Progress on Sweater and a Big Christmas Stocking to Fill

Hello Friends,

I hope you are all doing well. It has been a hot fall so far, but yesterday and today brought some long awaited cooler air. I hope that the cooler air stays now, we are ready for fall. I have been working on sewing up the seams for my 3timesChic sweater. I had to start over the first side I attempted because it was not done right and was super tight under my arm so I probably wouldn't wear it if it was that tight.  I am happy that I frogged it even though it makes this process take longer, but I will be happier and more comfortable wearing it.

The left side of the sweater which I am working on

I am using the mattress stitch to sew up the sleeves and sides of the sweater. I am happy with the tension in the seam this time and I am looking forward to having one side seamed. I will try to have this side done by tomorrow and then I can start sewing the seams on the right side.

Sewing up the seam on the first sleeve

 I have also been knitting the Christmas stocking and getting to the end of the first one. I am planning on knitting two of them for my boyfriend and I. The stocking pattern I am using is from Ravelry, and it is called Jumbo Christmas stocking in a Jiffy. They weren't kidding, this stocking is huge! My boyfriend commented that he'll have to buy a lot of chocolate bars to put into it in order to fill it up. hmm maybe that's why I chose the jumbo sized stockings? more treats? maybe. I have to knit one more row in the white color yarn, then I will be knitting the toe in the color red.

Stocking almost finished 

Thank you so much for the support that I received on the last two posts, I really appreciated reading your comments. I loved reading about all of your experiences and thoughts about being vegetarian or eating less meat. I am enjoying being a vegetarian so far, it has been 1 1/2 weeks now and I am feeling great and I am so happy that I made the change. I am also having less dairy too and feel better about that. I went to a vegan restaurant on Tuesday called Fresh and ordered the clubhouse wrap which included grilled tempeh bacon and seasoned crispy tofu steaks with tomato, lettuce, and garlic mayo. It was so delicious! I can't wait to try other restaurants in Toronto now that I am switching to this lifestyle.

The clubhouse wrap and a kale slaw on the side

I am also enjoying cooking different meals and searching for new ones to make now that have meat substitutes and other meals like pasta which doesn't usually include meat. I have cooked with tofu, and want to look up more dishes I could make to make it more flavourful. I made an Asian Tofu Sauté with rice noodles one night which was so good when the sesame oil was soaked into the tofu. I got that recipe from The Everything Eating Clean Cookbook for Vegetarians.I would like to try cooking with tempeh and seitan as well. The tempeh bacon that I had in the wrap was so delicious, it would be great to get some to cook with.

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On, and AsKatKnits for Unwraveled Wednesday.

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Beginning of Fall, Summer Bucket List Results,Fall Goals, and Thoughts on Becoming a Vegetarian

Hello Friends,

Hope you are doing well. I am happy it was the first day of fall yesterday! It was so hot yesterday, and was even hotter in Toronto today with a heat advisory warning this weekend. I hope that it is sweater weather soon though. It was cold for a while, then it got hot again. I also can't wait to be able to wear some of my knitted things. This year I will hopefully have a knitted sweater to wear once I am done and the kerchief, and a pair of socks. I worked on all of these earlier this year.
Yesterday I went to a flower shop to get a plant as a gift and saw this cute little pumpkin in a basket and had to get it for the start of fall. I worked on pulling out the old seam on my sweater and enjoyed a cup of tea while doing that.  We went to my boyfriend's sister's place later on to see her new apartment and had a pizza and board game night which is always so fun.

Happy Fall!

I had posted my summer bucket list in July and wanted to give you an update on how that went and what I would have liked to do or changed:

Summer Bucket List Results

1. Go camping: in August, I went camping with my family and boyfriend in August and it was a lot of fun. Click here to read about it!

2. Roast marshmallows on the campfire: I roasted marshmallows while camping!

3. Knit socks: I finished knitting some socks for my mom for a Christmas gift! click here to see them!

4. Go on a trip with my boyfriend : We went to Montreal this summer at the end of August! click here to see what we did. 

5, Make Summery treats: I did not make the popsicles that I wanted to, but I did try out a lot of smoothies. Click here to see the smoothies I made! 

