Non Alarmist

I do not have a particularly green thumb. My mother can grow anything. She raises champion begonias. She has started raising orchids. From seed. I like to grow things I can eat. If I'm going to get dirty, I want a payout at the end.

I've been having trouble growing rosemary. I am not sure what the problem is. I realize that we are a bit out of the rosemary wintering zone, so it's likely they've just been killed by the cold. This year I decided to try the volume approach. I planted three; one in the back along the porch and two in the front right up against the house. It's south facing, so the brick should keep them warm.

The plant in the back is doing quite well. This one in the front didn't even make it a month.

Before...

and after. *sigh* Maybe I should have watered it more. Or at all.

At least the lavender is happy.I was planning to title this post "Rosemary's Dead," or "The Death of Rosemary," but given recent events I decided I didn't want to add to the atmosphere of uncertainty and panic.

I have two FO's to share. First, the most recent BSJ. This one is for Carrie. I am loving this pattern.

I used vintage buttons to finish it.
I also completed a curly scarf for the girl next door, shown here modeled by Little Brewer #1. A very sleepy LB#1. She was at a birthday party the night before. You can see how much fun she had by the state of her shirt. Now that I have children I've learned there is a high correlation between messy self and fun.

Fear not!

This is the lesson I try to pass along to everyone I teach: do not be afraid of the knitting. I am not sure how this fear of knitting got started. I myself had this fear when I first started knitting: the fear that I would make a mistake and as a result, ruin the whole piece.

You cannot ruin the whole piece. You only need start again. Sure, it can be frustrating if you are twelve inches into a complicated lace pattern only to discover you've dropped a stitch at inch #four. This is why lifelines were invented. And yes, it helps if you use reasonably-priced yarn until you are comfortable. This is why Red Heart is $1.99 a skein.

In the beginning, however, you have to be free to experiment. Work out how to hold the needles in a way that is comfortable for you (continental, american).

Experimentation is how I stumbled across my current scarf pattern, a reversible rib. I was sitting in my car, killing time before my doctor's appointment. Having learned my lesson about not bringing a project, I had needles and a nice dk weight varigated merino in my purse. "Let's try a drop stitch pattern!" I thought to myself (I had just finished re-reading the Clapotis pattern after seeing the photos on Franklin's blog). Ok, that looks yucky (rip, rip, rip). Now what? Cables would not show very well on the stripes. I had already tried a straight stockinette. This yarn was recovered from another scarf I made in stockinette that rolled like a stack of quarters no matter how much I blocked it.

Then I tried a 3x2 rib pattern on an even-number of stitches. I have lately become enamored of even numbered patterns on odd-numbered stitches. I thought this would make a nice crumbly nap but it turned out to be much more interesting.

Brewgal's Reversible Rib Scarf
Cast on 34
Knit first row (I find starting with one knit row is easier than starting the pattern off the cast on row.)
Slip 1, knit 1 (edge stitch). *Knit 3, purl 2* repeat 6 times, knit last two stitches.
Repeat this row until scarf reaches desired length, knit last row, cast off.

Nothing fancy. I used #6 needles on dk weight yarn. This makes a cute little 2-stitch-wide rib on both sides.

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