How does our garden grow?

How does our garden grow?
Originally uploaded by nonesuch

I never started seedlings for a garden before -- one of the many things that's different about life with Daniel. He's kind of a farmer. This is good. And I imagine it will be very good indeed at dinnertimes this summer. :-)

The little greenhouse has a styrofoam insert with holes for specially made plugs of starter soil. He let me put the seeds in the plugs of soil. Each plug is sort of cone shaped, with a hole at the big end where you can insert seeds -- two seeds per plug, in case one doesn't germinate. You pick up the seeds with tweezers, one seed at a time. It feels ridiculously precise. I'm used to thinking of growing things as being kind of disorderly, but these little guys are starting life according to a plan. There are no square pegs in the styrofoam grid, fellahs. Get busy photosynthesizing.

A quotidian frustration made charming

This post by Christoph Niemann in his New York Times blog illustrates the influence a good designer can exert when crafting the presentation of a topic, in this case a commonplace irritation:
My Life with Cables

Success! A hat he'll wear

He will wear this one!
Originally uploaded by nonesuch

In accordance with The Cult of Done Manifesto, item #11 ("Failure counts as done. So do mistakes"), I am happy to report success after my initial failure to make Daniel a hat.

I have never had a boyfriend who would wear things I knitted for him, so I'm happy to know that it feels good. I thought it would.

Cult of Done Manifesto encountered on BoingBoing.

Abbreviated Instructions for Tubular Cast On (Circular Knitting)

1. Using smaller needles, cast on half the required number of stitches.
2. K1, P into the running thread between stitches.
3. Repeat these rows at least twice:
   
   • K 1, bring yarn forward, sl 1 as if to P, take yarn back.
   • Take yarn back, sl 1 as if to P, bring yarn forward, P1.
     
4. Switch to larger needles and K1, P1 for desired length.