Autumn Leave Table Runner

This is the table runner I have made as a gift for my parents'  50 wedding anniversary.

Tour de Yorkshire

The name 'Tour de France', as the name suggests is a tour of France, but this cycling competition also takes in parts of neighbouring countries from time to time.  This year, the cyclists will be spending some time in England - Yorkshire to be exact.

There are many good French-English dictionaries available, but I haven't seen a single French-Yorkshire one.  Some kind soul has translated a few key phrases to help.

Manx Cottage

There were many cottages like this on the Isle of Man at one time, now there are few.  This is Rose Cottage in Cranstal, Bride.

Autumn Leaves Quilted Table Runner

My parents have almost been married for 50 years.  This table runner is a wedding anniversary gift for them.

First there was 'the plan' - an autumnal rainbow of colours.  Half of the leaves would be in very saturated tones, and the other half in almost pastel colours.

I am on holiday for 10 days and yesterday was a half day.  My hope is to make three rows of the pattern each day. This is what has been made on days 1 and 2.

Individual Cheesecakes

400g soft cream cheese (eg Philadelphia) Brick Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 eggs
150g gluten-free biscuit crumbs

60g butter

Melt the butter, and add the biscuit crumbs to the butter.  Mix and put into individual ramekins.  I use ramekins which hold about 350ml, and the recipe fills 4 very nicely.  Gently press the crumb base flat.

Place 1/2 cup of icing sugar in the bottom of a mixing bowl, and then add the cream cheese. Blend well.  Add the eggs, one at a time, until they have been combined with the cream cheese mixture.  Pour the mixture into the ramekins.  Bake at 180C for 25 to 30 minutes.  Refrigerate for 3 hours.

Note to Self

Dear Maghouin Beg,

It would be immensely handy if you could index things properly by use of  'labels'. Some words make excellent search terms. 

In this particular case, when you know that you have posted your recipe for Chocolate Brownies, the 'excellent search term' is 'recipes'. It makes life so much easier, well, the baking element of life, so much easier when you think to label a recipe for gluten-free Chocolate Brownies with the keyword 'recipes' .  It doesn't take anywhere near as long to search for the recipe.

Best wishes,

Yourself.

Rainbow Socks

If you are paying close attention, you might be able to recognise some of the colours in these socks with the colours of the mitred squares.

Mitred Squares in Sock Yarn

After knitting a few pairs (cough) of socks, I seem to have a few (cough) little balls of sock yarn left over.  This is what happened when I started trying to use up some of the yarn.

I haven't quite decided what I am going to do with this fabric as yet.  It might become a cushion cover, but it might be a baby blanket.  Who knows?

Spring Cakes

A few lemon cup cakes with fondant flowers and leaves.

Candy Stripe Socks

After the bright, bright pink socks, here's a toned down version - Candy Stripe Socks.

Minion Time

My delightful children are asking for interesting birthday cakes.  Here's the latest.

Sock it to April!

February had the hat-a-thon, and April has been designated 'sock month'.  April is also my elder daughter's birthday, and she has a love of hand knitted socks in bright colours, but with no pattern.

The leader of my choir always has cold feet, and last week I asked if she might like some woollen socks.  There was a resounding 'Yes'.  It just so happens that pink is her favourite colour, which is rather handy as it means I can use up the remains of the sock yarn from my daughter's socks.  One sock has been made, but I don't want to start the other one just yet.  S needs to try on the first sock to ensure it fits well before I start the second sock. I'm fine about ripping back one sock, but not two. :o)  

Yarn no longer whispers; it shouts!

It used to be that yarn would whisper to me, singing a quiet gentle song of soft, warm, tender love.  Now the stuff is starting to shout! This might be because it has been left on a shelf, in a box, in a bag, discarded, forgotten. 

February was the hat month - a marathon of 26 hats.  I thought that I was hatted out, but it seems not.  A lovely friend was in need of a new hat.

And this has brought hats back to my attention, and a certain little ball of yarn...

The yarn was originally bought to make a pair of socks, but the left overs were set aside.

The left over yarn had enough of being neglected and unloved, and started shouting at me "Knit me!  Knit me.  I want to be a hat."  Therefore I duly started knitting it into a hat.  I was fearful of not having enough yarn to make a complete hat, so I added in some love dark, dark navy yarn.  And one hat was finished (the one on the left).  There was still yarn left, and it was shouting. Hat two was made.  And there was still yarn left over!  Hat three was made, and there was only 15cm of yarn left.  At last the yarn had stopped shouting.

These hats will be added to my charity box, and will most likely be given to the Southern Befrienders for their Christmas gifts.

Something woolly has happened to Douglas!

The Manx Yarnies have been doing a little bit of spring decorating.  

Cold Sheeping

Sometimes knitters, and other crafters have a little problem when they buy materials faster than they use them up.  The crafting stash grows and grows out of control.  Last month's Hat Marathon was a reaction of the vast amount of yarn I have.  Making 26 hats used up an amount, but there is still a way to go before my stash is down to a more manageable level.

Yesterday I hit my 60th day at Cold Sheeping (buying no yarn at all).  I have been awarded two 'clips' for my abtention.

 

I have realised that it is not for me. I am a Moderate Merino (limited yarn purchases) lass through and through. My plan for the rest of the year is to work through as much stash as possible. But I will be allowing myself to buy some new yarn to make gifts for others, and if I have been really good, to make an odd gift for me too. :o)

Today is my first day as a Moderate, and my first act is to buy some yarn for two projects.  This yarn is to make a hat for a good friend, and as a highlight yarn in a shawl for myself.

Borromean Cowl

Materials

3 colours of Double Knitting yarn, approximated 30-50g of each.

5mm circular needle.

Directions

Ring  1: Holding yarn A  double, cast on 100st, join. Knit 10 rows. Cast off. Weave in ends. 

Ring 2: As Ring 1 using a different colour of yarn (yarn B).

Ring 3: Holding yarn C double, cast on 100st. Do not join.

Arrange Ring 1 and Ring 2 as shown.

Weave the circular needle under Ring 1, over Ring 2, under Ring 1, and over Ring 2.  Join.  Knit 10 rows.  As you knit move Rings 1 and 2 out of the way.  Cast off, and weave in the ends.

Shoulder Exercises Log

Thursday, 27th February
Shoulder Flexation 10, 10

Scapula Setting 5, 3

I have been doing these exercises for a week on and off.  The benefits in mobility and stability I have experienced have convinced me that they are very well worth it.

Currently, it is easy to get the walking stick all the way over the top, but when my arms are almost on the bed, my arms start shaking, and it is very evident that my muscles are working.  I'm having low grade grumbling discomfort from the arm muscles - but it is less intense than it was before I started these exercises.    The first two scapula setting repeats are easy, but by the time I get to 4, I'm working hard, and 5 is a huge struggle.  Often I don't manage to count to a full 10 in the 5th repetition.

Shoulder Exercises

I have social shoulders - they pop out to visit from time to time.  Over the summer, my left shoulder partially dislocated, and the muscles covered for the shoulder.  There was no real pain, but a lot of mild discomfort and a reduction in the range of movement. The reason behind the partial dislocation?  I had been trying to strengthen the muscles around my shoulder to help prevent future dislocations! 

After using the tried and tested method of 'do absolutely nothing' for a few months, I started seeing a chiropractor, and this has helped my whole grumpy body feel better.  One downside is that as my shoulder muscles have learned (slowly) to relax again, it has meant there has been a time when my shoulder has been dislocating on a regular basis.

However, I think we have turned the corner, and the chiropractic manipulations, massage and exercise are stacking up against the dislocating tendencies!

This is a place to record my progress through the physio exercises.  These are a mixture of the ones set by my chiropractor, a former physio, and the exercises in an NHS booklet Rehabilitation after shoulder dislocation.

Shoulder Flexion  My first exercise is to lie down on my bed, with a walking stick between my hands.  The hands are shoulder-width apart.  Starting with the walking stick on the stomach, lift the walking stick up and over the head, until the upper arms are lying flat on the bed.  Hold for 5 seconds, and bring the arms back down.  Repeat 10 times, four times a day.

 

Scapula setting exercise Stand close to a wall.  Lay the forearms on the wall, fingers point to the ceiling.  The upper arms should be at shoulder height, and perpendicular to the body.  Draw the shoulder blades back and down, causing the muscles between to be squeezed. Hold for 10 seconds and release. Repeat 5 times, 4 times a day.

I've been doing these two exercises for a week, and the improvement is great.  There is so much more movement.  But there is still a long way to go.  As these exercises get too easy they will be replaced by other ones.  The shoulder flexion exercise can be made harder simply by standing up.

 

Leftover socks

"Leftover socks" are socks made from leftover yarns.  These socks were made from the leftovers from turquoise and teal socks I made for my DM-wearing daughter.  Two balls of yarn is just enough to make three pairs of socks for her.

The joyous news is that my next two balls of yarn are pink and red.  This will great a gloriously awful combination. But, as I happen to love the daughter-child, I will not inflict this combination upon her.

Project 38

The Hat-a-thon has been completed!

The stash that was overwhelming me has been reduced.  Twenty six hats have been made!  

Behold, a photograph of 25 hats. 

The 26th one has already been sent to it's recipient.  (This is now the recipient.)  It has been given to a friend who works at the airport and de-ices planes. It is cold work. He asked me for a baklava to keep him warm. I explained that as I’m gluten-free, I don’t make baklava. He explained “I can’t say balaclava, so I’m asking for a baklava.” I hope he won’t be too disappointed when he gets a balaclava.

It is very warm, and looks perfect for robbing a bank. It might also be good for wearing at the airport on cold shifts. But I worry that there are strands of my hair knitted into the balaclava. He gets up to some crazy stuff.  Just in case, can you all be my character witnesses?

37 Projects completed - I'm now at 70% of my 52 in 52 challenge.

When to start shaping the toe on a sock

This is the point where I start shaping the toe of a sock.

The Skating Minister

There's a Facebook thing where if you 'like' a person's post of a work of art then you are given an artist, and you have to choose a piece of their work.

I was given Henry Raeburn, It is  a-typical of his work. Most of Raeburn's work was made up large portraits of 'important people' sitting in slightly pompous poses, but this miniature seems to have more life to it. There has been quite a bit of discussion as to whether this painting was indeed painted by Raeburn. At the moment, it seems that opinion says 'yes'.

I couldn't get a picture of this painting to show up as a thumbnail in Facebook, hence posting the picture here.

Sunken Garden

A sunken garden.

This is what it normally looks like.

The second hat of the Hat-a-thon

And behold, the second hat of the Hat-a-thon.  It is a garter stitch, sideways hat with short row shaping.

And the Hat-a-thon has started!

In January, I was confronted by the size of my stash. It was overwhelming. I decided that something needed to be done about it.  And the Hat-a-thon Challenge was born.  A group of us are having a marathon of hat making in February.

A full marathon is 26 hats.  Others will be taking part in the half marathon, and there is a third group are taking part in the ‘relay.  

My hats will be going to a local charity called ‘Southern Befrienders’. Elderly people can ask to be paired up with volunteers who pop in to visit them, normally about once a week. Last Christmas, the elderly people all received gifts from the organisation. Many received hand knitted and crocheted items, things like hats, socks, gloves etc. They were greatly appreciated.

This is my first hat of the hat-a-thon, and my  12th project of the year.

 

I forgot to add my 11th project.  It is a needle holder for my circs.  Effectively it is a garter stitch scarf with a point, and D ring at one end, and a pocket for a needle sizer and measuring tape at the other end.  That is project 11.

A sea of yarn

Since the 15th of December I have finished 5 UFOs (UnFinished Objects). Some of them have been incredibly close to being finished, but something has happened that meant they were tossed into a work box and forgotten about. Whilst it is good to finish projects, the number of item that were almost, almost done makes me feel sad.  

I have realised that I have a blindness - I simply can not see the projects that have been started and are unfinished. As this is perceptual blindness, the solution is pretty simple - stop and register what is actually in front of my eyes. But I must admit, I am frightened by what I will find. The adapted solution is to look in one box and deal with that one box.  

There are a few different things that can happen to these UFOs.

1. Finish it

2. Frog it and donate the yarn

3. Frog it and return the yarn to my stash

Last night I found a UFO that was not mine! It was my daughter's. I'll chat with her today and see if she would like me to finish those slipper socks for her. It would mean one more UFO leaving my work box!

Christmas Pudding Hat

My first Christmas present for 2014 has been made!

This is my husband kneeling before me.  It was the only way I was tall enough to take  the photograph.  

More Socks for a DM Wearer

 

My daughter is an art student, and works in various different materials. Safety equipment is import. Doc Marten boots form part of her safety wear. She asked for a pair of woollen socks to wear with her boots, and then a second request came for socks. 

A request to 'Keep 'em coming' has now arrived. The socks are comfortable and warm. Her friends (fellow art students) think it's rather cool to have hand made socks.

My First Quilt

This is the first quilt I made.

The little lass is now up and running around.

Autumn Leaves

After a break of five days, it feel like it is time to do a bit more quilting.  My Mam loves autumnal colours, and I suggested she might like a table runner for her dining room table.    This is the pattern I'm going to use.

Doctor Marten's Socks

These socks were knitted for my daughter, to be worn under her new Doc Marten's.  They have been worn, and worn, and worn.  A second pair was requested, and those have been worn, and worn and worn.  The plea has emerged, "Please keep knitting me socks!"

Lace Spoon

52 in 52
8  Lace Spoon

My daughter is studying art and one of her assignments is based around spoons.  She commissioned me to crochet a spoon for her.  She will take the spoon, dip it in porcelain slip a few times and then fire it.  The cotton will burn away in the kiln leaving just the porcelain behind.  

Calligraphy Cowl

So far this winter I have been wearing a lot of black.  This needed to change - colour was definitely needed.  

At Sweet Ginger, I bought this lovely yarn Colinette Calligraphy in Florentina.

This is going to become a warm, snuggly Möbius cowl.

52 in 52 for 2014

There is a challenge I have taken part in the last few years, making/finishing 52 items in 52 weeks.  There have been times when I have succeeded, and times when success has been elusive.  

This time thought, I decided to start at the beginning of my Christmas crafting rather than on the first of January.  

1  Mat for the Christmas tree

A friend gave us two cushions that almost, almost matched the colour of our sofas.  Sadly the almost match did not look good on the sofas, but as long as the cushions were in another part of the room they looked good.  It wasn't terribly practical, so I used the fabric to make a mat for the Christmas tree.  I didn't want the top of the chest being scratched by the base of the stand.  The mat was then edged in a cream fabric with small circles of red, gold and green.

2 and 3  Minion Hat 1 and 2

Hats for my elder daughter and her boyfriend.  One of them is delighted to have a Minion Hat.  The other is not terribly impresssed.

4  Square Hat

This is the hat my elder daughter really wanted.  It doesn't look much when lying flat, but when worn, it looks like there are cat ears.  

5  Penny's  Hat

Penny is a character from "The Big Bang Theory", and she has a hat just like this.  This hat made my younger daughter very happy.

6  Shaun the Sheep Shirt

There’s a family tradition of ‘interesting sleeves’ for shirts. The men in my family are all kilt-wearers, and the kilts get worn at formal events. The shirts look very formal when worn with a jacket, but when the jacket comes off, the silliness is revealed. My husband’s wing collar shirt has Winnie the Pooh sleeves.

I bought a shirt for my elder daughter’s boyfriend, and then unpicked the sleeves. These were used as a template and new sleeves were produced in ‘Shaun the Sheep’ fabric. The sleeves were stitched into the armholes and cuffs.

7  Denim and fleece quilt

top

This quilt is unusual in that it has no batting between the top and bottom layer, but with the weight of the denim and the warmth of the fleece it isn't required.  It is made by taking a square of demin and one of fleece and stitching around the square 2 cm in from the edge.  The squares and ten joined together with a 1.5cm seam allowance.  

The central panel was made from jeans supplied by J and family members. Cutting squares from jeans takes a considerable amount of time, and it was getting harder to find jeans to use.  Therefore I bought denim, and that was so much easier to use!  

The instructions said to fray the edges of the denim squares.  I found it best to do this before stitching.  It made the work progress well.

This is a warm, snuggly quilt, the same size as the duvet underneath.  It is the underside of the quilt that I like best.  It looks so much tidier!  No fuzzy, frayed edges.

underside

However this quilt has been made for a guy who is now almost totally blind. It is very tactile, and so snuggly.  I'm sure he will love it. (He does.)

Christmas Cake - Decorating Lesson

J and I have just spent a wonderful morning with Ruth,  playing with fondant icing, butter cream and cake.  Ruth is a very talented woman, and I'm sure if the need ever arose she could be serious, but a smile and a laugh are never far away.

Here's our cake.

Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients
170g plain flour

350g sugar 

150g coca

230g butter

4 eggs

10ml vanilla extract

100g milk chocolate (roughly chopped)

50-100g pecan nuts (roughly chopped)

Method

Pre-heat oven to 175C.

Melt the butter in a bowl, using a microwave, then add the rest of the ingredients. Spread in a 32x23 baking pan.

Bake for 40 minutes. 

Variations

I use Dove Farm gluten-free flour.  It is a straight swap, gram for gram.

Hot brownies, straight from the oven, make a wonderful dessert, especially when served with ice cream.

TARDIS Birthday Cake

I made a TARDIS as a birthday cake for my daughter. There was a little hiccup in the time vortex and if didn't fully materialise until this afternoon. The TARDIS itself was a bit wibby-wobbly-cakey-wakey. However, a couple of enterprising people armed with cameras may have caught a glimpse of it. 

Ohhh, now that I look at the picture... it is wibbly-wobblier than I had first though!

Denim and fleece quilt

My current quilting project is a denim and fleece quilt.  The denim comes from old, old jeans that are no longer fit for purpose, and fleece comes from fleece blankets bought at B&Q.  

This type of quilt is rather different from the average.  This quilt is made by cutting out 16.5cm squares from old jeans, and new fleeces.  16.5cm (or 6.5") is the width of my quilting ruler.  A square of fleece is placed on a square of denim, and 2cm in from the edges of the square a line of machine stitching is made.  These sandwich squares are sewn together fleece sides facing, the stitching being 1.5cm in from the edge.  The denim is then frayed.  

The top of the quilt is a patchwork of denim squares.  These are outlined by the frayed denim and the lines of colourful fleece.  The bottom of the quilt is just fleece.  

This style of quilt is incredibly textural.  It is a perfect quilt for a blind person. 

Carrot Cake Adventures

At some point in my life I am going to use a recipe as written. I don't know when this will be, but it will happen. My husband had asked for a carrot cake for his birthday cake. This recipe was from the interweb, plucked at random because the accompanying photograph looked good.  The amount of oil in it was concerning at the time, and when I peeped in the oven half way though cooking I could see bubbling oil! It was not an appetising sight. This led to an experimentation with some of the ingredients and quantities.

This is the current recipe:

195g gluten-free SR flour

2 level tsp ground cinnamon

200g dark brown sugar

120ml vegetable oil

120ml apple sauce

3 eggs

270g grated carrots

90g chopped walnuts

The recipe called for 270ml of oil, and I used 120ml, and 120ml of apple sauce. In the next incarnation of this recipe I will add in some apple juice for additional moisture, bringing it back up to the 270ml level rather than 240ml.

Whilst baking, I discovered that there was no castor sugar in the house, but there was dark brown sugar. This has a better taste, so I used that instead. However, the original recipe was a bit too sweet, and with the inclusion of apple sauce, I decided to reduce the amount of sugar to 200g. This would be fine for a cake that is going to be iced. We didn't apply cream cheese icing, and so it wasn't quite as sweet as I would normally like my cake to be. Next time, I'll probably use 250g of sugar.

We've had walnut problems with this cake - there's been none in the house! The first time through I used pecans, and rather nice they were too. This time it was almonds. But we like walnuts. If I could just drill into people's heads the different between things in the baking cupboard and general snacks I would be able to bake with walnuts!