Confessions of a Ravelry Addict

I'm addicted to Ravelry.  I know I'm not alone but feel the need to confess it.  Not only do I add projects that I've finished since joining, as I discover older projects in my cupboard, I add those too.  Today I added 2 more.  Both have been completed for at least 2 years.  The first, a Wavy Scarf from Handmaiden was a little kit with one of the patterns they attach to the yarn.  It was a really fast knit and I get tons of compliments when I wear it.  It looks lovely with a nice blouse.

The other is a sweater from the first Mirasol Collection which I didn't really like at first but I have been wearing it this winter and I really like it now.  It's comfortable, cozy and very soft.  Just like a favourite sweatshirt.

I love reading the Ravelry forums and probably my favourite part is the people section where Ravelry finds other people who have projects in common.  I love looking through their projects to see what else I might like to make.

Ravelry also spurs me on to complete projects (most of the time).  The addiction to putting projects up means I have to complete them.  This is a very positive side effect and should result in lower stash but, alas, all the yarn stores would have to close for that to actually work.

I'm almost ready for Christmas, just one or two small things left to buy.  I did abandon 2 Christmas knitting projects.  I probably could have gotten them done ... two small sweaters for my nephews ... but that is all I would have been doing for about 3 weeks and I decided to give myself a break.  They have birthdays.

We had our first family Christmas get-together last night.  My job was to make cookies which I love to do.  I made about 7 different kinds and I think they all turned out really well.   I would love to bake all the time but don't seem to be able to eat just one!

Still Gardening!

I did my last bit of 2010 gardening yesterday.  I have been watching for the foliage on my 2 Jerusalem Artichoke (JA) plants to die in the frost so I could harvest.  I think they have been ready under the above definition for a couple of weeks but I finally managed to get out there with a shovel.

And what a harvest.  Now the research begins on what to do with all of them.  I've eaten them before but only in small quantities with other roasted veggies.  I've been over to epicurious.com and found several recipes.  I also learned that they can be eaten raw.  There is an arugula salad with shaved JA's that could work but I need something that uses a big quantity so I'm thinking soup.  The small problem there is that my freezer is packed.

The reason for the full freezer is partly due to a trip a friend and I took to Supperworks yesterday.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  It is a meal preparation company and I've known of their existence for a few years but didn't think it would be the thing for me.  But as I understood more about it, I thought I'd give it a try.  Essentially, they have a number of recipes a month with all of the ingredients prepped on site.  We went in, threw all of the components together and took them home.  I liken it to cooking with a sous chef.  You save all of the shopping and chopping time but still get real ingredients and recipes like the ones I would generally make for myself anyway.  And it was pretty fun.  A social engagement while getting ourselves set up for weeknight cooking help.

Finally!

I finally finished the Bridgewater shawl from Jared Flood's Made in Brooklyn book.  A great project but the edging took forever.  It didn't help that after knitting the lace border part in the round and reading the chart one way, you then knit the edging back and forth.  So when reading the chart for the edging, I kept reading it from right to left when I should have been reading the purl rows from left to right.  About mid-way through the first side this dawned on me.  The pattern this way was actually pretty enough so I debated calling it improvisation and continuing on but in the end frogged.  I'm glad I did since the correct way was not only faster but, surprise, surprise, looks nicer too.

I am really smitten with this book.  I've made 4 projects from it and they have all been really great.  I like the way he incorporates a little more thought-provoking construction into the projects.  Despite this shawl taking a long time, I didn't get bored of it the way I have with other projects.  I'm thinking of a couple of in progress sweaters that fit into that category.

On the quilting front, I'm still feeling uninspired by the diamond quilt-in-progress so I organized my fabric stash yesterday.  That was both fun and distressing.  Fun to play with fabrics obviously.  Distressing in that I have enough fabric to start my own store!  Perhaps a slight exaggeration.  I guess I could say it now rivals my yarn stash.

Crafty Peru

 We recently returned from a trip to Peru.  What a beautiful country!  We were only there for 10 days so barely scratched the surface.  We spent 2 days in Lima and walked all over Miraflores (I see flowers, one of the more affluent neighbourhoods) and also went on a bus/walking tour of old Lima.  We saw many great things but my favourite was the Love Park.  Walls like the ones in the photo covered with tiles and messages of love snake through the park and surround a statue of a couple sharing a passionate kiss.  The park overlooks the Pacific Ocean and is really fun.

