Chinese Restaurant Almond Cookies

Well, I tried the  Chinese Restaurant Almond Cookies this week.  They were tasty, but didn't turn out quite as pretty as the ones my Mom made.  I think that's just due to her talent at pretty cookie making and my lack thereof.  Next time I will remember to take pictures.

Adventures with Cookies

I've been experimenting with different cookie recipes in the past month.  Usually when I make cookies they are Chocolate Chip Cookies.  My old standby and super tasty.  But, I may not be able to have chocolate at the moment because I'm nursing.  I still haven't quite figured out if chocolate makes my little boy gassy or not.  I haven't quite done a real test yet.  So in the meantime I've been avoiding chocolate and so my forays into non chocolate cookies.  Last week I finally made shortbread for the first time ever.  I didn't realize quite how easy it is to make.  I would have made it a long time ago.

Tonight I wanted to make some cookies but realized I was out of white flour.  I do have lots of whole wheat so to the internet I went in search of a recipe.  And lookie what I found.....Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies.  So I tried making them and yup tasty.  I didn't put the grated orange peel in only because I currently don't have any oranges in the house.

This recipe will indeed be a make again.

My next try are going to be these:  Chinese Restaurant Almond Cookies.  My Mom made them when I was visiting last week and they were super super tasty.

About the Baby Hats

I don't think I've ever mentioned the pattern and the yarn I use for making the baby hats.  The pattern is the Umbilical Cord Hat from Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook.  It's quite a simple pattern and at this point I have it memorized I've made so many of them.  I think I've made more than thirty of them in the past few years.

With experience I've found that my favorite yarn for making the hats is Nashua's Cilantro.  I find it knits up really nicely and give the hat some stretch so it fits the small person a little longer that way.  

I've also found that if you are doing stripes you can combine it with another cotton or bamboo based yarn without as much stretch and it still turns out ok.  

More Hats

While I've been busy with my little boy, I have made a little time for knitting baby hats.  Many people I know are having babies and my little guy needs a hat too!

Today I finished a preemie hat for a little one who has arrived super early.  Beside it is one of the two hats I made for my little guy.  The second photo is the other hat I made for him.  It is one in the team colours for his dad's Aussie Rules team the Central Blues.

Long Time No Post

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted.  I've been a bit on the busy side.  My little one arrived a bit on the early side (7 weeks early to be exact) in December and had some surgery after he was born as well so we've been a bit occupied with that.  Needless to say I haven't been doing too much besides looking after my little guy since then.  I did manage to finish his baby blanket the day he was born.  That's what I did to keep myself occupied while he was over at Sick Kids and I was in my hospital across the street.

Soon I hope to be back to making things again.  But I think my little guy is going to be taking up most of my time.

Knitting Machine

I feel like a knitting machine. I've been working on little baby hats like a machine.  I think I'm down to having four left to get done.  Phew!

I think I'm going to have to take a photo of this great pile of hats when they are done.

This means I can really get to work on finishing the blanket for my own little one.

Not so much with the interesting crafty stuff

I haven't really posted lately about my adventures in knitting as well, they haven't been terribly adventurous.  I've been churning baby hats out by the dozen it seems.  Well maybe not by the dozen, but it does feel like a lot.  It would seem a very large number of people I know are procreating.  I hope I cant get them all done in time.

Soon I hope to get back to the baby blanket I'm making for my own little wee one who should be arriving at the end of January.  I did a bunch of work on it over Thanksgiving weekend, but it still needs to be a little bit bigger.