taking a break

thought i'd take a break since i need to replace a saw blade! so far this morning, i've dismantled the crafting table and have started getting things in place in our bedroom. here are a couple of shots of the bay window, pretending to have a window seat:





i used some of the kiddo's paper - which you can get at ikea for $5 for a 35m roll - to make a template of the shape of the window. which is, of course, more asymmetrical than it looks. then i placed it on what was the bottom shelf of the crafting table. the idea is, i'll be able to re-use some of the structure of the crafting table for the bay window.



... and here's where the blade snapped!

i think i may be diabolically clever.

or lucky.

you may remember the crafting table i built a few years ago, in our old house. since we moved here, it has lived in the kiddo's room, storing my stuff in a place difficult to get to, and unused as a cutting table for fabric (boo hoo).



another thing about this house, we have a bay window in the master bedroom. as a girl, i always dreamed about a bay window, and a window seat, and since we've been here i've dreamed of building a storage bench/window seat in our master bedroom. but i never got around to even buying the necessary lumber.



well, i've just done some measuring.

the kiddo's room needs some rearrangement, since he now has a "big boy bed" (anyone want the old convertible crib?) and too many books for the current set up. and so! i have figured out that i won't need to do much cutting at all to turn the old under-used crafting table into a bay window seat, with storage underneath in my own room where i'll actually be able to get to it!

and, i might be just able to build some shelves for the kiddo too. yippee!

merry christmas to me

it looks like it might be a crappy christmas, with the kiddo seemingly struck by the sinus infection i am trying to fight off. but at least i have this:



i think i am really going to enjoy my new toy. i had been thinking of the enamelled pans with the ridges, but it seemed too single-purpose for my kitchen. i also wanted to replace our old griddle, to which we are addicted, because it's teflon-coated and unsurprisingly the teflon is coming off. so i was extremely thrilled to find the two things i wanted combined in one by le creuset, and on sale for 20% off at our neighbourhood indie cookware store no less! i see many big breakfasts in our near future. also, i have some organic tenderloin wanting to be eaten. yum.

almost there

i am sick sick sick. which means i have nothing better to do than lie in bed and stitch up seams. here's a sneak peek snap of the almost finished secret holiday project:



!

holiday traditions

we are slowly but surely recovering from our holiday tree-trimming party! highlights from the even include crafty contributions from neighbours cassy and carol. and our new tradition, begun last year, the gingerbread smash.



the kiddo was ready to smash the gingerbread house before any guests arrived, and cleverly suggested we take a picture to show everybody instead. hmm, no. it did survive most of the way through the party, but only barely.



the next day was spent ignoring the need to do a post-party clean, and enjoying our newly-decorated tree.



we also enjoyed the latkes i hadn't got around to making before the party. all hail my new best friend, the le creuset braiser! latkes, paella, rabbit rillettes, spatchcocked chicken... is there anything it can't do?



sunday was also a time for knitting. i'm a bit behind (as ever), which i blame on party prep and forgetting how many pairs i need to do. but i've started on the second set now! whee!



i nearly lost the pattern, as the kiddo is experimenting with typing, and typed a lot of Hs all over it. i am grateful he hasn't managed to save his edits yet. i will be posting the free knitting pattern soon! i'm hoping to squeeze in some quiet this weekend in between the traditional night out to see the nutcracker and the traditional watching of the apartment (the best xmas movie ever, which i just picked up on sale at indigo, yay) to get these suckers finished. wish me luck!

the countdown begins

i am so far behind with so many things, but even if the house is a mess, there will still be something to eat at the party.



anything that could be made ahead has been made ahead, with lots of ready-to-go-in-the-oven things resting in the fridge as we speak, including artichoke dip, shortbread dough, gingerbread dough, pecan crescent dough (due to trying to do too many things at once, i accidentally added a half-cup of cocoa - i think that could be an improvement though?), and hamantaschen dough these will be filled with mincemeat (which is also done) for a little cultural crossover. which reminds me, i need to find the perfect latke recipe.



i'll do some baking through the week, and friday will be a morning of organising, decorating, and getting the tree, before i take the kiddo to a speech assessment and then we'll all go to a friend's house for dinner, which is a stroke of luck now that i think of it - one meal's worth of dirty dishes to do avoided. hallelujah! couldn't have planned that better if i had tried.

squares

the holidays are fast approaching!

i've abandoned the crocheted snowflakes in favour of paper for cards, but still hope to crochet a few for the tree & to attach to gifts. i still have the cards to do, and a ton of cooking & baking for our holiday party. yikes!

also, teacher gifts: two teachers, and two bus drivers (i amost forgot the afternoon bus driver - whoops!) for whom i'm planning on knitting convertible mittens. i started yesterday, winding a ball of briggs & little tuffy and casting on at lunch. i have one mitten half-done already! yay.



also, this is my first project knit on cubics i bought at romni - wooden needles with a square cross-section. not sure if i like them or not. they're totally great for stockinette, but when i'm cabling - i tend not to use a cable needle, at least for small cables - i find them a bit of a pain. it's hard to get the point through the loop at times, and occasionally i'll have a corner dig into the side of my
finger in an ouchy way.

is there a particular kind of project/stitch pattern where cubics are the most excellent needle? hmmm...