Knitting: Go!

I've been so delinquent in my blogging! I truly apologize. Fall is here, and I've been knitting.

First, the cable aran. I finished both sleeves last night (debate knitting) and am about to pick up the stitches for the neck. Then, it's just finishing!

This isn't the world's most illustrative photo, but I think it shows one important thing: it fits! I think the rolling hem makes it a leeetle too short, but hopefully a good blocking will correct that. I also didn't do the maths to place my waist shaping exactly where my waist is, but at least it isn't an entirely shapeless sweater.

Next, gift knitting!

I sent these out last week, so hopefully they have arrived.

My friend Damaris (check out her awesome cooking blog, Kitchen Corners) asked for a cupcake toy for her two year old back in the beginning of the summer. I finally sat down and cranked this baby out two weeks ago. Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and a cherry on top. Yum!

The booties are good luck booties, as Damaris wants a baby girl when she gets pregnant again.

Funny story: one of my professors has granted me permission to knit in class. The day I brought in the booties was the day we were discussion gender nonconformity and transgender legal issues. I felt so conspicuous, knitting highly gender-conforming and gender-stereotype-enforcing bright pink baby booties. However, hopefully that class just infused the booties withe kick-ass gender nonconformity vibes and the (as yet still wholly potential) baby will wear them, no matter its gender, and will grow up in a gender equal society.

Here's hoping, anyway!

Kitchen Surprise

I had a wonderful evening in the kitchen yesterday.
A friend of mine had a birthday yesterday, so after class I whipped up two dozen cupcakes.
But first, I needed dinner.

Rosemary-garlic roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli, and brown rice. I think this might be the first ime in my life I've ever made rice correctly. It's a very difficult task for for me.

Don't you agree that wisks (whisks?) are the greatest kitchen implement? I have a whole jar of different sized whisks- extra large, medium, small, tiny, and baby. Ideal for a plethora of kitchen tasks! (I just like this picture. I didn't actually use any whisks for dinner preparation.)

Ok, now that the tummy is satisfied, let's get to the good stuff. Cupcakes!!

On the left, S'mores Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. And on the right, Fireworks Cupcakes from my new cupcake book. Both are vegan, although I think there might have been a typo in the recipe for the Fireworks... I'm pretty sure they needed eggs to be the right consistency. They were good, but the texture of the batter was not what the recipe specified.

And in Very Exciting News, I bought skis today!!! They were super on sale, end of year clearance, and I got skis + boots + bindings for less than the original cost of the skis! Pictures when I get them from the shop. (They're these ones, for the curious.)

The point of it all

This blog is called Cast on a Cupcake, right? So you come here looking for both knitting and cupcake content, yes? Well, today, I'll make all your dreams come true.

First, with some knitting.

Tea Roses - the whole package - Beach Glass

I was seriously craving some bring pink sock yarn for Valentine's Day. And Sonny and Shear was having a 25% off sale. The Tea Roses (Whimzy Pinzy 2 Socks @ Once) looked close to what I was looking for, and the Beach Glass (Hazel Knits Sock) was just too gorgeous to pass up. Now that I've received it, I like the Beach Glass far more than I like the Tea Roses. I was looking for something more like this (which ends up like this when knit- unfortunately every store in the entire internet is sold out. Boo).

And second, with some cupcakes.

Coconut Lime deliciousness

Oregon passed a domestic partnership law that was supposed to go into effect January first, but someone got an injunction against the law, delaying its implementation until a judge could take a look at the law. Well, a judge looked at it, said discrimination is wrong, and allowed the law to go into effect February first. Unfortunately, that was a Friday, so the law really went into effect on the third. Long story short, my friends were among the first 50 couples in line at city hall on Monday, and got their domestic partnership in Oregon!

They held a marriage reception / party on Saturday night, and I promised them some approximation of Key Lime Pie cupcakes. Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World had these Coconut Lime Cupcakes, which were a dream to make, and came out beautifully, with the help of my decorating bag & the assistance of my friend Katie. (Someone has to taste the frosting & lick out the bowl!)

The cupcakes looked a little amateur next to the bakery-wedding cake, but they disappeared by the time I left the party, and the grooms had to shelter a cupcake in their refrigerator to make sure they were able to eat at least one. An unqualified hit!

Happy Birthday!

It's a Birthday Cupcake!

Tomorrow is my friend's birthday and we're having a pink and white brunch at a great club in the City that has bottomless mimosas! The perfect addition to this party was obviously a white cake cupcake with pink frosting. And a candle! (My very first i-cord)

Seriously, I could knit cupcakes every day of my life.

The Greatest Day of the Year

Happy Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day. Everything pink and cute and all about love.

When we woke up this morning, Mike and I exchanged gifts...



I got him chocolates from the candy store in New Hampshire where I worked during high school (in the traditional red heart chocolate box) and he got me a miniature rose grown at Half Moon Bay in California.

The card in the picture is my present to Strawberry Shortcake and an example of the postcards I wrote to my friends. (I used a typewriter on the front and rubber stamps for the back- a movie quote or song lyrics. Examples include: "Here's looking at you, kid", "Nobody puts Baby in a corner", "Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world", and "We are the champions, no time for losing".)

Total Cupcake count: 6 knitted, 120 frosted, 1 eaten by a shark.

Back to Baking!

Yesterday, Roomie (I've got two, and for the sake of the internet, both are getting sly nicknames. There's Other Cupcake [the OC] and LP. No points if you guess which is which and you actually know us. Also the Boy needs a nickname, too... we're debating between Little Drummer Boy, Snake, and The Music Man. I don't really like any of them...)

Anyway, so yesterday The OC and I were at work (we work together at a collectively owned bakery), baking up a batch of cupcakes for Valentine's Day. We spent three hours making delicious vegan chocolate cupcakes and pink frosting (we just had to dye some white cream cheese frosting), and decorating the cookies. There was some CRAZY dancing and giggling happening throughout.

The final result: (note the gay cupcakes and the slyly captioned... Eat me, Kiss me, Je t'aime!)



Also, I ran across some Margarita Cupcakes on another knitting blog. That's some crazy shit.

Knit City!

Welcome to my new blog! I had an old one (lizolovesyou.livejournal.com), but I was seduced my the smooth stylings of Blogger. I haven't been a very frequent poster on my former blog, but I do knit a lot, so perhaps there will be more posting on here!

I also work at a bakery and love all things baked. I love to bake bread, but cupcakes also hold a special place in my heart.

I'll begin with the last post from my former blog, and we'll get to know each other from there!

----

I have a strange addiction. Knitting blogs! I spend so much time reading knitting blogs, I don't have time to knit or read real things (like political blogs. Or, you know... books.)

But, inspired by several things I saw on blogs, here is what I'm knitting now!


Yes, it's a cupcake! Yes, I work at a bakery. And yes, we might be selling these at the bakery. Best Valentine ever.


My roommate loves squirrels. So I knew I had to knit her these when I first saw the pattern. Also, my favorite project bag.

And something for me- with yarn bought for 50 cents a skein at a Goodwill. A pair of mittens and a cute side-button top-down raglan sweater. The pattern came from here.

Instead of having a stash of yarn stockpiled in a closet or dresser, I have dozens and dozens of bookmarked patterns. Some of them are leftover from formerly intentioned projects and now I have no interest in knitting from them (kind of like some people's stashes!)... however, some of the patterns are amazing and I definitely plan on making them. When my low-wage job allows.