my dream home

I'm on a bit of a knit video kick. This is the most cuddly commercial I've ever seen! Can you imagine all of the stitches that went into this?

knitting at the edge of the world

You may have noticed the reference to my favourite hobby at the end of the tiny stop-motion animation video I posted on Friday.  Here is another cute video, this one entirely devoted to the knit obsession. Enjoy!

epitome of summer

Happy first of September!  It's hard to believe that autumn weather is just around the corner, particularly with the heat wave we're experiencing. 

A few weekends ago Mr. Owl (my night owl boyfriend, aka Mr. Kitchen-Crafty) and I spent an idyllic summer weekend visiting family and friends. It was a weekend filled to the brim with good food, wonderful company, and some craftiness too (hurray!).

The weekend schedule was as follows:

1. A long bus ride made fun with knitting and audiobooks (the local library is a great source of roadtrip fun).

Working on my Shalom cardigan.

2. Crepes with fresh blackberry jam and maple syrup.

(photo from weheartit)

3. Picking the last of Mr. Owl's mum's basil and making pesto! It's my favourite!  Honestly so simple to make.

dill beans love posing with pesto

4. Extreme croquet (crocket as it's been nicknamed) in the woods - trees, logs and rocks made for interesting obstacles.

Scared to look. Did I make the shot?

5. Visit to the beaver pond, which turned into one of my top canadian wildlife moments ever: baby beaver hanging out only a meter or two away, chewing on a log and sticking it's tongue out at us!  I only regret not having my camera with me, but I doubt that I would have had sense enough to actually use it. That beaver was mesmerizing!

(photo from weheartit)

6. Blackberry picking from a wild patch.  Now to decide what to make: jam, pie, juice...

(picture from weheartit)

7. Handmade body butter and body bars, which we named Baby Beaver Body Butter after our fabulous encounter.

Recipes for pesto and body butter and balm coming up!  Stay tuned!

Hope you're enjoying the final days of summer!

yarn on display

Despite the hypothetical (ahem) argument that a massive substantial-sized stash of yarn is not practical, I would beg to disagree. Stash yarn has a destiny. It will one day clothe a loved one (or a loved one's teapot* perhaps) and will be utterly indispensible and purposeful.

(*teapot knit for a friend back in 2008 using Noro Kureyon yarn, that doubles quite nicely as a bonnet - for that I'll leave you to your imagination) 

In the meantime, I have decided to decorate with said stash yarn to inspire creativity, and also to stem my desire to acquire additional skeins of so-soft-it-makes-me-want-to-swim-in-a-pool-of-it yarn.

This is Canadian-made Fleece Artist Peter Rabbit yarn: handpainted, 70% angora, 20% nylon, 10% wool.  Divine.

Look who else has discovered this delightful fiber nest.  This mama sheep and her lamb were handfelted by my boyfriend's talented mother who knows my crafty loves (and addictions) well!

Any suggestions for what I could make with this one skein of angora?

For a sophisticated baby

An itty bitty handknit sweater for a sweet baby boy. Lovely Baby Sophisticate pattern by Linden Heflin. This sweater's recipient lives far away, and I cannot wait to meet him and see how cute he looks all cosied up in his new duds.