Coming up soon

Today was a long and rotten day, so I am going to list things I really like.

1) This Cascade 220 I got to make a sweater:



I think I chose the wrong shade of blue, so unless I can decide to stick with one of those two, I'll need to go back and exchange it for a slightly lighter, more robin's-eggsy shade.

2) This pattern, which I started in high school out of a scratchy acrylic, and will now re-make out of said Cascade:



3) This adorable little heart-heart shaped plant I got today:



4) Look how his little branches are reaching up to you!


Cute!

5) This adorable book I am reading:



These Gallimard Folio editions, it was only 3.95$ when I was in Victoria and contains a dozen nice little excerpts from litterature on the subject of "Happiness". I also have the one on "Friendship", and would really like the one on food in litterature.

6) A morning coffee from Bulldog:



I was so sad to realise I'd forgotten my camera this morning and couldn't take a picture of the perfect leaf he drew in my cappucino.


Okay, that's all for now!

Sunday Lunch

This afternoon I wanted to bake a loaf of quickbread, from an old bread cook book I have. The recipe is called Brown Apple bread. It's very simple recipe. No yeast of course, because it's a quick bread. The only really time consuming part was creaming the brown sugar and butter together because I had to use cold butter, and waiting for half a cup of molasses to pour from the carton. Apparently molasses is as slow in June as it is in January! Before I could start cooking, I went to the grocery store for the buttermilk I would need, as well as some other food for the week.

While the bread was baking I fixed a lunch that made me very, very happy:



Pâté on fresh bread, with big chunks of a super-rich double-cream cheese, big pieces of ripe tomato, and salad with blueberries and pear-guava vinaigrette. So satisfying. I shop best when I imagine that I'm either French, or a very healthy hippy as I wander around the store.

The bread took an hour and a half to bake, and then I subjected it to a lengthy photo shoot. The kitchen was no good as the lighting was very blue, so I moved it to my roommate's room where there is a bright, plain corner. After taking the exact same picture of the same object, in the same position, under the same lighting conditions with both our camers, I am convinced of my need for a new one. Mine doesn't let in enough light. Anyway, here is the completed loaf, with a couple of thick slices cut out and a big pad of butter on one of them.



And I did end up unravelling my sock back to the heel flap and making it the proper length, and I'm glad I did. I do want to get these done soon, though, so I know what I'll be working on tonight!

Oh no! I thought I was doing something wrong with the heel flap on these. I've been reading a KAL on Craftster for these socks, and it turns out my suspicions were right, I did make the heel flap way too short! The pattern is just crazy like that. You can see here how it's all silly looking now:



To ignore it and continue on, or rip back and do things properly? Argh decisions!

Sock in progress, or, Returning to Making Things

My granny's birthday is coming up in July. Last year I knitted socks for my mother and aunts, and she was very interested in them. She knits, but has never knit socks. I thought she'd like her own pair, and her favourite colour is purple. So here they are in progress:



The pattern is Hedera from Knitty. Hopefully the lace will become clear once they are being worn (does one block socks?) but this is as it looks right now, stretched out over my fingers:



I haven't knit or sewn or done much of anything in the past few months. Often I would be sitting around feeling that my hands really ought to be doing somthing. It's amazing how much better I have felt since starting these socks. I bought the yarn Monday afternoon and started them as soon as I got home. The next day I was already thinking of more projects I ought to start, feeling creative and lively again. I hadn't felt like that in quite some time.

You know I just love Brenda Ueland. And she always says that creativity is like a tap. The more you turn it, the stronger it comes. And it's so true. Just start something and it keeps flowing!

Would you believe it, I went back to the old template and just changed the colours. It's not perfect, but ok for now. I've been making a lot of socks lately, I'll post a picture when they're all done. I've got five different yarns to knit up.

New city, new blog look! (I live in Toronto now)

But I don't like this completely... I forget how to change the colours and get rid of that green. And I want the side bar to be farther to the right to give me more space. Hmm...

This weekend's project was to burn some groovy CDs of Cottage Music for my holidays next week!

Besides painting, of course, which would be finished if I could just get the ladder out of our building's storage room. Unfortunately, it's locked. I think I'll designate the painting of the top edges to my new very tall roommate who's moving in while I'm away.

I also worked some on my Granny Smith sweater. I swear I will finish it. Soon. I promise.

And in less than a week my holidays start! Two beautiful weeks outside of the city. I have been waiting so many long, cold months for this. The first week is at the beach and I expect it to be a great one. Besides swimming and lying on the sand, my mum's (and my) very crafty and inspiring friend is coming along with her sewing machine, so I hope to get some sewing done, as well as knitting, if I can find time this week to pick up yarn for a new, beach-friendly project. (I find kid silk haze just doesn't travel so well for me). Then after that I'll be at my parent's for a week, spending some days in Toronto and convincing my friends to have pool parties.

I can't wait!

