Cupcakes and Grout

Hi Knitters,
Last night's birthday party was a success. Another one down and my other daughter's birthday is on Thursday and more parties will ensue. This party was held at our neighborhood pool. I made these cupcakes yesterday using a fancy white cake mix and vanilla frosting in a can. A couple of weeks ago we were at a sweet little candy shop on State Street called Twee and Luliloo's and I picked up the ever popular fruit slices.

Next we sliced them in half and popped them on top. The kids loved them, they are summery cupcakes for sure. The trays the cupcakes are on is a great little invention. It is a double stacker bottom that has a lid that covers both layers. It is perfect for sending cupcakes or muffins to school or for a party like this. I bought at the grocery store.

Aren't they cute? As the mom, aren't your arms and hands always in the birthday pictures? It's that candle lighting duty, I need to pass that job on.

On to finishing that fruit. The glue is dry and I am ready to roll. I poured some grout in a disposable bowl. I'd say it is about 3/4 cup but I am not exactly sure.

I prefer the sanded grout and I buy a bag of white grout at Home Depot just to keep on hand.

With the white grout you can add acrylic paint to color it any shade you'd like. I have lots of acrylic paint around and I just add a glob while I am stirring up the grout with water.

Add water slowly like when you are adding liquid to powdered sugar for frosting. It is weird because it soaks it up so quickly and then suddenly you reach a point where you've added too much. Be cautious and add the water little by little. I like a dry grout, I don't want it to be too runny. It is easier to work with this way. This is a preference thing I am sure. You kind of want it just blended.

See this even got a little too runny for me but it doesn't matter because it will just take a little longer to dry. Now I've added a glob of the red paint to the mixed grout.

Stir, stir, stir until all blended. You can use a spatula like this which is intended for mosaic work or you can use a plastic spoon. I have a regular rubber cooking spatula designated for mosaic work that I like to use too.

Let that grout sit for 10-15 minutes before you start grouting. This lets it set up a bit. Now some people like to wipe down the surface with a damp sponge before they grout. I always forget to do this and it doesn't make any difference so why bother?

Next I start smearing the grout all over the piece. This picture is slightly deceiving because I really use my hands and fingers a lot to smush the grout into all of the nooks and crannies. Make sure ever space is filled.

Be generous now, no holding back.

When every crack is filled wipe all of the excess grout off.

Now let the apple sit for another 15-20 minutes. Sometimes I think you are supposed to wipe down the piece with a damp sponge again maybe after 10 minutes. Once again, I never remember to do this and it doesn't matter. So you choose!

While the apple is setting I am starting my pear. I added yellow acrylic paint for this one. Off I go exactly the same way. This grout turned out a little drier so I was happier with it.

Here it is sitting out for 20 minutes. While the pear rests I am back out on my front stoop to scrub and polish the apple. This part can get a little messy. In the winter I do it inside but outside makes for easier clean up.

Grab an old terry cloth towel or designate a towel to use for cleaning grout. I have an abundance of these old towels around and I always want to throw them out but then I remember the grouting. Now I just turn the apple around in my hand while gently buffing out the tiles. Make sure you expose the tiles and the edges of the tiles with the buffing.

Now you can see all of the tiles and it is starting to shine a bit.

I just love this project. It is a wonderful gift for a teacher, I have given many. It is sweet and simple and really pretty.

Same goes for the pear. Rub, rub, rub until you see a shine and all of the tiles are exposed.

Pure sweetness in my palm. You should really give this a go if you are at all interested. What a great little project.

What is it about pears? I love them more than apples and I hate to say it but I might just have a small-ish pear collection going on. I have lots of them around my house and my kitchen wall is painted a color called Summer Pear. That is my first admission of my pear love. It is getting stranger all of the time.

Okay, how cute are they? You gotta try it!

If you give a whirl let me know how it goes or send a picture on over. I'd love to see it. I know a couple of people are making some little pots inspired by mine and I'd love to see those too.

This is another project I started. If you are wondering this is an under-layer of wall paper that I am removing from my dining room. The original wall paper looked, well, sort of like a funeral parlor. I have been looking at it for almost ten years and it is over. I can't take it any longer. Unfortunately, every inch needs to be scraped, scored and steamed for removal. It is the pits. I can't wait to paint a fresh, breezy color on those dreary walls. I'll keep you updated.

I had a picture of my bobble bag uploaded and I must have deleted it somehow. I don't feel right not having any knitting in this post. All of the pieces of the bag are finished and blocked. I'll be hunting for fabric and the other materials this afternoon hopefully.

Take care, knitters.

best, susie

Bobbles and Apples and Pears, Oh My

Hi Knitters,
Hope you all had a nice weekend. I started this little number yesterday and I am almost done already. Talk about a quick knit. It is the cover bag from Vogue Knitting Bags Two. I am using 3 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky in Peace Pink and size 15 needles. I love the big bulky bobbles. I may have to do more with these in the future.

The bag is knit in one piece and then the handle is knitted separately. The materials call for plastic mesh to line the handle, fabric for a lining, a magnetic snap and a heavy piece of cardboard for the bottom which is covered in fabric. I still need to pick this other stuff up so I may not finish it for a few days. I looked online yesterday for some fun fabric for lining, but I couldn't see anything quite right.

There are some other cute patterns in this book so you may want to give it a look. I'll keep you posted on my finishing progress.

On to my next weekend project. I have been itching to do some mosaic work lately. I had this project sitting around and pulled it out to work on. Mosaic fruit is fun, quick and beautiful in the end. I certainly didn't originate this idea but here is a quick how-to. You will need fruit, the fake kind of course, mosaic glue, mosaic tiles, a tile nipper, grout and acrylic paint if you want to color your grout and a lot of patience. You can find this fruit at gift stores and probably craft stores. In Madison I have bought lots of fruit and pumpkins at Gratitudes. Even plastic fruit from your kids' play food would work fine. I placed an order for mosaic supplies here recently and they have great stuff.

After you nip your tiles into mini squares and rectangles you are set to start. I used a dark red and an orange-red for the apple.

I work in small sections at a time while adhering the tiles to the piece. I let the glue dry before starting the next section. On a round piece like this it is a good idea to work in bits and pieces. Then you don't have to worry about things moving when you turn your work. Spread some glue on a section with a heavy hand so your tiles will stick.

Next, I start placing the tiles to the apple. I don't worry too much about planning or organizing my design, I just dive right in. You can slide things around or pull things off if you need to adjust. It is like a puzzle.

I like a pretty tight mosaic usually but I am not sure if I will have enough tiles so I am leaving a little more space in between. I call it cramming when I cram everything together especially when I am working with all sorts of different materials and not only tiles. The more crammed together, the better.

The more a mosaic looks random and unplanned the more interesting it is to me. Don't worry about the colors just let it happen. This is what makes it fun.

Work around the side of the apple first leaving the top and bottom for the end.

Almost done with the side.

Looking good!Next, finish up the bottom.

Make sure the apple will sit flat when you are tiling.

When the apple is completely covered let it sit for 24 hours so the glue can dry completely before grouting.

Now I have to cut the tiles for the pear. I am using a light green and yellow.

I like to sit on my front stoop while I cut these tiles. I have done some crazy breaking of objects with a hammer out here, too. I am sure people wonder what is going on when they pass by. Be careful, this is glass here. I cut the tile in the palm of my left hand and cup my fingers around to block any flying pieces.

Matching Chacos are optional. Sorry about the pedicure but I have important things to do like making mosaic fruit.

As my apple sits drying I start the pear in the exact same way. I am adding yellow accents here so I have to plan but just a little.

I will probably be grouting tomorrow. Today I have yet another birthday party to throw. Cupcakes are coming for this one.

A mid-afternoon nap on the couch is always good on the weekend.

Aren't those fun books she is reading? I am jealous.

I have a few links for you here. Laurie wrote me a comment and I checked out her site. Her stuff is way cool and she has a book in the works. Who knew Stephanie has a mosaic backsplash? My love only grows for her. Check out these fun hats. Thankfully Stacey (check out her apple and pear fabric, pure coincidence) reminded me of this blog and it is a good one to follow. I'll cross my fingers that these links will work!

Phew! And that only scratches the surface.

best, susie

This and That

Hi Knitters,
Every summer our neighborhood pool has a silent auction fundraiser along with an adult social. This year a woman in the neighborhood contacted all of the knitters who go to the pool to knit 4 inch squares. She is going to sew these squares together to make a blanket to auction off. Of course I am contributing. The only stipulations are that you should use bright colors, use garter stitch (okay I cheated a little on this) and that you only use 100% cotton. I turned in 4 squares yesterday and I have these 4 to hand off today. I can't wait to see the finished blanket. It should be pretty darn cute.

Remember my ripple stitch scarf from Jan Eaton's Ripple Stitch book? I am making progress. Every day or so I pull it out and add a few more colors. I think I have about 30 inches completed.

I think I will make it at least 60 inches. I like a long, wrappy scarf in the winter. Those Jo Sharp colors are doing no wrong.

I am going to visit Knit 2 Together with you today. Do you have this? It is for sale on amazon for $5.50. That is a steal, my friends. I looked through this again yesterday and every time I see this book I like it even more. First of all I love Tracey Ullman. She used to have a style show on some obscure channel and I used to watch it all of the time. She would interview various designers and she would try on clothes and give her perspective which was usually funny. I'll never forget one time Tracey was making fun of American parents and how they gush endlessly and claim their children are always gifted at everything. She said English parents don't gush like that, they just nonchalantly say, "Oh, you're okay." I like that mentality. I am always telling my kids, "Oh, you're fine." It is good not to get too worked up about things sometimes.

This beautiful cashmere neck warmer is on my list for next winter. It looks so warm. Mel Clark of Wildfibers has designed all of the projects in the book. She is quite talented and has a great eye for detail. You can tell she has a fun sense of humor, more than enough to keep up with Tracey.

This great felted bag is called sea anemone. It is made from 2 strands of Cascade 220 held together. Now, I don't think I would do the orange embellishments, but I love the bag shape and I have tons of cascade 220 lingering about. Maybe a stripey version would do me fine.

Mel designed this fantastic circular sweater made in Koigu Kersti, one of my faves. There is a simple lace pattern and I am digging the shawl collar. Love the older model, too, she's lovely. I notice these things.

How can you go wrong with a sweat pea sweater. I love those peas and they are done so delicately here. Gorgeous. I don't think I would make this one, but I appreciate its beauty.

When Mel and Tracey were on Martha Stewart, Mel wore this sweater. I was happy to see it on her because she is an average size woman and it looked terrific on her. I think that ribbon on the neckline is a pretty touch.

What a beautiful little shrug made from Blue Sky Alpaca's Silk. Oh it is dreamy. Mel claims beginners at her store have made this. So maybe if you are a beginner at lace this may be a good place to start.

What a fun picture. Don't you ever feel like doing this? I do. Check out that subtle ruffle detail on the side, so cute. This added touch makes all of the difference. I paid full price for this book and I think it was worth it. Now will I knit an apron? No. Will I knit a pair of pantaloons to wear under a skirt? No. But there is never a book where you are going to knit every project. The number of knittable projects for me way outweighs the number of projects I won't knit. I read patterns anyway, even if I don't care for them, because you can learn so much.

There are great little stories and fun tales from Tracey and Mel's past. Plus don't you love the Wildfiber ads in the knitting mags? They are like the spirograph art from my childhood.

Yay for Wednesday. Now go get that book!

best, susie

p.s. I think Tracey received some static for just being a celebrity and not being a real knitter. She is a real knitter and she is funny and witty and she helps shine the light on knitting in a positive way. I say go for it. Also, she and Mel did a great interview on NPR awhile ago. I can't even remember how I found that to listen to, it was an obscure link. I bet if you dig you could find it, too. It was a fun listen.