Dr Pepper... Or not

I made this cupcake for Monkey for Valentine's day. Since he wouldn't specify what kind of cupcake he wanted, I decided to make him something I would like. I've been intrigued by the idea of a Dr Pepper cupcake for ages now, but I greatly dislike chocolate. I searched for a recipe for a while before finally settling on one that required a cake mix.



These were delicious and buttery and yummy- but tasted nothing like Dr Pepper. I was incredibly disappointed. They tasted like a plain yellow cake. Nothing really outstanding about them. I know that most of the time, when a dark soda is added to a cake, it's more for moisture than taste, but this recipe purported to give me that Dr Pepper taste as well!

So didn't happen. I mean, it wasn't a bad cake, it just wasn't what I was looking for. The icing tasted like a normal buttercream. Overall, it was just very meh. I've eaten better vanilla cupcakes- heck I've made better vanilla cupcakes!



I did try a new technique for the frosting! I pinned this video on pinterest not long before it was cupcake making time, and foolishly ran out to buy the frosting tip, not realize that I already owned that size.

Not only did I own that size, I own four sets of that size.

What can I say, I like big tips and I cannot lie. (Or something).

Source: youtube.com via Lizz on Pinterest

Frosting was super easy, though I was less impressed with my own technique, I definitely need practice on that one. What I really want is a huuuuge round tip to make some fat swirls, but I have yet to come across a wide enough tip, and I don't like how it turns out without one.

I know, this is a lot of rambling for a rather unsatisfactory cupcake. The next one, I'm sure will be better.

A brief trip to Scotland...

This is my long awaited monster! I tried dyeing him with lime, but he would up quite obnoxious. Then I over-dyed him (again) with with teeniest bit of black cherry and he wound up a much more manageable color.



His name is Glasgow. He's a gentle and quiet monster, but can be very territorial. Don't mess with his area! He loves to cuddle and watch the rain from under a fortress of blankets. I knit him up out of the Baldwin pattern from Rebecca Danger, and after a bit of initial trouble, whipped him up in no time. He's just the perfect size for a little kiddo to cuddle with.

What Happened To Goodbye

I still rememeber my first introduction to Sarah Dessen. I was in seventh grade, and saw the Quinticential Cool Artsy Girl (TM) reading her book in our art class. This was pre-emo and hipster days, so the fact that she was actually reading a book was pretty significant. The book she was reading happened to be Dreamland. As I happened to be a preteen nerd desperate to be liked, I immediately rushed out and bought the book- and promptly fell in love. I don't remember what that girl's name happened to be, but I'm infinately thankful she introduced to Dessen. Back when I used to journal on Livejournal, I followed Dessen's blog religiously. I was estatic whenever a new book would come out, and reread my favorites over and over again.

I hadn't read any of the Dessen books in quite some time when I happened to see her new book on the front page of my library's overdrive site. It happened to be availablem so I immediately swished my way to checkout and on my way I went.

Around 5AM that morning, I finally finished the book. What Happened to Goodbye encompassed some of the really great things about Sarah Dessen's work. The main character was relatable (man, can I remember going through changing myself and trying new "personalities" during my teen years), the characters were unique, and the overwhelming crisis was cathartic. It was a super quick read, and great for when you just want to cry for a while.

What I didn't like was that it felt a bit forced. While McLean's character was fleshed out and realistic, her romance wasn't. I just didn't feel as though we got to encounter Dave enough to really invest in him. While he was intriguing, he just didn't get enough face time. The secondary characters were similarly interesting, but not played with enough. I was really interested in seeing how Riley would play into their developing relationship, but she vanished off the face of the earth after a few pages.

While this was a really good YA book, it didn't measure up to the best of Dessen's work. Definitely something I'd recommend to any teenage girl, but with the qualifier to read more of Dessen before making any judgements.
(4/5 stars)

Coffee Shops and Poetry Readings

I'm rather ashamed that this is still a WIP! I fell in love with the beatnik sweater the first tiem i saw it. I was super excited to knit it, as not only would it be my first pullover, but it would also be my first seamed item. I also wanted to try my hand at dying the wool. I started out with a pretty off-white, and tried to get a nice dark orange. I wound up with a retina searing coral. I'm not totally sold on the color, as much as I enjoy the brightness. I do have some fabulous lipstick that matches, but I'm afraid it might make me resemble a tomato. If all else fails, I'm sure I can overdye it (since I'm such an expert now). I'll decide if I want to keep it that color after I wear it a few times.

In any case, Beatnik was at the top of my list for my 12 in 2012 projects. I was going to start and finish the whole thing in February. It was going to be fabulous and cable-y and beautiful. I was going to practice my seaming techniques by finishing a laptop cover I started over the summer. It was going to be marvelous.

