this week’s awesome finds

Posted on February 13, 2016 by trish

Sweetest sugar cookie pin, just in time for valentine’s :) By Twinkie Chan at Michaels.

Love this squirrely sweater. Free pattern from Berroco.

Didn’t realize that Perler beads make such beautiful snowflakes! From Heodeza.

I will make use of my many rolls of washi tape that Mike got me one Christmas :D From Make and Takes.

A friend of mine wrote up a tutorial for this beautiful bag! :D Recycling old jeans and a great way to show off a nice piece of fabric. From Earth Indigo.

This faux amethyst geode is very intriguing. From Craftberry Bush.

And finally, these beautiful, magnificent knitted moths by Max’s World. The Luna Moth is my favourite. Please click on the image to scroll through all the different kinds — it will be a treat, I promise!

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday and a great start to the week!

to health!

Posted on February 7, 2016February 7, 2016 by trish

I’m battling a cold as I write this. I rarely get sick so this feels particularly sad :’( but maybe this is the body’s way of telling me that it needs to come first sometimes.

Anyway. I was talking with a friend about breakfast habits one day, and I told her that I often can’t stomach more than a frozen waffle or a piece of buttered toast in the morning, and end up feeling extremely hungry by 10am. She shared about her new found excitement for overnight oats and gave me some ingredients to try. I don’t like the texture of oatmeal very much but I thought it was an intriguing idea (soak overnight? No cooking? No baking? You can add all kinds of fruit and toppings? Like a sundae?), so I did give it a try.

And it’s the best thing ever! :D

There are a lot of recipes for overnight oats (like this list!). I think it’s something that you can just put whatever you want in it and it would taste pretty good. I generally use 1/3 cup oats (old fashion, not quick), 1/3 cup milk, some kind of fruit, and 1 tablespoon of this Qia cereal mix (it was on sale at the supermarket and has chia seeds, hemp seeds, buckwheat, almonds and cranberries in it. I thought it was a more sensible purchase than buying full bags of chia seeds and hemp seeds when I was just trying things out). Here are some combinations of ingredients I’ve tried:

Clockwise from top left:
Apple, cinnamon and honey
*Delux!* Strawberry/peach/mango frozen fruit mix, strawberry yogurt and vanilla soy milk
To celebrate Year of the Monkey — peanut butter, banana and honey
Humble blueberry and honey

Nothing fancy, but super filling! Now I start feeling hungry at noon instead of 10am! :D

I don’t have it every day, but have been making it for both Mike and me especially when we anticipate a busy day ahead. I find it less mushy than oatmeal. Cold oatmeal somehow tastes a lot better to me than hot oatmeal. And I like having fruit in it. And it’s so simple to put together the night before, saves a bunch of time in the morning!

Seeing that it is Chinese New Year tomorrow, here’s wishing everyone a year of good health and happiness!

祝大家新年快樂,身體健康!

sunshine cardigan

Posted on January 31, 2016 by trish

First finished project of the year! :D

Made this from the Burnside Cardigan pattern by KT & the Squid. I have never used yellow in an entire sweater before. I love how it turns out so retro-looking. And I love the funnel neck! There was a huge sale for the Impeccable yarn at Michaels and it has a nice shade of yellow, so that was what I used.

I’d love to say that my super grainy over-exposed photos are intentional, to go with the retro sweater, but that’s really because the lighting is horrible on this very grey day and this is the best my phone could do. Oh well. It goes with the retro sweater! Almost looks like film doesn’t it? :D

I modified the pattern a bit by adding the blue and grey stripes, the pockets, different front panels (rows of sc stitches running up and down instead of rib crocheted sideways) and button holes. I think I also made the sweater one size too small (XS — I should’ve made S). Usually sweaters I make from patterns turn out too big for me, so I went for the smallest size, but this pattern is very accurate with its sizing. So I had to widen the front button panels quite a bit.

I bought these retro-looking buttons from a nice Etsy seller.

