the last of winter and some socks

Finally finished and what gratifying little project a pair of socks is! Easy to take up whenever there is time and need for some mindless stockinette (there is always need for mindless stockinette) and you get a highly wearable everday item out of it.

The yarn is Madeline Tosh in the colour ‘dusk’. My love affair with Madeline Tosh started years ago and it is still my all-time favourite sock yarn.

I see all those lovely sock patterns about but I confess I have never knit socks from a pattern. Having learned to knit socks at age 12 or 13 my socks are always plain stockinette, made to fit by trying them on in between and gauging the right time to start the heel or the toe. No counting, no need to remember anything. Mindless knitting at its best.

Knitting is meditative, I’ve written about it often enough but if you trust numbers more have a look at this survey on how knitting helps fight depression. Right now I’m working on a Henny hat, one of Liesl’s gorgeous patterns. Check out her lovely new shop!

I cannot imagine a more perfect winter evening than sitting by a stove and knitting accompanied to the sounds of crackling wood. Sigh. Still working on the wood stove part, getting my fix digitally until then right here (fire with a touch of thunder is perfect!).

Speaking of winter evenings – we have had terrible weather for the last few days and I haven’t been able to go hiking once in the past few weeks! Cold, stormy and rainy, winter is really reluctant to give up this year. I kind of adore the colors in this weather though and did manage some outdoor time with the pony on Sunday. What’s a little drizzle in a good rain coat, right?

I’ve been quite busy recently with photoshoots and trying to catch up on blogging them. Check out this maternity session with an adorable couple (seriously, they were so much fun) and some more photoshoots on my photo blog.

There’s been some sewing and some spring gardening going which I’m looking forward to sharing soon. What have you been doing? Still deep in the cozy winter quietness or already up and busy preparing for the warmer season?

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working on it

Between some travelling, some hiking and some early nights (hey, it’s still winter which means it’s a good day if I manage to stay up for an hour or two after getting home from work) I have still been eeking out a few minutes here and there for creative time.
As this is meant to be a creative blog I figured I better show you what I’ve been working on.

The Alpenglühen cardigan has been on my needles for a while. Getting the body done and doing cables for the first time went really well but then I got stuck a little and have been waiting for motivation to strike to pick it back up again. I love the deep rich red of the yarn and I’m sure whenever this gets done it will be worn a lot!


For mindless evening knitting while watching a series I’ve picked up a pair of socks again that has been lying in wait for months. I think I might actually finish them this year. I love knitting socks but it usually takes me months to complete a pair in between other projects.

Speaking of other projects, have you seen Liesl‘s new pattern, the Henny Hat? Liesl has been one of my favorite blog people for a long time and I’m thrilled that she is starting to sell her own yarn and patterns! I already started my Henny Hat, so that makes three projects on the needles now – I’ve officially become one of those knitters with an overflowing project basket and no idea what to turn to next. Sigh.

You might remember the healthy eating series I started a while back? Well, I’ve been working on eating better for a long time now and progress is being made, slowly but surely! The fact remains that neither J nor I have a knack for cooking so I needed to approach this systematically.
I took a day off to figure out what kind of food I wanted to be able to prepare (easy, healthy, quick, few and readily available ingredients) and picked out a few choice recipes for us. These were printed on heavy cardstock and I made up our very own recipe book which we consult every week before going shopping. So far this is working really well for us! Having a plan has resulted in more focussed food shopping and a sense of obligation to actually cook at the weekend.

Two new favorite recipes of ours are roasted veggies of any kind and this yummy kale quinoa bowl. I’ve compiled all my recipe research on Pinterest though not all of those recipes actually made it in ‘our’ book.

I have much more to say on this subject but for the sake of actually getting this post done before work I’ll stop here and write a more detailed post on request. Let me know if you’re interested!

Last but not least I have a new hobby (as if I needed another one, right?) – for years I’ve been thinking of picking up the Irish Tin Whistle again and learning to play it. Having lived in Ireland for a year as a teenager this has always been a dream of mine. I played the recorder as a kid (who didn’t?) and there were actually several tin whistles I bought in my teens lurking in my mom’s basement.

As soon as I picked it up again I remembered how much fun it is and this time I mean to go through with it. Getting started with a few online lessons and this Lord of the Rings tutorial I am now on my way through a few simple tunes. The hardest part is getting the fingers up to speed but maybe by next Christmas my brother (who teaches himself piano) and I will be able to provide some family entertainment.

Any of you play a musical instrument? Are you a natural cook or did you have to learn it the hard way like me?

I have more hiking and travelling posts lined up. If you want to be really up to date and see my mobile photography be sure to follow me on Instagram or Twitter for daily peeks 🙂

sundays

perfect.

(that was before I knocked over the pot of tea)