Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Hot Sep in Barcelona

I finished the sashiko kit. Instead of making a 4-tea coaster set, I put them together as a placemat for SnackTime at work.
The blingbling...I used an idea from Honestlywtf. The chain I bought from the nearby hardware store. It costed less than 1 euro. The DMC embroidery threads may cost a bit. Anyway...the result is nice.

Friday, September 09, 2011

Mira pa´dentro: A los treinta la mujer :D


A los treinta la mujer, es una flor preciosa, que fue tomando color y su brillo te ahoga
madre, amante, amiga, trabajadora, quiere un mundo mejor y lo quiere ahora

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Fun with airplane

Airplane block quilt
First airplane quilt! :D I was following the idea from BadSkirt. It was fun! Now I have a tea coaster for gift giveaway.
Sashiko project: Navy Yabane sampler from Olympus
The stitch lines are pre-printed. You just have to follow it. However, believe me, it is not that easy, very difficult to stab the fabric with the round tip of the needle. I did not use the sashiko thread. The problem is I dont know where to get the sashiko thread in Barcelona. Moreover, it would be quite annoying to order them all the time online. Therefore, I am using crochet 100% thread, size 8. It works fine so far since the thread is really tight. You could not see separated strands. Of course, the color variety is not that big...hmmm...for the current project, I chose an combination of white (cream white) and bright yellow. I hope it will come out nice!!! :D

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

UFO

Today's new word for me: UFO (unfinished objects). Haaa....
Sashiko kit
Sashiko kit from Saké Puppets (Sashiko Embroidery Kit: DIY Coasters (Set of 4) - Genki). I am looking forward to trying it. :D
Lisette dress pattern
itinerary and traveler dress.
First course on patchwork
Definitely later I will try the airplane pattern from BadSkirt.

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Working...

Working with craft felt
I saw a roll of colorful craft felt at the shop nearby. I had never worked with craft felt yet. Then...I had the idea to do a spelling garland for little Simon. It was harder than I imaged: cutting the letters, sewing around the edges...I got some critism afterwards: 1) It is an English alphabet, not a German one or Spanish one. 2) the sequence of the letters is from Z to A, not A to Z. Hmmm...damage is DONE...
More cross stitch
I bought some new books of cross stitich motifs. Now I have a pin cusion. It is so easy to lose the pins on the floor.... mine field for bare foot! P.S. I am the only one wearing house shoes...heeee...Now all my lovely pins will stay together. :D
Sashiko: kogin
I used normal DMC threads, 6 strands together. I am not satisfied. The floss thread is not as twisted as sashiko thread.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Next project

Granny square block
Here is my first granny square block. So...my next project would be a granny square blanket. You can recognize that the yarn is some leftover from the scarf. For the blanket, I am thinking about white and different color combinations. Eeee...I dont really have good feeling with color. :-(

You can find a lot of tutorial or youtube video for granny block. I found this one is really helpful, particularly the photos.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

A successful Saturday and endless...crochet

Ruffle scarf
Last Saturday was very successful... A and I, we finished our first CUT dress using their pattern. I used a plain light denim fabric. It turned out great!!!
Crochet...crochet...I am trying to do this ruffle scarf (picture by Aesthetic Nest). I love the ruffle effect. B helps me to start with some basic stitches. Aesthetic Nest offers this super tutorial!
Apparently as a beginner, I lost the track of counting the first chain. Now I have a really long long scarf. And the following problem is...finishing this project is endless...I have been working on it for more than one week. Wooo...I am a bit exhausted. Really looking forward to finishing it in this week!
Yes...it is a big big ruffle scarf. I am not so sure about the color contrast. B has used a contrast with orange and brown. Really lovely...autumn feeling. I will try better next time....Maybe not such huge one.

Pullup Orchestra: ufae und abae

Friday, May 27, 2011

Finished project!!!

Makeover
I always want to try the makeover of old jeans. Now I did it! A mini-skirt. Colorful quilts and bias binding really make it divertido. :D
The leg part...I made a tea mat. Zigzag stitches for the tree and a small bird quilt.
Felt egg cozies
Look at these cute egg cozies. I used the idea from the book "Scandinavian needlecraft". It turned out to be gorgeous!!! It is a housewarming gift for J and A.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Tossa de Mar, Sant Jordi day

For Easter holiday, we took a small relaxing trip to Tossa de Mar. Luckily we had a nice sunny weather on Saturday. If you just wish to visit the old town and the castle, an one-day trip is enough.
Again Sant Jordi day...:D And again...I complained about why men can get a book. All the chocolate figures in the show window are lovely. I took a picture of this pinky HelloKitty. It just pops out from all the footballs and Messi(s).
Talking about the football, I love the joke about the suicide cup (Copa de Rey).

