Fussiest Cookies Ever!

And the award goes to...palmiers! They are well worth the trouble though! I made a batch of puff pastry earlier in the week for crafty fun night and I've always wanted to try these. You roll out a piece of dough on the counter with regular white sugar until it's an 1/8" thick rectangularish shape. Roll up both long ends into a tight double spiral and slice 3/8" thick. Press them onto an ungreased pan with the palm of your hand and chill while you preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Bake them for about 10 minutes and they become THIS! The mashed in sugar and the folded in butter melt together and become this delicate covering of caramel over a buttery puffed bite. You must watch them very closely as they can very quickly burn. Did I mention they were worth the trouble? Num num.

Ornamental Trial and Error

A couple of us gals got together to work on some photo resin ornaments earlier in the week. We went through 12 ounces of the stuff on quite a few ornaments. The instructions are very specific about mixing for a few minutes and then changing containers and stirring sticks for further mixing. We cheated a little on the mixing process towards the end of the evening because we were running out of containers. I wonder if we didn't accelerate some sort of chemical reaction by reusing the containers because the last batch set up and was actually hardening while we were sitting there which I've never yet seen happen. Still it was fun to sit around in a group and work on these and yik yak!

I made an ornament of my late beloved Buzzy with his doggie tag and I finally got around to pouring Mom's lemon curd label that is a painting of Elizabeth I. I attempted one with my grandparents' wedding photo and a field trip photo from last year but they fell victim to our resin malfunction. They have flaws on their surfaces and really were hardening before we could blow the bubbles out of it. They're ok but I'm just crabby about them.

Scrubbing

I finished a couple scrubs tonight. The busy owl one is mine (I just love how "folky" it looks!) and the other two are Melissa's. The blue/green butterfly print was a lovely batik fabric and so crisp and nice to work with. The paisley one is just a print we got off the wall at Walmart if memory serves. I'll have to tease her, but she was so excited about this purple one, and I can't say I'm crazy about it. I don't dislike it, but I guess I wouldn't have chosen it and she just gushes about it. It's very purple-y ;)

Sweater For Marshall

My cousin Steph had a baby in May and I am a rotten relative! This sweater has been finished for probably a month and I need to get it in the mail so Marshall has some time to wear it! It was knit side to side in a honeycomb stitch pattern which was actually a very clever slipped garter stitch. I used Patons silk bamboo yarn which is very soft and has a lovely sheen to it. It was also yarn that I bought here in town so that was kind of a luxury in itself. They also had an angora blend that would be very pretty and soft, but maybe a bit too drapey. I was worried about knitting him a sweater in the middle of summer, but the fiber content will breathe and should keep him cool in the heat, but they also live Up North and he will need the long sleeves ;) The pattern came from the fabulous book Greetings From Knit Cafe and the sweater can be worn backwards or frontwards. I will put this in the post this week!

I set the sweater out on my new linen pillow sham from Tallinn. Mom and I went out exploring in the evening our first night there and found a wonderful linen shop. At the moment I cannot locate my travel journal but I'm sure I wrote down the address. We saw a lot of beige and oatmeal colored linens, very pretty but very subtle. This shop had all kinds of thread dyed and and piece dyed items and I fell in love with this sea urchin print. I also bought a runner with a brown background and mustard yellow lining. I'll have to finish something so I can use it as a backdrop for the picture! Mom bought some napkins and pieced them together to make a new valance for her kitchen window.