Wednesday, October 19, 2011

A New Trolley

We recently acquired a little RV, a Toyota Dolphin. It seems like it has been used by dudes (hunters or fishermen?) as it had no curtains and is very plain. First thing I made is curtains for the big windows. I am working on more curtains for the sleeping area and some great throw pillows to make it look nicer. We plan on pulling up the carpet, doing some paining and making it really fun! This is now the project that will occupy much of my time. I am cruising thrift stores for pots and pans and scrap fabric. In between I will still do some knitting and other sewing. What a fun adventure. We plan on making a debut trip this weekend. It has been dubbed the Trolley (something to do with Mr. Roger's Neighborhood).
Theresa, Ommama

Friday, September 9, 2011

Cute Stinkin' Sweater!


Okay, it was 90 degrees today. Doesn't mean it won't get chilly. We welcome these warm days here in the Willamette valley as we had a very late start to the summer. But looking at all the lovely yarns and patterns makes me wish for just a little chill in the air. This pattern came through Knit Purl's newsletter today and I love it! The Levenwick Cardigan is an intermediate pattern level which means Krafty Katina can make, Ommama, not. I can aspire, though!
Happy crafting!


Thursday, September 8, 2011

Feature Friday (again on Thursday!)



I came across this very cute crochet site on Etsy the other day. I love with The Nerds Nest sushi plays set and the plush smores. These are knitted in the Amigurumi Japanese style of knitting or crocheting small anthropomorphic creatures. They are knitted by Alexa, a full-time college student and part-time crafter. Just the kind of clever and fun that Krafty Katina and OmMama love!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Feature Friday (on a Thursday!): Dawn Finney

Okay, I know, it's not Friday. But I didn't get to blogging much last week and missed featuring a knitter. Don't worry! You get twice the features this week and nothing really sounds good with Thursday so just play along.

Welcome back from the moon and to a sweet volcano! Dawn Finney keeps knitting her magic with adorable toys! Check out some of her cute patterns:





This knitter definitely needs to get her a published book! Thanks for sharing all your great knitting ideas Dawn!

Happy Knitting!
Cerise : )

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

New Knitting Books!

The mail held an awaited treasure today. Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs From Interweave was stuck in the mail box. The first time I used this book I checked it out from the library and held on to it forever (yes, the was quite a late fee) and made socks for presents from a few of the patterns. I actually still have my favorite pair from there, though it is currently hibernating. There wasn't enough yarn to finish the toe and I realized that the legs weren't even the same length! There are quite a few patterns in this that I absolutely love.
I have indulged in knitting books that past few weeks and picked up Itty-Bitty Toys from my LYS and Last Minute Knitted Gifts I spotted on the back stock shelves in the basement at work one day. My tangible knitting library is starting to grow quite fast (the digital library has been beyond control for a long time). A new bookshelf is in order but it will have to wait. A few piles are collecting on my knitting cabinet and in a basket on the living room floor. Next on my wish list:

What's new in your library?

Happy Cataloging,
Cerise : )

Monday, August 22, 2011

Here is one on Ommama's wish list (and I wish I could knit better!)
Silk Cloud Pullover from Shibui knits
Theresa, Ommama

Friday, August 19, 2011

Knitting Christmas Gifts



Last year for Christmas we tried to do only hand-made gifts. As happens every year, we don't stick to our rules. This year we are going for just stocking-stuffers. We'll see how that turns out! I still owe embroidered dish towels and knitted socks to my mother-in-law and embroidered dish towels to my parents from last Christmas. Though I am slowly working on those open ended gifts, I thought ahead this year and got sock yarn for my parents' socks. I need more yarn like I need a hole in my head but I once again couldn't resist Shibui Staccato Sock Yarn and this time I found in at Fiber, Nooks, and Crannys in Corvallis! Yes, I still have about seven skeins of 50s Kitchen sitting around. But I had to get something special for the holidays, right? The silk is what gets me. And not to mention the great color schemes. To simplify my crafting and to keep a yearly track of what I made, I decided to make the same sock pattern for everyone who's getting socks. I should be able to knit them in my sleep by the time I'm on the third pair!


While sitting in a hotel room in Seattle, I started knitting up my dad's socks, two at a time. I'm pretty sure I'm not doing the whole two pairs of socks on one needle thing right but it's working, sort of. No, I can't put a picture of the socks up until after the holidays. Don't want to ruin the surprise!






Happy Knitting,



Cerise : )

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Eyes, Legs, and Feet, Oh My!

