First crocheted item - v-stitch hat

I crocheted myself a v-stitch hat! I even figured out the number of v's to use by myself, because I couldn't figure out the instructions I was trying to use!

Pro: I love the ruffly brim, and the bright pink on black combo.

Con: It makes me look like a chemo patient with no hair even more than most hats do.

I broke my cheap plastic crochet hook right before the end, so I stopped by A Verb for Keeping Warm in Oakland and bought a proper steel one. Of course I also bought some soft Merino yarn while I was there.

One can never have too many crafting hobbies, I say.

Homegrown potatoes

I was ridiculously excited to dig up the potato plants last week! Of course I took pictures of the adventure!

The tubers are ready when the plants above are dying back.

The first potato comes into sight!

Whee! This plant was the largest, and had the most taters.

Most of them were this size or smaller.

These are the remains of the seed potato that brought this plant to life.

The entire harvest. Yeah, it's a tiny garden.

I saved the two largest ones to replant this weekend. Since we still have plenty of sunshine and warm weather ahead of us, I'm hoping there'll be time for a second harvest. (Ah, California!)

The rest of them I boiled with a bit of salt. I ate a few straight out of the pot, and the rest will be going down with borscht.

I'm thinking that I'll replace some of my containers with a raised bed before I start planting for the fall. It'll give me significantly more planting room within the same square footage in the yard.

My first homemade garment: Lilit's dolman shirt

For my first ever attempt at garment-making (not counting hats), I followed this great tutorial to make a dolman style shirt for my friend's daughter, Lilit. I wanted my first try to be for a little kid, since it would require less time and materials. Also, since kids grow so quickly, I knew my friend would appreciate the attempt even if it didn't turn out all that well.

I chose an organic cotton fabric, since cotton is easy to work with. It turns out that Lilit likes loose, thin clothes (or just being naked), so it's also a good fit for her.

I made this pattern by tracing a couple of her existing shirts, and sizing it up. Fabric weights and a rotary cutter made this much faster than pinning and cutting with scissors!

Lilit likes the animals. The shirt has the same shape for the front and back, so it doesn't matter which way you put it on. I have another cotton print that I'll use to make her a second dolman shirt, and I'll try having a more scooped neck on the front for that one.

I had not yet started my Sewing 101 class, so I didn't know how to hem. I just folded the ends over and used a zig zag stitch. With the wrong tension, at first. It's not pretty, but it'll do. I'll do a nicer hem for the second shirt.

Look what an adorable model Lilit is! The wide neck hole turned out to be the perfect size, since it doesn't stretch. It's got too much fabric underneath that, around the armholes. The bottom of the shirt is a good width to go around her pants. I'll see if I can fix the pattern for my second try. I'm learning as I go!

Succulents update

I moved the majority of my smaller succulents into communal bins, so that they would take up less space than individual pots.

The larger specimens still got to keep their own dwellings, but they all got fresh soil, and some were upgraded to larger pots.

My housemate brought home a tomato plant that is thriving on the deck, as well. We're not sure what type it is because it was a volunteer from a neighbor's yard.

Garden update

I'm excited about the potato plants dying - it means that it's almost time to dog up the spuds!

There have been a couple of attempts at flowers and fruit from the strawberry plants, but not much success yet. I've started giving it small amounts of liquid fertilizer.

The Lily of the Valley plants that have been here for a few years are once again blooming.

The peas had died back after the first harvest of ten or so pods, but now one of the plants is sending up more shoots.

Nothing is happening with the raspberry plants.

The weeds are growing like, well, you know. The foxglove and columbine are dying off. The lupine never grew much, which surprised me since it's a common plant on the nearby hills.

I think it's too hot and early to plant anything right now... Not totally sure though; I'm just an amateur!

Lint roller

I washed the fabric I bought (to pre-shrink it) with my bed sheets, and it all came out covered in pet hair.

So I lint rolled five yards of fabric, front and back.

Next time, I will take the fabric to my parents' house, which is pet-free and equipped with a fancy new washer and drier.

"Machine wash with like colors."

Hmm...