I know it’s been a while since I last posted here and yes, my year of cupcakes pretty much bit the dust. On a brighter note, I have some happy news: As of tonight, I have started teaching my husband to knit – and he’s doing quite well with it!
Well, that’s all for now. I’ll return as soon as something of hobby importance pops up.
Due to a health issue, I didn’t get around to my February cupcakes, opting instead to make something much simpler (but I’ll get to that in a moment). The cupcakes for February were supposed to be Persian Love Cupcakes. For those who would like to try baking these, here’s the recipe from my calendar:
I’ve not been feeling well enough to bake cupcakes, so I made these apple dumplings from the Pioneer Woman blog instead. I used ginger ale instead of Mountain Dew because Mountain Dew is disgusting. I also used some prepackaged red or pink apples of some sort to cut down on the work. Yes, I was in lazy mode! They were soooo good, though! Here’s a picture of mine:
On a completely different note, I am expecting my very first spinning wheel soon! In the meantime, the shop I bought it from sent me a box of freebies. I chose a bunch of great fiber and ended up with such a big haul that I had to share it out. The box below includes super wash merino, alpaca wool blend, firestar and silk:
I will post more once I have my wheel up and running!
Now that I’ve finished my husband’s scarf, I can get back to the project I had started for myself. I’m making a patchwork blanket out of mitered squares. I knitted the first two tonight, which are pictured stacked together in the photo above. This, too, is using Berroco Vintage yarn. I’m using this pattern by Martine Ellis, which I’ve adjusted slightly for my use. I also consulted this video by VeryPink Knits while learning to make mitered squares. I’d like to thank these two sources for their direct help in my knitting!
So, I left this on my new niddy noddy (thanks, Justine!) for a couple weeks and attempted to steam finish it tonight. The good news is the steam relaxed it. The bad news is I over twisted it so much that even now it is still really curly. It made a cute little skein, though!
Here, in all its imperfect glory, is my very official, very first knitted finished object! It is shown below both with and without flash:
It’s a fairly short, not quite one skein scarf done in American Moss Stitch. I used Berroco Vintage in Dungaree, which is a machine washable wool/acrylic/nylon blend. I definitely screwed up in a few places and it felt like it dragged on forever (about two and a half weeks), but I’m pleased with the end result. More importantly, so is my husband, whom I knitted it for!
Today was my first time trying a new hobby that I hope will become an enjoyable pastime. It was very stressful in one way, but gratifying in that I was able to do what I was able to do. April and I decided to start small with a purple doll hat. She had to do most of the wrapping part because of my hand problems, but I did the knitting part. I feel encouraged because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do any of it, but I was able to do more than I thought. I hope that in time I will be able to do even more. More later.
2015 was supposed to kick off with the chocolate cupcake recipe in my wall calendar, but the New Year left me with an extra bottle of bubbly. Therefore, I decided to make champagne cupcakes instead! Since I was sure this was already a thing, I went to allrecipes and had a quick look around. I found an easy recipe that uses a box mix right away. Click here for the recipe.
The resulting batch of cupcakes were WONDERFUL! They turned out light, fluffy and utterly delicious (not to mention delightfully luxurious)! I didn’t have to use anything expensive (I used Cook’s brut) and they were super easy to make. I emphatically suggest trying these for yourself.
Right now I have one spinning, two knitting and two baking projects all in the works. That’s a hell of a way to start the new year, don’t you think? I’m making a moss stitch scarf for my husband and a patchwork blanket for myself. I’m also needing to finish some yarn and I have two batches of cupcakes to bake this month.
This post is just a little heads-up to my readers. I’ll go into more detail as things really get rolling.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Recently my blog has attracted a number of likes and a few followers. While I appreciate the attention, something has occurred to me. I strongly believe in following blogs that I click with personally and I hope that my followers truly enjoy my blog. It is because of this that I do not automatically follow back. So if you choose to follow my blog, please do so because you enjoy my posts. Following me in the hopes of gaining a follower is pointless, as I do not obligate myself to return the favor. I certainly do check out every blog that follows mine, because I think that’s fair and a good way to discover new blogs I like. Just don’t expect me to follow you for liking my posts or following my blog. I think that sort of thing cheapens the experience of honest blogging.
The good news is that I only follow blogs I actually enjoy reading. So if I’m following your blog, you can feel good knowing I appreciate your work and I’m not just out to gain traffic.
I just felt like that needed to be said.
I recently bought myself a new pair of lovely rosewood knitting needles, which arrived today, along with an unexpected second package. It appears that someone has decided to send me a cute apron from Flirty Aprons, specifically this one. I was skeptical of the fit at first (I’m not small), but I tried it on and it’s SO CUTE! I will most definitely be going back for more in the near future.
I adore surprises, but my Secret Santa didn’t include a note on the packing slip and so far none of my friends have fessed up. Of course, I’ve always loved a good mystery, too!
