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 :-)

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.

Awwww! (and other things)

I looked after my niece today and we were lucky enough to be invited to a beautiful farm where they had not only some foals but just look what else. Awwwwwww.

This lovely lady is called Kara and she's a Kerry blue terrier. She's 7 years old and has just had her first litter of babies. She's the friendliest, most gentle dog I've met for a long time, and looks very proud of herself :-)

Loooook, aren't they just gorgeous! 6 weeks old and with very sharp teeth and claws but adorable all the same

This little foal is only 2 days old and still a bit wobbly, and although I'm not a horsey person, I was very brave and said hello to Mum at close range.

A lovely way to spend an hour or so, and my niece was beside herself with happiness. Bless her.

Before we went out today, Rachel has been watching & helping my Mum make some lemon curd and wanted to have a go at something different. Ta dah! We give you .... lime curd. The little taste I had earlier was delicious. Pity I can't eat bread but I'm sure I'll find something to slather it on to.

Just to annoy Lizzie, here are some raspberry and white choc muffins and some much healthier oat, apricot & pecan cookies.

Sad news now. My old girl has finally been consigned to scrap heaven. I was very sad to see her go as she's been my faithful companion for 20 years, but she was starting to wreck my shoulder with her heavy steering, and bits were starting to drop off/go rotten. Sniff.

Still, I have a fab little new car which I'm learning to love and for the first time ever I've named a car, and my new companion is called Snowdrop. (I'm losing the plot again aren't I?)

Finally....I had the most evil migrainey headache last weekend and seriously thought I was hallucinating when I looked out of the window and saw a large chicken walking past. It then skateboarded past the other way. On closer inspection, it turned out to be one of the kids over the road trying to film tricks on his skateboard - quite why he did it dressed as a chicken I've no idea, but it was hilarious to watch :-)

Other than all that, I've been attacking those "squares" for the charity blanket. Nearly there now, but the box they're in is like the Tardis. I keep thinking I've finished but they seem to be multiplying. Once I've finished tidying them up, I've got to work out how to put them all together.....it could be a while, lol.

Still no soap, but .....

Well, I still haven't made any soap recently, but I've got itchy fingers to start again so it's on the horizon.

In the meantime, just a couple of bits and bobs I've played around with when I'm not dashing around between work & family or just collapsing in a heap on the settee....

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine was wearing a lovely, snuggly soft neckwarmer she'd made and being a slight yarn addict I couldn't get it out of my head. So, you just have to give in to the urge sometimes and I trotted off and bought a ball of Rowan Cocoon yarn in a shade called Kiwi. A departure for me as I'm not really a green kind of a girl, but it's a really subtle colour. I can't remember the last time I knitted anything so I had a play about and eventually worked out a cable pattern for myself. I'm quite pleased with the end result - fingers crossed it doesn't make me itch or I'll have to give it away.

Today being a wet, grey Sunday some choccie brownies have suddenly appeared in my kitchen as a counterbalance to the yukky weather. Made with dark choccie, cranberries & coconut, they're all squidgy in the middle and I may or may not have had a smallish nibble already. Bliss. Oh, and they're non-dairy so I can scoff the lot. (And I blame Lululiz entirely for putting the thought in my head as she was bragging about scoffing Tiffin she'd made yesterday).

Now that I've got a new beading lamp, I've been playing about with this pattern I got from the last issue of Bead & Button magazine. It's a bit fiddly and I've questioned whether or not to carry on, but I've been told to keep going so I'll perservere. All will be revealed when it's finished. I've got so many beady things I want to do, I feel a fairly major beady shopping accident coming on. Yipee.

Hope you're all having a happy, crafty Sunday.

The things a girl has to do

We've had conditions like this for nearly a week now. It doesn't look bad compared to some of the pictures you see on the news, but believe me, the road and pavements are solid ice under that fresh layer of snow. They're forecasting more of the same this coming week too. I don't mind the cold, but when it's so dark and dreary it gets boring after a while

SO, because of the weather and feeling poorly for a week, a girl has to take drastic measures sometimes. The little choccie alarm in my head kept going off so I had a look at Sarah's blog for this recipe for white choc and cranberry cookies. Thanks Sarah!

So, working on the basis that:
a) cranberries are fruit and therefore good for me
b) oats are good for me and low GI so they'll release energy slowly
and finally
c) choccie contains milk and therefore calcium which is good for my bones.........

I raided the cupboards (which are looking very sad now - note to self: really must venture out and go food shopping) and found some white chocolate buttons - borrowed, I might add, from my niece's Christmas stash. Instead of chocolate chunks I just chucked in the buttons and it worked quite well. At last! After a very long time searching for a cookie recipe that gives you chewy cookies, I found it. (I might leave out half of the sugar next time though as they're a little sweet for me).

I now have a luscious pile of about 20 enormous chewy cookies to scoff my way through. Bang goes the diet, but as they're packed with all that goodness, I shan't feel too bad about it :-)