Knitionary: garden

Happy Fourth big garden post!

If you live in the USA I wish you a Happy Fourth of July. I hope you enjoy this special day and get to celebrate our independence and freedom with fireworks and fun. We are going to Shoreline Amphitheater to hear the San Francisco Symphony and watch fireworks. I'm so excited!

It's been sunny and mild here, ideal growing conditions, and the flowers and veggies have been loving it. We are bursting with tomatoes and green beans but unfortunately watching the bunnies enjoy the cucumbers and squash. We are in the middle of an epic battle and I'm determined to be the winner in this. If you have any bunny advice, please share. The zinnia border is a bit different and more colorful than I've had in years. It's nice because it's bright and the colors really pop making it easy to see from the house and patio. I invite you to come on into the blog too see beautiful pictures of what we have growing this year in our flower and vegetable gardens.

July 03, 2025
12 Comments

A little bit of this and that

garden

We are all settling into a fine spring, the pups and us, and we took advantage of last week's fine weather. The pups are definitely more comfortable here and love being outside with us, so garden chores are very sweet this year. We picked and juiced all the oranges in one day, washed the windows (back yard only) and scrubbed all the outdoor cushions and furniture. I've still got masses to do before I can call the backyard summer ready, but still decided to take a break and make two flower arrangements, one for the kitchen and one for the patio. Come on in for a little bit of this and that.

May 03, 2025
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the post that's all about summer gardening and cooking

cooking

On this beautiful summery day I have loads of veggie garden and flower garden pictures to share. Besides flowers, we are picking cucumbers, dill, green onions, green beans, parsley, chard, beet greens, summer squash, cherry tomatoes, fennel foliage, chives, sage, basil, and chive and borage flowers. Come on in and see what I do with the bounty!

June 28, 2024
5 Comments

almost summer

garden

Hello friends. Today is the first day of summer vacation for my favorite little guy and is also the first day of the week long Grammy/Papa Sleepover Camp. But today Papa is golfing and Carter is still in his pjs (it's 11:39), alternating playing with his legos, his pokeman cards, me, and watching TV. He also just ate cookies and milk. I think a very laid back day is a very perfect way to start the summer vacay because starting tomorrow we have quite a few things planned and things will get a bit busy, BUT, I have factored in many lazy mornings and afternoons and plenty of pool time and cookie breaks because I know how important it is to relax during summer vacation, even for a 6 year old. He is seriously reading now and his favorite books are the Dog Man Series and Captain Underpants. Check them out if you have a young reader. They are pretty funny.

June 07, 2024
6 Comments

spring garden

featured

I have some great pictures to share with you today! Our garden! I don't know what I'm more proud of, the roses, the perennial border, or the vegetable garden, so I'll show all three because everything is doing so well. The queen of the garden above, not me, the Climbing First Prize rose towering over me, is a show stopper every year, but this year she has outdone herself. Last year I kept an eye out for the newest and healthiest "main stems" that shoot out during the growing season, and during the January pruning I asked my gardener to tie them to the structure. I generally prune all the roses but of course need help with the tall climbers. Our gardeners are so sweet and they scramble up the ladder without a care. I think we added at least 3 more long stems to what we already had. Bending the long climbers in this way allows them to branch out at their leaflets and then bud like crazy. The roses themselves are almost dinner plate size and the largest ones are as big as my head. It is mildly fragrant.

The perennial border at the back of the garden is pictured below. The wisteria is just past its peak and is a few weeks away from saying goodbye for the year, but the irises have taken over and the hydrangeas and roses are in bud, and I've also planted my zinnias. But let's not forget the vegetable garden, she's going strong!

May 01, 2024
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my wisteria, spring garden, a new blanket, and haute couture!

garden

Where should I start? I have so much to blab about today, but I'll try to be quick because I'm leaving soon for an Arne and Carlos colorwork class, FUN, and I'm sure you have a busy Saturday too! But first, the blanket--I started this two years ago when I was determined to use up my years of leftovers, and use them up I did, this being my 5th blanket made of scraps!

