Sunday, September 19, 2010

Stash-busting hooky and a bit of baking

Inspired by this pattern and blog (thanks for sharing the pattern Solveig) I was a bit bored yesterday afternoon so I whipped this up.  It will be a cushion cover, honest - the sides are already joined together and ready to go, but my camera has just died.  The optical illusion you get from this pattern is amazing - edge it in a light colour and you get a star effect, edge it in a dark one and you get a pinwheel.  Very clever.  I will adapt the pattern slightly though so that the edges aren't quite so wonky.



So, with that pattern in mind, I trotted off to the wool shop on Friday, to stock up on a few yarns to make a blanket in Portugal.  All of this cost me less than £10, and even though it's acrylic, it's really soft and doesn't squeak when you work with it :-)  I've been a VERY good girl and haven't touched it, even though my fingers have been beside themselves to get going.



And finally, this week's baking - more oaty bakes, this week made with whizzed up blueberries and peaches.  Not quite as yummy as last week's but I'll soldier on.



And on that note, I'm off to Portugal for a little holiday.  Ahh, happy hooky, beady and reading time all to myself.  Bliss.
See you soon. Jo :-)


Posted by Picasa

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Bakey, hooky, croapy and beady stuff

It's been a while since I blogged, but I've been busy doing other stuff.....

I'll start with some yummy Sunday baking - a tray of oaty bakes made with coconut, dried apricots and some white-fleshed necatrines which I whizzed up in my new gadget.  They smell gorgeous and I've had to sample 2 bits just to make sure they taste ok.  They're a bit squidgy in the middle but I'm not complaining :o)


Right, down to business.  This was a little lap blanket I made for my Mum.  I forgot to take a pic when it was finished, but you can get the general idea.  I edged it in dark brown with one narrow row of the other colours.  Mum loves it - now just got to make another for the other room.  Oh, and one for my sister, etc etc!

Then there's the slight flower scarf addiction I seem to have developed lately (Emily, I know you're with me on that one!).  The annoying thing is that ALL of these yarns claim to be "double knitting" thickness - look how different they all are!




Then there's a stash-buster lap blanket I thought I'd do for my niece who has splashes of bright pink in her bedroom.  Yet another WIP....


Oh, and there's a shrugelero thingy, just another WIP...... all those wonky squares have got to be sewn together and made into a curvy edging. 


Then, there's this luscious stuff lurking in my stash.  When my sis asked me what I'd like for my birthday as we happened to be sitting in a coffee shop next door to the yarn shop...well, I didn't physically drag her to the display, but you get my drift :o)







That's all the hooky stuff for now. There is a shawly wrap thing lurking too, but there are far too many of those offending loose ends to sew in yet.

***************
And so, after almost a year, I finally croaped.  Oh yes, my croap crown is safe, and I am indeed the Croap Queen.  I so want to be a decent soapmaker when I grow up.  They NEVER turn out like the image I have in my head.  Quite why I get such bad ash on the tops is beyond me too. 
The blue one is scented with "Blue Amberwood" which is a lovely spicy unisex scent, but for some reason the FO misbehaved and has left brown traces in the soap.  It's also going through the curing stage still so I expect that yellowish colour to change again.
The purple one is scented with Geranium & Lavender.  It's a new FO from Jo, and it behaved beautifully in CP soap, and is holding the scent well so far.
Neither soap has palm oil in, but is loaded with shea butter and other goodies.

This is the purple one before it went through the gel process.  Quite interesting how the colour changed afterwards.  Those "peaks" didn't last too well, but never mind.

And finally, how's a girl ever supposed to get anything done when they keep issuing mags like this, and she keeps getting reminders from people that they're waiting for the jewellery they were promised.  I'll have to have a beadfest when my poorly neck gets sorted out.  Yipppppppppeeeeeeee.

Well, I think that's me for now.  No doubt I've forgotten something and will get told off by Lizzie.  
Think I'll go and sit in the sunshine with a cuppa and a smallish chunk of oaty bake while my horrid neighbours are out and it's nice and quiet.

Hope you're all having a lovely Sunday.  TTFN.




LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin