Heartbreaker

It was a little unexpected that my brother was coming to stay with me for most of the ten days he was in the province, but he brought his puppy, Artemis, with him, so I opened the door to my apartment wide:

They were visiting from BC, and as she's still just a little puppy, it was her first trip:

(My brother made this sign for her crate she travelled in). Heartbreaker. Absolutely.

Finger Painting

Cloth napkins are due for a comeback.

I made a set as a Christmas gift for my friend Claire. She told me her colour preferences. When it came time to buy fabric, pink was the only colour on her list that I could remember. I know when people say they like pink, they're particular about the shade, but this finger paint print was too interesting to pass up.

Easy Little Dress

Right after graduating, with time on my hands and no idea what was in store for me, I had this crazy idea that I would make myself some clothes for work. I had some wool left over from a bowtie project I undertook two years ago, which turned out to be enough for a little shift. The local pattern/fabric store had a sale on Vogue patterns, and I bought several work dress patterns. This was the first of those that I made, last June, in between studying for an exam and moving.

The neckline and torso were a little fussy:

V1156, an Anne Klein New York pattern (So many darts. So much pressing. So much topstitching.).

It gets worn at least every other week, so, for as much frustration as it caused me in the making, I would make it again.

On the Top

My life is a lot about work these days. It's easily what I spend 85% of my waking hours doing and thinking about. And I try to keep that other 15% saved for interesting things. I haven't been sewing much lately, and when I had some spare time Saturday, Greg and I went for a walk to a coffee shop a few blocks from here and then to find a 2012 day planner. But, before we left, I had him take some photos of a shirt I made a couple of months ago, back when I was better at work-life balance:

A Rachel Comey for Vogue pattern.

And, I am truly digging espresso these days. Easily, when it happens, the best part of my morning.

Algonquin

Winter camping.

We went backcountry camping on Algonquin Park's Highland trail this past weekend.

Greg's brother brought his dog, our cold weather mascot and general mood improver.

It was cold. I was surprised there wasn't more snow.

A Gift of Sweets

I was inspired to make something to give as Christmas gifts, and as I ran out of time to make apple butter, I decided instead to make marshmallows, candied pecans, and these: old fashioned caramels.

The marshmallows took three attempts, the candied pecans truly took two, and the caramels? One. And the recipe made an incredible number of caramels such that I was able to give a bowl full to both Greg's gran and to my own. And, really, who needs homemade marshmallows when Jet-Puffed is about as good as it gets?

Jyri

I found some time this past spring to knit myself a scarf. I have not picked up the needles since. I lost any will I had to knit after finishing Norah Gaughan's Jyri. Which is a shame, because I like how it turned out.