Bunny Face Cake

I really enjoy learning new things.  But sometimes when I do I can go a little over board, especially when it comes to crafts. That is how I came across this Wilton Multi- purpose pans. A few years ago I took a few cake decorating classes at Michaels. By the time I was done I practically owned everything in the Wilton aisle at Michaels good thing I had a lot of 40% coupons. I ended up buying a lot of stuff from eBay too, that is how I came across this Wilton Multi- purpose pans. Good thing I also taught Brandy and Ariel how to decorate cake too. That way I have someone to leave all these cake pans to.

This pan is really cool, some of the inserts date back as far as 1974. I have learned that there is about 12 inserts in all.

 Today I decided to use the bunny insert, after all this cake is for Easter.

The pan only uses one box of cake mix!

But it is only a single layer, so I decided to cut the cake in half to make two layers.

 I like using this cake slicer because it makes the layers even.

I made two different butter cream frosting for the cake one is a vanilla butter cream which I also added food coloring to, and the other is a chocolate butter cream. You can fine the recipes for the frosting's on my cooking blog Stefanie's Cooking Spot.  I used the chocolate butter-cream between the layers and on the sides of the cake.

and the colored butter-cream for the top.

Hats for Charity

I am now going on 7 years of being cancer free. I was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2004. I remember how hard it was to find hats that I liked, because I didn’t like wearing a wig because I thought that it was too itchy. So I was always looking for soft comfortable hats. And that is why I decided to make some hats for Halos of Hope.

My first hat that I made is called the Simplest Cap of All. I wanted something simple, fast and easy. And that is exactly what I found in this pattern. Thanks you to Judy Gibson the designer.

Simplest Cap of All

The next hat Handspun Ribbed Hat is also a very simple pattern I found this one by looking at different sites on the web. It is very easy to knit but I did get a little bored knitting the rib stitch for 9 ½ inches. But it is a cute hat and I know someone will enjoy it!

Handspun Ribbed Hat

My third hat that I knitted was the Hurricane Hat by Andrea Goutier. I like knitting this one it wasn’t boring I like watching the pattern unfold. This is a very beautiful patter. I was told by a woman who saw me knitting it that I do very nice work. I like it when something so simple looks so impressive when I am knitting.

Hurricane Hat

I have a few more hats that I am working on for Halos of Hope and I will be posting those soon!

L is for Lazy



I don't know why but I have been so lazy this week with my hat project. It usually takes me a day or two to turn out a hat but this one is taking forever, and it's an easy knit!
I knit a couple of rounds sit it down do somthing else come back a day later and knit a few more rounds. I really need to get this done.
My goal is to knit 6 hats for Halo's for Hope and I will get it done! Soon I hope!

Ariel's Blue Mushroom Hat

I asked Ariel, Have you seen Mario and Luigi lately? Because that hat looks like a big blue mushroom on your head! She laughed and said that’s ok because I like it!

By the time I finished this hat I could have knitted it 3 times. It’s not that the pattern was hard; I just couldn’t get the fit right. I wanted to make this hat for Halos for Hope a charity that gives hand -made caps to cancer patients. But it turned out to big. So I gave it to my hat girl Ariel, and as I have mention before she loves hats.

I used a nice soft yarn by Premier from their Serenity collection called Stormey, because I wanted a yarn that was easy to care for. The pattern called for a #11 circular needle for the brim, it turned out to lose. So I changed it to a #10, which turned out much better. And I continued with the pattern as stated. As you can see it is a nice slouchy beret and Ariel loves it.

You can find this pattern at Crazy Aunt Purl or at Raverly.

Looking for the perfect knitting bag!

Looking for the perfect knitting bag! That’s what I was doing when I found the pattern for this bag on All People Quilt. I was looking for a bag to carry my sock projects in while I worked on them. It needed to be small but not too small, but most of all I wanted it to be cute. That’s what I found in this bag!

It always amazes what I can find on the Internet. There are web-sites out there were you can print out patterns. All you need to do is cut them out and tape them together. Your biggest decision is what fabric to use.

Then again maybe it might be which bag you would like to make first. The web-site All People Quilt has 22 of them. Just pick which one you would like to start with first!

 This is the link for the bag patterns All people Quilt.

My Lesson in Sock Knitting

One of the things I was looking forward to most when I took up knitting was learning how to knit socks. But my knitting instructor told us that she was not going to be teaching socks knitting because she was   limited to the amount of classes that she would be allowed to teach.  So I decided to teach myself then.

I bought the book How to Knit Socks from Amazon by Edie Eckman. Then I went to the my local yarn shop The Needle Nook and bought some sock yarn and the needles that the Basic Sock on Double-Pointed Needles pattern called for and then I got down to work.

The pattern was very easy to follow with step by step instructions with photos. And with a little time and a lot of patience I was able to knit my first pair of socks.

My first pair

My next pair was Jacquard & Stripe Socks which I made for my daughter Brandy. They took a little longer to knit because I fell into the dreaded second sock syndrome.

Brandy's socks

My third pair was for my daughter Ariel they were Spiral Socks. This is a very easy pattern because you don’t turn the heel, that’s because this pattern makes a tube sock.

Kallie checking out Ariel's socks!

My forth pair Hermione's Everyday Socks are for me I love these socks they are my favorite.

My favorite pair

So a few lessons that I learned this past year are. That I like knitting socks. I am not afraid to turn a heel. And not to use any double point needles larger than a #2.

Crochet Edge Fleece Blanket

Crochet Edge Fleece Blanket

When Ariel and I were at Walmart the other day in their craft department looking at some fabric, Ariel found this fleece blanket material on clearance for 3 dollars a panel. And since her boy friend Derrick happens to be in the Navy we couldn’t pass up such a great deal.

We were talking about how to finish the edge of the blanket. I told her she could just cut the edge and leave it like that or she could turn over the edge and sew it. I also told her that I have seen it crocheted around the edges but that took a while because you will need to punch all the holes around the edge.

I decided to look up on the Internet about how to make holes in fleece for a crochet edge and of course I found what I was looking for. A cool little blade called a Skip Stitch that you can use in your Rotary Cutter that makes the job so much easier.

So I assembled all my materials that I would be needing and got down to work.

My materals

The edge before

I am using a size H hook

The edge after
  

Here is the link for the instructions on how to make the blanket, and also the website where you can order your own Skip-Stitch blade.

So get busy and order your blade and you to can make your own crochet edge fleece blankets for your love ones!