ZebraKnits

a little thing

 

A two year old moment of stillness I could steal and take a photograph. It only lasted a few seconds before he run off to something else.

This vest is a simple little thing I knit over a week ago just to keep myself knitting. I was hoping this unfocused and unproductive phase will pass very quickly, but I was wrong. Anyway, as simple as it is, it's an accomplishment and worth showing. He seems to like it, which is a good thing. Normally, he tells me he's not cold when I mention putting on something to keep warm. Sometimes we fight over it but he didn't fight this one.

I knit it with some Debbie Bliss Merino DK (discontinued and I totally dislike the yarn now after seeing how much my Amanda sweater is wearing after only a year) leftovers in stash (doubled on big needles). No pattern required. Just plain, easy stockinette stitch over movie watching.

 

We went downtown Philly yesterday for a little historical tour for Big T. to see the Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. It was quite chilly than I imagined but the fall colours and clear skies were just beautiful. I also managed to stopover at Loop for some tweed goodness.

 

Now, off to read my google reader as I am way far behind. Ciao!

****updated: oops, I can't read my feeds because my internet is out and the wireless thing am using is soooo slow and not loading pages well. So, am going to wait till it's fixed in a few days and will visit your blogs then!***

 

.....and back!

 

This pretty much sums up bits of our vacation. As you know, when vacation is over, reality hits at home with loads of stuff to take care of. School starts next week and I am looking forward to kick back a bit and seriously get some projects done before Fall (my favourite season). That includes some real knitting and sharing something finished!

Oh! I do have some catching up to do with blog reading and seeing what everyone has been up to! See you soon this time!

while away

We visited the old family farm in Rhode Island where Big T. spent two weeks with her great aunt who runs horse camps, polishing up her horse training skills and riding.

Little T. learned a few things about horses - grooming comes first before riding.

 

The kids also got to pet rabbits (the aunt has several bunny cages where she raises the rabbits) and Big T. got to do some work on those too (like feeding, cleaning etc) 

Luckily, my job was only to cook dinner in this very old, small vintage kitchen which has a lot of stuff nicely arranged and organised (I still couldn't find where the cooking utensils were until I asked!).

And off to the garden I went to pick some fresh ripe tomatoes for the rabbit stew I cooked.

That was last week. Now, we are in Kennebunkport, ME for another week or so. Enjoy!

something old

This is the vintage suitcase filled with treasurea that my mother in law gave me after cleaning out her attic. It belonged to my husband's great grandmother who was a quilter. In it, we found three different unfinished quilt pieces (two of which I got) that she had been working on somewhere in the 1930's.

The first one is a flower design, meticulously hand basted and appliqued onto the white fabric.

Then, the butterfly pieces, some finished, some unfinished and some basted ready to be sewn.

I want to try and preserve her quilting by finishing the pieces. Since I have not worked with vintage fabric before, I need to do some research and see how I can best preserve her work. I don't know when I will tackle this project but I hope it won't be another decade before I do. 

I also found little notes, patterns, templates for the flower and butterfly and newspaper cutouts from 1935.

Thank you dearly for your overwhelming response to my finished quilt. You really made my day.

what's cooking???

Having all the time to myself when I was in Seattle, I went to the bookstores and just sat at the cookbook section for hours with a mighty huge pile of books I was interested to check out. I go through waves of buying and getting rid of cookbooks and this time, I wanted to really be sure before I purchased anymore cookbooks. The new Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver caught my eye as I walked into the bookstore and I immediately grabbed it. I am nuts about Jamie's cooking and practically own all but one or two of his cookbooks and use them a LOT! It didn't take me long to check out the recipes and I counted multiple recipes I wanted to try and knew right away I had to get the book. I just love his style of cooking, the fresh ingredients he uses and of course the delicious recipes beautifully captured in his books. I even enjoy just reading his introductions to the recipes, as they are fun.

I also checked out Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express 130 recipes for good food fast and How-Eat The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food which I was also drawn to by her voice of writing and the details of her great recipes. I used to watch her shows on tele a while back and have browsed at her books at the library before but for some reason, I didn't give them too much thought (maybe I was in the no cookbook buying mode) until now. Her new Nigella express book has photos (which is a prerequisite for me when I buy cookbooks) and the other doesn't, but I wasn't discouraged because just reading and understanding her style of writing and execution of recipes drew me in. I must say, as soon as I got home, I ordered both the books from Amazon and hopefully they'll arrive soon because I can't wait to use them.

My last cookbook I got last weekend together with Cook with Jamie was a Cooking School Provence which has very interesting and authentic French recipes. Somehow, am always on the look for a great French home-cooking cookbook to add to my cookbook collection (I have one French: Secrets Classic Cooking Made Easy). This one has a lot of background information about the recipes, tips and tricks to make great recipes at home (Plus, I like the recipe titles in French and I guess I have to put on my imitation of French accent when I serve coq au vin! Silly I know!). It has great photos too. And I love French Food. Period.

I don't know about you but food and and cooking is a big part of my life and I always like to try new things. It gives me so much pleasure when my family sits down for a nice dinner on Sundays and they enjoy the  diverse meals I make for them.

The tomatoes aren't another long story. They're a harvest from one vine I planted in summer in a pot and didn't expect much bounty harvest and I was quite surprised. Unfortunately, I picked them before they were ripe due to weather and I have to figure out what I can make with green tomatoes. Any Ideas?

So, please tell me what your favourite cookbooks are and what you're cooking at home this weekend?? 

Have a great weekend!