Author | Lightnews

Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · 10h

Wanted a progress pic for my #2025sweaterchallenge but someone decided this layout was just for him.

#knitting #handspinning

Grey and white cat lays atop a sweater in progress. The sweater is being knit top down in geometric cream and pink color work pattern. The body and one sleeve are nearly complete.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · 10d

Signed up to demo #bandweaving at the upcoming weaving guild sale! Got out Ye Olde #inkleloom and warped up for the first pattern in the Applesies book, then proceeded to totally mis-read the turning sequence. Oh well, still looks cool 😎

#tabletweaving #handweaving

Handwoven band about 3/4 inch across featuring a zigzag design in navy blue, grey, and bright pink

Inkle loom set up for band weaving with a pack of tablets used to change sheds.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · 15d

Got some good work done in the backyard today. Flagstone is down on the main path, the bog filter structure is in, and the stone planters are taking shape. Some of my #californianativeplants are already established back here, many more to come!

Backyard improvements to my CA native plant garden. Several lilac and manzanita shrubs are visible amongst the in-progress rock planters, stepping stones, and pathway.

A pink flagstone pathway in progress. Large stones cover a straight walkway, leading to a patio space that still needs pavers.

Newly created planter formed from small granite boulders houses a Bee's Bliss sage. The structure for a bog filter is visible behind the planter.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · 15d

Cruising along on my #2025sweaterchallenge now that the sleeves are split off. I made a ton of cream Romney 2 ply, but will there be enough of my pinky orange BFL? Time will tell. 😬

#knitting #handspinning

Hands holding a sweater in progress in the foreground, while a grey and white cat peers sleepily from behind the knitting.

Pink and cream color work sweater being knit from the top down. The raglan increases are complete and the sleeves have been split from the body.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · 15d

Great turnout at the #nokings protest in #Sanluisobispo yesterday.

Protest poster that reads "Fascists can oligargle deez nuts," written in cheerful colors.

Glittery acrylic sign that reads "Fuck Off Fascists" shines in the sun

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Oct 3

Check out the seed exchange table at our CNPS chapter meeting last night! This is maybe 1/3 of the total selection. The variety was amazing. I contributed a tiny bit of Ascelpias fascicularis 😅 and took home two varieties of lupine and an interesting wallflower.

#californianativeplants

Long table covered with packets of seeds to share with other native plant enthusiasts. Many include photos of the plant and instructions for germinating.

Take a scoop of seeds for the Suffrutescent Wallflower. The collector has provided cultivation instructions and a photo of the mature plant with yellow blooms.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 30

Oh no! I like to dig the holes, and I love taking pictures of my plant babies so I can see how much they've grown 🥹

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 29

Getting ready for fall planting! I've got some pond/bog plants for the new water feature, Monardella, Penstemon, and Diplacus for the pollinators, and a nice Rhamnus californica to block the low spot in our fence. Soon, my friends.

#californianativeplants

California native plants awaiting their new garden homes. Pond plants on the left include Stachys bullata and Erythranthe cardinalis. Monardella, Diplacus "tequila sunrise" and two kinds of Lobelia, and Salvia Celestial Blue.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 27

I'll have to check that out. Looks awesome!

Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 26

This is a great shed! Looks like the house project in Building Green, a book I regularly flip through and muse about.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 25

Got to get cranking on my #2025sweaterchallenge if I'm going to finish by the end of the year! Currently putting along through the raglan increases and wondering if I'll ever be somewhere cold enough to wear the final product 🤔

#knitting #handspun

Spot cardigan pattern in progress, partway through the raglan increases. Knitted using my handspun yarn in colors of white and pink-orange.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 23

New project off the loom, submitted for cat inspection. This will be a set of dish towels for my purple-loving MIL.

#rigidheddle #handweaving #cat

Grey and white cat relaxes, wrapped in a length of handwoven fabric with a purple and white log cabin pattern

Cloth woven on a rigid heddle loom with thick and thin cotton yarn. The pattern is a large scale log cabin in dark purple and white.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 22

I told a coworker that my husband and I had gone rock shopping.

