Oolong knits

I absolutely love the colour work in this pattern and it is free! Worth downloading it just to use the stitch pattern in other projects, like matching hat, scarf and mittens or even socks. It has the unfortunate name of Women's cardigan (lazy authors), by Mari Kangas and Sisko Sälpäkivi.

There are many variety of beans which include not only the one thousand varieties of delicious, cute little dry seeds of the bean plant, but also runner beans and French beans for which the whole seed pod is eaten before the seeds start growing. They are vine plants that require support and usually grow to about 2 m. The supports can be made in many shapes, but the teepee (see photo on the left) is the most attractive and also quite practical. Runner Beans (Phaseolus coccineus) Soil fertile with a lot of organic matter Aspect warm, sheltered Row spacing 45 cm Plant spacing 15 cm Germination 10 days Time to maturity 15 weeks Sow outside May-July Sow undercover April-May Plant outside May-June Harvest July-September Store freeze after blanching Pests/diseases aphids, frost French Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) Soil fertile soil, does not dry out nor waterlog Aspect sunny, sheltered and warm Row spacing 20 cm Plant spacing 20 cm Germination 10 days T...

Because I really love simple sweaters with a little bit of texture to make them interesting. Mira by Justyna Lorkowska is just perfect. Even though I am so lazy that I am not absolutely sure that it is worth the effort of working the bee stitch all over the body.

I know what you are thinking, what a lame photo. I confess I messed up when I planted them out and then the birds finished the job. Nearly. Amazingly, these little poor things have mostly survived their ordeal and are now recovering under the protection of a net. These are technically mangetout (snap peas, I think), not peas, but it is just a variety of Pisum Sativum. Pea (Pisum sativum) Soil plenty of organic matter prevents drying out Aspect sunny, but slight shade can help in hot summer Row spacing 30 cm Plant spacing 10 cm Germination 10 days Time to maturity 15 weeks Sow outside March-July Sow undercover February Plant outside April Harvest July-September Store freeze after blanching Pests/diseases aphids

Oblique by Veronik Avery is an unusually well finished cardigan if you consider that it is a free pattern. Its construction is also unusual. The buttons are on the side so that the two sides overlap at the front when when buttoned up. The idea is that it looks like a slouchy, comfy cardigan when used unbuttoned, but it smartens up when buttoned up. Two looks in one piece if you need them on the same day.

When I first visited my plot with the Allotment Site Secretary, Celina, I was depressed. I did not want to refuse it, because I feared I would be taken off the waiting list, but the site looked daunting. Celina showed me how the soil was mostly clay and told me that I needed to work on raised beds, because she believed this would be the only way to grow anything on clay soil that partially floods in the rainy season. I told her that I wanted to think and discuss it with my other half before accepting to rent the site. But when I took him to the site, my husband (did I ever told you he is a genius?), who has zero experience with gardening, had a completely different approach to Celina, who has been gardening on the allotment for years. Instead of looking at what the previous renters had done and how they had failed, he looked around, noticed how the the entrance is higher than the end of the plot, ignored the latter and started looking at the former closely, removing trash that was l...

The Frieze Shawl by Lisa Hannes uses mosaic knitting to very nice results. It is said to be a lot more easy to do than it looks. The photo is taken from Cathri's project, which includes some nice notes too.

I got my allotment at not the best of times, just the time of the year when most of the sowing and planting out that happens in Spring is done. Which means that I should have to wait for over a year before harvesting most crops. Sure enough there are exceptions to this rule: fast growing crops like salad that can be planted all through summer and even autumn, and even a few winter crops. However, my nice neighbours have come to my aid and kindly offered some of their plants. And that is how I found myself the proud owner of 10 courgette plants! I have read somewhere that four are enough to feed a family of four and we are only two, but they so much insisted, obviously a bit guilty for not having anything better to offer, I could not refuse them. Courgette and marrow (Cucurbita pepo) Soil moist, fertile, plenty of organic matter (compost or manure) Aspect warm, sunny, sheltered Spacing between plants 180 cm * Germination 1 week Time to maturity 15 weeks Sow...