After Lima we flew to Cuzco, got altitude sickness, took the pills and felt better, then went on to the Sacred Valley.  The Sacred Valley, besides being lovely countryside, is the home to several Inca ruins - we stopped at 2.  More on that in a later post.  It was also home to a little village that had a little demonstration of yarn dying, knitting and weaving.  Gap Adventures sponsors the village and brings tours in.  One woman showed us how the yarn was dyed.  The bowl below is crushed bugs.  The yarn shown here was dyed with crushed bugs plus additives like lemon juice and salt.

 The women were also spinning with drop spindles, knitting and weaving.  I, in geek-like fashion, pulled out my knitting to show them too.

There was also, of course, a market where they had lovely finished products.  We bought a few things and thoroughly enjoyed talking to the ladies.  We realized quickly that they were very good at sales!  One young girl had an extremely cute puppy which they skillfully incorporated into the sales process.  I loved every minute of this place and could have stayed longer but we were on a schedule.

The baskets to the right show various fibres by degree of softness - from left to right - vicuna, baby alpaca, alpaca and sheep.  As a knitter, I'm obviously already pretty attuned to the hand feel of yarns but I haven't really spent any time with the raw fibre and touching them one after another really highlighted the differences in softness.

I didn't see much yarn for sale on my trip - mostly finished goods in the tourist-focused places we visited.  But I did manage to buy enough dk weight for a sweater and a couple of nice skeins of a variegated yarn that will be perfect for a scarf.  As I said, we barely scratched the surface.  I'm sure there was more yarn to be found and next trip will find it!

Amy Butler gone awry?

I love Amy Butler fabrics. I didn't at first but they snuck up on me and now I think they are great. With my last quilting venture (very small because I was at least awake enough to realize the crazy blend of patterns and colours I was creating), I got a little carried away. Not to say I don't like the end product but it is a bit of a shock to the senses. After I'd sewn it together I thought that it might have been a little less crazy if I had put strips of some nice quiet solid between the blocks. But who wants to rip everything out? I blame Kaffe Fasset's thousand colour quilts that manage to look great! He makes it look so easy. The pattern is from one of his books. I would link to it but was out way too late last night at a murder mystery party and am uninterested in leaving my vegetative state in front of the computer!

Best Hangover Ever

I finally found a quilt that made sense with my stash of yellow and blue Mark Lipinski fabric. It's inspired by Denise Shmidt's Drunk Love in a Log Cabin but I made up the pattern as I went along. It was actually very fun not to have

to be exact with the corners. And I really like this fabric. I stippled it with a yellow thread and I think it turned out very nicely.

I'm very excited a sock club Kristen and Natalie and I are organizing. We're getting bored of knitting the same basic sock pattern over and over again and want to use up some stash (although I think this actually gives me an excuse to buy some yarn since I'm not sure I have 6 skeins lying around the house). We're each going to find 2 patterns each and get going on one a month for 6 months. This will be a bit of a challenge for me in between a heavy curling schedule and Christmas knitting but that's half the fun. I think.

It's a good thing I like the colours

I'm working on a quilt right now that is waaaaaaay too annoying. It is a Kaffe Fassett diamonds quilt and it is driving me crazy. I quite enjoy Kaffe Fassett's books but there is sort of an expectation in them that you know what you are doing. Generally, this works for me but I can't figure out how to line up the diamond corners. I've looked on the web and can't find any ideas. Maybe I'll go over to my local quilt shop and get some advice. The only thing that keeps me going is the fact that I love the fabrics. Mostly Kaffe Fassett but some others I had in the stash. I've told myself to do one row a week and work on something else in between.

The something else today might be these cute Christmas trees first seen on Mad About Patchwork. I discovered this online store and blog on Friday at the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival. I went after work and, thanks to my friend Natalie, paid 1/2 price for the entry.

I sped through the booths. Lots of paper crafting, which I like but tend to avoid or I'd have yet another stash problem. Lots of sewing machines but while those at the show are certainly fancy and can probably make coffee, mine works just fine.

There wasn't much knitting. Even less than last year, I would guess. The quilting booths were nice but I didn't find too much that stood out. I did buy some Japanese prints from Kallisti, a company I bought some Zimbabwean fabrics from last year (still in my collection waiting for inspiration). And I bought a pretty kit from Mad About Patchwork. The positive thing about speeding through the show ... since I don't linger, I don't spend too much money!

