A French Press

Well I've spent most of today hanging around in my jimjams. I'm loving these legging style ones that I picked up during the Roots Boxing Day sale last week. I'm not sure if they are actually warmer, but they sure are comfy. I do feel like a bit of a kid in them, but I don't mind. Other than being cozy, it's just too cold out to think much about wearing real clothes! I did get dressed later in the afternoon to go to dinner at a family friend's house, which was delicious. Their house was much warmer than this old drafty one.


As I was remiss in posting over the holidays you'll have to excuse a bit of a belated wrap up. I couldn't write about most things while I was doing them as I'm not quite sure who actually reads this in my family. My mom checks it everyday, so I certainly couldn't risk that. I joined in on the felting insanity this year and made her a pair of French Press Slippers. She was looking for classy, sophisticated slippers when we were at the One of a Kind, but we couldn't find anything. As soon as I heard that I knew what I would do!


This was my first foray into felting, and luckily I had Meagan to help me out in it. I'm not going to lie, she did most of the work, though my excuse is that I was officially working at the time. I love how they turned out, though next time I will take the straps out earlier as they over felted a little bit and are quite stiff. Searching for buttons is always fun, and I knew that I wanted red ones. Grey and red are one of my favourite colour combinations, especially when it is a grey fabric with red buttons.

It felt like everyone was all over these this year, the thing that everyone knit for holiday presents. The nice thing about them is that they are speedy enough to give to almost anyone, but also special enough to give to people for whom you care about. I was originally going to make many more, but changed things up at the last minute. However, that's not to say that there won't be more in the future.

These were not the only thing I knit for gifts this year, so there will be more posts like this. Some of the gifts have already flown the coop to be with their rightful owners, while some have stayed closer to home. And of course, I did knit some things for myself.

A New Year

Since recaps seem to be all the rage today, I thought I'd give it a try. Hey, all the cool kids are doing it!

2009 was... interesting. Many of the things I thought would happen didn't, while many unexpected things did. No one thought the TA's strike at York would go on until the end of January, and I really thought my days of living with my parents were over. I've been living in the basement (cliche I know...) since August, and it's really fine. I certainly didn't think I would go to New York twice!

I was able to go to two fiber events, Squam and Rhinebeck, as well as one music festival, Mariposa. The photography on here has improved exponentially since I got my Nikon D40 in June, and even better when I got a new lens in October. I am loving photography in a way that I didn't expect at all. I hope that in 2010 I will be able to continue to hone my skills. I finally finished my undergraduate degree last month, and not a moment too soon! I took my bike riding to new levels when I bicycled through a fair amount of last winter, though that was tested yesterday when a set of streetcar tracks depostited me in the intersection rather unceremoniously. I hope next year will go better than that!

In 2010 I hope to go to Europe, and to a few fiber events. I have big plans that will be made public in the next few days that I am very excited about. I am looking forward to another February trip to California, this time without writing papers on the bathroom floor of the hotel! I hope to find the courage to act upon my ideas and dreams this year. I have a terrible habit of holding myself back, but I feel like this year will be much better. My greatest wish is to be able to completely transform my work schedule in the next 6 months, which will be a challenge, but I am ready for it. There is no try, only do.

I've got 2010 in my sightlines and I'm ready.

Party Hearty!

Well the party is all done, and I can hardly believe that we squished that many people into the house! It was really hard to take pictures as there wasn't very much room between people. My mom did get this one of myself and my two cousins, Johanna and Katie, before things got too busy.
In the craziness of it all we forgot to take a family photo until this morning, so while it is nice, we aren't all dolled up in our finery. I will be posting more pictures of the party later this week, but for a very specific reason!

I swear we didn't mean to match our sweaters, it just happened that way...

Party Prep

What's this I see?! The tree has been trimmed.
Cookies and sleighs wait expectantly to be unwrapped.

The stockings sit in a row on the mantle.
There is plenty to drink.
Crates of juice, fizzy water and more baked goods are at the back door.

It looks like we're having a party!

Snow Crafts

Now that it's starting to look like this a little more often, all I want to do is curl up and craft all day. This view across the street from my parents house only lasted a few hours earlier last week, but it put an enormous smile on my face. The sun was shining, the snow was sparkling, everything was perfect.
As for many people, my crafts these days are holiday themed. I am working very hard on my advent calendar. It's going along quite well, though I am woefully behind on what day it actually is. Who's idea was it to have 24 days of advent?! So many pockets, so many buttons, so many little numbers.


And I haven't the foggiest clue where to put them when they are done....

Tea Mug, School Time

I'm a busy bee at work this week, which is alternately terrifying and rather excellent. The work in question is the final projects for my undergrad, which will be handed in tomorrow. Thus, they signal the end of my undergraduate degree. To say that I am excited would be an under statment. I am very much looking forward to starting the rest of my life, which is also part of the scary. Stay tuned since some of these plans I have involve you, my readers.

However, I am currently left huddled up finishing things off for now. I have surrounded my self with tea, and some soothing stockinette for when I need some thinking. And what better way to celebrate finishing all this off than with a new mug? I took a break last night to go to the One of a Kind show with my mom, and found this. It's by a local potter that my mom and I visit every time we go. In the small world that Toronto is, her daughter also went to school with my brother, so we always have a chat with her. Mom got a lovely little square dish, and I also got a small paisley plate to put my stitch markers on. I'll do a bigger post about it all, and the other things I found later. You know, when I don't have school work looming over my head.

Off for another pot of tea!

Flashlight at the Dakota

Last weekend Flashlight Radio played their first gig since their CD release at the end of August. I got to play photog with my new lens! The show was at the Dakota, on Ossington, which is quickly becoming my favourite bar. The lights, the decor, the atmosphere; it's just so cozy and fun! I was a little disappointed since Liam was supposed to play pedal steel, which I love, but he's been recording his new album, so hasn't had much time to practice. Not to worry, since that meant he was playing guitar instead, so it all worked out. Kieran Adams played drums.

I absolutely love this picture, thems be some wicked shoes Benny!

And of course, Ben's dad Ken cam out to play a tune on the piano. Nothing like some father/son photos to round it all out.