6.  Have a picnic : The weather was not cooperative this summer. I planned to do a picnic with friends, but on the day we met up to go to the park the weather was crummy so we did an indoor picnic instead. 

7. Go to the beach: I went to the beach in August while camping and loved soaking up the sun and going into the water.  Click here to see my trip!

8.  Read three books: I only read two and still working on the third one I started in August.  

9. Watch a baseball game : We did not end up going to see the Blue Jays this summer. I hope we can next year! 

10. Go Kayaking : I had a plan to go, but it got cancelled then never happened, hopefully next year!

Summer knitting at the beach.... the best

I wish I had done more of the activities like having a picnic outside, and kayaking. I had not gone on a picnic for awhile and it has been a few years since I have been kayaking. I will try to do these things next summer for sure. 

Some things I would like to focus on in the fall, are to:

• Continue knitting Christmas gifts
• Carve a pumpkin
• Decorate for fall
• Bake a pumpkin pie
• Do a DIY fall decor project
• Finish knitting the stocking for Christmas
• Finish sweater seaming and neck edge

And for anyone wondering if I went vegetarian or how that is going, I have not eaten meat for 6 days now but am currently still having dairy products. I did not eat meat last week, but did have some on the weekend when I was still contemplating what I would do. I am feeling great, lighter and have more energy. I also feel happy that I am doing this and I am learning more every day. I have been watching documentaries such as Cowspiracy (a must watch), Vegucated, What the Health, Forks Over Knives. I love watching them and becoming more knowledgeable about what is really going on in factory farms. Even if the documentaries are hard to watch sometimes, I would rather know the truth and make decisions based on that then to not be aware. I also have been watching YouTube channels like So You're Dating a Vegan who are so informative and fun to watch. I have enjoyed watching their series on people they know who have taken two week to a month challenges to go vegan. I am seriously thinking of becoming vegetarian for reasons concerning health, the environment, and compassion for animals. This change just sort of hit me the past couple of weeks but sometimes that happens in life and you just have to go with it. Things all of a sudden make sense for you. I had thought of going vegetarian in the past, but there were always excuses and now I will make it happen. I would definitely consider going vegan in the future, right now I am taking it slow and starting with meat first. Please email me(lknitter09@gmail.com) or comment below if you are one a similar journey and want to chat about it!

Thank you for visiting my blog and welcoming fall with me. If you would like to keep updated on when I post blog entries, please follow me on Bloglovin', Google Followers, or you can subscribe by entering your email in the top right corner to receive emails when I post.

Fall Craft Show, Knitting Progress, and Reading On

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I had a wonderful weekend, spending time with my family and my boyfriend's family. Yesterday, I went to the Milton Farm Craft Show that they put on every year. There were so many wonderful things to look at and this year I bought a couple lovely things. I bought a ceramic berry bowl for my boyfriend's stepmother for her birthday. I also purchased some beautiful, soft alpaca sock yarn from Alpaca Time. I am so excited to get started on knitting socks with this yarn. My sister who crochets, also purchased some yarn to crochet a hat. It was an exciting find for us. I loved our trip there this year and looking forward to going to more upcoming craft fairs in the Winter hopefully.

Yarn I purchased from Alpaca Time at the craft show

Just a few of the many stalls set up at the show

Me with some craft show finds

In knitting, I have been working on knitting up the first stocking as part of the project for this Christmas to have handknit stockings for my boyfriend and I. I am using the Jumbo Christmas Stockings pattern on Ravelry. It is a fun, fast knit and I love working with big, chunky needles and thick yarn around this time of the year when it is getting a bit cooler. I am liking the way the stocking is looking so far, except I added an extra row in by accident right after working on the gusset but I think it isn't too noticeable.

 The sweater is still in a standstill and I must work on taking the seam out on the left sleeve and redoing it. I definitely want my next sweater not to include sewing pieces together at the end as many people have said it is more enjoyable that way.

I am still reading the book Love the Wine You're With by Kim Gruenenfelder. I am liking it but haven't been setting aside time to read due to being distracted by school starting up again and different things. I will try to read a little bit each day so I can enjoy the book. I have also still been reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I am on the chapter about paper and have been going through paper of mine and find that the book is helping so much to help me toss more things than I have before because we really hold onto things we don't need thinking we'll read it one day when we never do. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the book and working through all of the items and having less stuff around. 

