All you need is love

It's 4 years with my boy tomorrow - he's given the most thoughtful presents:
~ "French for Dummies" since I keep talking about learning
~ The Shins "Oh, Inverted World" on vinyl
~ Aesop moisturiser

...I'm the luckiest girl in the world, and not just for the presents <3

Just a minute... in June

Scraping in at the end of the month! Here's what's been occupying my time:

Reading... less than I should. Need to find a good book to carry me through the cold weather.

Watching... free DVDs thanks to a Quickflix trial. We've had The Wackness, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Science of Sleep and Broken Flowers - all good!

Listening... to Michael Jackson and Jackson Five songs. Also discovering "Ben" was written about his pet rat.

Eating... winter warmers like soup, curry, stir-fry and porridge. Not all at once.

Knitting... slippers, slippers and more slippers.

Learning... a language! At least that's what I hope to do soon. Either pickup my French again, or start Spanish. German is another contender.

>> I'm wondering if this blog is on wind down, or if it's just a "slow phase". Haven't decided yet.

frankie ~ issue 30

The prettiest magazine in town, inside and out.

Learning to sew on a button

Out of necessity (because my jackets were falling apart) I learnt how to sew on buttons today. About time. The 5 simple steps I followed:
1. For heavy fabrics, like my jackets, use strong linen thread.
2. Cut 20cm thread and feed it through a large needle.
3. Pull through so it's doubled over, then knot the end and snip the excess.
4. Hold the button slightly away from the fabric as you loop the thread through the material then the button.
5. I did about 3 "loops" then tied off the end, and snipped the excess.

>> YouTube is helpful for knitting, sewing and crochet tips cause you can actually see what's being explained.

Progress report #3: House Slippers

I'm calling these House Slippers cause that's about the only place you'll be able to wear them, but wear them you will! Here's how I made them (hope the instructions make sense):

Stitch: garter and rib.
Needles: size #5 (5.5mm)
Yarn: 1 ball brown and 1 ball bright blue (both 8 ply acrylic, pretty sure)
Pattern: Cast on 6 stitches (brown only).
Row 1 - Knit 6.
Row 2 - Knit 6.
Row 3 - Increase 1, knit 5, increase 1 (should have 8 stitches total now).
Row 4 - Knit 8.
Row 5 - Increase 1, knit 7, increase 1 (should have 10 stitches total).
Row 6 - Knit 10.
Row 7 - Increase 1, knit 9, increase 1 (should have 12 stitches total).
Row 8 - Knit 12.
Row 9 - Increase 1, knit 11, increase 1 (should have 14 stitches total).
Row 10 - Knit 14.
Row 11 - Increase 1, knit 13, increase 1 (should have 16 stitches total).
Row 12 - Knit 16.
Row 13 - Increase 1, knit 15, increase 1 (should have 18 stitches total).
Row 14 - Knit 18.
Row 15 - Increase 1, knit 17, increase 1 (should have 20 stitches total).
Row 16 - Knit 20.
Row 18 - [Knit 1, Increase 1] repeat to end (should have 40 stitches total).
Row 17 - Hold in second colour (eg. blue) then knit 40, holding both together.
Row 19 - Purl 1, [knit 2, purl 2] repeat almost to end, purl 1.
Row 20 - Knit 1, [purle 2, knit 2] repeat almost to end, knit 1.
Rows 21 to 48 - Repeat rows 19 and 20 over and over (this is the ribbed section).
Row 49 - Knit 40.
Row 50 - Stop using the second colour (eg. blue) then knit 40 (just with brown).
Row 51 - [Knit 2 together] repeat to end (should have 20 stitches total).
Row 52 - Knit 20.
Row 53 - Knit 2 together, knit 16, knit 2 together (should have 18 stitches total).
Row 54 - Knit 18.
Row 55 - Knit 2 together, knit 14, knit 2 together (should have 16 stitches total).

...now I'm going to be lazy and just say: continue following the reverse of what you did at the start from here on in (ie. it should be symmetrical to what you did in the beginning). Once finished, cast off the last 6 stitches then join up the top and sides.

>> One day I'll improve this pattern, need to learn some more knit-speak first.

Progress report #2: Granny Square Blanket

Another from the "why the hell haven't I finished this?" pile - my 70s style granny square blanket! The downside of having a date-stamped blog is that it's blatantly obvious how little I've achieved since my last post about this back on Monday 20 April. Oh dear.

Progress report #1: Green Fingerless Mittens

You may recognise this pattern from the last pair of fingerless mittens I made - unfortunately these ones have taken a lot longer (partly due to a number of false starts) but will still be toasty warm in time for the second half of winter!

Taking it easy

I took an unplanned break from blogging the past few weeks, I guess that'll happen. On the other hand, my tweeting has been out of control, and new love for tumbling may last for a while too. In the end we have to just do the things that make us happy, right?