April 20, 2024
13 Comments

Field Sweater

garden

My Field Sweater by Camilla Vad has been knitted, worn and finally washed and I'm here to report all good things, AND to show you some gorgeous amaryllises I spied in my friend's home, and why I think you should be in a knitting group!

March 09, 2024
13 Comments

the cutest pointy hat and my flower garden

baby

This hat! This little project took barely two evenings to make and each stitch made me smile. The yarn, Barrett Wool Co. Home Worsted Weight, is 100% wool and lovely and soft with a great plumpy, cottony feel while knitting. I'm certain it will be next-to-skin soft as a kitten. The pattern is fun to make and completely adorable. It's perfect for scraps but I've always wanted to try this particular yarn and they had little kits on sale (as of this posting, they are still on sale). The kit has enough yarn to make two hats, probably three depending on the size you make and if you decide to add any of your stash. I added some orange and white from my stash to add some punch and bright contrast. This is going to be my new go-to baby hat pattern. It's a snap to make and the only fiddley part is the very end when you make the point and have just a few stitches on 4 needles. Torture for a few rounds but you soon get to the end and the funny i cord tip. A very nice knit! Please come on in for the links and for more pictures of my pretty flower garden.

July 08, 2023
10 Comments

Here's what's happening in our spring garden.

garden

Are you ready for an explosion of color? Please join me in the garden filled with roses, zinnia seedlings and a burgeoning vegetable garden. I've got lots of pictures to share, so let's go!

May 27, 2023
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my wisteria and spring garden

garden

Our Japanese wisteria floribunda is at its most amazing right now and in fact we have never seen it look this beautiful. There are easily hundreds and hundreds of racemes, most of them 3 feet long! My pictures don't do it justice; you really have to see it to believe it. It has obviously loved all our rain. We think this will be a good garden year and I hope to make a few garden posts this summer. I'll be sharing our rose explosion which should happen in a week or two, our vegetable garden, the herbs and annual flowers, and more. This is still a knitting blog and I have been knitting an awful lot, but in spring and summer, knitting has to share me with the garden. Please read on, there's a lot to see!

May 04, 2023
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rainbow stash hat and my flower garden

garden

This is a little story about how I knit a hat for free, and you can make one too. I did not use a pattern for this hat as by now I've knit so many hats and have such a solid relationship with DK weight yarn that I felt I could give a simple DK hat a go with no problem. It turned out great! But don't worry, if you'd rather not wing it and make it up as you go then I've got some pattern links below. Just grab your colorful scraps and your needles and download one of the patterns below and knit your own hat for FREE!

Alpine Hat by Karina Marie

is knit with DK weight yarn.

Scrappy Marl by Beata Jesek

is knit with 2 strands of fingering weight yarn held together.

my Ravelry project page

The last picture above shows a close up of my jogless stripes. They look pretty good and it's a super easy technique.

Jogless Stripes when worked in the round:

-Change yarn color and knit this first round as usual.

-On the next round, slip the first stitch purlwise with yarn in back and knit remaining stitches.

-On the next round, knit as usual but on the first stitch give a little tug to the yarn to help align the stitch from the previous round

This works best for wool yarns and for color change rows that are 3 rows or more.

Our modeling shoot was in the flower garden, and even with our water restrictions we are still able to spare a bit for the flowers. Our flower borders are not as lush as past years, but from a distance they look fine enough. We planted about half of our flower borders and less than half of our vegetable garden and are definitely using less water than past years.

zinnias in the foreground, shasta daisies in the background

nasturtiums and purple basil

I just finished The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer, published June 2022, and completely loved it. A German family, after surviving the horrors of Nazi Germany, end up in Alabama in 1950 to work on the space program. I was captivated and thought the writer did an excellent job helping us to understand her broken characters and the choices they chose to make.

