go ahead, make my day

So it seems I've been tagged for the "(go ahead) make my day" meme. (sorry, couldn't resist)

It's not easy for me to list 10 blogs that make my day. See, I don't actually read that many (not many, as in about two dozen, not two hundred like a friend of mine). The reason for this is that I often have trouble staying on task and motivated, so having oodles of fun and interesting stuff to read every day would seriously cut into my time for doing productive work. It's just common sense for me to only choose the ones that inspire me the most, will always read from top to bottom, and will miss on the days they don't post. As for all the other wonderful blogs out there, I try to only stop by when someone mentions a particularly lovely post, so I don't spend all day on the internet. I do hope you understand.

So, I think I will just list my top five, and hope whoever I miss doesn't jinx me (I'm not superstitious anyway, so it won't work)

1. Soule Mama: she is such a wonderful, creative, loving, inspiring person. And she takes adorable photos of her kids. What more can I say?

2. the Yarn Harlot: funny, silly, wise, outrageous, talented, and so down to earth. She makes me smile, and sometimes laugh out loud.

3. Soto Softies: I love how creative Martiza is with shapes and styles and colours. I fall in love with all the toys she makes, and wish for the day when I can be as stylish as her.

4. Tania: reading her blog is like sitting in a best friend's cozy kitchen, drinking tea from pretty china, eating something sweet and yummy, and chatting about the best things that happened the day before.

5. Irish Sally Garden: this family makes me believe it's possible to live sustainably, eating delicious food grown in your own backyard, raising animals in a humane and wholesome way, and teaching your children everything they should know about how the natural world works and our responsibility to maintain a healthy and resilient environment.

positive thinking

View from the hilltops
Originally uploaded by mricon

It's pouring rain here today, not normal weather for Montreal in January, and not appreciated in the least. I'm trying to conjure up warm memories of more pleasant seasons, and feeling grateful I don't have to go out today.

The lack of blogging this week results from a whirlwind of knitting, although I'm keeping my sanity with small breaks for visiting friends, making birthday presents, and cooking chicken noodle soup. Oh, and reading way too much. I've gone through 3 novels in the last 2 weeks, and I think I need to slow down, or try something more challenging.

Today I'm dying more yarn! And knitting, of course :) The toy I'll be working on today is actually for another pattern booklet. We need better pictures, so I'm going to finish off a puppy I started a couple months ago. The Easter pattern booklets didn't go over as well as I hoped, but maybe this new one will do better. It will have the Siamese kitty, Boyish monkey, and Puppy. I try not to worry too much about these booklets, though. The Fuzzy Knits book is doing very well, and I'm selling a few other things here and there. So far, my gamble to do this full-time is working out.

Hint #4

bunny buddies
Originally uploaded by baprime

I've been hearing from a bunch of people that this little apron dress always turns out too large for the bunny (or siamese kitty, since the pattern is nearly the same). I'm not sure why, because I never have any trouble with the pattern, and I don't think I knit all that tightly. However, if you knit a bit looser than average, try going down a needle size or two (to 2.25 - 2.5mm), and adding 3-5 rows to the skirt.

By the way, here's the instructions for the little pocket:

Cast on 10 sts. Starting with a purl row, work 6 rows in st st.
Next row: k across.
Next row: k5, yo, k5.
Next row: k across.
Cast off all sts.
Sew pocket to dress front, and add button.

espresso cupcakes

This recipe originally came from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess. I've changed the recipe a little, and used a different icing, but they are still delicious. Because this came from a British recipe book, most things are measured in grams, but you can find the conversions here. I used good-quality chocolate bars, not baking chocolate, although you could probably use semi-sweet baking chocolate. This will make 12 medium cupcakes, or about 20 mini ones.

Espresso Cupcakes

Ingredients
125g softened unsalted butter
125g dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
125g all-purpose flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
75g dark chocolate with ground coffee beans, melted (or plain dark chocolate plus 1 tbsp instant espresso powder or finely ground espresso beans)
2-3 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 200 C (400 F). Line cupcake tins with paper liners, or butter and flour them.
Blend butter and sugar well, then add eggs and blend until smooth. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder (and espresso powder or ground coffee, if using). Stir in dry ingredients a bit, then blend until smooth. Add chocolate and 2 tbsp milk, blending well. Add 1 more tbsp milk if batter seems too thick.
Fill tins about half to 2/3 full. Bake for 12-15 min - toothpick inserted in middle should come out clean.

