Salal Knits

Carbon-Conscious Food

2011-08-15T03:43:00.000-07:00

This sort of blew my mind. The Bon Appétit Management Company has a Low Carbon Diet Calculator where you can calculate the CO2 emissions of your food (if you're into that) or just compare the relative carbon impacts of different foods.

One of the main reasons I don't eat meat is that I've been operating under the assumption that it has a higher carbon footprint than the alternatives. However, from this handy website, I've learned that tofu produces much more CO2 than chicken, pork, or turkey (but still less than beef). I suppose I should reassess my diet.

Album of the Week: Boots Met My Face

2010-12-12T16:09:00.000-08:00

I found Admiral Fallow on the top of the Pop Cop's best albums of the year and they're awesome.

...have I mentioned that I like folk music?

2010-12-01T18:05:00.000-08:00

I just encountered this band called Plume Giant (a band name that would also sound awesome backwards) via I Hope Your Ears Bleed. I really like them.

Their music is extremely folky (beware!), featuring a violin, a viola, and a guitar, and some sweet, sweet harmonies. Those of you who share my affinity for folk music may enjoy this:

FO: Britt Lalena

2010-11-24T13:08:00.000-08:00

I used the leftover Mini Maiden from my Buttonhead to make this Britt Lalena Headwrap. If you're looking for some instant gratification knitting, this pattern is perfect. It would also make a great gift too.

FO: Friida

2010-11-22T17:24:00.000-08:00

Look what I made!

This pattern is pretty much awesome. It knits up really quickly because it uses super bulky wool and 9mm needles and it looks great on. I left the pockets off because, honestly, I don't need anything making my hips wider and I took out the increases half-way down the sleeves so it would fit under a jacket better.

My finishing this cardigan was kind of serendipitous because the weather here in Vancouver has reached ridiculously cold extremes. Luckily, this sweater is quite cozy, which is helpful since it's 5 freaking degrees BELOW zero (I am one distraught Vancouverite).

Wood & Wires

2010-11-22T12:17:00.000-08:00

Wood & Wires is this great film project that has a video series that films musicians performing acoustic songs in unique locales. They also do a series called What We See is What You Get, which is a mix of interviews and exclusive performances. Looking through the artists they've worked with so far, I had a hard time choosing a video to show you because I love so many of them. I highly recommend checking out the rest of their videos.

Dan Mangan- Sold (A Wood & Wires Live Film) from Adrian Vieni (Wood & Wires) on Vimeo.

If you like science...

2010-11-17T22:56:00.000-08:00

I thought I should mention a new project I'm working on. In my final year of my undergraduate degree, I'm working on a research project with several other Environmental Sciences students. We're hoping to predict the impacts of increased ship traffic on the west coast of BC on the resident killer whale populations.If you're interested, you should check out our blog, here.

Love, it's like a marmoset.

2010-11-14T21:49:00.000-08:00

Photo credit to supernancy

If you read my blog regularly, you probably have a vague idea of how much I love Dan Mangan. Not only is he a Vancouverite (we all know how much I adore talented Canadian musicians), but his songs are a collection of catchy anthems (proclaiming "robots need love too!") and mellow tunes (paying homage to the Railway Club and the local record store) that make me feel all warm inside.

Last night, I went to see Dan Mangan play a show at the Vogue theatre and, aside from an expectedly fantastic performance by the headliner, I was happily surprised by the talented opening acts. First, we saw The Crackling, made up of three members of Dan Mangan's band who, on their own, are great musicians themselves. They played some slower, folky songs that rendered the audience silent, punctuated by some interesting banter between the band members. The music reminded me a bit of City and Colour, but with more gritty vocals and some added rock n' roll. I bought their CD and it makes for some good chill-out music.

This is just the singer that appeared last night, but they played this song.

Next, we saw The Burning Hell (good name, yes?), a trio of cello, ukulele, and an interesting mix of guitar and ...drum machine (I think?). One of my highlights of the night was probably the line delivered by the singer: "Love, it’s like a marmoset: it may be small and cute, but sometimes it eats its young." This band was ridiculously quirky and had some awesome lyrics. And, some great music too!