Okay, I'm finally going to share my super treasures I got a couple weekends ago from the fabulous Daisy Drygoods . Last year I started getting interested in old dolls. Honestly, they kind of creep me out, especially the really old ones. But I bought a few dolls and might even do a few mail-order/online doll making classes. And then I found the mecca of doll parts. Glass eyes are my favorite treasure I found. There were lots of legs, ceramic and composite materials, and some arms and torsos too. There was even an awesome little kewpie doll but his sweet little arm was busted off so he didn't get to come home with me.

Here is a picture of some of my awesome goodies I got. Not sure what I'm going to do with them yet. I wish I had gotten more glass eyes for Halloween.


Need some doll parts? If you can't get by Daisy Drygoods in Arcata, California, check out the following Etsy sites. But watch out, I've drooled all over listings eying all the wonderful doll parts!





Happy Doll Hunting!
Cerise : )


Friday, August 5, 2011

Visiting Fort Bragg


The next stop for our journey last week was to Fort Bragg for a family reunion. We had to stop at a store and pick up some pie. On the way into the store the word fabric caught my eye on a store sign near the market. I ditched the pie buying group and ran over to the little corner craft store. Fabric Indulgence carries fabrics by the bolt (some really nice ones too!), fat quarters, silk ribbons (they are so beautiful), paints, beads, patterns, and sumi-e supplies. Lucky me, Iwent in during their 20% off fabric sale. It did get me to buy two yards of wonderful fabric I was trying to stay away from. Some pretty little fat quarters made it home with me too!


There was a cute little yarn store on the other side of the market. The dog and I peeked into the window, but I still wasn't in a yarn mood. They will definitely be a stop next time I pass through.
There wasn't much down time at the family reunion with playing music, catching up with family, and throwing the dog off the paddle boat into the salty river. I did sneak out my fabric and thread and work on some little pumpkins toward the evening. My niece even wanted to sew with me. It was her first time sewing and she made half a pumpkin, sewed on a leaf, and put a silly patch on the side of her creation. It ended up going to a cousin who was very excited. The hotel was a better sewing environment that evening. It can't get much better than staying by the ocean with family and a stinky, salty dog and sewing pumpkins while watching the original Planet of the Apes!

Happy Crafty Travels,
Cerise : )

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Favorite Arcata Crafty Stores


A late arrival back to Corvallis on Sunday left me way to beat to post yesterday, but I did play with some of my new treasures that were found during my journey. Now that I am somewhat rested, here are some of my favorite stores in Arcata for getting crafty supplies, though this doesn't include all of them!


First stop after coffee and doughnuts on Friday was Daisy Drygoods on the H Street side of the Arcata Plaza, my all-time favorite store. I could have spent many hours and many dollars in this antique and vintage supply store. It's like a typical dry goods store from a long-ago era that was unearthed after being forgotten for a while. Not only do they have some fun antique and
vintage nick-knacks and clothing, they have all sorts of fabric, yarn, doll parts, buttons, ribbon, sewing machine parts, hat making supplies, and so much more. I was excited to learn that they have an Etsy page that will be up and running soon. Hooray!! My favorite find was a painted fabric doll leg. The weirdest find I took home were glass doll eyes. Oh why oh why didn't I get more!


They are ever so unique. Weirdest find I did not take home: the three-faced doll in a fuzzy hooded jumper whose head spins to reveal different faces. Super creepy but really neat! (You can see it in the picture of doll parts.) There were also ceramic legs and arms of all sorts, mostly large pairs. Down in the bottom of the leg bin was a baggy with three little appendages that just had to come home with me. I wasn't really in a fabric mood and I was feeling a bit rushed, but now I'm regretting not spending more time in Daisy Drygood's fabrics.


They have wonderful old fabrics and flour sacks that would be splendid for so many projects. I still have some fabric bits I got there forever ago that I love. Though I wish I could have spent longer perusing, I'm very excited about my doll part finds.

My next stop was Fabric Temptations on the other side of the Plaza. (Find them on Facebook here.) I went in to check out their fat quarters but I was still not feeling very fabric-excited so I didn't stay long. They have a great selection of fabrics, yarn, buttons (I have a really awesome Apatosaurus button from there), ribbon, trims, and books so be sure to check them out if you are ever passing through Arcata. Hopefully I will be craving fabric or yarn next time I go through!

Happy Supply Hunting,
Cerise : )

P.S.
A great big THANK YOU! to Rose at Daisy Drygoods for setting up a pick-up for the doll leg since I was overwhelmed and insane and brought up an unintended arm. I'm very happy for my leg!!

