Vaguely Oedipal Gardening Post

Back when I first decided I wanted to grow my own vegetables, I wanted zucchinis. Lots and lots of them. I adore zucchinis – raw, fried, in sauces, grilled, in cakes, as ‘spaghetti’, you name it. Last summer I planted three zucchini seedlings which took off but then sadly succumbed to powdery mildew. This summer I planted three zucchini seeds, which have resulted in three luxurious plants (perhaps too luxurious, given the size on my garden). These plants are doing well, and have started producing flowers – but no fruit. Research revealed that zucchinis produce both male and female flowers, and often need a hand in pollinating. The problem is that my plants are currently only producing male flowers. I’m hoping that female flowers will eventuate later, and with them, delicious little zucchinis (even if I have to hand-pollinate them myself).

In the meantime, since the male flowers serve no current reproductive purpose, I’ve decided to pick them, stuff them, fry them and eat them – and it turns out that fresh zucchini flowers are pretty delicious.

Today I made lunch mainly using garden goodies:

Tomato salad – tomatoes and basil from the garden, with a bit of minced garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Zucchini flowers – removed stamen, stuffed with finely-chopped Swiss cheese, grated parmesan, crushed pine nuts, salt and pepper. Lightly battered in a mixture of flour and mineral water and fried in a standard frying pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil – not deep-fried, as per most recipes.

For the stuffing I used what I already had in the house, but here are some other ideas: olive, anchovy and ricotta 1 and 2; ricotta, parmesan, chives and spices; goat curd, chives, semolina; and plenty more here.

Garden!

I’ve completely neglected to mention my garden on this blog, which is remiss of me, especially because gardening can be quite a creative pursuit. 1.5 years ago I moved into an apartment with a little back yard, and a good-sized raised flower bed, which I converted into a herb and vegetable garden one year ago. I’ve learned a lot about gardening over the past year; the first lot of vegetable seedlings I planted didn’t fare well – partly because of the heat wave last year, partly because of my inexperience. In the meantime, I’ve been researching, reading, saving seeds, planting seeds, pruning and spraying my way to a healthier and more productive garden.

My current garden has its ups and downs, but overall is doing well – so far I’ve had a good supply of green beans, tomatoes, shallots, basil and coriander, with garlic and cucumbers also well on their way. My goal is to be able to cook meals with as many ingredients from my garden as possible, and reduce the amount of vegetables and herbs I buy.

Take 1 – freshly planted

Before the 2011 heat wave

Take 2 (now) – with almost completely different plants (and a crappier camera)

Tomato plants, cucumbers, beans, shallots, basil, capsicum, zucchini, garlic, parsley, radishes, strawberries. Doing much better, although the quality of the photo doesn’t do it justice.

Flower and herb pots

Succulents, mint, lemon verbena and cat mint (which the cat ignores)

Happy Anniversary!

My grandparents are pretty awesome. One of the awesome things they achieved together recently is 50 years of marriage. As a present, I decided to make them a cross-stitch sampler, using a design from the Historical Sampler Company. I really like their designs, which have a vintage look and use muted but beautiful colours.

Here is the finished sampler:

Unfortunately I always seem to underestimate how long cross-stitch takes, so I was still furiously sewing when I went to visit, and only just managed to finish before I had to leave! (I like to tell myself that next time I’ll know better.) This is partly because I didn’t like the original border design, so I made up my own – this took a long time to plan and execute, especially as I was using a few different colours for the flower buds, etc. I might have done this a bit differently if I’d known how long it’d take, but now it’s done, and I quite like the look of it. It was my first time using linen rather than aida, which is another reason it took longer. I really like linen, although it’s harder to keep the design straight, and it crumples easily (one of these days I should get a bigger sewing frame).

I was planning to get it framed but ran out of time – which is just as well, because my grandparents would prefer to turn it into a decorative table runner.

Next – I will continue to knit my First Jumper Ever (I hope to finish before the end of winter, or spring at the latest), and start on the gorgeous kitty cross-stitch I got given for my birthday last year. I also need to make a simple fabric pouch with an elastic closure for my newest toy, my lovely Kindle. Usually I make presents rather than things for myself, so this is exciting…but may not last.

Yummy new yarrrrn

I know I haven’t posted in a long while, but I’m still around, and still crafting. I’ve been working on some projects for friends, so pics and descriptions/instructions will be posted after I finish the gifts! I’ve also been busy with end-of-year festivities, working and studying (for my more cerebral – hah! – posts, see my other blog).

In the meantime, I got given some gorgeous yarn for Christmas/Xmas/Kissmas/Yule. I got two balls of beautiful Regia wool by Kaffe Fassett (75% new wool, 25% polyamide):

It’s a sock yarn, which means I have to put aside my instinctive fear of double-pointed needles (TEN pointy ends! Eep!) to make these:

I also got some incredibly soft and yummy Mirasol Akapana wool (65% baby llama, 25% merino wool, 10% donegal):

I can’t stop touching this wool. Every time I touch it, I imagine I’m petting an adorable little baby llama. The other awesome thing is that a portion of every purchase helps fund a school in Puno, Peru – more about this here.

