Mini Pizzas. Uses up leftovers. Accommodates picky eaters. Allows for experimenting with new flavors and combos.

Basil, spinach, a bit of leftover cheese, and tomatoes. "Sauce" was a combo of Laughing Cow cheese wedges (good in theory, but not recommended...got a little weird after the oven). 

Prepping everything ahead of time made assembly a snap. I used my typical pizza crust recipe, but store-bought would make this even easier.

A little salad mix (primarily spinach is great) adds some healthy veggies. This one is also topped with some chopped artichoke hearts.

Final note: if you have fresh basil...use it! Yum!

Dainty and Cozy: A Newborn Cardigan

What a joy to knit this tiny sweater. 

Dainty and Cozy (Ravelry Project Link)

Pattern: Baby Mine by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

I had this yarn in my stash for quite some time (DROPS Baby Merino), and had attempted a few sweater patterns with it. I started one, then realized the pattern would eat up far more than the two skeins I had on hand. I started again, and then the gauge wasn't quite right. Back to the stash it went.

Finally, I found the perfect match with the Baby Mine pattern. The lace pattern, garter yoke, and tiny size all helped this knit fly off the needles. As soon as I finished, I wanted to make another. (And I probably will!)

I recently gifted this to my good friend and her precious new baby girl. 

Cozy wool helping to stave off the frigid winter. 

Peppermint Cigarette Russes

 

The sugar coma.

One of my favorite holiday traditions.

As I was browsing through Smitten Kitchen recently, I stumbled upon this recipe. Cigarette Russes.

Though I was looking for a cheesecake recipe (ahem), I couldn't resist bookmarking these cookies and giving them a try the next day.

The recipe requires baking three or four small circles of batter at a time spread thinly onto a baking sheet. After several minutes of baking the cookies are carefully rolled around a chopstick (or something similar) and left for a few minutes to set before the chopstick is removed. It took a few tries for me to get the hang of it.
And it's worth noting that when you're only baking three cookies at a time, you will be baking for some time! I eventually got into a rhythm of switching my cookie sheets out so it went faster, but it was still a while before I finished.

Some notes:
If you underbake them, they roll up nicely, but then refuse to crisp up.
If you overbake them, they are a bit too crispy on the edges to roll up nicely. Finding the perfect time to pull them out of the oven is a challenge. However, the results are rewarding when they're just right.

Did I mention, they are simply delicious?

I added peppermint extract to the batter (good decision, I congratulated myself) and dipped them in a healthy coat of chocolate.

A simple cookie recipe with a challenging execution.

They look fancy (though please dip yours in chocolate more carefully than I did) and taste delicious.

Highly recommended indeed.

Merry Christmas

Hi there. Well, 2013 has shaped up to be a big year for me. It's exciting to be stepping forward into a new season of life. I fully intend on sharing bits and pieces of that new season here on this blog. 

 I truly have missed my crafting, writing, and dreaming. No longer. Regardless of busy days or nights, I am slowly, but surely, gaining back my creativity. I look forward to sharing it. 

Merry Christmas! 

Featherweight Cardigan

So after an extended hiatus, I've finally returned to this blog. I didn't manage to get much knitting (or crafting in general) while I was away at school, but I did finish this cardi up in the few weeks after finals were over.

Quite happy with the way this turned out. Very simple, but very wearable. Also, there is something to be said for a simple stockinette stitch piece when one is trying to jump back into knitting ;)

Ravelry Project Page

Yarn: Elann Lustrado

I enjoyed working with this yarn. I would reccomend knitting it at a large gauge though (this was perfect). My first attempt with this yarn was for Arisag, and at that smaller gauge I felt the fabric was too stiff.

The pattern: Featherweight Cardigan by Hannah Fettig

Just as fun to knit as the first time :)

I did make a few mods to the pattern. Namely, lengthening the cardi and opting for 2x2 rib instead of a stockinette collar.

For the lengthening, I definitely should've added waist shaping, it drapes kind of oddly in the front at the moment.

For the collar, the 2x2 rib is currently ruffling up, which could be due to the cast off, or because I picked up too many stitches. Either way, I'll need to figure out a fix, because sadly blocking didn't improve matters.

Also recently, Celeste and I hit up Shepherd's Harvest again this year (goodness, it's already been several weeks since then!). Super fun as usual, though this year I refrained from buying anything. Oddly enough, I was super lazy this year and didn't get any pictures, so check out Celeste's post for those :)

Not sure when I'll be posting at this space next (hopefully more often!), but thank you for visiting! :)

...

Autumn is just around the corner (yay, I love autumn!) and with it my schedule is changing up as well. The world of academia is calling me into a season of prolonged busyness, which means less time to craft and participate in the crafty blog realm. :(

I'm pretty sure I'll be able to keep up with most of my favorite blogs, but I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write posts. Hopefully some random words or photos every once in awhile, but not much beyond that.

Oh, I really wanted to post about the McCall's 5523 pencil skirt, but I never got to hem it! Hemming a skirt is a lot more time consuming than I expected! But I really loved the pattern, very easy to sew and really cute. My skirt is just a little big on me (the wool I sewed it with had more stretch than the muslin I used to test the pattern) but it fits my sister quite well, so that worked out nicely. Will definitely be sewing another one of these soon, I love all options for the back panel, it'll be a lot fun to try them out!

Refrigerator Pickles

Thanks everyone for your sweet comments on my last few posts. I love reading your thoughts :)

I've been working away on the pencil skirt pattern from the last post, and am nearly ready to photograph. I'm pretty happy with the way it's turning out, though I may consider going one size smaller next time. Can"t wait to share with you!

Over the weekend I made some refrigerator pickles to preserve a boatload of cucumbers that were given to me. I used my grandmother's recipe for these, and it was quite easy to make. Vinegar, sugar, celery seed, and onions. Simple simple.

I cut my cucumbers into 1/4" slices (or roughly around there) and that seemed to work quite well. Make sure to pack these tightly. Oh, and it'll work a lot better if your cucumbers are smaller in diameter. Mine were a bit oversized and it made it harder to pack them in