What actually happened was quite a bit less exciting. After frogging my Bella Mittens, I decided to cheer myself up with casting on the project early. I zipped through the ribbing only to get stuck at the cables. I don't know why I never learn that I greatly dislike looking at charts. It's not that I find them particularly hard to read or follow, and it's not tha t I prefer lengthy descriptions instead. It's that I like autopilot knitting. When I get a chart, it's a signal that "oh hey, you can't bring this everywhere and pick it up on a drop of a hat". It winds up being my "at home knitting". That basically means I barely ever work on it. Which means I wind up at the same stupid point for months on end.



I mean, the sweater is absolutely gorgeous. I love the cables and the subtle variations between the two balls of yarn. I love the texture and the brightness. I just don't love working on it. It doesn't help that I keep catching a mistake quite a few rows down and having to frog and inch or two. (Like, forgetting the decreases. And then miss-turning and entire row of cables a repeat down. And then losing my place- a few times).

Nevertheless, in the spirit of WIP Wednesday, I'm devoting my entire morning to this project. I fully intend to settle down, listen to some podcasts (the Knitmores are back!), maybe start an audiobook, and chug along. Lets just hope this time I won't have to frog all of my progress.

Who knows, maybe if I park myself in a coffee shop and listen to some poetry readings, it'll get done faster. I could even plays some Bob Dylan to prompt my knitting.

Validation

I'm introducing a new segment to my blog! Whoo hoo! Rather than 'limit' it to a single day of the week, I've left that blank (I put limit in quotes, as I think it's fairly obvious that I write a lot of posts- particularly the book reviews- in advance, without regard to the actual day of the week). I figure that the more time I can think about my favorite things, the better. I'm assuming for the majority, these are going to be rather short posts, but still a good collection of fee-good links and topics.

When I started college, one of the ways I tried to combat my loneliness and homesickness was to come up with a list of 1000 things that made me happy. I'd doodle and sketch and make the list as pretty as I wanted, and it was a great way to keep my mind happy. I'm hoping to do much of the same here- only even better. For one thing, I don't intend to limit myself to 1000 topics. I want as many as possible. For another, with blogs I can actually link (and embed) to the things! Hopefully these posts will not perk me up when I'm feeling down, but also give an opportunity to anyone who reads this to see something that makes them smile.

So, without further ado!



First up on my list is a short video from a few years back. I'm not entirely certain how I stumbled across it, but after seeing TJ Thyne, I was instantly intrigued. I used to be a huge fan of Bones, and Hodgins was my favorite character. Every time I stumble across one his works, I always check it out to see if it's equally good.



This video? This video is so much better. Talk about your quintessential feel-good mood lifter! I absolutely adore it. It reminds you of just how great and good and kind people can be. I loved the music, I loved the black and white film, I loved everything about it. Whenever I'm feeling down, I like to listen to it. It hearkens back to when I was in grade-school and Random Acts of Kindness (AKA RAOK) were encouraged. This wasn't just a random act of kindness, it was kindness to anyone and everyone.

It's just a great, great video.

Too Kool

After entirely too long of a struggle with my Hideous Yarn of Doom (tm), I finally decided to knit up some Rebecca Danger monsters. I figured that at least they were supposed to be scary.

Then I actually saw the result. I still couldn't take it. I promptly consulted Ravelry and rushed out to buy some Kool Aid. The result was a colorful jacuzzi for my little knitted friends.



I dyed one monster in Black Cherry, one in Grape, and one in Lime. I used the microwave this time, and it was a great deal more frustrating than the stove top. I'm not sure if it was because I was over-dyeing something, or if it was the microwave, but it took quite a bit of zapping to get the dye to absorb. Even then, there was still color remaining the bowl when I had finished.

You'll have to tune in Friday to see how my lime monster turned out!

Pushing up Chrysanthemums.

Just a quick something, as the day is almost over and I'm ready to just relax.



I cast on for my Prismatic Scarf for the umpteenth time today. I bought my first skein of the yarn over the summer, and immediately found the perfect pattern for it. I decided after trolling through quite a few projects to do the no purl mod, as clarified by texturedknitter. Unfortunately, my wee little brain couldn't seem to get a grasp on the pattern. After frogging quite a few times, I finally put it aside for more exciting projects. Well, that and because I knew I'd have to buy another skein to get a decent length scarf and that wasn't something I wanted to contemplate.

Fast forward a few months when I made a rather embarrassing discovery. Oh, you know the one. The one where I realized that the clownbarf yarn I had been despairing of, was actually the same colorway as my new yarn for this scarf. AKA, Manos del Uruguay Maxima in the colorway Chrysanthemum. Yeah, well that put some pressure on me to start on the scarf to make sure I didn't hate this batch of the colorway as much as the last.

