more fall colours outside my door

as promised here are more photos

sunday morning in the fall

sunday mornings are often often filled with pancakes for brunch. patrick whips them up for us around lunch time. this morning i made an apple breakfast cake. quite simple and tasty - it is based roughly on this recipe from d*sponge - theirs is still about summer fruit while i used fall-friendly apples and pears. i used more fruit 3 or 3 1/2 cups (theirs called for 2 cups of berries) and added pumpkin pie spice. it took a little more time to bake. oh and i would suggest sour cream or some yogurt with this - yum!

we are solidly into autumn here - the sweaters (rather than light summer cardigans ... they don't really count as sweaters) are out - these are the lighter pullovers and cozy cardigans ... not the massive ones .... hmm seems i have many classes of sweaters, but in my defense i do live north of 60: Fall arrives at the end of August; i scrape frost off the windshield most mornings now but thats OK - i don't need a coat yet!

here are a couple shots from my apartment patio. i'm going for a little hike this afternoon so may bring my camera as there are some lovely reds out right now too.

Let's go to the EX!

Let's go to the EX!, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Oh my goodness it's the CNE!
this seems more important to me because... I had never been! I know.. but the idea seemed pretty exciting..
It kinda wasn't.. a lot of carnie games and rides and bright flashing lights.. and people.. a lot of people.
But the experience of going was worth it... and there was a lot of food...horribly amazing food!
JD (flatmate) and I headed out with the express purpose of eating terrible food.. I had heard the rumour of deep fried oreos and we both were curious...
I only wish I had gotten a picture of our first food item.. chocolate covered bacon.. that was amazing.. possibly because bacon is amazing... we followed that up with a deep fried Mars bar (kinda disappointing) and deep fried Oreos (mega good) really it was a tie between the bacon and the oreos for best food of the night... mmmmn I can feel my ateries clogging as I remember...
Yum Yum

CNE.. home of greasy food... take 3, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Tomatoes!

Tomatoes!, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

I grew these.
It's my first time growing tomatoes and I think I did ok. some of the plants now have a fungal or mold infection on their leaves.. i think because it's been a really wet summer. Other than that I've gotten quite a few lovely cherry tomatoes from my 3 little plants. Ya!

new project ...old project

so yes ... i hate to admit it but i do have a closet of wool. here is a very old project .... from the last winter olympics in fact! this was my olympic knitting project when i lived in dawson .... but i never finished ... as it was coming together, it umm was a bit blah. but when i saw new free pattern downloads yesterday from interweave i found inspiration to dig up that project, pull it apart and start on a cozy fall cardigan.

so i have it all balled now and you know it is really quite a lovely colour deep greens with some teal and clay hints. the pattern: Side-Way Ribs Cardigan by Norah Gaughan is quite simple and normally too boring to knit but it is going to be quick and has an interesting construction!

instant shawl

so i'm still working on that edging ..... 2.5 sections out of seven .... sigh
on my trip to dawson last weekend i cast on for a simple shawllette (placing beads on lace yarn in the car .... not that do-able) .... very satisfying to finish a project in the car there and back!

this is textured shawl recipe available on ravelry. i subbed in a bunch of other stitches and rows of stockinette between the lace

it is fairly small but it is perfect for this rustic pretty handspun wool that i bought in inuvik. hard to see but there are beads randomly glittering too

i made wool

ok maybe i didn't make it but i did spin it!

while in Inuvik i was able to take a spinning class ... well almost the class was full but they let me watch and listen. I learnt alot! and it gave me confidence to try drop spindling. that is the photo above: my drop spindle. it is a lovely little thing cherry wood and very light so i can spin lace weights. can should be in quotes ... so i could spin lace, once i get better - right now it is mainly fingering (sock) weight .. but there are fair chunks of thick and thin

here is my fibre .... Spunky Eclectic Spunky Club Roving: Romney wool, Pansy colourway

our instructor gave lots of tips - ie good begining fibres - romney, corridale are two goods ones as they have long grabby hairs/fibres. also variegated colours help too so you can see the twist.

and here is my first 4oz or 100 grams of hand spun wool!!!

