stitching.

I popped to the garden centre on Monday and bought my onion sets along with some peas.  I noticed that they were selling loose pea and bean seeds so instead of buying a packet of runner bean seeds for £3.49 I had the same amount for just over £1  There were a number of varieties to choose from so I asked for advice and was told that the Enorma variety was the best seller and the one they sold out of first, so that's the one I bought.

I bought the dahlia tubers from B&Q.  I've avoided dalilah's for years, the last lot I planted didn't grow very well and the slugs devoured them, but I loved this colour so we'll have to wait and see how they fair.

My tomatoes and the beans are all sowed, I should have enough tomatoes for the allotment and at home.

Margaret asked about our allotment.  It's not an allotment in the traditional sense as we don't have as much growing space as those would give, those are run by the local council and it's really hard to get one, even though a lot of them are overgrown and obviously not tended.  Ours is a smaller plot on a former potato field, they are managed by Roots which is more like a community scheme I suppose.  We do pay more than a council plot would cost but as I said, council plots come with disadvantages.  When you get your plot on a Roots site it is already laid out and fresh compost added, If you give your plot up you have to clear it or pay them to clear it for you, so you can start growing right away.  All garden tools, water, compost, manure and chippings are on site and available for all to use.  At the start of every season we get a growing pack with seeds and information on growing.  There in an online members site where you can ask questions, get information and there are also courses you can book onto.  They are no dig and try to be as eco friendly as possible, no plastic is allowed on site.  I liked that we could start growing right away last year and most of what we grew was from free plug plants we were given when we signed up.  We pay £20 per month, but as I share it with my daughter we pay a tenner each.  We're both ok with that and for what we get I don't think it's bad at all and the plot size we have is plenty big enough to grow what we need.  They have schemes all over the UK, If you click on the link it will take you to their site and you can read more about them.

The nice weather has continued all week and I'm still trying to make the most of it, I jet washed the drive yesterday so that's another outside chore crossed off my list.  I heard on the radio that today was the warmest day so far this year, it was 15°c here but not as sunny as previous days.  Looks like it's set to continue into next week after a couple day with some showers.

Have a lovely weekend.

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