I adore Calla in that color! Sometimes it's hard to imagine a pattern in another color, so it's nice to see it being knit by someone else. One of my favorite cotton blends is Cascade Sierra so I might have to check the colors and knit this too!

P.S. I t hink your cables look great!

Hello!! I'm a lurker, though I may have posted here a few times, I just wanted to say a few things. First is, I think you just inspired me to knit up Calla!! It looks so pretty! I very much like your yarn choice!
And second, since you're in Brooklyn, do you know about http://www.theyarntree.com? I don't know if you're into "fiber arts" as much as just knitting, but it seems like a pretty neato yarn store, and I haven't made my way into Brooklyn for a long while!
And I'm glad Catty is feeling better, and sorry about the cone. :[

i really love your calla. i hadn't really considered knitting it until i saw your post.
glad catty is on the mend!

i am experiencing a baby boom in my life as well. just this week, i knew three people who gave birth (again, not counting tomkat or brooke sheilds.) was there like a blackout or something nine months ago?

i just started a cute pattern for baby girls on magknits called "blossom." super easy but very sweet.

As a child, I enjoyed strawberries from a patch in my backyard. I hate to say it, but I have never eaten a good strawberry in recent years. Perhaps, it's the breeding for bigger fruit that kills the sweet flavour? Calla is shaping up lovely. I just bought some Garnstudio Cotton Viscose for it. I hope Catty is learning to cope with her cone.

I've grown strawberries in a strawberry bag and in a strawberry pot (like a big urn with little openings all over the sides). The main worry is it drying out. Which it will do very very quickly, especially on a rooftop. Another issue is that it's hard to make it drain well so that it can be dried to a crisp in some places but soggy in others -- but there are god ways around this, like putting gravel down the center or mixing water retaining stuff in with the potting soil (which you can get at garden centers). Also, I saw the best idea for a strawberry tower in a book called Great Gardens for Kids which was essentially a tower of graduated plastic buckets. Very cute and we might do that this summer.

And you never pick strawberries after the rain because they lose their flavor and go bad really quickly -- which is what's wrong with strawberries this year -- California's been flooded out at exactly the wrong time and some growers have lost their whole strawberry crop.

Calla looks beautiful. I am tempted to start this myself but am in a not allowed to cast on phase of finishing projects.

Your Calla looks beautiful! I really like your choice of colours.
As for your strawberries, they don't travel well. I have stood in a patch in Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada and picked them from the vine and just savoured. I took some home (an hour drive from the patch) as carefully as I could, wrapped in towels and tasted them the second I walked in the door. Not the same. The longer they travel, the more bland they get. The next time you get some, try a little trick, take them out of the fridge about an hour before you plan to eat them (don't be giving me that look, I know no one "plans" to eat strawberries unless they are having guests) wash them, dry them really well and let them sit in a sunny spot until they are warm through. It'll bring back a little of the sweetness.
Give the strawberry pot a try, what have you got to lose? Just remember, smog is as bad as pesticides so to try to keep them as protected as you can.
Best of luck and give Catty my best for a speedy recovery!

the calla is looking beautiful in the subtle grey. i love cables in soft neutrals.

sending get well wishes to your catty, hopefully the incision will heal quickly so the cone can be removed!

It's so good to hear that Catty is back and recovering nicely. As for strawberries, it is so hard to find a delicious one in NYC. When I'm in L.A.,that's when I find the best strawberries (all produce there tastes better - mmm - the grapefruit too!) Here in Brooklyn/NYC I always go for the small strawberries, they seem to have the most intense flavor - the big ones just taste like water. And I've also found that forking out big bucks to one of the high-end grocery stores (W**le F**ds) does not ensure yummy tasing strawberries - I have better luck at my Brooklyn Korean deli.

I agree that the Korean Fruit/Veg store near me usually has the best fruit. How about some of us in Brooklyn/NYC agree to try to grow something this spring/summer and see who fares the best and what works for who?
I know my daughter is enjoying watching her bean plant grow and I would love to branch out to some herbs or fruit to help her learn more about where things come from. Just a thought.

I too love a good strawberry. And I stick to organics on most produce, especially the most important things like berries for the "sponge" reason you mention. I have a similar situation in that I buy most of my summer produce at the Union Square farmers' market and none of the strawberries there are organic. For a long time I only bought organic anything at the market. But then I started reading about how lots of the stuff in farmers' markets may not actually be certified organic, but uses WAY fewer pesticides than the big producers (stuff you'd buy in a grocery store). I recommend talking to the growers at your market about their practices. It might be that their stuff is almost organic or even IS organic, but they haven't paid to be certified.
I've loosened up a lot and buy lots of non-organic produce at the market (not strawberries yet, but probably this summer). Also, in terms of environmental concerns, it makes way more sense to buy something locally grown and unpackaged with minimal pesticide use than to buy something that's certified organic but wrapped in plastic and shipped 3000 miles to you.

