[...crafts...]

cookies

2011-01-16T01:51:00.003-05:00

i baked some cookies this week. i found some simple and easy recipes.

first, russian tea cakes:
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/russian-tea-cakes-i/Detail.aspx

i added too much walnuts, but i didn't mind. i like that they're not too sweet and fall apart in the mouth. next time, i'll roll them into smaller bite-sized balls.

next, chocolate crinkles:
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/chocolate-crinkles-ii/Detail.aspx

before baking:

after baking:

they're so pretty! they're also soft, chewy, and delicious.

success.

hat with earflaps

2011-01-05T19:22:00.006-05:00

it's winter; knitting season. last year, my dad and i saw some guys on the street wearing knitted hats with mohawks; it was so cool! i think he wanted one. and so did i.

i looked it up. knit head sells such hats, at $100+. that's too much for me. alternately, i can buy their book for less and make it myself. but nothing beats free: there are some online previews of the book, and the free pages show how to make the hat. their method consists of knitting the two sides pieces, then sewing them together with a centre seam.

then, i found this pattern:
http://knithappyri.com/2010/02/hello-world/
and it's even better because it is knitted as one piece and seems simpler.

as an inexperienced knitter, i used some cheap yarn for my prototype: bernat supervalue (100% acrylic) in dark burgundy.

since i used 4.5mm needles and single worsted yarn (instead of 6mm needles and double worsted or bulky yarn), i had to make some modifications.

earflaps: (make 2)

cast on 3 sts
row 1: p
row 2: sl1, m1, k1, m1, k1 (5 sts)
row 3: sl1, p to end
row 4: sl1, m1, k3, m1, k1 (7 sts)
row 5: sl1, p to end
...
row 22: sl1, m1, k21, m1, k1 (25 sts)
row 23: sl1, p to end
row 24: sl1, k to end
row 25: sl1, p to end
row 26: sl1, k to end
row 27: sl1, p to end

the hat:

with one earflap, knit across the 25 sts on circular needle.

cast on 27 sts with backward loop. knit across other earflap. cast on 19 sts with backward loop. join in round.

knit in round until the hat measures 7.5-8 inches from the bottom of the earflap, then begin decrease:
round 1: k14, k2tog, repeat to end
round 2: k
round 3: k13, k2tog, repeat to end
round 4: k
...
round 23: k3, k2tog, repeat to end
round 24: k2tog to bind off, repeat to end

i-cords:

pick up 3 sts from bottom of earflap.

knit 12 inches (approx. 70 rows), hiding the loose ends inside (trim loose ends after 15th row).

since i was using acrylic which doesn't felt, i omitted the mohawk part.

i ended up with this:

different view:

the fit is good, except the earflaps feel a bit too long on my face. for dad, the cap should be longer, with shorter earflaps as well.

overall, this was an easy project. i'll need to get some nice wool. i'll try to get some bulky weight. i should also get the suggested 6mm needles. i found out that there is a yarn shop at a 20-minute walk from my home.

baking with apples

2010-10-06T12:39:00.001-04:00

i was in a baking mood today. after my last not-so-good attempt, i decided to go for a previously successful recipe: apple muffins. this time, no icing. i also baked a bit longer, so the top edge is slightly crispy, exactly the way i like it.

i also tried an apple loaf recipe:
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/apple-loaf/Detail.aspx

i overbaked the loaf a little; there's a thick crust now. next time, i should bake for 50 mins. it tastes good. i was a bit too liberal with the butter, so it feels a bit heavy.

bisquick apple pie

2010-10-01T23:14:00.008-04:00

i went apple picking with my friends last weekend. now, i've got a bunch of cortland and macintosh apples.

the next day, i was making pancakes with bisquick, and i saw a recipe on the box for "impossibly easy french apple pie". so i tried it out.

eh. it turned out kind of soggy. kind of underbaked too. maybe my sliced apples were too watery. it tastes good. but the soggy texture in the mouth ruins everything.

it was definitely easy to make. but the results are meh.

fancy party dress

2010-09-20T18:17:00.004-04:00

for a friend's birthday party, the theme was to dress up. it was the perfect occasion to make a new dress.

i re-used a pattern that was bought previously to make my convocation dress, mccall's 5881. this time, i went for view a, a halter dress with a contrast band.

in mom's sewing closet, i found a floral pattern fabric. for the contrast band, i used some burgundy-coloured fabric. i also found an invisible zipper of the same colour. i'm glad i didn't have to buy any supplies for this dress.

