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. 

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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!

Knitting, Baking, and Donating

Hello friends,

I hope you are all doing well and had a wonderful weekend. Happy first day of Spring! I finished the infinity scarf and it ended up being 60 inches long in order to wrap around twice. I have loved working with this soft, chunky in this deep navy blue color. The yarn is Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick and I used size US 13 needles.

Infinity scarf ribbed stitch, Lion Brand Thick & Quick yarn with US 13 needles 

On Thursday last week, I baked banana bread. It seemed like the perfect day to make it, my boyfriend was sick and I thought this would make him feel better. The Betty Crocker mix was delicious, my boyfriend and I went back for seconds. It was so soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside and so warm and comforting when it first came out of the oven.  I will definitely be making this one again!

I have been knitting the front piece of the sweater, it is getting longer. I will share the sweater progress on my Wednesday post. I knitted a bit more of the sock and I am enjoying how the yarn makes a pattern on the sock and is changing colors it makes it more interesting to knit up. I know the socks will probably look different too making them unique.

I donated blood on Saturday morning for the first time. I have wanted to donate for a long time. It was fun going with my sister and some other people we know. It feels good to give back and I feel like the blood I donated will make a difference in someone's life. I felt tired the next couple of days but now I am feeling more rested and energetic.  I was given the sticker below to wear while I was there because it was my first time donating, I thought it was cute, people should get these stickers when starting anything new... be nice to me!

I got this plant and pot as a gift from my boyfriend's father and step mother yesterday, I love it! Another plant to add to the growing collection! I am up to nine plants now.  I have one of those Ecocube flower kits I will start once it is warmer that I got for a gift at Christmas so I will have ten plants in the apartment!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and I hope that you have a good start to your week! If you liked this post and want to read more, please follow my blog on Bloglovin' and Google Followers! Have a great day!

Yarn Along Wednesday: Front of the Sweater and Reading Amy Shumer's Book

Hello Friends,

I haven't participated in the Yarn Along Wednesday for a couple of weeks now, so I thought I would post today. I like to post when I have new things to show but it is also nice to keep consistent and I love doing these Yarn Along posts. When I think of Wednesday now, I associate it with Ginny's Yarn Along link up. I posted a blog entry about finishing the back piece of the sweater on Monday this week, and since that time, I have started knitting the front piece of the sweater. I am still working on reading Amy Shumer's book which is hilarious as one would guess. I love her style of writing because I feel like she writes exactly how she speaks so you feel like she is speaking to you. I loved her in the movie Trainwreck and have been a fan ever since. I see some similarities from the movie in her autobiography, she probably used some experiences from her own life for the movie. Below is a photo of the knitting I have done so far for the front piece of the sweater along with the book The Girl with The Back Tattoo by Amy Shumer.

Front piece of sweater and the book  I am reading this week

Here is an updated photo of my plants. Two of the African Violets are thriving but one is droopy and has no flowers. I gave them all Africa Violet food this afternoon so I am hoping this helps them. The aloe plant to the left was a gift from my friend and it is doing very well, the two succulents are still doing well. The rhoeo plant is doing okay but it is not as tall as when I got it. It is a tropical plant so it is probably having a hard time with the lack of light on the windowsill. I have a bamboo plant on its own in the kitchen and it is doing very well too. I read an article in the Toronto Star about how people in Toronto have a lot of plants now and they treat them as their babies because they can't have pets in their building(like us), and don't have children yet.. I can relate. 

My plants

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and I hope you enjoy the rest of the week! we are halfway there now!