Knitting Spiral Socks, Reading, and Plant Lady Updates

Hello Friends,


I hope you are doing well. I am sick right now with a cold so I took the day off work to rest and relax. I have a very sore throat and have been coughing. I hope this goes away soon. Today I have been doing a lot of  YouTube video watching, knitting. and some gaming. I have been knitting more of the Patons Spiral sock and really love the pattern, it is so fun if you would like to check it out, the pattern is free on Ravelry. I have also been continuing  to read The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory. It is such a cute and fun read and captures the sweet connection and love between the two characters so well.

My philodendron has grown so much since I last posted. It is now reaching down pretty low and I just love the look of these plants when they get longer. My fiance does not like this as much. 

This is a plant my sister got me and is still doing quite well. It is small and has a bit of green moss by the roots. I have to mist every once and awhile but it is fairly easy to take care of. I love its green and yellow leaves.

My African violets are still alive but have not flowered in so long now. I wonder if they get enough sun sometimes as we live in a basement apartment and it might be more difficult to get the sun even in the Summer.

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On 

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you are enjoying the Summer so far.  What are you working on this week?

The Storm Has Passed, Knitting, and Reading Updates

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Last night it was so windy on my drive home and my car was swaying. I saw a lot of fallen branches and saw a sign had fallen on a major street and blocked one lane. My boyfriend and I had a pizza night and stayed in and we were a bit worried about losing power because his mom had earlier and we had lost power the night before for about 20 minutes. This morning however, was beautiful- warm and sunny. I went for a walk to a nearby park and enjoyed the sunshine on my face and the nice, warm air. There were a few fallen trees in the wooded area of the park that I stepped around and I saw a couple hop over the trunk as if it were just a hurdle along the way. It was also nice to get out and walk because I am trying to get more exercise and lose some weight for the Summer. It will be easier to go for walks now with the weather getting warmer.

Tree fallen down 

Sad when tall, old trees fall down

I have not made a lot of progress on the Wool and the Gang top. A few rows here and there this week. I will be making more of an effort this week to finish the back piece.  I am also thinking of starting a new project soon, maybe some socks they are so fun to knit.

I have been continuing to read Commonwealth by Ann Patchett and really liking the story line so far. This morning I read a lot of it and caught up on my reading. I like Ann's style of writing and she develops the characters so well and you feel as if you know them and their motives. I also like how the focus is on one character at a time.

I also wanted to share how long my philodendron has grown. This started out as a clipping from my mom's plant and then once it rooted in water, she planted it in this pot in soil as a gift for me. I might try to do the clipping of this one and gift it as well to a friend.

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope that you enjoy your Saturday!

House Plant Updates and Knitting Plans

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I have not spoken about my plants in awhile and I am pleased to give an update. My philodendron is growing really nicely and I am so happy to see it thriving especially in the winter. My mom had cut off part of her own philodendron and had placed it in a cup of water, then when it was large enough, moved it to this pot to gift it to me.

Philodendron

My Rhoeo plant is doing very well and standing tall since I tied it to that wooden stick. It had been leaning over and looking sad and I had blogged about it in the post here. I am happy when looking back at the first photo from April 2017 and then now January 2018 it has grown so much! I was thinking it might be time to put it into a new pot since it is growing taller. What do you think?

Rhoeo in April 2017

Rhoeo in January 2018

The peace lily is doing well although it has not been flowering as well lately and more of it's leaves are turning brown. I think maybe I need to give it more water but not sure. I think that it will also benefit from the Spring and Summer sunshine.

Peace lily

My African violets are doing okay, but have not been looking so healthy lately I am thinking it is either because they are not getting enough water, or it is cold by the window. I lost one that had not been flowering and looked less healthy than the others for some time. It had always been the smallest and not flowering and I kept watering it until it eventually gave up recently. I also had to toss out my Aloe plant because it wasn't looking too good and its leaves kept falling off or rotting at the bottom.

