I’ve finished the first of my Hannibal Lector Delicato Mitts, and I’m already on the thumb gusset of the second mitt. I love everything about this project. It’s a wonderful pattern, and the yarn is soooooo nice. Plus, it doesn’t take too much yarn, so I think I will have enough left over for another pair of mitts. Yay!

That’s about all that’s been going on. I planted my first lithops seeds this past weekend, and I am anxiously checking them for growth. I really really hope they grow. I think I see tiny little starts, but that may just be me going crazy. If they don’t grow, I have more seeds, so I will just try again.

Just for fun, these are my new Huernias.

You will be so proud of me, I have pictures for you. Crazy, huh? But…yeah I know, there is a but to this….I would like to apologize for the crappy lighting in these photos. Around noon the day I took them, I thought “Wow, it’s a sunny day, I should take pictures” and then I procrastinated until around 4 or 5 pm, when the good light was gone. So….crappy lighting….sorry.

First off, I finished my Rangoli Hat, and I love it. I’m not usually a hat person, but I really liked this one. I had a bit of trouble with the pattern, but nothing I couldn’t figure out. I’m happy with my hat. It was my first real cable project, I think it turned out nicely. Oh, and after a little bit more swatching, I was able to get gauge with my US 3s.

I also have a picture of my second Forest Canopy Shawl. I haven’t blocked it yet, so I don’t have the super sexy blocking pictures that every knitter loves. This will have to tide you over until I block it.

And…you are never going to believe this, I actually have pictures of my Endpaper and Pomatomus Mitts that I finished ages ago (like back in January). I know you thought you would never see them finished, but here they are. Please forgive the pictures, these gloves have been worn, rolled up in my pocket, and buried in the bottom of my purse. So, they aren’t exactly freshly blocked. The Pomatomus Mitts are my absolute favorite mitts ever.

I’ve recently joined a couple of yarn clubs, the Yarn Pirate Booty Club and the Nefarious Yarn Club. I’ve received my first installments of both.

This is the April 2008 Nefarious installment, Hannibal Lector. I’ve already cast on for a pair of Delicato Mitts with this yarn. It’s a wool/silk blend, and was far to soft and gorgeous to spend it’s life stuffed in my shoes.

This is the April 2008 Booty Club installment, Sweet Lime. I have no idea what I’m going to do with it yet, but I love it.

I’ve also taken pictures of my spinning WIPs, but I will show you those another day.

I finished my second Forest Canopy Shawl last night. It still needs to be blocked, but it’s off the needles. I immediately started swatching for my Rangoli Hat. I have come to the conclusion that I am a freakishly loose knitter. I’m using Knit Picks’ Telemark Yarn which is sport weight, and I’m already down to a US 3 needle, and I don’t think that’s going to be small enough. I think I’m still about 1/4″ too big. Unfortunately, I don’t have a 16″ US 2 circular needle, so I guess it’s going to be a US 3 no matter what. It’s strange, I used to always be able to get gauge with the size needles that patterns called for, and then suddenly one day I couldn’t. I think it happened when I started knitting lace, which ironically, I can always get the exact pattern gauge when knitting lace. I typically have to go down two needle sizes to get gauge, unless it’s flat lace or colorwork. With colorwork it seems that I am a freakishly tight knitter. The last colorwork project I did, I think I had to go up 2 needle sizes. Anyway, I really hate gauge swatches.

But seriously, I’m really excited about my Rangoli Hat. I just can’t wait to get past the gauge swatches.

I have come to a decision, I am going to try my hand at growing plants from seeds….again. I am notoriously bad at it, but I really really want to. So, I figured I would give it a shot. I’ve grown herbs from seeds, and they did well until I had to get them out from under their happy humid ziplock baggies, then they died. I also tried to grow some Tropical Pitcher Plants from seed, and they got fungus and died. I have successfully grown poppies and okra from seed, but that was because I put them directly in the ground outside. Now we have Zoe, our German Shepherd, who is notoriously bad about squashing plants. So, I outdoor seedlings wouldn’t even have a chance. Plus, I really want to grow fancy exotic plants like my carnivores, orchids, and cacti, which are mostly inside. So, I’ve taken some inspiration from f.arias on flickr, and I am going to try succulents from seeds. I’ve already picked out a few seeds from Mesa Garden, and I’m going to fax in my order tomorrow. I’m so excited. I hope it goes well.

Oh, I almost forgot, Anne has an awesome new scarf pattern that I really want to knit.

Stapelia rubiginosa flowers

Originally uploaded by Martin_Heigan

Another wonderful photo from flickr of another weird plant. In case you haven’t noticed, I have a penchant for strange plants.

Lapidaria margarethae

Originally uploaded by f.arias

I’ve decided to share some of my favorite flickr photos with you, mostly because I can’t seem to manage to put enough of my own photos on my blog to make myself happy. Plus, a lot of these pictures are way better than mine.

Yes, that really is a plant.  I love how geometric it is.  Check out f.arias‘ photos, he (I assume its a he because of the avatar) has some awesome photos and plants.