I posted a selfie of this sweater on Instagram. Mike thought if it’s not for my phone the picture could have looked like it’s from the 70’s, with our typewriter and stuff. So he replaced my phone with a record :D

I love the straightforward style of KT & the Squid. Recently bought another pattern to make a sweater for Mike (and another for myself later), will let you know when his is done :D

Here’s hoping for lots of sunshine for everyone this week!

caturday

Posted on January 23, 2016 by trish

Painted some pet rocks one day. Magical sparkly cats! :D

The white one lives on my desk at work now, gifted the yellow one to my desk neighbour. Going to pick up more rocks from the beach when the weather gets warmer, and paint more cats :D

Also, finally visited the very first cat cafe in Toronto!

As expected, the cats are mostly sleeping when we visited. But it’s still nice to hang out :)

The Cat Cafe takes in cats from the Humane Society, and the cats can be adopted. These two are best buds and must be adopted together :)

In other news, I bought some reindeer moss the other day and made some terrarium necklaces for the shop. I thought they looked pretty nice. This one had some agate chips and lavender in it.

Hope everyone’s having a good weekend! :D

make a toasty blanket!

Posted on January 21, 2016January 17, 2016 by trish

I made this fun blanket for a dear friend who’s having a baby. I thought it could serve as a warm blanket for the stroller and carrides, and maybe also as a floor blanket to roll around on. It also works as a cozy lap blanket for mom! :D

With the bulky yarn and giant hook, it’s a pretty quick project. The finished size is about 26“x30”.

What I used:
Bernat Blanket, 1 ball of “sand” and 1 ball of “taupe” (I had quite a lot of taupe left, probably enough to make 2 pairs of the slippers in this post)
Light yellow yarn for butter pat (I happen to have a chenille texture yarn that I got from the dollar store once, but any yellow yarn would do)
15 mm hook (for toast)
Appropriate size hook for butter pat (depending on the yarn you’re using)
6 mm hook (for facial details)
Tapestry needle

What I did:

With “sand” colour yarn, ch 31.

Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in every ch across, turn (30 sc).

Row 2: ch 1 (does not count as sc), sc in each sc across, turn.

Repeat row 2 until piece is about 22″ from beginning.

Bread top shaping:

Row 1: ch 1, 2 sc tog, sc in each sc across until 2 sc left in row, 2 sc tog, turn.

Row 2: repeat row 1 of bread top shaping.

Row 3: ch 1, 2 sc tog, sc in next 9 sc, 2 sc tog, turn.

Row 4: ch 1, 2 sc tog twice, sc in each sc until 4 sc left in row, 2 sc tog twice, turn.

Row 5: ch 1, skip first sc, sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc tog, turn.

Row 6: ch 1, skip first sc, 3 sc tog, fasten off, weave in ends.

Attach yarn to middle of bread top shaping at row 3, repeat rows 3–6 for the other side of bread top.

Crust:

Attached “taupe” colour yarn to any stitch at the bottom edge of toast, ch 1 (does not count as sc), sc around toast evenly (1 sc in each sc at bottom edge and bread top, 1 sc in each row-end on the sides, making 2 sc in each corner, and making 3 sc tog in the middle of bread top where it dips in), sl st in first sc to finish round.

Crochet 2 more times around toast, fasten off, weave in ends.

Eyes (make 2, or more, to make a multi-eyed monster toast):

With “taupe”, 10 hdc in magic ring, sl st in first hdc to complete round, fasten off, leave a long tail for sewing.

Smile:

With “taupe” and 6 mm hook, ch 9, fasten off, leave a long tail for sewing.

Butter pat:

Crochet a rectangle about 3“x4”. Number of stitches and rows will depend on the yarn you use. When fastening off, leave a long tail for sewing.

Assembly:

Sew eyes, smile and butter pat onto toast with tapestry needle. When sewing on butter pat, I tucked in bits of the bottom edge so it looks like it’s melting.

And here’s Mr. Toast relaxing before going to his new home :)

Stay toasty, everyone! :D

this week’s awesome finds

Posted on January 17, 2016 by trish

Super cool pom pom solar system. Tutorial shows you how to make all the planets, including the ring around Saturn and the red spot in Jupiter :D From We Are Scout.

Simple and sweet place card holder with an origami star. From here.

Tutorial to make your own (live and growing!) Hobbit garden. From Envato Tuts+.

Seashell candles, made with a couple of tealights. From DIY Louisville.

Not something I have the skills to make, but so pretty, and the patterns are free, from Knit Picks.

Take framed wall-hanging photos one step further — make pop up photos! From Photojojo.

Have a great week, everyone! :D

more Christmas crafting fun!

Posted on January 2, 2016 by trish

We spent the new year with my family, the gift-opening continues! :D

I finger-knitted my sister a headband in a colour that I thought she’d like (kind of purple sunset-sky-like), with this tutorial I wrote :)

And using the same finger-knitting method, I made a neck warmer for my mom. Just made it wider than the headband, but it’s the same length. The double-thick fabric made by finger-knitting makes it very, very warm. She demonstrated wearing it as a headband too, as well as a Smurf-style hat :P

And in the air was the aroma of the scented candle I got for my dad. He likes scented candles :D

And for me! :D I got an assortment of seaweed and SQUID FLOSS!! From Mike, who knows me so well! :D I love squid floss. I got more squid floss from my parents :D

And I got The Little World of Liz Climo from my sister. If you haven’t checked out her work before, I highly recommend taking a look at her Tumblr — it is hilarious and adorable, especially if you like cute talking animals, it will totally brighten up your day :D

And a gift from my mom — a new year haircut! :D

I’m the luckiest daughter. My mom’s always cut my hair. She took classes when I was very young. I’ve never been to a hair salon in my life until a few years ago. Partly because of convenience (it was a long commute to my parents’), partly because I know how tiring it is to cut someone’s hair (because I’ve tried cutting Mike’s hair :S), and partly because I wanted a pretty extreme asymmetrical cut at the time (like nearly shaved on one side) and I wasn’t sure if she’d be willing to do it, I’ve been going to a hair salon for the last while. But since I was home and my mom wasn’t busy I asked if she could cut my hair. I still like the idea of an asymmetrical haircut, but I thought I’d go for a more subtle look this time, a bit less dramatic for the workplace.

My mom never disappoints! :)

I’m very pleased with it, now I’m all ready for 2016! :D

(actually, I’d like another week of holiday, or better yet, this holiday week just magically loops on over and over again, just thinking about all the challenges that haven’t resolved before going into the holidays.

But holidays always end, and challenges will always be there, no matter where we go, or what we do, and maybe the way to deal with them is not to wish that they’re not there, but to “turn towards” them (in the words of one of my teachers) in faith, that things will work out one way or another, and that I’m never alone in dealing with them.)

And so for the new year, and the winter months ahead, I thought it’d be fitting to share this with you :D

(original post here)

Happy new year, everyone! :D *tosses glitter*

Christmas crafting fun :D

Posted on December 29, 2015 by trish

Some of the gifts I made for Christmas :)

This was from a pattern by the Knit Cafe, I got it while participating in the annual TTC Knitalong. I don’t usually knit with such fine yarn, so it took me quite a long time, but the result is well worth the effort!

I like the contrast between the solid garter stitch and the lacy mesh stitch when it’s all wrapped around. Might make another one sometimes, with a different colour combination :)

Here’s a much quicker project I made for Mike, using Bernat Blanket. It’s quite a soft but sturdy yarn with very little stretch, I thought it’d be perfect for slippers. The pattern is from Rainbows and Sunshine. Fits him perfectly! :D

This bonnet was finger knitted on the plane, on our way back from the east coast, with a skein of beautiful Sirdar Kiko. It’s a baby shower gift I made it for a friend who used to work as a flight attendant on the airline we flew with :)

This is one of the stones from Mike’s grandpa’s collection, which I wrapped with wire and made into pendants. Mike’s grandpa passed away a few years ago. He was quite a semi-precious stone and fossil enthusiast when he was young!

