Weekly veg garden update

This is all for me--I do realize that it is excruciatingly boring:






Oh, and an extreme close-up of the yarn for the shawl knitted:

Happy first day of summer

Building blocks (with yarn pic goodness)

I am designing and knitting a shawl for my sister to wear at her wedding in the fall, and we recently decided on a yarn. It's Alchemy Silken Straw in Winkie's Blue (they appear to have sold out of the color--perhaps because I bought *8* skeins of it and they only had 10 to begin with). I wouldn't normally knit lace with a tape yarn, but this was the yarn that spoke to both of us, so I will be designing a pattern that will work with this specific yarn. Also, how often do I get to play around with this much Alchemy yarn? What a luxury! I have some ideas, and as I swatch I'll post pictures. For now, here is the yarn in its raw state:




Those first two pictures are pretty close, color-wise--maybe just slightly too purple, but maybe not. I am fascinated by what the flash did to the color--it brightened the blue and washed out all of the magenta:





Isn't it lovely?

When do you know whether you have completely lost your mind?

I had some leftover sock yarn. I had an Elmo who really likes socks. I knit socks for Elmo. This may be, when I look back, the point at which I stepped over the edge.




Note that, like Dobby the House Elf's socks, Elmo's socks do not actually match:

One more picture of my front room.

I love how this picture came out:

More photos of my garden

Everyone else will find these boring, but they make me happy:


This snapdragon re-seeded itself. I live in USDA Zone 4a--snapdragons do not re-seed here:



My lilies started to bloom this weekend:





I finally got my vegetable garden in this weekend:

An Open Letter to the Man in the Large Van Who Suddenly Started to Back Out of His Parking Space at Home Depot . . .

. . . and Came Within an Inch of Hitting My Car Even Though I Had the Right-of-Way.

Grow up. I tapped the horn so that you would stop moving because I had nowhere to go to get out of the way--I was giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming that you didn't see me. I tapped the horn a second time because you *started backing up again* even though I was still behind you because I was blocked in by another car. I was in the right, and you had no reason to seek me out in the parking lot and ask what my problem with you was. My problem was that you apparently cannot drive, but I wasn't going to make a big deal about it.

Insert puns re: 4-wool drive here

This art student made a car out of knitted wool. I applaud the inventive material use.

In Which Matter-Eater Lad Shows the Extent of His Geekiness

Matter-Eater Lad (my husband) crossed an important professional milestone yesterday, a milestone that I felt should be celebrated with a small gift. The gift was the newly-released DVD of Quickchange . Upon receiving said gift, Matter-Eater lad thanked me, and then happily exclaimed, "Now we have a 'Q' ! 'Q' is one of the letters we were missing in our DVD collection!"

An Open Letter To The Commuter Who Was Clipping His Nails On The Train This Morning.

Gross.

This really isn't a photo blog . . .

. . . but here are some more pictures from my new camera:

My rose bush:










The waterfall near my house:












The sock I am currently working on: