Balkan Style: winter

Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts

Winter Wonderland

Just when we thought we were finished with winter, we woke up on Friday to everything covered in snow. It was hard to get upset considering the destructive earthquakes and tsunamis in other parts of the world. I took this opportunity to stay cozy under my mohair throw and knit like the wind. And wouldn't you know it, I finished my cardigan, and then I spent an insane amount of hours seaming the pieces together and weaving in the gazillion ends on Sunday. So I'm giving myself a well-deserved break, and I've cast on a simple stockinette sock with some pretty striped Black Lamb fingering weight superwash wool. It's my first and most favourite sock yarn. And I'm wearing my cardigan today. It's so warm and toasty. LOVE.

I have a few days of work this week and then a long weekend in store for me. I've planned some 'making' and a trip to the sugar bush for pancakes and syrup. MMmmmm . . . Fingers crossed that no one gets sick.

Happy Monday!
N

Playdate

We're always guaranteed to have fun at the Children's Museum. We can go to outerspace, pretend to work in a restaurant, play with words, and teach in a turn-of-the-century classroom - all in one morning. Soon there will be a new Arctic gallery, and well, that tickles us pink. I hope there's ice fishing!

Here's to the weekend!
N

Happy Fr'Aidez

I now have two sleeves and the left front of my Aidez cardigan complete. This project is moving along nicely thanks to the bulky yarn. Have I mentioned that it feels like dryer lint? Someone needs to spin that shizzle and make themselves bazillionaires 'cause I'd buy it. Dryer lint is gold to touch. I'm always sad to throw it away. I should collect it and stuff pillows with it or sumpin'- sumpin'. I'm sure if I googled ways to recycle your dryer lint, I'd come up with a mountain of ideas. Oh dear. I was right. Apparently you could stuff your bra amongst 21,000 other links.

Just some stuff to get you thinking on this super freezy Friday.

N

Heart Garland

Inspired by the heart garlands over at house on hill road, I got to work and made one. My intent would be to make a gazillion, but time hasn't been on my side. It's on my to-do list for now. May this serve as a reminder. To be honest, this little string of hearts only took a few minutes, but I made it a lot longer by gluing sheets of scrapbook wrong sides together so that the hearts were patterned on both sides. Next time, I plan to embrace the white (wrong) sides, and save myself an hour of gluing and drying. It really is as simple as cutting heart shapes free-hand and stitching them together with the sewing machine, and hanging it with tape.

Valentine's Day Decorating Music Mix:

Air hugs,
N

Knitting Faster

The Ptarmigan cowl is finished - blocked and ready to be gifted. The recipient I have in mind has felted many of my knitted gifts to her, so this puppy knit in a soft superwash wool will be absolutely perfect. Since this came off the needles, I've knit two Early Morning Berets, and I've cast on a sleeve for the Aidez cardigan. It's imperative that I find my cable needle.

Of course, I'm still plugging away at the Featherweight Cardigan, but a girl can take only so much stockinette before she pulls her hair out. I've paused to wind another Malabrigo lace cake. Isn't that pretty?

Today is a snow day, so I'm home with the girls. I have a little bit of office work to do, but at some point I must sew up some hearts like this. My windows need them. :) It's also a potato leek soup and artisan bread day. Mmmm . . .

Listening to this over and over and being reminded of wolf blankets-slash-curtains:

Keep warm!
N

Weekend Musings

I've realized my idea of perfection in terms of Saturday mornings. Wake up early while everyone is still sleeping, have a quick bowl of cereal, get dressed, drive to the market, knit with friends over cups of Balinese coffee, buy vegetables and fruit, drool over the cheese, smell the flowers, and return home to children fed and dressed - that part was just luck and a wee bit of timing.

Now it's Sunday morning, and I'm still in my pyjamas. I've already got a roast and vegetables in the slow cooker, and the littlest has decided that today would be a good cupcake day. She didn't have to convince me much, and now they are in the oven baking. Next up, I have some finishing to do on a Simple Beret and the Ptarmigan Cowl, and there should be plenty of time to read a few chapters of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. I'll be staying under my cozy blankets and soaking up the sun from the front window like a lazy cat. It won't be all lying about as I have a soccer game after dinner. Think of it as conserving energy. :)

N

Friday Night Skating

Friday nights around these parts are being spent skating. It's a nice way to wind down a week of work and school. We skate in circles, we tell stories, we make plans, we joke around, we laugh, we hold hands, and we hold each other up. I think to myself as we go round and round that we are so lucky to be skating and letting loose. We're lucky we have one another and these moments. It's the four of us against the world. To make the night last longer, we follow it up with fancy hot chocolates at Starbucks, then we slowly drive home in the dark. We dump our skates in the foyer, and we change into our pyjamas and get cozy under blankets and watch movies. The teen is not in these pictures as she is the one snapping away because on this particular Friday night, her feet were sore, and if you've ever argued with a teenager, you would know it's pointless. :)

Here's to five more days 'til our next skate.
N

Warding off the Chill

The office in which I work can be a bit frosty at times. I believe I need to make about twenty pairs of these pretty handwarmers for all the ladies. You know, for health and safety. :) Details such as yarn and pattern can be found here on ravelry. To speed things up, I think I'll modify the pattern for dk or worsted weight.

Ron Sexsmith is playing at the Aeolian in March. I think we all need to go. 'Cause there's gold in them hills, and I like dandelion wine.