Friday, July 29, 2011

On the Road Again


Dale and I took off for Mendocino County late yesterday afternoon. We'll be going to a BIG family reunion of his dad's side of the family as well as visiting other family and friends while there. We were going to camp near Grant's Pass last night but didn't find anything close to a town to grab some food and later found all sites full along the coast we full. We stopped for pizza in Crescent City (I know, I'm not supposed to eat it, but there was NOTHING else open). We ended up our our good family friends' house in Arcata at 1am. To our surprise, they had a tent already set up in the yard and snacks out on the table (they were expecting someone else but were happy to see us too!). We got a nice camping night in looking at stars and listening to bats. This morning was wonderfully cool and overcast with chippers of humming birds kindly waking us. We enjoyed some wonderful fruit, coffee, and conversation before heading out to make a ruckus about Arcata's town square.


Our first stop is our old haunting study grounds, Mosgo's Coffee and Tea. Fabulous hot chocolate, great jazz music, and in depth discussion of the beauty of Hogwarts and it's grounds and the imperfections of the use of wizardry, all making for the perfect atmosphere we remember. And they have almond milk!! Later we will grab a doughnut from Don's (BEST ever. Yes, waaaay better than Voodoo in Portland). I've been saving up for this for two weeks! Of course the pizza kind of blew that. I also have a few people to visit and a couple of my favorite stores I have to hit up before we head further south. Don't worry, I will post pictures of my treasures and the store fronts. Check back for what goodies I find!!

Happy Travels!
Cerise : )

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Seersucker


Is is getting hot yet? A most wonderful invention, seersucker fabric, is a great choice to keep you cool in the summer. I remember a great little summer red and white seersucker suit I had in the 70's. It was stylin' (and of course if I kept it I would have a great little vintage outfit)!

Seersucker came into English from from the Persian words "shir o shekar," meaning "milk and sugar" supposedly from the resemblance of its smooth and rough stripes to the smooth surface of milk and bumpy texture of sugar. Seersucker is woven so that some of the threads bunch together, giving the fabric a wrinkled appearance. This feature causes the fabric to be mostly held away from the skin when made into garments, improving air circulation. Also, pressing is not necessary.

In the late 1990s, Mississippi Senator Trent Lott revived a long-forgotten Senate tradition. He selected a hot day in summer to be designated Seersucker Thursday. His goal was to show that “the Senate isn’t just a bunch of dour folks wearing dark suits and—in the case of men—red or blue ties.” Today, senators voluntarily make this annual fashion statement to remind their colleagues of what earlier Senates considered mandatory summer attire. Stay cool!
Theresa, Ommama

Monday, July 25, 2011

Fruits of Labor


Once again it's been FOREVER since I've posted. I've been overwhelmed with work and hadn't really been crafting much. Last week I decided it was finally time I get the craft hut up and running again. I cleaned out all the chicken dust, threw open the curtains (should have done that before dusting), and pulled out some glitter and glue. More on those projects later though. My neighbor friend Nicole just got back from her honeymoon in Hawaii and we were excited to have an afternoon to craft with each other after a long hiatus with all her wedding planning and crafting. Nicole brought over her fabric scraps and a cute fruit pincushion pattern. This was the first time we actually finished a project in one sitting! Well, almost. A little bit of embroidery on the leaves and I'll be content with it. We hand-sewed our pears and used some wonderful wool felt for the leaves and stems. They came out so cute we decided we are going to make a whole basket full of fruits.

Happy Sewing!
Cerise : )

P.S.: I PROMISE to post more!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Summer Shirt Dress



