Simple Things

Yet another shawl! These can be so addicting to make, especially when you don't have to think too much about the pattern. This was the perfect project for a busy month, when I just wanted a non-thinking project.



This was made from just over two skeins of Knit One Crochet Too Handpainted Ambrosia, which is a silk, cashmere and alpaca blend. I bought this yarn on sale at the cutest little yarn store near my grandparents house in Urbana, Illinois. Klose Knit is a cozy little store, and has some fun yarn-bombing right outside.



This is the Simple Things shawl, found on Ravelry.



It's always a bit silly taking pictures of yourself :)

Time to Share

Hi friends - I took a little bit of an unintentional hiatus there, but things have been a bit busy. Let's get to it!

I have a few FOs (Finished Objects) to share with you, so we'll have to play a bit of catch up. First up are a pair of socks I made for myself.



This is the Clandestine Sock pattern, available for free on Knitty. You'll remember I had a bit of a rough start with this pattern, but I noticed about a third of the way through the first sock, and got myself back on track. I love this sunny yellow with this pattern - I think it really shines. I got the yarn in the sale bin at Knit Culture Studio - it's Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock. This was a little bit of a putzy pattern to follow, but luckily I have small feet so I had a little bit less knitting to do.



Fall has finally hit LA, and I'm enjoying the rainy, cloudy days we've had this week. I got a fun fall-themed package in the mail today, complete with red leaves specially plucked off a tree in Door County just for me.



Included in my package were three Halloween wash clothes she knit up just for me. Thanks Mom!

Third Times a Charm

We finally did it! Yesterday Sherry and I baked macarons yesterday, and they turned out beautifully.



We filled them with lemon curd and nutella, and kept half in the natural almond flour color, and made the other half a rosey pink color.



I've learned from past baking mistakes and I think I actually have this mastered.

Ughck!

A weekend's worth of work


Tragically ended like this:



Time to read the pattern correctly and start again.

I won!

On Saturday, my friend Lauren and I wandered over to Knit Culture Studio for their customer appreciation event. I'm so glad I did! We got a copy of Debbie Bliss' Fall issue, and put our names into a raffle. While shopping around, they called my name for a sweet little prize of the Easy Baby Knits book, accompanied by three skeins of Sublime baby cotton in a poppy color. I'm not sure what I'm going to whip up with this yet, but I'm sure I'll figure it out!



A few finished knits are right around the corner. Stay tuned.

Whoooopie!

Whoopie Pies that is. I recently got this book:



This book is Gobs of fun. They split the book into two sections - half for the cake part and half for the fillings, so you can mix and match however you please. For my first dive into the book, I settled on the Red Velvet with Classic Buttercream frosting.



I didn't have red food coloring, so I thought to a blue velvet cake Boyfriend and I love from a nearby cafe. This recipe called for a lot of cocoa, and I didn't really think of how that would mix with the blue...let's just say it wasn't too appealing. I kept adding blue and more blue and eventually got a really weird forest green color. I decided to call it quits at that color so as not to overpower the flavor with coloring gel. They taste great and were a great sweet treat to bring along to the Hollywood Bowl last night.

Me vs. The Macaron

You may remember a few months back, I took a French Macaron baking class. Shortly after, I made a mess trying them out on my own. My friend Sarah wanted to try to tackle these with me, so on Saturday, we gave it a shot.



We.failed.miserably.



It was a super mess. Perhaps too much egg white, and not stiff enough peaks? Who knows. Sarah (friend Sarah, I haven't started talking in third person) had a moment of brilliance and suggested perhaps we could use them as a berry crisp topping. So Sunday I set out to the Hollywood Farmer's Market, picked up lots of blackberries, and set about making a blackberry crisp. At about ten minutes left of baking, I put the macaron mess on top and let them keep baking.



I gotta say, it was delicious, and completely festive for a 4th of July bbq.

Stay with me - I'm not giving up on macarons yet.