Catching up on hats, wooden boxes and pulses

It feels like I am coming up for air again. Much as I love the holiday season, I do feel rather drained, OK really drained, by the time the the dust settles. It is mid January already and it is time to get my poop in a group and get back in the swing of things!

I knit a lot of hats for gifts this year and they were well received and greatly appreciated.Some years it can be a bit of a crap shoot, but this year cabled hats are big and are in. You just gotta roll with it!

knits in the wild

Recently we were pulling into the grocery store and I espied these two, daughter Rachael and her partner Brandon, loading groceries into their car. And they were wearing their hats!! Be still my knitting heart!!! Of course I had to pull over and yell-I mean call out softly and graciously-I need a picture of you two goobers!! Brandon is my ally on this one and a picture was taken.

Brandon's hat is Habitat, a Brooklyn Tweed pattern. I knit it with Tosh Vintage in Charcoal. I love this hat and with the yarn, the cables really pop. He has been wearing it a lot so that's good.

Knitting with black yarn can be less than uplifting at times, but the request was for black so black it was. It's hard to see the cables in the pictures so I overexposed one picture. The pattern is Take Heart, a pattern from Pom Pom Quarterly. I knit it with Ultra Alpaca Chunky-a nice wool/alpaca mix. It fits great!

Father Cables, a YOTH pattern, was sent out east to our son. Its a great pattern-I knit it with Tosh Vintage in Tart.

I knit a couple of these hats for our son and his partner also.There are made using the Madelinetosh Essential Hat pattern using Unicorn Tails.I am missing one last picture of a hat. I have been promised some pictures, but I am not holding my breath! I have requests for more hats but I am kinda over hats for the time being. Enough about hats! Why do people not send pictures!!!

Our Backyard Farms Boxes

Oh that Pinterest! I found some pictures on Pinterest of vintage wooden boxes used for display some time ago. Since our house is full of a lot of old crap that has great potential, I figured we could put together some boxes using some upcycled materials.

So we knocked together some boxes, thought of a name, and assembled some full of seasonal decorations for both our home and as gifts to special people. As soon as the potted narcissus and other spring bulbs are out I will make up a spring box.

Cooking stuff

I think in my last post I was talking about making marshmallows. Let me tell you, they are da bomb!! Everyone loves them and they are really good. And really, they are just puffs of air, so no concerns there. They are super easy, I used a recipe that didn't involve candy thermometers or anything too complicated. I made both plain and toasted coconut. Next up I will try some with spices or different fruit flavours. I am on a sugar detox from Xmas, sort of.

On to more things healthy!!

The UN has declared 2016 to be the year of the Pulses-dried beans, lentils, chickpeas etc. I have taken the pulse pledge, to incorporate more pulses in my diet weekly.They are full of protein, vitamins and minerals. Great antidote to marshmallows, but you have to have a balanced diet in my view.

I make lots of chilies and soups using beans and pulses but I thought I'd incorporate them into some baking. I made these pumpkin, lentil muffins and let me tell you they are delicious!! The recipe is Pumpkin Loaf and it can be found on the Pulse Canada website. The advantage to using lentils is that it allows you to use less fat, adds moisture and gives you a protein boost. I added chocolate chips in....just because! Yumm!! I also used a pumpkin pie squash we had grown this summer. We have a cold corner of the basement and I am totally astonished my squashes are keeping so well.

At the end of the year on IG (where I am Chrissyknitz), everyone was posting there favorite nine for the year. It is a good reminder to be happy and grateful for the good things in our lives.

At the close of the year we celebrated our 35th anniversary. Holy doodle, where did the time go!?! That seems like a big number ,just a minute, it is!! We are still a pair of goofballs just getting through life! Lots to be happy and grateful for! I am a little late to the party but I wish you all a Happy New Year. Let it be a year of peace, contentment and joy.

Keep Smiling!

Chris