Holly Knitlightly

A Peek at My Week... 5!

2012-02-24T02:00:00.000-05:00

Friday included Cupcake Wine (finally! It was delicious!), card games, rhyming games, jumping contests & finally juggling contests. I kind of totally forgot to take photos for the rest of the weekend... (which included knitting, playing with the cutest kids ever, hanging out with some of my best friends & drinking tea.) Monday was family day so my dad, sister & I (my mom had to work) took my Nana out for coffee. We had to head to quite a few different places because it seemed everything except coffee shops were closed. So they were all packed. We finally ended up at The Brown Dog, so I got my delicious combo of a Waldorf Salad & a grilled cheese, with their raspberry hot chocolate. So good. Also, the painting of Squirt that the lovely Alice painted is FINALLY hung up on the wall! So, of course Squirt had to get a good look at it! Then afterwards I gave her a bath. Which she hates (as you can tell from the photo). She shakes like crazy... but then afterwards she goes crazy running around the house! That's why the last few shots of her are so blurry, ha! She is a wild dog after a bath!

I really did a pretty terrible job of taking photos this week... I'm not sure why. Hopefully next week will be better! Haha. Did you guys get up to anything exciting this week? Or do you have a similar post? Link to it! I'd love to check it out!

Woo woo!

2012-02-23T12:46:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to be offering sponsorship on my blog for the month of March! In March I'm going to be sponsoring a few amazing blogs and I decided to finally open up sponsorship on my blog. If you're interested or want some more information, please send me an e-mail - hollcrawford@gmail.com. I've got a lot of fun things up my sleeve for the month of March, and I can't wait to share them with you guys!

You don't win friends with salad!

2012-02-22T13:08:00.000-05:00

Okay, you might win friends with these salads. (Is that song stuck in your head now? Sorry. Ha! It's in mine, too.) Both of these salads are extremely easy to make. The first one is a Waldorf Salad:

Waldorf Salad

1/2 cup red grapes, cut in half
1/2 cup chopped up apple
1/2 cup chopped up celery
a handful of walnuts
cinnamon
3 tablespoons mayo
2 tbsp lemon juice
spinach
salt & pepper to taste

Cut up the grapes, apple & celery. Squeeze 1 tbsp lemon juice onto the apple and a couple dashes of cinnamon, mix together. Chop up some walnuts (I don't like walnuts, so I leave them out. Oh, I also don't really like celery so I leave that out. Ha.). Mix together the mayo and 1 tbsp of lemon juice to create the dressing. Add in some salt & pepper to taste. Throw in some spinach & you have a delicious salad! (Bahahaha there is a reason this is not a food blog. I suck at writing recipes!)

Somehow, I have never had brussel sprouts. At least, not that I can think of. But when I saw this recipe on Shutterbean, I had a craving for this food that I can't even remember eating. I'm so glad that I decided to try it because it really is addicting. I could probably eat the dressing by the spoonful, too. Oh man. Be sure to check out her recipe & TRY IT. Trust me. Even if you think brussel sprouts are gross. They're delicious in this salad.

Are there any new recipes you've tried lately? Or any recipes you've shared on your blog? I'd love to check them out!

Happiness Is...

2012-02-21T12:03:00.000-05:00

Just before Christmas I found out that my Mom had a 20$ off coupon for Shutterfly. She said I could use it to create my own photo book and it was so much fun! I didn't have much time to work on it because by the time I found out about it, there were only a few days left until the card expired... ha! But I love the way that the book turned out! I decided that at the end of ever year (this book has photos from the past like... 5 years, ha!) I'm going to create a new book with photos from that year. Almost like a yearbook? I'm not into scrapbooking at all, so this is the perfect way to put all of your photos together to make sure that you actually LOOK at them, instead of having them sit on the computer forever. Check out the website! Although, be warned... you might spend hours on the website creating a book! Haha. It's so fun.

ALSO, have you guys noticed that my blog looks a little bit different?! I have Don from the blog Adeline's Daddy to thank for that! He started up a new series on his blog called Blog Design Pointers and I was lucky enough to get some help from him! Be sure to check out his blog and his design work! One day when I have some extra cash I'm definitely going to hire him to do a full blog re-design! I just love his work!