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Happy Birthday and gelatine chocolate cake

Happy Birthday!!!
I prepared a gelatine chocolate cake for today. My own invention!!! The original idea is to have the chocolate cake as the base. Later I will pour the gelatine on the top with bosque fruit inside. Hmmm...you know...plan is one thing and the reality is the other thing. After I pour the gelatine liquid over the cake, the cake started to float inside...Ok...maybe another unsuccessful baking attempt. Juan is one eye-witness for my many attempts: the poor muffin bounced back when it hit the ground.
Hmmm...it tasted not bad at all. But it is heavy though...like spacecake...quoted from Phil :D

The famous apples

Here I quote this funny Chinese message: 历史到今天为止有三个最著名的苹果:一个诱惑了夏娃,一个砸醒了牛顿,一个现在握在乔布斯手中~这三个苹果说明了,性爱、求知、装逼,是人类进步的阶梯…我们已然进入欲望膨胀的最高境界.


Through the human history, till now there are three most famous apples: one seduced Eve, one hit the head of Newton, and the other one...now in the hands of Steve Jobs. They symbolize the three steps of human progress: sex, knowledge, and snob.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Lazy Sunday and Bangkok cafe

Bangkok cafe is still the best Thai restaurant on my list. This Sunday we went there again for lunch. Really nice curry sauce! Unfortunately I forgot my camera. But...next time


Bangkok cafe
Calle Evarist Arnus 65
Barcelona

Raspberry-mousse-pie

Here is a nice recipe from http://et-laine.blogspot.com/. The orignial post has a loverly photo of the cake. Now I just copied it here so that I could try it later by myself.
Crust:
250 grams of flour
125 grams of sugar
150 grams of cold butter
2 grams of baking powder
3 egg yolks

Mix the flour with the baking powder in a bowl. Make a whole in the middle in which you put the butter in pieces, the sugar and the egg yolks. Mix these last three ingredients with a fork without mixing them with the flour. When this mixture is homogenous (you will have butter flakes), mix it with the flour. Do this as quick as possible to prevent the butter flakes to get too soft. Cool for at least 1 hour in the fridge.
Roll the pastry with a rolling pin to a 5 mm thick sheet. Transfer it to your buttered cake tin (I used a 26 cm diameter round tin). Put in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 180 °C. Butter a piece of parchment paper that will fit in your cake tin while covering the sides. Put in buttered side down on the pastry and fill it with for example dried beans. This is to prevent the pastry to fall down from the walls of the cake tin when it bakes. Bake the pastry for about 10-15 minutes, remove the parchment paper and beans and bake until the pastry starts to get color. Remove from the oven.
Raspberry mousse:
600-700 grams of raspberries
150 grams of sugar
50 grams of flour
3 egg whites
optional: some dinner spoons of raspberry liqueur
Cook the raspberries with the sugar on a medium fire under occasional stirring until they have fallen apart completely. Reduce the volume a bit by letting it cook for some minutes. Remove the seeds by pressing the raspberries through a sieve. Add flour (and liqueur) and stir well. Beat the egg whites to snow and mix them with the raspberries. Fill the pre-baked crust with the raspberry mousse and bake in the oven at 180 °C for 15 min.

Gnocchi! 手工馬鈴薯麵疙瘩

Recipe:
  • Potatoes 2 (0.5 kg)
  • eggs 1 (or no egg)
  • flour 1 cup (200 g)
  • salt
I tried to make Gnocchi before. Here I corrected the recipe from using 3 eggs to 1 eggs. It was quite successful. :D
I will make a lot of them and freeze them for my lovely work-lunch.
Tip from Andreas: bake the potatoes instead of cooking them...

PeixBlau and Kukades

Needlecraft course
I am taking a needlecraft course at Patchwork-Kukades shop. It is fun. :D Kukades is a catalan word, something like mono...You can say Kukada to little cute things. I learned some new embroidery technique! :D And...my first cross stitch work.
New books
Fish motif, from a book (Scandinavian Needlecraft by Clare Youngs), sewing machine, zigzag stitch
Made in France: Cross-stitch and Embroidery in Red, White and Blue