Thankfully, I don't. After watching Sherlock Holmes II (and get even more anxious if anything to read more of the books and watch the new show), I churned this much out. I rather like it so far. Thank goodness. I about went insane trying to get rid of the last batch of ugly.

Salted Caramel Bliss

All of you chocolate lovers, be warned. This cupcake will make you cry.


Can I just say, this frosting was the best. Seriously. I could have (and perhaps did) eaten it with a spoon. These are the last cupcakes for my mom's birthday, since she specifically requested that I make something choclatey for the people who don't like strawberry. Whatever. Since my dad likes chocolate and coconut, it made the recipe selection pretty simple. These are Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes with Salted Buttercream.

I can see the tears beginning to fall.




As I've said before, I'm really not a chocolate person, so if I make these again, I'll just be using a chocolate cake mix with some coconut thrown in. I'm lazy that way. But then again, I use cupcakes as mostly a vessel for icing anyway.

This icing? SO FREAKING GOOD. The best part is that it's made with caramel topping. Super simple, super delicious. Since time was of the essence while making these, I wound up skipping the home-made chocolate sauce and just used Hershey's Syrup as a garnish. It worked out fabulously. According to my SO, this was in my top five cupcakes.

Go. Make these today. You won't regret it.

Get Yer Lasso Ready

Okay, this should really be called "Frogged Object Friday". I knit this up eons ago, and it's been languishing in my closets until now.



From the moment my eyes met the computer screen, I fell in love with this project. I don't know if it's the color, the puppy, or the fun stitch pattern. I just loved it- and I just had to make my own. Armed with the same yarn and needle size, I cast on my with a fell swoop and knit up a Wild Vest. I had never seamed shoulders before, but that didn't matter. I had never done daisy stitch before, but I managed. I had never actually finished a garment, but it was all good. Finally, I had never picked up stitches before, but that would be a breeze, right?



Well, it was. Except the pattern doesn't take into account the drastic different between the loose daisy stitch and the tight ribbing on teensy weensy needles. The result is a ribbed bottom that gets hidden under a roll of daisy stitch. it looks like a muffin top, and is hardly flattering.

There's also the looming mistake. I'm sure you can see it. It's leering at you. Right there. It's plain as day... except I failed to notice it when I cast off. I wound up with a completely unwearable garment that I kind of hoped never saw the light of day again. My hopes were changed when I used my leftovers to knit an All Day Beret and found matching scarf and fingerless mitts patterns. My hideous muffin top vest was saved! Or rather, the yarn was. I tediously tore out the entire vest and am now in the process of working it into a much prettier result.

Thankfully.

Club Dead

After breezing through the first books in the Southern Vampire series, I started Club Dead with rather low expectations. While I though the ideas behind the previous book were excellent and innovative, the actual writing left quite a lot to be desired. At times, they greatly resembled porn written by a pubescent girl- not really the most appealing style.

This book really started to turn the tables for me. Perhaps it was because for once, we get to see a character actually care about Sookie. Perhaps because there was little to no Bill (who I adore/d on the show but am very annoyed with in the books- even when Sookie is head over heels). Maybe it's just that Charlene Harris is finally improving her writing style. At any rate, I actually genuinely enjoyed this book, and I'm incredibly excited to read the next one. I can barely wait for it to come up off the hold list at my library.

This book marked a great change from the previous in that there was little to no graphic romance scenes, which frankly, made me quite uncomfortable in the previous novels- more because they were poorly written than because I'm a prude. This book neglected that aspect of the story, for which I'm really glad. It also helped flesh out more of Eric's character, and gave more backstory in terms of the universe Sookie is living. I loved that the solution to the problem plaguing Sookie for the second half of the book had a surprising end. Even though it was incredibly obvious, I didn't see it coming. I also loved the introduction of Alcide- it was nice seeing more supernatural beings. I was a bit disappointed that the show seemed to go more in depth with the various vampire courts, but I do recognize that delving into such things in that book would have significantly deviated from the overall plot. Finally, I think the best part of this book was that Sookie did step up for herself. Not only did she do the primary ass-kicking in this book, but she also stood up for herself in her relationship. Despite the fact that she's clearly still in love, she at least grew a backbone and acknowledged that she wasn't being treated as well as she should of.

This book really made me start to recognize the potential in the series- and not just for the ideas. While little aspects of Harris' writing style still annoy me (really? Word of the day calendar?), she's definitely improving in technique. I can't wait to read more- though the next book is when I stopped watching the show- spoilers, eep!

(4/5 stars)