Monday's Finds Part 20: Link Up Party!

2012-02-20T02:00:00.026-05:00

Is this even considered camping? Doesn't matter, I'd love to sleep here!

Love the snow. And Switzerland!

This is such an awesome idea!

What an amazing place.

Awwwwwwwwesome.

Mmm how good does this look?

I would love to organize my recipes in something as pretty as this!

Coconut hot chocolate with almond whipped cream? Yes please!

I love this.

Love this bedroom.

As always, please link up!

A Peek at My Week... 4!

2012-02-17T00:44:00.000-05:00

Made some salads... tried brussel sprouts for the first time & liked them! Next week I'll share the recipes I used.


Valentine's day treats from my Mom & Dad, haha.

Orchids from Keith! Look how many there are! (And you can see my birthday orchids in the background.)


Squirt loves her hamburger toy, haha.

We got snow! But, it has melted... I took Squirt outside for some photos. We didn't stay out for long because she was shivering, haha. Poor girl.

Orchids again.

Do you guys have anything exciting planned for the weekend? On Monday it's a holiday in Canada (called Family Day... haha. It's a newer holiday...) so it's a long weekend. Last night (Thursday night) I started feeling kind of sick... I had a bit of a fever & just felt achy all over... hopefully it's just that 24 hour bug! Or nothing at all, ha! Hope you guys have a great weekend!

The List: Finishing Off Blankets! Part 2!

2012-02-16T12:17:00.000-05:00

Well, one down. At least 4 more to go. And, confession time: My Nana finished the first blanket for me. Ha! She was over one night and started sewing in some ends (and I wasn't complaining!), and then she said she could take it home and finish it up for me. So, now it's all nice & finished! Since I made that first blanket, I've taught myself a new way to knit/crochet that doesn't leave ends. So for these four blankets, there are only a few ends that need to be sewn in. The thing I need to finish is MAKING them! The hexagon blanket is all finished, I just need to sew all of the pieces together. Well, I crochet them together. So, no sewing at all. I just have a hard time being "random". With the blanket on the right, I have tried to just pick the next colour of yarn without looking & just start crocheting. I think it's kind of ugly, but... I'm just using up my scraps. And it's super soft because of the yarn I'm using. So, I guess it doesn't matter how ugly I think it is, ha! And the hexagon blanket... I'm trying to be all random in the way that I put it together, but it's really hard! You should have seen the chart that I had out just to make the hexagons. Ha! Anyways, I'm starting to blabber... so here are the photos! Let me know what you think of the blankets!

In one day an experienced tea picker can pick up to 70 pounds of tea! (Enough for 14,000 cups!)

2012-02-15T15:53:00.001-05:00

Today is the perfect day to share another one of my collections! Monday night I ordered some tea from DAVIDsTEA (So good. Seriously. Order something from there right now, ha! You won't regret it!) and today my order came arrived. (SO fast. I'm used to Canadian mail and things taking about a week or more to arrive. I was so surprised it came so quickly!) So, of course I had to take a few photos! Haha. Back in August I stopped at DAVIDsTEA for the first time when I was in August (unfortunately my city doesn't have one! Boo! But 5$ shipping in North America? AWESOME. It's free if you spend over 50$!) and I picked up a few different kinds. Then a little while ago, I won a giveaway on Carly's blog for some tea! Then I discovered two of my new favourite kinds of tea... Read My Lips and Forever Nuts. Oh man. So delicious. I'm usually not that big of a fan of nuts, but that tea changed my mind. Tracy was over on Sunday and was telling me about this one kind of tea that glitters, so I had to add some Glitter & Gold to my order, ha! (You can see a bit of the glitter in the last photo.) And Alpine Punch sounded too good to resist, so I ordered some of that, too. I'll try some of that later on tonight!

