My son, Prithvi, is a delightful, talented soul.  He is the quiet one in our family and has always been drawn to creating things with his hands.  I’ve saved pages and pages of his kiddie art which first began during his superhero fixation days… Batman, Superman, not forgetting good old Spidey!  His art has definitely matured over the years and I think he does some real good work now (even though I’m a biased Mama :))

Prithvi Art

A while ago, he doodled this drawing in my “list notebook” that I have sitting on my desk (my lists are long, don’t judge!).

Jar Doodle

I ripped out the page and was going to keep it safe when I thought that it would make a really nice stitchery.  I immediately knew what I wanted :: the stitchery had to be done using red embroidery floss on linen.

Jar Stitchery 1

Having no clue about how I could transfer the design onto fabric, I drew over his drawing using a Sharpie, taped both the drawing and fabric onto my bedroom window and “traced” the design using a sharp pencil.  Very technical, haha 😉

Jar Stitchery 2

The embroidered result was exactly what I envisioned it and seemed very fitting to make something that could be used in the kitchen.  I Pinterested “potholders” and the inspiration was… wow!  I made a coordinating mate without any stitchery but finished with lines of straight stitch quilting.

Jar Stitchery 5

They’ve been insulated using Insul-Bright for protection.  The edges are bound with bias tape the ends of which I twisted into loops for hanging before sewing shut.

Jar Stitchery 4

Such a satisfying and useful finish.

Jar Stitchery 3

They’ve gone to my friend and her hubby who recently bought a new home. She tells me that she has them hanging on her kitchen wall and they make her smile. I’ll take that as a success!

So, I’ve never canned anything before.  That is, before yesterday!

Apples 11

By the way, we did have a great day at the pumpkin patch and I’ll share pictures of that soon.  However, we also went apple picking :: which was a first for us and good fun too.

Apples 2

Jonagold apples are in season and although, they’re no Honeycrisp (my favorite!), they are deliciously juicy especially straight off the tree!

Apples 3

Off we went to the Taves Family Farm in the valley to pick some deliciousness.

Apples 1

Some of us aimed high

Apples 4

managing to get the best ones right on top of the trees.

Apples 5

and some others ate nothing but apples the whole day!

Apples 6

oh, and some old-fashioned rock candy too 🙂

Apples 7

What do you do when you come home with all of these apples?

Apples 8

I went through my go-to recipe place, Tasty Kitchen and decided that the easiest thing would be to make a batch of apple butter.  We love apple butter!

I used my apple slicer to core 5 lbs of apples in less than 10 minutes, easy peasy. Into the crockpot went all the ingredients.  Our house smelled so much like fall yesterday with the sweet aroma of apples cooking and cinnamon, oh my!

Apples 9

I drastically reduced the quantity of sugar that the recipe calls for, using just a tad under 2 cups and I’m glad I did because what resulted is a perfect balance of tart and sweet.

Apples 10

Another thing I would do differently the next time is not run the cooked pulp through the blender but rather use a sieve.  Even though I whizzed it for barely 3 seconds, I lost the grainy texture.  Thankfully, the taste wasn’t altered in any way and my toast is thrilled 🙂

Apples 12

Yum, yum, yum! Apple Butter… it’s a good thing!

I have been thinking a lot about traditions lately.  Come October, my kids never miss out on reminding me that Pumpkin Day is almost here.  What began as a bit of fun picking out pumpkins at the patch, has become a family tradition and I love the fact that my kids have embraced this.

Punkins 1

We have our favorite list of things to do during each celebratory season.  Springtime definitely means Bike The Blossoms.  Christmas is jam-packed with traditions – the Vancouver Christmas Market, Festival of Lights at Van Dusen Gardens, the Santa Claus Parade. October means a trip to the Laity Pumpkin Patch :: our Thanksgiving family tradition!

Punkins 2

The second Monday in October, is Thanksgiving Day (the Canadian one).  Our family usually has a thanksgiving meal on Sunday complete with turkey and trimmings. So, Monday is left for us to enjoy a trip to the local pumpkin patch.  Nothing better than mucking about in soggy mud, picking out the perfect pumpkins to bring back with us.  Of course, I could ditch the rain boots and buy a few pumpkins from the grocery store, but where’s the fun in that!

Punkins 4

This year, I’m going to attempt making pumpkin pie from scratch!  Do any of you lovely people have a favorite pumpkin related recipe to share?  The guys in my household won’t touch pumpkin pie with a 10-foot pole.  I’m  hoping homemade pie will sway them to the other side 🙂

Punkins 3

The mini pumpkins in all of these pictures are from a bag I spotted at Costco.  I had to have them, how cute are they!  I don’t know if these are fake or real.  The bag had a warning in large print that read something like…

“Not for consumption.  Meant purely for decoration.”

I won’t be cutting into them to find out 😉

A recent, re-organization of my yarn bins revealed these long forgotten orangey-terracotta skeins.  A sweater quantity of Malabrigo Sock in a colorway aptly named, “Terracotta”.

