Decorating Your Cake, and Eating It Too!

Yeah, I’ll drop all presences and state unequivocally that I enjoy decorated cakes and cupcakes largely so that I can enjoy the fruits of my labour.  Yes, with knitting, I get to wear the finished product, but with cakes, I get to EAT said products!  …I have a major sweet tooth…

My parents hosted Easter dinner this past Saturday, and for dessert, I made my go-to dessert, cupcakes.  A few years ago, I made mini cupcakes, each topped with a few Mini Eggs for a spring/Easter look.

2013’s Easter cupcakes, complete with chocolate eggs and chocolate bunnies

I didn’t alter 2013’s cupcakes too much for this year, again keeping with a spring theme, topping each cupcake with grass and flowers.  Wilton also sells these fun cupcake wrappers which make the cupcakes look even fancier than they are, and the white picket fence was the perfect way to finish my floral garden cupcakes.

2015’s Springtime cupcakes

They tasted pretty good too.

Because of the Easter weekend and because April is shaping up to be a busy month at work, I am right now on day 4 of 5 days off in a row, so I have also got a lot of knitting done! I am more than halfway done my second Gryffindor scarf, I finished my ‘camouflage’ socks, and I have finished the leg to my self-striping turtle toes socks.  Lots to keep me busy!

How can you even see my toes with the camouflage yarn?! Nice warm toes in nice warm socks

Escaping Into a Good Book

Is there anything better than a good book, to be able to be transported into different times, places, utopias and dystopias?  Perhaps one of the best gifts I have even received was my e-reader.  I was skeptical at first (because there is nothing to compare to holding a book and physically turning the pages), but now my purse is not complete without my e-reader inside it.  At any given time, I have over 100 titles to choose from, over 100 adventures just waiting to sweep me away with them.

If I’m not perusing Ravelry and searching for knitting patterns, I’m often online on Goodreads.  My sister introduced me to it, describing it like ‘Twitter for books.’  Perhaps both Ravelry and Goodreads show that I seem to be searching for inspiration, whether for creativity or for a literary escape.

It is so comforting to re-read certain series; I have re-read Harry Potter more times than I can count, I can usually blow through the Hunger Games trilogy in a weekend, and I have re-read Anne of Green Gables about once a year since I was 10 years old.  The outcome is known, the endings are happy, and our hero/heroines evolve, change, and are ultimately victorious, either over Voldemort, Snow and the Capital, or their own stubbornness and they FINALLY forgive Gilbert.  I will forever ship Anne and Gilbert.

I’m also happy to discover new books and series, and for 2015, I’ve ‘challenged’ myself to read at least one new book every month.  Goodreads allows you to set up challenges for yourself, and this one is mine.  The act of finding new books and getting into them can often be challenging for me, but so far I’m on course for the year.

In January, read Laurence Hill’s Any Known Blood, and I couldn’t put it down!  This wasn’t the first book by Hill that I’ve read; back in 2011, I read The Book of Negroes (or Someone Knows My Name as it was published in the USA).  Before reading this book, I was somewhat familiar with Hill and his family’s history, so when I began reading Any Known Blood, it was clear that the author used his life’s story as inspiration for this tale.  It told the story of five generations of a Black family, all through the protagonist who was searching to know more about his family.  It utilized different narrations and often had the present day in contrast to the past.  As I said, I couldn’t put this book down, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.

In February, I quickly read The Farm by Tom Rob Smith.  I’m part of the a Ravelry Knitters group on Goodreads, and this was the recommended group read for February.  It sounded interesting, so I gave it a try. Again an interesting tale, this time told through the eyes of a mother, and while reading it, I found myself questioning the tale if it is true or an invention of an unsound mind.

Finally, and this is going to make me sound bad, but I forced myself to read The Chrysalids… Yes, I know! It’s a classic!  I found myself struggling to truly connect to the story and to follow the narrator.  But, I read it, making it three new books I have read in the first three months of 2015.

What’s next?  I’ve just started Oryx and Crake by the incomparable Margaret Atwood.  It usually takes me a few chapters to get into an Atwood book, but once I’m in, I cannot put it down.  If you haven’t read Handmaid’s Tale or Alias Grace, stop reading this immediately and go read Atwood.

I’m always looking for good book suggestions – have you got one for me?

My First Crafting Love

Like many other crafters, I don’t knit exclusively.  I’ve enjoy creating and have enjoyed it since I was young.  I think I was still in elementary school when I found my first crafting love, cross stitch.  Mum did it, so I thought to take it up.  It was fairly easy to learn, just make little ‘x’s using the perforated fabric, but there are so many other little tricks and tips I learned over the years.  You should have seen the back end of my first project, a star shaped Santa Claus ornament, which I believe my grandmother still has to this day; I just decided one afternoon that I wanted to give it a try, found a pattern and some aida cloth, and started making little ‘x’s.  Because I took it upon myself to learn (apparently that’s the way I do things), no one told me you had to weave in the ends at the back!  They say you can tell a lot about the skill of a cross stitcher not by the front of the project but from the back, and thank goodness over the years my skills improved.

Before I was knitting, cross stitch was the creative outlet that kept me sane.  During university exam season, I was cross stitching when I needed a sanity break from studying.

I very rarely cross stitch these days.  I find that it requires much more attention to detail, following the pattern, than knitting does.  I can passively knit and purl away at a scarf or sock while watching TV, but when I try that with cross stitch, I barely pay attention to anything else around me.  But on those rare occasions when I pick up a much smaller needle and DMC Thread, I’m in my wheelhouse.

