valentine

happy valentine to you my friends. may your day be filled with laughter, sweets and love





i got the idea for the hearts from the purl bee & and my favorite bonbons from steven ( l'artisan du chocolat).

wrist

protection for my hands, i rarely need it. but there will be a chance to wear these next week.
i'll be working outside, in the desert. i know, californian desert does not get that cold. but enough to wear my lovely new wrist warmers. right?



pattern : fishtail wristwarmers by alexandra brinck
more on ravelry

blanket cardigan

it is finally done. i had it knit up over a year ago. and then i made the big mistake of not sewing it up immediately. bad idea. it sat in a basket, calling to me, making me feel guilty, and as a result even more reluctant to get it done.
but than a couple of days ago i had the afternoon off. no work, no child, no husband. i started listening to brenda dane's podcast: cast on. and before you know it, i was on the floor, all pieces laid out around me and going for it.
and i could not be happier with it. the fit is great and the cashmere makes it so soft and light. a perfect snuggle-up cardigan.

1+1

first of all my 'planet earth' project is finished. i am quite happy with the subtle color changes and the drape of my towel. i used it already for the teapot to keep warm, the bread basket and on the table under the candles.
the pattern is basket weave with a garter stitch border and it measures 16 by 17 inches






a simple lemon cake made out of my meyer lemons from the garden. the recipe is from
the pioneer woman. i read about the cake first on a blog, but i just can't remember where.
since i never can just follow a recipe as is, i had to change a few things: instead of the vanilla extract i used lemon juice, instead of the marmalade glaze i made a simple lemon sugar glaze. all together a fast and easy cake which was eaten up in no time.

camellia

one flower in my life, one flower a week. this time a white camellia, found in descanso gardens, telling me it is winter.

yogurt

plain old fashioned yogurt. none of the additives which go nowadays into it, and so easy to make. milk, a bit of yogurt and a warm place. that's it.
but if that is too basic for you, there is lots you can toy with: different kinds of milk, maybe a bit of cream, flavorings and so on.
a whole new world to discover - what fun!

planet earth

there was a spinning challenge on the spindlers group on ravelry. the theme was "my home".
i am usually not up for these, but this one got me thinking. i was born in austria, but lived there only until my early 20's. i moved so many times in my life that i stopped counting after 40 moves. now i am in los angeles with the love of my life and our daughter. so, where is home?

i decided to call planet earth my home


the fiber is from the very talented krista from pigeonroof studios. it is a superwash merino in the 'blue serpentine' colorway. the spindle is a bosworth mini made out of ambrosia maple wood . i spun it into a 3 ply, fine fingerling weight. it came to around 510 yards