Malabrigo Sock Terracota

I shoved them right back into the bin because I’m determined to finish my Twigs and Willows first.  Trying to stay on track here and be monogamous with my sweater!

Punkins 5

Embracing the tradition of Pumpkin Day 🙂

My cousin posted this picture on Facebook and I had to share 🙂

Fall Yeehaw

Source

There’s a chill in the air, the days are getting shorter and pumpkin spice lattes are back!

Leaf Edition 3

Time for nature’s catwalk to begin with trees resplendent in their autumnal gorgeousness.  It’s not quite here yet, but soon it will be time to rake, rake, rake.  Jump into pile of freshly raked leaves.  Begin process again.

Leaf Edition 2

Fall ❤ Leaves

I noticed that my crafting is also leaf-centric.  I’ve got the Twigs and Willows cardigan flying fast on my knitting needles.

Leaf Edition 4

The leaf yoke was such a treat to work. I was actually a little sad when it was done. Now, that’s enjoyable knitting!  Just have to get the sleeves finished and I’ll have a new transitional cardigan soon-ish 😉

A friend put in a request for a set of autumn inspired mug rugs.  I got to cutting fabric leaves as embellishments and affixed them on to some linen.

Leaf Edition 6

Can’t wait to show you the finished set, they’re turning out just like she wanted 🙂

Leaf Edition 1

“Autumn… the year’s last, loveliest smile.” ― William Cullen Bryant

When I initially began knitting sweaters, the concept of seamless, top-down knitting, in the round was pretty unconventional.  Even for baby sweaters.  Patterns instructed you to knit the sweater in pieces and then seam the parts together.  There was little opportunity to try-as-you-go and you hoped that after all was said and done, the thing would fit ok.  I loved the knitting, it was the finishing that gave me the blahs.  Seaming all those pieces together and then getting the tops of those sleeves to fit exactly right into the armhole, gah! I did a lot of fudging back then… I’m talking pre, pre Ravelry days when I was pregnant with my son and put on modified bed rest. Most of my seamed sweaters had a bunch of fabric squished together near the armpit. Unsightly and uncomfortable!

Then the whole world of seamless knitting opened up to me.  Circular needles, magic loop, top down, hurrah!!  Not only did I enjoy the whole process of knitting the garment, but finishing was a breeze.  

Audrey 5

I was happy and vowed I would never seam another sweater.  Yeah, that didn’t quite work out!

My Aidez was knit in pieces and then seamed together

Aidez 12

The Wee Wildflower baby sweater was the same

Wee Wildflower 1

I even seamed all the little bits and pieces for my Dottie Bunny

Dottie 5

Shockingly, I don’t mind seaming anymore!  I’ve learned how to accurately ease set in sleeves.  No more (or very little ;)) fudging! Yes, I think I’m beginning to feel like a grown up in the sweater knitting world.  I love the structure and reinforcement seams give to a garment, especially one that’s been knit using a heavier weight yarn.  Seams give your handknit sweater a tailored fit.

Aidez 1

Seams? Bring it!

Twigs Willows 1

The latest sweater on my needles is Twigs and Willows from Alana Dakos’ book, Botanical Knits (did you hear, she’s preparing for Botanical Knits 2??)  The Twigs and Willows sweater is seamed!

Does this mean that I won’t knit anymore top down, seamless cardigans? Nope, you gotta love the fact that when you choose to take the seamless route, you knit, knit, knit and when you bind off that last stitch, you’re done!

However… seamless or seamed, it’s those pesky sleeves on their own torturous “island” that trip me up every time!   You’re nodding your head in agreement, no??

Back, way back, I wrote a blog post about the beginnings of a set of pillows using the awesome fabric from my swap partner, Mel.  The projects were finished soon after that post and just last week I remembered that I hadn’t shared them on the blog #facepalm!

Pillows 2

I got two plump pillows and a runner done – love the bright colors and prints in this fabric line :: “Delighted” from Riley Blake.

Zee peee-lows

Pillows 4

I made envelope style backs for the pillows and bound them with a bounty of dots… hmm, I always seem to have dots in my sewn creations.

Pillows 1

For the pillow with the green binding, I managed to go all around using the same binding strip.  For the other one, I had to get creative with coordinating scraps from my fabric stash.  I love scrappy binding and it worked great for this project. Waste not, want not, right?

Pillows 3

I quilted these by echoing the outlines of the blocks, then stuffed them with pillow forms. So squishy!

Straight line quilting for the runner seemed like the best option with its simple patchwork layout.

Pillows 6

The runner has a pieced back – more dots! And yes, I didn’t pay attention to my bobbin tension while quilting this one.

Pillows 7

They’ve added cheeriness to our home all summer!

Pillows 5

Today is the first of school for the kids and I’m ready to embrace routine and schedules and even some “me time” 😉  This summer has been a mixed bag of sorts with many wonderful moments celebrating family and togetherness and on the other end of the spectrum holding the hand of a dear one who is hurting more than words can begin to describe.  And so, life goes on and these sunny days with cool breezes will be replaced with crisp ones as the leaves begin to turn into all of their vibrant autumn hues.  The rain will be here once again as summer makes way for the arrival of fall.

