cooking, etc. - summer pickling

I was in Newport, RI for the weekend, enjoying some beach time with friends. Being at the beach in August got me thinking about all the summer things I want to do before it starts to get chilly. One such thing is at-home pickling.

I saw this article on small batch summer pickling a few weeks ago on the blog food52. (I am a huge fan of food52, which operates on an interesting concept you can read about here.) They always have great posts from food bloggers and chefs.

The recipe comes from Ashley Rodriguez of the blog Not Without Salt, which has some amazing food photography.

I am particular interested to try pickled fennel. Maybe I'll get it together to pickle some things this weekend. First though I need to find the right jar!

anna parties - birthday cake

Yesterday was my birthday! I turned 25. I had a little after dinner party of cake and prosecco on our roofdeck. Despite generous offers from others, I decided I wanted to make my own birthday cake. For me, birthdays are all about the cake. I chose Ina Garten's Beatty's Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.

I had never made it before, but it turned out wonderful. It was an easy cake to make, and the buttermilk in it made it very moist and delicious. The frosting was good, but definitely on the sweet side. I might make something less sweet next time.

Here's to my first quarter century!

PS: For more info on the dress I'm wearing, click here. 

knitting, etc. - arne & carlos

After writing yesterday about knit spheres, I did a quick search on Ravelry for knit ornaments, and came across the book 55 Christmas Balls to Knit by the Norwegian duo Arne & Carlos.

I have to admit, I was mostly intrigued by the picture, but after looking inside the book via amazon, I thought the patterns looks fun.

I have a bunch of stuffing left from my knit pug project, so I decided to order the book, with plenty of time for Christmas.

I knit some gloves with a fair isle pattern last year and really enjoyed the project. Pattern available for free here.

You can watch an interesting video of Arne & Carlos talking about their knitting (and other crafts...) here:

knitting, etc. - knit sphere

After finishing my knit pug, I started to brainstorm an easier way. I decided on knitting a sphere that I can color like a pug. I found this free pattern for a knit sphere from the blog I Like Lemons.

I'm hoping to make one with faun and black, and add a smooched nose and curly tail.

I think they could make cute christmas ornaments!

anna parties - welcome back diy

Today my boyfriend comes back from Brussels, where he has been doing an internship for the past two months. To celebrate his arrival, I made a quick Welcome Back banner and cookies. I like the homemade look of the banner, and the rainbow sprinkles on the cookies match nicely.

I cut the letters out free form from construction paper, and then punched holes in the letters. I strung ribbon through the letters to hang them. I didn't have enough ribbon to make a second row, so I tapped the next row of letters to the first row.

Welcome back, Jake!

knitting, etc. - ravelympics

I'm a little late with this story, but as I watch the women's gymnastics all around competition, I feel I should share a recent news story concerning the Olympics and knitting. It is an interesting situation, as well as an interesting intellectual property question.

Read about the "Ravelympics" - I mean "Ravellenic Games" - here.

needlepoint, etc.

Now that I have finished my union jack tea cosy and knit pug, I need a new project. Rather than knitting, I am thinking of doing some needlepoint. I really enjoyed making my needlepoint iphone case, so something like that would be fun.

For inspiration, I love this Obama modern cross stitch by Wall Work on Etsy.

This embroidered card from Blue Eye Brown Eye on Etsy is also a great DIY idea.

I also really like this Midsummer Sprigs ABCs Counted Cross Stitch Sampler by Alicia Paulson.

Alicia Paulson also has a free embroidery pattern for days of the week dish towels, which might be a good project for me to start doing embroidery.

Any suggestions for needlepoint projects?