I’m not educated in stone identification at all, so if anyone knows what this stone is, please feel free to drop me a note! I made a total of 13 pendants for aunts and cousins, but I was too excited about wrapping them up and writing notes to go along with them, I neglected to take pictures of the finished necklaces. I followed this handy tutorial for the wire-wrapping.

While visiting Mike’s parents we looked through more of grandpa’s rock collection, including this piece of petrified wood, with transparent inclusions! How cool is that?

Look at the light shining through. Maybe it can be made into a sun catcher.

And here’s my young nephew wearing his present :D

I followed the owl hat pattern by Kat Goldin. Also made these owl mitts from Down Cloverlaine for my other young nephew, this pineapple bag for my niece, a couple of knit neckwarmers/cowls that I made up with bulky weight yarn, this casserole carrier from Moogly for my mother-in-law, and a couple more projects that I can’t show you just yet because the recipients haven’t opened them :)

After making gifts I thought I’d spend the holidays making something for myself. I recently started on this sweater from the current issue of Interweave Crochet. Here I am drinking tea, eating Kinder eggs, and watching family play scrabble while I crochet — holiday at its finest :D

We’ve also got some very unusual weather in our corner of the world this Christmas. It’s not unusual to not have snow, but it was warm enough to find these turkey tails (I think that’s what they are) in the backyard!

Happy about the fungi sighting, at the same time a bit uneasy about the double-digit temperature :S

Then on the weekend it was very windy, with water splashing onto the lakeside road. Reminds me of the roaring sea in the east coast! I don’t think I’ve ever seen the lake with waves like that, but then I don’t see the lake very much from where I live.

But all in all we had a fun time away from the city visiting family. And I’m grateful to have one more week of holidays until the new year, which means more time to write about crafting fun here on the blog! :D

Wishing you a wonderful week!

peace

Posted on December 25, 2015December 29, 2015 by trish

Wishing everyone peaceful Christmas and new year :)

Thank you so much for visiting genuine mudpie over the past year, looking forward to sharing more crafty adventures in 2016!

hot cocoa, on a stick! :D

Posted on December 21, 2015December 20, 2015 by trish

Last year I helped a friend make these as wedding favours. I thought it’s the most brilliant thing! And very cute-looking with the marshmallow on top. So when Mike and I were thinking about small gifts that we can make a lot of at once for our coworkers, we decided to give this a try again.

We followed the recipe from Dessert Design Life. There are many hot cocoa on a stick recipes out there, but I chose this one because it’s got some pretty good tips about the ingredients and methods that seem to be helpful for people who don’t bake or make desserts much, like me.

It’s actually REALLY easy to make. It doesn’t even involve turning the stove on (we melted the chocolate in the microwave, but one could use a double boiler).

We crushed up some candy cane in the Magic Bullet (sifted out the fine powder), and sprinkled some in the bottom of the ice tray before piping in the chocolate.

After the chocolate was melted, we mixed in cocoa powder and icing sugar, and piped them into an ice tray with a cut-up zip-lock bag. We added a marshmallow on top and put in a stick (bamboo skewers from the dollar store).

Here they are, setting in the ice tray. (with our festive table cloth in the background :D)

We put them in the fridge for about half an hour, and voilà! We were worried that they might be more difficult to de-mold with the candy cane bits in the bottom, but they popped out like ice.

I brushed a very small amount water on top of the marshmallows and sprinkled more candy cane bits on top.

Mike made the stylish tags :D And we just put them in clear sandwich bags and tied them up with yarn :)

We made about 50 sticks in a day, and it was a lot of fun :D

After giving them away last week we had just two sticks left over. Which means we can celebrate the beginning of winter with a cup of hot cocoa together :D Happy winter solstice!