Santa's little crafter

Okay, it's time for you blog readers to unwrap my Christmas knitting, now that the recipients have.

First, I had two projects that had a deadline earlier than Christmas Eve, because I had to ship them off to the UK for my grandparents.  I knew as soon as I saw this pattern for a fox scarf, I thought of my grandmother.  For years now, they've had a fox come visit in the evening for whom they have left a small plate of food, either dog food or some dinner leftovers.  So I thought this would make a perfect scarf just for draping over her chair in the living room to have on hand when there was an extra chill.  I used Cascade 220 in a deep rust color, and I love how it turned out.

Isn't he cute?

And then, I whipped up a beanie hat that I thought would be useful for keeping my grandfather's head warm on wintery walks.  The pattern was easy to follow, and I really like the texture it created and how all of the colors mixed together.

I think my favorite thing about these knits is that they are both inspired by happy times I have spent with them, going for walks to feed the squirrels in Nonsuch Park and keeping a lookout for the fox in the garden before going to bed.

For those giftees who live in Texas, however, there is less need for knitwear.  So I had to get a little more creative.  Even if people don't need them, their stuff probably does, right?  So I made a Kindle cozy using this cable-rific pattern.

I feel like, because it's a relatively small project, I wanted to up the ante with some cables, which I haven't done too many of.  I love the effect, but I generally find the action of putting stitches onto the cable needles, knitting, and then knitting from the cable needles, a little fiddly.  But after a while I got used to it, and it's even a little easier to 'see' the pattern than with some lace patterns, which is nice.

Also, this was the project that I mentioned as using the magic loop technique.  I liked it, it reduced the fiddle-factor that I would have had using DPNs (plus cables, it would have been more needles than I really want to handle at once).  On a scale of skill, it's still something that I can just read by rote.  That is, I can read the directions, or watch the YouTube videos, and follow along.  But I don't necessarily understand the mechanics of it.  I'll  probably try, though, just to be able to use it for mitts and hats.  And possibly for venturing into the brave new world of socks...

Anyway, the final gift I have to share wasn't knit at all.  Rather, it was sewn.  My dad is always picking up these simple, small drawstring bags when he's in Tokyo.  He wasn't able to find that many on our last trip, so I thought that this might perhaps be the elusive present that combines practicality and personalization.

So with the sewing skills of my mom, and some train fabric I found at Joann Fabrics, he got his own special set.

I must admit, I still have one Christmas present out pending.  I'm spinning some yarn for my mom, and all I was able to present her with was one completed cop.  But at least now that I've revealed that it is for her, she can let me know how she wants it plied, etc.

Whew, I feel so much better, now that I'm not keeping crafting secrets from you all!

Inspiration Saturday: Journals

I thought I would be a little more blog social and join Alicia over at Woolen Diversions in her Inspiration Saturday posts.  After careful deliberation (and coming up with many other posting ideas), I've decided that my inspiration of the week is journals.

Alicia has been adding spinning and sock books to my Amazon wish list with her posts the past few weeks, but it's the books that start out with nothing in them at all that I'm giving a shout-out.  I've always been drawn to notebooks.  There's something so alluring about all of those blank pages, bound together, waiting to be filled.  It's not unlike the way a beautiful hand-dyed skein of yarn will call out to me.  They both want to be transformed over time into something complete, something filled with not only my time and energy, but my creativity.

Unfortunately, this means that I also have a notebook, as well as a yarn and fiber, stash.  Because along with the rush of inspiration and possibility, there is the terrible fear that whatever I start to write in the journal won't be 'worthy'.  And unlike when you realize a certain yarn and pattern are not suited for each other, you can't frog pages and start again.  Not without ripping them out and kind of destroying the magic of the complete journal.  If only I could guarantee that I would never misspell anything, or need to cross anything out, I'm sure I could work up the courage to write in more of them.

And so I accumulate journals with covers in the same way as fingering weight yarn.  Here are just a few of my favorite non-fiber artists:

Anne Taintor

Taking vintage images and layering sass on top with phrases like 'she could see no reason to act her age' and 'was she in love? or was it just allergies?', Anne Taintor makes some of the funniest covers for journals.  I have the one above, along with at least 60 postcard prints.  I like to imagine that one day I'll be able to write a fun, pulpy novel inside the notebook, so it will be self-covered.

Paperchase

Aside from the loss of a number of bookstores, the bankruptcy of Borders a few years ago was really a tragedy mostly because they were the US supplier of Paperchase stationary products.  Whimsical and pretty, I love pretty much all of their designs.  This notebook is only available on their website, but the good news is that they are now also making their way into Target stores.  So far I've only seen a single end cap's worth of merchandise with a single theme rendered in notebooks, post-its and other items, but it's better than nothing.

