OH NO / November Days

Hello all! I wrote up this post about a month ago and (thought I) uploaded it from my phone, but apparently it only saved as a draft. So, I'll share it now before I start posting Christmas-y updates!

I cannot believe it's the middle of November already. The days have grown much colder, and the snow line is creeping ever closer down the mountains. 

I have been very busy indeed. Between my day job, christmas knitting, and the usual family/friend togetherness, I hardly have the time to do much of anything! 

I'm still slowly plugging away at my own designs and though I won't reach my goal of releasing three more patterns before year's end, I do hope to get them out as soon as possible because I've got a whooooole load of ideas for a couple series of patterns. If my first paid patterns go over well, I will maybe put each series into an e-book!

Here's a peek at what I've been up to! 

There's so much more I'd like to share but don't want to give away any gifts before they're given! I hope you're all enjoying the beauty of the season and staying toasty warm. Come by again soon for more crafty updates! xo

Come back for tea again later this week and I'll fill you in on everything from Christmas baking, to (some) WIPs and FOs, and more.

Autumn Ways and Holidays

Hello lovelies!

It's hard to believe just how quickly summer slipped away. Only a week ago, one of our largest local mountains was bare of snow, and in the last couple days its peak has turned a soft white again. How excited I am for sweater weather, hockey season, cozy nights in, and all the other awesome things that come with shorter, colder days. I had to put the heat on for the first time this past weekend, and happily got out my box of warm, woolly accessories. Hooray!

First I must show off a few shots from my little vacation to Vancouver. I had a great visit with my brother and dad. It was so much fun, and I hope to go again next summer (or sooner if I can). How cute is the little felt heart? I was walking near Commercial and Broadway and it caught my eye.

Some of (my) most enjoyable outings were visiting Science World, and checking out the delicious 216 flavours at La Casa Gelato. (Some are a little weird, but they were fun to taste.) We did lots of walking, dining out, window shopping, real shopping.... I spent most of my money at Three Bags Full and at Baaad Anna's. Both yarn shops are well stocked with beautiful products, and have lovely, helpful staff. I was invited to attend their Wednesday night Stitch n Bitch, but was unable to go. Maybe next time!

Now, the highlight of my trip, and the main reason I went to Vancouver in the first place, was to stand beside one of my best friends as a bridesmaid at her wedding. It was such a beautiful, sunny day and everything went off without a hitch. I am so honoured to have been a part of her special day! We are still waiting for the professional photos, so I only have a couple of my own to share...

Heritage Hall on Main Street - historic venue where the ceremony and reception were held. 

Photo booth fun with one of my favourite ladies! <3

Now that I'm back home, I've resumed work on my keyhole/loop-through scarf order for my aunt. Four out of nine are done, but I must step up production to get them finished and mailed by early November and still have time to write up patterns for my latest designs (and block them so I can take nice photos and publish them here).

On Sunday evening I attended a "we survived inventory" tea with some coworker friends and had a great time. Our hostess Nellie put on her own version of a high tea spread, complete with adorable cupcake stands, pretty china, and an amazing assortment of teas and sweets. We had so much fun that we've all decided to try and do something similar each month. Next time we're having our own wine tasting party!

  

Next time I hope to share some more knitting (WIPS and FOs), and maybe another yummy recipe. Hope you're all staying toasty as we enter this lovely cool season! ♥

Autumn is Coming

Hello my dear figs!

This week has been a hectic one at the cottage! Lots of cleaning, visiting with family from Newfoundland, a couple crafty ventures, and this lady has had a rather full week of work. As of today, I am on holidays for two weeks and am really looking forward to some serious relaxation. My dad and I are driving to Vancouver for a holiday to visit my brother, and also for me to take part in a close friend's wedding as one of the bridesmaids!

Here's a few snaps of what I've been up to this past week!

Another of the loop-through/keyhole scarves, this time in moss stitch. I've had this Sublime Angora Merino for ages and thought it would nice made into a wee scarf. Will likely be casting off tomorrow once we hit the road.

