Quite a day!

I was feeling kind of at loose ends and pining today, so I tried to fill up the day with as many things as I could think of. I mailed out my cookies for the cookie swap; I walked around, visiting lots of shops; I tried (and failed) to find some wires to use in place of my missing blocking wires, some welded D-rings for a pair of mittens I have in mind, new office clothes, nice looking hair combs ... yeah, I found none of these things, but it was a pleasant day anyway.

I did, however, manage to do a couple things -- I picked up some note cards that I'm using as inspiration, painted my nails (a beautiful copper foil, woo!), annnnnnnnnd ... got the cartilage of my left ear pierced! Yay changes!

Anyway, I did some sketching tonight, too.

These are for my back tattoo, which I'm getting started in May:

This is the placement I'm looking at, more or less: 

I'm super excited. My artist is amazing. Also, if anyone reading knows me in real life, please don't tell my mother about this blog. (Also, sorry: one of these days I'll find a way to post sketches and whatnot without taking crappy webcam shots of them, but alas, my scanner, she broke, and has not been replaced.) (Also also: I anticipate that my final tattoo will look more like a peacock and less like a startled goose.)

In other news, I'm casting on a ten-stitch blanket in mini mochi (colorway 103). I've got a bunch of other projects on the needles, but none of them are particularly exciting for me right now ... so I'm just feeling like starting all the things and the hell with followthrough. Eh, whatever; I figure I knit because it's fun. When it stops being fun, there's no point in knitting.

That's the news for today. I might give myself Sunday off - we'll see how drunk I get at Easter brunch tomorrow! ;) Night, y'all!

Presented without comment

(OK, we know I can't resist commenting. Tonight was drawing on the sidewalk with my amazing artist friend. I didn't have my camera on me, so these are shots off her phone. Thank you, dude!)

Little update

Sorry, y'all; I went out to see some improv comedy tonight. So this is going to be a short post!

But here's my creative endeavor for the day -- some finishing! Blocking, as any knitter will tell you, is a vital part of the process. It turns a tangled-up pile of cat-barf into beautiful, intricate lace.

So, I did some blocking!

So attractive, right?

First, the Eleanor Cowl by Audrey Knight, which was a pleasure to knit. I did it with the yarn I had leftover from making a Thendara for my ex-boyfriend; I'm not sure what it was, but it's light fingering, clearly some nice, soft wool (my bet is on merino), and lovely.

(Modifications: I cast off one repeat of the shell motif before the pattern says to stop. It was a good call. I think I was going to run out of yarn, and I think it would have been too long. As it stands, it's perfect!)

Then, my Seigaiha by the utterly amazing Kitman Figueroa. Seriously, I have never run across another designer whose patterns so consistently appeal to (and amaze!) me. She's awesome.

I will update with photos of both -- but especially Seigaiha -- when they're unpinned and in natural light. I might also reblock Seigaiha; I discovered halfway through the blocking process that at some point (somewhere in my last move, probably), a bunch of my blocking wires went walkabout. Disaster! So since I have no patience, I pinned the scallops out into points rather than into scallops.

I'm pleased with myself for having finished this one. It was a tough knit for me emotionally. I started the cast on as a way to distract myself during the argument that ended an almost-six-year-long relationship (I had to do it four times). It sat, untouched, in a project bag for over six months before I could even look at it again -- then I finished the knitting part in the throes of infatuation and new love. It seems somehow fitting that the blocking -- the actual finishing of the thing as a wearable object -- comes after another heartbreak, putting me back pretty much where I was when I started. It's just you and me again, shawl -- me and my knitting, me and my creative projects, just us.

Let's do this thing.

Wednesday Wednesday

No photos of tonight's event; sorry! I'm making some of (again) the inimitable Deb's Caramel Crack, but the light in my apartment just isn't good enough for photos worth sharing. I marbled some white and dark chocolate over the top¹, though, and they're setting up nicely!

