When you buy…

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Mabel

This has been circulating around the Internet, particularly over Facebook, so I thought to adapt it a little and share with you what happens with the money I receive from the shop. Location isn’t important as the yarn store and this one pays for the same things.

I must be honest – the soap store is a part-time business which I foresee to be a side thing as I would still like to get back to my yarn & fiber business which is a first love of mind.

Still, the money – whatever small amounts – received is always wisely used. It goes into not just updating the stock of raw ingredients like shea, cocoa and mango butter as well as luxury oils like kukui, avocado, etc, but also towards other things like packaging for the store, web and photo hosting (someone suggested joomla web hosting to replace my current one) books for Eva, clothes for Noah, a foodie treat or two for myself and the hubs.

Small businesses, or rather MY small business, isn’t aimed for making a profit but more at funding a passion. So the next time you check out a small business of any sort, particularly that of a stay-at-home-mum, think of the people who will “profit” from it.

Knit: Citron

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Mabel

Citron
Pattern | Citron by Hilary Smith Callis
Yarn | Simple Scarves Silk-Wool Laceweight in Electric Blue
Needles | 4.5 mm circulars & 4 mm crochet hook

This was a simple knit – knit, purl with plenty of increases and decreases to get the ruffles. I made a crochet edging to finish off the shawl and instead of the recommended number of repeats (five), I made seven (or was it six?) repeats, resulting in long tedious nights of stockinette stitches and mindless knitting in front of the TV/laptop.

Blocking this was a challenge – I think I overblocked towards the bottom of the shawl which resulted in the last section of ruffles disappearing. I’ll have to keep in mind not to do the same the next time I put this in the wash.

Other than that, I’m loving the yarn and colour despite how “noisy” it seems. It’ll go perfectly well with solid tops or dresses – I can see it being showed off prettily on a simple black number. The silk in the yarn gives it an added shine and like my Jaali, I cannot stop molesting it. If I were to ever go back to dyeing, this would be one yarn base that I would hold onto simply because it’s amazing to knit with!

Now that I’ve cleared this, I’ll be gearing up for a cardigan KAL as well as the upcoming Ravelympics 2012 (and more reviews on medical scrubs)! I don’t know what possessed me to sign up for a KAL (Knit-A-Long) and the Ravelympics but hey, I figured I might as well hang onto my knitting mojo while I still have it! Hehehe.

Avocado-Mango Skin Relief Butter

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Mabel

Avocado-Mango Skin Relief Butter
Contents | Avocado Butter and Oil (Persea gratissima), Mango Butter (Mangifera indica), Vitamin E (Tocopherol).

After nearly two weeks of testing ingredients, I can finally whip up a butter for Noah. I have been doing patch tests for avocado oil and mango butter on his arm and leg. (Avocado butter is essentially the same as the oil except the difference in fluidity and physical state.) The results have been promising so far so time to get cracking on the butter (I have been busy looking at things like how to repair leather furniture – don’t ask!).

I chose avocado oil and butter because its high content in Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids which are lacking in most people suffering from eczema. It is also high in sterolins which can help heal, soften and moisturise skin. The butter is extremely rich but easily absorbed, making it a good night cream – something which Noah really needs as he often wakes up with flakey, slightly dry skin.

Because this butter is very soft at room temperature, I needed a harder butter to stiffen the cream up and picked mango instead of the usual cocoa and shea butter. Noah appears to be allergic to nuts so shea is out and I didn’t dare chance cocoa since I have yet to test it out. I settled for mango instead after reading that it has been traditionally used for its skin softening, soothing, moisturizing and protective properties. It can also help restore flexibility and reduce degeneration of skin cells AND has UV protection properties!

No fragrances or anything fancy – so the butter pretty much smells like avocado. Quite vegetably and not at all unpleasant, if you ask me. I intend to start him on this tomorrow and hope that his skin will get better in time! *keeps fingers crossed*

Scenes from Paris

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Mabel

We dropped by Nil’s uncle’s place in Paris recently for the weekend and did the whole tourist thing (I chucked my knitting and assignment reviews for things like atlanta blinds aside), except that we just settled for the Albert Kahn Musuem & Gardens, a boat ride along the river Seine and a visit to the National Museum of Natural History. I fell in love instantly with the last place we visited – the menagerie and gardens were simply amazing to say the least and it was also the place when I went trigger happy with the camera. Here are some of the pictures from the trip…

Along the river Seine – it wasn’t a really great day. Rainy, cold…

At the National Museum of Natural History

All in all, a very nice day!

Banana Loaf (Vegan & Gluten Free)

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Mabel

Vegan and gluten-free baking is a ~~real pain~~ challenge.