Pigsey Art

From the international corporate to the truly local, I discovered this Austin artist in 2011 at the Austin Craft Riot holiday fair.  She takes vintage books and takes them apart, undoing the hardcovers, then rebinding with a spiral and mixing in a few pages of the original book along with fresh new blank ones.  So as you are writing your own words, you also stumble upon a page or two of Louisa May Alcott's for inspiration.  Her Etsy shop currently only has bobby pins in stock at the moment, but I'm sure more notebooks are coming after she recovers from the holiday season.

Me!

With a plain old notebook, Mod Podge, and pretty scraps of paper, I love creating personalized notebooks for swaps and things.  What's great is that you can theme them around anything from favorite TV shows to favorite color.  I've even made a set that was full of images and references that someone was using to write their novel for NaNoWriMo.  Making notebooks is kind of like spinning in that it's crafting that adds to your stash.

I mentioned that one of my resolutions was to keep a writing journal, and that's still going strong.  I'm taking note of particular song lyrics, taping in pictures I like, and of course counting syllables carefully in my daily haikus.  Five-seven-five!

Froyo files: Sweet CeCe's (San Antonio)

I get Groupons for five cities.  Because aside from Austin, there's always the possibility that I might use a deal somewhere like Dallas or Houston on a trip for whatever reason.  And we're in San Antonio every few months it seems for some fiber event or other.  So it's worth scanning through the deals in my inbox just to see if there are any deals I take advantage of before they expire.

That's why instead of making our usual stop at Chill Out, we deviated and stopped here during a day trip that also saw us visiting the ripped-from-the-brink-of-closing Yarn Barn and most of the Missions.  A Groupon is a great excuse to check out something new, because you never know when you'll stumble upon a new favorite.

Sweet CeCe's: 1150 North Loop 1604 East #140, San Antonio, TX 78248

When I visited: Friday, December 28th, around noon

Cost per ounce: 54 cents

Number of flavors: 10

Sorbet options: 1

Experience: Yet again, it appears that controlled sampling is becoming a trend.  And yet again, though I dislike it, I  give a little more leeway here than I do to Orange Leaf because the woman who served us (who may well have been the franchise owner herself) was very friendly and prompted us to try as many flavors as we would like.  I still prefer to swirl my own samples, but at least here it felt more like she was helping, offering suggestions on which flavors were new, which she liked especially, which might make good combinations, etc. as opposed to begrudgingly controlling our greedy messiness.  It will make me wary, though, if I ever find another location, because if this is a corporate policy, I'd rather avoid it.

I ended up trying five of the flavors: Cappuccino, Cupcake Batter, Pecan Praline, Greek Lemon, and Blueberry.  Cupcake Batter was good enough, but I was really impressed with Cappuchino and even more especially Pecan Praline.  I've had the latter several times, and up until now it was a disappointment.  But this was pretty perfectly creamy and nutty.  Perhaps a little more praline caramel-ness would take it over the top, but this was without a doubt the best version of this flavor I've had so far.  And the Cappuccino, aside from having a good coffee flavor, was also creamy, reminding me of the foam of a true cappuccino.

The Greek Lemon was good, and apparently has the added bonus of protein from being Greek yogurt.  It could have had more lemon to bring out the Greek tang, but it again, it was good, as was the Blueberry, which was no sugar added as well.  I chose these two for my bowl, along with the Mango Tango Sorbet and a little of the Original Tart.

The dry toppings are displayed in particularly cool way, as you can see in the first photo.  And there was some no sugar added chocolate fudge topping, which I appreciated, though I didn't take advantage of this time.  I do wish there had been more fresh fruit than just strawberries and blueberries, but it is winter, so keeping it fresh limits the choices.  They use real yogurt here rather than powder mixes, and you can tell.  Creamy is the best way to describe it.  I think overall the flavor could be turned up a little more, certainly the fruity ones could be stronger for my personal tastes.

Worth a revisit?  Chill Out still wins out for me for their excellent flavors (and the ability to self-sample), but for those trips when we are just skimming the outskirts of San Antonio on the way to Boerne or Comfort, this is a convenient stop right off of 1604, so we'll probably come again.

Cubicle kitchen: Black Velvet Sandwich Cookies

I felt that I had two directions I could take with this, the first baked treat of the new year.  I could embrace the well-intentioned resolutions of my co-workers and offer up something relatively healthy, maybe using oatmeal and some dried fruit.  Or I could viciously present them with temptation straight out of the gate and go for something deliciously bad for them.

I can only hope they will forgive me.

