Another WIP .......

Yes, yet another WIP !!!

I am making the little men blankets for their beds for next Autumn & Winter. I wanted them to be lovely bright colours & also washable so I am using Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice yarn. This is the first time I have used this yarn & I'm very pleased with how it's turning out ! No, it isn't as squidgy & soft as Rowan's Pure wool or Debbie Bliss but I am hoping it will hold up better as it is 100% acrylic. I'm not a lover of acrylic yarns but this doesn't look synthetic & the colours are wonderfully bright & cheery.

I have bought 2 balls of each colour for the first blanket & hope I will have enough to make a single bed size.

I am still working on my Wendy Bliss blanket, which is coming along nicely, so hopefully it will be finished soon.

New Yarn & A New Project .......

I know, I know, I promised myself not to buy any more yarn until I had used up some of my large stash but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do & in my case it's yarn !!!!!

A new Hobbycraft store has just opened near me so the other day I thought I would go & have a look around. I spied that Wendy has brought out a new yarn called 'Merino Bliss' & it's gorgeously soft so I just had to have some !!!! There isn't a great colour range which is disappointing but I picked out four colour that went well together for yet another granny blanket !!!

I also bought two skeins of 'Rowan Colourscape' as I have seen a great crochet scarf pattern on Ravelry using this yarn. I rushed home to start my new granny & this is my progress so far.

This yarn is wonderful to work with, I'm finding it hard to put down & have even been hooking while cooking dinner !!!!

At this rate this could be my speed record for making a blanket, I can't wait to snuggle under it, watch this space !!!!

A Day For Some Home Baking ........

Hello everyone, I'm back after a short break !!!

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The white stuff is also back, only a few centimeters at the moment but more is fore casted for later on !!! So I thought I would stay in & try out some new cake receipts. I love Jewish & Eastern European cakes & desserts so I had a nosey on the net & found this receipt that took my fancy. I have changed the measurements from cups to ounces as I couldn't find my measuring cups & I think it's turned out rather well & is very yummy & moreish.
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Peach & Cinnamon Cake with Crumble Topping

Ingredients

8oz SR Cake Flour
8oz Softened Butter
8oz Golden Caster Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
4 Eggs
1-2 tbsp Cold Water (I have always found that by adding a little water & not milk makes cakes lighter)
I Can of sliced peaches (drained & slightly chopped)

Topping

3oz Flour
2oz Brown Sugar
1oz Butter

Pre heat oven to 180 oC

In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together until the batter has a light dropping consistency (don't over mix or you will have a heavy cake !!!). Spoon half the batter into a greased & floured 9" cake tin. Arrange chopped peaches over then spoon remaining batter over the top.


Now make the topping crumble as you would a normal crumble mix, then sprinkle all over the top. Bake for about 1 hour, ( my cake took 1 hour 10mins !! ) Leave to cool in the tin for 30 mins before turning out onto a cooling rack.
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Then enjoy with a nice cup of tea or coffee !!!!
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Long Time No See ......

It's been over 2 weeks since I last blogged, I have no excuse really just very busy !!!!

What with nearly 3 weeks of being snowed in with the little men off school & then a bout of tummy upsets life has been hectic with very little time for me.

I have been making slow progress with my knitting projects & crocheting hasn't seen the light since Christmas, hey ho ti's the life of a mum !

Normal serve will resume very shortly !

Another FO ( Finished Object ) .......
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I seem to be on a roll at the moment, here is another finished project to show you. I wanted a hat to go with my new winter coat & once again Ravelry came up trumps !!!
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I had an odd skein of Malabrigo lying around which was the perfect colour & was just right for this pattern. It was oh so quick to make, two evenings in all, & I'm thrilled with the end result !!

Pattern : Spring Cap By Woolly Wormhead

Yarn : Malabrigo

Colour : Velvet Grape

Needles : 4.5 mm & 5mm

A Finished Project & WIP's .......

My mum had been saying she wanted to buy a snood/cowl to keep her head warm when she walks her dogs, so I decided to make one as a Christmas pressie. Unfortunately I didn't manage to finish it on time but she is still over the moon with it. The perfect dog walking accessory in this bitter weather, mind you she hasn't worn it yet as the snow is too deep for walking two little Shih Tzu's.

