That time I went to Pontypool

When I first moved out east, my dad signed up to do an open-wheel racing course. (He's big into NASCAR and stuff. I don't get it, though zipping around in little cars did look pretty fun) I served as the unofficial photographer for the day, but since racing isn't my thing, I went on a little field trip by myself. I went to Pontypool.
If you're into zombie films, I highly recommend Pontypool. It's a really interesting take on the spread of the, well.. zombies. And it's a Canadian film so I get some extra warm fuzzies from that.
I went to try and find the infamous radio station, but after chatting with a lady at the post office, was disappointed to find out that the station wasn't real. They did film some of the movie in town, though, and some pretty big names have come through working on other projects. Since I had nothing but time on my hands, I took some photos of the place.


What are you doing for Halloween? I'm going to try and hide from all the drunken university students that will undoubtedly be crawling around my neighbourhood. And probably do homework, because that's what grad school is about, right?

-H



To Cure a Rhinebeck Hangover

 I survived my first trip to Rhinebeck! I had an amazing time, met lots of amazing people, spent too much time on a bus and consumed as many cider-flavoured things as possible. (Oh, and pickles. Lots of pickles) I saw some amazing knits, some of my favourite designers and stood in lots of lines. I think I've touched every kind of fibre and, had my budget allowed, I would have come home with most of them. I can't wait to start planning for next year, and maybe I'll even have a sweater. For now, here are some of the gazillion photos I took over the weekend!


Now, I have to get back to knitting my halloween costume!
-H

Cauliflower Cheddar Soup

Since I now seem to have access to awesome produce at at an affordable price at the local market, I'm trying to only buy my veggies there. Well, at least for now. Canadian produce in the winter is basically potatoes, onions and carrots and that gets tiresome. We'll see what happens.
A few weeks back I picked up a giant green cauliflower and, while rejoicing in the empty house resulting from the Thanksgiving weekend, I made myself a batch of cauliflower cheddar soup. It was really easy to make and would have been easy to make in a big batch, but my kitchen is depressingly understocked and I only have tiny pots.

I chopped up the onion and fried it in a bit of olive oil, and cooked until translucent. Then I added a bunch of pepper, the cauliflower, milk, water and the boullion cube (totally optional, I'm sure it would have been fine without it) and brought it to a boil. Once it reached the boiling point, turned down the element and simmered until the cauliflower was soft. Then I got to go to town with my immersion blender. (You may need to add more water/milk at this point. My soup was thick, but I like it that way) Once blended, stir in cheese. Voila! I would love to see this soup with a purple cauliflower. The green stuck around surprisingly well, and I wonder if purple would do the same.

This evening, I'm accepting a fail on getting my Rhinebeck sweater finished. It's just not going to happen. My last week was insane and I barely spent any time at home! I'm hoping to get a good bit of it done on the bus, though. To make myself feel better, I'm picking up my long neglected Terra shawl, turning on Netflix, grabbing my apple cider from the market and going to town.

For those of you going to Rhinebeck, see you there! I'll have a million pictures next week, I'm sure.

-H

WIP: Stasis Pullover

Meet my Rhinebeck sweater, Stasis. At least I'm hoping this will be my Rhinebeck sweater. I was working so furiously this weekend that I resorted to taping my finger as I had almost developed a blister. That's right, my first almost-knitting injury.
I'm working this up in Brooklyn Tweed Loft so this is a bit of a splurge sweater. I've been in love with it since the pattern came out and I'm pretty sure it's classic enough that I'll get years of wear out of it. The Loft is, so far, incredible to work with. There's a bit of straw/grass but I don't mind. This is seriously soft stuff and I don't think I will have any problems wearing short sleeves under this sweater.

My only complaint thus far is that Leila Raabe must be like 4 feet tall because I've had to extend the sleeves by almost 3" and the body by about 2", so I needed to order an emergency 5th ball of Loft on Tuesday when I realized I didn't have enough. (Well, a 5th ball of loft and enough Shelter to make a Setzer cowl because let's be realistic.. one doesn't simply order a single skein of yarn. I think I would have been kicked out of the knitter club for committing that atrocity)Any crossed appendages that USPS and Canada Post can work together to get this here would be most appreciated.

Now that it's sufficiently past my bedtime, I need to get back to my knitting!

-H

Autumn and a New Toy

After almost a year of basically only taking photos with my iPhone, I finally have a new camera! James got something shiny and new, so after much negotiating I ended up buying it off him. Well, sort of. But in any event, I couldn't have been happier to get a package delivered to my door with that familiar and much-missed handwriting on the label.
 To test it out, I brought it out to the Farmer's Market this morning. I still can't get over the great produce here. Seriously, I got the biggest cauliflower for less than half the price of what I paid back home. It's insanity. I also discovered that I am currently at the same latitude as Portland. Portland!
I also got some delicious apples and gouda. This is my new favourite snack ever. I even bought some peanut butter, so this week's snacks may get crazy. There was no shortage of tiny squashes either, but I had to watch my pennies. Maybe next week!
I just finished watching the Rumble 2012, and I think I'm going to cap off the evening with the Avengers. That should be better the second time, right? Plus, I need to seriously get cracking on my Rhinebeck sweater. I only have about 2 weeks left! 

Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadians out there, and happy fall to the rest. What are you up to this weekend?

-H