Monday, February 21, 2011

Some pictures and a recap

I have been a sicky girl this weekend. Feeling better today but I have been keeping it very low key this weekend. On Saturday I was forced to go out and buy some food as all I had in my fridge was mayo and ketchup, two eggs, coffee cream, some onions and pickles. Not much of a meal there.
I have been knitting a lot. I can do that in my pjs on the couch. I decided to use this wool I let G. pick out. We went on a camping trip through Washington, Idaho and Oregon this past summer. We camped just outside of this little town in Oregon called Joseph. It was very cute. And it had a yarn shop. G. picked purple. And I mean purple. I finally decided on Tiny Tea Leaves.

Blogger keeps flipping this picture...

What a joy to knit! I have finished the yoke and am making my way down the body. Very cute.

I finally took pictures of the dress I made for my staff party this year.

It was a Michael Kors pattern from Vogue and I liked making this very much. Except for the first bodice I made. Yes, the first one turned out four sizes too big. I was in a hurry and decided to not make a muslin. Boy, do I ever wish I hadn't skipped that step. Luckily I had enough fabric for a do over and I finished my dress and hour before I had to leave for the party!
I used a cotton print I already had and some sort of cotton-y lining. I guess I was not that original with the print but I am a sucker for navy with white polka dots! I think the top would look amazing without the straps and I would like to shorten the hem a bit. It was a super comfortable dress to wear and I got tons of compliments.
And finally, here is a picture of the underside of my sleeve.

It was brutal. My whole body was shaking. But it is just the outline. I still have to go back for the shading and colour. Can't say I am looking forward to it but I am looking forward to the finished sleeve. Graham is an amazing artist and I feel very lucky to have found someone who shares my aesthetic and is also super talented.
I am going to try and get some work done today. We'll see if I am successful or if the couch just sucks me in again. xo

Monday, February 14, 2011

Love To You All!

We chose to have a little celebration of love yesterday since it just worked out better for us. We started the day off with sourdough waffles. Then, as the Mister's parents needed to leave for Spokane early this morning they stayed at our place last night. We had a lovely little dinner and a fabulous dessert. G. wanted to make "something fancy....with hearts...and CHOCOLATE!!!" So we made a chocolate sponge cake with chocolate butter icing and fresh strawberries.

This was my helper...!


G. demanded that I get out the piping bag so we could make it "fancy". She even helped squeeze the icing out.


The cake was delicious. It caused some major sugar induced crazy but we all had a sweet time.

On Saturday I took G. skating for the first time. She was a little scared at first but after a couple of rounds she didn't want to ever leave.

I think the smile says it all.
We are going again next weekend. xo

Friday, February 11, 2011

A Sweet Vesty

I finished knitting this up just after Christmas and have been wearing the heck out of it.

Sorry for the mess behind me. The best light was in the bathroom.

It is the Sexy Vesty pattern from Ravelry. It is so cozy and warm but because there are no sleeves I don't get over heated. It is so perfect. At first I wasn't sure about the width of the shoulders - they seemed a bit wide - but after wearing it a few times I began to like them. They remind me a bit of teeny cap sleeves. The wool is by Brown Sheep and is the Lamb's Pride worsted. I really loved knitting with this wool. The colours are so amazing and super saturated. It has this gorgeous sheen to it with a slight halo from the mohair in it. I have two more skeins in purple. They will become something for the Wee Beast.
I got tattooed on Wednesday afternoon. I am in the process of trying to finish up my half sleeve. I got the underside of my arm tattooed and let me tell you, that was a special kind of suck. I could barely get through the outline. Thank you, Graham, for knowing when to stop. So....I still have the shading and colour to do. Any suggestions for how to deal with that pain? I am thinking maybe a few ibuprofen to numb it out a bit? I will post pictures soon. Its really beautiful.
This weekend is shaping up to be pretty mellow which will be a nice change from the last couple. I am looking forward to doing a little more knitting ( I'm going to try and finish these socks!), some sewing and/or pattern drafting, some cooking and some vegging out.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend! xo

Monday, February 7, 2011

Custom

I was contacted by a very lovely lady on Etsy. She asked me if I was able to convert one of my purses into an uber cool diaper bag.
Why, yes, of course I can!


I think it was a smashing success! Loads of pockets for all those things you need when going on an outing with a baby. A key clip. Stretchy pockets. Yeah, I think its rad. I hope she likes it too!
I think more of these may be in my future. xo

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Cupcakes!

Tonight I am going to a birthday party. My friend's Mimi and Mary are having a girly party (No boys allowed!) and they asked me to make the cake. Mimi loves Black Forest cake so I knew immediately what flavour cake I was going to make. But the thought of transporting a huge layer cake was sketching me out a little. Enter the cupcakes.
I love making Black Forest cake. I never use pie filling. I make everything from scratch. And I use real whipped cream. And lots of liquor.
I decided to bake the liquor soaked cherries right into the cupcakes rather than digging a hole into the cupcake and filling it with cherries. This recipe is a amalgamation of many recipes. Hope you like it!

Black Forest Cupcakes

Cherries:

2 14 oz. cans sour cherries, drained
1/4 c. kirsch

Put cherries and kirsch into a container with a lid and gently swirl the cherries around in the liquor. Put in the fridge for a few hours or even overnight.

Cake:
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

-Sift all these ingredients together and set aside.

3/4 c. butter, softened
2 1/4 c. sugar

-Cream together until light and fluffy then beat in:

3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Now alternately add dry ingredients with :

2 c. buttermilk

Mix until everything is just incorporated.
Preheat over to 350 F. Line 24 muffin tins with papers. Remove cherries from the fridge and strain liquid off. Keep this liquid!

Fill each paper cup half way with cake batter. Drop 3 or 4 cherries on top of batter and then continue to fill the cupcake papers just shy of the top of the paper.
Bake for 20 min. or until cake tester comes out with no crumbs attached.
Cool completely.
When the cupcakes are cooled, poke a few holes in the top and drizzle reserve cherry/kirsch liquid over all of the cupcakes. Let it soak in.


Kirsch Whipped Cream

2 c. whipping cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. kirsch

Beat all ingredients together until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe on top of cupcakes.
Garnish each cupcake with a cherry (if you have any left over. I did.) and chocolate curls or sprinkles.

Enjoy!

Makes 26 cupcakes

Friday, February 4, 2011

Dad

Today is my dad's birthday.


I was just telling G. about the first time you took me fishing. She wants to hear the story again and again. I don't mind telling it. Every time I do it makes me think about you and all the fun times we had. The more I tell it the more I feel like you are here.


I miss you so much. And I love you today as much as I always have. xo