Goings Ons

Does that even make sense?  Right about now I don't care.  My brain is on a constant brain fart today.  Just too tired.  So please excuse the following run-on sentences, made up words, jibber jabber, nonsense that I'm spitting out:

Oh my, how I love coming home to yarn goodies.  Especially when I'm not expecting them to be there so soon!  I put in an order (finally) at Flocks of Yarn and was surprise when only a couple days later the box was in the vestibule!  Deirdre is awesome like that.  She's also doing a personal destashing right now so you should check out the yarn she's saying buh-bye to.  I'm eyeing that Ultra Alpaca for a laptop sock for myself (news of this to come soon).

But now on to the yarny goodness...

The whole shebang

Malabrigo Lace

Colors:  Bobby Blue, Paris Night

*these are for a blog surprise coming up in the next few weeks ;o)

Asian Trends Pima Classico

Colors:  Blue Atoll, Dahlia

This was the pair of yarns that I could not for the life of me remember what I wanted them for.  Maybe a laptop sock, maybe some baby goodies since a friend just found out she's preggers :o)

ShibuiKnits Socks

Color:  Spectrum

This wonderfulness is going to be save from some Jaywalker Socks

O-Wool Balance

Color:  Tourmaline

Another one I wasn't sure what I bought it for but I think it was for a hat or scarf potentially.  It'll probably just be more baby knits (if it winds up being a girl).

Eucalan Washes

Small Bottles:  Natural, Lavender, Grapefruit

Samples:  Natural, Lavender, Grapefruit, Eucalyptus

The small bottles are for me (I already have a Eucalyptus large bottle) and the samples are for knit gifts, CFO's, and other random things (like the Magic Yarn Ball Swap)

Surprise!  Little extras that came with my package:  a sample Eucalan wash, business card with Kitchner stitch instructions on the back, a magnet, and my Fiber Friend (who has yet to be named...and I'm open to suggestions!).

Lastly, here's some yummy baked goods to share with you:

The recipe is Aunt Mary's Banana Chocolate Chip Bread but I made mini muffins instead.  They only needed about 15 minutes in the oven (as compared to 60 minutes for the bread).  And they're smaller portion controlled.

Speaking of, 2 weeks ago I lost 2 pounds and this week no weight loss but I did go down a notch in my belt. Yay for Weight Watchers!

Also, Sweetie Pie Bakery is holding a giveaway in honor of Green Eggs and Ham!  Monday was Read Across America Day (first Monday in March) in honor of Dr. Seuss' Birthday.  This was one of my favorite things to celebrate with my kids when I was at the daycare.  Sigh.

That's all for now kiddies!

-<3-
Steph
xxo

Some Lovely Things

Happy Valentine's Day!!  A little late, you say?  Well, not for me.  Because of crazy work/school schedules, The Boy and I just celebrated Valentine's Day Monday night so therefore I've been putting off my Valentine's Day post too.

Here's my baking for Valentine's Day (or at least what I haven't shown yet):

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting (at the bottom)

(also available on the package of Hershey's Cocoa Powder)

*it's amazingly delicious*

Yummy Sugar Cookies

Brother ate all of these :o)

Cupcakes

These were supposed to be for Valentine's Gifts, but I had so many extras I wound up giving them away to customers at the card store and The Boy gave some away at Red Lobster.  Dad did have a bunch for breakfast too though the next morning :o)

This was supposed to be a Christmas gift but it didn't ship in time.  I say it was a great Valentine's gift instead:

It's a necklace.  The charm is a ball of yarn with knitting needles sticking out.  :o) yay!  Unfortunately, the charm seems to be too heavy for the chain and the chain keeps slipping through the jump ring.  Gotta get a thicker chain for it I guess.

Here's the finished Emma on the birthday girl (full post to come later):

Oh Brooklyn Flea, how you tease me.  I did not find the Scavenger Hunt item :o(  I did find a bracelet that I liked but The Boy didn't.  I didn't buy it.  Figured I'll come back later if I'm still thinking about it.  While I wasn't looking, he bought it for me :o).  Such a sweetie

The wrist chain is HUGE though.  But I'm thinking since I've been dabbling in jewelry while making stitch markers for the soon-to-be Etsy shop, I have the tools to alter it a bit and find a way to shorten it.  I think it's going to need a new, smaller clamp to hold it close and I can take all the extra jump rings off because I obviously don't need the option to make it longer.  Other loves from Brooklyn Flea:  my Mash Veggie Dog from AsiaDog and a Banana Peanut Butter Cupcake from Kumquat Cupcakery.  (Notice how it's all about the food with me...)  I did see some super soft awesome printed tees there too.  Grabbed the guy's card but I don't know where I put it now.  He did have an Etsy shop though so when I find it beware!

After the Flea a friend and I headed over to Brooklyn Central Library for the first meeting of the Brooklyn Yarn and Fiber Guild (yea we picked the name during the meeting hehe).  It was pretty interesting- we discussed bylaws, dues, meeting places, and had some getting-to-know-you going on.  Of course I have work scheduled when the next meeting is but I'm gonna try to switch days maybe.

Yesterday I came home after class to a teensy box sitting on the floor of the vestibule with my name on it.  What could it be?  (Of course I forgot all about the package I've been waiting for, but then again it wasn't supposed to be here until March 4th).  My business cards came!  Thankfully everything was printed correctly and they look great!  I used a general template from the free section of Vistaprint for now until I get a banner/logo created for the shop.  I just had to order these though so I can start handing them out on the subway.  People stare at me working so I might as well make use of their interest right?

