Anything for the weekend?

What are you planning on doing this weekend? Aside from the vague hearts and flowers stuff tomorrow, I really want to get some serious knitting and gardening in.

I know, it's been snowing and it's been cold for so long I've actually got good at accessorizing hats and scarves. But I swear I can smell spring in the air. My gardening fingers are twitching in the same way my knitting fingers twitch in autumn. I've bought some aubergine seeds, some sweet pea seeds and others that it's too early for. But apparently you need to start aubergines and sweet peas now, so I'm going to give it a go. I will get the right sort of seed compost and put them in a little incubator on the back room window sill and really try to remember to water them. I just caught the end of Gardeners' Question Time and Pippa Greenwood (my organic veg plot guru) said it's also time to start antirhynum, or bunny rabbit plants as they've always been known in my family. This comes from when we were children and we would pick the flower heads off and squeeze the sides gently to open. Thinking about it, I'm really not sure why that relates specifically to bunny rabbits, but the name has stuck, as befits families. 

I am imagining a long, hot summer with climbers all over my fences and a new rose in deep red and deeply scented. (A girl can dream...) But, I need to prep first. So I am going to prune what need to be pruned and dig what needs to be dug. I thought I would have to prune my roses that have been recently planted. I've got one rambler, one climber and one shrub. The rambler went in the year before last and the other two last year. But I looked up pruning roses last night and it seems that none of my roses really need pruning! Whohoo! I just need to get dead or diseased bits out. The shrub rose would have been pruned, but it's called noisette and apparently they specifically grow flowers all the way up the stems, so should only be pruned for shape. The clematis will have a bit of work done on it, really to experiment.

The big job will be preparing my very small veg patch. It's only about 2 square metres and I've used it for the last two summers I've been in this house. Because of that, it's quite well dug, but I've got compost rotting away that needs using. After thinking about how to get it out of the bottom of the bin, without having to dismantle the whole thing, I realised at about 3.00 am (hmm, yes, I don't sleep that well thank you) that I could take the top off the bin, fork the contents into my wheelbarrow, mix them and then get the gorgeous compost from the bottom of the bin onto the soil. Then put un-rotted stuff back in bin, place some carpet over the veg patch to warm it up and hey presto, my garden is getting more ready for spring and I've done some outside exercise.

What am I knitting right now? I am trying to be faithful to one object. My sister asked me to make her a cardigan for her birthday, which is at the start of April. She has picked out the pattern and the yarn. It's made by Twilleys of Stamford and is a swing jacket with small lacey holes running up the front and back. I have finished one ball of yarn on it and think I will need another 9 to get it finished. I guess that Ravelry progress report should say 10%. gah. So, I will knit and knit this weekend until I'm not quite so panicked about it. Thankfully, sis is quite short waisted so I have cut out some rows and some repeats to get it a whole 3 inches shorter than I would need to make it for myself. 

Pssst, I might also be doing a job application, I haven't decided yet.

Mid life, fast approaching significant birthday event this week: my first professional dye job. The grey was getting more and more and my lovely rich brown less and less, so now it comes from a tube. 

Another family word - Slumpy

Must go now - Eddie is seriously disrupting my typing. I think he's forgotten to check his food bowl again.