Speaking of happiness, check out this post from the rockstar diaries (also known as Taza and the Prince) - it inspired this list of things that make me happy:

1. fingerless mittens
2. bon iver
3. soy chai lattes
4. anything about new york city
5. drive-in movies
6. beach holidays
7. my macbook
8. polaroid photos
9. red wine in winter
10. black boots

...I could probably go up to 100 (or 1000?) but I'll leave it there.

>> Also, if you like lists, Stuff White People Like is pretty funny.

Just a minute... in May

These are my favourite posts because they force me to recap what I've been doing over the past month, and I'm pretty sure that's good for my brain! Thanks, as always, to August Street for the 'Just a Minute' theme. Here goes:

Reading... vegetarian cooking books like the Moosewood Cookbook, trying out new dishes like Baba Ganouj (eggplant dip).

Watching... NBA playoffs! Blame it on my boyfriend.

Listening... to songs like "Buttons" by Sia, and "Dance Anthem of the 80s" by Regina Spektor and planning to buy both of their new albums very soon.

Eating... lots of vegan muffins (as you may have noticed)

Knitting... all the same projects I was working on in April, but getting closer to finishing the slippers, mittens and granny square blanket - stay tuned!

Learning... how important it is to get enough sleep, eat well, do exercise, and take time off work every now and then. It sounds so simple when you put it in one sentence, huh?

More muffins! (Banana walnut ones)

Yes, two muffin posts in a row! These vegan banana walnut muffins went down quite nicely with soy chai tea and an afternoon of knitting. I was inspired to bake these after seeing photos on Where's the Beef? but the recipe was originally posted by Vegan Visitor.

>> My obsession with food has well and truly taken hold of this blog, is this going to be a problem? Hmm...

The best vegan pumpkin muffins

This recipe came from Vegan with a Vengeance and is self-proclaimed to be The Best Pumpkin Muffins... This is already the second time I've made them, so I'm tending to agree!

The dry ingredients:
~ 3 cups self raising flour
~ 2 cups raw caster sugar
~ 1 tsp ground cinnamon
~ 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
~ 1/2 tsp ground ginger
~ 1/4 tsp ground allspice
~ 1/8 tsp ground cloves

The wet ingredients:
~ A chunk of pumpkin, chopped, boiled then pureed (about 1/4 of a normal sized pumpkin worked for me; apparently you can also get pumpkin puree in a can)
~ 1/2 cup soy milk
~ 1/2 cup vegetable oil
~ 2 tablespoons golden syrup

What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 200 Celsius, and lightly grease a twelve hole muffin tin (or two 6 hole ones) - I just used the tiniest bit of oil to do this.
2. Sift the flour, sugar and spices into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, then mix.
3. Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full each, then bake for 20 minutes (or until a skewer inserted comes out clean).

>> This batch is destined for stitch n' bitch at Hollie's (of Vegan & Vintage) tonight - knitters need sustenance ;)

The NEW Lost+Found Market

I've been to the new Lost+Found Market (12 Smith St, Collingwood) a few times, and finally remembered to take photos when I was there yesterday - must be something to do with having this week off work cause this is more blogging than I've done in months! Anyway, I didn't buy anything (which is surprising) but there are all sorts of vintage treasures to explore if you find yourself in the area. Even worth a special trip!

>> I had to put up two photos to get the full inside-outside experience; the store goes over multiple levels, and all sorts of different areas, so it was hard to narrow it down to two!

Baba Ganouj

The Moosewood Cookbook strikes again! I made this Baba Ghanouj a few days ago and it's still good! Here's what you need:
~ 2 medium-small eggplants
~ juice from one lemon
~ 1/2 cup tahini
~ 3 cloves garlic, crushed
~ salt & pepper
~ 1/2 cup finely-chopped parsley
~ 1/4 cup finely-chopped spring onions (optional)
~ 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)

Then how to turn it into a delicious dip:
1. Preheat the oven to 190 Celsius.
2. Cut off the eggplant stems and prick all over with a fork.
3. Place on the oven rack without a tray and roast until wrinkled and soft (about 50 minutes).
4. Remove from the oven and wait until cool enough to handle.
5. Peel off the skin or scoop out the flesh and mash well - or if you have a bamix or blender, use that!
6. Add all the other ingredients and keep mixing.
7. Chill before serving (the recipe suggests drizzling olive oil over, but it's delicious both with and without).

>> Spelling of "Baba Ganouj" has been corrected to match the cookbook, but not sure it's right!

Happy Mother's Day!

Breaking my "one photo only" rule here, but both of these were picked up at the Rose Street Artists Market as Mother's day gifts, and I couldn't pick just one! The first is a card by the ever so talented Able & Game, and the second is an elephant brooch created by Shonah. Both mothers involved were pretty chuffed with their presents, I think.