On sites like Pinterest, I’ve noticed the trend seems to be keeping the finished project inside the hoop, and I really do like this look.  Within the past year, I’ve finished two projects, and rather than ‘framing’ them, I’ve kept the hoop as the frame, a more rustic finish.

For my sister, to whom I owe my addition to Supernatural, I made her this:

A Dean Winchester quote and the Supernatural Devil Trap

And for my mother, who I am sure loves our Border Terrier, Tucker, more than her children*, I made this:

Border Terrier Sampler

Very simple, self-designed projects, both bringing me back to my first crafting love.

*Please accept this for the sarcastic, not at all serious comment that it is!  Although, if you’ve ever met my dog, you’d understand why he does rank fairly high for our affections.  He’s pretty awesome.

The Year That Was 2014

As the holiday season draws to an end and the new year approaches ever so quickly, all I can think is that 2014 was an amazing year for me, and I have so much to be thankful and grateful for.  So much happened over these 365 days, many ups and a few downs.

The year started with the celebration of my beloved grandparent’s 60th wedding anniversary.  Sixty years.  It was an amazing milestone, and I consider myself so very, very lucky to have grandparents who a) have reached this milestone to celebrate, and b) are in good health, and c) love each other every day. My grandparents are genuinely two of my favourite people in this entire world.  Celebrating this milestone was amazing.

Later on in January, I did something, well, adventurous… I thought I would try my hand at roller derby. Side note to this story – I’m klutzy.  Very klutzy.  Long story short, my first night, I fell and spent over 3 hours in emerg and had a pink cast for over 3 weeks.  My illustrious roller derby career was over before it began. The worst part of this was that cast was set in a way that made holding knitting needles near impossible. Desperate to hold yarn, I took up crochet.  Hats off to those who crochet because I cannot stand it.  I was happy to get the cast off and get needles back in my hands!

My pink cast. My solace when my arm was injured was that the cast was pink.

This was apparently the year that I met famous people!  As I posted about last week, I met members of the Barenaked Ladies after their show in December in Toronto and they signed an album of mine in April. I had my picture taken with Nathan Fillion at Fan Expo (he liked the Cunning Cap I made – squee!!), and through a series at the Toronto Library, I met author Diana Gabaldon, politician Justin Trudeau, and singer Alan Doyle!  My boss told me a story, and the gist of which is if you want to meet someone, you need to make it happen, and that’s what I did this year.  I made it happen.

Me, Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea, Katie and BFF Ash – his book is amazing, by the way

I have amazing friends in my life.  I have known my best friend since high school.  It’s not that we’ve ever fallen out, but this year, it’s as if we’ve rediscovered our silly side, and we’ve been closer this year than ever, and for that I’m so grateful.

Ash and I being silly on a Summer day

I travelled to Quebec City in the Fall, and it was such a fantastic trip.  The history, the museums, the architecture, the food.  I fell in love with the oldest city in our country and with la belle province.

Awkward selfie in Quebec City – the lower city is in the background

It has also been a busy year knitting wise.  I’m always trying new patterns and techniques, and this year I’ve made a few larger projects.  A new yarn shop opened up in my city, and I’ve met new, wonderful people by going to the knitting circle hosted there.  It has become my Wednesday night staple, and easily it is the highlight of my week.

Here is a sampling of some of my finished projects from the year.

The Firefly Cunning Cap I made for my dear work friend. This was the hat that Nathan Fillion said he liked!

Spats – they make me feel fancy

A TARDIS ereader cover.

A New England Patriots hat I made for my brother for Christmas

My Chateau shawl. My grandma gave me a gift certificate to my LYS for my birthday, and I made this lovely slouchy sweater with it

The Symphony and Barenaked Ladies

Went downtown in the cold,
6:30 on a Friday Night,
Just to check out the late night,
Music show…

I don’t think I’ve discussed my deep love of the Barenaked Ladies yet on this blog.  So this post is fairly overdue! There are a few bands that I have loved for decades or more, their music is familiar and comforting.  Along with the Beatles, the Who, and Meat Loaf, the Barenaked Ladies are one of these bands.  Yes, I have a very eclectic taste in music.

With my signed copy of Grinning Streak – BNL did a signing for Record Store Day, so of course I went!

I was fairly young when Gordon was released, and the pop-y, silly songs on that album appealed to me (Grade 9, Enid, and, of course, If I Had $1,000,000).  The band and the album were vetted by my older, cooler cousin, so obviously, it was a good choice.  I remember buying Maybe You Should Drive on cassette tape.  It was a big deal.  I fell out of the BNL for a time, but I fell headfirst back in when they released Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits.  And I fell hard.  My first concert was with my sister at Massey Hall in 2005; I’ve been to a handful of shows since, and every concert guarantees to be a fun time.

I like giving my sister concert tickets for her birthday.  It’s hard to buy for someone who has a birthday so close to Christmas, but it gives us a fun night out, fun sister-bonding time.  Her past birthday was no exception, and two Fridays ago, we were at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto for their Holiday concert.  What made this concert so unique was that it was with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.  The crowd was slightly more subdued than usual, but the music was outstanding!  A number of their timeless hits were performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.  This brought about a fullness to the songs, and it was such a great complement to the quartet.

Our pic pic after the show at Roy Thomson Hall

Katie and I were also on a mission – we wanted to meet some Ladies.  So after the show, we waited with some other devoted fans, and after an hour or so, the band members took time as they were leaving to meet and greet with the fans.  K and I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed both the concert and their music, and we got photographs with the three members we met!  They were genuine, nice, and so great about taking a few pictures with fans.  It truly made our night, such a simple gesture from them.