Happy (almost) Valentine's Day

Yesterday brought about some more baking for me...but not so successful.  I attempted sugar cookies but I think I overcooked all of them.  Or else the recipe just comes out a little harder.  But I'd prefer them soft.  I only made half the dough yesterday so I might try cooking a little shorter today.  Doesn't matter because it's all about the decorating...to be done Saturday with the mini cupcakes all for Sunday.

More V-day fun:

Don't these just look delicious??  I found the picture on the Someday Crafts Blog which lead me to the actual baker at Poppies at Play Blog  (here's the post about the cinnamon heart buns).  How flipping cute are those lollipop holders for valentines??  I must archive this idea for when I have kids someday.  Or when I have an actual classroom.  (And now it clicks...no subbing today because everyone's having their V-day parties since next week is vacation.  Damn.)  And a message for the rest of you (especially if you've been snowed in like we were)- if you feel the urge to bake DO IT!  You don't have to go all out, you can use packaged stuff, but there's nothing like having something fresh baked, especially when you share.  (That's for you Jen!)

I need a little space to rant for a moment.  It's the complain that I always have and will have until I'm rich and retired (ha!).  I need more room.  Actually I need a whole apartment just for me and my stuff but that's definitely not feasible right now.  I always try to squeeze into the tiny places and I admit it, I have too much stuff.  I haven't even brought nearly everything from Dad's house to the apartment (I'm so not even interested in moving all my holiday decorations, especially the stuff Mom left for me and Brother when she moved).  But I mostly wish I had better space for crafting.  Knitting is easy.  I can do that anywhere without much need for room.  That doesn't count storage though.  Everything is stored in small bins in my closet or else bags and my project purses and then some things are just scattered throughout my room. 

I took this picture this morning:

That's my desk.  Computer tower is behind the chair under the desk and the white block down there is my sewing machine.  (And that's Mary's Vogue Knitting from 1987 on the desk chair that she loaned me...she's the best!).  I tried to buy a desk with a big enough flat surface that I'd easily be able to put the sewing machine on and work with.  But then there's the monitor and the desk organizer and all the papers and books (currently Stitch 'n Bitch Nation) and other random junk on there.  Ugh no room to sew.  Also no room to cut fabric.  Also, no room for the dress dummy to ever be set up to work with.  Sigh, someday I will have my craft room/office.

As for my knitting, the Weekend Hats for the boys are still not done.  I know, but I spent so much time baking yesterday I didn't get to devote as much time to them as I was hoping (same goes for my homework, which will be taking priority today).  But here they are photographed quickly this morning on my lap (netbook in the back, with the blog being written at the same time).  Emma's birthday is today and I haven't even started designing her hat yet...eek!

**I don't know why but blogger is refusing to center those last two pictures.  They must not be liking me very much today :o(

On to the knitting...

I have made hats now for Tijah, her cousin Jenny, and another Red Lobster friend Dawn.  OTN now is two hats for Jim and Branding who (thankfully) wanted just the opposite of each other:  one black with gray stripes and one gray with black stripes.  I made it through tangled knot portion of knitting because I refuse to cut the yarn between stripings.  I'm working on the decreases for the crown now.

I completely forgot to take a picture of Dawn's pink and white hat :o(  I'll have to have The Boy get a picture of it on her when he gives it to her (if he hasn't already).

With the leftovers from Dawn's hat, I'm making one for The Boy's little sister.  Her birthday is coming up on Friday- she's going to be 6!  We've still got a couple cold months ahead so she's get some use out of it.  And it will perfectly match the colors of her coat :o)

Yesterday's snow day was spent baking for Valentine's Day and shoveling snow.  I shoveled our stoop and sidewalk 4 times (and I know 2 girls in the other apartments did it at least twice) and I shoveled the car out 3 times.  And it was still piling up when I went to bed.  I actually had to turn down subbing for fear of not being able to get my car out/get the car started/make it out there if the roads weren't cleared.  Of course when I woke up they were perfectly cleared, but I'd still have a lot of shoveling to do before leaving which would have taken forever.

Time for some yummy goodness.  I've been planning on making baked goods for Valentine's Day to share with The Boy, his family, Dad and Brother, and Bonnie at the card store (I'll be working that day).  Plans were:  sugar cookies, chocolate mini cupcakes and white mini cupcakes.  The mini cupcakes were to have secret surprise pink centers and either chocolate or vanilla frosting.  Cookies will be glazed and I bought a bunch of sprinkles and confections for the tops of everything.

I wanted to do the sugar cookies yesterday but didn't have enough butter (and did not feel like walking to the store just after an hour of shoveling).  So instead I made two batches of cupcakes.  For the chocolate ones, I used the Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Cake (it's on the back of their cocoa powder boxes) and for the white (and pink filling) I used a basic recipe I found on allrecipes.com.  The way things worked out, it was much easier to pipe the pink filling first and then cover it with the regular chocolate or white batter. 

 I had a lot of  chocolate batter left over when I ran out of the cupcake liners so I figured throw it all in a pan and make a small cake with it.  Since it's someone's birthday this week, I wrote her name with the leftover pink filling batter.  

But that didn't work out so well during baking.

That's ok though because obviously it's going to be covered in frosting.  I might fill it too...we'll see.  But I'll re-pipe her name on it after it's frosted when I'm having fun playing decorator (that's all for Saturday).

This morning I went out and walked (over ice since some people are inconsiderate and don't shovel the sidewalk in front of their apartments/stores...ugh!) to the store to get milk and butter.  Once I'm done catching up on blogs and drinking my coffee, and the butter gets soft it's off to baking sugar cookies for me!