Geranium slips and socks

Every spring I plant a couple of Geraniums.  They come a variety of shades, especially shades of pink and they are readily available.  I found that for years, I would miss the sale where the potting Geraniums are on sale for .58 cents.   I decided one fall, that I was tired of that and took cuttings of the plants which were colours that I liked.  There are always pink Geraniums available, but some years they aren't actually pink!   They can be peachy pink, or pale pink, or stripey pink.  I had the perfect pink Geranium that year.  I loped off a bunch of stem pieces into 3-5 inch lengths.  I snipped off the flowering bit, trimmed off any leaves from the lower half of the stem and stuck them into a little jar of water.   I stuck the jar in a sunny window and about half of them rooted.  I usually put them into the front bathroom window, where it is very sunny but quite cool.  I've found however that I tend to forget to water them, which adversely affects the rooting rate for some reason.

Bright Pink Geraniums

I've found out since then that I get better rooting rates if I just stick the cuttings directly into fresh potting soil.  It's fast and easy.  I don't use rooting compound because I've read that Geraniums don't need it.  The fact that it's not actually easy to find, helps with the not using it either.

Dark Pink/Burgundy Trailing Geraniums

With the temperatures dropping and getting close to first frost, I figured it was time to snip my summer's plants and re-root them.   I got out my secateurs (don't you just love that word) and went to work.   My pink Geraniums cuttings are in a rectangular planter box.  I put one extra cutting into a pot, along with a rooted Geranium which I cut severely back and repotted.  Not only did I trim back about 2/3 of the branches, but I trimmed the roots back a few inches as well.   This is my security plant, in the event that for some strange reason, all my cuttings fail this year.  I also put the pots in a sunny window, in the livingroom, where I'll remember to water them!
I've had this sock yarn in wait for a while. It's bright, it's soft and it's a tad thicker than I normally use.  I had to go up a needle size and use a slightly smaller stitch count.   I'm doing a simple spiral pattern with a single traveling/cable stitch.   It's fast, interesting and unlike cabling with multiple stitches, I don't need a cable needle.   The downside to this yarn is that it was a gift and it had a few moth nibbled breaks in it.  Regardless, it's still sturdy everywhere else, it's bright and an interesting colour that I might not have chosen for myself.