Save a Little Time, Spend a Little Time

Darling Daughter's birthday was earlier this week and I made her a stash of healthy, grab and go, Breakfast Bars

In other words - extra time in the morning for her to sleep/get ready rather than prep/eat food as she can just take these with her in the car.

I made a sample batch, pledging to tweek the recipe to her taste then keep her in an ongoing supply.

A bento lunch bag was my idea for wrapping the bars up for giving and I had some natural linen on hand I'd cut off curtains I recently hung in the living and dining rooms.

Off to YouTube I went and found 7 minutes of clear, concise instruction. (The lack of English doesn't even matter!) How do you like the way she sews that thing up?  'Talk about saving time - I couldn't get the machine out in the time that woman takes to stitch her sample to completion. I tried the same approach and it really was quick without hauling out the machine.)

Once Darling Daughter confirmed she liked/would use the bag I started working a decorative hemmed edge around the opening. No sense wasting time on something she didn't really see a use for.

While she likes the bag - she's not so keen on the boxy hem stitch so I'll have to try something else.

Btw I think the cake I made for her is the ultimate Birthday Cake - Jamie Oliver's Hummingbird Cake. Jamie suggests you "bake this thing and get it in your gob".

Good Advice! Great Cake!

The batter contains multiple bananas a can of crushed pinapple and pecans, the cream cheese icing features lime juice and zest but I'd describe the flavour as "Cake"!

I make a lot of cakes and this one, although not much to look at, is the most delicious, well received I've ever served. It's somehow simultaneously, light and tender yet decadent. Just look above at how those big clumps of cake are hanging off the cut edge despite how super moist and lux the thing is.

A word of warning though - if you're thinking of trying this one and getting it in your "gob", take your time - it doesn't look fancy but this one demands care at every step.

I probably spent the time I saved making the Bento Bag baking the cake but sooooo worth it - just look at the smile on the birthday girl's face!

All of it took time away from cabling...

Onward!

Mother's Day Weekend

Looking ahead to Mother's Day, my gift is ready for my mom. I hand stitched a little collection of note cards last night...

I love the scalloped edge on both cards and envelopes...

I also love ice cream!...

(I may not stash yarn but the same cannot be said about DKC embroidery floss ;)!

For my own Mother's Day "gift" to me, I'm prepared for my two Sunday workshops at the Frolic - one on "fit" and the second on adjusting patterns so they will. This second class is with Veronique Avery. I probably would have taken any class she was offering but I'm so pleased the one she's teaching will compliment my Sunday morning class and that persistent knitting challenge for me - making things I want to wear.

My list is ready for the marketplace tomorrow (I'm happy to vicariously "shop" for you too Sandra!) After seeing this yesterday on Glenna's blog, I've added that to the items I plan to seriously check out at the Tanis Fiber Arts booth!

I took one item off the list yesterday after I found a credit note in my wallet and took a trip to Passionknit. Another Mother's Day Weekend "gift" for me! I applied the credit to getting this cotton/linen blend...

With which I plan to make the Lace Saddle Tee from the current IK.

As for the Sel and Poivre knitting basket, the leg of my "wheaten" coloured sock (Lyn used the term in the comments the other day in reference to the Minimalist Cardi but I think it suits this colourway even more!) is done and I'm onto the chart for the heel.

The Simple Swing Cardi is fabulous on the go/drowsey knitting and is the perfect foil after following the sock charts. I've probably got 4-6" more on the body before I turn my attention to the sleeves.

Well that's me as of this morning. I'm looking forward to a knit filled weekend and all the more so since I saw the weather forcast - unlike the last couple of Frolics its supposed to be cool enough for people to wear their knits which should mean there'll be even more to see!

Thanks for dropping by!

Wine Cork Board FO(ish)

A recent post referencing our project to make a wine cork board at the cottage received a few interested comments so I when I was back up north last week I took more snaps to share. To recap, I made a huge error in assessing how much my 3 years' worth of corks would cover which meant we had to revisit how to make this board a reality waaaay in advance of having enough corks to fill it even as the behemoth of a frame that was already assembled and its spattering of roly poly corks hogged the entire cottage dining room table for days on end in July.

In the end My Beloved had the concept of breaking the single expanse of the frame's interior into 5 separate sections by adding four cross pieces. This allowed us to partially fill the middle and outer side sections with wine corks and the remaining two sections with cork boards purchased at a craft store while minimizing the resulting hodge podge appearance.

The board's mitered pine frame is about 7' x 2.5'. (I can't get back far enough in our narrow little hallway to get a better shot)

Its held flush on the wall by two screws over which two slots at the back of the frame simply slide. This keeps any knocks the board might receive from pulling it off the wall as well as providing a nice solid surface for tacking photos up, taking them down and moving them around as I'm keen to do. The corks lie just a bit below the edge of the frame on a thin piece of 1/4" ply wood and are held in place with wood glue.

(There was one coloured cork in the collection - a RED one - obviously my favourite so I took care not to cover it up.)

(Below you can see the corks in the middle section and the cork boards in the sections on either side.

We'll work at filling the three wine cork sections until they are done and then we'll trim the cork board areas to accommodate each year's accumulated corks as we collect them.

We could of course, get corks from friends and family to speed up the process but we're keen to use only our own so we'll have to be patient. In the meantime, the solution works - the photos are up, evoking all kinds of wonderful memories as we pass by the frame many times each day.

But the board also allows for changing the display whenever we choose and frankly there are so many photos on it, its hard to even see just how incomplete the actual cork collection really is.

So its not an FO and won't be for some time to come. Its definitely a WIP but maybe that will be part of its ongoing charm.

I've Been Waiting for This...

...a collection of our baby shoes, all together (at last!). (Mine are the baby boots on the upper right - my mother embraced the view that young ankles needed proper support - cute running shoes were not an option!)

The project started when I found the pair on the upper left - the ones that belonged to My Beloved - I knew if I dug around in the tons of stuff saved from my childhood and every second of the babyhood years of our own children I could assemble a full collection.  Once I did that, it took a while to find the right shadow box frame.  Then I painted it an appropriate colour and presented it to My Beloved for Christmas.  That was a few years ago now.  Lets just say he didn't find it quite as display-worthy as I did so it never found its way to being hung on the wall.

I was preparing to ditch the whole idea when I found the now long neglected thing during my massive (and still ongoing) clean out of the lower level of the house but when I told Darling Daughter she was appalled.  That was all the motivation I needed to reconsider the project.  Then I realized I could hang it in the Laundry Room where I could enjoy it and My Beloved could easily tolerate it since he doesn't visit there much.  The frame needed repainting and the shoes a more sturdy mounting than the little velcro bits that came with the frame were providing.  A few big globs of hot glue on each shoe and a lick of paint with the already wet brush from the bathroom window painting project and last night it finally made its way to its new home.

I love the idea that as different our ages and stages are now, at one time we were all just toddling babies - some just enjoyed better supported ankles than others ;)