Year: 2021

checking-in & thanksgiving plans

Published by fairfaxhill

Hello! It is a beautiful day in Marin today and I am dying to drive out to the beach. I’m not sure where I’ll go, but the sand and the ocean are calling my name. Stinson? Limantour? I’ll probably bring my knitting project and grab a coffee at the little shack if it’s open. Nobody likes the beach as much as I do, here at our house, so I guess I’ll go by myself. I wanted to quickly sneak in an update before we get too busy with Thanksgiving preparations. This year we get to celebrate with Patrick’s family like we used to in the days before Covid. It should be fun! As has become our tradition, Patrick will bring some extra dressing to the party and I’ve been asked to bring something else, so I think I might make this apple cake which turned out quite yummy when I tried it last week — even if some of the apples stuck to the pan. Maybe it won’t stick this time? I also want to …

handknit sweater pieces ready for sewing

adding zippers to hand-knit sweaters

Published by fairfaxhill

Did you know you can order zippers to match your yarn? If you follow my Instagram, you know I’ve been working on the Jump Shot Hoodie pattern by Amy Herzog, at Sarah’s request. Now that I’ve completed the back and the two fronts, I started thinking about how to attach the zipper and where to find a nice one. This will be my first time ever applying a zipper to a knitted sweater and luckily Amy has a great zipper tutorial. While browsing the Vogue Knitting app I have on my phone, I stumbled upon another good resource for installing zippers, this one written by Deborah Newton, whose book Finishing School: A Master Class for Knitters I bought not too long ago. In the article she recommends zipperstop.com. One great thing about this store is that if you aren’t sure which zipper to buy (there are many styles and colors to choose from), you can arrange to mail them a sample of your yarn and they will help you find the right match.

summer tomato tart with ricotta and pesto

Published by fairfaxhill

I know summer is officially over, but I didn’t want to leave this gorgeous tart behind with my never-published blog posts of 2021 and not share it with you. Bookmark it and make it next summer if you don’t have any ripe tomatoes around. Or, if by some miracle you still have some, do give this a try. The recipe is by Alexa Weibel. I stumbled upon it on the NYTimes Cooking website, the day I suddenly found myself with the most generous gift: a bag full of ultra sweet, organic, homegrown tomatoes left at our doorstep by my friend, mother-in-law, and expert tomato grower, Pat. You can put together the dish pretty quickly (which always gets points from me), and it looks beautiful on the table (perfect for when you have friends over). Serve it as a light lunch with a green salad, or make it your side dish at dinner time. When you are ready to eat the tart, make sure every bite you take has a little bit of each ingredient. The …

hoodie update – watching out for modification details!

Published by fairfaxhill

Yes, I know! Can you believe I’m still working on this project? I started a hoodie for Sarah back in January, I think. It’s mostly stockinette with a rib detail on the sleeves. I was so close to finishing about two weeks ago. The fronts, the back, and the sleeves were finally ready. But when I placed the sleeves side-by-side, I noticed that they did not match. But how could this be? I didn’t have any extra stitches. The detail was exactly 9 stitches wide. So what had I done wrong? It took me a bit to figure out the source of the error, but it had to do with the way the cuff had been made. The cuff consists of a 1×1 rib over 47 stitches. I normally use the knitted cast on for my projects. It’s one of the simplest methods of casting on stitches, and I like that I can start working on a pattern’s Right Side right away. (On most patterns, Row 1 after your cast on is also considered the …