I heart... must knit edition

Such lovely days lately with true blue skies and cool, fresh evenings. I have been knitting and stitching ever so slowly. A purl here, a french knot there, a nap here, a tiny cross-stich there. But, I have been seriously dreaming up some new cast-ons and here they are:

:: June's favourite cardigan - Is it time for me to finally admit I will never knit that cabled afghan, move on with my life already and put that aran yarn to good use? Probably yes.

:: Bartender's choice fingerless gloves. I think these would make some very nice Christmas and birthday gifts.

:: Jardin d'hiver - if I start this soon, it could be finished by next winter...

:: Vesper cowl - Amazing fluidity - have you ever seen anything like this?

:: Ghislaine gloves - Simple but so elegant

:: Travelling woman - Something to knit for summer travels?

:: And fine, technically this is crochet -- a little garden of flowers hooked together sweetly.

Winterwoods in April

At last! I've finished up my Winterwoods cross-stitch sampler (or nearly finished, I still need to press out those last few creases and frame it). I love this pattern -- As I stitched through last summer, fall and winter, I imagined myself sitting in that cottage, putting on my yellow kettle, knitting some darling pink mittens while wearing a pair of hunter boots. (Sometimes you gotta imagine winter to be cozy to get you through those dark cold Canadian days).

I certainly made a few mistakes but my amateur eye can't really pick them up and I'm more than pleased to have finished.

(p.s. Anyone have any tips on how to get out stubborn creases on linen? I've tried spraying a tea towel and placing it over top and ironing and ironing and ironing but the wrinkles are refusing to budge.)

City of craft

Well hello again :) After what was a very long week, I headed downtown this weekend to meet up with some dear friends for some good company and crafty perusing.

We headed over to the City of Craft spring show and I picked up some Bookhou fabric and a rad little bunny pouch (the bow tie was the clincher for me). I also bought some floss (garden colours ready to bloom) and some embroidery kits. Somehow by the end of the day, some sparkly yarn found its way into my bag too. 

Some other amazing vendors I admired:

:: ooshki -- sweet little crocheted stuffies

:: Crown Flora Studios -- Amazing bags

:: Nightjar books -- Artful notebooks

:: Kid Icarus - This card and this card are so good

Have a wonderful and gentle week dear friends :)

I heart ... this and that

Hey y'all!

Did you have a nice weekend eating sweet potato soup, drinking cups of tea, watching the Masters and doing embroidery? Because I did. A truly good weekend.

I finished my Winterwoods cross-stitch sampler but it's so wrinkly and I ironed it for nine straight hot hours (or it may have only been two cool and breezy minutes. In either case, it's not ready for a closeup just yet.) In the meantime, I also got a start on a sweet Miniature Rhino alphabet sampler that I picked up at the Renegade Craft Fair last summer. It is super.

Let's look at some pretty things, shall we?

:: For the makers - I wish they shipped to Canada because I would totally sign up! I love this idea and the amazing tutorials too.

:: A little embroidery how-to book from Bustle and Sew.

:: Really really really want to make these Charlotte Street mitts.

:: Aviator kitty change purse.

Hope we have lovely sunny days this week.

xoxoxo

Liberty stripes

I was hungry for some stripes and some bright colours so I made this scarf to tuck away for next winter.

I used the Noro striped scarf pattern but swapped the Noro for some Classic Elite Liberty that I had in my stash along with some bits of gray Cascade. Altogether mellow and pop all at once.

Happy weekend friends!

La la lavender scrub!

Hello friends! I hope you had a very nice weekend :) 

My friend Viv made this amazing scrub using sugar, grapeseed oil and lavender essential oils. It is such a lovely luxury -- my hands feel brand new.

Viv filled the glass pot (from Loblaws - if you're on the hunt fellow Canadians) with sugar and then added the oil and a few drops of lavender oil until the consistency was just right (crumbly and not too oily). I found a whole pinterest board full of scrub ideas here.

Colourblock scarf and happy birthday Deb!

I also made this colourblock scarf for Deb's birthday. I used Drops Baby Alpaca Silk adding random blocks of silver, dark green and light green. I snapped a pic of the spring palette here.

Happy birthday dearest Deb! You're a true blue pal. May there be lots of sunshine, yarn, fabric, and happy days ahead :)