African violets

 Succulents are supposed to be easy to take care of and they are, but mine always end up looking more stretched out than when I purchased them. I read that they stretch when they are reaching toward the sun. Mine definitely must have been reaching a lot!

succulents

I also still have the bamboo plant my sister gave to me when I moved out and into the apartment with my boyfriend in the city. It is doing well and thriving too. I just water it when it is low on water and I love how bamboo plants are so easy to take care of.

Bamboo

I was gifted three beautiful pots for Christmas from my sister's fiance and hoping to find some more plants to put into them soon. I will update you on which plants I choose to put into the pots and also show you how the plants are doing. If you would like to read some older posts on my plants, please click here for the link to see all the posts related to plants.

This weekend I will be continuing to work on knitting the Wool and the Gang Farrah Billie Jean top. It is coming along nicely however I need to frog a recent row I knitted because the tension is looser and it looks noticeably different to me anyways. I am looking forward to finishing the first piece so I can move onto the back piece.

I ordered some more of the Manos Del Uruguay yarn in the colorway Happy to knit another pair of fingerless gloves for someone. They were actually out of stock in all of the yarn shops in Toronto and so I ordered some from a shop in Ottawa called Wool Tyme. I am so glad they had some in stock. I guess I chose yarn that is not always in stock. I spoke to someone at one of the yarn stores and she said the Manos yarn gets shipped in boxes here and they are not always in stock and some of the yarns are hard to come by. It is a lovely yarn and by searching for it and doing some research, I learned that the yarn is actually hand painted! Manos Del Uruguay is a non profit organization which employs rural women in Uruguay to make the yarn and paint it and it gives them this employment opportunity. It feels even more special to me now wearing the mittens.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today, I hope that you all enjoy your weekend and have lots of time for crafting, and knitting/crocheting. I am also hoping to get some reading done on the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed this weekend and hopefully finish it! 

Have a great day!

Plant Lady Diaries

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Today I finally pulled up my Rhoeo plant and fastened it up using a wooden craft stick and some thread from the dollar store. The rhoeo was looking very sad for quite some time and was leaning down and I was concerned it would eventually either topple over or break from the pressure of the leaning but it has been okay and hung in there in time for me to help it. I read online that by tying it up, it can correct the lean and also prevent it from dying so I hope that this works!

before

After

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Have a great day!

Finished Kerchief, Sleeve in Progress, and a New Plant

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Over the weekend I went to visit my family and we had a lovely time doing some wedding preparations like trying on some dresses, and discussing the plans for the big day and going over budget. I am excited for my little sister, she and her fiance are perfect for each other and have been together for a long time now. I look forward to more planning for the big day. I am her Maid of Honor so I will be taking on planning the bridal shower and bachelorette party next year which will be fun.

 Today I finished knitting the Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief. I did a loose bind off and I was so happy with how it turned out. I will be blocking it soon, hopefully next week. I still need to buy the rubber mats and the T-Pins needed to block knitted items. I will have to really stretch it out when I block it, because it is not very wide, so I will be blocking it aggressively. Then I will hopefully be able to pull it around my neck more and wrap it around more than it does right now.

Age of  Brass and Steam Kerchief finished

 For the sleeve, I have been knitting it more frequently and am finished the increases and now I am just knitting until it measure 17.5 inches. It is turning out well, and I am looking forward to being done so I can block the pieces and then sew them together and finally have a finished sweater.

My mom gave me this Philodendron in this cute pot this weekend. She had cut part of her own Philodendron and placed it in water so it could grow roots, then she put it into the soil in this pot for me to take home. I think it is doing well so far and I can't wait to see how big it grows.

Reading
I am still reading Bridget Jone's Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding. I love the main character Bridget, she is so relatable and funny. I am more interested in the character now and will probably read quickly and finish it soon. I bought the book "Into the Water" by Paula Hawkins and I am looking forward to reading it after I am finished reading Bridget Jones.

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On and The Little Room of Rachell for Yarning Along. 