That said, here are some better shots of how the cookies I made yesterday actually turned out:

(Wow, I just noticed how ... um, repulsively suggestive that looks. Note to self: if you ever do this whole blogging thing seriously, try to avoid making your food look like ... well. That.)

ANYWAY (*shiftyeyes*) I made a simple glaze out of a cup of confectioner's sugar and a tablespoon of lemon juice, then drizzled it over the lavender cookies. Amazing improvement! They are now among the best cookies I've made in recent memory, taste-wise (a little fragile and crumbly, but delicious).

And lo, the angels finally have something to sing about: 

Morning sunshine on green tea shortbread!

I did, however, create a pretty astonishing mess. Much of which miiiiiiiight have still been there this morning. 

Mmmm. Delicious, delicious chaos. 

OK, well, that's it for tonight. Tomorrow's going to be another small-scale evening; I'm going out with friends (to see some improv comedy, woo!), so my time for the daily dose of creativity will be limited. Still, catch y'all then!

 ¹This is in no way because I a) didn't have enough dark chocolate on hand or b) accidentally bought 85% because I like it, forgetting that my fondness for really bitter chocolate is not shared by the rest of the world. Nope.

Cookie night!

Holy wow, guys, tonight's a doozy. I've been at this since I got home around 5. 5 hours ago. Yeesh!


Anyway, tonight's exercise in getting off my ass involves ... well, my ass. Indirectly, of course. This isn't that kind of blog, people!

No, I'm talking, of course, about baking.

Important note: I am not such a glutton that I'd be making many different kinds of cookies only for my own consumption! We're also just going to ignore the bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough that's already sitting in the fridge. ANYWAY, I am participating in a cookie swap! Which is, by the way, pretty much the awesomest thing that's ever happened to bakers, far as I'm concerned. Because if we're going to be honest, I'm actually not that wild about sweets. I know, I know. I'm a foodie who spends most of her time in the kitchen, but while I would trample you for good cheese, I'm kind of "meh" about desserts. So this way, I get to be creative, get to spend lots of time bonding with my teeny tiny kitchen, and there's no guilt about the dozens of cookies I have no interest in eating but don't want to waste. WIN.

So, first things first. It is a known fact that liquor is an excellent first step to regaining one's lost mojo.

 (This is a Glenlivet 12-year-old. Not my favorite, but it's a very nice, inoffensive whisky - perfect for a self-indulgent night of baking.)

Now then! Cookies. Cookie number 1: the unspeakably brilliant Deb of Smitten Kitchen's green tea cookies with white chocolate ganache, somewhat altered.

I've made this recipe a number of times before, and I've learned a couple things:
1. When you're using the quality matcha I use, 3 tablespoons is enormously more than what I'm pretty sure Deb intended;
2. White chocolate ganache is a pain in the ass to get perfect;
3. I haaaaaaaate rolling things out. Haaaaaaaaaate. 

In answer to the Thing I've Learned:
1. I love matcha. 3 tablespoons it is! If you like a more delicate flavor, though, I'd definitely cut it down to 2, or even 1.
2. Give up on perfection! It's the answer to happiness! MWAHAHAHAHA! (Seriously; I don't care that the color's not very good or that it can tend to separate a little. Whatever. It's going to be just as delicious.)
3. Screw it! I rolled it into a log, froze it, and sliced it thin. Done and done.

(OK, so maybe it wasn't quite that easy. The slicing was kind of finicky; it took me until about a third of the way through the log to get the hang of how to do it without making them crack and crumble. That, or the log started to thaw enough that they weren't so brittle. Whichever.)

(Sorry for the nighttime photography; this is what happens when my creative time is post-work. Also, I had to run out in the middle and get cream for the ganache. *le sigh*)

Verdict: Tasty as always, but holy god for some reason the sandwiching part broke me tonight. Either my ganache was too stiff (that's what she said, hurr), I did something funny with the shortbread, mercury was in retrograde, or I don't even know what -- just about every cookie crumbled as I was trying to assemble them. Woe!


