This Moment - December 31, 2010

 Inspired by SouleMama {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Wishing you a lovely weekend and a happy New Year!

This Moment - December 18, 2010

 Inspired by SouleMama {this moment} - A Friday ritual (a day late...). A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Candidacy = DONE

I just thought I'd share the good news:

Candidacy: Passed
Brain: Fuzzy
Feeling: Relieved

This Moment - December 10, 2010

 Inspired by SouleMama {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

This Moment - December 3, 2010

Inspired by SouleMama {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

This Moment - November 26, 2010

Inspired by SouleMama {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Antonyms, Synonyms and Other Lexical Relations - Oh My!

Hi y'all, My research focuses on children's understanding of opposites (antonyms) and synonyms - and because of a post by Amy about her Zoomboy I have a question.

At what age and/or grade did your child start being taught these and other word relations in school/preschool/daycare? And if you don't mind, what country are you in?

I'd like to get a feel for what is going on out there in the 'real world' and how similar (or different) practices are in different countries.

Thanks so much! I'm interested in what I hear back. When I eventually finish a set of research to form a coherent publication, and it is published I'll let you know. On the off chance that any of you are also academics, I'll be presenting some of my stuff at the Society for Research in Child Development next April in Montreal. I was at another conference this past spring in Ottawa and bought souvenir  yarn - which I never showed you - bad blogger! I'll save it for next post perhaps - posting has, yet again, become a welcome distraction from work I should be doing (last time this occurred was when I was writing my Masters thesis in the summer of 2008 - fun times that was)

Spinning update

I've not been spinning all that much - and that trend will likely continue until after the exam - knitting is easier to pick up and put down... As before, links are to Ravelry entries. I should put more details in this post - but I don't usually measure wraps per inch, and yardage isn't that interesting...

Some Greenwood Fiberworks BFL - nice stuff, like the product, trying to figure out what to knit with it. I'm starting to order 8oz of fiber instead of 4oz in the hopes that with more yardage I'll find patterns that fit the yarn with greater ease

And some organic merino that I used to knit my cowl that I posted about yesterday - thick and thin, but for the most part not too bad.

Picture Heavy Finished Objects Post

Wow, I haven't done a knitting post in a LONG while - late may, apparently! Well here is a round up of a bit of the stuff I've been doing... All links are Ravelry links

Queen Anne's Lace - crochet scarf
there was a bit of ripping out with this one - the yarn held up relatively well - pattern is nice, but the scarf is a bit floppy when it is worn. Though I have gotten compliments on it while I was out and about so it can't be all that floppy :)

A moebius scarf/cowl for my mom - Infinity Peacocks Moebius Wrap
The pattern was okay - the cast-on was cool - the yarn a bit splitty but the bind off was too tight and it was a pain in the arse to block.

Lots of babies this summer
I made several apple hats - fruit hats always seem to be a hit

My first Zimmerman pattern - February Baby Sweater
The yarn and pattern were great - and the mom loved it

 

3-in-1 Felted Baby Booties - so cute, a bit on the small side but they did fit for awhile - and the mom LOVED the booties

Some baby hats that still need to be delivered to the charity...

A quick Baby Beret for a friend - again, appreciated - and bonus, it used up some leftover yarn

And another baby hat for another friend - like I said, a lot of babies so far this year - I learned to pick up stitches in pattern for this one

Some crochet washcloths to practice - these Venice Beach ones were my favorite

Cat toys - these are the best - the cats LOVE them - and they get destroyed quickly as a result. Ellie seems to know when the knits are for her and Zoie loves to chew the tail off...

