Bridal Shower

My sister-in-law's shower was this weekend and it was fantastic!  Imagine a tasty brunch in a restored Victorian mansion, surrounded by beauty, sunlight, and laughter, and that's what it was.  The ladies who organized it did a great job!!

One of the tasks I helped with was dessert.  I have been dying to show the little hearts I made as toppers, but I wanted them to be a surprise.  I designed a little filigree heart and piped it (tip 2) in melted white chocolate flavored with pina colada.  I let them set overnight, then spritzed them with Wilton's new pearl color mist, which is stinking amazing.  Since we don't have air conditioning, I put them in the freezer until time to go on the cupcakes.

 

And here they are! I meant for the icing to look nicer, but I should have gotten up an hour earlier.  The little flowers are actually Starburst candy.  I squished them up and rolled them into the flowers.  The tropical fruit flavors complemented the colors of the table flowers perfectly.

When I started applying the filigree hearts, I laid them down because I was afraid they would break on the way over.  But I didn't really like the way they looked with the taller roses around them.  On a whim, I tried standing them up as they were meant to be, and once I secured it with an icing leaf, they stood up just fine.

Here's the dining room in the mansion.  The tables are set with vintage mismatched china,
and each setting had a tasty cake pop favor atop it.

At the shower, I got another project commissioned, but it's a surprise too.  Once it's finished and delivered, I can show it here.  Super excited about that one too. 

In the meantime, it's time to get serious about bridesmaid dresses.  I have to make mine and I have to make my daughter's.  Those will be my priority craft projects over the next couple of weeks, and those I can show as I work. :)

In Wedding Mode

I got to spend this afternoon with my fabulous sister-in-law and her wonderful future mother-in-law.  Today was the first fitting for her wedding gown, and she looks stunning in it.  Looking at dresses in the store and talking about hair got me excited about the projects I have to finish before the big day.  I'm making my bridesmaid dress (this, only sleeveless) and my daughter's flower girl dress (the green one, but with a neutral sash)

A few months ago I ordered the book Fit for Real People after reading about it in a set of McCall's pattern instructions.  It is fabulous.  I can't wait to put the tips I've read about into practice.  I got out my daughter's pattern first since it's more complicated and will take more time.  However, I haven't a clue what size to make her.  A) the wedding isn't for two months; I have no idea if a growth spurt will hit, what direction it will go or how far.  B) I can't find the finished garment measurements ANYWHERE on the blasted pattern.  The outer envelope says it's on the pattern tissue, but damned if I can find it.  So, I cut out all the pieces and attempted to tissue-fit the bodice on my daughter.  Getting a two year old to wear paper clothes with straight pins in them is not fun. Or easy. I think I got a good read on what size I need to make, but I'm going to wait a little longer to cut the pieces to a size.  It's really important that I get the size right; it's not like I can take it to the store and exchange it at the last minute.  For now, I've employed my giant piece of cardboard as a pattern piece holder.  I'm hoping over a few days the lines in the pattern tissue will drop out somewhat.

I love this piece of cardboard. This is the fifth project I've used it for this year.  My favorite thing about it is that the sides are already creased to fold to the front and it stores half its size, but with enough depth that my project stays nice.  I've done two quilts and a painting on it.

And here's an update on the current sock project.  One down, one to go.  I tried a few rows of the Basket Check pattern I mentioned before, but with striped yarn - especially these Easter egg colors - it was just not going to work out.  So I went to a straight stockinette stitch for the leg and foot.  I went ahead and used the Eye of Partridge stitch on the heel that the pattern suggested.  I really like the way the texture looks, and I think I might use it on some mittens. (So excited about this mitten book that I picked up the other day!)

To do this week: Make final decisions about bridal shower cupcakes and create the pieces.  Finish non-crafting projects I committed to.  Not knit.  I have no time to knit.  Must... finish... other things... first...

Blitz

It has been one project running right after another today and I am so excited.  Here's my breakfast masterpiece, created using the Muffin Method in Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food.  I threw in some fresh blueberries and strawberries and sprinkled some sparkling sugar on the top - I love the crunchy crunch.