the pattern size 4 fit me, except the bodice was too tight. i wonder if it's because i did not follow the grain of the interfacing; after ironing, the bodice pieces seemed to have shrunk. my mom was able to alter the bodice front by playing with the seam allowances. but i had to re-cut the bodice back, adding 1 inch on the top and bottom edge, when the pattern piece was placed on the fold (so an addition of 2 inches total, on each edge). this means that the contrast band had to be lengthened (by about 3 inches, just to be safe).

when putting the skirt pieces together, we realized that the dress fit so much better when we switched the front side and back side pieces. not sure if this is a mistake in the pattern, or if my body is shaped weird or something.

anyway, it took my mom two nights to make this dress (since we had to re-do the bodice, and it took us a while to figure out that the front and back side pieces should be switched). by the end of the second night, when i tried it on, i found that the top of the bodice was too loose. now i know that i should have altered the bodice back piece to add half-inch to the top edge, and 1 inch to the bottom edge. but there was no time to make these alterations that night. in a 'make it work' moment, my mom sewed an elastic along the top edge of the bodice, which resulted in some unwanted shirring. fortunately, the contrast band along the top edge hid most of this.

the party ended up being a lot of fun. at least the dress was held together. some day, when my mom will have some free time, she'll have to rip apart the bodice, and remake it to have it fit me properly.

[photo to come, maybe.]

knitted scarf

2009-12-13T14:10:00.003-05:00

remember the knitting kit i got as a gift? i was bored, so i knitted the scarf earlier this week:

the scarf is 10cm wide, 290cm long. it used up 3 x 50g balls of yarn (90% acrylic, 10% nylon). knitted with 8mm needles, the stitches are loose and the scarf is stretchy.

detail on the pattern:

cast on 14 stitches.
1st row: (right side), knit.
2nd row: purl 2, knit 2, repeat until end of row.
repeat last two rows until end.

this was very easy to make.

gift from friends

2009-11-02T14:07:00.003-05:00

this weekend, my friends and i had peruvian food at puca puca. the food was delicious, the portion was generous, and the price was good.

for my birthday, my friends got me some crafty stuff:

i am pretty excited about the 'easy baking' book. i've already bookmarked a few recipes to try out.

as for the knitting supplies, i haven't decided what to make yet. i've no need for any new winter gear (scarf, mitten, tuque), so i think i'll save the yarn for some other project.

and of course, the hmv gift card will provide me with some new music.

apple bars

2009-11-02T13:44:00.002-05:00

i still have apples left from the apple picking activity of over a month ago...

i tried another easy recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apple-Bars/Detail.aspx

a piece:

it's soft and slightly moist, the consistency of muffins.

pointy kitty

2009-10-21T11:27:00.004-04:00

i had found this pointy kitty pattern a long time ago:
http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com/wee_wonderfuls/store/pointykitty.html
but i never had a reason to make it.

recently, my mom got a puppy. finally, i can make her a toy!

in my mom's fabric closet, i found some stretch velour, in beige colour. when cutting the pieces, i thought this fabric may be hard to work with. but when sewing, i realized that this fabric was a good choice: the stretch meant that i had some play when two pieces did not match up perfectly, and the fuzz of the velour hid my imperfect stitching.

since i do not have a sewing machine myself, i sewed the whole thing by hand. it was simple enough that it only took a couple of hours. i used some pink felt for the stripes. and since i was lazy, i left the kitty faceless.

it's so cute.

my dad is concerned that the fabric does not seem tough enough. the puppy will surely destroy the toy. but that's okay. it'll give me a reason to make more.

apple cupcakes with maple buttercream

2009-10-16T18:23:00.003-04:00

another mix-and-bake experiment with apples.

i found a simple cupcake recipe:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/apple-cupcakes

i halved the cupcake recipe to make only a dozen. i didn't have any nutmeg, so i omitted it from the mix. i mixed everything by hand, so the butter+sugar mix was probably not as 'pale and fluffy' as it should have been. oh well.

batter:

i had to bake a bit longer than instructed; the bottom of the cupcakes had seemed undercooked when i first took them out of the oven.

before baking:

after baking:

i found a very simple maple buttercream recipe:
http://www.chow.com/recipes/27758

again, i halved the recipe since i doubted that i would need 2 cups of frosting. still, it ended up being too much for only 12 cupcakes. i had to use an electric mixer to get the right texture.