N

January

The house has been stripped of Christmas, and I can feel the rhythm of our everydays return again. It's quiet. It's warm. It's bright. My face is stuck on smile. The busyness of school and work makes us appreciate our weekends more. A roast is cooking slowly, the sun is shining, and my feet are up. The knitting needles are clicking, and I'm coaxing Mr. J to leave his comfy spot on the couch to fetch me a cup of hot apple cider with no luck. That's fine. It's time to stretch my legs. But if I'm getting up, I'm going to make it worthwhile. I should start a new batch of bread dough. That'll take five minutes tops. Ooh, and there's a princess puzzle in progress on the dining room table that I can hit on my way back to the couch. This is the life.

N

Nantasket

This cozy little sweater came together in THREE days! I'm talking a couple of hours each night by the light of the Christmas tree because during the day, we were out skating, going to the library, visiting friends, hosting a dinner, and cleaning house. It helps that the pattern is fairly simple, and the wool was bulky. Nantasket is a new free pattern from Berroco. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was perfect for my Bumblebee, and I have had ten balls of Sandnes Garn Alfa wool for a year and a half in the stash - just enough for a child-sized sweater. It's soft and stretchy and warm as well as a pleasure to knit. My only modification was to add an extra three inches to the length of the sleeves, and obviously I only needed to maybe add one tops. I think the sweater will look absolutely lovely with her skinny jeans, her leggings, and her flouncy skirts. Best of all, I think the kid actually likes it. She may even wear it. I LOVE this sweater.

Now back to my neon green feather-weight cardigan. If I ever finish it, I vow to wear it every day. I'm serious. Note to self, that Christmas tree NEEDS to come down. I'm done with the holidays. It's back to work and school tomorrow. And packing lunches. Ick.

N

Bread & Butter with a Little Dill

Christmas has been a success on all fronts. We gave and received plenty. Silly bandz have been sorted by colour. Turkey was scarfed down. The house is surprisingly tidy. Knitting continues. Five full-length family movies have been watched. Pyjamas need to be laundered. It's time to get dressed and step outside. :)

Peace and joy to everyone! I need to make a pickle tray. I googled it already, and there's no way to kick this one up. Any ideas?

Cheers!
N

Second Time's A Charm

For the story of this garland, check out my SECOND guest post over on the Canadian Living craft blog. I had so much fun writing and making these garlands that I had enough for two posts! Thanks, Austen, for the opportunity to contribute to your blog. My fifteen minutes of fame were brilliant. :)

N

Friday Morning

Tomorrow, I'm sleeping in. At the very least, I will stay under the covers until 8 a.m. I'll be back, pillows and duvet. Do not fear. Until then, stay warm and cozy please.

N

Guest Appearance and Pom Poms

I'm so excited! (Now I have the Pointer Sisters stuck in my head.) I guest-blogged over at the Canadian Living craft blog today. Thanks, Austen, for letting me ramble on about pom poms. 'Cause pom poms are where it's at. And for those of you living in my vicinity - why wasn't today a snow day, eh??? It totally should have been a snow day. Thankfully the children only have two more school days left until their holidays. I'm looking forward to two weeks of vacation. :) Think of all the crafting that's possible in two whole weeks!

N

Pi Shawl

Last spring my parents went on a Baltic cruise, and they brought me back the most wonderful gift. A giant skein of undyed sheeps wool from Estonia. This was the best gift I've ever been given besides the three snow days in a row that Mother Nature just presented us AND the Mike Milbury autograph my dad brought me back from a baseball trip when I was in high school. Don't ask.

I have spent months researching Estonian patterns - borrowing books from the library and browsing the patterns on ravelry. I just knew that the project had to be very special and worthy of the wool. And then December came, and I was gettting anxious about my EZ project. I need to finish a few last Elizabeth Zimmerman patterns in order to pull it off. And then I found Wendy Johnson's Shetland Pi Shawl that she had designed to celebrate Elizabeth Zimmerman's 100th year. It is more than worthy of my precious wool, and it is written in 5 easy-to-follow parts. I finished part 1 yesterday before heading to bed, and I finished part 2 shortly after lunch today, and now I am into part 3.

Of course, I should really be knitting Christmas gifts, but I can not stop knitting this shawl for the life of me. I am loving it. It's highly addictive.

And that was Snow Day #3.

Snow Days

We're on a second snow day here in southwestern Ontario. No one is complaining. There's been baking, playdates, cleaning, laundry, knitting, lots of shovelling, building snow forts, pyjamas, hot chocolate, movies, and lots of relaxing. It's been a gift.

On the other hand, I'm very cognizant of the work piling up on my desk in the office, but it will have to wait. The weather has other plans. :)

Cheers!
N

Gingerbread House

Holy moly cannoli. It's snowing hard and crazy. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . .

And speaking of Christmas , we can check off decorating a gingerbread house. Done.

Now I'm going to have to dig out the driveway, so that I can get out to play soccer. Bleh.

N

Party Down

Sleeping in. Check.

Big ol' cup of coffee for me. Check.

Hanging with her favourite cousin. Check.

Clown????? CHECK!

Crafting ornaments with ice cream cones. Awesome check.

A decorated tree. Not ours. We're deferring that one until tomorrow.

Verbally telling Santa she wants an ipod touch. (Letter has been mailed - but she's still not getting one.) Check.

Sneaking in her one glass of pop for the month. (Please ignore what I think may be my Grampa's beer bottle in the bottom left-hand corner.) Check.

Home safe and sound and high on sugary pop and chocolate balls and molasses crinkles. Check.

Happy? Check.

N