Quilting week three

Quilt week three, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

So this week we sewed the pieces together and attached a border with a mitered edge.. not hard work as it was all sewing in straight lines. This is the first picture of the quilt top all assembled.. the lighting is pretty poor as I took the photo at night but I think it looks pretty good!!!!Last class tomorrow.. backing, binding and starting to quilt it ..
WOW!

all i do is edge

lacy knit-on edging: a fancy way to bind off

so i've had a few questions on how my current sweater is constructed. it is basically a giant circle. i cast on 7 stitches (centre back) and every other round i increased by 7 stitches.

step 1: knit the circle
step 2: knit the edging
step 3: sleeves

so right now i am on step 2 - the edging is basically a fancy bind-off, or in other words to cast off one stitch i have to knit 40 to 48 stitches. around the edge is about 550 stitches to cast off .... i don't want to do the math so lets just say it is a lot of knitting. Unfortunately it is kind of boring knitting which is part of the reason i'm adding beads to make it more interesting !

see what i mean how the colour shifts? here the beads appear copper ....
a post or two below and they look amethyst

just to clarify i haven't pre-strung the beads rather i add them to stitch with a crochet hook - whoever figured this out was brilliant. it works really well! you just need to find a tiny hook!

Quilting... week two

thread, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

OK so a lot got accomplished this week. we took our sewn arcs and appliqued them onto squares we cut out. then we cut out corner pieces and sewed them on..
I opted to make a larger quilt so there is a lot of homework to do. But got it done! ya ya ya! this is just some of the scrap thread from the sewing extravaganza that occurred this week.

The arcs are below.. they'll be assembled into intersecting circles this monday!

Quilt squares, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Finally, this week I also chose my backing and border fabrics. The backing fabric I'm going to keep a little bit of a secret for now, but trust me it's awesome! The fabric below is the border fabric.. it reminds me of Andrea.

Anna Griffin - Flora Collection, originally uploaded by the workroom.

1985

mom and dad brought boxes of everything i've left behind at home ... most of it i haven't seen for years.
this morning i found my school journal from 1985:

My DaD is wroking on church. he allmot finish it. I like helping

this one is kind of hard to read ... but it is me helping my dad as he is working on the church (they were building an upper floor extension) ... how sweet hey .... now check this one out:

85/10/15. When I was walking to class Willa was makeing noses. I spaked willa said OWh!

yes .. that is me hitting my younger sister... ha! how awesome is that ... she was banging cups (?) so i decided to spank her and then wrote about it?! what the hell ... but i do love the expressions

on to the edging

well i've done the body of the cardigan now onto the edging. to help the monotony of it (twenty stitch saw tooth lace edge) i've decided to add beads - i picked out gold seed beads in Inuvik but i haven't been able to find a crochet hook small enough to add them to the yarn. so yesterday i went to our great local dollar store and found these larger beads and a size 14 crochet hook (0.60 mm smallest i've been able to find in whitehorse). The beads are a clear amethyst purple with a copper foil lining - the copper glints in the light and also makes the beads appear brown in some light. i really like how they shift colour - sometimes a pale grey-purple, bright copper, or dark warm purple/brown.

i have to admit i'm a little worried that they will add too much weight to this light floaty cardigan (wool will weigh about 100grams) and/or distract from the lace - however they are really pretty and it is fun to knit with them!

ps want to know how to knit with beads? knitty has a great article about beading it is much easier than it looks - try it out!

Quilting... aka I might be insane

Quilt doubles, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

So I signed up for a double wedding ring quilting class at the excellent Workroom just down the street from my house.
I got super excited about picking fabric for the rings and am all excited for class... but I'm just going to say it..
It's a ton of work.
I want to make it big enough to fit on my bed but ummm... I was hoping to have a life this summer. the teacher would like us to make a 4x4 quilt... I have enough patches to make a 6x7 quilt.. almost triple the size...
I don't know what I've gotten myself into but here goes nothing.

sewn arcs!, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Iceland and Denmark - that's all folks!

Denmark - Lego at Kronborg castle, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

man! it took me forever to get all these posts up! but here they are. YA! man looking at all this stuff makes me wish I was back there right now.