I don’t know what to make with this soft beautiful wool. I know I should be moving away from easy projects, but a scarf made out of this wool would be so incredibly soft and warm, and not scratchy at all – so I might just do that. Plus…I’m going to make the Regia socks, which is pretty adventurous for me right now!

A while ago I got some thick blue Panda Zoomy yarn:

I think I’ll use this to make this Shroom beanie from Knitty. It looks easy-ish to make, and very comfy to wear.

Hopefully the next post will have some WIP shots of the socks, plus pics of some of the finished gifts!

Freesie bag pt II

I’ve been doing more work on the Freesie bag. Originally I was making it as a present for a friend, but then I decided to make her something else instead (some beaded jewellery with seashell fragments – but I didn’t get a photo).

I finally finished knitting the bag, and learned how to make buttonholes in the process! Perpendicular buttonholes, that is. It was tricky, as the buttonhole is in a major decreasing area, and the pattern was a combination of YO, K2Tog and SSK.

Here it is:

Buttonhole detail:

Buttonhole detail…with button:

And here is what the hole-y pattern looks like on black fabric (which I will use for the lining):

So now I have to think about how to sew the lining inside, what technique and material(s) to use for the shoulderstrap, and how to crochet the petals around the buttonhole. Still lots to do!

Freesie bag

You can tell I’m back at uni, because my procrastinatory craft quota has gone right up.

Right now I’m furiously knitting what will (hopefully) become a bag for my friend. Her birthday is in a little over a week – eep!

I got this interesting yarn overseas – it’s wool and synthetic, aqua, black and white. There was only one 100g ball left in the shop. It’s called Freesie:

I started thinking of what to make with 100g of this yarn, and started doodling in my little date diary. What came out was a small handbag/purse, which does up with a big button, and where the buttonhole is a crocheted flower.

This is how much I’ve knitted. It’s slow-going, I’m using 3mm circular needles, but it’s not too bad. I decided to use a simple stocking stitch interspersed with YO k2tog rows.

Once I finish knitting the bag shape (basically two rectangles and a triangle, but joined together), I will sew black lining to the wrong side of the knit – this should give the bag more of a solid shape and should show off the YO k2tog holes. I will then use the same yarn to make the flower, and I’ll get a big black button to but through the buttonhole. The handle will be made of the same yarn, knitted in a thinnish tube shape, if I can manage it.

I’ve never made a bag before – hopefully the prototype will turn out nice enough to wear!

Lilies and Aquatic Predators

A couple of weeks ago I got some balsa wood. Balsa is a very light, soft wood, very easy to work with unless you want something with more weight, or if you want to work against the grain (which makes balsa wood splinter). I cut off some rectangles and squares and sealed some of them. Today I started painting them using acrylic paints and various concentrations of glaze medium for different effects. I mostly used shades of turquoise.

One of them I didn’t seal and carved the wood against the grain (the tree square, in the corner):

WiPs (photo taken on my cat’s favourite chair, as you can probably tell):

WiP shot of an aquatic piece – ocean and what might be a large fish, or perhaps a squid:

And here it is, finished:

Here is the other piece I finished, which reminds me of a lily pond:

I really like these two, and the aquatic one in particular. I might work on more of these using wood shavings!

To course or not to course

Yes – I’m thinking about doing another course, this time a photography one – street photography. It starts in March, and it goes for 5 weeks (one session a week, on Saturday).

I haven’t been doing much in the way of creative stuff lately. I’ve been practicing my crocheting (Miss Nyx taught me how to when I was in Perth late last year), and sealing balsa wood to use for projects. I’ve been reading a lot and trying to sort out my work schedule. I now have Fridays off, so hopefully art/craft stuff will pick up again!

I took some photos at St Albans a couple of weeks ago, some turned out quite well. Nowadays I’m mostly using the D80 plus a lovely lens I got for Christmas – a Sigma 50mm f2.8 macro/portrait lens.

Then a few days ago I went on another photo rampage, in Balmain this time (an inner west Sydney suburb) – photos coming soon!

Drawing – Week 4

We did some quick exercises – still life:

We also started to look at the dimensions and proportions of the human head:

And ended with a quick portrait:

AWOL

So, I’ve been slack.

My classes finished long ago but I never got around to posting pics. I didn’t end up going to the last two Painting classes, as I didn’t feel I was getting that much benefit out of this course by that point. I did persevere with Drawing, however.

Next time I think I might try sculpture, or a craft-y class or some sort, although I’m completely sure when that’ll be, with Christmas around the corner, a trip to Perth planned, and lots and lots of books to produce at work. I’m also half-planning to go back to uni next year and do a Masters. In what? I haven’t yet decided!

I have many, many things to make for Christmas…there will be much plotting and planning and craft involved!