Tag Archives: photos

2:02 pm - March 19, 2012 - AngelaH

Happy Go Lucky

Wherever you are, I hope your weekend weather was a beautiful as the weather we enjoyed in Toronto. It’s March, remember, and it should be miserable, torturous weather throwing rain and slush and days no warmer than 5C at us; instead, though, we’ve been enjoying days of 15C, 16C, and 21C days! Deep down I know that this cannot last, and snow will likely fall once again before we’re fully free of winter, but right now I don’t care. This weather is incredible!

So, how do you knit in weather this delightful? My answer last year was not to. This year, my answer is take small projects outdoors. Thus, despite having just cast off one pair of socks, I cast on another. Meet the Happy-Go-Lucky boot socks from Sock Knitting Master Class, my current project go-to.

Happy Go Lucky, fresh out of the gate.

I’m knitting these in Cascade 220 Superwash Sport in 1910 (blue), 859 (teal), and 803 (purple). I am loving this wool. It is soft and buttery and it seems that 2.75mm needles are the perfect size because, in my hands anyway, the stitches feel almost like they’re forming themselves. I short, I am loving this project.

Anyway, because the weather was so gorgeous, and because I got the entire weekend off, L and I spent pretty much the entire weekend running all over the place and being outdoors. Except, the running (at least on Saturday) was actually bicycling. Oh heaven.

Old and hard vs. new cushy and new.

This is my new old bike, and on Saturday morning L put a new cork wrap on my handlebars and then we took off all over the city. In no particular order: We went to Lettuce Knit so I could exchange some wool, to the Ex to throw a frisbee, we watched planes land on the Island, we went for fancy sandwiches, we went to one of our new favourite coffee shops – in short, we did all kinds of things we’d been talking about doing for ages and finally did because it was such a gorgeous day.

I took many pictures of this plane coming in to land, but this one looks the most like an action shot. (It was much sunnier that day than this photo would have you believe.)

In theory, this meant I didn’t have much time for knitting, but in practice, it all worked out fine (small projects, you see, are very portable). So, on Friday before work I spend three and a half hours knitting on a café patio with Zoe. Then, to cap on Saturday’s bicycling, Wendy and I met up for beer and sat knitting quite happily in a pub – much to the apparent amusement/confusion of a woman sitting at the bar, who turned around to stare at us for a quite some time. It was St. Patrick’s Day, though, so maybe she as just confused as to why neither of us were knitting in green. Who knows.

Cafe knitting, crappy cellphone photo.

What I do know though, is that if this weather keeps up, knitting through the summer will be an absolute pleasure because it will involve bicycling, coffee, beer, and lots of time out of doors with people I love.

Despite the busy weekend I still managed to get the heel flap finished (and now turned).

Categories: Knitting, Out and about Tags: bicycles, Cascade 220 Superwash Sport, photos, socks, Toronto, weather

1:01 pm - March 15, 2012 - AngelaH

I Can Feel the Seasons Changing

Crocuses – a sure sign of Spring.

I can always tell when spring is here because overnight my mood shifts. Last week, for example, I was anxious and frustrated and simultaneously bored with and all-encompassed by my projects. I couldn’t wait to finish Almondine, but I also couldn’t stand to look at them anymore; the apartment needed cleaning but the sight of the broom made me chafe, etc. On Monday, this funk was transformed into a super-productive get-shit-done mode. I finished my book. I finished Almondine. I finished a tea cozy that had been languishing since January. I cast on something new. I cooked. I baked. I went for a big walk in sneakers with my jacket sleeves rolled up.

This spurt of positive productivity (that is, getting stuff done that I wanted to get done – not just doing what I had to do, but enjoying it) definitely coincided with a shift in the weather. It has been gorgeous in Toronto this week and, although I know it’s March and therefore, more snow is likely, I can’t help but be excited by the prospect of spring. L and I went biking on Sunday and it was glorious.

So, that’s one reason I know it’s Spring. The other reason is that for the past two weeks I’ve been craving hot cross buns something fierce. It’s weird, because the rest of the year I don’t think about them (I’m also someone not tempted by shortbread unless it’s Christmas), but something trips in my head when the weather perks up and I get into Easter mode. I’m not religious, nor am I a super fan of pastels, nor do I have children excited for an egg hunt, all of which means that what I love most about Easter is the food, and particularly the baking.