Les Croissants

Today (or rather over the last 3 days), I made croissants. They are a little browner than they should be but, man, are they good.

The recipe is from Fine Cooking magazine - the Feb/Mar 2009 issue - and is quite easy, and despite 3 days of steps, not very time consuming. The first day is less than 20 minutes (other than the part where I had to make the dough twice because after kneading the first batch, I noticed the softened butter sitting on the stove ... kind of an important ingredient in a croissant. I did try to whirl it into the already kneaded dough but it wasn't accepting it. It turned out a big greasy mess and so with a curse, went into the compost pail and a new batch was made).

Like with all bread-type recipes, you just have to find a time when you can be around the house at key points over the 3 days to get the steps done. Day 2 was the most labour intensive and today had the longest total time. The most difficult part was the rolling out after the second 20 minute freeze on day 2. The dough was quite resistant to the rolling pin but perseverance paid off in the end.

The dough itself is fantastic to work with. I loved the texture on my hands as I was working with it. It's very smooth and doesn't stick to anything. The finished product is flaky and crumbly and oh so tasty. I made a salad for lunch (mainly so I wouldn't eat all 15 croissants) and enjoyed one on the side. Now I'm going to have one for dessert with homemade strawberry jam. Bliss awaits!

Latest Projects

I am really in love with the patterns in Made in Brooklyn by Jared Flood. So far I've made these three projects and have loved them all. The patterns have enough challenge that they keep me interested and wanting to keep going rather than bouncing to the next project. I did knit one mitt twice, the second time on bigger needles. A big failing; I don't generally check the tension on small projects. It backfired on the mitts. I had to go up another needle size or wear slightly tight mittens which in the middle of winter might not have been so nice. I would say the green tam was my favourite of all these. I'm not sure a tam really is my thing but it was definitely fun to knit and when it's really cold outside the level of caring whether it really suits or not declines dramatically! I could give it to someone for Christmas I suppose but the only person on my shopping list who might like it goes to Florida for the winter so probably wouldn't need it.

Anyway, next up is the shawl from the book and there are a couple of sweaters I am thinking about. I'd really like to finish a couple of sweaters on the needles before I get to those though. I am really trying to reduce the buried in yarn and fabric feeling by finishing some projects. Completely exciting yarn, fabric, patterns will still be at the store for me later. It might be different yarn, fabric and patterns but still just as exciting as the stuff I see now. I will keep repeating that to myself and see what happens.

Also a big first for me yesterday. I made a great chicken braise from the book All About Braising which I bought to go with my fantastic new braising pot. The first wasn't the braise. The first was lighting brandy on fire. I've always been intimidated by this when I've come across it in recipes, and ignored the instruction, but actually did it this time. Quite the flame and I hadn't yet read the part of the instructions where it said the flame would last for a couple of minutes so I was a bit worried when it did. But of course, it extinguished itself after about a minute and I continued on. Very fun.

Baby Socks

I've been in a serious stash reduction frame of mind for quite a while now. I haven't really been achieving this reduction at any great pace but am using the hot summer as an excuse.

I did come up with a way to use up some left-over sock yarn ... baby socks. Obvious, fun, quick and very cute. Here's what I did with regular sock yarn. I think these both came from the Sweet Sheep but as is the beauty of stash, I have no idea what yarn they are made of. I used 2.75mm double pointed needles.

Cast on 36 stitches

Rib - k2, p2 until desired length is reached (mine are 3 1/2" long - this is enough length to fold them down or leave them long).

Work the first 18 stitches, leaving the remainder on a holder, as follows:

Row 1 - (sl, k1, sl, k1) repeat until all 18 stitches have been worked. Turn

Row 2 - purl. Turn

Repeat these last 2 rows until 18 rows have been worked

Row 19 - repeat row 1

Turn heel

Row 1 - sl1, p12, p2tog

Row 2 - sl1, k8, slip 1, knit 1, pass slipped stitch over (skp)

Row 3 - sl1, p8, p2tog

Row 4 - sl1, k8, skp

Repeat rows 3 and 4 until 8 stitches remain

Pick up and knit 9 stitches down side of heel

Knit the stitches on holder (or maintain the ribbing pattern on the top of the foot)

Pick up and knit 9 stitches up the side of the heel

Knit 5 stitches from the heel - the middle of the heel is now the new beginning for the row.

