First Piece of WAG Top Knitted and Reading On

Hello Friends,

I hope you are all doing well. Last week I was busy starting a new job that I got through the staffing agency. I am really enjoying being back at work once again after changing careers and taking time off to go take some more courses. It does however leave me with less time to knit and read! But I managed to finish the first piece of the Wool and the Gang Farrah Top this week and I am happy to be moving onto the back piece now.

Knitted Front Piece of WAG top and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Finished front of WAG top

I have been reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman and I am really enjoying it so far.  I was listening to How to set a Watchman by Harper Lee at one point a couple of weeks ago and I will start listening to it again.

I am so happy the weather is getting a lot warmer and it is staying light outside later. I am so ready for it to be Spring now! I can wear this tank top soon once the weather is warmer and looking forward to it!

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On and As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday tomorrow.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I hope you are enjoying the start of your week!

Hope you have a great day!

Knitting Progress and Reading

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Yesterday was Family Day for us in Ontario, Canada and it was nice to have the day off to get a few more things done towards my knitting, reading, and blogging. I will be starting a three week work contract today through the employment agency I am working for. I am excited for this new job to start and I am happy to be getting back out there working again. I also had a couple assignments last week which I enjoyed.

I have been been knitting the Wool and the Gang Farrah Billie Jean top and have made some progress on it. I am close to being finished knitting one half of the front piece and just have the other side of the neckline and strap to knit. I decided to just keep knitting it the length it asks for.I had been concerned about the length, but now I am thinking it will be fine and if it is too short, I can wear another tank top underneath it.

I have finished reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed. This book got mixed reviews, some people liked it and some did not. I did like it, but felt like it was a bit long and repetitive at times. What drew me to the book was that I love reading books where the protagonist sets out on a journey and reflects on their past and their new journey changes them and allows them to approach life differently. I feel like Cheryl's hike on the PCT did affect her and change for the better and encourage her to reflect on her life. I have now started reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman and I am really enjoying it so far.

I would like to start knitting a new project soon and have held off for awhile on starting something new because I wanted to make more progress on the Wool and the Gang top and also had to finish off some work on some gifts and a I was working on for someone. I have been thinking a colorful shawl would be a fun next project. I will be searching for patterns for my next project this week and brainstorming ideas.

What are you working on and reading this week?

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On and As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday tomorrow.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and reading about what I am knitting and reading this week! Now I am off to see what others are working on.

Have a great day!

Happy Valentine's Day and Finished Knitted Waffle Hat

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Happy Valentine's Day!  This weekend was fun celebrating my Mom's birthday.  I enjoyed spending a few days with my family and just chatting and spending time together.

I knitted a hat for my Mom in January as a gift for her birthday using the Bulky Waffle Hat pattern by Linda Suda. I loved this pattern and really like how the waffle pattern adds texture to the hat. To make the hat, I used the Patons Classic Wool Bulky yarn in the color green and size US 10 6 mm needles. I was happy she liked it!

My sister purchased a few of these helium balloons to put around the dining room to celebrate our Mom's birthday and the cats were very interested and scared of them. |It was entertaining to watch them inspect the balloons and the ribbon of the balloon. Roo (the ginger cat) was scared of the balloon and ran away from it when it got too close. Moo (black and white cat) was just interested and curious about the balloons, then eventually attacked the ribbon and was chewing on it.

Moo playing with the balloon

Roo investigating the balloon

I didn't get to reading that much this weekend as I had thought I am still reading Wild by Cheryl strayed. I will read more this week to finish it. Last week, I started listening to Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee on audiobook while I was knitting. I enjoyed reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee when I was in high school, so I was interested in listening to the sequel. I really like it so far.

I usually make some cute hearts for the holiday and like to knit with pink around this time.  But this year, I decided to show you some of the hearts I knitted in past years and have also included the blog post links if you would like to make any of these and are interested in the patterns.

