It Doesn't Look Like Knitting

 I completed  the Milk Run Shawl for my mother-in-law for Christmas.  I squeaked so close to completing it for Christmas that I wasn't working on anything else, as in no other knitting.   This shawl was the only knitting I did as gifts.   It seemed that anything small was already knitted for previous Christmases, and this shawl consumed most of my hours.    A picture is still coming of the shawl.

So, in between knitting this shawl, I went to purchase someone a gift at Beadworks, which is a local beading store.  I saw these beautiful beaded ornament glass balls.  I asked if they taught classes in them, and did not ..so I proceeded to get written instructions and purchased the beads and supplies. 

The short and long story of this project is that I  spent a couple of hours at the store, while a very patient employee of Beadworks helped  me get started.     I managed on my own ok at home, while breaking thread, needing a magnifying glass to thread the itsy bitsy needle, and chasing seed beads.    But this darn ornament consumed me..I needed to work on it.    I had planned on offering this as a gift to someone, so I could at least justify my time with it.  After patching a string of beads that broke off and I didn't know how to fix it except with glue, I couldn't give this away to anyone and be totally happy with my work.  So I'm keeping it !   I'm thinking of one in pink now !

Christmas is now over and I am happily picking up a few knitting things for myself that I would like to complete before looking at some yummy yarns that I spotted at the yarn store today.

Hope your Christmas was a wonderful one and the New Year is looked upon with a sense of anticipation of all good things to come.

Alice xox

Sundays

This is Moxie sitting on Jim's lap.   If this isn't the look of relaxation, I don't no what is.     She looks like she she couldn't care less what happened around her, but I'm sure if a bowl of ice cream was to appear she would be wide awake in attention.

What do you do next when the lap disappears?  Well, find the next available pillow of course !

"I don't need you now..unless you appear with a lap or icecream" look.

"Now, I don't even know you exist pose"

Big sis Pixie, also taking the role of " do as others do on Sunday afternoon"

Pixie, is known to not like Moxie too close to her, and this is "too close".  On the same couch !!!   She quickly awakens from her slumber.

I do remember a time with our first stray cat we adopted, she was not allowed up on the couch.  My, how things how now changed with these two  Or maybe it's more about how we have changed.

Alice xox



Blooming Surprise

I had taken this picture of a mum that was being attacked by slugs over the summer, but still managed to produce a flower.  But...

 

Look what I found yesterday, the mum was blooming in December !!!   Not just one little flower but the whole plant was thriving !!!   What a treat to see.

 

 

 

       What a great way to enjoy this time of year with colour and beauty still outside in the back yard.

Let's switch gears and talk about shopping...which I don't do much of in the mall.  Went to the mall today to do some Christmas shopping, and found that I was very impressed with the service of a particular store that I was in.   Not only did they have lots of staff, but.. WOW..they were so helpful, don't know what they are like when it's not Christmas season, but if they are like this all year, no wonder it is a growing company.  Young, trendy..and high end.      I told the young lady who served me that I appreciated her help and that it was great to see that.   You gotta tell people when they are doing a great job..

I better get back to my knitting, which I'm not getting highly motivated to do.   I'm hitting a wall with this particular project as I plan on gifting it, I want to pick up other things, but I know I'm falling behind on time.   Does this happen to you?   Having to knit something and losing the motivation to keep going ?

Bye for now,

Alice

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Think I'm In Love.

with this.  So read on.

The other day I caught myself noticing that a particular blog that I read on hadn't posted anything new in a long time, I realize "why do you think someone else should do that, you don't "  OOPS..very true !!

Sooo..here I decided to get busy and show you something new that I started in a class at my local yarn store.  I wanted to learn to knit continental style, which means you hold your working yarn on the left hand instead of the right hand.   This is ideal when you are doing colourwork, as you are carrying multiple colours of yarn and that can create a big frustration if you are not doing it with two hands involved.   I have to say it was frustrating to learn to use the two hands simultaneously, but once I got the rhythm it is a lot of fun.  I wouldn't say it was quicker, but it is more efficient. 

I chose this pattern from Spillyjane Knits and it's  called  Camilla Mitts..   It is a free pattern on Ravelry.   My notes on Ravelry are here.

 I have followed Spillyjane on her blog for awhile and really liked her glove patterns.  Lot's of fun, fresh ideas.   It's a great way to get to know a  designer  when you can try it out free..that says alot about the designer too...very generous people out there.

I have only worked about 2" inches but so far I would recommend this pattern, I tend to complicate things myself....but..oops..I was wrong I did mess up with the instructions at the beginning.   Here I was thinking  that I just breezed through this, but that was not the case.   How quickly we forget the steps that brought us to where we are !!!    The pattern says "Round 1: K2tbl,p2. Repeat accross all sts for the entire round|"   After I did that I had less stitches than I started as I interpreted that as K2together through back of loop, I had never seen K2TBL....they are not the same thing !!!!   I couldn't figure out how this was going to work, when I read ahead, the pattern does not tell you to increase at anytime ahead in the pattern.   So I did a call in to my local yarn store, Black Sheep Yarns, and read the instructions, of course she got it right away.   Experience definitely makes you better at your craft..and this was new to me.   I have seen K1tbl..but I was not computing that this was anywhere the same thing.   The funny thing is, when I did "get it" it seem so obvious !!    I tell you, knitting is so much like life, you  learn lots about yourself along the way.

Go ahead and have some fun and make yourself some gloves for this winter, or maybe it's someone you've been thinking of.  

Forgot to mention, I did change the pattern a bit..I had read the notes on Ravelry that people found them too big.  Which means enormous for me.   So do check my notes to see that I changed the cast on stitches for the cuff and then increased the asked amount to start working on the pattern.    