Vancouver Rainbow Crosswalk

It’s great to be back, I’ve really missed this space!

Let’s see… craftwise I’ve got nothing much to report (no surprise there, lol!)

I signed up for the Summer Sweater Knitalong hosted by Shannon of luvinthemommyhood.  I get no points for this one.  I’ve done a teensy bit of knitting on the sweater I picked for this KAL.  Fail!!

Twigs Willows 1

My knitting mojo will kick in when the weather gets cooler, I’m hoping.

I’ve got some sewing on the go too.  My son, Prithvi, drew me a doodle of a mason jar a few weeks ago knowing how I love all things vintage. (I’m coveting this aqua set even though I don’t need any more!)

Doodle Inspiration

I thought his drawing would look nice embroidered on fabric.  So, I traced it on to some linen and embroidered it with simple stitches. A few bits of pretty fabric on the sides, insulating layers underneath and I’ve got a pot holder on the go!

Doodle 1

I think I’ll make a mate sans stitchery to go with this one.

My computer time has been pretty sketchy these past couple months with so many summer related goings on and other stuff.  I’m not a big fan of reading emails and getting through my blog queue on my phone (maybe I need new glasses, heh!) and so I haven’t been online very much. I’m so behind on blog reading and commenting and I have not been on Ravelry in weeks! Time to rectify that.

Happy September all 🙂

My dear friend and neighbor (the same one who taught me how to quilt) has been going through some really tough medical issues and I have had to take a break from everything routine including social media/blogging and simply life in general.

Today, she asked me to scream and shake my fist at her cancer because she is too weak to do it…. my heart broke into a million pieces.  How do you comfort someone who has been issued a best-before date?

Silent

Start date on my Vitamin D cardigan was October of last year!!!  Finally, this project is off the needles… huge sigh of relief!

Vitamin D

I’m sort of on the fence about this one 🙁  I don’t know if I would feel differently if I had lengthened the body so that the “drapey bits” in front draped better.  That said, a whole sweater in this yarn, Tosh Merino Light, is absolutely amazing.  It is light and squishy and the color, even after a good soak, has remained as vibrant as it was in the skein.

Vitamin D 2

The pattern itself is very well written and I loved working with short rows to create the curved shape on the front edges.  I looove me some short rows!  I tried the sweater on for size while it was still on the needles after the yoke was done and the sizing was spot on.  I wish I had tried it on again to check for waist length.  I have a good bit of yarn leftover too, wah, wah, wah!  But that’s not going to stop me from wearing this cardigan, because it’s a great layering piece and I love the mustardy gold color.

Vitamin D 4

I went up two needle sizes throughout the knitting of this sweater. I paid attention to binding off really, really loosely on the edging and also the cuffs.

Vitamin D 3

The day we took these pictures was nowhere near a good sweater day – more like sweltering, whew!  Like my other knitwear, this one is going inside the closet until the fall.  My knitting mojo seems to have vanished too and all credit goes to the additional vitamin d we’re getting this summer over here on the West Coast 🙂  It’s been one gorgeous day after the next!

Vitamin D 6

Now for the project deets…

Vitamin D 5

Vitamin D (my Ravelry notes)
Pattern: Vitamin D by Hiedi Kirrmaier
Yarn: Tosh Merino Light in “Candlewick”
Needles: Size US 5 & 6 / 4 & 3.75 mm

Links for the pattern and designer are on www.ravelry.com

Hello lovely people!

We’ve been back from our summer vacation in the Okanagan Valley for a few days now and things have eased back into the lazy, lovely summer-style schedule.  Perfect!

Le Lac

Time away in the valley means many, many dips in the lake and awesome sunsets.

Monet-esque

Plenty of delicious samplings :: wine, artisan cheeses and breads.  Very yummy!

Quails Gate

And, fruit… oh, the fruit!!

Delish Dish

Also, we’re big fans of summer oatmeal.  Usually, we throw the refrigerated mush in the blender for a breakfast smoothie. However, topping your bowl of overnight oats with a bunch of delicious fruit to eat in the morning, mmm… so good!

Summer Oatmeal

So, what crafting have I been upto while we’ve been enduring this heat wave you ask.  I’ve got this shawlette going, but absolutely no motivation to play with wool (sticky fingers, eww!)  Instead…. my instagram friends would have seen this picture on my feed of a couple mug rugs I pieced together a while ago.

Stitching Fun

They’ve been finished off with a bit of hand stitching.

Stitching Fun 2

And they are perfect for a mid morning snack.

Old Fashioned Choc Chip

And some lovely company too 🙂  (The go to choc-chip cookie recipe I use is a winner, everytime!)

Snack Time

What else?  I’m trying to learn how to do English Paper Piecing and making these little hexagons is so addicting.

Hexie Flower

You can do all sorts of things with these little hexies.  Have a lovely summer weekend (or winter for my friends in the Southern Hemisphere!)

Flowa Powa