Let's twist again!

Welcome to British Summer Time! The clocks went forward in the early hours of this morning, so the evenings are going to be lighter from now on! Wonderful! We've had such a fantastic week of warm, sunny weather and blue skies. It's an instant pick-me-up! Mr JK is looking forward to spending some time out in the garden when he gets home from work. The greenhouse is already starting to bulge with plants chomping at the bit to be planted out. They still need hardening off, but if the weather stays warmer, it won't be long before the vegetable patch starts filling up.

The garlic is looking good - this year we're trying it in tubs.

Our neighbour gave us loads of shallots - he's been growing the same variety for years and years. I think they're almost a family heirloom, so I hope they do well for us too.

The first sowings of peas and mangetout have just appeared. Mr JK will sow some more a little later on so that we can have successive crops. You can't beat freshly picked garden peas for sweetness!

Mr JK normally overwinters his broad beans, but this year he's sown the seeds in the spring. It'll be interesting to compare yields with previous years. A couple of weeks ago I made broad bean risotto using last year's crop from the freezer. It's a simple recipe, but really delicious!

There's lots more on the go too - beetroot, cabbages, cauliflowers, leeks, courgettes, French beans, cucumbers, tomatoes and salad leaves. Can't wait for our self sufficient summer to kick into action! I've been busy knitting and spinning and crocheting too! I sent off some granny squares to the Crochet a Rainbow project. I don't find crochet anywhere near as satisfying as knitting, but I'm glad to have contributed a few squares to such a worthwhile cause.

My Peasy is growing slowly but surely! I'm down to the penultimate ball of yarn now, so the end is in sight! I still love the design, luckily, so I'm sure that it will get lots of wear once it's done!

I've done a swatch for the preKnitNation KAL I'm taking part in. Alice has designed a shawl, Spriteling, and the first clue is released on April 1st. I'm not a very experienced lace knitter, so hope that it's going to be within my capabilities! I'm using the Malabrigo sock yarn I received from Shelby as part of a 'Favourite Things' swap on Ravelry. It looks quite pretty!

I've spun some more BFL fibre this week. It's another braid that I bought from the Skein Queen at IKnit in 2009. The colourway is called Fifth Avenue. I literally split the fibre in half, spun each half using the highest ratio on my wheel, and then plied the two together. I had a bit of a disaster during the plying, when the drive band on my wheel snapped! I don't think that I achieved quite the same tension when I started up again, as I can see a difference in the amount of twist. I was trying to get more twist into my finished yarn. It's better, but still plenty of room for improvement! I have about 170 metres of Worsted weight yarn, so I'm going to go hunting for a pattern to show off the colour changes.

I've signed up for the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2011, so all being well, I should be back here blogging every day next week. Mimi has come up with some interesting blog subjects, so do try to pop in, won't you! I'll say goodbye for today, and leave you with a picture of our tulips. See you soon! xxx