Coworker: "Oooo! Did you pick out an anniversary ring??"

Me: "...not exactly."

Several large piles of building materials are lined up on a driveway. They include piles of gravel, a cubic yard of sand, and three pallets of flagstone and boulders.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 17

Going to try propagating this smaller Epilobium canum variety "Bowman's #1." This one was planted in May and was watered maybe once a month since then. We'll see if it's as happy on the sunnier side of the yard.

#californianativeplants #epilobium

Small Epilobium with red flowers grows happily in a semi-shaded corner.

Close up of red, trumpet-shaped fuchsia flowers with some developed seed pods bursting open

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 16

Nothing like a just-picked tomato! So delicious.

Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 15

I'm not a warm weather person, but there are some perks. #tomatoes #vegetablegarden

A hand holds a plate filled with five large homegrown tomatoes. Two yellow Kellogg's Breakfast, red-green Black Krims, and a green streaked Green Zebra.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 12

Thanks! I usually have a plan before I start making something, but this time I decided to just wing it. It's been fun to see it evolve.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 12

The Sea Witch grows. Her acid greens shift in the murky light, her red eyespots flash a warning. Next, the jagged border of a treacherous shore.

#knitting #handspinning

Triangular wrap made of mitered squares. Mostly knit with handspun merino in many shades of green, there is a zig zig design knit with grey alpaca running horizontally across the wide part of the triangle, and two bright red corners at the widest tips.

Close up of green mitered squares showing a mossy-looking texture, contrasting with the grey zig zag detail. The grey squares are knit intarsia.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 11

Quite chuffed with these Sweet as Pie dish towels. They washed up nice and soft, but the waffle weave didn't shrink down as much as I'd expected. Maybe it needs a few more washes?

#rigidheddle #handwoven

Two handwoven cotton dish towels in a waffle weave pattern. Natural colored cotton with contrasting threads in bright orange and pink.

Close up of the waffle weave texture, showing the front of the towel on the top (contrast colors look like dots) and back of the towel on the bottom (contrast colors show as a line of floats)

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Sep 8

We've been working hard on some infrastructure improvements before the fall planting begins. The pathway base is nearly done, and I'm chipping away at excavating the pond.

#californianativeplants

Garden path in progress. Steel edging is slowly being filled with compacted gravel base, preparing a level surface for the paver stones. Fuchsia, yarrow, and a few penstemon are still blooming red and pink on the left side of the path.

A hole about four feet around is being dug into heavy clay soil. It will eventually be surrounded by rock and native plants to create a wildlife pond.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Aug 25

The Sea Witch progresses! I'm fairly sure I have enough green for one more row of large squares, or maybe I'll add small squares in the valleys for more zigs and zags? Definitely planning a sawtooth border to add to the wild kelp energy.

#handspun #knitting

Knitted wrap in progress, made of many mitred squares knit from hand spun yarn many shades of green.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Aug 24

Some garden friends stopped by yesterday. Here's an Umber Skipper on the hummingbird sage, and a couple native bees on my desert mallow.

#californianativeplants #butterfly #bees

Umber Skipper butterfly resting on a hummingbird sage leaf.

Two furrow bees checking out an orange mallow blossom. These bees are very small, about 1.5 cm long

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Aug 20

On the Central Coast, near San Luis Obispo

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Aug 19

The Sea Witch is taking shape. Slowly.

#knitting #handspun

A traingle-shaped wrap made of mitred squares is slowly being knitted up. The yarn is hand spun merino in many shades of green.

Tracking sheet for adding squares to the wrap. Completed squares are colored green.

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Brittany of the Many Projects @aurorarouge.bsky.social · Aug 14

Oh! Excuse me, I didn't realize this seat was taken.

J-hang number two confirmed, and this one is in a primo spot to watch. Cross your antennae that all goes well.

#butterfly #monarch

A white garden chair sits on concrete steps. A small monarch caterpillar hangs from the back of the chair, barely visible as it gets ready to start its cocoon

Close up of monarch caterpillar in the "J hang" phase. It has anchored itself to a metal chair and hangs downward in a J shape, preparing to split its skin and become cocooned.

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