it was my first time trying to use a piping bag. i did a poor frosting job; it looks so sad:

the cupcakes turned out soft and moist, which i like. the buttercream was a bit too sweet for my taste, which is why i didn't load the cupcakes with too much of it. still edible though.

soft apple cinammon cookie

2009-10-13T11:47:00.006-04:00

another food experiment with the apples.

this time, i tried to make soft apple cinammon cookies, following this recipe:
http://www.5to10aday.com/en_recipe_details.asp?id=71

again, it was simple enough for me to make.

i had been a bit worried at first because the cookie dough didn't look too appetizing:

the cookies turned out alright:

detail shot:

yeah, they're kind of lumpy shaped, since i dropped them onto the cookie sheet without shaping.

the cookie are soft, with a bit of a spongy texture (like cake). they definitely taste better when re-heated. not too sweet, with enough cinammon. my mom's only complaint was that she could not taste any apples, even though i had used 6 small ones.

apple maple crumble pie

2009-10-09T17:12:00.003-04:00

a couple of weeks ago, i went apple picking with my friends, and returned home with a 18lb bag of apples. i finally searched for some recipes and tried something yesterday.

since i've never really baked anything from scratch, i found this very simple recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apple-Maple-Crumble-Pie/Detail.aspx

here's a piece that i cut out:

detail:

and it turned out pretty edible! at this stage, that's all i aim for.

convocation dress #2

2009-05-27T21:05:00.003-04:00

for my second convocation, mom made my dress again. the pattern used was mccall 5881 view d.

we used some fabric that had been sitting in mom's sewing closet for years; she had gotten it for free from her boss. the zipper was also found in her closet. aside from the time spent on cutting the fabric pieces and sewing this together, the total cost of this dress was on the pattern, for only $7.

cropped action shot:

we added some thin straps, because a strapless dress is totally unsafe for me.

the pattern was designed in misses' sizes. since i am petite, i had shortened the hem, but did not think to place the slit higher as well. in the end, i had some difficulty walking in this dress, especially when i had to walk up the steps of some stairs.

brown stripe

2008-12-14T02:46:00.003-05:00

a few weekends ago, i picked up a couple of promotional notepads from a conference i attended.

i cut off the header, then folded the squared paper to form a textblock.

i used some scrapbooking paper to make a cover (inside and outside). the book's dimensions are about 3"x5".

i borrowed the book non-adhesive binding volume 1 from the library. i tried out the long stitch through slotted cover, using some blue sewing thread.

spine detail:

again, i had a bit of a problem with the glue seeping through the cover.

knitted mittens - second season

2008-11-11T22:03:00.003-05:00

last year was my first time knitting mittens. but i had used thick cheap yearn, so they barely lasted one season.

this year, i knitted another pair, using thin yarn, made of wool. this resulted in a finer knit, which will hopefully keep my hands warmer.

i tried to follow the same tutorial as last year:
http://www.needlenook.on.ca/free/nn106.pdf

but i had to make lots of modifications to account for the thinner needle and yarn:
- cast on 60 stitches.
- k1 p1 ribbing for 36 rounds.
- when making thumb gusset, knit 3 rounds even after each increase.
- increase until there are 21 stitches between the purled stitches.
- after setting aside the 21 stitches, cast on 3 stitches, for a total of 60.
- knit 32 rounds even.
- shape the top, decreasing until a total of 28 stitches.
- for the thumb, pick up 21+3 stitches.
- knit 20 rounds even.
- shape top, decreasing until 18 stitches.

it came out alright, even though my knitting is not completely even. i just need more practice.

zombiefie six

2008-10-19T16:01:00.003-04:00

last week, i found via notcot some patterns for zombie papertoys: the zombiefie six.
http://thunderpanda.com/thezombiefiesix/

yesterday, i invited friends over to watch some scary movies. and so, the previous night, i was up until 3:00am, cutting and gluing these pieces together. my fingers were covered with white (elmer's) glue. it was fun.

i set the papertoys on my tv. cute.

exercise books

2008-03-16T15:42:00.004-04:00

when i was in elementary school, the school provided us with exercise books. over the years, we accumulated a number of these partially filled notebooks. it seemed like a waste to throw away, so we've kept them in storage for all these years.

finally, i've found something to do with them. i un-stapled all the books, and re-bound the pages into signatures. i took the covers of one of the notebooks, and covered it with scrapbooking paper.

