Tiny Pies on Fourth of July

On the 4th of July (I know, really behind on posting this!) we went to a friend's BBQ and I wanted to bring something festive.

Something apple pie... I thought about an apple cookie with frosting, but then my husband came up with this idea. He said: "Why not make them like those little quiches?"

So I did!

I used a standard apple pie recipe with a couple tweaks, including adding applesauce, and put the whole thing in a sauce pan to simmer for an hour or so. The little tiny crusts don't take as long to bake, and I wanted to make sure we got the true apple pie consistency.

I cut out little tiny stars and put them on top. Aren't they adorable?

I started out using the mini tins, just the size of those little quiches. But as I was running out of time, I started using standard tins, so they'd be wider and flatter. Those are in the foreground below, and I think they turned out better in the end.

Definitely want to try this again. Maybe pumpkin next time...

At the BBQ I had brought some yarn to crochet by the fireside. As I was standing around talking, I realized it was getting chilly, being by the coast, and that my beer was uncomfortable to hold. Somebody joked that I should crochet myself a beer cozy.

Not to back down on a challenge, I made this in just a few minutes, standing and chatting with folks.

Much better =)

And for the kitty cuteness, here's a rare photo of all three cats together. Casper is on my lap (taking up the entire thing,) Spook is chilling out on the arm of the couch (pretending the other two aren't there,) and Marmalade is lounging on her corner perch where she likes to survey the whole room.

Apply Sharpen Filter

On the left is a coffee cozy that I've used for a year or so. I wanted to make sure I still remembered the pattern so I made another this evening.

Between the slightly fuzzy wear on the yarn, the worsted vs. homespun trim, and a different dye lot for the oatmeal, it looks like somebody applied a sharpen filter.

I like it, and I'm glad that I still remember how to make the little hearts <3


For the kitty cuteness, Spook posed for this lovely glamour shot...


Hah, low light and a poor camera, but I still like it :)

-- Posted From My iPhone

Beatrice Start

I started making the Beatrice shrug from Berroco with a dark teal who's previous project got scrapped. I thought I'd document the WIP. I'm very excited about the dolman sleeves, and I could see this being a very useful design.



If it turns out well, I'll try another with the nicer yarn and do the stripes. So far I'm very pleased with it, I just wish the iPhone would capture the color correctly...

Here is the pattern

I have to say, this pattern reads a lot more complicated than I would've thought. But now that I have the sequence down, it's not so bad.

And here's some cuteness. It was pointed out that I post more pictures of Casper than the other two, so here's Marms using her cat mat from the east coast. This is rare because she usually prefers a piece of paper to any fancy cat bed I've given her =)