The winner of the Wool Me Tender  giveaway from Wool and the Gang is….. Ane Marie! Her comment:
Ooh. I love the bulky. Way more my speed than a fingering shawl, and I love the look. Dragonfly would be my choice of color. I might just be a total copy cat and knit the same pattern you did!
Congratulations, Anne! We’ll be in touch soon to coordinate the details.
My Favourite Articles and Links This Week
Loved this post of killer career advice from smart women.
I wrote a guest post recently on Eucalan about how to pack light when travelling with kids. It was  very awesome to try out their travel products, they were a godsend while we were in England and Spain.
I secretly believed that audiobooks didn’t have the same sort of benefits as ‘real’ books, but science says I’m wrong! As far as your brain is concerned, audiobooks are not ‘cheating’.
I hear stories almost every day of Syrians doing good, kind things all over the world (confirmation bias at it’s finest!), so the crazy cat lady in me wants to weep over the incredible kindness of the cat man of Aleppo. Don’t worry dog lovers- people are helping them too!
A close friend of mine recently published a poem in The New Yorker, and I’m so freaking proud of her!
My Favourite Pins This Week
It’s that time of year! Pumpkins are everywhere, and everything has pumpkin in it! These pumpkin cheesecake cookies us a little bit of pumpkin and cream cheese to make these super soft and totally seasonal. Pinterest link is here, and the original recipe post is here.
I hate doing dishes and I love easy dinners, so this one-pan pesto chicken and veggies is right up my alley. Only 6 ingredients! Asparagus wasn’t handy, so green beans went in instead. Totally worked! Pinterest link is here, and the original recipe post is here.
I adore little cacti, but I oddly can’t keep the real ones alive- it seems I really overestimate how much water they need, every time. But you can’t kill this super cute crocheted cactus (free pattern, too!) Pinterest link is here, and the original DIY post is here.
The idea of yarnbombing has always appealed to me (one day, I’m totally going to turn the local stop sign into this), but I was blown away but how delicate and beautiful this yarn bomb is. Â Pinterest link is here. The original source is difficult to find (this is apparently the original source, but the site isn’t easy to use and I couldn’t find it), but it apparently is somewhere in Paris.
Finding balance is always really tough, but this little bit of wisdom really nails it, don’t you think? 😉 Pinterest link is here, but I sadly couldn’t find the original source. If anyone knows, please share!
I’m in Fredericton  at the University of New Brunswick this weekend for a poetry festival, and really looking forward to it. If you are in Fredericton and would like to come out, I’m reading on Sunday at 8 (a terrible time slot, I know) and I would love to meet you! Knitting is totally allowed, of course.
I won?! Really?! So excited! I thoroughly enjoy your blog. Winning yarn … bonus! Truly what I needed with 5 weeks left of pregnancy and feeling pretty UGH.
You did!! Could you send me your address? I’ll arrange for the yarn to be sent to you. And i hope that last few weeks of pregnancy go quickly- I know that feeling, when everything just feels like hard work and you are ready to meet your baby!
I really love these posts you do each week. You always pick delicious looking recipes – this week both the cookies and the chicken dish have my mouth watering – and some great articles. I found the article on audio books really interesting. I absolutely love to read and have always had that slight nagging feeling that audio books are “cheating”. What really puts me off though is the thought that the person reading the book out may not voice characters in the way I see them/voice them in my head. Does that make me sound weird? 🙂 Having said that, I’ve never listened to an audio book – maybe I should try one.
I know what you mean, I have been slow to come round to audio books, but I found that they were a nice change of pace while walking somewhere, or while knitting. I still find that sometimes my mind wanders off, but you can skip back a bit to re-listen to the bits you’ve missed. I still prefer reading on the page, but I love feeling like I’m squeezing in a bit more reading!