Readjust stitches on needles as follows: 14 stitches on N1, 18 stitches on N2 and 14 stitches on N3

Now start the foot:

Row 1:

N1 - Knit until 3 stitches remain - ssk, k1

N2 - Pattern across 18 stitches

N3 - Knit 1, K2tog, knit until the end

Row 2:

Pattern around the needles with no decreases

Repeat these two rows until there are 9 stitches each on N1 and N3.

Continue in pattern until approx. 3 1/4" is completed

Work toe:

Row 1:

N1 - Knit until 3 stitches remain - ssk, k1

N2 - Knit 1, K2 tog, knit until 3 stitches remain - ssk, k1

N3 - K2 tog, knit to end

Row 2:

Knit around without decreasing

Repeat the last 2 rows until 16 stitches remain. Knit 8 stitches from needle 1 on to needles 3 to divide these evenly on 2 needles.

Graft the toe.

Sew in ends and enjoy.

Weekend to Myself

I had a rare weekend all to myself. Because they are rare, I enjoy these weekends. I can come and go when I want, do what I want, eat what and when I feel like it.

Yesterday, I went to the Milton Farmer's Market, Main Street Yarns and for a hike at Hilton Falls. I knew going in that Main Street Yarns had the potential to be a little dangerous because they were having a big sale. But I went in for sock yarn and sock yarn was all that I bought. I'd like to think I'm developing some self restraint but that's unlikely.

The hike at Hilton Falls was excellent. It isn't a difficult or a very long hike but it is nice and on a

hot day, quite comfortable with all of the shade from the trees. There weren't enormous numbers of people there but there are always a few. They have a fire pit at the top of the falls and, as usual, some folks were there getting it started.

An update on my organized financial life ... I know why the book has you starting in January to organize your life ... who wants to do that in the summer when there are so many other more fun things to do outside? I've read the next bit this afternoon. I need to open my mail when I get home and put my bills on my calendar so I pay them on time. I'm a classic lazy payer and am invariably a couple of days late on most bills ... except Visa ... never Visa.

Trying to get organized

I find that I'm quite overwhelmed by my stash of yarn, fabric, paint, books, cross stitch stuff, etc. I really need to focus on getting it all under control. Not to mention that I'm kind of disorganized in general and it's messing with my head.

On Saturday, I bought the book One Year to an Organized Financial Life . It is written so that you have goals/tasks for each week of the year. Yesterday, I read and accomplished the tasks for the first 2 weeks. This speedy progress really only resulted because the first week wasn't too taxing on the organizational front. I just had to sit, relax and think about things.

The first week was about uncovering the origins of your relationship with money. It involves some soul searching and looking back at your childhood and how your parents influenced your relationship with money. Since my parents were huge savers, I'm not sure where I got off track.

It did lead me to a lot of questions: Do I really need to have yarn years in advance of when I can possibly use it? Do I need to buy books that take 2 days to read? On the second one, I've recently become quite good at going to the library. Being able to reserve books online feels like online shopping :). The only question I have ... why do people insist on eating when reading library books and when they spill, not wiping the page? It's somewhat gross and frankly what pushed me to buying books in the first place!

The second week (I did 2 weeks in about an hour) involved cleaning out your purse and briefcase (in my case a backpack) of all unessential items.

I am usually somewhat regular at cleaning out my purse. I guess because I'm in it every day, the annoyance of the junk that builds up is more keenly felt.

But the backpack ... egads! So much crap. Ball bands, cough drops, a book I hadn't finished reading, 2 notepads in case I was suddenly inspired to write down something meaningful, stitch holders, cable needles, a tape measure, empty bags and the list goes on. No wonder the darn things feels so heavy. Not anymore. I emptied it, put key craft items related to travelling knitting in a cosmetic bag (one of those free ones from Clinique bonuses which I've managed to largely wean myself off of) and washed the bag. It's probably at least 5 pounds lighter.

The next week involves streamlining the home office space. Since my husband also uses that space, that area shouldn't be a huge problem and I'll tackle the steps suggested some night this week. I am thinking I should take an extra week and tackle the craft room as the second home office.

