Saturday, June 29, 2013

Finished: 22 Little Clouds

I did it! I finally finished my first shawl, 22 Little Clouds. It wasn't the most exciting thing to knit, as it was a no-brainer, but it was perfect to work on after some long days working outside. Plus, the finished product is super cute! I like the clean lines of the pattern and the ruffled edge just adds a little something. Previously, I was hoping to use this yarn as a cardigan, but I'm glad I didn't. I love the yarn of course, but couldn't imagine wearing the colorway as a sweater. This Malabrigo yarn in Lotus is perfect for an accessory to add a pop of color and it is soft and squishy! After knitting this shawl, I must say that I'll be knitting plenty more! My mother warned me of this addiction, but she is right, I enjoyed knitting it, plus they use just the right amount of yarn and can create so many different color combinations or lace techniques. I'm sure you'll be seeing more shawl projects on here, however, for my next project I'm thinking about making a tank top...










Monday, June 17, 2013

Daylily Catch-Up!

Well I gave you all one day of relief from the daylilies, but since we had a rainy day I thought I should catch-up with all of the daylily pictures on here. I have been slacking, I must say, as I just counted how many new ones there are and got 16, give or take a few! The weather hasn't been cooperating with us lately to take decent photos; some days they wouldn't be fully open before I left for work and then in the evening they would be so faded. Since there are so many new ones, it is hard for me to pick a favorite! Some that I really like are: "Chinese Cloisonne," "Noble Lord," "Picotee Rippled Ruffles," "Spacecoast Bold Buccaneer" and more and more and more...Plus there are still a lot more to bloom! Just a warning, there are lots of pictures in this post, so sit back and enjoy!

Chinese Cloisonne

Diamond Dusted Borders

Dixie Rhythm

Festive Art

Jamaican Me Crazy
Dreams Come Through

Indy Heart Stopper

Night Breeze

Only Believe
Noble Lord

Picotee Rippled Ruffles

Rainbow Candy

Spacecoast Bold Buccaneer

Spanish Sketch

Tetra Dragon's Eye

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Mozart

You all have probably seen enough daylilies by now, so you are lucky enough that one of my calla lilies bloomed this past week. This one is called "Mozart" and is an apricot/peach color with red streaks. When it first bloomed on the plant, it was a light yellow color and since I cut it and put it in water it has darkened. It is pretty neat how some of the callas will change like that. So in a few days it may look different from these pictures! Unfortunately, after "Mozart" bloomed I had to dig it up because some of the leaves started yellowing and falling over, which meant the tuber/bulb was rotting. I think I saved it just in time though; it didn't hit the large part of the tuber. This isn't the first one of the callas that I have almost lost though. Last month the same thing happened to one called "Akela." I didn't notice it as early though and now only have two little tubers of "Akela" now. So sad. You may ask, "Why are they rotting?" Well, the soil here in our yard really sucks! It is just a nasty red clay! Even though we built up where the callas are planted, they are still sitting on the clay and it has rained so much here lately that the dirt isn't able to dry out. I just need to keep an eye on them. But here are the pictures of "Mozart" and the callas. Enjoy!

Mozart

Mozart

Mozart before cutting


All the calla lilies


Monday, June 10, 2013

Lake Country Sunshine

Good morning! Since it is raining here again, which means we are not working, I thought I'd go ahead and post more pictures from the weekend and today. Luckily, I was able to get out there this morning and take pictures before the rain ruins them. I think my favorite daylily for today's post is "Lake Country Sunshine." It is a small solid yellow one, about 4", with ruffles. To me, it is just so cheerful! Another favorite of mine, which is not a daylily, is a pinkish-purple zinnia. They are just so vibrant! It seems like we have seen a lot of the daylilies so far, but we counted today and there are still 41 new ones to come. Woo hoo!

Lake Country Sunshine

The Zinnias

Here are all the new daylilies for this post...I think "Sassy Sally" looks a lot like "Sea Swept Dreams" from last week, but it is supposed to be more pink.

Eyelashes

Mystic Mariner

Tar and Feather

Marilyn Siwik

Destined to See

Sassy Sally

And here are some repeats from before..."Seaside Sunrise" looked a lot more bronze today and "Clueless" doesn't look so deformed as a double.

Seaside Sunrise

Clueless

That's all for now! Enjoy!!

Friday, June 7, 2013

Good Old Boy

Now that we have multiple new daylilies blooming daily, I will be posting more frequently to keep on top of the pictures. Also, it's hard for me to come up with a new name for each post every other day, so I decided that the name will be of my favorite bloom for the post. So for today, my favorite bloom is of the daylily "Good Old Boy." This daylily is yellow-gold with a black-purple center, which also outlines its ruffles. It is very unique!

Good Old Boy

A funny thing happened to us today...we went out to see all the daylilies this morning and was expecting to see a bloom from "Copernicus," a light purple daylily. Once we saw it, it was definitely not the right one. We double-checked our list to make sure we had it in order, but came to the conclusion that the company that we bought the daylilies from sent us the wrong one. Instead, we now have a pastel apricot-peach with a red center daylily that produces double blooms. We believe we found the right one online and think its name is "Clueless." I'm not sure how I feel about the double ones, but it is very interesting looking.

Clueless

Another one that I really liked is called "Mister Lucky." I like this one just because it is such a deep red color.

Mister Lucky

Next up is one that we actually got to see last year, but I thought I would share it with you all now. It is called "Showmanship."

Showmanship

Another large bloom that we have and very similar to "Sea Swept Dreams" is a yellow daylily with bronze petals called "Seaside Sunrise."

Seaside Sunrise

One on the lighter side is "Southern Exposure." It is just a small one, about 4.5", but the center is purple and slightly silver.

Southern Exposure

"New Perspective" joins us with two different petal colors. The first of its kind that we've seen so far.

New Perspective

Lastly, I'd like to share another picture of "Festive Fall." It bloomed again today with two flowers and it just looks so pretty! I really like the bright orange.

Festive Fall

I am caught up with all of the new pictures (for now). I truly hope you all are enjoying the pictures as much as I am! However, I must say that the pictures don't do much justice for them as they are pretty remarkable in person.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

A Daylily and Some Knitting

Today we woke up to the bloom of the Pat Garrity daylily. It produces 5.5" flowers that are bright yellow with a dark red center. We shall see what it looks like later in the day though...

I have also included a picture of my knitting project (that has been on hold for a little while), 22 Little Clouds. The yarn is very pretty and so soft!

Pat Garrity in the morning.

My first shawl.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

The Daylily Craze Begins!

Even though I already posted about one daylily blooming, that was just a warm-up. This morning we woke up to not only one, but three new blooms among the daylilies! These ones are called Festive Fall, Killer Instinct and Sea Swept Dreams. Festive Fall's bloom was not up to par, so I need to capture another one. Killer Instinct's bloom is around 7" and it may look like two different flowers in the pictures, but it is just how much it faded during the day. My favorite from today is Sea Swept Dreams. Its bloom is almost bigger than my hand! Plus I like its ruffles and pearlescent petals, so romantic looking. Tomorrow there will probably be only one blooming, but not to worry, almost every daylily has a flower spike. So exciting!! We also had a few zinnias and cosmos bloom, but they're not as showy as the daylilies. Enjoy all the pictures!

Killer Instinct in the morning.

Killer Instinct in the afternoon.

Festive Fall

Sea Swept Dreams in the morning.

Sea Swept Dreams compared to my hand.

Sea Swept Dreams in the afternoon.

A Cosmos

The lime Zinnia