The Algonquin Tea Company has delicious teas, too! The Peace Tea is one of my all time favourites, it's so delicious! De was the one who turned me onto their tea, she has given me lots of boxes to enjoy! I also love the Awakening Tea, the Sacred Blend, and the Lucid Dream Tea (not that I need help with dreaming... have I ever told you about how crazy my dreams are? Haha.)! The herbs are handpicked in the wild, often by canoe. How awesome is that?

For my birthday my Mom bought me some tea & tea accessories! She went to a local store in Paris called The Peddlar and Company. Vanilla Cream and Hazelnut Vanilla! I loooove vanilla and these teas are delicious! She also mentioned that they will do afternoon tea! So, I'll have to check that out sometime!

Whenever I am in a new grocery store, I have to check out the tea section. Last year I went to Goodness Me for the first time (Brantford is getting on this year! Woo!), and I decided I had to get a new tea. (You can never have enough tea, right?!) I love mint teas, so I decided to try the Cleanse tea by Pukka. It's so delicious, I highly suggest trying it out if you see it anywhere! I want to try out some of their other teas, too. Plus, isn't the packaging so pretty?

And last but not least, the Kusmi Tea that I picked up in Paris! Did I tell you I finally decided to open it up on Christmas morning? Haha! The wait was well worth it! It's soo good. Next time I head to Montreal I'll have to pick up some other flavours!

What are your favourite kinds of tea? Have you tried any of the ones that I've listed?

The List: Part 8!

2012-02-14T02:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I have thought up a few more items to add to "the list"!

Try Vegemite & Marmite. Weird thing to want to do, I know... but I'm so curious! I've never seen the stuff before, but I've wanted to try it for a while! I'm not even sure where to buy them. Maybe I'll have to take a trip to England & Australia/New Zealand! Haha. But, I want to try it. Maybe make a video of me eating it.
Watch my entire list of things that I want to watch. (Uh, I will come up with a better way to phrase that, ha!) I have a list on my phone of movies and TV shows that I want to check out. Anytime I'm out and someone suggests something, I add to it. And, the list doesn't seem to ever get shorter. Whenever I'm searching for something to watch I always seem to forget about it. So, hopefully I can get that list down a bit! (I like to watch TV series while I'm knitting or crocheting. I can't just sit there and knit, haha.) One day I'll type it up and write a blog post with the list.
Have a baked potato bar dinner party! Totally inspired by this post on A Cup of Jo. It sounds like so much fun! I'm actually going to add to this item...
Throw 100 dinner parties (themed! Maybe?). This was inspired by The Mighty Life List. I'll add suggestions for themes as I go.
Stomp grapes! (I'm sure you guys are all picturing this video...) I'm not sure where to even look to do this, but I hope to one day be able to! It just seems like a lot of fun, haha!

Let me know if any of you guys have a list like this! Or if you have any suggestions for things I could try! Or if you know where to pick up vegemite or marmite! Haha.

Monday's Finds, Part 19: Link Up Party!

2012-02-13T02:17:00.001-05:00

Any guesses for what type of wood this is? It's NEWSPAPER!

Tricky, tricky... haha!

One day I will visit Iceland...

Weird... but awesome.

Amazing.

You know I love tea...

I can't decide if this invisible bathtub is awesome or weird! Haha.

Love this.

Snowing outside too much for a picnic? Bring the grass to you!

This is such an awesome idea!

As always, feel free to link up!

A Peek at my Week... 4!

2012-02-10T16:56:00.000-05:00

Ordered from Al Dente's... mmm...

Keith & I went to Kitchener the other night. I wouldn't suggest this restaurant... the website is very misleading, ha. About only a quarter of the items on the online menu were on the actual menu. And all of the prices were drastically raised... But, this salad was pretty delicious!

Got a Valentine in the mail from Megan!

The blanket is finished! Haha okay, my Nana miiiight have taken it home and worked on it for me... but she offered! Haha. And she wants us to have a little contest, whoever guesses closest to the number of ends in that bag wins 5$, haha!

More blankets for the SPCA.

I'm not sure what my plans are for this weekend, other than hanging out with Tracy on Sunday for some tea... I have no idea what Keith has planned for us! Haha hope you guys all have a great weekend! What are your plans?

That time I went to an alpaca farm...