A bit of new woolly excitement... a girlfriend (and fellow knitter/yarn addict) let me borrow her drop spindle to try out hand-spinning my own yarn. I don't know the maker or brand of it, but it's a top whorl spindle, not too heavy, and was nice to use. I feel like I got the hang of using it rather quickly, and was able to spin up a mini skein of worsted(ish) weight yarn. I could tell there was too much twist in the yarn because when I took it off the spindle it still twisted up on itself. A warm bath helped relax the fibres a bit, and I hung it to dry with a big can of beans weighing down the hanging loop. Next morning it was dry and more manageable. I then twisted it up into the wee stubby skein you see below :)

There has been a big change in our weather recently, too. AUTUMN IS COMING! That precious summer sunshine has been replaced with grey skies and cooler temperatures. Autumn is my favourite season and I'm so excited for sweater weather, cozy blankets, hot cocoa, and pumpkin (spice) everything. Just the other night I was craving something sweet to have with a cup of tea and saw a picture of these bars on Tumblr. 

Clicking the link was a bad (or very good) idea and I had to make them. I give you SOFT AND GOOEY LOADED S'MORES BARS, from the gorgeous blog Averie Cooks. If you've got a sweet tooth, be sure to click through and see all her other drool-inducing recipes. Here's my finished batch after cooling.

So that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by! I'm not sure if I'll get a change to post whilst on holiday but will definitely try! I plan on hitting up a few great knitting shops while in the Vancouver area, and will probably be too excited NOT to share photos with you all! Happy Friday! ♥

Latest WIP

After a few weeks of helping out with charity crafting (of which I regrettably have no photos) I have finally returned to my own projects and designs!

I have completed a practice run of one design and will be writing the pattern with aim to release it here and on Ravelry before Halloween. In addition I also cast on this little beauty with some extra Cascade 220 and think I may write a pattern for it too! 

Today was also super exciting, as my aunt who is visiting from Newfoundland has commissioned me to make scarves as Christmas gifts for all the other aunts on my mom's side of the family! She also bought a couple hats that I've made. I'm so excited! I don't normally take orders/requests for knitting but I know it's a big help to her and then each aunt will have the same lovely, handmade item (albeit in different colours).

Here's a snap of the first one I finished just yesterday!

I'm now winding down for the evening with a big mug of tea, and watching The Hobbit. Happy Sunday! ♥

Back Again

Hoo boy. My apologies to each of you for my long-term, unplanned hiatus. Since my last post a lot has changed at Fig Cottage and I, until quite recently, had found myself a bit too busy and distracted to put any time into this lovely little blog.

Myself and the other residents of Fig Cottage have relocated in recent weeks, and I am feeling the "itch" once again to start focusing more on my crafts. Yes, it's still summer here.... but we've passed the solstice which means that WINTER IS COMING! 

Recently I had the opportunity to participate in some charity crafting via my workplace. Each year the company selects a charity that each individual store can host fundraisers for. This year any collected funds are being donated to local cancer patients and our hospital via the Tree of Life campaign. A half-dozen of the staff at my store (myself included) donated our time and materials, and prepared a large number of hats, plush toys/amigurumi and other knitted/crocheted accessories that we sold on Saturday, July 5. Only half the items sold during the 4 hour sale, but we made $335! All of us were thrilled, and so glad that the funds are staying in the community to help those in need. We will be holding another sale in the fall when woolly things are in higher demand.

I have also been approached by a couple of co-workers to make special order items for them, so that will be an additional $40 contributed to the fund when I finish their items. I plan to sell some of my other handmades to family and friends through the rest of this year, and will be donating a portion of the proceeds to the charity. I'm very excited to be able to help others in need, while getting my name out there a bit more.