Love is also littered with dead raccoons, it seems.

Then, as the lights came on and The Burning Hell left the stage, we rushed up to the front of the venue, securing our spot right in front of the stage. Dan Mangan was, in a word, awesome. He played a mix of songs from Nice, Nice, Very Nice and lot of new songs which, he announced, he is going to be recording in December (yay!). I thought he was going to end the night with Robots because, let's face it, it's a crowd-pleaser. But instead he ended with a lovely sing-along (So much for Everyone). It was a pleasant surprise. All in all, this show definitely made my top five, and I discovered two great bands in the process.

FO: Remnant Stripe Cardigan

2010-10-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

I've been test knitting this cardigan for Boknits and it's finally finished! I was waiting on some wooden buttons that I ordered off etsy.

It's got this really cool stripe pattern and the collar gives a really nice shape to it. The pattern hasn't been released yet but you can see my finished project here.

Also, please forgive the photo quality. Trying to find decent lighting in a basement suite is quite tricky.

Album of the Week: Stir the Blood

2010-10-20T00:42:00.000-07:00

The Bravery have some cool pop beats mixed with deep vocals that sometimes make me want to dance and sometimes make me want to mope.

FO: Buttonhead

2010-09-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

That Mini Maiden yarn was quickly transformed into a lovely looking Buttonhead:

I'm usually not a very big fan of variegated colours, but this blend of silvers and greens is phenomenal.

This does not bode well.

2010-09-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

As you may remember, I recently moved into my very own basement suite (which is my excuse for not posting forever). Well, said basement suite is a 4-minute walk away from my new favourite yarn store, Urban Yarns. This does not bode well for my grades or my bank account. Here's what I picked up a few days ago:

This Handmaiden Mini Maiden is currently being knit into a lovely looking Buttonhead.

Album of the Week: High Violet

2010-08-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

There's something about this guy's voice that just makes this music sound absolutely epic. Check it out.

Unhappy Hipsters.

2010-08-14T14:38:00.001-07:00

This is one of those blogs that I check absolutely every day. Unhappy Hipsters takes painfully dramatic (and sometime horrifically pretentious) photos from home design magazines and adds funny captions to them. Here's a good one:

Album of the Week: Koonyum Sun

2010-08-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

Xavier Rudd + Izintaba = AWESOME. That is all.

Album of the Week: I and Love and You

2010-07-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

This album by the Avett Brothers is full of folky goodness. It has slow, melodious songs and upbeat, twangy ones too. Love it!

Ta da!

2010-07-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

Lelah top is finished. I highly suggest this pattern. It's fun to knit and the pattern is written so that you can make a top that will fit you perfectly. It was really fast too.

Pattern: Lelah Top by Christine Buhagiar

Yarn: Unknown worsted weight

100% rain.

2010-07-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

Awesome blog alert! I am so jealous of these mad sweater-designing skills. 100% rain is full of fantastic knits that make me want to run to the nearest yarn store and start knitting something right away.

A pattern for this Celery cardigan hasn't been released yet but I am dying to make it.

It's like a teenage mood swing... for your ears.

2010-07-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

Yes, the movies suck and the whole Twilight phenomenon is getting a little tired, but whoever is in charge of the soundtrack is okay in my books. Metric, Florence + The Machine, and Band of Horses? That is one solid lineup, even if I'm ashamed to admit I have the Eclipse soundtrack on my iPod.

Album of the Week: Lungs

2010-07-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

Lungs by Florence and the Machine is incredibly eclectic and interesting to listen to . Every song seems to have a different feel to it, which makes for an exciting listen. Check it out

Read this: The Lacuna

2010-07-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

I seriously think you should read this book. What I like most about Barbara Kingsolver is how she blends fiction with international political history. She’s done this before in The Poisonwood Bible, possibly my all-time favourite book, and now she tells the story of Harrison Shepherd, the son of an American father and a Mexican mother who spends his life going back and forth between the two countries. The Lacuna is not only about a boy becoming a man and a writer, but it also tells the story of Mexico’s political history and it’s connection to the Russian revolution, incorporating figures like Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and L.D. Trotsky, and the story of a United States in the midst of, and then repairing after, World War II. Written as a series of journals, the protagonist describes the world around him and consequently distinguishes his two worlds, a Mexico divided by class and race and a United States of FDR and J. Edgar Hoover.