I watched half of the new adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion. I was so looking forward to it, but what a complete disappointment! I'm only telling you this so you won't have to bother watching even one dismal minute of it. What a mess of a movie in every way.

We've seen all the summer's blockbusters and loved every single one, although I admit we do have a fondness for summer blockbusters and it's nice to have them back. But do bring your hankies to Where The Crawdads Sing. Don't know if that is considered a blockbuster but it's a goodie. Monday we are going to see Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. I will settle in with knitting, squish into my big theater seat that I will put on just the right setting, add popcorn and coke and my Monday will be excellent! Hope you also have a good week to look forward to.

xo Kristen

www.kristenrettig.com

This post has an affiliate link(s). If you purchase something from an affiliate link, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting the blog. If you'd like to make a comment, please click here or scroll down. I reply to each comment and that response will appear directly below your comment. If you would like a personal reply, please know that I use the Blogger platform and they do not give me your contact information when you comment. If you would like a personal reply you can contact me using the contact form on the right side at the very end of my website. If you would like to receive Knitionary posts by email, please subscribe here.

July 23, 2022
4 Comments

my eden

garden

It's time to show Eden, our magnificent climbing rose that heralds the entrance to our compact vegetable garden. Every year Eden is beautiful, but this year it is a show stopper. It's breathtaking! Let me sing the praises for Eden because it has it all: beautiful bud and long lasting bloom that continues to be gorgeous at every stage. The color stays strong and maintains its fragrance throughout. As the bud opens, the bloom unfurls with what seems like a hundred petals. It also has healthy, glossy foliage, is disease resistant and a rebloomer through fall. Each bloom will get successively smaller, but always so welcome. While Eden is our most beautiful and best performing rose, a contrast on the other side of the bower is Joseph's Coat. It rarely performs well and this year it has petered out already. We have decided to remove that rose this winter and replace with another Climbing Eden.

Our vegetable garden is coming along. We've harvested some early tiny summer squash and the thinnings of the dill, onions and lettuces. It looks like I'll be picking radishes soon. The tomatoes have little green tomatoes, a little late in setting as we've had uncharacteristically cold nights and tomatoes like to set their fruit when the evenings are milder. Warm weather is here and by looking at the tomatoes I think we'll have a good crop.

And inside the home we are busy too! The oranges just keep getting sweeter and juicier. I'm so glad we still have some for my brother. Yes, my brother is finally visiting! I haven't seen him in three years! Good thing he is here for ten days because we have a big project. We have six bankers boxes of memorabilia from our family--mother, father, aunt, six uncles, two cousins and our grandparents, and even tidbits from our own childhoods. My mother had been safe keeper of all. Her method of keeping it safe was to stuff it into boxes in absolutely no order, then giving to me to store in my attic. My brother and I cannot leave these boxes for our children to deal with; it's just not a nice thing to do and the buck must stop here. So right now, while we still can, my kind brother and I going through each box, taking out each paper one by one, then deciding what to do. We have a process and I promise in another post to let you know how we are going through sentimental family items. Our plan seems to be working very well so far.

I don't want you to think I am cracking the whip and putting my lovely visitor to toil non stop. Not at all! We set the timer for 1 hour and get as much done as we can, occasionally stopping to go down memory lane and have some laughs. When the timer goes off, we stop where we are and do something fun, like lunch. Seriously, I have planned some good dinners and let him pick our menus-- tacos and mom's pinto beans (we grew up in Southern California and love our Mexican food), also shrimp risotto, Thai stuffed poblanos, and mom's spaghetti bolognese plus plenty of dinners and lunches out.

www.kristenrettig.com

If you'd like to make a comment, please click here or scroll down. I reply to each comment and that response will appear directly below your comment. If you would like a personal reply, please know that I use the Blogger platform and they do not give me your contact information when you comment. If you would like a personal reply you can contact me using the contact form on the right side at the very end of my website. If you would like to receive Knitionary posts by email, please subscribe here.

May 23, 2022
10 Comments

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