Small Felty Bits

After I completed all of my school work, I felt an urge to felt. Having not much space, I felted up these small pieces which I then embroidered over (the perfect little portable projects- I actually did much of the sewing on the bus). The first became a thank-you gift, the second became jewelry to wear on the opening night of my grad show. I used merino wool (which is absolutely dreamy for felting) and silk thread. As you can see, I have a thing for French knots.

The Perfect Cookie?

Summer is the perfect time to cleanse one's diet, what with all the fresh fruit and veg available. I have resolved to do this, therefore, it was a bit of a stumble when I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies last week. I blame it on PMS and the spate of cool, cloudy weather we've been having here in Vancouver. I am crazy about the chocolate chip cookie. I have had wonderful chocolate chip cookies containing five kinds of flour, nuts, dried fruit, and/or various seeds, etc. But I remain devoted to the chocolate cookie in its pure and simple form and when I crave a chocolate chip cookie, I have a particular cookie in mind: tender and chewy. I have not always been successful in baking said cookie and for quite some time I have been on the prowl for tips on how I can succeed. I am pleased to report that last week I baked my best batch of chocolate chip cookies, ever. (Andrew and I are confident of this, however, there is no third or fourth opinion as we did not share the cookies with anyone else.)
Here is the recipe I cobbled together from various internet sources, using Mark Bitman's How to Cook Everything recipe as a base. There is nothing profound, because as I stated, the goal was simple, tender and chewy.

The Perfect Cookie?

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1 stick (1/2 cup) shortening (I used the non-hydroginated kind), softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 (or slightly less) cup brown sugar
1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cup flour
1 heaping cup of rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
about 2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt in a medium-sized bowl.
Cream together butter, shortening and sugars in a separate, larger bowl. Add eggs until well blended.
Add flour mixture to the batter; stir until blended.
Stir in vanilla and chocolate chips.
Drop onto baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Yum!

Spring Rabbits

Here is a series of yardages I printed for my final Surface Design project. The pink one represents my first attempt at silkscreening with thickened natural dyes. I used cochineal and osage orange. I had mixed results with this particular fabric (smooth, shiny cotton with a very high thread count-- lovely to touch but not very good at sucking up the dye). In the end it was a very satisfying experiment and I hope to do more printing with natural dyes in the future.