Hot Cross Buns, fresh out of the oven and right after the lemon glaze went on.

Thus, yesterday I made hot cross buns – my first of the season – and half the batch is almost gone. When I was making them, L (who is not a super fan, but will indulge a bit) sand “Hot crossed buns, hot crossed buns, see how they run” and then stopped, because he knew he’d gotten mixed up somewhere in there (obviously his nursery school failed him). Anyway, these are Lemon Currant Hot Cross Buns, from the LCBO Food & Drink magazine from Spring 2009 (yes, I keep all the issues stacked on my shelf) and they are delicious! I didn’t have currants, so I subbed in raisins and pecans and they worked out perfectly; next time, though, I will find some currants because they really are delicious.

I don't have a garden, so I bought some primroses to keep me company inside.

What signs of Spring have you noticed? Have the seasons changed for you yet?

Category: Cooking Tags: baking, Easter, flowers, hot cross buns, knitting, photos, productivity, socks, Spring, tea cozy

12:01 pm - February 22, 2012 - AngelaH

Pancake Tuesday

I love pancakes. Love them. When I was at home my mum and I made pancakes for breakfast on Sunday (my grandparents were visiting, so we dressed up breakfast a little), but even though I had eaten pancakes recently, when I realized it was Shrove Tuesday yesterday, I knew I would have to whip up some more.

We had spent the rather overcast and rainy day in the Junction (one of our favourite neighbourhoods) making use of our Coffee Passports. Actually, as an aside, if you happen to live in Toronto, I definitely recommend The Good Neighbour, a café at Annette St. and Quebec Ave. – it had great decor, a delicious selection of drinks and pastries, and was a productive place to get a little work done.

Indie Coffee Passport

Where Quebec Ave. meets Annette St. – the view from The Good Neighbour

Anyway, from there we went to a pub to watch some soccer (I knit, he watched) and then headed home. Long story short: In our ramblings I had only managed to eat a muffin (albeit a delicious muffin) since breakfast, so when I got home around 5 I was starving and immediately set about making myself a grilled cheese. I realized an hour later that it was pancake Tuesday.

Pancakes!

Luckily, L had a late frisbee game, so I had a feeling he’d want a bite to eat when he got home, which meant I could make late-night pancakes without worrying they wouldn’t get eaten. The real bonus, though, was that neither of us were hungry enough to eat more than two each, so we got to have leftover pancakes for breakfast this morning. There’s something about cold pancakes with jam that I just can’t get enough of, so Pancake Tuesday turned out to be a success all around!

Leftover pancakes, dressed up with marmalade (right) and my mum's homemade strawberry jam

Fool-proof Fluffy Pancakes

1 1/3 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tbsp salad oil

1. Mix dry ingredients in a big bowl.
2. In a small bowl, combine wet ingredients and mix well.
3. Add liquid to dry and beat until smooth (if you let it sit, you will probably need some more milk to thin it out – the baking powder makes for fluffy pancakes, but it starts working quickly).
4. Use 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Greasing griddle/frying pan for first round only.

Makes 8-10 pancakes.

Categories: Cooking, Recipes Tags: food holidays, grilled cheese, pancakes, photos, Toronto

3:24 pm - February 20, 2012 - AngelaH

Maritime Wool

Last weekend I escaped the city for the lovely Nova Scotia countryside where I grew up. I hadn’t been home home in over a year, so I was really excited already, but when my mum told me about a local wool producer, I’ll admit that added to my excitement. We went on Friday and then, because I didn’t fully consider my purchases, we went back on Saturday so I could pick up some more wool.

A camera shy Cotswold

Gaspereau Valley Fibres raises their own Cotswold Sheep, which were once one of the most popular wool sources, but had since been reduced to a rare breed. Cotswold wool is recommended for outerwear, and Gaspereau Valley Fibres offers complimentary patterns with each skein, which come in both natural colours and hand-dyed.

Natural skeins of Cotswold wool.