On the stash reduction front (sort of), I have finished a few projects recently. Technically, if stash was purchased in the last 3 months, are you really using up stash? The blue-green shawl, the lacy green sweater and the pink sweater are officially from stash. The others were fairly recent purchases but at least they are done.

A few random things

I took a couple of days off work last week and the weather could not have been better. The ball and chain and I went for a hike (more of a walk) at a park in Hamilton and enjoyed the day. Check out the colours in this shrub. I love the red branches combined with the sprouting leaves.

I've been making some progress on craft projects too. I made Lazy Girl's Miranda Day Bag with fabric from my LQS. It was really fun to make. The instructions were very clear for people like me who are challenged in the sewing arena.

I was going to use a "real" handle for the bag but the one I have is the wrong colour so I made fabric handles instead. I did learn that you have to really anchor those suckers or they come apart from the bag in about 5 minutes. Unfortunately, I discovered this while walking up York Street in Toronto. Fortunately, nothing fell out when the bag crashed to the ground, I bought pins to temporarily repair things and kept going. There is now quite a bit of reinforcement in the form of several sewing lines.

On that same day, I went to visit the Purple Purl, a very nice yarn shop in the east end of Toronto. I did a little damage there. Not so much that I couldn't find storage room when I got home.

I've also finished this beautiful Lace Wrap from Vogue Knitting Fall 2005 edition. I made it out of Handmaiden Silk Maiden (I think, can't find the ball band) and I'm really happy with it.

Gum Graft - Yuck!

I had a gum graft last week which is definitely not a pleasant experience. The process took about 2 hours. That was probably the best bit because the freezing at least makes it painless. I did get a little freaked out when the dentist lost the sewing needle between my teeth. Not really his fault; I have trouble getting dental floss between my teeth so anything larger would not be easy.

Afterwards, there was a little pain - not much really - a bit of bleeding, swelling and a week long (and counting) bruise on my chin and neck. I felt a little self conscious at first but got used to it. It was mostly yellow so I don't think too many people noticed it. The people I know would have said something if they had.

Late this week, the stitches started coming out of the site on the roof of my mouth where he took the tissue from. That has been nothing short of distracting, not to mention gross. The stitches kind of hang down in the mouth. It's really difficult not to play with them with my tongue constantly.

On the bright side, I have lost between 5 or 6 pounds. It's difficult to eat when you can't open your mouth very wide. I would have to say that I'm pretty tired of soup and all week was generally hungry. My fruit snacks were not so easy to eat when I only had a couple of molars in use.

Tonight I finally had an almost real dinner. I made cedar planked salmon with a leek and brie sauce and roast potatoes. Very delicious and satisfying.

Fingers firmly crossed that the procedure worked. I do have to go through it again on the other side of my mouth. I'm not sure I really want to do it. Maybe I can put it off until next spring so I can again lose those few winter pounds!

Two very different quilts

I recently got 2 very different quilts back from an excellent quilter. So far when I've made quilts, they have been small enough for me to quilt on my machine but these are full bed size. The first, a queen, I started ages ago with all of the crazy bright fat quarters I picked up when I first got interested in quilting. I didn't quilt it for so long because it is so bright I started to second guess myself. But I decided that I was the only one that had to love it so I pieced the back together and off it went. It is bright and a little crazy but I absolutely love it.

The other quilt is an Amy Butler quilt using a pattern called Twinkle. It was put together in a kit at my LQS, Quilter's Garden Patch and I couldn't resist buying it. Prior to seeing this quilt, I wasn't a big fan of Amy Butler fabric but once I saw it, I changed my mind. I'm so happy with the result and it looks so good on the bed in the spare room.

Cake Disaster

It was a very rainy day yesterday. Lots of wind too so after the gym and groceries, I hibernated. I worked on my, not sure if I like how it's turning out, Kaffe Fassett New Orleans Star quilt with Amy Butler fabric and did some baking.

On the positive front, I got 3 squares done. I realize working on this quilt that I don't really enjoy small piecing projects. This is good information for choosing future projects.

I also made some excellent Chocolate Biscotti from Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours. There are some really good recipes in that book.

On the not so great front, I also made the Flourless Chocolate Cake from Caprial's Desserts. It was an absolute disaster. A throw in the compost pail disaster. I've looked at the internet this morning to see if there was a problem with the recipe and didn't find anything. I don't know if I missed something in the recipe. I've reviewed it a bunch of times and don't think so. It was obviously very disappointing. However, huge calorie avoidance from all of the pieces of cake I won't be eating this week.

