Photographic Documentation

There sure have been a lot of prizes flying around knit-blogland lately... Olympic prizes (be they earned or not), comment prizes, contest prizes, and what have you, but I'll wager a guess that not many prize winners get to be first-hand witnesses of actual prize construction. I recently won one of the above-mentioned prizes, and I was fortunate enough not only to choose the prize I wanted, but also to be privy to the actual making and baking of that prize.

I know that you, my faithful blog readers, will be pleased to know that I was hip to be square enough to capture the excitement in a brief yet enthralling photo documentary.

I'll let Joy tell her side of the story, but this photo documents the flawless effort with which she employs her Pampered Chef cookie press. See the blurry action hand movement? See the beautiful identical cookie dough flowers? See the look of slightly-amused-yet-desperate concentration?

This photo is post-baking, and shows what I like to call the "drizzle factor". Let me tell you that a lot of effort went into making the chocolate drizzle-able. Any and all liquids found in the kitchen (although hopefully nothing that was under the sink) went into that chocolate to make it less chunky, more drizzly. And what a drizzle factor it was. See again the blurry action hand movement? See the beautiful drizzling chocolate? See the look of intense creativity and intricate drizzle-design?

And finally, a small sampling of the finished product. I had been concerned that I would have to take all of the cherry cordial cookies home with me... that there wouldn't be anyone in the Bennett household who would help me eat them. So I must give a thankful shout out to Scott and Sam, without whom I would have been forced to consume the entire batch by myself. As it is, I took about half of them home, where they shall be enjoyed with delight until the time comes when they exist no more.

Thanks, Joy, for a great prize and all the entertainment I could ask for!

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I have shamelessly stolen this photo from my sister-in-law's blog in order to show you the purse that I made for Maggie for Christmas. So my thanks and apologies go to Mrs. Frisk (you're doubly famous now!), Maggie (sweetest and cutest niece EVER!), and Morgan (sorry I stole the picture, but I'm giving you credit for it... PLUS I forgot to take a picture of the purse before I mailed it off for Christmas). I used two strands of orange Cotton Ease (by Lion Brand, now discontinued, which is totally unfair) size 8 needles, and a couple of my favorite cable braid patterns to make the bag. It has a braided handle and instead of sewing in the ends, I made two little tassels on the side. It's cooler than any other "chunky cable bag" pattern I've seen other places, and it was a super quick knit. It holds colored pencils and barettes and books and little toys and candy and just about anything else a three-year-old would want to take with her. I'm happy to see that she likes it! You can click on the photo to see a bigger version, if you like.