A Royal Baby Shower Tea

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I thought it appropriate on Prince George's Christening day to talk about the baby shower my friend Virginia and I threw in his honor.

Virginia made a delicious punch, chocolate mousse parfaits, and chicken curry balls. 

Chocolate mousse parfaits... mmmmm

I have silicone teacup shaped cupcake holders that I thought would be perfect for the occasion. 

I made red velvet cupcakes and iced them with cream cheese frosting. Luckily England and the USA have the same national colors so I could use the red, white, and blue non-pareils from the Fourth of July to decorate!

They didn't come out of the silicone molds too easily unfortunately. Next time I will definitely be putting some cake release in first! I also made butter cookies. Which are sooooo delicious and pretty easy to make, though a little crumbly. They didn't have the perfect oval shape I was hoping for. 

I made three different types of tea sandwiches: egg salad, the traditional cucumber, and then my favorite, ham, apple, and brie.

We encouraged our guests to bring baby gifts which we then donated to a DC charity - the Sasha Bruce Youthwork.

Me with my lovely co-host Virginia!

Everyone loves an excuse to wear a hat.

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I heart you Kate!! And happy Christening Georgie!

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 ;)

You Can Never Have Too Many Hats

Since we have 6 more weeks of winter heading our way (thanks a lot Punxsutawney Phil!) I thought I'd share the snow caps I made in college. My friend Kristen knew how to crochet hats and I knew how to knit scarves. We decided to teach each other our skills to stay good and warm in the winter. The first one I made was the brown hat. You can tell because the top is kind of pointy - it looks more like an elf hat when worn.

Because I love bright colors, the next one I made was the rainbow hat. I love yarns that have different colors in them. It's not quite as pointy as the brown hat, but still not perfect.

These next two turned out much better. Not pointy at all! I like the way the green and purple hat turned out with the diagonal stripes. For Christmas that year I made everyone in my family matching scarves and hats - I even added a bobble to the top of the hats! Note to self: start adding bobbles to more things. 

Friday Musings #4

Maybe it's because I've been enthralled with Downton Abbey the past few weeks, or because the weather has been weirdly warm, or because I bought a bright yellow lace dress yesterday, but I REALLY want to throw a tea party. A fancy tea party where I can wear a hat and said yellow dress; maybe even some gloves.

There are so many fun things you can do with a tea party from invitations to creative treats and morsels. Once the weather gets warmer (and stays warm) I can host it in the sunroom. 

Who doesn't love scones and finger sandwiches??

Just need to pick a date now....