On a last minute whim, Theresa and I decided we just HAD to use our grand opening coupons at the bigger and (slightly) better JoAnn's in town. Of course, that's always hard to do when almost everything is on sale! We spent way more time browsing than intended, mostly due to a few people with TONS of bolts needing cut, and of course we are easily distracted. A lovely cotton shirt fabric jumped off the shelf at me and I headed overto patterns to find the perfect design for a lovely cotton floral print. I had in mind a wrap dress but a Simplicity Lisette shirt dress pattern seemed absolutely perfect for my newly found fabric friend. When I got to the cut table the bolt was short a half yard for the dress pattern but I decided it would work to shorten it into a shirt or do the other not-as-cute-or-flattering shirt dress pattern in the set. Saturday was my day to relax and not worry about cleaning the house or weedingthe garden so I decided to start on my dress. It's been quite a while since I've sewn. The craft hut is still a chicken-rearing disaster so I brought my machine and tools into the kitchen, threw the leaves into my grandpa's table, and started ironing and cutting away. My goal was to get the dress done for a dinner date and good-bye party but, asusual, that was another silly Cerise dream. After my dinner date (sadly, I missed the good-bye party since dinner took a while), I stayed up late sewing and ran out of thread. Sunday morning I switched from a bright reddish-pink to a bright red spool of thread and kept on sewing while Theresa made a zafu and linen napkins. With the sleeves painlessly sewn on, the button holer was attached and sewing away with not all the button holes being centered down the front plaquette by the end of it all. I added a random mix of white buttons from my collection of odds and ends gathered from thrift stores and old clothing along the other front plaquette and viola! A done summer shirt dress. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day so I'll have to put it away for the summer sun, if it ever comes! It's a little snug in my hips but fits my upper body really great.The buttons were put on too close together so theleft side of the dress is about an inch shorter than the right side, but at this point, I don't really care and I don't think anyone else but my fiancé will notice.


Happy Sewing and Hoping for Sun!!!
Cerise : )

Monday, June 13, 2011

Lovely Linen Napkins


Our sad little excuse for a fabric chain store was closing it's doors to open a larger store in the Big Box section of town and there were some great closeout deals. A wonderful green linen peeked out from between gaudy costume fabric and a bolt of disturbing colored velveteen. When I saved it from the pile it pleaded to be made into a set of napkins. Sewing on sunny weekend days is always hard to do but unfortunately Corvallis got a not-so-rare rainy day in mid-summer. Cerise invited me over to sew while she finished up a cotton shirt dress so I measured out my fabric and cut it up into squares, ironed and folded, and sewed away. A half hour later a set of six wonderful napkins were neatly folded and waiting to be used for my next dinner party. A great project for a rainy day!
Theresa, Ommama

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Grand Opening!



This weekend marks the grand opening of our local Jo-Ann's here in Corvallis. I took a sneak peak recently. What a change! From a dreary little crowded shop with horrible rust carpeting to a huge, well-lit grocery store size store. Oddly, though they had it well-stocked and full of new things, the place is very "harsh" and "severe". What a contrast to yarn stores, that tend to be well-lit and yet soft and cozy. Perhaps it is the difference between corporate, big box, to independent or perhaps it is the medium: bolts of fabric interspersed with notions and imported craft supplies versus fluffy angora, alpaca and wool. I always want to linger in a yarn store. I will go to the grand opening of Jo-Ann anyway. After all, I have a chance to win a gift card!

Theresa, Ommama

Sunday, May 22, 2011

One More Great Find


Here is one more great find from the Antique Mall in Albany, Oregon where I got my sewing machine. They had this 1960 Bing and Grondahl Christmas plate. I was lucky enough to get my grandmother's collection of these lovely Danish plates and have added to it ever since. I have been also trying to fill in backwards to 1957, my earliest plate from Grandma. I found this 1960 plate at a great price. My husband's uncle sent me my very favorite, the 1907 "Little Match Girl" at Christmas this year (Thank you, Ted!). My china cabinet is full so I either will need to buy another cabinet or store away further purchases. I could also get crazy and hang them all over my walls. They are sure beautiful!
Theresa, Ommama

Friday, May 20, 2011

A Lovely Mother's Day Gift

I had to share this photo of the bowl set I got recently for a mother's day gift fro Cerise! I love these old kitchen pottery bowls. Cerise is starting to collect Bauer Pottery herself so she is always on the prowl at antique store and thrift store to find some little gems for her collection. I can't wait to display these in my new cabinet! (more on that later!)
Theresa, Ommama

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Salivating over Another Sewing Machine

Here is a great site if you love Singer Featherweights as we do. April 1930's is a site and shopped dedicated to Singer 221 and 221K models. They also have a great newsletter and wonderful information. Their current newsletter features a 100-year old brochure from Singer "Evolution of the Singer Needle" explaining how needles are made.
And, they have the coolest Singer 222 model. These have a thin arm so that you can sew in the tiniest places. I will have to sell a lot more on Etsy before I get one of these baby's. I am putting it on my Birthday, Christmas and all other holiday list!
Theresa, Ommama

Monday, May 9, 2011

New Singer! Am I collecting?