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On, AsKatKnits for Unwraveled Wednesday, and The Little Room of Rachell for Yarning Along. 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today! If you would like to keep updated on when I post, please follow me on Bloglovin', Google Followers, or you can subscribe by email at the top right corner for updates to your email. 

Have a great day!

Veg Fest in Toronto, Knitting Updates, and Reading On

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well.  On Friday night I went to Veg Fest which is organized by the Toronto Vegetarian Association. I had a great time going with my friend, trying samples, and learning more about a vegetarian and vegan lifestyle. We first spoke with a woman from Mercy for Animals about their organization and how they work to make lives better for animals on factory farms. I have since added them on Facebook, Instagram, and visited their website and love what they are all about. Then we went to the area of the festival where they had lots of food and products which were all vegan. I tried the Chick Chicken burger at a food truck which was made from chickpeas and my friend got the imitation beef burger. It tasted so good, I would not miss chicken eating that burger. Then we went around and ate samples and I also bought a vegan ice cream made from oatmeal. It was so good and my friend bought a donut from Bloomer's to share. I was pleasantly surprised how delicious it was.

Photo of me about to eat the vegan ice cream

Veg Fest tents set up 

My chick'n burger which was really made from chickpeas. It was really good!

My friend's burger, she got their famous burger which looks like beef patty but it is also made from chickpeas

I have been thinking lately of cutting back on eating meat and I want to live a more vegetarian lifestyle. Right now I am not limiting myself and saying I won't eat meat, but I want to gradually reduce eating it for my health and compassion for animals. I am excited about this change which I have been contemplating for quite awhile. I can share some vegetarian and vegan recipes I like on the blog too. I have gone a few days without meat now and eating more nuts, beans, other foods which contain protein but I am still learning about supplementing my diet with other foods to get the protein and nutrients I need.
Tonight while I was at Loblaws, I saw these snacks in the natural food aisle that I sampled at the festival and had to buy them because they were so delicious. The Hungry Buddha coconut chips are so good and they a crunchy and so flavorful. The SimplyProtein chips I have not tried yet but did try the granola bar and liked it, so I am looking forward to giving them a try too. They were a decent price, under three dollars each. I am not affiliated with these brands in any way, I just wanted to share which snacks I liked from the festival with you.

Vegan snacks

In knitting, I have not been knitting too much this weekend. I was busy seeing family this weekend and getting organized before school starts. I will share some progress made on my stocking and sweater seaming in a couple days to catch up! I will also be starting to knit some other projects soon and looking forward to sharing those projects with you.
I am still reading Love the Wine You're With: A Novel and enjoying it so far! I have also started reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing and I am loving it! I will be posting an entry soon on my experience with the book and how it helped me to get organized and start tidying up properly!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today! If you would like to keep updated on when I post entries on my blog, please follow me on Bloglovin', Google Followers, and you can also put your email into the subscribe button at the top right corner of my blog to get email updates when I post!

Have a great day!

Spiral Socks Knitted, Sewing Sweater Seams, and Reading On

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. It was the first day back at school for many yesterday, I hope that if you have children, they had a good first day! or if you are returning yourself, hope you had a good day. I will be starting my courses next week on September 12th, and only have one course I have to drive to the college for in-class sessions, and the rest are online. I am looking forward to starting up with the next batch of courses to finish the certificate later this year.I have been watching the news on hurricane Irma, I hope that if you live in the areas that the storm will hit that you stay safe!

Knitting:
I finished knitting the Patons Spiral socks and they look great. I can put them away now for Christmas to give to my mom as a gift. I love knitting socks, they are such a small project, easy to pick up and bring with me to watch television, or as you saw this summer, I brought them camping and to Montreal to knit while away on vacation.

I loved this pattern, it was a simple one and easy to remember and kitting in the same pattern for 13 inches. You can see the notes on Ravelry here. I am thinking of using this pattern again in the future, maybe for another Christmas gift or make a pair for myself at some point.

The socks laid out flat do not look as much like socks but more like stockings. I think it is so amazing that when you put them on, they fit your feet so perfectly. I like that about these tube socks, that they are so comfortable.