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Have a great day!

Knitting, Reading, and Summer Knitting Plans

Hello Friends,


I hope you are doing well. I have been busy with school work and did a quiz for Accounting yesterday, it was a little harder than the one before but I got a pretty good mark I am happy with. It has been beautiful here recently, I still don't really feel prepared for Summer, but it is here so I better catch up! Today I am wearing shorts so that is a good first step! Summer comes and goes quickly here in Canada, so we have to start enjoying it right away.

I have been knitting the Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief and am onto the stockinette, 21 row repeat after knitting the second eyelet stitch row. I like how it looks now with more length and width and the two eyelet rows. I am still debating whether or not I will add some extra sections on to make it longer, but I will be able to decide one I am finished the last two sections. I have a lot of yarn left, I have the skein shown in the photo below and I have another one. We shall see.

I have not been knitting the sleeve very much for the sweater, but I will be working on it this week and I will share some photos of the sleeve in next week's entries.

My Summer plan for knitting is to finish knitting the 3timesChic sweater pieces, and sew all the pieces together. I also would like to knit a couple pairs of socks, I think I will find a pattern that adds more of a challenge from the basic socks which I know now after knitting six pairs. Socks are great to knit up in the summer, they are a small project and can fit nicely into the bag you pack for a trip or a bag packed for the beach. Does anyone have suggestions for a good sock pattern to try after knitting basic socks? for now I will browse Ravelry for some ideas.

I am still reading Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding. I like how this book takes place after the latest movie that came out and in the book her son Billy, is a child. It is interesting to see how her life plays out after she and Mr.Darcy got married. I will also be starting to read My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella this week, since I had put it on hold at the Library online and it has recently automatically borrowed it and I have it in my loans section. I will read that as well so it doesn't go away before I have a chance to start it. I love Sophie Kinsella's books, I started reading them when I was a teenager and loved her writing style and stories. I will let you know how I like it next week!

I received a peace lily from my boyfriend's parents back in March and it is doing so well! there are four flowers growing on the plant now. I love how it does so well when not in direct sunlight because it is too big to be in the windowsill so I like its spot on the side table. My other plants are doing well too, my Rhoeo plant decided to tip over to its side, which initially I thought it was tilting towards the sun but it stayed on its side even facing away from the sun. I want to encourage it to stand up straight again. I will have to research how to do that or if any of you ladies with green thumbs know how to do that, let me know!

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On, and The Little Room of Rachell for Yarning Along. 

Thank you for visiting my blog! if you would like to keep updated on my latest posts, you can follow me on Bloglovin' and through Google Followers!

What are you working on and reading this week?

Have a great day!

Potting Plants and Some Knitting Updates

Hello Friends,

I hope you are all doing well. Today has been a dreary day, it has been dark and raining and windy all day. I decided it would be a good day to head over to Canadian Tire to get some supplies to pot some plants today. I bought some potting soil, river stones, gardening gloves, and a new pot. It is the first time I have potted a plant properly instead of just sticking a plant that is in its small pot inside of another larger pot. I laid down some brown bags, pulled on my pink gardening gloves(they have to be pink!), and then got to work.

I got a small bag of Promix potting mix and a bag of river stones for drainage

I decided to move my Rhoeo plant over to a larger pot because it has not grown for some time and probably needs more space to spread its roots.

Rhoeo moving day 

Rhoeo and Peace Lily in their new pots 

As you can see, the Rhoeo plant is now in a much larger pot and already looks happier and not so squished. The Peace lily behind it has been potted as well. I put the river stones in the bottom, about 2 inches of stones until I felt like it was enough for drainage and then filled it with potting soil.  I also moved over my Aloe plant, that had been in the small green pot that is to the right of the cream colored pot. It also looks like it has much more space now.

Aloe plant has a new permanent home 

Different angle of the Aloe plant. I think it is such a cool looking plant.

