We’re Taking A Break

Because…a second little Munchkin has arrived in our cracker family!

“I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.” – 1 Samuel 1:27

 

First Day of Spring

Dear Erin,

I guess this will be the year of the Never Ending Winter for you and most of the country. Isn’t this week your “spring break”? Would it be more appropriate to rename it Winter Break, pt. 2? Or would that make it just that much more depressing?

In light of your last post, I almost feel guilty about what I’m offering for today. Almost. You’ll be here in a couple of days, and maybe these pictures will give you something to look forward to.

First, a picture of the most recent crafty accomplishment.

 

The pattern is Viking Hat, by Becky Veverka, and the vertical band of rivets was a modification of my own based on the ideas of some other people; the yarns used are basic wools in basic colors to be found in any crafting superstore. It was kind of fiddly putting it together, but now that it’s done, it’s totally worth it, so I’m very happy with this success.

(And don’t tell anybody, but I think I might have figured out the dragon, too. Time will tell.)

The rest of the pictures are from the walk Mom and Dad and I took on Thursday. We went to Alum Rock Park, which I had never visited, despite living only about 15 minutes away. It was a beautiful day and a fresh, green walk – and that green part is saying something around here.

 

I’ve been missing out!

 

 

 

I. Hate. Snow.

Dear Kristen,

It snowed again this week.  Sunday night and off and on through Monday.  I am tired of snow – which I thought I would never say.  But I just said it and I meant it.

And today, although warmer, is raining.

So there’s snow, ice, and rain.  Again. I know that I am not the only one who feels the ho-hums of this never ending winter, so I am commiserating with all others who have them.*

Which means I have nothing to say today of interest, or project or recipe to share. I have only this deep-rooted desire to get under our down blanket, turn on Frozen, eat popcorn, and drink coffee.  But our pre-ordered Frozen has yet to arrive and its not even close to lunchtime so I can’t do popcorn.  Yet.

Coffee on the other hand….that I might be able to make happen!

*Or those who have ho-hums because the baby just wants to stay put…not quite the same as the winter blues, but still ho-hummy.

Dragon Troubles

Dear Erin,

I like how you grabbed Pi Day and ran with it. Two pies is impressive, and even if they didn’t both turn out the way you expected, you could be consoled both by the fact that they were delicious, and by the fact that … well, the Similar-to-Crack-Pie is cracked. You could just rename it Cracked Pie and call it a wholehearted success.

So you know how I said I was making a dragon next? According to the pattern, he was supposed to look kind of like this:

only, in my mind he would be kind of rainbow colored because of the yarn I was using. Like this:

Not that I’m using the same yarn, but it’s still how I had imagined it. I was going to call him Puff.

Unfortunately, neither of these has come to pass. Things started out well enough. I found the pattern; the yarn I chose was thinner than that called for, but it was technically the same weight as the blue I had used in Norbert, above, so I figured it wouldn’t be an appreciable difference. I made the head:

It’s a little hard to tell because it’s not stuffed, but it came out tiny! This is his profile, facing to the right. I’m not looking for a display size, which is what this seems to be, but rather for a toddler-carrying-around size. This did not cut it! The yarn was apparently thinner than the blue after all, which is problematic.

So I thought, “Clearly I need thicker yarn, and perhaps the pattern is written smaller than I would like. It is a ‘Baby Snow Dragon‘ (and a well written and adorable pattern for a baby dragon it is, too!).” Other people had suggested doubling the numbers in the pattern in order to scale the little dragon into a medium-sized guy. So I doubled the yarn to make it thicker and doubled the numbers to make it bigger:

Sigh. This is the head again, looking to the right again, and now it’s too round and dumpy. I’m afraid my little dragon is not going to come to life in the way I had imagined.  You might have noticed that the colors are not shifting smoothly from one to the other, either. They’re all kind of blended together in a complex multi-color.

I’m not sure if I’ll bother trying him again. There’s another project I’ve tried three times already, and I’ve learned from that that there’s a law of diminishing returns in handcrafts as there is in everything else. One has to find one’s own balance between time / anger management and stubbornness. Poor Puff is hanging in that balance. There are other things I could try that might fix him, but seriously, is it worth it?

I haven’t decided, but I’ll let you know.

Happy Pi Day!

Dear Kristen,

Did you know today is pi day?  As in π day.  As in 3.14 day.  Since you are an English guru, it might have slipped your mind.  Plus considering everything else that’s on your mind, including but not limited to entertaining company, it wouldn’t surprise me if you passed through today as if it was any other Friday.

But it is in fact pi day – and to celebrate, I made one.  A pie that is (not a circle).  I tried the recipe I recently referred to – one that I thought would be like the Crack Pie I had at our local cake shop.  Here’s the verdict:

Taste: Similar – it has the same wowing sweetness. And it ought to be sweet with 2 cups of sugar total.  That’s a whole lot of sugar!

Texture: Not the same.  It has a crispy, macaroon type of top which gives a distinct candy texture.  And the inside is gooey yummy-ness.  The Crack Pie didn’t have that kind of a crusty top and the inside wasn’t as gooey.  I’m trying to decide whether I did something wrong or if it just really isn’t the same….Boo.

So I actually made two pies – one for a friend and one for us.  The one for my friend looked pretty and perfect (though it can’t be PERFECT if it isn’t perfectly crack-like).  The one for us….

Broken.

Good thing messes don’t alter the taste!

Also, I think it worth mentioning that last night we watched Eat St. about food trucks, and there was a truck called “Pie Spot” which makes individual pies called pie-holes.  It made me want to try hand pies again.  And gave me a craving to watch Waitress or Pushing Daisies.  Anything with pie.

‘Cause today is pie day.