The shop is gorgeous – it’s in a converted barn, but has retained all its original post and beam construction, and is headed by a wood stove – and carries a huge selection of fibre. In addition to their own wool, the also carry skeins of 100% Maritime Wool made from 60% New Brunswick alpaca and 40% Nova Scotia Corriedale wool. It is gorgeous and soft enjoyably squooshy and I bought three 250-yard skeins, although I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do with it yet. It’s also sold in natural colours, which are what I tend to gravitate toward anyhow.

60% alpaca, 40% wool, 100% Maritime

Winding

All in all it was a great haul from a gorgeous shop. If you find yourself in Nova Scotia, I would definitely recommend stopping by.

A flock of Cotswolds, plus one alpaca, all very curious about what I'm up to.

My haul.

Category: Knitting Tags: Nova Scotia, photos, shopping, wool

11:10 am - February 13, 2012 - AngelaH

Wintry Weekend

Toronto has had a pretty pathetic winter so far, with temperatures ping-ponging above and below freezing and more rain than snow. So, when we woke up Saturday morning and it was snowing (and had clearly snowed most of the night), we decided to take advantage of it.

It was early enough that most of the snow was still untouched, although all along the streets in our neighbourhood people were out shovelling their driveways and the sidewalks in front of their houses. We saw a lot of little kids excited for an excuse to wear their snowsuits.

Speaking of which (although only sort of): I knit this scarf in early January when I was still gearing up for the cold and snowy winter that seemed imminent.

I may get around to writing a proper post about it (with a more representative photo), but in the meantime, the easy details are that it’s knit with Cascade Eco+ on 6 mm needles. It is cosy and warm and goes surprisingly well with my bright read coat. Also knit with Cascade Eco+ are my Diamond-Backed mitts (pattern, and less blurry photo, forthcoming).

We had a lovely walk and a busy rest of the day, so on Sunday we decided to be homebodies. We’ve been watching the new season of BBC’s Sherlock, and oh, it is excellent. I knit through the first episode and then we decided it was time to make some lunch. What could be more perfect for a cold and lazy day than pizza? The recipe for the dough and sauce are below; toppings-wise we used Buffalo mozzarella, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, and capers one the first and all those things plus red onion on the second. Yum yum.

Yeast-free dough:

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup water

2 tbsp olive oil

1 med. potato, mashed

1. Combine dry ingredients. Add mashed potato and olive oil. Mix together while slowly adding water.

2. Turn onto lightly-floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (about 5-7 minutes). Shape and layer with toppings.

3. Bake at 450F for 15-25 minutes (depending on thickness of toppings, desired crispiness, etc.)

(Makes dough for one pizza).

For tomato sauce, I use one can of Marzano tomatoes (remove about 1/2 cup of the liquid), gently mash the tomatoes with a spoon and season with salt and pepper (if you want it a little bit spicy, add some chili flakes). Freeze whatever you don’t use for later.

Categories: Cooking, Knitting, Recipes Tags: mittens, photos, pizza, scarf, snow

2:38 pm - February 10, 2012 - AngelaH

Heels are annoying

Okay. To be fair, that isn’t entirely true. I don’t mind knitting heels most of the time, but they do require more direct attention than most of the rest of a sock. This heel was turned nicely (if I do say so myself) and I picked up all my gusset stitches without any trouble. Perfect. Lovely. Then I proceeded to decrease as if I was at the toe, meaning that instead of decreasing two stitches per decrease round, I nixed four. I didn’t realize this until I was six rounds in. Rrrriiiipppp.

I tore it back all the way to pre-gusset, re-picked up my stitches, started again, and wouldn’t you know it, I was halfway through the instep on my first decrease when I realized I hadn’t decreased at all. Tink tink tink, back to the appropriate point, make the decrease, knit back. Oy. Things seem to be back under control now, but really, what the heck? Clearly I need to pay just a little more attention to where I am in a sock before I go at it willy-nilly.

Edited to add: I will put up full details about these socks once they’re finished. This is the second and I have a deadline that is fast approaching, so I should have wool and pattern details up shortly.

Category: Knitting Tags: beginner's luck, heels, photos, socks