Felted Calla Lilies - nice pattern - a lot of issues with getting the wire in the stem - but in the end I prevailed

A gift for a very close friend - Biology 101 - she LOVED it - saying that a lot in this post but looking back I've had some big gift hits - always a pleasure when people like what I knit for them

Cory actually made a request - and was insufferable until it was finished :) It has met his approval so I'm happy
A computer chair - using the Big Dotty Cushion pattern from Mason Dixon Knitting

A cowl - I call it my Snowdrift Cowl - knit with handspun and super warm, which is useful right now - not quite what I had envisioned but the warmth makes up for that

And a flower on a bobby pin

I've got some other projects on the go - but they are either awaiting parts (like wooden beads for heads) or awaiting blocking (Wisp shawl) or are related to Christmas gifts. I've also been spinning but it is time for bed and there are more than enough pictures in this post

This Moment - November 19, 2010

Inspired by SouleMama {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

 

This Moment - November 12, 2010

Inspired by SouleMama {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

 

{cheating a little bit with some words - I'm currently studying for my candidacy exam (aka comprehensive exam) that is coming up in December - still alive and will try to blog more after it is over}

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Buns

I've made Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef's cinnamon buns 3 times now and they are marvelous! The second time they were more like cinnamon pieces because the dough was too wet but they were delicious anyways. This last time I remembered to take pictures.





I think I overcooked them a bit and didn't put enough sugar in the filling - but regardless, they were all gone quite quickly.



Verdict: highly recommended!

Gluten-Free French Toast

The other day I made gluten-free cinnamon quick bread which I then used to make french toast. It was ridiculously good and I'll definitely make it again. It was very filling - so I was lucky that the day that I forgot my lunch coincided with the day that I made this french toast. I forgot to take a picture of the bread pre-french toast.



I'll definitely make this again :)

Rosemary (Oregano & Thyme) Crackers

I've struggled with store bought, gluten free, crackers. They either taste like cardboard, are too hard, or taste funny. These don't quite taste like gluten-filled crackers - at least not the mass market ones that I used to eat - but they don't taste like a pale imitation of something I used to eat - they taste like a gourmet cracker.

The recipe is from Elana's Pantry (she seems to use only almond flour) - Rosemary Crackers. The only thing I changed was the herbs because I didn't want to decimate my small rosemary plant.

I'll be making these again!

Pretty Please Socks

I just finished my Pretty Please Socks - from the January 2008 Sockaholics club (Make 1 Yarn Studio) - in Cherry Tree Hill Merino Sock Yarn.



I loved knitting the socks but I'm not sure how they'll wear because I went up to a US1.5 needle to get the lace to go over my heel but I was getting stockinette gauge on US0...



Just a few modifications - I worked 15 rounds of ribbing instead of 6, picked up more stitches at the start of the gusset, and twisted the stitches in the first row after picking up the stitches on the heel flap.

Kale - Garlic - Tomato Pizza

I wasn't going to post about this meal. I was going to knit on my second Pretty Please sock (no pictures yet, sorry). But as I sat here, looking outside, I kept thinking about how good the pizza was, and how great is the taste that currently fills my mouth (aftertaste? that sounds somewhat negative). And I thought that I couldn't not tell you about it, especially seeing how little I post around here.



It doesn't have a fancy name - Kale, Garlic & Tomato pizza - and it doesn't come with a pizza crust recipe (though there are gluten free crust recipes on the same blog - I used a different one) - but the taste! My only real modification was to use 6 cloves of garlic instead of 3-6 T... It was plenty garlic-y, so perhaps the author meant clove instead of tablesppon. I also used less chilli flakes because I'm pretty sensitive to spice. She isn't exaggerating when she instructs you to pile on the kale - I spread out the kale pretty evenly to start and then added more in the centre, I used 4-5 leaves minus the stems, but my pizza could have handled more. In the future I might add more tomato so that its flavor is more prominent.



I definitely recommend this recipe - for gluten and non-gluten eaters alike.

Second Weather Related Post in a Row

Does anyone know who I speak to about the weather we're having - I'd like to file a formal complaint about the current winter storm warning. Last week's snow melted in the next two days, this stuff looks like it will last longer than that.

As my husband was joking yesterday, we're Canadians, we live in igloos and it snows most months of the year...



