Author: fairfaxhill

knitting detour: how my plan to make a tote bag turned into a stripy summer top

Published by fairfaxhill

How does this happen? I’ve managed to start – and finish!– another project that’s not what I intended to work on. For the record, I have three other projects on my needles at the moment. One of them I started last summer… I guess I should make a better effort to stay out of yarn stores! A few weekends ago, I was browsing the isles of Joanne’s Fabrics store and managed to leave with six balls of 100% cotton yarn in tow with the goal of making myself a new tote. I wanted to replace some of the bags I typically carry around, which are looking a bit tired after much use. I also found yarn in a green color I loved. Is it just me? I can never have enough tote bags. I always need to supplement my purse with bags to carry books, knitting projects, samples, treats, or to use if I stop at the supermarket on my way home. The bag I was going to make, a free pattern called the “getting …

february makes: from sweaters to crème brûlée (mishaps included!)

Published by fairfaxhill

Here’s a quick update on what I’ve been up to lately! As some of you saw on my Instagram feed, I finished making the sweater I started last February. I was modifying the Malaury pattern, replacing the texture created by knit and purl stitches with mock cables for my version. The result was a happy surprise. (I’m feeling pretty confident trusting my math when adapting patterns now–it fits!) I also learned a new technique for attaching a collar that I might start using more often. The pattern called for a back-stitched collar, which was new to me. I normally pick up stitches around the neckline, but the pattern said to knit the collar separately, leaving one of the edges on scrap yarn. I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around the process, and even after finding this helpful tutorial, the whole thing looked way too complicated. Then, I remembered watching a video showing a similar technique that looked much simpler. The difference: no stitches that could potentially unravel! You simply take the finished …

geogradient shawl

geogradient mkal: how it’s going

Published by fairfaxhill

This month I’ve been working on the Geogradient Mystery Knit Along by Stephen West and I haven’t had time for much else. Books I want to read, and recipes I want to try are piling up! But I’m close to done, and I predict the shawl will be finished within a week. Reflecting on the colors I chose. I signed up and purchased a kit online because I thought that would be easier than trying to pick out yarn at the local yarn store and putting together my own gradient. Looking back, I wish I had taken a bit more time to think about my colors. I knew I wanted to use Holst yarn because that’s what I used for my last shawl and I really liked the result. (This yarn is also quite affordable, and considering you have no idea what your final project will look like when you join a mystery KAL, it was a no-brainer for me!) But the thing is, I had recently ordered shade cards from Holst to have handy …

a fool-proof plum cake, a new audiobook, and my falcon’s shawl

Published by fairfaxhill

I love Marin in September. The mornings slowly get darker and the air crisper, but the afternoons are still warm. Late summer fruits and vegetables are also at their peak and their fall successors are getting ready to be harvested — just look at the grapes I spotted in my neighbor’s front yard on a recent walk! (It was so hard not to take one and try it. I didn’t. I couldn’t.) After admiring my neighbor’s gorgeous grapes, a couple more minutes into my walk, I saw a plum tree growing on the side of the road. This is the main road that leads to downtown. The tree was full of plums, and this time I couldn’t resist the urge to taste one. The tree was so full of fruit that the branches were hanging a bit low. This tree wasn’t planted in anyone’s yard, it was planted outside a fence on a hill that seemed like public land, at least that’s what I hoped! So I ignored the cars driving past me and what …