I got this mix a month or so ago:

I figured that black velvet was sort of like black-eyed peas, and thus was doubly appropriate for this time of year.  Along with the cake mix, it comes with a packet of 'European-style buttercream' frosting mix.  I didn't feel like messing with the actual frosting of cupcakes or dealing with transporting them without messing up said frosting, so I decided to make cookies, which could then be sandwiched with frosting.  I found this recipe from Duncan Hines for making cookies with cake mix, and because my mix called for the same add-ins to create regular cake as DH, I deduced that this would work for cookies as well.

Not content with that, however, I then also decided that this would be a good opportunity to use up some ice cream by employing the melted ice cream cake technique I've used before.  It really does result in beautifully moist cake.  And when it ends up finishing off a half-eaten pint, it also results in a little more room in the freezer, which is even better.

Hey, at least I used strawberry ice cream.  That's a fruit.  Healthy!

Black Velvet Sandwich Cookies
(makes about 60 sandwiches)

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 1 box Mam Papaul's Black Velvet Cake mix
• 1/2 cup melted ice cream, any flavor (I used Strawberry)
• 2 eggs

Frosting (I only used about 2/3 of the resulting frosting in the sandwiches):

• Frosting packet from Mam Papaul's Black Velvet Cake mix
• 1 cup milk or melted ice cream (I used a mixture of both)
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter (I used 8 Tbsp of butter and 6 Tbsp of Brummel and Brown)
• 1/2 cup shortening

Directions:

1. Starting the frosting: In a pot, mix the milk/melted ice cream with the frosting packet.  Stirring constantly, cook over a medium heat until it starts to bubble, then reduce the heat and continue cooking for about two more minutes, until it looks nice and thick.  Again, stirring constantly.  Then transfer the mixture to a bowl to put into the fridge.  To help smooth the mixture, I went ahead and used a hand mixer to blend it a little more before putting it in the fridge.  The directions on the box say to put the mixture onto a flat plate to speed up the cooling process, but I preferred to use the bowl I would use for later mixing, just to save on dirty dishes.
2. Now for the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Mix cake mix with melted ice cream and eggs.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.
4. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a cookie sheet.
5. Back to the frosting: Take the chilled mixture (it doesn't need to be absolutely cold, just not warm) and add the butter and shortening.  Beat together until you have a smooth, fluffy frosting.  With my hand mixer this took just a few minutes.
6. Assemble the sandwiches by putting a small dollop of frosting onto the center of one cookie and carefully squishing another on top.

A note on the ice cream: You can choose whatever flavor you like, but generally I like to try and make it compatible with the cake flavor.  I used Strawberry this time around because I had a premium pint of it and decided that I was more in the mood for berries than the mix of Bananas Foster and Spiced Pumpkin that I also had available.  The flavor was subtle, but there.  You can also use a 'light' ice cream, in which case it's even more important to measure after melting, because there's more air whipped into slow-churned varieties.

Froyo files: CherryBerry (Bastrop)

We found frozen yogurt in Katy and Houston, so of course we also had to stop by the new place in Bastrop that I had found out about earlier this year.  I couldn't justify squeezing in a visit while on the way to Yarnorama for the holiday party, but as the final stop before finally heading home, it was perfect.

CherryBerry: 747 Hwy 71 West Bastrop, Texas 78602


When I visited: Saturday, December 22nd, around 5 pm

Cost per ounce: 42 cents

Number of flavors: 14

Sorbet options: 2

Experience: There was a good blend of cute and cozy here, with the bright colors that seem to be a requirement for frozen yogurt and some comfy seats and the television tuned to a football game, as it always should be in Texas.

And as we sampled down the line, it only got better.  There were two sorbets, which is always a bonus, especially because one was Watermelon, and even though it was tasty, it's not a flavor Mom likes.  So having Pink Lemonade there as well was good, and even more so because that was a really good, pucker-worthy Pink Lemonade.  I also really liked the Red Velvet, so that made it into my bowl along with some Strawberry and the Pink Lemonade.  Mom just got Pink Lemonade.  Ever notice how much prettier her bowls look than mine?  She has great swirling technique.

The other flavor we both thought was really good was the Chocolate.  It tasted like chocolate rather than chocolate flavor, if that makes any sense.  The White Chocolate Wonder was good, not as amazing as the regular Chocolate, but usually it tastes so artificial that it's worth noting that it was okay.  I almost got some of the Birthday Cake, just because it was such a nostalgic flavor, and the Peanut Butter swirled with the Chocolate was perfectly Reese's.  The only real disappointment was the Salted Caramel Pretzel, which, as you might be able to guess, was too salty.