After that, it was time to get going on the mosaic stone. I've never mixed concrete before and there are hazard warnings all over the box, so I was pretty nervous.  The not quite 2 cups of water the instructions called for was not quite enough and I'm not sure I got it mixed well.  I'm a little worried the result might fall apart after one season.  (Note to self - bring the stone in during the winter.) I'm also worried the glass isn't secure in the stone either, but nothing I can do about it now.  Here are the fresh handprints.  I underestimated how much space they would take up.  Hopefully it doesn't look too crowded. Since the prints and the name were the last thing I added, I couldn't really modify the design at that point.

Having got the stone done, I set to work on my socks.  I thought I was going to get finished with these two days ago, but as much as I worked, the end continued to be just out of sight.  Finally today, I put the final stitches in - and Kitchener stitches are actually pretty easy.  They are super comfy, and now I am totally jazzed about homemade socks. 

I MADE THESE!!! ALL BY MYSELF!!!

So jazzed that I went straight to my office and pulled out another ball of yarn to make some socks for my daughter.  This is the second attempt.  Once I cast on the stitches for the first pattern and started to work them, it was pretty obvious they'd be too small.  So I went for a more reliable looking pattern (the first one didn't even say how to distribute the stitches around the needles) and am now started on child's medium Basket Check Socks. These will probably be too big, but she'll grow.

I'm using Patons Kroy Socks Yarn, Sweet Stripes on size 3 DPNs

I snapped this of the stone just a little while ago.  It looks like it's setting well, but I could have done a better job getting the concrete level before I started putting the stones in.  In another hour or so I have to go scrub the residue off the stones with a toothbrush (not exciting) and then the color will show through better.  Tomorrow afternoon I get to dump it out of the mold and it'll be ready for my garden!

Mosaic

There's no particular milestone behind this project other than I think my daughter's hands are adorable and I wanted to capture them. I found a stepping stone kit on good sale this week, so now's the time.

Here is the layout. I wanted to get the whole thing done today but vastly underestimated how long it would take to get the glass pieces how I wanted them. Tomorrow I'll mix up the concrete and put it together. The white pieces of paper will be replaced with my daughter's handprints.  Forgive the green scribbles; I had help coloring in the original draft.

Binge

Epic resolution fail today.  I went to JoAnn to use my 40% off coupons on a couple of knitting needles, and came home with this:

In my defense, every single skein of yarn was on sale or on clearance, and I have definite plans for each one.  Almost all of them contain natural fibers.  And, as I was unloading my haul for this photo, I realized that in my clearance-induced frenzy, I bought two of the exact same size circular needle.  So I didn't even get what I went for.

In other news, I finished the invitations for my sister's wedding and got them in the mail a couple weeks ago.  I forget how much I enjoy doing these until I'm in the middle of a project.  I always think, I should write more.  And then I realize I haven't because I have a giant list of other things I'm supposed to do.

 

Lastly, here's an update on my socks.  I am REALLY enjoying the Two at a Time approach.  I'm tickled pink that when I tie off the yarn, both socks will be DONE and I can put them right on my feet.  It's also cool that I can put them on now (can't do that with double-pointed needles) and see how much more knitting I need to do.  I did get really goofed up when picking up the gusset stitches and had to dump one sock to alternate needles to fix it.  But I got them all put back on the main circular needles and am going strong.

While I was shopping today, I flipped through this book: The Sock Knitter's Workshop: Everything Knitters Need to Knit Socks Beautifully.  This one is going in my shopping cart.  So far, all the sock patterns I've seen have a distinctive "homemade" look to the heel.  The workshop book has instructions for getting the diagonal heel like the socks you get from the store.  I'm excited to try it.

To do list:  Finish socks. Clean workroom - it's a disaster - again.  Get serious about bridesmaid dresses and gather up the rest of the supplies I need.  Oh, and royal icing doodads for sister's bridal shower cupcakes in two weeks.