Month: January 2022

week 3: banana scones, the perfect wool for a dreamy shawl + a new book

Published by fairfaxhill

* updated 4/2/24 Morning walks have always been my favorite way to start the day. We had great weather last week, which motivated me to hike up the steepest hill in our neighborhood twice! It’s a tough hike, up, up, up, but the view from the top is totally worth it; on a clear day, you can see San Francisco. Here are some photos: My walking average is up by a whole mile! Our New Favorite Breakfast Recipe: Banana Scones On my Instagram account there’s a photo taken back in 2020 with the caption: “Banana bread never gets old around here.” Well, I’m sorry to report, that this is no longer true. It turns out that after months of testing banana bread recipes from our cookbooks and the Internet — my favorites being Carla Lali’s Bon Appétit recipe and my forever go-to, Fanny Farmer Cookbook‘s version with extra walnuts — the day officially arrived when neither of us could think of eating another slice. Just like a hit song that is played on the radio …

a photo collage showing focaccia bread, a green knitted sleeve and a yellow nylon bag side by side, below these is a photo of an alpaca and the text wk 2

week 2: making focaccia and learning about alpacas

Published by fairfaxhill

I love my library membership. I can get almost anything I want to read on my phone or iPad. This year, I’ve decided to set a few goals for myself. One of them is to practice and improve my Swedish. I found that I could download Swedish magazines, and found ELLE, and this photo: Aren’t alpacas the cutest?! Last week, I mentioned that I wasn’t sure why my sweater felt so soft, even if I was using smaller needles than the pattern asked for. I am typically a very tight knitter, so I expected a wool blend to be a bit stiffer, but it was so light and soft! I decided to learn a little more about the wool I was using and found that one of the properties of alpaca is that it’s soft, drapey – and super warm! ALPACA AT A GLANCE Lighter and warmer than wool Super soft to the touch with a silky sheen No lanolin makes it hypoallergenic I also learned that a 50/50 alpaca and wool blend is ideal …

a collage with different knitted sweaters

week 1: bedford sweater progress + new cozy sweaters for winter

Published by fairfaxhill

Hi! I finished the first section of the Bedford sweater I started on Dec. 27. I am really enjoying this project. The resulting fabric is super soft. I am a bit baffled by the fact that I had to go down a needle size to get the pattern’s gauge and the fabric still looks pretty lose. I don’t know if it’s this yarn, or the stitch pattern, but my knitting feels and looks more relaxed than ever. Could it be that I am finally benefiting from my hobby and slowly turning into a more relaxed person? Ha, ha. Doubtfully! But still something interesting about this yarn, which I am liking a lot. The yarn I’m using is Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Peat Mix (06277), which is 50% alpaca, 50% wool. The pattern calls for Brooklyn Tweed 100% American Targhee-Columbia wool and although I would typically try to use the yarn called for in the pattern, I had just the right amount of this green wool sitting in my closet and it was time to use it …