In other "crafting" news...

My literary journal, Grasslimb, has just released an issue — vol. 4, issue 2. This is actually the ninth issue, because I started the journal mid-year and published a lone "issue 3" to get the volume to line up with the year-start. (Am I anal-retentive? Hmm.) I'm so pleased I've kept it going for nearly five years! Anyway, if you like high-quality poetry and literary, somewhat experimental fiction, copies are just $2.50.

On the downside, if you like good proofreading, I'm afraid I did not do this issue proud. I've had to make four (4!!!! that is a big fat pain, trust me) hand corrections in every copy I send out. And that's just what I've caught so far. My only excuse (and I used to copyedit professionally, so this is little excuse) is that I was ill and panicked at the time I was doing the proofread. But. Yeah. Ugh.

And I did swatch. Sigh. I could not resist a little swatch. This is the handspun with size 2s. The colors are knitting up gorgeously.

I think if this were going to be socks, it would need to be on size 0s given my loose knitting, and I think I'd tend to split it a lot if I were using size 0s.. but I don't think it's going to be socks. I'm going to try lace next.

I'm going to rip this, because We Do Not Waste the Handspun. No no no no.

And on to the craft of gardening, which I've mostly slacked on for the last couple years...

A few years ago, at the Balboa Park botanical building, one of the gardeners gave me some berries from the beautiful Ophiopogon jaburan vittatus "Striped Lily-Turf." This looks like green/white striped grass; it blooms with simple white flowers, which later turn into flourescent deep blue berries that seem to glow from within.

I planted the berries (after appropriate scarification), and after many months some of them did sprout. I've had three lovely plants for about five years, but nary a bloom. This year I gave all my potted plants a little more attention, fertilizer, etc....

Today they started blooming for the first time! This is exciting — it means the berries are likely to follow. Trust me, they are so beautiful it is worth this excitement. I will show you pictures later this fall. By the way, this looks sideways, but it isn't — the flower spikes are a little droopy.

Finally, my frangipani, late as usual, has started blooming too :-)