First off, I just wanted to say how sad I was to hear about Catty and how wonderful the news is that she is feeling better and adapting to life without a limb.

I am a regular lurker to your blog and love your writing. A novice knitter, I usually don't have much in the way of advice to provide. I can however give you a good tip about storing strawberries. Living in Berkeley we have access to absolutely fabulous strawberries (not to make you jealous, although based on the comment above, it seems this year's crop might not be as good as years past). Anyhow, good strawberries last for a week if you store them in a tupper ware container lined with a paper towel. That's it. Don't wash them before you put them in (I usually don't wash mine anyway as I buy organic ones). As for growing strawberries, I have had little success. They seem to be very thirsty plants and I am not very good at regulating watering.

We are currently at the opposite end of strawberry season (New Zealand fall) and life is out to torment me with the thought of strawberries. My 6 yr old son just asked for some this morning...and now your blog! Arg!!! Any way...yes, grow them in a container. We put ours in windowboxes last spring to protect the fruits from the birds and it worked really well. One of our favorite ways to eat them is sliced between thin pancakes smeared with Nutella. To die for.

I've had great success with ornamental wild-type strawberries in Strawberry pots on the balcony. And then my little dog ate the berries. :-)

Its worth a shot.

And complain to your co-op!

Good luck with the strawberry search. I just threw out a carton that were only 2 days old.

As for the splitty cottons, I've yet to find one that doesn't split. Karabella claims to have a one but it only comes in sport or worsted weight.

i am SO sold on calla now. i liked it before, but your photo is just lovely. and um, webs has cathay on super-duper sale. woohoo!

We must be on some similar wavelength. I cast on for a Jaywalker yesterday, and was thinking about ordering some Cathay from WEBS (where it's on sale) to use for Calla. Weird.

I lived in Oregon for one summer a few years ago and had the most wonderful, succulent strawberries. I'm afraid I am spoiled forever. No strawberries since have compared. I have my own pot of them outside, but they were terrible last year. You should try it anyway (it's very exciting), but make sure you have (1) lots of sun, (2) lots of good, nutritious potting mix, and (3) time. Strawberries don't bear (much) until their second season, and even then, word on the street it that they get better each season after. That's what I'm hoping for this year for mine. (I don't have enough sun, so it probably won't happen, but hope springs eternal).

Just catching up - Great socks, glad that catty's bouncing back, cathay baby clothes is a great idea!

Good strawberries are hard to come by, it's true. I'm hoping to get some good locally grown strawberries at our farmer's market this saturday (crossing fingers). Since I'm not a gardener I can't offer you any growing advice, but if you want to boost your strawberries' flavor I would recommend adding some sugar or sweetener and letting them sit for a few minutes. Nothing like a coating of sugar to make things tastier ;)

Calla is looking great. I have to say that I'm a bit late, but I'm really pleased to hear that Catty is back and adapting. As for strawberries, I got some lovely ones from Freshdirect (2 punnets for $5). My parents have grown them in pots in the UK, so it must be possible here.

I too have had problems with drying out and drainage when attempting a strawberry pot, but I am also a pretty neglectful gardener. I saw Martha Stewart once take some rubber piping and drill holes in it and put it in the middle of the pot to keep the water going into the right places. It required a drill so I just laughed and changed the channel. Might be worth a try, though. I think I still have a strawberry pot and you are welcome to it (I'm in the slope as well).

Also, I just knit a baby bolero from One Skein - easy and quick.

Ha! I picked Cathay for Calla too. That one falls into my "pipe dream" category of knitting, since God knows when I'll be able to knit it.

Something struck me when I first saw Calla. I've had this Berroco pattern in the to-knit list for awhile now...and they're practically twins:

http://berroco.com/234/234_shanti_pv.html

Weird, eh?

Calla is looking really lovely. The pattern didn't really catch my eye, I think because of the color of the model. This gray is still subtle and neutral, but (in my opinion) much more attractive. Plus I think it'll be more wearable -- you could put a t-shirt under it and wear it in early spring or fall.

So glad to hear that Catty is doing so well. I think animals are amazingly adaptive, often more so than humans!

Oh totally grow your own - strawberries are great for containers - if like everyone said you water OFTEN. Also, if you really like strawberries I would plant quite a few since it can be hard to get enough to actually bake something with unless you have a plot.
Last year I did containers and the berries were so delicious - but rare. This year I am going to put them in the ground and hope for a higher yield.
I know exactly what you are talking about taste wise and I live in BC and we have tonnes of farms about.
I can drive about an hour and a half in peak season and pick some glorious berries but do I?
Maybe this year.

Calla looks gorgeous - I think your cables are just fine!

I forgot to say: I just used HUZZAH in my post last night!!
Too funny. That word always makes me smile.

Mmm...it looks yummy already!

Set your own life time more easy get the loan and everything you want.