Easter Traditions

I have very fond memories of Easter. I remember my family’s preparations, starting with the big spring cleaning, the decorating, the cooking. My grandma always filled the house with flowers from the garden, forsythia, daffodils and tulips. I loved the colors, and to this day these flowers bring a smile to my face.

For us kids, Easter was always exciting because we were allowed to stay up late and go to midnight mass. I remember dressing up, walking to church, joined by hundreds of people. Because the crowds were so large, mass was oftentimes held on the church steps so that everyone would see and hear. The sense of peace and community, it was almost palpable.

At the end of mass, the priest “gives light”, meaning he lights someone’s candle (everyone brings one), and this person lights someone else’s and so forth, until everyone’s candle is burning. You take the candle home, as it is supposed to light your way for the coming year. You have to imagine a sea of people with burning candles slowly and silently making their way home. It’s a magical sight.

And on Sunday you feast.

Of course the other important Easter tradition was the painting of the Easter eggs. I loved it, what kid does not? When I moved to Canada one of my most cherished mementos I took with me was this hand-painted Easter egg. There are very talented artisans in Romania that specialize in this type of “painting”.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

 I am preparing for A.’s first Easter-egg coloring experience. I’ve done my research on using natural dyes, and I promised him he can use Spider-man stickers to decorate….not exactly traditional but hey, it makes him happy. As I am not much of a painter, I knitted my own Easter eggs (you may have seen them in my Etsy shop). I think they will make a beautiful centerpiece, and when A. is older, we can even use them for an Easter egg hunt.

Crash Boom Bang

Just a little note to say, that yes, I am still around and wanting to blog, but my computer has crashed, and we are desperately trying to revive it again. Might be a few days...

It's odd, I feel so cut off from the world not being able to access the internet. Am I addicted?

Spring Inspiration

It’s finally happening. The temperatures are rising, the sun feels warm, and on our walk this weekend we saw crocuses and snowdrops. I bought a pink hyacinth for the kitchen windowsill and it smells incredible!

No knitting updates for today, but I can tell you that April will be an Easter-themed month, and I am even planning my first give-away!

Flowerpots need sleeves too

So I don't have any words of wisdom, no particular insights, no funny story for you today. I'm still waiting for spring but it seems I still have a long wait ahead.

I am planning to plant some flowers on our patio, to buy a new umbrella and coloeful pillows. I have this image of warm and sunny afternoons spent there, enjoying a glass of lemonade, my needles clicking away. That's not too much to ask, is it?

In the meantime, inspired yet again by Debbie Bliss' "The Knitter's Year", I made these three flowerpot sleeves. They just looked cute

Trying to phtograph this FO, I was wrapped in my parka, with my gloves and hat on, hoping the set-up would not get blown away by the -20C wind.

So really, under these weather-conditions, flowerpots DO need sleeves!

Cabane à Sucre

The days are finally getting a little warmer, so we were looking for a fun family activity. March and April are traditionally sugaring off season around here, so a plan was hatched. There are numerous sugar shacks in the Montreal region, pretty much something for everyone’s taste.

We chose the “Sucrerie de la Montagne”, as it was warmly recommended by friends. A little research revealed that it is designated a Quebec Heritage Site, so it was certainly going to be an authentic experience.  It’s about an hours’ drive from our house, and we passed the time listening to a medley of A’s favorite songs , such as “Whoomp there it is”, “I’m too sexy”, “Jump” (Kriss Korss), “Paparazzi”, and the Barenaked Ladies’ “Snacktime”.

As soon as we left the city I felt this sense of calm descend over me. I’m always surprised to see how caught up we get in the stress of everyday life. Try as we might, it always gets a hold of us. This is why outings are so important to us.

We arrived early, so we took a walk around the 120 acre forest of century old maples,  before it got too busy. It’s all old log cabins, some of which can be rented for overnight stays. They have their own bakery, where they make bread and sugar pies, and of course a distillery to transform sap and maple water into delicious maple syrup.

Brunch was served in a room warmed by a crackling fire, on long picnic tables. The waitresses wore traditional garb and we were entertained by two musicians singing French chansons. It really seems they are living life as they did years ago.

We feasted on pea soup, tourtiere (which is meat-pie, a local specialty), sausages and maple smoked ham, a delicious egg soufflé, mashed potatoes and meatballs. And as if that was not enough, we finished the meal with pancakes drenches in maple syrup and the most delicious sugar pie.  I personally enjoyed the tourtiere best, A was a big fan of the ham and S though the eggs were *eggstraordinary* ( ;-)sorry, I could not resist).

The drive home left us content and lethargic, ready to nap on the couch with the sun streaming in the windows dreaming of a spring that is…oh, so close!

Learning Colorwork

What a week! Oh, what a week! I was on my own with A. for two weeks, as hubby is exploring the Orient for work (poor him, I know).

You may remember that I was looking forward to a knitting course at this wonderful little yarn store called Espace Tricot. I’ve never knitted a two-color project, and I felt it was time to learn a new skill. To my delight I saw that they had a colorwork course scheduled and I thought to myself, what better way to spend a snowy March evening than in a cozy little store surrounded by a myriad of colorful yarn, books and all kinds of knitting gadgets, and in the company of fellow knitters intent on acquiring a new skill? So I signed up.

The plan was to photograph the whole experience and tell you all about it. Well, unfortunately, 10 rows into my knitted swatch I got a phone-call from my baby-sitter, that my son was not feeling well and I better rush home. Which of course I did, and it turned out that A. had a pretty bad case of gastro. Now, a week later, he’s recovered and is back to his usual mischief.

So I finished my little swatch at home, and I can say that I now know the basics of Intarsia, but that’s about it. Then again, not bad for an hour, right? I am hoping that soon enough there’ll be another course I can sign up for because there is so much more I want to learn!

Roman - inspired spring hat

Another weekend, another party. Therefore another knitted gift. Actually two knitted gifts as there are two of his friends whose birthdays fall within days of each other.

It’s another Purl Bee pattern of course. As I am still hoping that spring will soon be upon us, I chose this hat which is great for chilly spring days. What do you think? And in this photo you can also see where my experiments with wrapping have led me… thank you again, Irina.

                                                                                           

Come back next week to hear about my knitting course!