Author: fairfaxhill

potato-leek soup: perfect for a rainy day, plus some project ideas for the new year

Published by fairfaxhill

Happy new year! Like a miracle, the sun came out on January 1 and we welcomed 2023 with sunshine and delicious, homemade pizza made by Patrick.  By Monday, though, we were back in winter mode, with rain and heavy fog, the kind of weather that makes you want to stay in your sweatpants all day reading books under the covers.  The office was super quiet (I think some people thought Monday was a holiday, as it was for many), so I came home a bit early to make myself something warm to eat. I was craving potato leek soup, and was too hungry to look up a recipe, so I just made it up as I went. My goal was to make a hearty soup, with chunks of potato and bits of leeks you could actually see, not like my last attempt when I used the immersion blender before I served it and accidentally ended up with a gooey mess. This time I loved the result.  This is the simplest potato soup you will ever …

a pink shawl

finished! twists & turns shawl

Published by fairfaxhill

Oh my goodness, you guys, I did it! I completed the @westknits mystery knit-along and I am now the proud owner of a crazy, bold, stripy shawl! This was my first-ever Stephen West MKAL and I must confess, it was tough! The knitting itself was not super difficult, although I did learn some new techniques (more on that below), but the amount of knitting needed to complete each section (the different clues) was way more than I’d EVER attempted in my life in a single month.  As much as I wanted to be on track to complete the shawl in 4 weeks, I fell behind from the start. The first clue was published on Thursday, October 6, but I wasn’t able to start until Sunday, October 9. I spent the next three days knitting at my fastest speed (and what felt like around the clock) for the first clue, but I quickly realized there was no way I would finish part one by the following Thursday, when the second clue would be revealed. That was …