The Pie Hole

One thing you should know about me is that I don't make pie. I don't even like pie particularly. It is kind of boring. That being said, what I have to tell you may come as a shock. I made pie this weekend. Another thing is, I don't peel things. I don't peel carrots. I don't peel potatoes, not for soup, not for mashing.

I blame it on Pushing Daisies, a magical little show in which unrealistically delicious looking pies are made, served, and eaten with unnatural alacrity. We have been watching for a few weeks now so the craving has been building. Oh also, I am extremely susceptible to suggestion.

This particular apple pie recipe was quite delicious. Next time I would pour the caramel sauce just over the apples and not over the crust topping as it gets kind of hard on top. Minor point. We had apple pie with ice cream for elevenses, apple pie with ice cream for dessert, and apple pie for breakfast.

I think later I might make a lemon custard pie. We are just about to the finale of season 2. Don't ask for my crust recipe. Something you should know about me is, I don't make pie crust. A girl has her limits.

Random Quote of the Day

"Winifred Burkle once told me after a sinful amount of Chinese food and apropos of absolutely nothing, 'I think a lot of people would choose to be green, your shade, if they had the choice.'"

-Lorne, the green demon

Second Project, Same day

But well, posted a bit later. This first image is NOT from my home. This image is from James Braund Photography via pinterest. Have I mentioned pinterest? I have. Perhaps that is because I find it so damn inspiring that I can spend hours just soaking myself in gorgeous images. You know, 'til my fingers get all pruney.

I had to post this image because the idea is so good, and my own images are so bad. It is really difficult to take a good shot of a wall, especially one with a mirror on it, especially in Oregon winter lighting.

Here is a close up of the "jewelry rack." So that you can see the beautiful finish (black enamel paint, brushed on and then wiped off. Pretty and FAST) and the imaginative hangers (tiny wire nails.)

Here is the finished rack, all decked out. It looks very pretty in my room, but like I said, hard to tell from the picture.

Two projects, One Day

Yep, you read that right. Two Projects. I am only going to show you one today, though. So don't get greedy.

This is my Spiderweb Cowl, so called because of this amazing yarn which fades from dark gray to light. The pattern is called Fayfay, and was found on Ravelry. It was intended to be a scarf, but this morning I suddenly decided that it would be great as a cowl, and behold it was the PERFECT LENGTH. All I had to do was cast off and sew it together. I flipped the edges and made it into a mobius, which gave it a great shape. The Fayfay pattern is full of drop stitches which are fidgety and I do not love. But, the look is very modern and fun.

Ptarmigan

Don't you love how her gorgeous hazel eye peeps over the top. I didn't have time to get good pics of this cowl before it was wrapped, seeing as it blocked in front of the fire on Christmas Eve. Thankfully, Lizzy was kind enough to get me some good snaps.

This pattern is called Ptarmigan, and is by the incomparable Jared Flood who is talented and must be praised. It was a very fun knit, and doubly lovely in pale pink cashmerino.

More Gnomies

Yes, but these gnomies are SPECIAL. One of these gnomies is a gingerbread guy, and the other, completely by accident is a tiny cat-in-the-hat.

And these little gnomies have HOUSES. Yes, special gnomie bag houses with velvet lining for a very special niece and nephew.

The photos are not great, but that is winter light for ya, practically nonexistent.

January

The start of the New Year. It always seems just a bit anticlimactic to me. But here in this peaceful recovery of a weekend there is still a lot of hope for new beginnings, and starting fresh. 2010 was lovely and busy. The best parts involved family and friends that are near, and some that are very far. Too far. I am certain that the best bits of the New Year will include those same special people. If I could, I would gather them all up, and we would live in a fabulous creative commune somewhere with gorgeous little houses for everyone, and one great big barn of a place where there would be dinner and dancing every night. Just a little impossible dream to start the year off.

I am sure you are wondering about the Adorable calendar you see here. Design Sponge had this great little tutorial for the calendar that I just had to make for some special faraways. The inspiration for the images that I used was gathered from the far corners of the web. Some I snagged from creatives on Etsy, others were much more random. I drew out the images with my fancy computer program, and then used fabric and embroidery to embellish. I don't like iron on transfers so I laid the calendar out in said fancy program, and printed it directly onto the canvas from my little HP after backing each piece with freezer paper. My printer did not like this part. It complained that the canvas was too thick. Well, that is just too bad for it. The printing turned out so cute that I persisted. Please see below for image credit.

January: from Embroidery seen on Wood, Wool, and Stool flicker stream, Flopsy and Mopsy are from Badbirds etsy store, So many pots is SeaSprayBlue Etsy, I can't for the life of me find the sweet elephants again. The other images found inspiration in several places.