Chocolate Icing

Ingredients
100g dark chocolate
100ml whipping cream

Put cream in a small saucepan, heat until almost boiling (but don't boil). Add chocolate in small pieces, stirring until it's all melted. Remove from heat and whisk until smooth. Let cool until thick enough to spread.










Thanks to Amanda and Allison for taking photos of our fun, and listening as I talked way too much about knitting. Taylor was a hoot, as usual, and it's been too long since we all hung out together. I hope Sara gets better soon, and enjoys her cupcakes. Also, thanks to Minou for keeping me warm during my sleep-over. She may be a little crazy, and eat yarn, but she's a cute kitty.

february feature

I had a great idea yesterday, so I put off making the toy I was working on to knit up the February feature pattern. It's very sweet, but I'm going to keep it as a surprise. The only thing Valentine-ish about the outfit is that I knitted it in white, pink, and red, but you could make it in whatever colours you want.

cupcake bakers

Last spring we moved to the far west end of the island of Montreal, from where I used to live in the heart of things. We moved for lots of reasons - to be closer to my job, to have cheaper rent, to live somewhere quieter and prettier. While I now live much closer to my sister, I'm an 1.5 hour bus ride from all my other friends.

When I lived downtown, my friends and I had weekly get-togethers for such things as cooking, baking, knitting, chatting (and maybe just a bit of drinking). I've really missed these (probably more than my friends know), since it's much too far for me to go on a wednesday evening, especially when I was working a regular job.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of our first cupcake baking party, and I'm super excited! I'm planning to stay over at my friend's place, so I don't need to worry about the murderous bus-ride at 11 pm or something. Who says I'm too old for a pyjama party? I spent yesterday evening reading through a Nigella Lawson recipe book, making myself hungry even after I'd eaten supper. I suggested we make either her espresso cupcakes (which also include chocolate), or the fairy cakes, those being an excuse to buy candy cake decorations. I'll be sure to get pictures of whatever we make, and maybe I'll post one of the recipes we use. Cupcakes once a year can't be bad for you :)

technicolour yarn

yarn
Originally uploaded by baprime

Here are the fruits of yesterday's labour! Dying the yarn was lots of fun, although my hands didn't get stained like I thought. I started by weighing out skeins in amounts to make one outfit - 20g for the sport weight, and 25g for the worsted weight. I then soaked it for a couple hours before dying. I have food colouring in yellow, red, and blue (concentrated paste form, not the liquid drop stuff you get in the grocery store) and found citric acid at the drug store. I was kind of surprised to actually find it, albeit in a small bottle, although they have even stranger stuff on the same shelf.

Anyway, I mixed up the colours I wanted in microwaveable plastic tubs. It took about 1/4 tsp of dye and 1/2 tsp of citric acid per 3 cups water, although I was just guessing at the amount of citric acid and probably used more than I needed. I had to dissolve the dye in a couple tbsp of water first, which made it difficult to see what colour it actually was. I painted a bit on some paper to get a better idea, and wrote down how much of each colour I used.

Then I added a skein of yarn, and microwaved it until the yarn had absorbed all the dye. I did this 3 min at a time, stirring in between. The lighter colours only took about 6 min, the darker ones more like 15 min. Then I placed the tub in a sink of cold water to cool the yarn, before rinsing it and hanging it to dry.

I'm really pleased with the colours I got. My first try turned out a little more green than I intended (this is the turquoise skein) because I forgot to compensate for the yarn being natural cream instead of bleached white. You can't tell from the photo, but the yarn turned out slightly heathered, which I really like. I have no idea why this happened, but I think it will give the toys' clothes a more rustic, old-fashioned look, which is totally appropriate for where they will be sold.

This isn't really meant as a tutorial on dying yarn, since there are plenty out there written by people much more experienced than me. This is more like a way to encourage you to try it yourself, just because it's fun, doesn't cost much, and involves yarn!