The Humble Hobbyist vol.19
I traveled, baked my first cake(s), and swatched for a cabled cardigan
In my last post I shared that I’d be traveling, and I did! The day after the presidential election, Datrianna and I made our way across the pond to Spain where we visited Barcelona and Madrid and had a wonderful time. Traveling is a gift that keeps on giving because of course we enjoyed the time we were physically there but we also came back so inspired and excited to close the year out strong.
Sagrada Familia, made famous by architect Antoni Gaudi, is far and away the most beautiful man-made structure I’ve ever laid eyes on. If you ever have an opportunity to visit, please do yourself the favor! No photo does it justice.
We spent Thanksgiving in Atlanta with our families but I didn’t capture many pics.
Then to round out our travel for the year, we visited Toronto for the first time!
Baking
I thought I wouldn’t have much time to bake during the holidays but surprise surprise, I baked more than ever! I made the usual chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and banana bread as gifts BUT I also ventured into new territory baking cakes 😱.
First up, a chocolate cake recipe from Preppy Kitchen. John’s recipes are nearly foolproof so yes this was the most perfectly moist chocolate cake you could imagine.
Because every dog has their day tho…we 🥴 botched the butter cream . It came out grainy which wasn’t the most pleasant but yeah, still a valiant first effort 🏆.
Maurice, my mom’s partner, wanted to bake not one but TWO cakes so the party continued. Pound cake is his favorite cake and he was chasing a nostalgic memory…no pressure.
The cake gods shined down on us because we made a blue-ribbon worthy pound cake!
Look at this beauty! 😍
Speaking of baking, Santa Clause smiled down on my hobbies! I got new cook books, a monogrammed baking dish, and an apron (already dirty from my Christmas baking) as gifts ☺️!
Knitting
A few weeks ago I swatched for the Jacket No. 2 pattern by My Favourite Things Knitwear but got sidetracked but all things holiday season. Now that things have cooled off, I plan to actually cast on for Jacket No. 2, a cabled- cardigan in a natural color.
This color is a stretch — I don’t typically opt for such light garments but the sample photos were so striking that I decided to go for it.
I‘ve done a bunch of other things in the past two months but I won’t keep you here any longer! I hope that this season has been good to you, in whatever ways you’ve needed it to be ✨.
Creating new memories with my given and chosen family, and resting are what make this season special for me; I’m glad I could give you a glimpse into what that’s looked like.
See you in 2025 ✌🏾,
TGM 💚
I loooove Gaudi’s style too! Happy to hear the holidays have been good to you. That pound cake looks 🔥. I’ll have to request some baked goods during my annual trip.
That sure is a good-looking pound cake!
Thanks for the link to Preppy Kitchen, which is new to me; I can already tell the rest of my afternoon is going to be spent rummaging around in those archives :)