Also, the frequent power outages are getting annoying - I think we're up to 4+ in the past month and a half. Last night we had 3 outages, 2 of them over 30 minutes.

Snow Again

Apparently that warm weather we were having was a teaser and we're not into spring yet... This is Calgarian weather right now.

Green Smoothie Challenge

As a result of several medical tests over the past 2 months and they've left me feeling like my digestive system is a little worse for the wear. Nearly every day I've been having tummy aches - even when I'm certain that the food I was eating was not cross-contaminated. That, combined with an urge to eat more vegetables made it that when I heard about the Green Smoothie Challenge via Heather of Shivaya Naturals I immediately signed up.

I was quite uncertain about the taste of the smoothies but I figured I'd go for it. And if eating them doesn't produce any of the benefits that other people have experienced, well, at least I'd drastically increase my fruit and vegetable intake for at least 2 weeks. It turns out that I love the taste of green smoothies - though the ones that I've made so far taste largely of fruit.

They are astonishingly green. This was my smoothie yesterday:



It was Basic Balance + an apple + 1 extra cup of water. Today I had Apple + Kale + Lemon + some romaine lettuce that I had in the fridge. I liked both of them - the greens got blended smoother today than yesterday - but the apple didn't blend completely. If these things become a daily habit I could see the value of investing in a good blender. I drank all of the smoothies each day - so over a liter each day. I don't want to over do it - but perhaps on the weekend I'll increase my intake. On my way home tomorrow I have to pick up more fruit and vegetables.

Sweatermaker Socks

Ravelry tells me I started this pair of socks last September (September 22, 2009 to be exact). I have finished one sock - I had issues with the heel flap being too long and having to rip out a lot. That stalled me beyond the ripping. I think patterned socks are knit faster because I knit by a repeat and so if there are only a few repeats the sock goes quickly. That said, the foot and heel of this sock went pretty quickly once I actually knit - so you may see this sock having a mate relatively soon.

Smocked French Press Cozy

I heavily modified a hat pattern (essentially took the stitch pattern from it) to make a cozy for my french press - my Smocked French Press Cozy.



I know that if you are a coffee purist you would decant the coffee after steeping so that it stops but I'm not a purist and I'd like warm coffee later in the day without having to warm it up.



Plus, this looks way cuter.



I've also been working on a sock that I cast on back in September 2009 - turns out that socks go fast if you work on them... And I've been spinning but I have no photos of that.

Ishbel & a Bib

I've been crafting - knitting and crocheting away - sometimes with no recipient in mind.

A lot of my friends are pregnant - so I am trying to stockpile some baby knits. The latest:
Frog bib


And for me:
Ishbel




What? Not everyone uses a large protractor while blocking a lace shawl? I felt pretty geeky while blocking but very pleased with the results.

Oh, and with the wider middle column it is easier to pull photos from Flickr and so I'm posting more because most of the pictures I want to blog about are already in Flickr because they are already in Ravelry. I don't know how long the increased posting will last...

Spinning

My wonderful husband bought me a spinning wheel for Christmas. Well, I bought it (because I went to Shuttleworks to try out a few) but he suggested it. I tried a few and decided on the Ladybug by Schacht. I really like it, and am having some success with it. I've tentatively named her Aurora, but that is subject to change on a whim.

This is the only photo that has much of the wheel in view - these are the first singles spun on the wheel. The fiber is Northern Lights Wool Top by Louet - another Christmas gift.

Which ended up becoming this



Since then, I've spun the following:
Fiber Optic Yarns 80 BFL 20 Tussah Silk (a batt)

Fiber Optic Yarns Superwash Merino and Tencel Roving

Mystery brand Merino and Tencel

and finally, Fiber Optic Yarns Footnotes Unspun (a pencil roving)


The Footnotes yarn has already been made into a Lacy Baktus



So you see, in the past 3.5 months I've added a craft (crochet) and greatly expanded a craft (spinning).