Seeds

This is one of my favourite times of year. Spring is in the air, the days are getting longer and my seeds arrive for planting in my little area in the basement. I always order too many but I just can't help myself. I usually just order veggies but this year went a bit crazy and picked up some perennials and annuals too.

The last 2 years I've ordered seeds from The Cottage Gardener, an heirloom and organic seed company located in Southern Ontario. Their catalogue is fun to read because they provide stories about the seeds. I have had great success so far with these seeds. The ones I've tried have had an excellent germination rate and the veggies have been very tasty varieties.

I just finished reading The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket. This is a very nice book. It includes lovely photos that inspire me to get creating, cooking and appreciating the world around me.

Great Cookbook

Before Christmas I picked up a copy of the book "Bite Me" by Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat. In addition to being a goofy read (which I am highly in favour of), the recipes are really good.

The first recipe I tried out of the book was Crusted Lamb Chops with Balsamic Reduction, an excellent and fast recipe for rack of lamb. The lamb is coated with a breadcrumb Dijon crust which tastes fantastic with the flavours in the Balsamic Reduction.

Sara Lisa's Iced Banana Cake has more banana flavour than an actual banana largely due to the banana in the icing. Yum.

Other favourites: Walnut-Crusted Halibut with Lemon Wine Sauce, Balsamic Chicken with Sweet Peppers, Southwestern Sweet Potato Fries, Sweet Balsamic Roasted Carrots, Oasted Ray Egetables-Vay with Pecans and Parmesan ...

Books

I am addicted to books. Unfortunately, I am really bad at starting books, particularly non fiction, and not finishing. I have made a resolution to finish my half-finished books before I buy anymore. I am in the middle of Younger Next Year for Women, one of the French Women Don't Get Fat books (the second one), The Gospel According to U2, a Platter of Figs (I enjoy reading cookbooks) and probably some others I have forgotten about.

I've mentioned the Younger Next Year book on the blog before and am enjoying it. It is a bit repetitive given that 3/4 of it has been about exercising 6 days a week and I'm generally at 5 so feel a bit like the choir. Having said that, reinforcements on the benefits of exercise are always motivational.

I am also cognizant of the fact that my blog is called Knit, Quilt, Cook and I haven't talked about cooking once. I seem to be in a little of a cooking lull at the moment for some reason. Likely because I've been spending most spare time on the weekends quilting and now that the Olympics are on, knitting. I'm solo dining tonight and remembered that I had some chili in the freezer and am quite enjoying it with some excellent walnut bread from Longos and the Olympics on TV. I must confess that while I'm excited about the hockey, I really like the curling so am watching that mainly and flipping to the women's gold medal game. the curling is almost over unless something crazy happens so will be full time on hockey before the chili is done.

Snowy Day

It's a snowman day today. Heavy snow that is perfect for making snowmen. A good workout to shovel but perfect for snowmen. One of those snows that coats the trees and makes everything bright even after dark.

Generally, I like winter. I like winter on the weekends when I don't have to go anywhere and can enjoy the cozy feeling of sitting in the living room watching the snow fall while knitting or reading and drinking a cup of tea. I like winter when I'm home in the evening shoveling snow after dinner like tonight. I don't like winter when I have to layer on the clothes before leaving the house in the morning and everything just feels so heavy. I don't like winter when it is just cold and damp with no snow to speak of. Snow makes winter much more beautiful.

Now that I have longer hair and can put it in a ponytail if I need to, I even don't mind wearing a hat. This year I have knit some particularly nice cozy hats that make winter much more appealing. They made great summer and fall projects.

Olympic Knitting or It Is Never Going To Happen

So we're about 1/2 way through the Olympics and I'm still on the back of my project. I have cast off for the sleeve section which always makes me feel like I'm almost done but really it's another several inches of knitting and only 18 fewer stitches.

What I'm taking from this Olympic idea is to be better at setting objectives, be realistic about the 24 hour clock and the amount of time my hands can knit at any one time. That said, I'm significantly into a sweater I didn't even have on my radar screen prior to the Olympic challenge and there are 5 fewer balls in my stash waiting to be knit! The two baby sweaters I'm on borrowed time with are a problem I will not be thinking about for now.