Valentine Heart Pouch: link to Knitted Valentine Heart Pouch

Valentine heart: link to Happy Valentine's Day

Some knitting stitches that are fun to learn and use in some Valentine's day projects that were featured in some Stitchy Saturday posts:

Learn to knit the lace hearts knit stitch pattern: link to the post: Stitchy Saturday: Lace Hearts Knit Stitch Pattern

Learn to knit the heart vine pattern: link to the post: Stitchy Saturday Heart Vine Lace Panel Stitch

Joining along this week with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On, As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday, and Small Things with Ginny for Yarn Along.

Thank you for visiting the blog and I hope that you enjoy the day with loved ones!

Have a good day!

Knitting Progress and Reading On

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. This weekend I was mostly relaxing and had a couple of mornings of just watching HGTV and watching Flip or Flop Las Vegas and then Vintage Flip. Then the next morning I watched If I Stay, which was such a cute movie. I wasn't feeling well so I needed some rest and relaxation. I haven't done that in awhile, because most mornings I just take my smoothie to our computer room in our apartment and either job search or look at my blog or other's blogs right away. It was nice to just lounge around and watch the shows. They are so light and fun to watch and I will try to take some time now and then to have a lazy Saturday morning and watch these shows or in the evenings. During the week, I like to get on the job search right away so I start the day off motivated and get more accomplished.

This weekend was also good for knitting. I got a lot of knitting done on the fingerless mitts I am knitting for a customer using the Ribbed Fingerless Mitten pattern by Kathy North and also got some work done on knitting the Wool and the Gang Farrah Top. I was knitting the Wool and the Gang top a bit during This is Us on Sunday during the less intense and emotional parts. That show was so good and really sad and captured the emotions that Rebecca would be feeling perfectly. I am looking forward to watching tonight's episode too which sounds like it will be an equally emotional episode. I also watched the Superbowl on Sunday night and I was happy that the Philadelphia Eagles won for some bloggers I know who were rooting for them. I have been knitting the Wool and the Gang Farrah Billie Jean top and concerned it will be short for my liking. I asked some ladies on Ravelry what I should do and got suggestions to go up a needle size or to add more yarn. I might frog it and go up a needle size, but just thinking of what I should do so I can wear it when it is finished.

I am still reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed and it has been a long time now reading this book. I think I will be finishing it soon and think that I have not been so motivated to read it. I think it is a big slow paced for me and I would like if more was happening to make me wonder what happens next, but so far I feel like it is all the same. I know it is a true story though, so they can't add any climatic events that did not happen just to spice it up a bit. Anyways I will be finishing it soon I hope. I am looking forward to my next read after I am finished this one which is Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I received it for Christmas and I have heard wonderful things about it and can't wait to start it.

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On and As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday tomorrow.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and hope you come back again soon!

Have a good day!

Baking Vegan Banana Bread From Oh She Glows

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I baked some vegan banana bread this week using the vegan banana bread recipe from Oh She Glows. It has been on my list of things to bake for a long time. I took a look at my overripe bananas on Tuesday morning and decided once and for all it was time to bake the bread. It was so delicious and I really enjoyed eating it all week with my coffee or tea in the afternoon. My boyfriend also really liked it and I also shared some with him.

I got all of my ingredients ready for a photo. All you will need for the recipe is:
Wet ingredients: bananas, almond milk, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, ground flax seeds.
Dry ingredients: rolled oats, flour (any kind you would like, gluten free, spelt flour etc. I used the regular kind), raw cane sugar/brown sugar ( or you can use coconut sugar), baking powder, baking soda, walnuts (for ontop of the banana bread).  Mix the wet ingredients first, then mix in the dry ingredients afterwards.

I won't be sharing the recipe on my blog, but you can find the full recipe from Oh She Glows here. I hope you enjoy trying it out and also browsing more of her wonderful vegan recipes. I can't wait to try out more of her recipes. I have her cookbook and have tried making some of her meals and really love them and I am making one tonight.

I have been knitting the front piece of the Wool and the Gang Farrah Billie Jean top and also knitting another pair of Ribbed Fingerless Mitts, pattern by Kathy North, for a customer. I will keep on knitting these this weekend and be able to give them to her by next weekend. What will you be working on this weekend?

Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope that you give this recipe a try, it was so delicious and I will be making a lot more of this banana bread for sure.

Have a great day!