divided

On my garden chore list for the weekend was dividing the "hens and chicks" that have been populating--and overpopulating--one of the planters at our front door.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a "before" picture, but let me assure you, these little succulents were growing all over the place, including on top of each other.

In short, they needed more space.  I pulled out some of the worst offenders and gave them pots of their own.  Everyone seems to be getting along a bit better now.

I love succulents and I've written about them before.  They're beautiful, versatile, and they put up with my particular brand of garden care, which I'll broadly term "attentive negligence."

If you're interested in learning more about the "proper way" to divide succulents, i.e. not exactly how I did it, here's a short little video from Sunset that should give you enough confidence to tackle your own.

Happy Monday to you!

gardening

We've had several days of sun and blue skies here in the Emerald City, and I'd like to think I've taken full advantage of it.  I've planted pots of arugula, radishes, calendula, garlic chives, plain old chives, nigella, and peas.

I also shoveled and sifted about three cubic feet of compost from one of our backporch bins.  Since there aren't many macro- or micro-organisms living in the potting soil I use in my containers, I try to introduce as much "real" life as possible by adding lots of fresh compost each spring.  Sometimes that means hauling bags of commercially-made stuff up our back stairs, but this year, our little home composting operation has generated more than enough to get the season started.

Today is shaping up to be another gorgeous one, which means it's probably time for me to go back outside.  If gardening is on your to-do list for the weekend, here's some green inspiration for you:

find yourself some land

print up a garden journal

start some seeds

plant some onions

dream about flowers

Happy gardening--or garden-dreaming--this weekend!

official

Now that the first day of spring has officially arrived, the glorious blue skies we've been enjoying all weekend have turned gray with clouds that promise rain by mid-afternoon.

Which sounds about right for spring in Seattle.

I have plans for this season.  Mostly my plans involve being outside.  For one thing, I'm long overdue to get back to the Children's Garden.  I've also got some gardening of my own to do here at home.  Now that I've given up my little community garden plot, I'm back to growing food in containers on our funny little back porch.  Right now, things back there are looking pretty bleak.

Obviously, I have some work to do...

As you're welcoming spring today, I thought you might enjoy this little snippet from SouleMama.  It certainly brightened my morning, in spite of the clouds.

cleaning

Our house is full of stuff.  Mostly good stuff, like cool books and neat-looking vintage-y pieces and lots and lots of yarn.  Recently, though, it's come to our attention that we officially have Too Much Stuff.  Now my man and I are working on doing some serious cleaning and purging.

I think he might be doing a better job than I am.

The thing is, I like having lots of stuff around.  I've been a collector of stuff ever since I was small.  Coins, old art school assignments, pages torn from magazines, and mementoes from gumball machines all got squirreled away into boxes, my closet, and the infinite space under my bed.

I think the truth isn't that I'm so fond of keeping things, but more that I hate getting rid of them.  Once you throw something away, or recycle it, or give it to Goodwill, there's no going back.  What if you wish that you had that thing back later?  Or what if the memories that were all wrapped around and tangled up in that thing disappear once you don't have the thing anymore?

It's nerve-wracking, I tell you.

My man has suggested that rather than focusing on getting rid of stuff, maybe I could just put some energy into organizing the things I have.

Which is a very nice idea.

Maybe I'll start in on that next weekend.

If you aren't stuck cleaning--or "organizing"--this weekend, here are a few things to keep you busy:

bake a belated cake

host a knitting party

make mustard

plan ahead

make yourself useful

Wishing you all a peaceful weekend...

slacking

No real post today, dear readers.  Thanks for understanding.  Have a beautiful weekend!

march

Springtime has found us.  Happy spring to you!

buttons

My favorite part of a project--any project--is finishing it.  I love the moment that dinner is ready, that the second sock is finished, that the last room of the house is vacuumed.  Why is it, then, that I am so incredibly pokey about putting the final touches on my knitting projects?  I can spend three days knitting something and then three weeks sewing in the ends.  I've had a baby sweater in my possession that's been off the needles for at least two years but is still waiting for a button--one button!--to be added.

This week, I've resolved to finish all of my unfinished projects, to pack away the little things that I'm "saving for later," to stow the needles and yarn that are drifting across my craft table, and to up the ante on my moth-proofing efforts.

I know.  I'm incredibly ambitious.  I tend to set high goals and then quit half-way through.  It does seem to help me, though, when I start small.

So this time, I started with buttons.

These two little hats are both from Hadley Fierlinger's Vintage Knits for Modern Babies.  The one on the right is the Vintage Pixie Cap, which is sweet enough, I guess.  On the left, though, is the Modern Baby Bonnet.  I fully intend to make several more of these, just so I can revel in the alchemy of the back shaping.

I did them both in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, which is very nice to work with--and machine-washable.  I'm going to try the Modern Baby Bonnet in a wool/cotton blend next.  It won't be as soft, but   I picked up the yarn for practically nothing and I think it might make for a nice summer weight.

Please note the recently-added buttons:

I'm sure the hats would both look better on a  real live baby.  I worked with what I had.  The model didn't mind the hats but was not remotely interested in the buttons.

Thanks for indulging my show-and-tell.  I promise, dear readers, that next week's posts will knitting-free.  In the meantime, here are a few nice things to get your weekend started:

craft it forward

the story of stuff

heather ross + martha + babies = omg

fresh fish

a fun little film for booklovers

Have a lovely weekend!