A mother's day treat was to hang out at a local antique mall with Cerise. I wanted to find a small table with a drawer to fit in the hallway. Tape measure in hand, we set out to find the perfect little item. We did not find a table; instead we found a portable Singer 221-1 in wonderful condition. I am not sure yet, but I think it is a 1952. It has all it's parts including the instruction manual and just a little bit of scratches on the front. It is very dry and will need to be oiled. The machine says made in Great Britain and the motor says made in Canada. I will be doing some research to find out more.

It's not like I really need another machine, but it is so rare to find one in pristine condition I couldn't pass it up. I am not sure at which point one is considered collecting. So far I have two of these Singer Featherweights and Cerise has one. I am very excited to give my new old gal a spin and see how she sews! Thanks for the great Mother's Day, Cerise!
Theresa, Ommama

Monday, April 18, 2011

Knitted Foodies for Passover



I've really been into knitting monsters lately and now I spend a lot of time obsessively browsing Ravelry for toy knitting patterns. Of course, knitted cupcakes and pastries are always appetizing and little mice of all sorts are very cute. Some fun Passover food patterns for the seder plate that are out there as well so I thought to share a pattern set for Passover Eve. (I even found a knitting pattern set for the 10 plagues of Exodus! I really love the origami froggy and little locust but the Egyptian kid is a bit iffy.) So many fun knitted noshes are out there it's hard to pick just a few to share. I've found that I can always find someone to give my newest monsters to but I never could think of what I would do with little knitted foodies. These would definitely be fun play knits for young children, and I have a few younger-aged relatives who might enjoy playing with my food. So watch out monsters, there might be some knitted food fights in with the youngin's in the future!

Happy Food Fights!
Cerise : )

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Liquidation Sale

The only thing better than getting those great fabric store coupons in the mail is getting a liquidation notice. Apparently the new Joann's store is getting stocked all anew. So the old Joann's is completely liquidating. Good news, savings store wide. Bad news, no selection and the prices aren't as great as they first appear. That didn't stop me from buying a lot of stuff. I couldn't get bobbins or needles for my machine. They were gone before liquidating. And there were very few patterns, though I looked for hours.

I did get oodles of fabric, most of it 50% off. I also came home with 10 spools of thread, a vase (no, I really didn't need it) and some funny little boxes. I will now have to sell a lot of yoga bags before I can go to the new store and spend more money on fabric!
Theresa, Ommama

Friday, March 25, 2011

Bigger Better Fabric Store

While I love specialty and independent fabric stores, for staples Jo-ann's is the go-to place. The store in Eureka, California was so small and always out of products. Then I moved to Corvallis, Oregon and the store was even smaller! They have incredibly decrepit carpet and shelves and so little room. But the staff is always very nice there and mostly I get what I need.

I am very excited now that they are moving to a bigger, new store. I have great expectations (more cotton strap and cord colors please!) of a wonderful new store. I only wish that they would carry more items, especially more fabrics, made in the USA. But alas, there is very little cotton grown in the US any more (all the cotton fields have been taken over by corn) and very few mills. I looked for hours one day at fabrics and only found one denim that was made in the US. I do look forward to that grand opening at Jo-ann's in May!
Theresa, Ommama

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Kitty Sweater Toys!

I made a few cute kitty toys awhile back but didn't have a kitty to test them on. In the past, I would have tried it out on Katina, Cerise's cat, but since Dexter, her dog, has a habit of swallowing toys, I can't give her anything that isn't bigger than she is. So when Kelly made a special order through my Etsy site for a cushion that her cats had torn up, I included the cat toy in with her order.

The toy is made of an old wool sweater cut up and sewn into a little sweater shape. It is filled with catnip and cut pieces of wool. It has now been thoroughly tested and approved by Alistair (pictured) and Emma. Look for these kitty toys available soon. Thanks for the testing, Kelly!
Theresa, Ommama

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

I recently got a special request through Etsy. A customer saw my meditation cushions and my mini-cushions and wondered if I could make her an even smaller cushion, a mini-zafu of sorts, for her singing bowl.
Kelly's cats liked her singing bowl cushion so much that they tore it up. So I went about making a very tiny zafu that is stuffed with buckwheat to hold a singing bowl. And it worked quite nicely! Kelly sent me a photo of it with her singing bowl. I included a toy for Kelly's cats. More on that later! Happy sitting!
Theresa, Ommama

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Frustrations in Knitting


Knitting is relaxing. Knitting is relaxing. Knitting is relaxing. Wait. Did I just knit two together or did I skip that? ARRGGH. Okay, I admit that I do not practice much and unlike Cerise, I mostly knit on Tuesdays at the wine bar. So the last few nights I have sat myself down and knitted a few rows each evening. No music, no wine, no chit chat, just me and the yarn. Going slow, no distractions, one, two three, [I outta call my mom tomorrow] five, wait. ARRRGH.