2012-02-09T16:35:00.000-05:00

Did I ever tell you guys about the time I went to an alpaca farm? Okay, I guess I mentioned it and shared one photo... but that was it. So, here are a bunch of photos from the Sewell Alpaca farm. These photos are probably from November, ha. But, better late than never!

On the farm they have 55 alpacas and each and everyone has their own name, and knows their own name. There is a little shop on the farm where you can buy knitted goods or yarn made from the alpaca fleece. When you buy yarn from their farm, it says which alpaca the yarn came from. It's so cool to be able to buy yarn and meet the animal that it came from. I'll have to show you guys what I made with the yarn sometime. Alpacas are such sweet and SOFT animals. I couldn't get over how soft they are! I want one, or two... along with my sheep, of course! Haha. Hopefully Squirt will get along with them...

Window Shopping, Part 7!

2012-02-08T15:18:00.000-05:00

It's been quite a while since I did one of these "window shopping" posts, and recently I've found some pretty great new Etsy shops, so I figured it was time to do another! Enjoy! & let me know about any Etsy shops that you've just discovered or want to share!

I realize that we are already into the second month of 2012, but how perfect is this calendar by Emmalynne? (For me, at least!) I would looove to have this sitting on my desk!

This photo of a sheep by lucysnowephotography would be perfect to go on my photo wall!

How pretty are these stacking rings by KiraFerrer?

I just love these little air plants from TortoiseLovesDonkey!

All of the headbands by GarlandsOfGrace are just so pretty!

I think this typography map by designahoy is just AWESOME.

I've been wanting a yarn bowl for a while, and this one by JulieKnowlesPottery would be PERFECT!

I love and want everything in raedunn's etsy shop, especially these brown word rocks.

I must pick up some of these cards by sparrownestscript! They would help me achieve my goal of sending 100 letters a year! (Don't you wish you could write as pretty as she does?)

How pretty are these pebble rings by colbyjune?

The Two-Day-Project

2012-02-07T01:16:00.000-05:00

Most of you have probably seen this floating around the internet, or seen other people's photos of it on instagram (by the way, am I the only blogger out there without an iPhone? ha, seriously!). Since one of my goals was to take one photo every day for a month, I figured I should join in. Well, I got two days in and failed. I'm talking about the February Photo a Day Challenge by Fat Mum Slim. By the time I found out about the one for January, we were already a few days into the month so I didn't bother with it. Plus, it seemed it was more of an instagram thing. So when I stumbled upon the February challenge, I figured I should try it out. So Friday came, and I was having a pretty shitty day. (Excuse my language, but it was pretty damn shitty.) Then Saturday came, and it wasn't much better... (Plus, I could hardly get out of bed on Saturday so I didn't see a single stranger.) neither was Sunday. So, I gave up on the whole thing. (Plus, I don't even have a medicine cabinet, so what was I supposed to take a photo of on that day?! Ha.) But, maybe next month if there is a March Photo Challenge created, I'll participate. I'm not too bummed out that I didn't get a chance to finish (ha or even really begin) this challenge, because sometimes things happen and you just can't do it. Anyway, I figured I might as well show you the two photos I did manage to take.

My view. Working on some blankets with a delicious twisted peppermint scented candle going (I LOVE that candle) and watching some tv on the computer... might have been Real Housewives of DC... maybe... ha!

Words. Finishing up The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

So, there is my photo challenge, ha! Kind of sad, but whatever. Maybe next time I'll finish it. Are there any project you're working on right now? Or any projects that you started and had full intentions of finishing, but then life just got in the way?

Monday's Finds, Part 18: Link Up Party!

2012-02-06T01:07:00.000-05:00

These tents are awesome:

Seriously. Could someone please buy me this?! I looooove it! Hahaha.

Sunday was World Nutella Day, and these Mini Salted Nutella Tarts by Spoon Fork Bacon look delicious.

I don't drink coffee, but this looks so good that I want a cup!

This room looks awesome! I love organizing my books by colour.

I've got to make this party popcorn!

Bahahaha a tag to add to handmade items?

