Here is my Cadence as of this morning. I did move all the live stitches to scrap yarn so I could try it on, and the neckline, which is really wide in the pattern, and which I made on smaller needles, will work fine. The yarn is pretty grabby, so I've had to change the way I hold it and that has sped up the process a lot. I'm ready to do the 2" of ribbing on the bottom now, and then hopefully knock out the sleeves.
I say hopefully, because this is the time of year when knitting loses its appeal to gardening. I used to worry that I'd lost interest in knitting all together, but it comes back in the fall. I like the rhythm of that. I was outside for a bit yesterday, and made a long list of things that need to be done in order to properly usher in spring/summer at my house.
Has anyone every tried doing weed control by pouring boiling water on the weeds? The previous owners put down pea gravel in the font of the house and it always has weeds, which I usually knock back with Roundup, but would like to find an alternative. I did a test patch yesterday, and the leaves sure looked cooked, but I'll have to wait and see it that actually kills the plant. I remember seeing a butane torch apparatus in a gardening catalog that allowed the user to burn weeds, and thought that was a good idea for this small space, too.
Since the government shutdown isn't going to happen, it's back to work today, and I am relieved.
Oh oh, oh, please don't use Roundup. Dat's baaad stuff. I'll come weed for you. I LIKE to weed. I've never heard of the boiling water trick before. I would think the roots would still survive but it's sure worth a try. If it doesn't work, let me know and I'll be on my way!
ReplyDeleteI agree w/ Mama Pea - the boiling water probably won't kill the roots. If simply pulling the weeds is out, maybe smother them a la lasagna-style gardens? Layers of cardboard and/or newspaper covered with more gravel. Or if you have more time than money, temporarily remove as much of the existing gravel as possible and re-use that?
ReplyDeleteThe sweater looks great! I know what you mean about knitting vs. gardening - same thing happens to me every year!
nice sweater...I used to have a friend who would pour boiling water with heavy salt around his fire pit in the summer to keep down weeds.
ReplyDeleteI have a fair amount of rocks around my driveway and house. I did not put them in, I bought the house that way. I too have weeds coming through the rocks all the time even though there is a landscape fabric underneath the rocks. And I too have knocked out the weeds with Roundup many times. Last year (trying to be a better steward) I tried the propane torch method and burned them up. What I found was the the torch did not burn the roots, only the greenery up top, so they came back in a few weeks. Plus I am burning a fossil fuel to do this. It would be better to not have the rocks there, but I can't do that. So is burning fossil fuel a few times a year better thtn using Roundup a couple times a year? My dilema...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, all.
ReplyDeleteMike, I feel your pain. I don't water this part of the yard, but I could for the purposes of pulling weeds? I do take advantage of the rain sometimes to pull weeds, but they end up going bananas between good soaking rains that would make weed pulling easier. I do think it's possible to have enough mulch in an area that it's an effective weed barrier, but I've got plenty to do without making a project of scraping off and moving gravel. Wahh.