Miscellaneous, with tomatoes

Maybe I can forgive my less-knowledgeable younger self. The squares for the Manos afghan have different row gauges, anywhere from 22 to 28 rows to 4". And yes, that first square with the most rows is the one with the 28 rows to 4". That makes me feel a little better. But the biggest row gauge is the staghorn cable square, not the light blue beaded rib square. I still haven't figured out what to do with the knot in the back of that staghorn cable square. The ends aren't long enough to undo the knot and weave them. I could pick out the row joining that square to the 4th one, and rip, do a felted join, then reknit and graft the squares back together.

I planted tomatoes today, finally (with much labor performed by my son and husband).

They're in Earth Boxes, which I have used for several years. They seem to work really well. This year I have cherry tomatoes, Better Boy, Celebrity, and Beefsteak tomatoes. I never can remember from year to year which varieties I've tried & which grew well, or which I preferred the flavor of. The large plant in the back box is either catnip or mint which survived the winter and started growing without any human intervention. The marker next to the stalk says catnip, but it smells minty.

The kids are in the kitchen (after 10 pm) baking a cake so their father will have something to eat for breakfast. Yes, really. What good children ;-). I don't suppose they'll wash those dishes, though

Manos mess

I'm already sorry I dragged this Manos throw out yesterday to try to finish it.

I started looking at the different sizes of squares, and then started counting rows. Out of seven completed squares, 2 have matching row counts. That would be the top one on the left, and the bottom one on the right. Believe it or not, the short squatty square on the bottom left has more rows than any of the others. And the huge light blue square above it has the fewest rows - 12 less than the square below it! I have clearly grown in my knitting and thinking abilities since I started this project a bazillion years ago (seriously, at least 10). How did I think I was going to attach a square with 33 garter ridges to one with 37 garter ridges? Didn't think, that's what. And then, in the middle of my inspection/ridge counting, I found a knot in the middle of the back of the herringbone patterned square (left, second from the top). Why would I have done that? I could have spliced it with a felted join, and just continued knitting like the problem never existed.

I'm trying to decide what to do. I could probably fudge the seams. And the 5 squares that I still have to knit can be knit to match the row counts of the squares beside them. But that knot....

Finished!

In some sort of order, my finished objects include:

• my testing for certification to teach high school math
• the Lacy Chunky Throw, and
  
  
• my second year of teaching.

It got a little crazy there toward the end, but I persevered.

Also finished: my husband's tour in Iraq. He is HOME!

If I were a more introspective person, I would summarize the past year, or even the 4 months or so since I blogged last. But I don't think I'll do that right now. I just wanted to let you know I'm still here, and even doing a little knitting.