I’m sure there’s some deeper message about international press and information dissemination in this book that I’m not getting, perhaps pointing out the inconstancy of media, but I love it just for its fantastic story that spans World War II and the Cold War. A complicated and compelling protagonist paired with an engaging, border-spanning setting makes me love The Lacuna.

This is good.

2010-06-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

Yes Please!

2010-03-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

Seth Grahame-Smith, you might be my soul mate.

Album of the Week: Dark Was the Night

2010-01-16T13:16:00.000-08:00

This a great collection of songs by some awesome indie artists, including Feist, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, Iron & Wine, and many others. What's even better is that the profits from this album go to the Red Hot Organization, an international charity that raises money and awareness for HIV and AIDS.

The compilation is so diverse and offers so many great songs, so it's hard to pick one to share with you. If you like this song, definitely go and check out the album.

Album of the Week: Nice, Nice, Very Nice

2009-12-10T19:39:00.000-08:00

Yay for awesome local artists! This album has so many awesome songs, it's hard to pick just one to show you, but here's one. Definitely check out the whole album!

All I want for Christmas... is a BEARD!

2009-12-01T20:10:00.000-08:00

Knit beard hat? Yes please!

Album of the Week: Where the Wild Things Are

2009-10-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

I am SO excited for this movie. I have to wait two more weeks to see it, but I can listen to the soundtrack now, which is pretty great. It's available in stores and on iTunes now or you can listen to it for free here. Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs put this beauty together along with members of Deerhunter, Liar and the Raconteurs under the moniker of Karen O and the Kids.

This album has a great whimsical feel that I imagine is going to fit really well with the film. Way to go Karen O!

Sometimes I Love UBC

2009-09-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

Seriously, this place is beautiful.

Dear West Coast Colours, I Love You.

2009-08-31T09:59:00.000-07:00

I bought this skein of beautiful, blue, hand-dyed merino wool from Knitopia in Langley, where the owner dyes and spins her own brand of yarns called West Coast Colours. This particular skein was called Galliano and, combined with a wonderful pattern called Diagonale by Arlene's World of Lace, I now have this great stole/scarf:

(Director of photography: Frida the Cat)

Album of the Week: Lost Channels

2009-07-30T16:19:00.001-07:00

It may be because I spent all last weekend at the Mission Folk Music Festival or it may be my musical mood swings, but I've been feeling very folky lately. And what do I listen to when I'm feeling extra folky? Great Lake Swimmers of course!

This album is a great mix of upbeat songs driven by an acoustic guitar and slow songs to chill out to. I'd also like to point out that, once again, a Canadian band is awesome.

Success!

2009-07-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to mention it too early, in case I failed miserably, but I'm growing tomatoes! Actually, they're tomatoberries, a small and really sweet version of a tomato. They just started turning red so I think It's safe to say that I've succeeded at growing something. Yay!

Album of the Week: Bottoms of Barrels

2009-07-16T14:30:00.000-07:00

I don't really know how to describe Tilly and the Wall, but here goes: Indie flamenco music? Hmmmm... doesn't quite do them justice. Anyway, I say flamenco because, instead of a drummer, they have a tapdancer! How awesome is that? This makes their music so energetic and exciting. Check it out!

My Dream Job, Part Two

2009-07-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

New dream job: Travel the world and get paid to do it. I just discovered this show on the Outdoor Life Network and, apart from being quite entertaining, it's makes me severely jealous.

Didgeridoos and Warm Wrists

2009-07-04T21:44:00.000-07:00

Oh man, it's been a while, hasn't it? Two things to update about:

Number one, I went to see Xavier Rudd in concert at the Commodore Ballroom Thursday night and it was A-MAZ-ING! It's hard to believe, but he's even better live. There was so much energy in the music. I'd never heard a didgeridoo played live and it just resounded through the whole room.

Such an amazing musician!

Secondly, here's a preview of a new knit I've been working on for my big fall release (date to be determined):Wrist warmers!Made with cotton!And Buttons!
There's more to come but for now I'll leave you with some music.