Stress

There are times when I have trouble dealing with work stress. I started a new job a few months ago and it is hard. I have thought a lot in the last year or so about the level of stress my job brings and why I have so much trouble dealing with it. Have I just reached my limit? Do I worry too much about everything? Should I be doing something else? Do I make myself too busy in my non-work life? On the latter point, I know I do a lot of extra stuff in the crafty vein but I think it helps. It distracts me, relaxes me and provides me a comfortable product at the end of the process. The pleasure of sitting under a quilt on the couch after a quick dinner watching the Olympics is not to be under valued. I'm going to do yoga this morning and hope that balances this conflict in my head and helps me face today more calmly.

A Hike for Family Day

We went to Terra Cotta Conservation Area for a hike today. We haven't been hiking in far too long and it was a great day for it. A bit cold to start off but soon warmed up enough to be comfortable in just a sweater. Speaking of sweaters, it was this one. I made this with a bunch of leftover Lopi yarn. It seemed for a while that every time I went to a yarn shop sale I ended up buying more Lopi.

After our hike we meandered home via the backroads. I have a braise on and also have some gnocchi waiting in the fridge to go with it. I'm not sure how good they will be. I don't have a ricer so am afraid they might be chunky. We'll see what happens. Complete the meal with some nice roasted carrots and we're good to go.

I made some good progress on the Olympic sweater in the car too so all in all a very good day.

Planning for spring

I just ordered my seeds for the spring!

I always plant veggies from seed. It feels so perfect to plant, grow and eat your own produce. I have quite a bit of room in my plot and have eaten almost exclusively out of my garden for the last 2 summers. Last summer did have to be supplemented a bit more by the farmers' market as the rabbits also enjoyed eating exclusively out of my garden last summer!

I also ordered a few annual and perennial seeds. I got inspired by Fine Gardening's "Starting from Seed Volume 1" magazine. There are some pretty good tips in the magazine as well as advice on plants that grow well from seed. The other great thing about growing from seed is that when it works it saves so much money. And as a person who spends too much money at the nursery every spring, this is a good thing.

The Gym

I'm a regular gym goer; not because I like it but because I firmly believe in the benefits. And I like to eat more than the recommended calorie intake for people my height who don't exercise. So the choice is exercise or constant low caloric intake. I choose exercise. And I like what it is supposed to be doing for general health and well being. Heart disease runs in my family which keeps me motivated.

This morning there were a bunch of people I had never seen before for some reason and a few of the regulars. Like the guy who I am sure is hurting his back every time he lifts weights but for some reason the staff don't tell him (or maybe they have and he ignored them). Then there was the really annoying guy to sit beside on the train (one of the new people). He is pretty skinny and yet takes up more space than a 6 foot 300 pound person. It's funny to see people out of context. I saw him lifting some weights and pictured him in a beige raincoat. Makes you think you've lost it until you realize why that connection makes sense.

And in a knitterly moment (yes at the gym) - a few weeks ago there was a lady in the change room wearing two different fun socks. Loving socks, I commented on their fun-ness and asked if she was a knitter. Turns out she is but has never figured out socks. Always wanting to spread the joy of sock knitting, I packed my favourite basic pattern in my bag. I saw her again today and gave it to her. Here's to hoping she becomes a sock knitting fan.

The socks in the picture are my fat sock recipe with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport. A great yarn to work with and socks knit up in half the time.

I started my Olympic project and have already felt the familiar wrist pain I get when I knit too much. This is not good. I'll rest for a bit and hope to pick it up later today pain free. Significant progress must be made this weekend if I am to have any hope of making the end of the games. I will push through it!

I'm not normally a fan of opening ceremonies at Olympics and didn't really love last night's show. There were parts I liked but overall was ok to look down at the knitting I kept goofing up and wasn't worried I'd miss anything important. I cast on at the beginning of the ceremonies and was grateful. If I'd waited for the torch lighting I would have cast on one stitch and then fallen asleep.

Olympic Dreaming

I have entered the Yarn Harlot's Olympic challenge! I have signed up to knit Rachel from Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Collection. I bought both the yarn and the book 3 years ago on a trip to England. We were actually in the home town of Rowan, in Holmfirth England. We stopped into the local yarn shop and I made 2 purchases, one of which I have finished (photo) and the other has been in my stash ever since. I made the first sweater fairly quickly. It is from the same book, called Lily, and turned out quite nice if a little bigger than I would have liked. I tend to veer towards larger sizes than I should but it is nice and cozy. I have a huge collection of buttons that relatives have collected over the years and found some nice ones that go perfectly with the brown.

