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Blustery is a pain to finish! This sweater involves SO MUCH SEAMING! I’m basically anti-seaming and avoid it whenever possible. I might skip tonight’s SnB just to finish this sweater. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post FO photos tomorrow.
I’ve been true to my word though. I have not touched my sewing machine. Trust me, it’s been tough. I’m getting antsy to make more aprons.
Non crafty related news: I must move out of this house! Living with your parents can get a little…overwhelming. There are always people around! Quiet does not exsist in this household. Just more incentive to get a better job and grow up. I really do love hanging out with my family but living with them? That’s another story.
On January 23rd I wrote, “If I don’t have a substantial amount of posts by February 22nd, then I quit!” I also said I’d write one post a day but I didn’t do that. However, I feel like I’ve been posting on a somewhat regular basis so I’ll stick with it. Blogging also gives me some motivation to sew, knit and cook more so I can have actual things to display on this blog. Am I blogging because I craft or am I crafting because I blog?
After baking the other night, I was a mess. I had flour all over me. My “workspace” is generally clean in the kitchen but I’m a mess. I will definitely sacrifice whatever I’m wearing without even thinking. What else could I do? I just had to make an apron.
I used a re-printed vintage pattern from Simplicity 3544. When I went to choose a pattern, I wasn’t sure what I was looking for but as soon as I saw the pockets and panels, I knew this was the one. Check out the back:
I enjoyed sewing this apron more than anything I’ve worked on so far. Probably because I didn’t have to get caught up in measurements. I’m only wearing this in the kitchen so who cares if the bust is too big? No adjustments to the pattern were necessary. Shopping for the fabric was a fun time because I could basically go as crazy as I wanted. Again, I’m only wearing it in the kitchen, right? The fabric I chose has retro written all over it:
I think sewing is taking over my life. I’ve really been neglecting my knitting lately. My goal is to finish the vest I’m knitting by Sunday. Until then, I’m not going to go anywhere near the sewing machine.
Green Tea Powder (matcha) is IMPOSSIBLE to find. After visiting every “crunchy” store south of Hartford, I caved in and bought a powdered green tea mix made by Lipton (which turned out to be crystallized tea that smells like mint). As I was pulling out of the Shaws parking lot I noticed a Starbucks and remembered the green tea latte, which, is made with matcha. I went up to the counter and basically asked if I could just purchase a few tablespoons of the green tea powder. Of course, he said no. Then, I asked if I could order a grande latte with green tea powder on the side. After rolling his eyes and letting out a groan, he yelled out my order and rang me out. I drove home sipping on my steamed milk feeling very content that I was finally able to make Green Tea Shortbread Cookies from Smitten Kitchen.
I think the best part about making these cookies is the color of the dough. It reminds me of play-dough. Deb over at Smitten Kitchen used these leaf shaped cookie cutters which, are perfect for this color green. I, however, only had these on hand:
As much as I was hoping to be able to make some “I’m Crafty” cookies, I wasn’t able to fit all of the letters. The barista at Starbucks only gave me 1 tablespoon of matcha so I had to third the recipe. I ended up using a glass as a cookie cutter.
Not as fun as ABCs but trust me, they’re still good. The cookies lost a lot of the green color after baking but according to the recipe, the darker the edges the more intense the flavor. I might have to test that with my next batch.
I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to add the white chocolate ganache filling because the cookies are delicious as is but since I believe in indulgence, I went ahead and whipped up some ganache. Honestly, I wasn’t too crazy about it on its own but the ganache made the cookies a million times better.
In conclusion, great cookie recipe. I’m already placing bids on Ebay for some more matcha.
Before I met Conor, Valentine’s Day actually had significance in my life. I’d pretend to not care about the commercial holiday but really deep down, I was wishing I had a valentine. I would secretly hope some secret admirer would reveal themselves by buying me chocolates or sending me flowers. The truth is, I don’t even like flowers that much and if I really wanted chocolate, I’d buy some myself.After I met Conor, I didn’t feel the need to put so much energy into one day. Now, it’s just an excuse to hang out and be us. I dread the thought of dressing up and eating in some expensive restaurant that is totally not us. We could be uncomfortable any day of the year. On a day like today, “the day of romance”, I’d rather get some take-out and snuggle up and watch Lost. Romantic, right? I’ve been trying to find a photo that captures our relationship. It took awhile but this one has to be in the top ten:
We’re two goofy people who happen to be in love.
AND on a crafty related note:
I dread the drive to work but this makes it a little better.
I’m making some progress on Blustery. More details in the next post.
Sorry I’ve been MIA. I had a great weekend in upstate NY and Northampton. I saw Neko Case for the 2nd time on Saturday night and it was incredible. She truly is my favorite musician. She sings so effortlessly. One second she’s joking around and the next she’s belting out a great song. I also love that she has such a great range. Just compare the songs she does with the New Pornographers to her solo stuff. The song that probably did it for me was ” I Wish I Was The Moon”. I remember seeing some reference to it in my boyfriend’s AIM profile before we started dating and out of curiosity (and because I was kind of stalking him) I downloaded the song and I was hooked. So here! Listen to the song and love it. You can either download it or just listen to it online.
In other news, I got that job at the boutique after all. I guess I gave up too soon. It’s an expensive boutique and I generally wear inexpensive clothing so I asked my manager if there was a dress code. She basically told me, “yeah, look cute!” I don’t HAVE to wear clothing from the boutique but she prefers it. She can go on preferring until I have enough money to actually buy anything from there. On a craft related note, I spent all yesterday sewing because I’m a little freaked out about having to dress up for work every other day. I decided to use up my Jo-Ann’s gift certificates and try to make cute clothes. Remember this top? I decided to make the tunic version of it:
Excuse my expression. I think that’s my “I hate taking photos of myself” face. (I really do. I think I ended up propping the camera up on a spray can of cooking oil.) I remembering saying that the last top I made would be my last Built By Wendy pattern but I kept coming back to this tunic and had to make it. I used a heavy double knit jersey which, I love. It’s so warm and comfy. Here’s a shot of the tie in the back:
I don’t know about the tie. I used a hook and eye for the other top but thought I’d try out the tie thing. It doesn’t really bother me when it’s on but I don’t really like the way it looks. Overall, I’m really happy with it though. I think jersey is a little more forgiving than 100% cotton. If something doesn’t line up perfectly, you can stretch it to fit. Also, there are absolutely no frayed ends to deal with.
I’m starting to build quite the fabric stash. I think quilting might be in my future but not anytime soon. I’m going to work on another top for work and pay more attention to knitting for now.
Our original plan was so make these awesome cupcakes to ring in the new season of Lost. The problem was, we could not find those tiny toy airplanes anywhere! So we ended up with these:
They look like a 5 year old could have done a better job but they are delicious. Those white things sticking out of the bottom two cupcakes are paper airplanes.
For anyone who watches lost: WTF?
Anyway, I’ll be out of town this weekend visiting a friend and seeing Neko Case in Northampton so I won’t be able to update until Monday. Hopefully by then most of Blustery will be done. See ya in a couple of days!