Blurb.

2009-06-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

I found out about this great website today called Blurb. There, you can download their BookSmart software that you use to design your very own book and then send the file off to be made into a real book! You can make a book full of photos or you can include text.

This is a great idea for vacations, weddings and gifts. This is what I got from about 10 minutes of playing around with the software:

I wish I had known about this before Mother's day!

Picture Time!

2009-06-03T13:53:00.001-07:00

I went a little camera-happy today. The boredom of summer and unemployment is starting to set in.

My work in progress. This is what has become of that yummy alpaca yarn I bought a week or two ago. The pattern is from Knit.1 magazine with a couple of adjustments to make it fit my big head.

This is Frida. Her hobbies include napping and getting into my yarn stash. Sometimes in the middle of the night she'll walk around the house with the end of a ball of yarn in her mouth until our house looks like it has some sort of laser field, but made out of yarn. I still haven't figured out how she gets it to wrap around the column at the base of our stairs 5 feet high. She's got skills.

This is Pablo. He enjoys staring out the window and knocking over his water dish. I suspect that he might be an accomplice in the nighttime yarn bombing of my house.

It was such a beautiful day out today that I had to go for a walk out in my little farm town that I call home during the summer.

Album of the Week: Blood Bank

2009-06-02T22:57:00.001-07:00

Okay so it's an EP, not an album, but it is great. I just discovered Bon Iver a couple of days ago and I haven't stopped listening to them (him? I think it's one of those one-person bands). All four songs are pretty great but the song the EP is named for is quite amazing. It's so emotionally charged and when it's playing I sometimes just stop what I'm doing to listen.

I find that music, at least in my case, inspires creativity and is important for a creative environment. Blood Bank is just the kind of moving song that makes me want to sit down and knit up some awesome new items. I hope you check this one out. It's really worth a listen or two.

Enjoy!

Love and Zombies

2009-05-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. It combines two things I like: Mr. Darcy and zombie sci-fi.

The book is basically Jane Austen's novel, but Seth Grahame-Smith has gone through it adding and modifying some text to create an interesting zombie sub-plot. If you feel like reading Pride and Prejudice again (I often have this feeling) this book is a cool way of revisiting the story while getting something new (and pretty hilarious) out of it.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brain must be in want of more brains."

Literary gold, don't you think?

Album of the Week: Fables

2009-05-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

I love love LOVE Immaculate Machine and this album in particular. It's got a great combination of upbeat songs with a couple mellow ones thrown in. The songs are so catchy that I just can't help but sing along. This band, native to the Canadian west coast, is an awesome indie band.

Album of the Week: Solace

2009-04-25T01:03:00.000-07:00

I just got tickets to see Xavier Rudd in concert this summer. I'm so excited! I can't wait to bust out my barefoot hippie-dancing.

His music is so diverse and just really good for hanging out. Anybody who plays a didgeridoo among several other instruments is pretty impressive in my books. I've been listening to this album a lot lately. It makes good study music and can't-study-anymore-my-brain-is-full music.

If you like Solace, I'd suggest another Xavier Rudd album called White Moth, another great collection of songs.

My Dream Job

2009-04-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

During exams, when I feel completely useless in academia, this looks like my dream job:

Album of the Week: The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

2009-04-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

Usually, I'll listen to an album obsessively for about a month and then it will join the ranks of occasionally listened-to, but this hasn't happened with The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. It might be because all the songs have a different mood to them, or maybe because the lyrics are all at once funny and thoughtful. Either way, I love it!

If you haven't listened to this album I highly recommend it. Girl from the North Country is probably my favourite song right now.

Look Who's Blogging Now!

2009-04-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

First blog post. How exciting!

Salal Knits is the culmination of 7 seven years of knitting, starting when I was 12 years old. Now, I'm creating hats and other various types of headgear in my dorm room while trying to avoid schoolwork.

I've been asked a couple fo times what salal is. It's on of my favourite plants native to the west coast of British Columbia. I chose to name my shop after it because I wanted to show my love for Vancouver and the forests of the west coast.

Anyway, keep an eye on my blog for new designs and works in progress, among many other things.