Congrats to your friend for getting into The New Yorker! I hadn’t come across her poetry before, I’ll have to dig up more! Those pumpkin cheesecake cookies also look absolutely delicious, I’m definitely going to have to try those this fall 🙂
I adore cream cheese or sour cream in baked goods, it adds such a great depth of flavour and a richness that I adore. And Nyla has a new book of poetry coming out- Stranger. I’ve read some of the poems, but not the whole collection yet- I will be getting my hard copy this week!
Oh my gosh – I can’t keep a cactus alive either! Or aloe vera. Or anything that’s supposed to be idiot-proof. But I can grow my own veggies in a huge garden. Figure that one out. Maybe it’s because our house is too cold in the wintertime…
Good luck on Sunday with your reading! I just gave a presentation on Wednesday night on hiking in Zion and Glacier National Parks. I had a blast and the program was very well received. So much fun!
I hear you! I like plants that need a lot of water, those I can handle. My overwatering tendencies need thirsty plants. That is so cool that you recently gave a talk on hiking in such gorgeous locales, I be tit was really inspiring!! I love hiking, but hate camping. It’s an odd combo.
Good luck at your reading! How cool.
I may just have to make one of those little cacti! My new office is very cozy (no windows) and I really want a plant!!! 🙂
Have a great weekend!
You should totally make a little cacti for your office! I like having cheery things on my desk, makes work less of a drag. 🙂
Break a leg you foxy darling. I have to make a Costco run next week; I hope they have pumpkin. That one pan recipe has inspired me to get some asparagus this time around. We are tired of broccoli.
Thanks, Stefanie! I go on tonight, been practicing so I don’t trip over my words. 😉 I am looking forward to getting some canned pumpkin, too! Guy doesn’t like pumpkin anything, but then I just share them with others.
Good luck in Fredricton, Julie! Too bad you can’t hop over to the Island. Thanks for the yummy pesto recipe. All the best, Laura
I will get to PEI one day!!! I think it would be a great family vacation spot on summer.
Your friend’s poem reminded me of how much I miss reading poetry. I used to write a lot of it and still have a folder with all my work in it. Some is embarrassing to read now, but some of I still love as much as before. I am still waiting to return to that state of mind that makes poetry effortless. I miss it.
That’s amazing, that you’ve written some poetry! You know, you might find that the mood comes back to you if you read more poetry. There’s so much to choose from these days. If you are looking for any ideas, let me know- I’d be happy to recommend. Just let me know what other poets you like.
You’re right, reading poetry helps me get into that state of mind. I studied literature so during that time at uni I wrote most of my work, unsurprisingly. There are still some unread poetry collections on my shelf, but I will get back to you if I ever need more ideas about who to read. Thanks!
Congrats to the winner! I love simple weeknight dinners and this is no exception! Thanks for sharing!
You know me, I’m ALL about easy dinners! Maybe one day when the kids are big I’ll feel like cooking for longer periods of time… but knowing me, probably not! 😉
Love your offhand lace shawl and the photo shoot was a total success. I will have to keep reading your friend’s poem to really absorb the meaning but big kudos for her publication. Wonderful Pin ups as always.
Thanks so much! That shawl was such a great quick knit, I’d make it again. So glad you liked the pins!
Always awesome links, Julie!
I really like the article about the audio books. I am with you and thought it was cheating, but now that I know my brain doesn’t think it is…I am ready to go. Now if only audio books could keep my attention like a physical book does.
I had to pin that one-pan pesto chicken. Heck, I think half of the recipes I make come from your pins. 🙂
Aw, I’m so glad that you love the recipes I pin! I have been really trying with audiobooks, I find that they are great when I’m in the car, and recently I was in Fredericton and it was great on the airplane, as well. And for people who love podcasts while knitting, I imagine it’s perfect. But I noticed that people have strong preferences about the type of narrators, it can really make or break an audiobook experience!
Definitely trying out the pumpkin cookies this week! Love these favourite thing posts.. Always full of good reads, delicious (and easy!) bites and inspiring art… The career advice from smart women was thought provoking… I often feel stuck in a box career-wise since moving to Finland but perhaps it does not have to be so!