Cookie number 2: these lovely-looking little folks, altered a little to suit my nefarious purposes (and exacting tastes). Mostly in that I used my beloved pastry blender (and actual blender, to break up the lavender) instead of a food processor, and in that I added more lavender and lemon juice, because it seemed like the lemon was going to be super subtle.

And if you've never met me in person, please allow me to clarify: I don't do subtle.

(Oh, also -- I unabashedly slipped in 2tbsp of sweet rice flour because I had neither arrowroot nor, as I was horrified to find, cornstarch. WTF, Maggie's kitchen? When have you ever not had cornstarch?)

So! Here's the result of that little experiment:

Verdict: YES. Delicate, not very sweet, very buttery -- YUM. If I were to make them again, I'd add a little more sugar (I know, I know -- even I would add more sugar!). Or better yet, roll them in granulated sugar before baking! I think I'd also up the lemon juice content even further. Oooo, or better yet, to both issues, make a glaze like the one on these. Hm. Maybe I'll try that tomorrow?

Cookie number 3 I think is going to have to wait til tomorrow because I'm not sure I've got the energy for macarons after a full five hours of baking already today.

So there's today's project. Let's hope they're not always (or even usually!) going to be so all-consuming!

Exploding Tardis manicure!

So, on Friday, I decided I'd distract myself from my shocking lack of mojo by playing around with some nail polish.

I've been considering a sort of Whovian theme for a long time -- I hadn't precisely acquired all my blues expressly because I thought they'd be good for a Tardis, but ... well, I'd be lying if I said that wasn't a factor at all.

So! My exploding Tardis manicure.

Now, in fairness to myself, I should note that I had not decided to start a blog when I did this thing. So I a) didn't do sensible things like, you know, take the polish off my cuticles before taking the pictures or b) take careful notes about what I was doing as I was doing it. But here's the rough idea.

First off is the basecoat, followed by two coats of dark blue (I am in love with Nuance “True Azul” from the Salma Hayek line). Wait til it’s totally dry (I sped things up with Sally Hansen Insta-dri topcoat).

Douse a cotton ball in polish remover (I used pure acetone) and keep it handy for cleaning the brush. Get your reference photos handy.

Using a teeny tiny paintbrush, I did the outline of the two main parts of the Tardis in a paler blue (I used Sally Hansen’s Pacific Blue). I just outlined the areas where the windows were going to be -- I wanted the white against the darker blue.

Using white (I went for NYC because, you know, cheap), I did dots for the windows, outlined the roof, and did the light at the top. Then kinda went crazy with the explosion in the middle. When the white dried, I overpainted it with streaks of gold glitter (I used OPI Goldeneye), glittery and shimmery oranges (because I had Zoya Rica and Gwin on hand -- in retrospect, I think Rica was too red/pink), and touches of silver (Sally Hansen Gilty Party). If I’d had an awesome golden yellow it would have improved things, but I was working from my stash -- for me, the experience of doing crazy things is improved immeasurably by doing them with only what I have on hand. Why yes, I just happened to have all these crazy colors lying around; why wouldn't I?

For the swoops and swirls on the other fingers, I did them in white first then overpainted with gold glitter, not being too careful about getting them spot-on -- I like the halo effect. On a couple nails I just did gradients of gold glitter either up from the cuticle or down from the tip, just using the brush from the polish bottle. When it was all dry, I added some silver and orange highlights to the swoops, too. (On my right hand I only did two nails with glitter over the blue, and the one swoop on the thumb -- painting with your non-dominant hand is hard, yo!)

(photographing with your non-dominant hand is also hard. something to work on.)

And so that's how it went. Project number one in Operation: Stop Sulking and Make Shit is a go! (And hell, I made the front page of the Cheezburger fandom site, so -- win!)

Maggie's mojo's gone away

And she doesn't know where to find it

So here she's going to romp and play

Where no one else will mind it!