I will be pulling the sweater seam out today so I can re-do it and I have been working on that today too. I did some more research and I think sewing the sleeve first then going down the side of the sweater is what I will do this time for the whole sleeve is sewn in half instead of knitting side, then up the sleeve because it was tight and uneven that way. In the photo below the right side is not sewn yet I just placed it like this for the photo to show how it will look once the seams are sewn.

Reading:
I finished reading Into the Water this weekend. I loved the book, it was intriguing and kept moving a long and kept me interested and reading on. It got mixed reviews, and one thing I have to agree with it that at the beginning of the book you are introduced to a lot of characters and it is sometimes hard to remember who is who. I had to go back a couple of times to refresh my memory. Once I knew who the characters were and jumped back a couple of times, it was so good and the character development was so amazing. I love how Paula Hawkins adds so much darkness and mystery to her characters and she touches on some topics which are dark and show how evil some people can be. I think she handles these topics well and captures the emotions of each character wonderfully. I would definitely recommend Into the Water by Paula Hawkins, and I am looking forward to reading books she writes in the future.

I am currently reading Love the Wine You're With by Kim Gruenenfelder. So far I am in the early section of the book, learning about the characters and I will learn more about the characters as I read on and as they come together to create their business. I think the characters so far are trying to find themselves and are in negative situations at work and in love, and I am looking forward to seeing the changes they make as I read on. I also started reading the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I will try to finish this book this week so I can begin applying the steps I learn. I will probably write a post this month on the topic to share what I learned and how it changes my outlook on tidying and keeping organized. 

             

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On, AsKatKnits for Unwravelled Wednesday, and The Little Room of Rachell for Yarning Along.

What are working on and reading this week?

Thank you for visiting today, I appreciate that you took the time out of your day to visit me and if you would like to keep updated on future posts please follow me on Bloglovin', Google Followers, or you can enter your email in the top right corner of my blog to subscribe and get email updates when I post.

Have a great day!

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie Recipe and Knitting Progress

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Today is the Labour Day holiday in Canada and my boyfriend and I are relaxing today, going out for lunch with his mom, and getting ready for another week ahead. I also tried a new smoothie recipe I am excited about. I became interested in making smoothies in the summer and they were and still are my go-to for breakfast. I really love having the Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie in the morning and the Ultimate Busy Family Smoothie from Kiwi & Bean, they are my go-to smoothies right now to start my day off right. With fall approaching, I was feeling the usual craving for a pumpkin spiced latte or Frappucino from Starbucks and it got me thinking that maybe I could find a healthy smoothie recipe to satisfy my craving. I found a recipe from Andie Mitchell's blog for a healthy sugar-free pumpkin spice smoothie. She found the recipe in Jordan Younger's book Breaking Vegan. I was excited to try this recipe because I love having pumpkin spice flavored drinks and this recipe is also sugar-free, so it is also a lot less calories than your typical pumpkin spice drink. This smoothie was so tasty and filling, and satisfied my craving for pumpkin spice drinks. If you are craving a healthy version of your pumpkin spice latte or Frappucino, this recipe is for you.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• ½ cup pumpkin puree mod: 3/4 cup (I added 3/4 cups for taste and color)
• 1 cup fresh spinach or kale/ mod 1/2 cup (I added only 1/2 cup because the first time I made it, it tasted too much like spinach and it turned green)
• 1 tablespoon almond butter (I used peanut butter)
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• ½ cup ice
• a few pinches cinnamon
• 1 scoop plant-based vanilla protein powder, optional (recommended: vanilla Vega One)
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds, optional

Blend all the ingredients and enjoy! This recipe would be perfect for snack in the afternoon to give you a boost and to drink while reading under a cozy blanket. I am looking forward to getting my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the year, I am also looking forward to making pumpkin pie and eating pumpkin muffins. What kinds of drinks and treats do you like to have at this time of the year? Let me know in the comments below!