Well, I better get back to my knitting..they won't knit up by themselves.

Have a super weekend.

Alice xox

Muffin Break

I have been exploring some great food blogs over the last couple of months, what I have enjoyed is their passion for food, being told through their skills in photography, and wonderful  story telling.  These people so  love what they do, they graciously give so much of their time to their readers.   How awesome is that !

I don't have a sweet tooth, but my husband does, so there is baking most of the time around the house, just not made by me.    But the last month or so, what has been in the house has been made by my loving hands.   It's really not that hard, I thought baking was some mysterious force that I just didn't care to investigate.  Not saying I know everything, but I'm not scared to try it now.

I have found a blueberry muffin recipe I wanted to share with you, as it has been the favourite for the last week.    It's not a healthy or unhealthy sort of muffin, but I'm starting to believe  when it's made by your own hands it's healthy in so many levels of your being.   Everyone benefits.

Perfect Blueberry Muffin

 

I hope you give these a try, especially great in the evening with a cup of tea.  Enjoy !   This recipe was copied from Smitten Kitchen Blog, which is the link I have if you click on the heading under the picture.

Perfect Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
Muffins are really best on the first day (another argument for halved recipes) but I’ve never met one I couldn’t resuscitate split, toasted and patted with salted butter.
My major changes: As always, attempted to rewrite this into a one-bowl recipe (because muffins should just not require a lot of work), halved the recipe and added weights.
Makes 9 to 10 standard muffins

5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces or 71 grams) unsalted butter , softened
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces or 100 grams) sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 cups (6 3/4 ounces or 191 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon (7 grams or 1/4 ounce) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces or 105 grams) blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, don’t bother defrosting)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt and zest. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a sifter and sift half of dry ingredients over batter. Mix until combined. Sift remaining dry ingredients into batter and mix just until the flour disappears. Gently fold in your blueberries. The dough will be quite thick (and even thicker, if you used a full-fat Greek-style yogurt), closer to a cookie dough, which is why an ice cream scoop is a great tool to fill your muffin cups. You’re looking for them to be about 3/4 full, nothing more, so you might only need 9 instead of 10 cups. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean (you know, except for blueberry goo). Let cool on rack (ha), or you know, serve with a generous pat of butter.

Now, on a knitting note, I have finished a super beanie/toque for my husband.  I had knit this pattern before for him, but he has lost his first one.    But at that time, probably 2 yrs ago, I didn't belong to Ravelry, so I don't have any notes on how I did it.   Somehow this one appears to be a lot bigger, and Jim says it's also itchier.    So, the lesson is..keep good notes !!!   

The pattern is  Turn a Square, by Jared Flood,

My notes are here on Ravelry:  
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/ADheartknitting/turn-a-square

Back view

Give the muffins a try as they are super simple to make and you probably have most of the ingredients at home, the only thing I didn't have was the sour cream, so I'm warning you now, put that on your grocery list, you'll need it.

The toque is a must as winter is coming on, so if you are not knitter, this is a good starting project.  I hope it inspires you to start.

Alice xox



Walk in the Park

This morning I purposely took the camera with me to caputure some trees in the neighbourhood for their striking autumn colours, but most of their leaves had now fallen down.  So instead I went to a local park.

I had seen people earlier at the parking lot of the grocery store wearing heavy coats and gloves and thought that looked a bit too much, but once I was in the park even though it was sunny it was cold.   A hoodie does not constitute as a jacket.    But the park was beautiful.

Enjoy your day wherever you are.

Alice xox



The Search Continues

I had promised I would continue where I left off in my book "Everyday Zen", love and work, by Charlotte Joko Beck,.  She is a Zen teacher addressing her students who are practising meditation:

"If we cease looking, searching, what are we left with?  We're left with what's been right there at the center all the time.  Underneath all that searching there is distress.  There is unease.  The minute we realize that, we see that the point isn't the search, but rather the distress and unease which motivate the search, but the magic moment-when we realize that searching outside of ourselves is not the way.  At first it dawn on us just a little bit.  And it gets clearer over time, as we continue to suffer.  See, anything that we search for is going to disappoint us.  Because there are no perfect being, perfect job, perfect places to live.  So the search ends exactly in one place which is.... disappointment.  A good place.

I we have any brains at all, it finally dawn on us:  "I've done this before."  And we begin to see that it isn't the searching that's at fault, but something about where we look.  And we return more and more to the disappointment, which is always at the center.  What's underneath all that search is what?  Fear. Unease. Distress.  Feeling miserable.  We're in  pain and we use the search to alleviate that pain.  We begin to see that the pain comes because we are pinching ourselves.  And just this knowledge is relief, even peace.  The peace we've been searching for so hard lies in recognizing this fact:  I'm pinching myself.  No one's doing it to me.

So the whole search begin to be abandoned and instead of searching, we begin to see that practice (meditation)isn't a search.  Practice is to be with that which motivates the search, which is unease. distress.  And this is the turning around.

It never happens all at once.  Our drive to go after things is so powerful it overwhelms us.  No matter what I say, after we all leave here, in five minutes we'll all be looking around for something to save us.  As the vow says, "Desires are inexhaustible." But you won't exhaust desires by searching; you will exhaust them by experiencing that which  underlies them."

I'm typing this from the book, so I hope I have not missed anything.   There is a bit more so I'll post that under another day.   Of course you don't have to be in a Zen Center to be doing this practise of being with what is, but it does take  discipline to push yourself through your self-created illusions.   

Thank you for reading.

Alice xox