Pattern : Holland Cowl (free pattern on Ravelry)

Yarn : 3 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky

Needles : 8mm



Now onto some WIP's. The first is a 'Gathered Scarf' using the gorgeous, scrumptious Malabrigo Worsted. I love this yarn, brilliant for hats & scarves & oh so, so soft & warm. I have rather a large stash of this gorgeous yarn under my bed !

The next is a 'Lacy Baktus' scarf using another favorite yarn of mine, Manos Silk Blend. This style of scarf is very much 'in' at the moment & is like a wide, narrow kerchief. that you wrap around your neck & knot at the front.

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SNOW !!! Part II .......

Snowball fights ::

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Sledging with Friends ::

Little man no. 1 hitching a ride ::


Making sure our feathered friends are well fed ::

The beauty of snow ::


Walking to my mum's yesterday before the blizzard hit ::

The walk back home in the blizzard ::


Our garden this morning ::

13 inches of snow, We're snowed in !!! ::

Another Snowy Day - Part I ......

The white stuff hit our little part of the world again last night. By this morning it was about 5 inches deep & has been snowing off & on most of the day. The little men where so excited to see it when they woke, especially when they found out that school was closed.

They couldn't wait to go outside & have fun, but had to wait until it was light !!!

I'm really glad that I have my Misti Alpaca scarf, that I made last winter, to keep me warm.

Talking about scarves, here is my new winter scarf that I am making at the moment.

The yarn is Frog Tree Chunky Alpaca that I bought from Loop last year. This yarn is sooo soft & warm & the choice of colours are amazing ( I would love to make a scarf in each colour if I could afford it !! )


The colour is #25 which is a deep fuchsia pink, just scrumptious !! I'm hoping to get this baby finished as soon as possible as it'll be perfect for this snowy weather.

New Year, New Beginnings & A New Look Sitting Room .......

Well here we are in 2010. I'm hoping it's an improvement on 2009, not a good year for me.

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Three weeks before Christmas the decorator arrived to decorate the landing & sitting room ceilings & to wallpaper here & there. It wasn't the best timing just before the festive holiday but I'm so happy with the end results that it was all worth while. After he'd finished I painted the sitting room a lovely creamy almond colour to go with the new wallpaper on the chimney breast.

Before ::


After ::

Before ::


After ::

The room isn't finished yet, I still need to do the gloss work & the carpet needs replacing, but it's a vast improvement don't you think.

The next big project is the kitchen, not sure whether to start that now or in the spring. I have lots of smaller projects I want to do & now that the little men are back at school I have 6 hours a day to get stuck in. Here are a few things I want to achieve this month :

My To Do List for January

1. Repaint the little men's room
2. Repaint my room
3. Sort & clear out Attic (so that I can put more junk up there)
4. Sort out my yarn stash
5. Sort & clear the garage
6. Sort & clear the study
7. Repaint the study
8. Gloss all the doors & paint work (not my favorite job !!!)
9. Sort out old toys
10. Paint the porch

Tomorrow I am hoping to tackle the mountain of ironing that has been growing & growing over the last two weeks, wish me luck !!

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR

Here's to 2010 !!!

Christmas Is Over !!! ......

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, we did !! The little men & I stayed over at my mum's on Christmas Eve so we could all wake up on Christmas morning together. It was the first time that the little men had slept over anywhere & they where so excited.

They choose the mince pies & carrot to leave out for Santa & also wanted to leave him chocolate coins, just in case he was hungry later on !! As is tradition in our house ( I'm half German ) the little men where allowed to open two presents before going to bed.


We had a delicious Christmas lunch, this year we had a chicken with all the trimmings as Mum & I wanted to spend as much time with the little men as possible without worrying about cooking a great Turkey.

On Boxing Day the little men went to their daddy's for the day & I went to my Auntie & Uncles for lunch, I think this is the first Christmas in over ten years that I haven't done any of the cooking, lucky me !!!

The little men came back from Nanny, Grandad & daddy's laden with so many toys the sitting room now resembles a toy shop, lucky boys !!!


I do love Christmas, but am quietly pleased that it is now all over, I feel rather flat & tired at the moment, a little bit like our poor old Christmas tree that has had it's stuffing knocked out of it by the cats !!!

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I'm now looking forward to a new year, new decade & new beginnings.