Progress on Baby Tomten Jacket

I took the Tomten with me to the doctor's appointment. I had a long wait, and got to the division for fronts, back and armholes. When I got home, I slid everything onto dpns for a progress picture.
As you can see, I'm knitting the fronts in blue, the back section is yellow. I plan to use orange to pick up the stitches for the sleeves.
I used about 12 grams for the first color block, that means I have probably used up 36 grams of sock yarn to this point. The instructions have you knit the fronts and back together for 7 ridges, then begin shaping for the hood. I'm pretty sure I'll have enough yarn, but just in case I'm wrong, I have a plan. I'll knit the 7 ridges for the collar and put it on waste yarn while I knit both sleeves. When the sleeves are done, I'll be able to weigh the leftovers and see if there's enough for a hood.
My hoya multiflora hasn't opened yet, but the buds are filling out nicely. I am delighted to see this little one bloom so quickly. When we first moved here, I had a hoya that never bloomed. After 6 or 7 years, it finally started to bloom; beautiful pink, furry stars. It's gone now, but I always loved those flowers.

Hoya Multiflora and Easter Cactus

I knit a swatch from the cotton I had left from the kimonos. I washed it yesterday, measuring before and after. There's good news and bad news. The colors did not bleed, however the sample shrank lengthwise, from 6" to 5". This is not good because I think those kimonos are a little on the short side anyway. This will probably limit them to summer use, and maybe that will work out okay. On the plus side, the cotton softened up nicely.
I admit I should have swatched before I knit the kimonos, but I wouldn't have had enough yarn for two if I had. I will wash the swatch several more times, checking for fading and more shrinkage.


If I'm talking about swatches, why are you looking at tatt3r's houseplants? I put the swatch on my kitchen table and the flash bleached out all the color and definition. I decided to show pictures of my hoya multiflora. I am so excited to see it getting ready to bloom. It's also called 'shooting star hoya', and will have white and yellow flowers. I bought it in October '07 and it's doing very well.
I'm not sure where I got the Easter cactus. If it's from my paternal grandmother, who died in 1975, it's been around a long time. I can't remember when I got it, it's been sitting quietly in the corner for years. When it bloomed last year I was astonished to see it wasn't a Christmas cactus. I looked around on the internet and recognized the bloom of an Easter cactus.
It needs to be repotted, I think. When I watered it, I noticed that it took almost 30 seconds for the water to soak into the roots. It is very potbound, and I'm afraid I will overwater it and loose it. I took a cutting last month and saw new growth on it this morning. Diametrag says she needs to repot her Christmas cactus, so I think I will find a bag of dirt and do both plants. I need to do more research because all I have is African Violet soil and perlite. I think I should use orchid mix or maybe peat moss. I'm not sure. Help me out if you know what kind of mix I need for Christmas Cacti.

It's a Blooming Jungle Out There

Diametrag and I went to Frederik Meijer Gardens two winters ago, we wandered through their orchids and orchid sale. I bought one in bloom; everyone said if I could grow African Violets, I could easily grow an orchid. It's been awhile, but it finally bloomed again. I don't remember the name, but they said it was easy to grow. This picture has a lot of clutter in the background, but the colors are close to real life.
Here's another shot, the flash made the background all black, and it looks a bit odd to me, floating in the darkness like some sort of wierd UFO.
This is a hoya I got in October, and it looks to me as though it's going to bloom! It is Hoya Multiflora, (scroll down for text) and has yellow flowers that look like shooting stars. It doesn't vine, it branches, and could get to be shrubby.