Recipe from Andiemitchell.com

In knitting news, I have been knitting the second sock and love how quickly it is coming along. I am knitting socks using the Patons Spiral sock pattern which I found on Ravelry. I should have the socks done this week at this rate. I will be happy to have one of my Christmas gifts knitted in September. I will also be starting another gift this month so I will have to start thinking about gift ideas. For the 3timeChic sweater, I am starting to take out the seams on the one side I completed. I realized that I did not sew the seam correctly the first time and it was tight under my arm so I will be starting that part over. I will share my progress with you sometime during this week.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog! If you would like to keep updated on when I post, please follow me on Bloglovin', Google Followers, or enter your email at the top right of my blog to get emails when I post a new entry.

Have a great day!

Hello September, Goals, and Knitting Updates

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Happy September! I cannot believe it is already here. September always symbolizes fresh starts and new beginnings for me. I think it is because of September being the start of school for me for so many years and again this year I will be starting four online courses as part of my Office Administration certificate. It could also be the crisp and coolness of the air which brings on a different outlook and feeling of freshness. Today I  have been feeling excited and hopeful for things to come for the Fall. I love the start of Fall or thinking of Fall coming. I also love writing goals at the start of September and the start to many months but mostly this month in particular. I will share some of my goals below for September.

My goals for September:

Read two books:
I created a goal on Goodreads to read 25 books which is always such a reach for me. I am now at five and will be finishing Into the Water soon and will be finishing Love the Wine You're With: A Novel by next week, so I will be up to seven. I would like to read two books this month to get up to nine books. I think it could still be done by the end of the year,, if I read faster and selected shorter books.

Finish sewing sweater seams and knit the neck edging:
I have started this process and will be working on it this month. I ran into some problems but I will give myself time to get it right. I will be pulling some of the seams out and redoing them. I am looking forward to being done the sweater and being able to wear it this Fall and Winter.

Get organized:
I like to use this time of the year to get organized, especially because I will be starting courses soon and I will be busier so it will be good to get more organized and have a place for everything before I am more focused on getting assignments completed, going to classes, and studying. I also want to get all my textbooks for school, get some new clothes, and a few other things before I go back. I will work on filling my Happy Planner with intentions, appointments, and important dates today. I got the The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo which I will start reading this month to help me to get organized and read some tips for tidying up. Hopefully I can get some tips from the book on how to tidy up and get organized this fall.

Exercise regularly:
This Summer I was consistent with exercising and did workouts regularly 3-4 times every week. I would like to continue this into the fall and winter and keep getting stronger and healthier. I think that exercising in the morning right at the start of the day has worked best for me. I seem to follow through on plans to exercise in the morning before I start doing anything else or get too tired later on. As you may know, I have been following Tone it Up workouts and they really have been helping guide me on how to workout properly and feel stronger and more toned. I will continue working out to their videos and so happy I found the Tone it Up community.

Try new recipes:
In the summer, I tried more smoothie recipes and light summery dinner recipes. With the Fall and Winter comes the cravings for more hearty and warm meals. I would like to keep looking up new recipes that are hearty and also healthy. I will share some  of my favorites with you all too.

Cast on for another Christmas gift: 
I am almost finished knitting a Christmas gift or my mom, and it would be good to start another one around now since I have a few people on my list who I am knitting gifts for.

I hope I accomplish these goals this September. I will update you at the end of the month on how I did with my goals. I love making lists of my goals around this time. What are some things you would like to accomplish this September or this Fall?

Knitting Updates:
I have finished the first sock from the Paton's Spiral Socks pattern. I am working on the second now and I really like how the first one looks and feels. It has such a different look when it is laying out compared to past socks I have knitted,but fits so comfortably even without the heel flap. I had my doubts about how a sock without a heel would fit, but I am happy it fits comfortably as I am giving them to my Mom for Christmas.

Spiral sock on the left completed and starting the second one

I have been working on the seaming of the 3timesChic sweater, but it has come to a halt because now I think I did not do it right because it is so snug under my arm. I might have to tear out what I have done already on the sleeve and between the sleeve and side of the sweater. I will share more about that process and the outcome soon. I will also be picking up the chevron lace scarf and Christmas stocking again soon, I have put them aside for now while I have been trying to get the socks and sweater completed.

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On, AsKatKnits for Unwraveled Wednesday, and The Little Room of Rachell for Yarning Along.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog! if you would like to follow along with me and keep updated on future posts, please follow me on Bloglovin', Google Followers, and you can now add your email on the top right corner to the email list to receive emails when I write a post.

Have a great day!