I want to pick up these small amount measuring spoons from Mignon Kitchen when they come back in stock. They are called a drop, a smidge, a pinch & a hint! So cute!

A Peek at My Week... 3!

2012-02-03T01:57:00.000-05:00

Went to my Nana's house.

Played Apples to Apples with Keith, Nat & Kris. (I won! Haha.)

Drank lots of tea (loving Read My Lips from DavidsTea, I need to buy more!) and knit more blankets for the SPCA.

Made the Detox Salad by Oh She Glows. Sooo good. I added some honey & cinnamon. Yum.

Squirt testing out the blankets before I took them to the SPCA. (And um, don't pay attention to the blanket in the background that still isn't sewn in... hahah!)

I went to the Brown Dog with my Mom & Dad and finally got another Waldorf Salad! And the Brown Dog hot chocolate, which was delicious!

Keith and I went to London the other night to meet up with his friend Rossi (who became a dad early the next morning!). We ate at Relish, I got the Angry Texan burger. SO good.

New Project: The Meal

2012-02-02T01:25:00.002-05:00

Last year I signed up for the Sketchbook Project. ...I'm not very good at sketching/drawing/anything like that so I didn't finish it. I think I might have mentioned on here before how I'm always scared to start writing in a new planner or anything because I think I'm going to wreck it. So, that's kind of what happened with the sketchbook. It's still blank. But, that's not what this post is about.

I still get e-mails from Art House Co-op which is the website or group that puts on the Sketchbook Projects. Anyway, today I got an e-mail about a new project that they're doing. It's called The Meal. The idea is on February 24th at 12pm EST, take a self-portrait of you & whatever you're eating at the time. Then, mail in a 4x6 of the photo and they're going to create an exhibition of all of the photos. Easy enough, right? You guys should join in! Let me know if you're planning on doing it!

(Oh, and happy Groundhog Day! Hope the groundhog sees its shadow! Bahahaha. I love the snow...)

New Zealand has more sheep than people.

2012-02-01T11:55:00.000-05:00

The other day I thought I should share some of my collections on my blog. So, of course I started with my collection of sheep. I'm not a big stuffed animal fan, but when it comes to sheep I want it all... haha! Anytime Keith or my family find something to do with sheep, they usually pick it up for me. So, this is my collection. I do have another one somewhere (I had to hide it because Squirt thought it was her toy & would constantly lick and chew it), but this is it. If anyone would like to add to my sheep collection, that would be awesome! Haha.

A few other things that I collect are teas (which I don't really mean to collect, I just take my time drinking them. But I'm trying to enjoy them more instead of letting them sit on a shelf!), yarn (of course), books (don't most people?), and... that's all I can think of now. But I'm sure I've got some I'm just completely forgetting about. Anyway, I'll be taking photos of those things & sharing them with you guys! What do you like to collect?

The List: Part 7! Update!

2012-01-31T01:00:00.001-05:00

Well, since it's the end of the month I figured I would see how I'm doing with the list:

Make and donate 10,000 items to charity - Since the beginning of January I've donated 13 blankets to the SPCA and since then I've created 7 more. So for January I've made a total of 19. If I keep going at that rate I'll have around 228 a year. Hmm... I'm sure that some months I will make more, some I will make less, but that's a pretty good number.
Read at least 52 books a year. In January I only read 3. True the first two were over 500 pages... but that's still not too great, ha. I was hoping for at least one book a week. Anyways, at the rate I'm going I'll only read 36 a year...so, I have to read more, ha!
Write at least 100 letters a year. Um, yeah... I'm at 0. Not good, ha!
Create a photo wall. I've started it!

Not bad... let's see how I do in February!

Monday's Finds, Part 17: Link Up Party!

2012-01-30T01:00:00.001-05:00

This journal is amazing.

Speaking of Positano... this photo is so pretty. I definitely want to visit one day!

What a great backyard.

This pretty photo is a still from this stop motion video.

Such a tasty looking breakfast.

I would love to go here one day!

Pretty place in Derbyshire.

Awesome photo of a moose having lunch.

I love the winter & the snow, but I can't wait to be able to have picnics again.

