We decided to treat ourselves and the boys to a nice walk in the Beazell Forest today. Perfect beauty with the falling leaves and giant dropped maples all over the ground.

Happy Hiking

- Cerise

Another Knit Down...Litterally

Pun intended, this was knit top down. Took me FOREVER to get my butt in gear to weave in the ends on this bad boy. Not sure why, but I wore the day after I did and loved it. It's definitely too big but still cute with a belt, incredibly comfortable, and not too hot. Perfect fall sweater tunic.

Happy sunny autumn afternoons

Cerise

Sunday Cupcakes

My grandma's 80th birthday was three weeks ago. Family came out from all over to surprise her with a party. My job: make a cake. But of course with a few glutards and dairy derps in the family (this girl being one of them), I of course made two cakes. The request: coconut. The glutenous cake came out a bit heavy as the last two sad little eggs from my chickens barely pulled through and the egg whites were quite lacking. I used them anyways. The glutard version came out amazing, thank you Pamela's mix and yes I still have a ton from the wedding and yes it's still good. Key to amazing coconut frosting (aside from shredded coconut and lovely pastel candies gracefully mashed all over the completed creation): coconut oil in place of butter and coconut milk (from the can) in place of cow milk (don't forget the meringue powder for a perfect texture). Though I tried to make the glutard cake derp free, I realized much too late I forgot to cut my ridiculously tall 6" baked good in half and add frosting in the middle. Still delicious. Here are my sweet little creations!

Happy baking my little cupcakes!

Cerise

Blocking Out

This sweater was in the works not too long ago. I started it in March this year and trucked along pretty quickly with it, especially for fingering weight on a size 3 needle. I decided to knit both sleeves at once since the yarn was getting low and maybe if I ran out I could shorten the sleeves. When the yarn did finally run out, I realized this would not work well with the style. Alas, I had a sweater without it's full sleeves. I searched around for a skein in my dye lot to no avail so I took a risk and ordered one skein last week. After the exciting Wednesday of getting my Quince and Co. package in the mail I was even more excited to see that the new dye lot matched quite perfectly to my old stuff. So I've been knitting away every night this week on the last bits of the sleeves and finally finished around 1:30 am yesterday. Quite tame to my 5 am sweater completion a few years ago on my French Braid Pullover. I force myself to bed, not before considering some intrelac and the weird way I cheat my ssk's and if it really makes a difference or not, and woke up eager to weave in my ends and decide whether blocking was worthwhile. I'll admit I was more excited to get pumpkins first, even in the chilly drizzle of Oregon. With ends woven I laid my Lightweight Pullover sweater out on my bed, yes I need to invest in some blocking pads but the bed seems to work just fine for now, I sprayed and tugged away. Voila! I can't wait to wear it out the cider press party tonight. I think it will be perfect for a cold, grey fall evening!

Happy blocking yarn friends

Cerise

Saturday Cupcakes

More delicious deserts along the wedding theme. So intricate and very cute, these would be great as special treats for the bride and groom and the wedding party. Enjoy.

- Cerise

Saturday Cupcakes

Weddings are coming up soon so here are some cute cake pops I saw around New Year. They look more like sweet bride and groom treats though. Enjoy.

- Cerise

Saturday Cupcakes

Cupcakes are great, but cakes are also up there in wonderful. Here is a beautiful ombre ribbon cake with flowers to start your June. Enjoy.

- Cerise

Sluggish

I think this little guy was moving faster than me on the running trail last week.

- Cerise

Saturday Cupcakes

Here are some lovely pink flower cupcakes. Enjoy.

- Cerise

Foodie Friday

This goes out to the foodies. This is a delicious gluten-free spread from New Cascadia Bakery in Portland, Oregon. My favorite stop anytime my family heads north and even my gluten-eating counterparts love their sweet and savory goodies.

- Cerise