Because I actually took note of all of the flavors available this time, here's the list: Cookie Monster, Spiced Apple Pie, Cheesecake, Vanilla, and S'Mores.  All of these were good and depending on my mood might have been included in my bowl.

Worth a revisit? Definitely, I got one of their rewards cards and will probably stop by whenever we come to Bastrop.  And I'm researching locations in Austin to try soon as well.

Resolutions...more like 'guidelines' than actual rules

(By the way, I just want to point out, the title of this post is based on a quote from the first 'Pirates of the  Caribbean' movie.  Sometimes I just want to make sure my inside jokes get 'got'.)

Well, it's that time of year.  You know Christmas is over when, instead of a flurry of romantic perfume ads, your commercial time is suddenly dominated by weight loss.  The time for celebration is over, people, it's time to resolve!  And I'm happy to oblige.  I've even published the standard article on Examiner with ideas for knitters making resolutions.

Since I've already done the weight loss resolution thing, I prefer to pick and choose a few things that I'd like to focus my new year's energy on and tackle those.  For this year, most of the resolutions are more, um, mood pieces than actual plots for living the year right.  Things like 'read more' and 'keep blogging regularly' come naturally.

I'm also hoping to collect writerly thoughts in a notebook.  I've already taken the hardest first steps of choosing a blank journal from my collection and staining the opening pages with ink.  I always hate starting new notebooks, because I have a terrifying sense of unworthiness of the things I will write in them.  So far I've started off with four haikus and a story idea about Mrs. Claus.  I've decided that her first name is Mildred and that she's going to try and start her own cookie business.  This will clearly strain her relationship with Santa, who is under a lot of stress and, if he's honest, is a little jealous that Mildred even has the choice to 'opt out' of Christmas at all.

I've also resolved to do a little more selfish knitting this year.  I think 2012 was a great swapping year, and I really do have a lot of fun spoiling others and coming up with things that will make them smile.  But I also feel like I did a lot of knitting and didn't end up with much to show for it in terms of finished objects of my own.  I have a long queue of things I want to make, so I want to tackle that.  Still planning on a few swaps, I can't stay away, but I'm hoping that I can finish my first cardigan as well as some other projects that have patterns, yarn, and everything but the time all set aside and ready to go.  I should also probably refrain from adding to my stash of yarn or fiber, but I make no promises there.

That's enough, isn't it?  To go along with working 9-to-5, baking treats for co-workers and just generally getting by?  I think so, now back to watching college football.  Happy New Year!

Froyo files: Menchie's (Houston, The Heights)

I have a tendency to take note of any available frozen yogurt wherever I am, just in case.  It's the combined result of loving frozen yogurt, and also having that ADD that comes with the iPhone age, when you're always surfing for something.  It's a habit that has come in handy occasionally, like in this case where a Groupon didn't pan out (the business came under new management and wouldn't accept the deal) and we were left wanting a little something before retiring to the hotel room for the night.

Menchie's: 512 West 19th Street, Houston, TX

When I visited: Friday, December 21st, around 8 pm

Cost per ounce: 45 cents

Number of flavors: 16

Sorbet options: 2

Experience: This made me miss the Menchie's that used to be located on North Lamar next to the Central Market.  I like the flow that seems to be designed into each location of these franchises, with the island in the middle and the yogurt and toppings surrounding.  I also have to admit that I like the way this shop is more 'branded' than some others, with the cutesy merchandise and everything.  I like cute things, what can I say?  And the whole place is well-done, comfortable, spacious, and not too cold.  Which is good when you are eating a frozen treat.

But what's most important is the yogurt.  Lots of options, which is always good, and sample cups at the ready, unlike the Yogurt Spot in Katy.  However, they're version of Taro is also unlike the Yogurt Spot anywhere, and was really disappointing.  I also didn't like the Coconut, which had an artificial taste to it.

Thankfully, along with the misses, there were some hits.  I was also surprised that their Tropical Punch was pretty good as well, because that is a flavor that tends towards the artificial, and this version wasn't.  I really liked the Pomegranate Raspberry, so that was the fruity flavor that I mixed with the Dulce de Leche, which was really good, and kind of a relief after having a few caramel flavors recently that were more salty than creamy.  I also added some Gingerbread, which compared really well with the several varieties I've tried over this holiday season.  You know it's good, because otherwise it doesn't really go with the Dulce de Leche and Pomegranate Raspberry, so the fact that I included it says something.

And Mom, as you can see, just went for the Dulce de Leche, with extra caramel topping.  And you can also see, the cuteness factor extends to the spoons.

Worth a revisit? If I lived in the area, sure.  Especially because it's next door to a Penzey's, and I love shopping their spices.  But most likely I'll just wait until I can find a convenient Austin location.