the cover i took was blue. i covered it with thin beige scrapbooking paper. i used white glue, which seeped through, resulting in those weird blue spots on the cover. after the binding was done, i made the mistake of pressing the book in between two heavy phone books, before the glue completely dried. when i took off the phone books, it left those white marks on the cover. so basically, i completely messed up the cover of this notebook. but it's not too big of a deal, since i intended to use this as my own private journal, eventually.

front cover, with blue and white spots:

inside:

spine detail:

xmas card for stan

2007-12-24T14:00:00.000-05:00

my brother is in the hospital right now. according to the doctor, he caught some virus. he's okay now, but will have to stay in the hospital for a week. what a disappointing way to spend the winter vacation...

our family doesn't really celebrate christmas. but i thought i should still make him a card, especially since i haven't visited him at all (yet) at the hospital.

i had bought some felt for a previous project. i cut out a few pieces, and quickly stitched together something resembling a gift, and tacked it onto a quarter-folded computer paper, just to mimic a card.

front cover:

detail on the 'gift'. notice the poor stitching...

petal notebook

2007-12-14T13:54:00.000-05:00

while procrastinating from studying for final exams, i made another book.

it is quarter-page in size, with 128 blank pages. the covers were made with cardboard and scrapbooking papers. the textblock was made with blank computer paper. i found some fuschia thread in the sewing box, and coptic-stitched the spine.

i already have too many blank notebooks. i think i'll give this one away as part of a gift.

after i finish my pack of scrapbooking paper, i should learn to make my own paper. it would be interesting.

knitted mittens in dark burgundy

2007-11-23T17:47:00.000-05:00

another attempt at knitting mittens, following the tutorial here:
http://www.needlenook.on.ca/free/nn106.pdf

i was following the instructions for the ladies' size. halfway through the first mitten, i realized that it was too big on me. probably because i have small hands, and i was using 4.5mm needles instead of the 3.25mm as indicated in the instructions. so i had to start over again. i hate unravelling projects.

second try: i followed the number of stitches for the children's medium size, while keeping all the lengths of the ladies' size. i followed the instructions until the end, and saw that it resulted in a weirdly shaped mitten, very pointy pyramid at the tip. more unravelling had to be done.

i re-did the shape at the tip. i decreased until 16 stitches remain, before finishing. for the thumb, i decreased until 10 stitches remain.

now that the pair is knitted, i see that the tip is still a bit pointy. for a rounder shape, i probably should have decreased until 20 stitches only. bah, i'll try that next time.

yellow recipe book

2007-07-02T13:34:00.000-04:00

mom wanted a notebook to collect her recipes. so i decided to make her one. another attempt at coptic binding.

the covers were made with cardboard i found in the recycling bin, covered with scrapbooking paper i got at the dollar store. i put too much glue; it seeped through and stained the back cover... inside are 128 blank pages, a quarter of letter-sized paper. the stitching turned out better this time.

convocation dress

2007-05-29T18:52:00.002-04:00

again, using simplicity 5112, mom made my convocation dress, with a heavier print fabric. i quite like the way it turned out.

the shrug was made following a fitz pattern, with some stretchy lacy material.

striped halter dress

2007-05-20T22:29:00.000-04:00

when mom and i went shopping for a dress to wear at convocation, it was disappointing. we saw some nice dresses, but those were pricey. we found some simpler dresses, but the material looked and felt cheap. finally, we bought a pattern instead: simplicity 5112. it is a simple halter dress.

but before making the convocation dress with nice material, mom found some cheaper material in her sewing closet. it is a cotton, with a striped print; it makes me think of bedsheets. we tried the pattern with the cotton, to make sure that the sizing is correct, and that the style would suit me.

i was happy enough with the result, but found the dress a bit too short. so mom added a lace trim at the hemline. i find that this added detail makes the dress nicer.

i hadn't planned on actually wearing the dress; it was more just to try out the pattern. but i love it so much now; it is perfect for summer. i can't wait until the temperature rises so that i can wear it.

bad quality pic taken with camera-phone:

knitted mittens

2007-02-22T12:50:00.000-05:00

following the tutorial found here:
http://www.needlenook.on.ca/free/nn106.pdf.

this was my first knitting project. i'm not completely satisfied, since the stitches are not even. and on the tip of the left mitten, the shape looks kind of weird...

recycled notebooks

2006-12-10T19:29:00.001-05:00

rather than study for my spacecraft dynamics final exam, i made some open-spine notebooks. all materials came from the recycling bin.

for this first book, the covers are postcard flyers, promoting some entertainment event. the inside pages are detailed drawings of my mech eng project, all printed on one side. i folded these papers in four, such that the printed side remains inside. the spine is poorly stitched, loose at some ends. i need more practice.

