Raspberry Red Wine Brownies

I finished reading Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami and decided to make these raspberry and red wine brownies for my treat/project. Like the book, the brownies are strange, but I think I like them. I had trouble figuring out what to make for this Craft Book Club project and finally decided on something with wine because Miu, the glamorous and successful business woman Sumire is in love with sells wine and I like sweet treats. (I was also considering something Greek because Sumire travels to and goes missing on a Greek island.) These brownies are from a mix and I substituted the liquids for red wine and added fresh raspberries and a single egg. The texture is dense, but cake like and If I make them again I would do 50/50 wine and oil because omitting the oil made them less like a fudgy brownie (the best brownie texture).

Our April book is What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver, a compilation of short stories that was originally published in 1981.

Brioche Knitting

My balaclava is about halfway complete! I know how to do brioche knitting and it isn't hard! I did make an error in one of my decreases that was quite obvious and I struggled for some time to fix just those stitches so I ended up ripping out all my brioche knitting progress and starting it again. I'm back on track now and trying to figure out if I should make the balaclava a bit smaller than the instructions recommend since I have a child's size head or knit as is. I'm leaning towards knitting as is, I'll make another if it is much too big.

Knitting Progress

I am about a third of the way done with my latest knitting project! This will soon be a balaclava knit with brioche stitching and one of my resolutions will be complete! When I decided I was finally going to try a brioche knitting project I also decided I needed to have a balaclava and lucky for me Stephen West released his Brioclava pattern the week I was trying to figure out if it was possible to modify a single color brioche pattern into a two color brioche pattern. (I don't know if it is possible and it probably would have been too much for a first time brioche knitting project.) The ribbed collar is nearly complete and I get to start the brioche stitches next. Wish me luck!

New Yarn

New yarn arrived! Once I figure out the right size needles to use I’ll be starting another of my crafty resolutions, knitting brioche. Wish me luck on this new skill!

Furniture Onlays

The painted furniture onlays are now attached to my bed and I'm quite pleased with how it looks! I wanted to add a little something extra to my plain bed frame and decided on some furniture onlays to coordinate with my nightstand. The white paint is a bit more bright than bed frame, but the color difference is not that noticeable because they are close to the ground and in a shadowy part of the room. My next project for this room is to add another floating shelf! I've got lots of decor items and hardly anywhere to display them!