Below are photos of all the plants I currently have and their new homes for now. I think they look a lot happier in their new pots. I did not want to disrupt the succulents and the African violets and they seem fine where they are.

Rhoeo in new pot

Succulents

African violets, they have lost most of their flowers but the one in the middle has new flowers sprouting!

All of the living room windowsill gang

Also in the living room, but on a side table, peace lily doing well potted in this adorable pot I love!

The kitchen twosome, the bamboo plant and the aloe plant! 

Knitting!
I have been working on knitting the sock and am almost finished. I am almost done knitting the foot of the sock then once I am done the 6 inches, I will be knitting the toe part of the sock and begin decreasing to shape the toe. I will probably be sharing photos of the sock next week when it is completed. I know I have already posted so many pictures of the sock and sweater by now. I am hoping to start a new project soon as well once I am finished the socks. The sweater is also coming along, I have finished most of it and now I am onto the neckline.

Thank you so much for visiting! I hope I did not bore you too much talking about my plants and I hope you enjoyed the potting plants post. If you have any questions about potting plants or what I did in the process please feel free to ask in the comments. It was my first time so I just learned as I went along! If you liked this post please follow me for more updates at my Bloglovin page, or through Google Followers.

Have a great day!!

March Photo Scavenger Hunt

Hello Friends,

I hope you are all doing well. I have joined I Live I Love I Craft I Am Me... in her March photo Scavenger hunt this month. The link up consists of taking photos which correspond to a list provided at the beginning of the month. I thought it would be a fun way to talk more about myself and show you important things from my everyday life and to be creative and have fun taking the photos.

Flowers:

My boyfriend got me these flowers on March 6th. He bought them for me after work on his way home. It was such a sweet gesture. I love when he surprises me with flowers, when we started dating he would give me flowers sometimes when I would come over to visit him at his apartment.

Baking:

This month I baked a delicious banana loaf using the Betty Crocker Banana Bread with Walnuts mix. I only had to add water, vegetable oil, two eggs,  and one banana. It was delicious!

Reading:

Reading is one of my favorite hobbies. I try to read one book every month, and lately I have been working on reading one book every two weeks. In the photo I am reading the book "The Nest" by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney.

Comfortable: 

 This photo is one night in March when I was relaxing on the couch with a blanket on my lap, in my pajamas and knitting. The epitome of comfort to me!

 Favorite Color:

Purple is my favorite colour and my African violets are a beautiful vibrant purple. I love how they have beautiful flowers even in the winter. Two of them are flowering but one is not. Do you know why that might be?

Candles:

I received these three candles from Bath and Body Works as a gift for Christmas. They smell so nice and I am looking forward to using them.


Hat:

This is the hat I have worn a lot this winter and thought it was perfect to use for the "hat" category. I love how it squishes down pretty small and fits in my pocket. I am glad I knitted it early in the winter so I could get a lot of wear out of it.

Walk:

On March 22nd I went for a walk down to go do a bit of shopping. I loved how sunny it was that day! it was still pretty cold out in Toronto, but I had my newly knitted infinity scarf and my knitted hat to keep me warm.

Favorite mug:

This is a photo of my favorite mug and my bamboo plant in the kitchen windowsill. I love this mug because it is large, I love the gray color, and the details on the mug resemble a knitted sweater. I got it from the Superstore, it is by President's Choice.


My Choice: 

I have been working on this puzzle for a couple of months here and there I will pick up a few pieces and put them in while I am passing by or cooking dinner. I think one of these days I will devote an hour to finishing it. I just love having puzzles on the go they are very relaxing.  I got this one for Christmas from my parents, I had finished one from my boyfriend in January of a cat and flowers. Anyone else love puzzles? 

Thank you for stopping by my blog and seeing my responses to this photo scavenger hunt. I really enjoyed thinking of photos to take for each topic and I am going to go read some other blogger's posts from the scavenger hunt now! if you liked this post and want to follow my blog for more updates, please follow me through Bloglovin' and Google Followers.

I hope you have a great day!