Really, knitting is much better zen practice than sitting on a cushion. If you can clear your mind of all thought and just get into the rhythm, it's easy, right? Just like sitting on a cushion, it's all practice and patience.
Theresa, Ommama

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Crafty Food and Table

As our dreary February rolled into a dreary March we looked forward to having some friends over to dinner in our new house. We are lucky to have a lot of daffodils in our area and the first to poke their little heads out are the tiny ones. They even survived the snow storm so I made them the center piece of my table. I borrowed a cute yellow vase from Cerise and got some bright yellow place mats. I served mango skewers (pictured) and curried vegetables. Though the curry was a little too hot, all in all it was a pretty table and a bright spot at the end of winter. And today the sun is shining! We got in a long walk and now off to sew!
Theresa, Ommama

Monday, February 28, 2011

New Studio

We are finally all settled in our new home and I had my first full day in a very long time of just sewing! I have a very spacious room and it is light and warm. I need to get another table to put my ironing board on and shelves for my fabric. All my fabric is now in totes and I waste a lot of time digging through them. The room needs some more decorations but for the most part I am all set. I expect to be very productive!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Friday Find: Artist Nicaeli


Our featured artist is one of my favorite! Nicaeli is on Etsy and I first came across her when I was living in humboldt County. I needed a new wallet and wanted something unique. I found her by searching "Shop local" on Etsy and realized she lived right in Arcata. I loved the products as she makes them from recylced leather. My wallet was bright green (my favorite color!).

As December neared this year, I thought I might want a new wallet as the old one was getting worn out. Cerise told me it was fine and I didn't need new one. What she really did is order a new (upcycled!) wallet from Nicaeli, Nicael Leistikow. I love it! I love that Nicael hand makes these and that she uses recycled leather. She also make handbags and accessories as well as beautiful masks. Check out her shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/nicaeli and her blog at http://gurglythings.blogspot.com.
Thanks Nicael!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Weekend of School


I'm taking a really dumb class to complete my degree. Unfortunately it's sucking away my whole weekend and has consumed a good chunk of my week. I'll be back with something gun next week!

Happy Studying!
Cerise : )

Cerise is right about keeping stuff that might be a great craft project in the future. We just moved so we were culling stuff before moving and I am still doing so. I have collected match book covers (a neat necklace box, mini-shrine??) tons of scrap paper (home made cards maybe), bottle caps (magnets?) old jeans (placemats, bags?) lots of scrap fabric, old maps and so much more! While I kept a few things, I finally recycled things that I didn't have a project in mind for. We do live in a bigger house, so I can start collecting more stuff!
Theresa, Ommama

New Favorite Knit!


The Big Book of Knitted Monsters and MochiMochi knits are really awesome and keeping me well entertained. But there is a knitter out there who needs to get her own book published. While browsing newly posted Ravelry patterns the other night I came across Dawn Finney's Big Knitted Moon!!! Her other space and science knits already had me tickled pink but I almost jumped off my couch and ran around squealing when this massive moon came into view. The craters randomly dispersed, the adorable little eyes, the wonderful mooniness of this guy just makes him so wonderful. I haven't knit any of these wonderful amigurumis but they are definitely on my list to knit. These will make great classroom props when I'm a teacher!! Ms. Finney, get yourself published!

Happy Pattern Searching,
Cerise : )

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Cupcake Crazies



These cupcakes were supposed to be baked on Sunday. Half were to go to work on Valentine's Day and the other half to knit night the day after. However, since I didn't bake on Sunday night, I decided post-Valentine's cupcakes would have to do. Every time I make cupcakes (my favorite thing to bake since it's easy and frostable), I use Bob's Red Mill (BRM) Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Mix. I panicked that I wouldn't have enough so I had my fiancé pick up some yellow cake mix. Alas, the Co-op didn't have BRM mix so Pamela's was the next choice. I'm familiar with BRM cake mix so I was a little worried about Pamela's mix. I was right in being worried. The mix was not as thick and fluffy and all the little mini muffin cups spilled over in the oven. This led to a massive cupcake chain that will be interesting to take apart and salvage into normal mini cupcakes. The flavor of Pamela's yellow cake mix is really good though and is making up for the runny, messy batter. The vanilla frosting and decorations have yet to come to check back tomorrow for more pictures!

Happy Baking,
Cerise : )