Cupcake Time

I would not say I am the queen of cupcakes, but I do go a little overboard when it comes to decorating them. Although, if I do remember correctly these had a cheese cake filling that I put in before they were baked, giving the centre a super moist sweet surprise when they were bitten into.

I think these look far superior to a cupcake that just has a dollop of icing circled onto the top, and with the shimmer they just have an extra touch of elegance.

 Now, don't get me wrong a dollop of icing works if you need to decorate hundreds upon hundreds of cupcakes in a day, but really once you get the hang of a rose they really do not take that much longer....

Recreating this rose look isn't as hard as you would suspect, grab a piping bag and a tear drop tip that is curved. The curve faces inwards, and the largest part of the drop faces down. Then make a pyramid in the middle of the cake and work out from there creating each individual petal.

 The cupcake below, is one of the first I ever decorated as a flower, and it is more of a daisy, carnation-esque type flower and you can probably tell from the plate it was on that it was Christmas time.

GIANT CUPCAKE TIN!
Note to self, always make enough icing the first time so that you can decorate the whole cake.

Now go and decorate a cupcake :)

Caviar Nails

Yes, that is right. So I tried these when they first came out, and never really thought about them that much until now. So, they are a good idea in theory. In practice not so much. I had little tiny beads rolling around my desk for the next 24 hours, stuck in the key board, and although not a nail bitter occasionally when I am nervous or need something to do with my hands I will have a bit of a gnaw, if you will excuse the expression, this leads to then wondering why in the world you have some crunchy in your mouth.

Don't get me wrong, really cool as an optional idea, or a night out at the Eddies or something fantastic, red carpet perhaps.

But if you do sensible things with your hands for a living, AKA lifting boxes, typing on your computer, shuffling paper etc, just back away slowly and get some sand polish instead. Fairly similar effect, but not quite so raised off the nail so you get a longer lasting result.

Peace Kids.

AJ

Begonia Swirl

On March 28 of 2014 I started the Beognia Swirl (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/begonia-swirl) this lovely shawl was started for a friend of mine to be used as a nursing shawl, is she actually using it or is it just to pretty to use, I am not sure but it turned out beautifully.
I finished, after a few bad words and a few adjustments to have an amazing shawl that I think anyone would be proud to own. The yarn that I used was Bernat Boutique Unforgettable, in Dragonfly, about 6 skeins was needed by the time I cast off.
Now by adjustments I do not mean anything about the actual pattern itself, I just mean about the length. The repeat itself was 40 by the time you got to the last stages of the pattern and are working on the beautiful edging. But since mine needed to cover up a mother and child I went from 40 to 60, and this increase did greatly increase the knitting time. Was it worth it in hindsight? Yes, yes it was.

 

Finished! June 11 2014

Enjoy, and keep knitting.

Facelift

Not my own face you understand, my Blog's face. Just changing it up.

I have a few posts written nothing riveting, but as soon as I get some pictures going in you will know about it.

AJ

Oi vhey

I have been gone for ages, but have been busy doing all sorts. Anyone in the Calgary area? Head to heritage park for dinner and a movie, you will enjoy the experience.

Onto the projects. I think 100% of my projects that I am working on right now are either getting harder or I am getting slower. Possibly a bit of both. But what I have finished is 2 blankets and a baby sweater. I also finished one of my art pieces.  And I am working on three blankets, a hat, two shawls, and a sweater. Stupid busy but that is how I like to live. And it keeps me young, very convincing would you not agree?

I did manage to get some cake baking in as well. All pictures will appear below.
Other than that nothing exciting and nothing all that insane going on, but all worth it.

Alright all grab your needles and get going on something fabulous.

What is going on?

Well, for starters I bought a knitting machine, but I need very specific wools to use with it, so it does not come out of the box as often as it should.
I also managed to finish all of my Christmas knitting with about 5 hours to spare. 
This was a blanket for Dylan Mae, whose bedroom is supposedly very aquatic themed, so I am thrilled with how this turned out. It was a modified pattern that I found of  YO K1 YO K2 YO PSSO I think. I started with 6 stitches, increased to 12 stitches and then began the repeat on every row, and it naturally moved itself over. So brilliant, possibly should have written it down in more detail, but I will be able to figure it out again I am sure. Then I completed a ruffle on it, which could have done with some severe blocking...but then again it works and looks more organic.

Then I finished these:

All based on the Reverie Pattern from Ravelry, but modified slightly in the the brim and the closure. If you want an easy approximately 5 hour long project with fantastic results, knit this hat, you will be pleased you did.

I also completed:
These two snazzy hats, which if I do say so myself, look awesome! I still need to tweek this pattern slightly, but I won't be making another one for a while, so I should either do it sooner rather than later, or just wait until I get a request for another one.

Not much else is going on, the nails are growing, albeit slowly, but I am pleased with them in their current state. And the rest of the world continues to turn which is a bonus.

Happy New Year Everyone.
And don't make resolutions, just be fantastic every day.

Garlic FYI

So sadly about a month ago all my nails just broke, and would not grow. The discovery we have made:

If the nail polish no longer smells strongly of Garlic it is not effective. Start afresh with new garlic, use the old polish and pour over the garlic.

I managed to empty out the old bottle of garlic and just use the same bottle again. My nails are back and better than ever again.  Quite exciting.

In other news, I have started a Tardis blanket and I have also started working on some Christmas presents. I was too late starting last year which caused me far too much stress, so this year I am hoping to practically be finished by the beginning of December.