What I'm listening to today..

I like to think that I have diverse musical tastes, but my standby favourite thing to listen to has to be a good combo of female leads and some simple guitars. Since I'm already entering go-hard-or-go-home study mode, I've been trying to pay extra attention to new releases in this category. To my delight, First Aid Kit released their (I think) third record last week and I couldn't resist it's charm. It's a great album, quirky lyrics and stunning harmonies. I adore these two. Bonus points for sporting some amazing knitwear.

Photo via Dentoneer

So enjoy my favourite (at the moment anyways) song from the album and title track, The Lion's Roar! The video feels very Game of Thrones meets Lord of the Rings meets some jealousy inducing hairstyles.

I've got to get some serious note-taking dealt with, so I'm planning on curling up in my sweats with a fresh press of coffee and going hard! I'd love to hear some of your favourite music, I've recently cleaned out my music library and it needs some serious filling in.

-H

What have I done to myself?

This term is shaping up to be a doozie. Between my full course load, trying to prepare my Honors thesis, applying to grad school, being the VP of the undergrad department organization and participating on a number of committees, it's not surprising that I haven't been around the internet.

My knitting time has been small, mostly working on WIP's hanging around my basement, so nothing to report. I did, however, just place my orders for Ysolda's new books Whimsical Little Knits 3 and Saturday Treat. My outstanding favourites from the collections are the Narwhal Mittens and the Barley Sugar cowl. I  took a look at the Fyberspates yarn that Barley Sugar was written for and was pleasantly surprised to find that the yarn I had dyed earlier in the fall matches the specs and dreamy colour almost exactly. I had planned on making myself a nice circular scarf, but the boring stockinette stitch pattern I had in my head just wasn't exciting enough. Don't you love when designers read your mind?

One department I have been rather productive in is the kitchen. I spent an hour or so this afternoon making my own wontons, which resulted in the most delicious and satisfying soup ever. I got the recipe from Martha Stewart, but modified it slightly. I think my meat to other-filling-ingredient ratio was too low, resulting in a pretty meaty dumpling. This is my big meat meal of the week, so I'm not too worried about that.

Now I'm off to grab another bowl of soup, some tea, and knitting to refresh myself before getting my study on tomorrow. Are there any patterns you're excited about making? I'd love to see them!

Happy Saturday!
-H

January in Photos, Week 1

Today James and I took a day trip down to Calgary for him to pick up a new telescope, and I'm absolutely exhausted after 7 hours in the car! (At least I got some knitting time in) So, in lieu of words, here are my photos so far in the January photo-a-day challenge.

Clockwise from top left: My desk yarns, favourite Christmas present from my cousin who's a grown-up now, a night in with chili chocolate, today's sunset on the non-wintry prairies, the best theatre before seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey on Saturday, and an outfit featuring my favourite Moorea Seal necklace that I got from James for Christmas.

Happy Sunday everyone! I've got to get to work on some last-minute preparations for the beginning of term tomorrow. So excited!

New Year, New List

I have no idea if any of you will be interested in this post, but public accountability is a good thing, right? Before I go into this year’s goals, I took a quick look back at what I wrote last January. Overall, I think I did reasonably successfully. The thing I’m most proud about was actually going to the gym and being a healthier person. Running got to the point of being enjoyable for me, and I’m looking forward to starting again this term. I also did pretty well with my reduction of meat in my diet, something I plan on continuing further.

What I didn’t do well was my resistance of the new and shiny in the yarn business. I’ve certainly gotten better at controlling whims (especially now that I live in the same room as my stash) and it’s something that I hope to continue this year.

So, without further ado, here’s my list!

1.     Graduate! Now, this will happen unless I seriously drop the ball, but I need to remember that just because I’m almost finished, I still need to work harder than ever.

2.     Get into Grad School. This is the most tenuous and (it feels anyways) most helpless of all my dreams. This next week will be full of statement writing and other equally boring procedures. Hopefully it will pay off!

3.     Stay more organized. This means not putting myself through the string of all-nighters I did last term, and picking up my laundry.

The king goal of the year: Be Purposeful. I want to take my time with my decisions and make them meaningful. From choosing schools, to my wardrobe, to what I spend my time making. This year, I’m planning on kicking butt being myself.

Do you guys have any goals for the year? I’ve loved reading all the goal lists floating around the blogisphere for the last week, if you have any favourites please link them!

Now I’m going to spend the rest of the evening with some tea, homemade chocolate pie made with grandma’s recipe, some movies and my effortless cardigan.

Happy (somewhat belated) New Year!

Hello, 2012

I feel like I haven't been around here forever! December was, by far, the most academically challenging month of my life and I was left completely exhausted. Once my exams and papers were finished up I entered a vortex of laziness and simultaneous busyness. Now that the madness of Christmas has settled down I have a bit more time for myself and my needles.

I started making myself an Effortless Cardigan (Rav link) to bring in the new year. The theme of my new year seems to be coziness, and this fits the bill perfectly. My next semester is shaping up to be a doozy, with my honours project and some seriously heavy courses, so I'm going to need all the sweaters in the world to keep me warm during my impending late nights. Not to mention that I got the yarn, the not-so-glamourous Patons Classic Wool, on sale on Boxing Day for the lavish sum of $22.

I also have the intention of writing out my goals for the new year, but that will have to wait for a new post and more brain and willpower than I have now. One of these goals, however, is to take more photos and I fortuitously came across this nifty challenge. I'm participating via Instagram and my username is Hannahschm, I would love to hear from any other participants! So far I only have 2 photos, but I'm looking forward to having a collection! I hope the challenge continues for the rest of the year, I failed at a 365 project a year and a bit ago, but I really like that this challenge has some direction to it for days when I'm not feeling inspired.

So that's all I've got for today, I plan on spending my afternoon with Bones on Netflix and some (seemingly) endless raglan increases. 

Happy Monday everybody!