Author: fairfaxhill

westknits 2023 mystery shawl kal launches tomorrow! are you ready?

Published by fairfaxhill

I never imagined I’d be considering joining my second WestKnits mystery shawl knit along, but I am! This year’s pattern is called the Geogradient and as usual, the goal is to knit the shawl in a period of four weeks in the month of October — that is if we can keep up with all the speedy knitters out there! I still don’t know if I will buy my yarn locally, or order one of the kits that will be on sale starting tomorrow morning. Last year was my first-ever MKAL, which I knit using very bright pink colors. This year I’m leaning towards blues and greens, but the pinks have a way of calling my name! (I’m looking at you, “Flamingo” & “Miracle” gradients! 🤩) One of my favorite kits going on sale tomorrow is the “Wave Gradient” shown below. Aren’t those blues gorgeous? Blue is a super safe color, I think, especially for me, since you’ll often find me wearing jeans and white tops. But doesn’t everything go well with jeans and white? Green …

easy no-churn strawberry ice cream with crushed amaretti cookies

Published by fairfaxhill

Have you ever made no-churn ice cream? I had always been skeptical about whether you could get good results, but after watching a few of my favorite chefs make theirs without a machine, I decided this was something I had to try. And guess what? I’ve confirmed that you don’t need special equipment to make delicious ice cream at home. No, really, not even a beater. I made this with a little handheld whisk, and so can you! Have a large crowd to feed? Make sure to save this recipe! After watching this Jaime Oliver video, I immediately knew this was the recipe I wanted to try. It has strawberry sauce, crushed meringue cookies, and dulce de leche – who could resist? And the tray he used to serve it… Well, that was love at first sight for me, so I had to get one just like it. Once it arrived, I was ready to make the recipe. It even had a lid! I love my new tray. To ensure the berries were super fresh …

a new sweater, ready to wear

Published by fairfaxhill

I believe there are two types of knitters, the ultra-careful ones that faithfully follow a pattern and will not give up until they “get it right,” and those that cannot help adding their own “touch” to every piece. These are the knitters that no matter how hard they try to follow a pattern, end up skipping steps, adding and removing stitches at random when they notice they’re off track, and see any mistake as a decorative element. They’ll also do anything to avoid ripping back! I identify mostly with the first group. Typically, I choose a pattern because I love what it looks like in the photo of the magazine, website, or book it is in, and I’ll often go to great lengths to get the exact yarn that is recommended. A good example is the April Blouse I’ve been working on, where I scoured the Internet to find the same yarn and color I had seen on the @sandnesgarn brochure. I’m also the type of knitter that needs to fix their mistakes. I would …

week 28: new f.o. and a delicious corn salad

Published by fairfaxhill

finished! ribbon-tied wool vest I finished knitting the baby top I started a few weeks ago and finally got it in the mail. Well, with a few hiccups. I’d been worried that I’d taken so long to knit it, that by now it wouldn’t fit. Babies grow so fast!  So, as soon as I finished it I ran out to buy a small envelope at the local pharmacy, looked up my niece’s mailing address as soon as I got back, and stuck one of my Elvis forever stamps on the front of the package. There. Ready to ship! Or, so I thought. I put the package outside on top of our mailbox to make sure the mail carrier would see it, but when I went out to check later, the package was still there. Oh, that’s right, it was Wednesday, we rarely get mail on this day, so the mailman probably drove past our house. The next day, the same thing happened, which annoyed me a bit. So right before five, I drove down to …