Rachel is a comfortable-looking cable knit that I am going to knit out of Rialto Aran. I'm not sure whether I have any chance at all to get this done. I work all day and only have a few hours to craft in the evenings and weekends. I do knit on the commute but really want to finish another sweater while I'm in the groove of the pattern. I'll see how things go over the weekend and decide if the project also becomes my train knitting or not.

Oh yeah, I should probably do a tension swatch before the games begin ...

Go Canada Go!!!!

Retirement

Today I went to a retirement party. It was great. And other than not envying being retirement age, I did very much envy the ability to retire. Imagine the productivity that would result!

This picture is of Peanut the Wee Elephant which I made from Joelle Haverson's Last Minute Quilted Gifts. I'm don't have much sewing experience so there are a few mistakes. As a result, the intended gift recipient did not receive Peanut and he lives quite happily in my craft room!

Podcasts

I am an addicted podcast listener. My current favourites are the History of Rome (also just finished ... 12 Byzantine Emperors), Ready, Set, Knit (by the owners of Webs Yarn Store) and several CBC radio podcasts. I like listening to the CBC Radio podcast of the R3-30. I've picked up a number of great indie Canadian artists from that show including Amy Milan, Neko Case, Joel Plaskett, Metric and the list goes on.

I listen to podcasts on my commute while knitting and at home on a speaker while working on quilts. I've always liked noise in the background while I cook, study, craft etc. Podcasts are better than TV. I can knit while watching TV but get too distracted when I try to do anything else.

This quilt is an Atkinson Designs quilt. I made it for my nephew and it turned out great. The pattern is fabulous. The explanations were really well written which for me, a novice quilter, was really important.

Self Help

I don't know if it is the impact of winter (highly likely) but I'm in self help mode at the moment. The stash-busting is part of that. I recently bought the book Younger Next Year for Women. So far all it has really talked about is exercising 6 days a week. I'm about 5 so almost there. I'm hoping there is more to the message.

Today I bought The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It sounds like just the right thing for at least curing the winter blahs and hopefully beyond.

I'm making progress on a few projects these days. I have almost finished a felted bag. I just have to sew on the handles and take a photo. I'm working on a new Amy Butler quilt. A Kaffe Fassett pattern and some Midwest Modern combined with the new Love series of fabrics. I just love seeing the fabrics lying around my sewing table. They make me happy.

I'm also almost done the first sleeve of a lace sweater from Vogue knitting that I started years ago and put aside. Not sure why. I am really enjoying the project now that I've picked it up again. Someone likely was having a baby and I got distracted.

The quilt at the top was finished in the summer. Another Kaffe Fassett pattern from "Quilts in the Sun". I wasn't very accurate with the machine quilting. The lines aren't very straight. After I had finished I read somewhere to mark the sewing lines with painter's tape and using the tape is a guide to sew by. I still really like it. More half price fabric and it makes me happy too. Maybe I don't need the book :)

First Post

This is my foray into blogging. I'm not sure how long I'll be committed to it but I wanted to give it a try. I'm a banker by day but would prefer to be a full time domestic goddess but need the money to pay for my obsessions. So, I dabble.

I love cooking and crafts and am currently obsessed with quilting. I always have at least one if not four or five knitting projects on the go too.

Let's dive in. A friend recently adopted a baby boy and a sweater is on the way. Well, still in skeins but it'll get going soon. I'm going to make the placket pullover from Joelle Haverson's "Last Minute Knitted Gifts". I'd link to Amazon or something but am not sure how to do that yet!

The sweater takes Koigu Kersti (yarn pictured above) and, while I'm ok with substituting, I knew that my LYS carries it and I've always wanted an excuse to buy it. Since I'm trying to be a good stash reducer in 2010, I combed my stash. I didn't have anything suitable in the stash, so I now had a great excuse to go shopping. Turns out, the LYS is getting rid of the yarn and had it 1/2 price! And in a suitable boy colour!

I would say that those planets are never in alignment but it happened to me again yesterday. I'm making a quilt with last year's Mark Lipinski Califon (blue and yellow fabric) and don't have enough for the back. I knew my local quilt store carried it and wouldn't you know ... 40% off!