Knitting Around and Gardening Too!

I'm so glad I finally got my ITEIII partner's tote started. This morning I added the second color and I'm pleased with how its coming along. It took knitting a few rounds of the pattern to understand why some of the stitches are slipped, but now I can see it and its all coming together nicely.

We had a dinner guest last night which meant I didn't get to knit after dinner as I usually do. I tried to knit a bit before going to bed but didn't have the energy left for it. Today is cold and we have the gas logs glowing and my chair pulled up right beside the hearth, my Otto lamp beside the chair, and a blanket to go across my knees. I will get some knitting done today.

I've been knitting on a vest and it's almost complete, another couple of hours work and I can put it in the mail. I frogged the decrease rows on the sweater back and have to go back and knit that in again, still a couple of hours of steady knitting would wrap it up. It will be a sensible, comfortable vest to keep my elder sister warm.

I'm forcing a sprig of our Weeping Cherry Tree into bloom. Actually it was a broken branch that I couldn't bear to see thrown away so I brought it in to see if I could revive it. I don't know how long it had been broken but it had some buds on the stem and was still hanging onto the limb by a few tiny thread of bark. I made a fresh cut, then smashed the cut and placed it in a clear bottle of water and set it in the sun room. This was about three weeks or so ago and now that little twig of a branch has filled out with fresh green leaves. I hope to have it bloom soon and will try to remember to make a photo of it for posting.

I remember a few years ago 'Flowering Branches' was the title of the March horticulture exhibit for my garden club. My club meets the 1st Tuesday night of the month so its still cold in our area, but I was determined to have a fresh Flowering Branch to exhibit that night. Since the flowering quince was about the earliest thing to bloom in my garden I begin watching it closely in late January. As soon as I saw a peak of a bud I begin scrutinizing the branching to find one that would make a perfect specimen. I cut the branch early and prepared it for forcing. A week before our meeting the branch was still setting in the bottle looking ready to pop but not making any effort to do so. I decided I had to take action if I was going to have an exhibit, and I was determined I would have 'the one' exhibit in the 'Flowering Branch' category that night. I took the branch upstairs to the guest bathroom and set it on the vanity, pulled and fasten the blinds at the top of the window and turned the thermostat up. I left the vanity light on all night every night and turned the bottle every morning so a different side would absorb the days sun. If it was cloudy, I left the light on. On the 1st Tuesday night of March, I was the only member that proudly displayed a 'Flowering Branch' . Wad it worth all that babying? You Bet!