new fun fabric

Coming soon! -- a little Alice in Wonderland quilt

flannel and chenille

With a flannel top and chenille backing, this baby blanket is super soft and really warm.

In fact, the heavier weight would make for a nice lap quilt... but I think I'll stick with small projects for a while longer. Small and manageable = nearly instant gratification.

lime leggings

Are you guys sick of the projects from my new book yet? Hope not.

Here's what will soon be leggings for a baby leprechaun...

urban planning

I'm building a new city. My city has gardeners, houses, birds, cars, and rainclouds. And soon, it will have a truck, a frog, and a picket fence.


My inspiration was a little quilt square that Two Straight Lines made a while ago. So creative and cool was her block, I wanted to create a whole city.

There are 12 blocks to the quilt -- 8 are made up of 4 smaller blocks, and 4 are big 'parks.' I'm still stitching away at the details, but I'm loving it so far!

As for finishing, I'm kind of leaning towards doing ties that open to the back of the quilt -- rather than machine quilting -- to keep this city from getting too busy. What do you think?

a bird's eye view

pasta with lime, proscuitto and arugula

Time flies when you're out of town for work! I'm back home now -- and glad to be catching up on my sleep. I'm also happy to be eating home-cooked meals and to be knitting some adorable little pants (stay tuned for pictures!)

This pasta recipe comes from a beautiful cookbook that Jeff gave me for Christmas: Flavours by Donna Hay. If you've never checked out one of her books, do! The pictures are just beautiful and simple, and I've had success with all the recipes that I've tried (I can't say the same for Martha's recipes.)

This book is divided into...you guessed it... flavours. What a great idea, eh?! In the lemon + lime chapter, you'll find our new favourite pasta recipe. We've made this a couple of times, or rather, Jeff has made this a couple of times. He's been honing his mad skills in the kitchen while I sit and knit. =)

spaghetti with lime, prosciutto and arugula
serves 4 (adapted from Donna Hay's recipe)

1lb spaghetti
extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs lime zest
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teas dried red chili flakes
2 Tbs capers, rinsed
8 slices prosciutto, roughly chopped
2 cups loosely packed arugula, washed
3 Tbs lime juice
1 cup crumbled feta
fresh black pepper

Cook spaghetti until al dente. Drain.

While spaghetti is cooking, (trust me, this part goes fast - no need to start it before cooking the pasta) heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add lime zest, garlic, dried chilies, and capers and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add prosciutto and cook for 2 minutes, or until the prosciutto is crisp.

Add drained spaghetti to the pan and toss to coat. Toss in arugula and lime juice. Mix thoroughly. Divide into serving bowls and top with feta and some freshly ground black pepper.

Enjoy with a glass of red wine and a little candlelight.

sweet brown sweater

I finished it!

It's so soft and simple... and its arms so very long.

*from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies

denim and green tote

My first tote bag with a lining!

I wish I would've thought of including an interior pocket on that lining though... Why is it that not all good ideas strike at once??

in the knitting groove

I am totally in the groove. All it took was a beautiful new knitting book under the tree at Christmas and now I can barely put the needles down.

In fact, I'm so in the groove, I'm knitting in bed. That usually only happens when I'm sick.

This sweet brown will be a sweater for a little one,

...and these blue booties are infant-sized. (The second one has been waiting to be sewn up, but I'm too busy working on that soft sweater.)

chocolate sugar almond bombs

Here's a bonbon that kind of bombed when I tried to make it. I guess chocolate covered almonds are only easy if your chocolate behaves differently than mine did...

The idea of the recipe is to first coat the almonds in a warm sugary cinnamon mixture, then freeze the coated almonds, then pour melted chocolate over the chilled almonds (this is when my process broke down), allow to drip on a wire rack, chill again, then toss in cocoa to coat.

There was no dripping chocolate to be had with mine. The chocolate (perhaps not warm enough?) just glommed on to the almonds, resulting in big globs of sticky chocolate. Very messy!

But, they are quite good, especially the cinnamon crunch beneath the powdery chocolate chew.

goodbye london

This is where a map of London used to hang.


I have been sharing a room with London since about 2001, when Glenda and I framed up a map I bought while we were traipsing through... you guessed it, London.

London saw the walls of Glenda's and my little place in Vancouver, my place in Portland, Jeff's and my place in Toronto, and again, these walls in Vancouver. It was time to put London down.

The Ikea frame lives on (barely.) I just stretched a piece of fabric across the scuffed plexiglas (marred from the second to last of its moves across continent) and taped it to the other side with scotch tape.

I'm not expecting the tape to hold forever, but I think by that time I may be ready to come out of this fine forest.