Winter Archives • The Rabbit Hole

Learn, Learning process, Make, Seasons, Tutorials, Winter

Beeswax candle and a note on waiting

February 9, 2023 No Comments

There are few things as comfortable and meaningful as a lit candle. As I mentioned in one of my last posts, we are expecting a baby soon. Until a few months ago the feelings were mainly of excitement for the novelty, preparation and enjoying the pregnancy. Now the greatest feelings are patient waiting, fear and expectation. It is a feeling that seems precisely like the flame of a candle that is kept alight, fragile, waiting. Coincidence or not, this period coincides with winter, a time that encourages us to slow down, stop and wait, clinging to a small flame in the darkness of the season.

Enjoying a candle light

A few years ago I would have been the first to want to get through these cold grey months quickly. But since a couple years ago, I’ve learned to enthusiastically embrace the comforts of the season. I let myself be enveloped by the atmospheres and crafts I associate with winter. The winter kitchen, the cold walks, the moments catching the rare sun that peeks through, the knitting evenings, the series and movies to catch up on, the piles of books to read, the candles lit at dusk. All these things propel me into a state of hibernation with very particular aromas, light and textures. All of those seem to be captured throughout history, as shown in films, books and stories.

In an attempt to honour this feeling that seems to extend over time, I decided to make some candles. The easiest, but also the most beautiful, I have ever tried: beeswax sheet candles.

Beeswax candles

To make the beeswax candles you only need:

beeswax sheet
wick
a hair dryer

First, cut the beeswax sheet to the size of the candle you want to make. I used the width of an A4 sheet for the lenght of my candle and the whole length of the A4 sheet for the thickness of my candle. Any measurements will work. I don’t recommend making a very thick candle though because it creates tunneling effect. This is when the inside of the candle melts but the outside doesn’t follow along.

Then cut the wick about 2cm longer than the height of your candle. Overlap the wick over one end of the beeswax sheet equal to the height of your candle.

Using the hair dryer, slightly heat the end of the beeswax sheet that the wick is on until it is soft enough to be shaped. Start rolling the beeswax sheet over the wick paying attention not to break the wax sheet. You can heat it a little more to prevent it from breaking. Continue the heating and rolling process until the beeswax sheet is runs out.

Cut the wick about 1cm from the end to be lit and close to the wax at the bottom end of the candle. And that’s it! You have the candle with the perfect colour, light and scent to embrace the last month of winter accompanied by a book, a cup of tea and under a blanket!

Bake, Christmas, Cook, Homemade Goodies, Make, Seasons, Winter

Biscoff Christmas chocolates

December 24, 2022 No Comments

Before Christmas goes, I wanted to share with you a quick recipe for Biscoff chocolates. I made them just yesterday because I needed to wait to make them as fresh as I could before I gifted them. After tasting these Biscoff chocolates I though I couldn’t wait to share it with you. It’s the perfect Christmas card for you right on Christmas Eve!

This year…

This year, my major efforts during Christmas time have been preparing a handmade home for our coming baby. Because of that, I didn’t share many ideas for Christmas gifts. But you can find a lot of Christmas crafts here. Lately I have been making efforts to offer consumable handmade Christmas. A baked good or other type of handmade goodie is the best idea for that!

Biscoff chocolates recipe

I adapted my recipe from the one from Madeleine although I didn’t use vegan chocolate. If you use vegan chocolate, this Biscoff chocolates are 100% vegan since both biscoff biscuits and the spread are vegan.

I followed all her instructions, but just adapted a little bit the ingredients and the quantities. For my recipe I used:

– 250g Biscoff biscuits (it is an easier amount since it corresponds to a whole package of Biscoff biscuits)

– 200g plus 10-50g of Biscoff spread. You can go further and add as much as 250g of spread but I find that the best idea is to add the last 50g carefully to adjust the dough to the right consistency. I find that, here in Portugal, the best result is around 220g of Spread in winter. In the summer I will just add 200-210g. This prevents the chocolates to melt too much after coming out of the fridge. The important thing is that the dough is moldable by hand. That is the sweet spot!