I followed the recipe (here) to the T except for the change in the eggs (I used egg replacer) and oil (I used olive oil) and instead of the nice fluffy texture which was promised, I got a texture that was similar to my tapioca cake which is pretty much like an Asian kueh. I suspect it is the use of tapioca flour.

While Nil and Eva loved it – I reckon it was the bananas that did the trick – I didn’t. I reckon I would have an easier time assembling a TV wall mount than trying to figure out what went wrong where. Needless to say, I wouldn’t be attempting this again unless I was using a pre-made mix of gluten-free flour.

The trouble is what shall I do with all that gluten-free flour and egg replacer? (Nil is starting to complain – “You have enough flour to last us till next year!” Geh!)

Hm, make more cakes and muffins, I suppose. Heh.

Getting quiet…

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Mabel

It’s not that I have nothing to share.

I have plenty! Recipes, soaps, pictures, trips, what-nots…

It’s just that I can’t seem to find the time to put things together. Every time I sit down and get ready to talk about the latest, someone somewhere needs me. And when things finally die down, I forget what I wanted to share.

It’s a sign, a blinking led if you will.

I’m getting old.

I’m getting tired.

I’m in need of a vacation.

Bleck.

Very Vanilla Pear Jam

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Mabel

Because I haven’t been able to have any berries (due to Noah’s condition and subsequently, my diet restriction), my breakfast has been limited to just one thing – honey. Very boring. So I decided to “steal” a recipe from my mother-in-law’s husband – pear with vanilla jam! I have not made jam 100% on my own; usually it’s with the help of my in-laws and even then, they are the ones cooking it up while I assist. This time, I decided to brave the waters and do it on my own – yes, without Nil’s help. Took me about two hours to churn out a nice amount of jam – enough to last me till the end of this year, I think. HAHAHAHA.

(Update: I am into my second jar already – OMIGOD, it’s not going to last till end of this year! Gack. Must squeeze in some time in between wine kits reviews and soapmaking to make more jam!)

I bought some ripe but still quite hard green pears from Belgium – oops, it’s not the local variety (not really the season so none were available) – and some gelling sugar which is basically sugar with citric acid and pectin. You could still make jam without pectin (thickener) or citric acid (preservative) but it just means that you either have to use fruits with naturally occuring pectin like some berries OR get a more fluid jam.

After washing the pears well – important as I’m retaining the peel – I remove the center/seeds and quartered them before grating them into large stripes. For the vanilla pod, I ran the knife down the center and scraped out the grains before tossing everything into the pot. Usually we use a copper pot for making jam as the heat conducts more evenly but I don’t have a copper pot so my stainless steel pressure cooker will just have to do for now.

Then comes the tedious task of cooking it down. There is no way you can run away from the stove as this has to cook over medium heat and once the jam starts to boil, you have to stir and stir and stir. Unless of course you want your jam to scorch and burn. Once it reaches the appropriate thickness, it’s time to bottle. Be sure to wash all your jars and lids with hot water and soap BEFORE the jam boils. Canning is a fast step so I didn’t have time to take pictures. Juggling hot syrupy jam in glass jars requires both hands and a decent amount of concentration.

The result is what you see above. I can’t wait to dig into this tomorrow for breakfast!!!!!1

Simple teething pads

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Mabel

Simple teething pads
Pattern details | None
Batting | PSR Quilt Bamboo batting (0.9 m x 1.25 m)
Fabric | 100% cotton fabric from www.fabric.com

Of lately, Noah has taken to gumming the straps of the Ergo carrier whenever I babywear him and I can’t exactly dump the entire carrier into the machine to wash it even though it’s okay to do so (not frequently tho – as per manufacturer’s recommendation). I was not very keen on spending around €20 for teething pads and decided to make a simple pair with the leftover batting I had from the quilt I made from him. To match the green of my carrier (Ergo Performance), I picked a paisley patterned fabric I purchased while I was in Singapore.

While measuring it, I thought I had enough fabric to go around the strap in order for me to utilize the KAM snaps I have in my stash. However, after topstitching the layers together, I discovered that I had forgotten all about seam allowances, resulting in a pad that didn’t lay on top of each other. I will have to make do with hook-and-eye closures instead so until I get my hands on them (tomorrow, I think), it’ll be held together with basting pins.

I didn’t use a pattern, just decided to layer the batting on top of the fabric (right sides facing in), sew and turn it inside out before topstiching around to reinforce, beautify and close off the opening. It’s a quick project (I did this while doing other things like checking out diet pills that work) and you can whip up a pair of these in under 30 minutes or less, depending on how fast you sew and cut/prep your fabric.

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