Pretty little cottage in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

A Peek at My Week... 2!

2012-01-27T13:10:00.001-05:00

On Saturday we went to my Baba's house for her birthday. We got her a Kindle, but apparently the libraries in Canada don't work with Kindles. So, if you're Canadian & want an eReader, get a Nook or whatever the Chapters brand is.

Went to Chapters on Sunday.

Picked up The Diary of a Yonug Girl by Anne Frank and A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah.
Keith & I went to IKEA and I got a new plant.

I've been drinking more tea! This kind is sooooooo delicious... yum.

Delicious Waldof salad & grilled cheese from The Brown Dog.

I do have some more photos from this week to share with you guys... but I didn't get a chance to upload them yet... so they'll be part of next week's post! Haha. I hope you all had a great week! Do you have anything fun planned for the weekend?

Baby Days are the best!

2012-01-26T11:49:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday we all met up at De's house, then headed to the Brown Dog in Paris for some delicious food & good drinks. And Sophie was there, so we spent most of the time looking at her haha! She's adorable, as you guys can see from all of the photos I took of her. I seriously tried to narrow it down to only a few photos for this post... and I had a hard time, ha! The food at the Brown Dog is so good, and I'm craving another Waldorf Salad from there... I think I may have to go this weekend to get another!

The List: 10,000 Items for Charity

2012-01-25T01:00:00.000-05:00

Another one of the items on my list is to create 10,000 items and donate them to charities. For every item that I sell in my shop, I donate at least one square to the Knit-a-Square charity. Lately I've been knitting blankets to take to the SPCA. So, tomorrow Keith & I are going to go and I'm going to drop off the 13 blankets that I have for them so far. (In these photos the ends weren't sewn in yet... haha. But they are now!)

I'll be taking my camera with me, so hopefully I'll have some photos from that to share with you guys! Also, if any of you guys are confused about what this list is that I'm talking about... check this out!

The List: Create a Photo Wall

2012-01-24T12:09:00.000-05:00

There are quite a few paintings, drawings, photos & other items that I've been wanting to hang up on my wall for a while now. The other day I hung a few, but I still need frames for a bunch of things. When Keith & I went to Ikea the other day I picked up a few frames, but unfortunately I couldn't find any for my strange sized photos. Haha. I'm still on the lookout! So, this wall is no where near complete, but here is a glimpse of what it looks like now!

Haha also, you can't really see the real shade of green that the walls are in any of these photos. Oh well! Do any of you guys have a photo wall? (I don't really know what to call it, there aren't just photos on it.) I'd love to see photos!

(On the wall I have items from Megan from moonbeamwishes, Kam from Campfire Chic, Yellena, & Kyla from One Late Night!)

A Peek at my Week...

2012-01-23T13:02:00.000-05:00

I was hoping to have this post go up on Friday, but... I kind of forgot. Ha! Oh well. So here are some photos from last Sunday to last Thursday. I've got some photos to share from the weekend with you guys, but I'll be posting those on Friday! Hopefully it will become a new thing & help me take some photos of my week! (Also, I will do Monday's Finds again next week, but since I did the link-up party thing yesterday I'm just going to hold off for this week.)

On Sunday my family & I went out to eat with my Nana. I was showing her my new photo book that I made (I'll share it on here, soon!) and so she was about 10 minutes behind all of us with eating... ha! We were finished and she was just getting started.

Keith bought me a new camera for Christmas and it has fisheye... so of course I had to take a few photos of Squirt.... hahaha poor girl.

I made kale chips for the first time. I just added some olive oil, salt & pepper. If you make them, hold back on the salt... I barely added any but they were sooo salty! Next time I'm going to add some Parmesan cheese at the end. Mmm...

I also made some pizza with garlic stuffed olives, broccoli, cherry tomatoes & spinach. Mmm...

Once every couple of weeks De has a "baby day" at her house. Jess brings Wolfgang and Lauren brings Sophie and we hang out all afternoon and talk about how cute they are. Haha! It's a lot of fun. I love those two.

Did you guys have a good week? Did you do anything exciting?