– 200g of good dark chocolate. I used culinary chocolate because we do have one or two good culinary chocolate brands here in Portugal. If I am not able to find one of those, I will opt for a the best dark regular chocolate I can find. If you want to make this Biscoff chocolates vegan just use vegan chocolate.

Then I followed Madeleine’s instructions and voila! The easiest chocolates in the world that are soft and spicy. A very festive recipe to try and to gift.

I hope you have the best Christmas in 2022! Thanks for keep following!

Knit & Crochet, Learn, Make, Seasons, Think, Winter

Knit a Sweater during lockdown!

March 15, 2021 No Comments

It was my turn to have a handknitted sweater!

After risking a child’s size, I had to put into practice what I had learned and knit a sweater for myself. I did it during the last months of 2020. It was a piece of joy to wear it in the first months of 2021. Despite the unique year that we went through, 2021 brought us knowledge and perspective.

Materials and patterns to knit a sweater

My hand knitted sweater was made using the Fortune Sweater pattern by PetiteKnit. I used double yarn from Isager Yarn’s Silk Mohair yarn in color 00. It is light, does not itch and is so warm that it made me forget the cold of a lockdown winter.

How to “knit a sweater” during lockdown?

After finishing my knit sweater, I think I placed more confidence in myself, a reflection of what has been happening throughout this pandemic period. It is true that all our plans left us last year: ones more than others. But there are always dreams to chase that keep us whole. It is just a matter of opening horizons and, “knitting one point after another”. We are on our way to materialize a project that is increasingly bigger. Our “handmade sweater”.

What seemed like a huge disaster in March 2020 forced us to be resilient. Forced us to reorder and refocus the contents of our daily lives. It also forced us create new dreams and new challenges for which we had to count on ourselves and on those with whom we cannot part with. Don’t get me wrong: I won’t be missing this crazy period. Nothing can erases the suffering so many of us have been through. Is was like an earthquake that hit the whole entire world. But it is a period to show us what we are capable of: to surpass, to discover and use our hands to make dreams come true.

An emotional review of my handknitted sweater

I took these pictures on the first day that the sun peeked out after two big winter storms. My sweater felt like a hot cloud against the harsh climate, the icy waves the sand full of marine litter that did not stop arriving … It was like a raw reflection (that I preferred to assume in the photos) of the impact that we have on the world. A harm that didn’t pause in the middle of a global pandemic.

Knit & Crochet, Make, Seasons, Winter

Knitting sweater using a free knitting pattern

February 11, 2021 1 Comment

The winter season is here to stay. And my goddaughter keeps growing and growing! She needs clothes. Good and confortable clothes to keep her nice and warm when she is exploring outside.

So I decided to knit a sweater. I used the Flax Light free knitting sweater patterns from The Simple Collection by Tin Can Knits. This is a basic cut sweater that makes this model very versatile. The sweater is knitted seamlessly from the collar. It is the perfect project for your first knitted sweater experience! To knit the sweater I used two balls of Cool Wool Big Color by Lana Grassa that I brought from the sweetest little yarn shop in Delft, in the Netherlands. A very soft 100% merino wool yarn, perfect for children.

I knitted a sweater in the size 1-2 years because I think it is possible to extend the time of use of these projects using a good thread and a good pattern. Opting for a basic pattern that is both much wider and fairer makes the margin of error generous. Plus it is possible to adapt the use of the pieces for a longer time. Speccially at a time when children grow up visibly from almost a week to the other. So, hopefully, the sweater will serve her well during this season, may be the next season too. Who knows for how long could will it be wearable!

The pattern is very well designed, easy to follow and has beautiful results. Another great advantage of this free knitting sweater pattern is that it has sizes ranging from baby to adults. This means that you can also knit a matching set for your whole family. The pattern is also good for both male and female. You will only have to choose your yarn to please all the family members!