for the second book, the covers were cut out of a frozen pizza box. the inside papers are scraps from some photocopies i made. the spine was stitched more tightly, with a better finish.

i made these while listening to the new damien rice cd i got.

update: january 2008. during the winter break, i re-stitched these notebooks. posted here are the new pictures.

matchbook notepad

2006-10-29T19:49:00.000-05:00

i've been seeing a lot of these on craft sites, so i decided to try one myself. very simple, i made it while procrastinating from my studies... the materials were scraps left over from the father's day card project.

when gluing the paper together to make the cover, i made sure to dry it between two large stacks of books, so that the paper would remain flat. however, i was impatient, and started working with the paper before it completely dried, resulting in a warped cover.

scrap paper notebook

2006-07-26T14:52:00.001-04:00

i decided to try making an open-spine notebook, using coptic stitch. since this was just an exercise and i wasn't planning on using the book, i used the cheapest, most accessible materials i could find. for the pages inside, i took some discarded printed paper from the recycling bin. for the cover, i cut the cardboard from a box of coke cans. all the signatures are stitched together using ordinary white sewing thread.

i followed the coptic stich tutorial here:
http://www.doe.state.in.us/olr/grantprojects/books/Coptic%20Book.htm

front:

spine:

i'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. the book doesn't close entirely flat, but that's because i used some flimsy cardboard as cover, which is not heavy enough.

this was easy to make. i think i should start collecting nice paper to make notebooks with.

father's day card

2006-07-04T17:37:00.000-04:00

for father's day, i made a card, also accordian-style. again, all supplies came from the dollarama.

front:

back:

inside:

mother's day card

2006-05-14T09:28:00.000-04:00

i made my mom a card, accordion-book-style. all supplies (papers, paint, plastic flowers) came from the dollar store. hurray for dollarama!

front and back covers:

inside: i wrote "mom: happy mother's day", with one character on each page.

yeah, my handwriting is laughable...

reconstructed: biology books

2006-01-03T07:56:00.000-05:00

a while ago, there was a box of free books sitting in the hallway at school, so i took a couple.

one of them was a 1960's book, a little larger than 5.5" x 8.5". i ripped out the textblock and replaced it with blank white pages. i used some of the original pages as endpapers. the spine and corners showed some wear, so i repaired them with duct tape. unfortunately, i ran out of tape, which is why i left the back cover corners intact.

front:

inside pages:

this first reconstructed book has the problem of not opening completely flat. i only realized it after gluing everything together, so it'll have to stay that way.

with the other book, i made sure the endpapers were well creased near the spine. the problem was corrected. this second book is smaller in size, so i had to trim the pages. it came with a dustjacket, so the cover remained in rather good condition. again, i used a couple of the original pages as endpapers.

front:

inside pages:

spine:

i really enjoyed this project. i will definitely make some more blank journal out of old books. the key would be to find some with interesting/amazing covers.

softcover journals

2005-12-10T22:33:00.000-05:00

my second attempt at coptic stitch. initially, i had planned to used this as a school notebook. but i think i'll be using it as a personal journal instead.

the cover and spine are made with thick paper. it's very plain.

i also made one with a snowflake, as a christmas gift for a friend.

construction paper journal

2005-11-19T10:36:00.000-05:00

this is my first attempt at making a journal.

here are the front and back cover, made from some construction paper i had lying around.

i didn't know better: i used elmer's white glue, and the paper got all wrinkled. also, i should have trimmed the black construction paper i used for the spine; i didn't and it's too thick and it shows through the cover... oh well, at least, i learned something.

for the inside pages, i used ordinary computer paper, on which i printed some lines.

i followed this tutorial to attach the cover:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=10347.0
and this tutorial to stich the signatures:
http://www.daydreamingonpaper.com/0204.html

anyway, this was fun! for my next project, i am planning to make a notebook for school or something.

peach-colored clutch

2005-10-09T01:29:00.001-04:00

a while ago, i found a link with a pattern and tutorial for this clutch. i finally made it recently.

it's entirely handsewn since i didn't have access to a sewing machine that day. it was a quick project, done in one evening, while watching tv. all materials were scraps that i found in mom's sewing closet.

outside:

showing lining:

grey bookbag

2005-08-31T17:12:00.000-04:00

this is my first completed project, so i made it as simple as possible. i use it to carry extra textbooks that are too heavy for my backpack.

here it is:

close-up of the flower: