Long Term Projects and Sweet Treats

The long winter nights have made me feel like hunkering down with a couple of big projects to see me through till spring.  I started this crochet throw at the beginning of January, it uses 4ply yarn which is quite thin (D.K. is my preferred weight) but I used to do a lot of machine knitting so I am able to use up some of the boxes of coned 4 ply yarns I have had stashed away for years.

 Then I decided to start a big cross stitch projects which will probably keep me busy for the rest of the year.  The design is on the front cover of the book below and here is my progress so far.

 I practically ate my own body weight in chocolate over Christmas so have been on the wagon for a while but I got cravings the other night and began to search around for any I might have forgotten.  Was just about to give up when lo and behold I found these guys lurking on a shelf in my utility room.  They were a present from John's brother and I had put them in here away from the boys.  Needless to say they did not last long.

 I had a lot of sweet making ingredients left over from Christmas too so yesterday I made this easy cheat's chocolate fudge.  Well, you should not waste food should you?  I only made then last night and today they are all gone.  I think I have a seious addiction.

 Hotter Shoes are giving away the knitting pattern for this London bus, I have already downloaded my copy.  I thought it would make a cute doorstop as well as a children's toy.  They also have a free Alan Dart pattern there too which you can find here.

Happy crafting and keep warm.
Shirley x

Sweet Swingers

This is my latest finish, Sweet Swingers from a knitting pattern by Debi Birkin.  I fell in love with her patterns after seeing them on Ravelry. It only took a few nights and I changed the colours of the right hand budgie so it looks like Dudley.

I have just finished a course on Craftsy on joining and finishing crochet and learnt so much.  This is the class project below. Each segment in the throw was attached using a different stitch and then the whole lot joined together with one ball of yarn so there was only one end to sew in.  Brilliant.  When I think of all the hours I used to spend sewing projects together.  Never again 

When deciding how to join the segments I laid them out first so I achieved the right balance of colour.  Then as I laid it out to photograph, Higgins decided he wanted to Christen it.  I think he approves.

I finished putting my Christmas cuties ornaments together.  This is my least favourite part.  I really struggle to get them looking neat no matter how I try.  These are a bit better than some of my previous efforts but they could still be better.

 With the time for Christmas visitors coming up I will be definitely by making these cheese straws.  The recipe was in the Co-operative Supermarket magazine and they are delicious.

I don't really know why I put them in a tin as they never lasted very long.  We all love cheese in this house, including the boys so they were soon polished off!

 

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

As most crafters know, you can never start your Christmas projects too early.  In fact many, including me, make them all year round.

I have made a few new decorations this year including these three, I just have to decide how to finish them off .

 

 I like to try any new craft magazine that comes out and no. 1 of Love Patchwork and Quilting is a good one.  It came with a kit to make a patchwork Christmas bauble but with careful cutting and stitching I was able to make two from it.

I don't make so many cards these days but was determined to make a few for special people this year.

Of course, no Christmas is complete without some sweets and this recipe is one of my favourites.

 

 Unlike many recipes this one uses milk instead of cream or condensed milk so as long as you have a bag of dessicated coconut in the cupboard you can make it when the mood strikes.

I even spotted the ideal Christmas jumper in a magazine, no not one of the corny reindeers or robins type and when I went to Wallis to buy it there was 10 pound off  too.  I didn't go for the matching trousers though, head to toe leopardskin may be a bit too Bet Lynch from Coronation Steet or Kat from Eastenders! I will wear it with my skinny jeans instead.

 

The boys love all their presents at Christmas although it is pretty much Christmas every day in our house with all the treats they get.  John got them a bag of giant sausages (about 18" long) although by the time I went upstairs to get my camera this was all that Higgins had left.

 

 

Making and Baking

We have been very busy today bringing in the last of our apples and pears of which we have had a bumper crop this summer.  Tomatoes and blackcurrants have been plentiful too.  We are expecting a bad storm overnight tonight according to the weather forecasts so do not want to lose the last of our crops.

 

I am always looking for new recipes to try out, if they are good I add them to my cookery book.  I am always tearing recipes out of magazines and this Pear and Lemon Curd Tart is one we enjoyed a lot.

I seem to be spending all my spare time crocheting at the moment but I am signed up for four different crochet courses!  The purple ripple throw was made entirely from yarn left over from other projects.  I had some odd balls of eyelash yarn which are quite tricky to crochet with as you can't see where to put your hook.  I came up with the solution to spray it with Febreze   which made it easier to see where to put the hook and smells nice at the same time.

 I have been learning some more advanced crochet techniques and this cushion is my first attempt at Tunisian crochet.

 This skirt is my first hairpin crochet project.  I bought a white cotton half slip with a ruffle around the bottom and random dyed it with the same colours as the wool using a piece of sponge.  I am really pleased with the result and have worn it a couple of times this summer.  I was thinking of making another thicker underskirt so I can wear it with boots in the winter but that is on my to-do list.  

 I always come back to my cross stitch and this little rose kit was free with a recent issue of Mollie Makes.  Before adding a circle of fabric to the back I put some dried lavender from the garden into it. 

 Turned my back for a while whilst baking and came back in to find Wilberforce innocently looking at me.  However, the flour on his beard gave him away, he had been up on the counter licking the flour!  Luckily everything had been put away, he is a real hooligan sometimes!!

This and that

I seem to be doing a bit of everything at the moment, hopping from craft to craft but I have managed a few finishes.

I am still going through an embroidery phase and this is the first of four designs in a kit I have had for about twenty years!  It came as a free gift when I joined a book/craft club.  Here are the other three designs:

 

I have now blocked the filet crochet piece I was working on.

 

I was going to buy a blocking kit but at 25 quid, including a yardstick (which I already have) I thought that a bit steep. So I bought a pack of welding rods for 2 pounds and using my cutting board with a sheet of plastic over, pinned it to size whilst damp, using the grid. Once dry I gave it a couple of burst of spray starch and voila...

The finished panel.

The March panel from my block of the month course is now completed.  I am not sure about the outer fabrics.  The centre is o.k. but I may redo the lilac/pink and blue section or else add some embroidery as I am not entirely happy with it.  I will leave it for now and have a think when a few more are finished.

 I am still working my way through the Wagamama cook book, I think this, the Teriyaki stir-fry is the best so far.  As with the other recipes I subsituted the chicken for Quorn.

I have just started knitted a dog, I think it is obvious what breed, ha ha.  It looks a little weird at the moment but will hopefully have it finished next time.

Summer is Here!

Can't believe summer is finally here after such a long hard winter.  I have slapped the fake tan onto my pasty pins and am making the most of the outdoors before it all ends.  The summer is so short if you don't get out there, like that Boots commercial, you will miss it.

Although I have not been using my computer I have still been crafting.  I'm doing a block of the month course with Craftsy as I have always wanted to make a quilt but joined late so I have only managed the January and February blocks so far.  I hope to catch up eventually.

I have finished the large cross stitch project I was working on - a map of Norfolk by Heritage Crafts.  This is the fourth of these maps I have worked, not sure where the other three went to, will have to try and dig them out although I haven't seen them since we moved house.

I have been in an embroidery mood lately and just finished Cornfield with Poppies by Rowandean.  It had been in my stash for several years so thought it was about time.

Saw this hydrangeas kit in my local craft shop and decided to give  it a go. Only took a couple of nights.  It is by DMC.

Then I found this flower basket kit which was given away with the now defunct Needlecraft magazine

 I have found four embroidery kits that have been in my stash for about 20 years!  I have started working one of these now.

 We are still trying out the recipes from our Wagamama recipe book and here is the Chicken Ramen.  Very tasty.  Because I don't eat meat I always substitute chicken in recipes for Quorn fillets. As you can see it looks just the same and tastes good too. 

Wilberforce's eyes have now cleared up and his buster collar, much to his relief, has been removed.  Here is a picture of him and Higgins playing in the paddock yesterday.  We have booked Wilbsy in at the grooming parlour as he is looking so scruffy - we had to leave it until his eyes were better.

 

Have fun and enjoy the summer.