Anyhow, I've rambled on long enough. I do hope there are still some figgy followers still hanging around. I won't be posting as often as I was earlier this year but (if I can) I'd like to at least post once a week. I have been working on some other knit designs and will be releasing the patterns later this year. Thanks for all your support so far! ♥

Midweek at the Cottage

Hello lovely figs! I am slacking a bit this week and for that I apologize. Today I'm amalgamating my usual Tuesday and Wednesday posts into one delicious, pretty post. Here we go!

This week, after finishing my plush heart and babouska rose square, I decided to have a go at a different knitting pattern called Ten Stitch Zigzag by Frankie Brown. It was a bit fiddly at first, getting used to a new technique but the pattern is rather easy and well written. Primarily worked in garter stitch, the nice thing about this pattern is that it looks equally pretty in solid or variegated yarn, and there's a neat little stockinette edge that separates each zigzag strip. Here's a shot of my progress so far. I have an idea for a future design that will incorporate this technique, and will be sure to share my progress.

As a detour from the knitting, I got out my cross stitch supplies this week and have been working on this little piece. It will be a rather lumpy character from one of my favourite animated shows. Can you guess which one? :) Totally improvised, I'm not working from a pattern. I just sketched the shape right onto the fabric with light pencil lines and filled in the shape. The purple fill is almost done, and then I will outline and add the face/other features.

OK! Now on to the tasty part. Today I'm sharing what is probably the easiest cookie recipe EVAR. Super fast to make, and does not require (oven) baking. I've been making these for years and they're a nice option when you want something sweet but don't want to spend 30+ minutes in the kitchen. Darling figs, I give you.....

3 MINUTE NO BAKE COOKIES!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3 cups quick oats

Instructions

• In a medium/large saucepan, combine the butter, milk, sugar, and cocoa.
• Stirring frequently, bring mix to a boil over medium heat. Allow to bubble for a couple minutes.
• (Keep a close watch on it, once it starts bubbling you'll need to keep stirring so it doesn't burn.)
• Remove from heat and stir in oats.
• Drop by tablespoons onto wax or parchment paper.
• Let stand until firm. (You can put them in the fridge to help them set more quickly.)

 And that's it! Have a great day! ♥

Show + Tell: Off the Needles

Yesterday's Find was a beautiful crochet project (the Babouska Blanket from Sewing Daises), and I was so excited about the discovery that I cast on a square of my own. It's now finished and, though I didn't have the same yarn/colours, it came out beautifully! It's been a long while since I've crocheted anything using a chart so it took about an hour just for this one square. It is very easy, however, and I can see myself making more at some point.

Over the past few days I have also cast off a couple knitting projects. The first is the Last Minute Slouch by Madelinetosh. The pattern calls for two of her yarns, Eyre and Tosh Sock (worsted and sock) but I don't have either so I substituted Cascade 220 and Patons Kroy Socks, and used a 6mm needle. It came out great! I haven't decided whether to keep it or save it for gift giving later in the year.

The second FO is a lovely, anatomically correct Heart by Kristin Ledgett. The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn but I wanted a bigger heart so I used Cascade 220 and 4mm needles to get a finished measurement of 6x8 inches. I love it! And hope to make a really BIG one to use as a cushion on my bed.

That's all from the Cottage today. Have a great weekend! ♥

Friday Find: Babouska Rose Blanket

Hello dears! Things have been rather busy at Fig Cottage this week and I'm very happy to say THANK GLOB IT'S FRIDAY!

Earlier this week I was browsing on Tumblr and came across a lovely crochet project called the Babouska Rose Blanket, created by a very talented gal named Heidi, and posted on her blog Sewing Daisies.

I fell in love with the beautiful rose motif and her amazing use of colour in the blanket, and have decided that I want to try making some of these squares as well. There is no written pattern, but there is an image that charts the construction of the motif. Click the link above to view the image on her blog. It is so pretty! In addition to the blanket, I think these squares would also make a lovely cushion cover.

I think I may just cast on a square while I wait for my goodies in the oven to bake. Do pop by again tomorrow for Show + Tell to see the result, as well as a couple other FOs from this week. Happy Friday! ♥