Sweetest Smile!

 My latest baby cap was made for a special little guy, the son of one of our Goddaughters. Once again I looked for the softest, natural yarn I could find and started knitting. I combined Louisa Harding Yarns: Grace Hand-dyed 50% Silk/50% Merino wool with Debbie Bliss Angel yarn (how appropriate) which is a Kid mohair/silk blend and very fine. They were lovely to knit together and the results were super-soft and baby-friendly.

 

I made the pom-pom out of just the super-fine mohair yarn. It's so light that it reminds me of dandelion fluff!

I sent the hat off in the mail and a couple of days later I received this photo:

Is it any wonder I'm addicted to making baby caps?

All the best,

Judy Ann

Bead Buddies!

Saturday mornings continue to be fun at the little Glanworth Library. Everyone got in on the creativity when we made these cute little beaded characters to attach to zipper pulls.

Some crafters like making patterned buddies.

Some like them colour coordinated.

Some like to make them rainbow-style.

And some like them no matter what!

Adorable, aren't they? The crafters, that is, as well as the crafts!

All the best,

Judy Ann

Almost-Spring hike!

 Yesterday we enjoyed a glorious hike near Lake Erie. Jeff and Denby spent most of the hike looking like this:

Because of their constant searching, we saw bald eagles, a few red-tailed hawks, killdeer, tundra swans, a merlin, robins, and others. The highlight, though, was seeing a screech owl that Denny somehow managed to find in the forest. Do you see it in the hollow?

Does this close-up help?

By the time we snuck near enough to get a decent photo, the owl had ducked down into the trunk, leaving the hollow empty. It was a gift to see it even briefly, though!

With such mild temperatures, there was lots of mud and many puddles so I was very happy to have my new rubber boots on!

When we got home, I couldn't help but laugh at my scrawny-looking snowman! Shortly after taking this photo...

...my snowman's head fell off. Poor thing. I'm sure today's rain will melt most of the rest of it away. Another sign of Spring!

Enjoy your day,

Judy Ann

Birthday cake!

We hosted a birthday party for my mom-in-law the other day so I had the pleasure of baking two cakes. I read through my new favourite baking book, Vintage Cakes , and chose the Italian Cream Cake. It had buttermilk, toasted chopped pecans and coconut in it, with chocolate ganache between the layers and on top. M-m-m.

I also made my regular chocolate buttermilk cake but instead of chocolate icing I made Raspberry Buttercream Icing from Vintage Cakes. I split the two layers to make four so I needed lots of pink icing. Here it is in process:

The finished cake...

...with candles...

...and presented to the birthday girl!

I really like the way the pink icing looks between the layers.

There wasn't much left of either cake, but Jeff and I had enough for a couple of nights of dessert.

Happy baking,

Judy Ann