Blue Lagoon, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Tivoli

April 10 - In and Outside of Copenhagen: Castle, Museum and Tivoli

Denmark - Kronborg castle, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Just outside of Copenhagen stands one of the best known castles in Europe. Kronborg Slot in Helsingor otherwise known as Hamlet's Castle. We spent the morning exploring the castles many rooms and, while I can't speak for Mary, I was reciting bits of Hamlet the whole time (Ah! Yorik! I knew him well Horatio...). After a traditional lunch of Smørrebrød(open faced sandwiches) we headed back towards Copenhagen with a stop at Louisiana. Louisiana is the Danish MoMA - but bigger. It is set on a lovely sea side property donated to the modern art museum and named after the donors three wives all named Louise ... yes he married three different women with the same name.

Our last stop was Tivoli, the amusement park near the centre of Copenhagen. It is amazing. It is no wonder that Walt Disney based Disneyland on it and the Michael Jackson offered to buy it. We went back twice, once for dinner and the second time to see all the lights on. Tivoli is the perfect mix of rides and carnival games and food. There really was things for all ages.. fine dining next to candyfloss stands, carni games and rollercoasters.. and lots and lots of flowers in bloom! Mary and I got wonderful fresh brewed Chai tea and if we go again I will insist on gelato..mmmmn.

Denmark - Kronborg castle, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Denmark - Kronborg castle, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Denmark - Pulpit Kronborg castle, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

April 9 - Museums, Castles and Waterfront

Copenhagen - Botanisk Have, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We started the day a little late so that we could fully use the 72 hour Copenhagen Card. The card gets us entry into almost every museum in the city as well as free rides on all the city transportation. We wandered up from the hotel and into Botanisk Have, the botanical gardens. We came across the Palm house and took a look inside. I wasn't brave enough to make it up the circular viewing platform but Mary was. The plants in the gardens were really lovely and it was cool to see things like cinnamon and orange trees.

After that we made our way to the Satens Museum for Kunst. We saw some excellent Titians, Magrittes and Picassos as well as quite a number of Danish contemporaries. Right across the street was Rosenborg Slot, a summer castle for the monarchy that now is a museum and the housing for the crown jewels.

Copenhagen - Rosenborg Slot, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Copenhagen - Rosenborg Slot, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

The castle was beautiful - almost all of it containing thee original furnishing from Christian IV including his bloody clothes from when he lost an eye in a batttle. It was very impressive, I especially enjoyed the tapestries depicting the Dano-Swede naval battles.

Copenhagen - Anglican Church, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We wandered up town but were unfortunately too late for the medical museum and too early for church service. we wandered around the battlements near the Anglican church for a while and then decided to walk along the water to go get dinner.

Copenhagen - Lagkagehuset Bakery, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We ended up stopping at Lagkagehuset one of the oldest and premiere bakeries in Copenhagen. It all looked so delicious so we picked up desert.

April 8 - Copenhagen Shopping and Boat Tour

Copenhagen - fisherwoman, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Being Easter it is opening weekend for Tivoli! We were greeted in the morning by the boys auxiliary (?) band playing outside the entrance to the amusement park.We carried on .. there was a lot of shopping to do and the shops would be closed thursday and friday for easter holidays. We did manage to sneak in a canal tour in between hunting for wool and the latest Danish trend.. crazy scarves. We ran into the band again while shopping, this time in a little parade down the main pedestrian street.

Copenhagen - Tivoli parade, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

cool free stuff

hermes kelly bag - seriously! the classic grace kelly bag - you can download it and print off your very own coveted bag. they have pre-made designs or a plain white one to decorate. i'm quite tempted to bring it down to to staples and print it out on heavy card ... wonder if you could laminate it??

yoga podcasts - ok many of you might have already thought of this but i just recently discovered these and gotta say i love them - i stick on my ipod and i can have a class at home (or the park ..etc) there are video podcasts but i prefer the audio ones ... the yogadownload ones come with pose guides too .. i also like "hillary's yoga practice" for longer sessions (about 60 minutes vs 20 minutes).

libravox - i have been talking about/loving this site for a while. what is librivox.org? free audio books of anything that is in the public domain. so the classics! feel like knitting to Jane Austen or maybe Dickens? all the books are there read by volunteers ... which means some are better than others but all in all it is great! here is a personal fav: Pride and Prejudice

and yeah there is plenty more out there (like some great knitting patterns) ... nevermind my place: the library! enjoy and share other links!

currently on the needles ..... and on my plate

hardly looks like anything here but it will end up as a lacy floaty cardigan .... this link isn't a great pic but it does give you an idea how it will end up. the pattern is Honeysuckle in Rowan 45. mom has given me a subscription to this British magazine for the last couple years and i love it. it isn't a fast knit ... i'm on row 86 of 130 .... well then i do the edging and sleeves. so i'm getting there but haven't reached the half way mark yet!

mom and dad were here last week. it was so great to have them visiting as they finally got a chance to see the Yukon during our long summer days. they drove up bring my bedroom furniture ( a tall boy chest of drawers and vanity both with beautiful art deco lines from the 30s) and my great grandmothers china ... yes i now have a stunning set of dishes!

Blue Mikado by Royal Crown Derby ... this set was once Jennie Cogswell's my mom's mother's mother ... willa also got a beautiful set - from mom's father's mother - unfortunately not all of willa's made it to her complete ... so sad!!!! many broke ... so we'll hunt the internet for replacements. andrea also just received china too from our grandma white - her's has lovely pink blossoms that almost have a botanical drawing feel about them - so perfect for andrea!

back to my trip with mom and dad - they spent a few days here in whitehorse then we drove up to dawson city where we had three nights. there are so many touristy things to do in dawson and it has been a while since i've done them! we did the walking tour(highly recommended by the way as they also take you into restored buildings), the dredge (so big!), and mom and dad also went to robert service's and jack london's cabin .... i had homework to do then so didn't make it to those. we all went up the dome road which is high above dawson to see the sun not set on the 21st at midnight. it is a big gathering spot everyone brings a bottle ... or card table (there were a couple of groups plying poker) ... we looking rather square with out booze and mom and i were pretty tired ... but it is always cool to experience to sun stay high .. or skim above the mountains anyway ;)

ok i'm going to knit a bit more this morning .. enjoy your sunday morning

Easter in Copenhagen

Europe knows how to celebrate Easter. Not only is every shop decorated with bunnies and eggs and chickens but they get Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Monday as stat holidays.

April 7 - Copenhagen and Spring

Copenhagen - houses, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Mary and I were pretty excited to arrive in Copenhagen. Iceland was wonderful and the weather despite the gloomy forecasts was lovely. But Denmark is full of spring, we arrived to a flower market in the square beside our hotel, bikes everywhere and warm glorious sunshine.

Copenhagen - tulips, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We even ate dinner outside (with blankets wrapped around our legs) at the terrific RizRaz.

Copenhagen - Riz Raz, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

April 7 - Skyr!

Iceland - Skyr!, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

we thought it was yoghurt.. it's actually cheese. It's really tasty- all the flavours of yoghurt but not too sweet. delicious!

oh and watch this : It could be worse: Iceland

April 6 - Gullfoss and Geyser

April 6 - Thingvalier

April 6 - The Golden Circle

the Golden Circle - the road to Thingvellir, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Today was our big "tourist day"; we rented a car and started out on a tour of the major geographic sites of the Reykjavik area. Before we hit those we made a very important stop at the Alafoss Outlet Store and bought unspun wool, something you can't buy in Canada. Then we were off. The countryside is a lot like northern Canada.. low tundra and snow capped mountains; except these mountains are volcanic.

the Golden Circle - Pingvellir, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We stopped at Thingvalier for lunch and a walk around. It's the sight of the first Icelandic Parliament (the oldest in the world) and also marks the boundary of the North American and European plates. The split between the plates has created a rather dramatic looking rift beside a swiftly moving river. The plates are slowly moving apart and cause Iceland to grow by about 2 cm per year!

Oh, I mentioned lunch. It was here we decided to try some Icelandic "delicacies"

the Golden Circle - mmmmn.. haroifiskur, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Haroifiskur: dried fish with butter
Our verdict: a bit chewy, but good

Pingvellir - mary tries hakari, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Hakari: fermented (rotten) shark..
our verdict: I thought it was chewy and tolerable..like a very strong cheese. I could grow to like it.
Mary couldn't even swallow it.

the Golden Circle - on the way back to Reykjavik, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

We continued up the road to Geyser... yes the one that named all other geysers.. well actually we were more interested in Strokkur which is active - Geyser stopped being active many years ago. Further up the road the sleet started .. but being good Canadian girls, we still managed to run out and look at Gullfoss the waterfall nearby. The sleet and snow was pretty miserable so we didn't stay long. We drove home via Sulfoss in the south which is near where we went horse riding before. It seems Sulfoss has the worst weather (but does have pizza with bananas!).