Ingenious knit design

I read knitty.com all the time. If you don't know it, check it out. They have free knitting patterns, most of them intermediate level. I love the diversity of the patterns they display. On Knitty there is something for everyone, from socks to shawls to cable knit coats.

This pattern takes the cake though! (I mean it too, exclaimation point and all).

And I've seen a lot of knitting patterns. I had a knitting store, I've been knitting for years, I troll the Internet for something exciting. Today I found the most exciting thing I've seen in a long time, and I'm sure it will hold that spot for a long time (until my sister's book arrives!)

It looks like a straight-forward knitting pattern from this photograph. It wasn't until I scrolled down to find this picture:

Look at that! It's a racer-back tank top with a cowl-neck. You just slip your arms through the holes and boom! You get a great looking top. Wow! I am going to go search my stash for something good!

New tomatos from old tomatoes

Who knew you could regrow tomato plants? I have always thought that a tomato plant gets one chance in the year and if you get tomatoes, that's great but if you don't that's just too bad! Well, this year I planted my tomato plants in March (because I live in Southern California and the weather is never cold), and I have had tomatoes coming out of my ears. So of course I hand them out all over the neighborhood. One day Rita, our next door neighbor, says, "Hey, you know you can put a cutting in water and it will sprout roots."

"No way," I say.

"Absolutely, go and try it."

So I tried six cuttings. Six cuttings because I'm never sure if I'm doing it right. Apparently I am!

Not only are my cuttings surviving, but they're flowering, sprouting new fruit and ROOTING! Victory! So now I have a few tomato plants to pass over the fence to Rita!

Hopefully, much to my Pennsylvania residing father's dismay, I will be eating vine-ripe tomatoes in January! I love So. Cal!

Jill Bliss

I've liked Jill Bliss for a long time, I bought this journal a year or so ago. It has an adorable interior with flowers and grid-ruled pages. So I was very excited to see her new line of note cards. I'm a sucker for stationery and especially stationery with fun prints!

Go check out her stuff which includes embroidered datebook cozies and lots of other really cute paper and fabric products! www.blissen.com

A misty morning

I love to see what the morning looks like when I open my eyes. This morning it was an exceptional find. The deck had a heavy coat of dew.

I found the remnants of a nighttime spiderweb. The dew droplets were dangling ever so delicately.

And a beautiful sky.

Banksy...

is what every non-conformist aspires to be. He is a graffiti artist extraordinaire. Always making bold statements about government or human behavior, Banksy's work is simple and without flare. We were given three photographs of his work for our wedding. My project this weekend is to matte them, frame them and get them on the wall north in the living room.

I'm excited to get the photos up. Banksy work seems to evoke a lot of emotion from people so I think they will be a good conversation piece.