Happy New Year

New finds

Knitwear by Micaela Greg. Leather envelope clutch by Woodlark. Beautiful.

Miga De Pan

Adriana Torres studied architecture, graphic design, illustration and fine arts and began her career as an art director. After many years it was time to bring her inspiration and creativity to her own project. The designer began her label in 2010 under the name Miga de Pan. – Miga De Pan blog

Perfect Storm WIP

New knitting project in Cozette, silk and cotton blend in Midnight and Linen. More soon.

What's for dinner

Main course: sprouted brown rice, chicken thighs, tomatoes, tomato sauce, pine nuts, raisins, kalamata olives and tones of spices in a deep dish covered with our homemade pizza dough brushed with olive oil. 40 minutes on 400º F. Salads: warm salad of sautéed beet greens and kale from our garden with chickpeas, garlic and persimmon on top for sweetness. Cold salad of beautiful beets, apples and carrots with mint, olive oil, lemon juice, honey and salt.

Geometrics

Cute DIY geometric box. Gray pictures from here, instructions from here and here. • Geometric paper ornaments from etsy.

Beets

New beautiful beets from our vegetable garden. I had to make the amazing raw beets and cranberries salad. I added two carrots to the mix and adjusted the dressing to a larger amount. I also used mint instead of parsley.

Happy Holidays 2014

Dinner

What's for dinner? Baked branzino with herbs from our herb garden, latkas (very similar recipe here with no onion) and eggplants (from our vegetable garden) with crushed chickpeas and herb yogurt from the amazing new book I got for hanukkah, Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi. You can find the recipe and a few more here. Enjoy.

Vim / Test Knitters

I'm looking for test knitters to knit Vim, my new casual slouchy hat design. The pattern is in its last stages and will be ready after the holidays. • Test knitters knit the pattern and let the designer know their thoughts and comments before it gets published. • If you're interested testing Vim please send me an email or go to my Ravelry page and leave me a message.

Vim is knit with different denim jeans shades to create a modern fair isle design that works with any casual outfit. The supersoft, cotton blend is perfect for mild climates or year round usage. Vim can be knit in two sizes, small (17" circumference) and medium (18" circumference). Needles: US 6 (4mm), 16” (40cm) circular needles ; US 6 (4mm) DPNS ; US 8 (5mm), 16” (40cm) circular needles. Yarn: DungarEase by Knit One Crochet Too.

Vim in small

Vim in small, I love the subtle combination of colors. Pattern is being edited, the next step is finding test knitters. More soon.

Happy Hanukkah 2014

New

A few things I brought back from our latest trip to Israel: 1. Books, books and books, I think reading is one of my first loves in life. • 2. Body Soufflé by Laline from their store in Sarona, Tel Aviv. • Zaatar from Acre (Akko). • Harem pants (sharwall in Hebrew) from the beautiful open market in Acre (Akko). • A wallet clutch from Razi-Li from their store in Sarona, Tel Aviv. • Twist by Elite, chocolate waffle snack that I can't find here in LA any more. • Tea mix from Acre (Akko).

Acre (Akko) 2

Acre (Akko) in black and white and yellows. The last photo is of the wine cellar at the "Efendi", a boutique hotel in the old city. • Photos by Uri Rodan / December 2014.

Acre (Akko)

We came back from a trip to Israel to visit with our family, this time we decided to travel to the beautiful city of Acre (Akko). We spent the night in the gorgeous boutique hotel Efendi (photos 4-5) in the old city and took a tour guide the next day. • Acre is a city in the northern coastal plain region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. The city occupies an important location, as it sits on the coast of the Mediterranean, linking the waterways and commercial activity with the Levant. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the world. Historically, it was a strategic coastal link to the Levant. In crusader times it was known as St. John d’Acre after the Knights Hospitaller of St John order who had their headquarters there. Acre is the holiest city of the Bahá’í Faith. In 2011, the population was 46,464. Acre is a mixed city, with 75% of the population being Jewish and 25% Arab. • Acre’s Old City has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Since the 1990s, large-scale archeological excavations have been undertaken and efforts are being made to preserve ancient sites. Under the citadel and prison of Acre, archaeological excavations revealed a complex of halls (photo 3), which was built and used by the Hospitallers Knights. This complex was a part of the Hospitallers’ citadel, which was combined in the northern wall of Acre. The complex includes six semi-joined halls, one recently excavated large hall, a dungeon, a dining room and remains of an ancient Gothic church. Medieval European remains include the Church of Saint George and adjacent houses at the Genovese Square (called Kikar ha-Genovezim or Kikar Genoa in Hebrew). There were also residential quarters and marketplaces run by merchants from Pisa and Amalfi in Crusader and medieval Acre. –Wikipedia • Photos by Uri Rodan / December 2014

Vim in small

Just started working on another size for Vim, my new hat design. Vim will come in small and large medium.

My favorite dish

My favorite Thanksgiving dish is the stuffing, this year it was extra delicious with Challah bread, mushrooms, brown rice, herbs from our garden and olive oil instead of butter. All the other dishes were home made too, I used this simple recipe for the turkey, Uri made the cranberries and used a similar recipe (no onion or nuts). My daughter made the mushed potatoes and the brussels sprouts were cooked with garlic and chicken stock.