Bye-bye orange!

oh gosh

So I've been behind. But after colour week I had an idea that interested me. I've noticed that blogs from time to time give themselves themes. I really enjoyed finding the photos for colour week, both looking through my old photos and finding the colours around me. I thought it would be a fun project for myself to do a few of these, with the same colour for each day of the week, but different themes for each week. For example, one week in the kitchen, another in the neighbourhood, etc. I wanted to do it for the month of july, but I have dumbly loaned my camera to someone for the week. So anyway, that's what's upcoming.

Otherwise, I've finally gotten around to really looking at the book "D.I.Y. Design it Yourself", which I've had for a few months. It's fantastic and I've got a lot of projects I want to get started on.

And it's already quarter after eleven! I better run. Back soon with photos!

Friday = Red

Thursday = Blue

Wednesday = Black+Grey

Tuesday = Brown

Monday = White

and a fun thing here

Things I want to start/continue/finish:

-flowered shirt dress
-granny smith sweater
-baby sweater
-quilting
-headband
-repair pants
-more socks!
-scooter skirt
-paint living room
-bedspread

Gosh! Isn't that just the beginning?!

Best day ever!

(What is this, 3 posts in a row?!)

Well, I didn't get around to baking bread, again. Instead I brought home this beautiful bike! For only twenty dollars. I love it!!! Gosh I love it! I just love bicycling.

This is a list of things I want for my home:

1. Crockpot
2. Plant stand
3. Dog

I really want a dog! More specifically, a greyhound. Or a terrier. But a greyhound I could rescue and they are said to be good for apartments. Gosh! I can't stop thinking about dogs lately, reading about the different breeds and keeping them. I just love dogs. One of the main things I love is sitting down next to them and hugging them. Also walking them. And hopefully how they would keep my cat in line. So hopefully I will be able to bring home a beautiful greyhound one day soon!

The other thing I did today was go to the library ( I am that cool ) But really, the library is SO Interesting! You just never know what you might find. They have gotten a bunch of new knitting books, that's great. I brought home two decorating books to get some ideas before I paint my living room. Besides, I just love decorating books. Besides this, a novel and an interesting John Holt book.

This is what I did today, brought home nice new plants! Cute, huh? I just love them. I want to get a plant stand for those little ones, and put geraniums in the kitchen window instead. I've been wanting that for quite a while, I think that's lovely.

I also cooked my favourite sweet-and-sour red cabbage with rice. It also did not turn out terribly photogenic. A food stylist, I am not.

I also meant to bake bread but instead I took a nice afternoon nap. Mmm, wonderful!

Yay!

Finally!

I am a very slow knitter, I admit. But Jaywalker is a great pattern! No wonder everyone has knit it, it's so fun and the outcome is great! The first sock took me forever to cast on, I ripped it out about 5 times trying to decide what to do. I'm glad I decided on this. So anyway, this was, in fact, my April Project Spectum project. Don't ask about May.

More talk tomorrow, I have the day off!

Gosh! Where have I been?

Well, we've had some excitement here this week : A fire in the apartment above us! Thank God our apartment had very little damage. Just some holes in the ceiling from the water :


The landlord will repaint the walls (although they aren't damaged), which saves me from having to do it myself, which I was planning on! Overall I am so so so thankful the damage wasn't more- from fire and water. Phew!

Craft-wise... well... plugging away on the Granny Smith sweater, but it's slow going.

Lately I've been working on school more. I'm taking German in summer semester. I already studied this in high school, so it's more a review course for me. In September I'll be taking Russian and Hebrew, very excited! Yesterday was the birthday party of the little Russian boy I tutor, it could have been very helpful to speak it already! But, I was told I look like a Russian speaker, not an English speaker, that made me glad. And meanwhile I am still studying Italian, to be prepared for fall...

More knitting news coming soon!

What an exciting thing!

I got the yarn yesterday for the lovely Granny Smith cardigan. Four balls of Kid Silk Haze, gosh! It's lovely and fun and I'm quite excited for the result! I was tempted by a turquoise shade, my favourite colour for clothes, but I like the green because it reminds me of something Amélie might wear - and somewhere between my second and 33rd watching of «Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulin» I made a personal vow to make Amélie-like clothing choices whenever possible. Besides, May is Green Month!

Today is sunny! Yesterday poured rain, very conducive to knitting. But I was feeling a bit clammed up in the house so when the rain stopped I climbed the mountain and then ran back down. It was the odd type of sky where half is sunny and the other half steel blue and I tried to take some dramatic photographs.



I think my neighbourhood is the most beautiful in the city. The richer you are, the higher up the mountain you can afford to live. I live at the bottom. Just kidding! Well, I really do but it's not a bad thing at all, better, unless you have a family and need a whole house. From the top you can see right to the South Shore.

I didn't do any cooking this weekend, unfortunately. Maybe when I get home from tutoring. I still need groceries. Gosh. Sorry to ramble! I'm just thinking how this weekend flew by! It almost feels wasted, though I did get a lot of knitting and studying done.

Well, I'd better get busy now!