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! ♥

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! ♥

WIP: New Hat Sneak Peek

Hello dear figs! I've been anxiously waiting to show you this week's WIP, a new toque design that I started over the weekend, and am quite happily making good progress on it despite a short interruption from the local internet fix-it fairy today. This lovely head topper will be finished tonight, and I'll be blocking it tomorrow to open up those swooshy, curvy cables a bit. I just love cables, how about you?

I have a few name ideas for this one, all inspired by certain families/locations from the Game of Thrones series. The completed pattern will be available for this toque soon(ish), so be sure to pop back in within the next couple weeks to check it out! ♥