Year: 2021

pork with sage and capers

Published by fairfaxhill

We’re finally having some beautiful spring days in Marin, so this weekend we decided to go for a hike around Bon Tempe, one of the nearby lakes. “Back in the day,” as Patrick likes to say, hiking was one of our favorite weekend activities. Especially when we lived in Salt Lake City, we made an effort to hike as often as we could. The views from the top of the Wasatch Mountains were spectacular, but Marin has a lot to offer as well! I have several books with Marin trail information. I am not kidding that we could hike a different trail each weekend until we are too old to hike and never run out of options. Both Patrick and I are ready to tackle the pounds we gained last year, and hiking is the perfect way to ease back into exercising more. And with these views and weather, who can complain!? Plus, it’s fun to hike together like we used to. Today, I am sharing a recipe we cooked this week. This recipe has …

knitting the diamond hat, a free pattern by anne mizoguchi

Published by fairfaxhill

One of the first knitting projects I finished this year is the Diamond Hat, a pattern you can download for free on the Ravelry website. This was a good project to practice my colorwork technique and tension (both still a work in progress). Surprisingly, I was able to finish it super quickly, which makes it a great gift idea. One thing I noticed was that my ribbing was slanting to the left a bit. Do you see it? The ribbing is not a typical knit one, purl one. Instead, you knit the ‘knits’ through the back loops, which makes the rib be more defined. I liked the resulting rib, but the slanting edge was bugging me. That’s why I decided to block the hat. Blocking sounds scary to new knitters, but actually, it’s a pretty easy process. You need a bucket, warm water, wool soap (or baby shampoo), and a few clean towels. This pattern is easy to follow, and you can have a lot of fun experimenting with different color combinations, something I’ve been …