The Best Sweater I've Ever Made

The design for this sweater comes from Knitting on Top of the World. (Yes, this is the ONE thing I've made from that book) As I said in yesterday's post, I'm a big anglophile. And who doesn't love argyle?? When I heard that my friend Kim was having a boy, I knew I had to make this sweater. She was definitely going to have a preppy kid, and what's more preppy than little argyle designs on the elbows??

I had knitted with 2 colors of yarn before, but this was my first time knitting with 3. It is pretty time consuming. When you're knitting with multiple colors, the strings intertwine so after each row you have to go back and untangle them. I used Caron Simply Soft yarn and picked colors that matched what was in the book.

It took me a few months to make, but I LOVE the design. The braid on the collar is just TOO cute. The book also had fun ideas on how to use a baby sweater when it no longer fits the baby - put it on a stuffed animal, or wear it as a hat (you just tie the arms together at the top). 

Wednesday Review: Knitting on Top of the World

Knitting on Top of the World: The Global Guide to Traditions,Techniques and Design by Nicky Epstein is a very large hardcover book with amazing designs.

What I like:

·         The book is divided into different parts of the world - Windswept Isles, Old World, Mediterranean, Far East, and the New World. Each section begins with an overview of that area, giving a short history of knitting, what influenced popular patterns, colors, and designs in that part of the world.

·         The design projects in each section tell you which country it's from and what kind of experienced knitter you need to be to complete the pattern (novice, skilled, or master).

·          Each design has great photos that look like they came out of a Vogue magazine. The patterns are pretty easy to read and the graphs are in color which is very helpful.

·         There's a good variety of projects - cardigans, shawls, mittens (one's called "Princess Bride Mittens" how can I NOT make these!?!), caps, camisoles, capes, socks, bags, and even a stuffed animal.

·         Many of the patterns have flair like pearls or metallic yarn weaved in which look pretty cool.

·         Because I'm an anglophile, of course my favorite section is the "Windswept Isles." It's full of fair Isle, aran, and argyle patterns. LOVE.

·         The last section is dedicated to abbreviations, a glossary, and techniques. Always helpful to have this in a book!

What I don't like:

·         Some of the designs are just plain weird. I don't know if it’s because the designs are foreign and I'm just not used to them, or if some of them are just too artsy-fartsy.

I would knit probably 85% of this book. Most of the designs are breathtaking. So far I've only made one thing from it, but it is by far the coolest thing I've ever knitted. Check back tomorrow to read all about it ;)

Baby Shower Cakes!

This past Saturday was my friend Kim's son's 2^nd birthday. This week we'll look back at his baby shower! (I can't believe that was TWO YEARS ago!!)  I was expecting 20-30 people for the shower so I made 2 cakes. I bought the Wilton stork and the baby carriage cake pans. (LOVE THEM)

I thought it'd be a pain to decorate, but it was fun - almost like a color by number. I wasn't too creative with the colors - just copied the picture that came with the pans.

Unfortunately we had a blizzard the day of the shower so only 7 people ended up coming. Luckily I love cake so had no problem eating all the left over! 

All I Want Is You, Will You Be My Bride

The wedding was AWESOME. I laughed, I cried, I danced like a crazy person with my best friends. It was a fabulous time. The weather ended up being beautiful so we even got to take pictures outside! Susan made the wonderful wedding cake. (3 words: Cookie dough frosting) I made the heart cookies again, this time saying "Mr. and Mrs. Edmond." I dyed the dough blue and green to match the wedding colors.

I also made un-dyed cookies that said "I DO" and decorated them to look like wedding dresses. 

Apparently I didn't take pictures of the baked cookies. So hopefully someone will post them on facebook or the photographers got some. I also made mini cupcakes. My friend sent me a link on how to modify a box cake mix to make it taste better. I used the same modifications for the chocolate and the yellow cake and they sure were delicious!! 

Next I made my favorite frosting (made with almond extract YUM) and dyed half green and half blue. Then I whipped out my newly acquired Disco Dust and WENT TO TOWN.

I also put Disco Dust on the sugar cookies I iced to look like wedding dresses. (Pictures to come soon... hopefully). You really can't have enough sparkle!!

Bridal Shower Desserts Part 2

The Message in a Cookie cutter may be one of the best things I ever purchased. It's fitting that the first time I used it was for Sara's bridal shower as she is the one who told me about them.

The set comes with 3 cookie cutter shapes - rectangle, star, and heart. Each cutter has a track you can put letters on to personalize your message. The kit comes with a few words (Happy, Birthday, Congratulations, etc) and a lot of individual letters. You just pick out your message; slide it into the tracks, and walla! Awesome cookie!

I just saw that they have this for Christmas cookies as well. I NEED TO BUY THEM IMMEDIATELY.