Total Failure

Except for closing the toe, the first of the two Unst socks is finished.

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Trouble is, there’s no way it’s going to fit my Sockapalooza Pal’s foot. It fits mine perfectly and my Pal’s foot is quite a bit larger. I’m trying to decide whether to frog this perfectly good sock and start over with a slightly altered Unst pattern, or toss this sock in the single-sock, WIP pile and start over with a new pattern and different yarn. *sigh*

While I’m pondering my options, here are more garden photos.

Marianne (who has the same name/same spelling as my sister) wanted to know the name of the reddish-orange flower in a photo I posted last week. It’s called Geum Chiloense (Grecian Rose) and here’s a close-up:

OrangeFlower

I have another of this same plant with yellow flowers which hasn’t flowered yet since it’s in a more shady spot.

A nickel to anyone who can guess what this ginormous plant is (click on the photo to increase its size):

Trust me, it’s not a sapling.  Maybe this photo will help you identify it:

And while I have your attention, does anyone know the name of the magenta-colored flowers in the photo? I bought a single plant years ago because my mother had them in her garden when I was a kid. But I’ve never known the name. Can you solve the mystery????

26 Responses to “Total Failure”

  1. Michelle on 18 Jun 2007 at 7:00 pm

    Sure looks like an asparagus stalk to me :) . Also I believe the magenta flowers are Rose Campion. It’s considered a biennial–but since it is a prolific self-seeder, there are always new plants flowering each season. I have the magenta, white, and white with magenta centers growing (and seeding) in my garden.

  2. Angie on 18 Jun 2007 at 7:02 pm

    I think the pink flower is rose campion. The silvery green leaves are what made me think so. I used to grow it in a former garden. I enjoyed the very bright pink flowers and the silvery rosettes are a nice contrast.

  3. Miss T on 18 Jun 2007 at 7:02 pm

    That looks like asparagus. I’ve got two rows of it in my garden, and it looks just like that right now!

  4. Beth on 18 Jun 2007 at 7:04 pm

    Go for the new pattern in a new yarn. It would be a shame to rip all that knitting.

  5. Wendy on 18 Jun 2007 at 7:15 pm

    Bummer! I have had 3 false starts with my socka-pal’s socks.

  6. Laurie on 18 Jun 2007 at 7:17 pm

    Asparagus. Don’t know the flower, though.

  7. marianne on 18 Jun 2007 at 7:20 pm

    I just got here…and saw the flowers and thought..’I know! I know!’ Rose campion…I’d say definitely…and…asparagus stalk.
    Thank you for identifying the Geum, I’ve only seen photos of it before but have always loved that colour! That is a beautiful photo you’ve taken, it really has captured ‘all’ the colours in the petals. gorgeous.
    If you like the sock…don’t rip, start another pattern with another yarn…if you don’t want the sock for yourself enough to knit its mate..then rip it back.

  8. Sue on 18 Jun 2007 at 7:43 pm

    Yep, as soon as I saw the pictures, I said “asparagus and rose campion.” Nice! Did you know you had the asparagus there, or it a volunteer?

  9. Margie on 18 Jun 2007 at 8:01 pm

    Don’t frog!!!! Keep this sock for yourself (and finish the mate later) and make a new pair for your pal. (I hope it’s me!!) I’m lucky because I can use socks that are too small for me for my pal (or my DD, she keeps taking all of my “failures”). Don’t have a clue about the flowers but they’re beautiful.

  10. Jenna on 18 Jun 2007 at 8:08 pm

    Well, if it’s any consolation I did decided to frog a sock half way through the instep on Saturday because I knew they’d be too small for my sockapalooza pal. I furiously re-knit it in 24 hours in the bigger size and it’s still too small. So new pattern/yarn and I wish that I hadn’t frogged the original and kept it for myself.

  11. Kara on 18 Jun 2007 at 8:10 pm

    It’s asparagus. I have a huge patch of it growing around my air conditioner. I have no idea where it came from.

  12. Brenda on 18 Jun 2007 at 8:14 pm

    In the seattle area they are called “marie campions” and they love to grow out of control in the Mt. Ranier area. I love them. If you want more take the flowers off after the blooms have gone and just shake in an area. 2 years later, “marie campions” galore. :-)

  13. Shasta on 18 Jun 2007 at 8:25 pm

    Asparagus, without a doubt.

  14. Gina on 18 Jun 2007 at 8:44 pm

    Rose Campion is the pink flower. An overgrown asparagus is the stalk.

  15. Carol on 19 Jun 2007 at 4:59 am

    Keep the sock! I’m of no use in the garden. Although the thumb is pretty green, the brain can not place names on what it grows ;)

  16. marie in florida on 19 Jun 2007 at 5:14 am

    i’ve never seen asparagus growing, and as for the flowere, my mother would have said “these are four o’clocks, here have some”.she said that about all her flowers, here have some,with a pinch;and a hand off….LOL…
    keep the sock, start another; that’s the beauty of socks, here have some,(pinch hand off…)

  17. Tan on 19 Jun 2007 at 6:25 am

    If the sock fits, wear it. Knit something else for SP.

  18. Nancy on 19 Jun 2007 at 6:34 am

    Oh, for heaven’s sake! I would NEVER frog a perfectly good sock, especially when it even fits YOU! Just set it aside to finish the second one later when you can spare time to knit for yourself. Now, go pick out something else to knit up with your modified Unst idea for your Sockapalooza pal.

  19. Kim on 19 Jun 2007 at 7:55 am

    Asparagus & Rose Campion???

  20. Rebecca on 19 Jun 2007 at 9:09 am

    I think it is always harder when you knit for someone else because you fear it won’t fit. Are you sure the sock won’t fit someone with a smaller foot? My socks fit me fine (size 8) but sometimes my daughter will try them on and they fit her, too. She wears a 9.5.

  21. gail on 19 Jun 2007 at 6:36 pm

    Can’t you just rip the toe of the sock and make it longer? Or, do you also need more width? If it is impossible to rescue, then save it and make a second for yourself!

  22. Colette on 19 Jun 2007 at 9:26 pm

    It is Lychnis coronaria Rose Campion. It is technically a biennial or short lived perenial but it reseeds itself so well that while not the same plant it will exist in the garden for many years.

  23. Amy Murdock on 20 Jun 2007 at 4:28 am

    Rose Campion

  24. Jan on 20 Jun 2007 at 7:32 am

    That “sapling” is a spare goose or asparagus. Glad someone else knew the pink, though!

  25. Jean E. on 20 Jun 2007 at 10:31 am

    Keep the sock. Hope for more aspargus next year!!!

  26. Karen in Toledo on 21 Jun 2007 at 1:57 pm

    Rose Campion… here in Ohio we call it Lamb’s Ear

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