Keeps Going and Going and Going...

I have finally decided that the ball of handspun that I'm using to make the Fan and Feather Comfort Shawl is the never ending ball of yarn. If you remember back to this post (scroll down a bit for the picture) I used my new netbook as a reference for size. Well...now a few days later we are at this...
I still have a lot of yarn left, so I'm just going to keep knitting. When I measured it earlier yesterday it was already over 20" long down the center and that's before stretched and blocked so who knows how big this is going to be. It will be much easier to block now that I have lace blocking wires on the way thanks to a certain special garden fairy...you know who you are. :)

As simple a pattern as this shawl is, it's still a joy to knit. I think a lot of that comes from the fun of being able to knit with your own handspun. Of course, since I have a stockpile of handspun that I really need to knit up, though it is really pretty in hanks and sitting on a shelf where I can admire it, it is calling to me to be something more.

This was my first yarn spun on my very first Bosworth spindle. I was originally going to plan on making a 2 ply but it's just so pretty as singles and since they seem to have come out pretty even, I left it as it was. I need to count yardage so that I know what I can do with it, but as of know it's next in line to be knit up. It's been calling to me. It's Purple Haze BFL from Spunky Ecelectic. If I have the yardage it might become a swallowtail shawl (Ravelry Link) though usually I don't like knitting up a shawl pattern I've already done, the first one was for my wonderful mom for Christmas, but it's a great pattern even with all the crazy amount of nupps. Hopefully I'll get a yardage count today.

The tomatoes keep growing and I finally have blooms on my cherry tomato and more on the brandywine. With the cooler wet weather things have been slow, but we finally reached into the 80's this week and they are just taking off.
And those blossoms I mentioned...
My hope now is that the weather plays nice and the blossoms have a chance to start turning into tomatoes. Tomatoes can be weather finicky. If days are above about 90 and the nights are above 78 it can cause blossom drop. Keeping my fingers crossed that we don't have the problem for awhile.

My nasturiums are finally coming up. I probably should have started them indoors awhile ago so that they have a longer bloom time, but better late than never.
Nice thing about nasturiums is that not only are the flowers pretty but they are edible. I haven't tried them yet, but supposedly they have a slightly peppery taste and are great in salads. Of course using them for the edible end only if they haven't been sprayed with any type of chemical. I joke that I garden naturally because I'm too lazy to spray but to be honest it's because I don't like using chemicals. The only thing I've used in the past is water and dish soap to deal with mites and aphids. I figure if the plant is healthy and has little stress it normally can handle itself, but there are times when we gardeners must step in and lend a hand.

I've also got sweet basil growing again. It wouldn't be a summer without fresh pesto. If you have never had fresh pesto, try some, you're in for a treat. I'm not talking the store bought stuff but the stuff you make yourself. Yummy stuff. Since I'm limited on space since I still rent the house where I'm currently living, I grow my basil in a pot. Later in the summer it ends up needing to be watered quite often, but mines in a 12" pot and seems to do pretty well.
This is probably one of the more easy herbs to grow, though mints will beat this any day. Mint is a bit quite aggressive. If you want it in your garden I highly recommend planting in a pot and than putting the pot in the ground. It will help control the roots and bit more and anything that escapes from the pot can be removed to keep it confined.

On the spinning front...I'm still working on the ashland bay merino/silk, but I'm planning on starting another spinning project but can't decide which fiber to go with. I have a few braids that I can't decide between and I've had for awhile. 2 our merino/silk from Allspunup and the other is Creatively Dyed Seawool.
Okay...to be honest the 2 merino/silk blends from Allspunup are pretty similar and I might just spin up each braid as a single and then ply them both together. I never realized just how similar they were till I took them out and laid them next to each other for a comparison picture.
Don't I feel just silly. I guess I'm just consistent on what I like. :)

And the Creatively Dyed seawool:
Decisions, decisions, decisions. Which ever one I pick though it will be laceweight.

And for one last parting shot...
Vinca in a cute little yellow pot. Since my big front porch flower pots (scroll down to almost the end of the post for the picture) are mostly dark colors I figure that adding one of these in front of each of those would brighten things up a bit. Now with the weather finally getting warm they should really take off.