Baby hat and bootees

I've ground to a halt with a couple of projects at the moment so obviously it's time to start something else.........This time I've run out of deer making wool. I was convinced that I had enough wool before I started but a ran out after finishing the first antler. I only have one more antler to do and then it's pretty much done apart from making the mount. I actually haven't done the mount for the Christmas deer yet, but I'm waiting for technical assistance with cutting out the plywood. That might have implied that I was going to cut out the plywood, but actually I'm just going to wait until it is done for me :). In the meantime, I've crocheted a newborn baby hat and bootee set for a colleague who is due to leave at Christmas. The hat and bootee were surprisingly quick to make so it means that I have started AND finished something. Hoorah. BTW the hat and bootee pattern can be found here. It's in american crochet terminology but once you have your head around that It's a nicely written pattern. It also has front and back post trebles so is probably an intermediate pattern, but it makes such a lovely stretchy bootee that it's worth it persevering to learn the technique.

Here's a preview of my Christmas deer. At the moment, it's just lying around waiting to be mounted. I have a couple of weeks to get it done in time for the festive season...... 

Here's a pretty doily beret style hat for a daughter. The finished hat has a little flower on the headband which I hadn't done when I took the photo. It was a nice quick little project using some left over wool from a previous hat and glove session, so fit the bill in a number of ways; quick, cheap and a happy daughter.

This was a finishing off job. The garland was made around last Christmas and I made the buttons whilst on the New Year holiday helped by our (mostly) tame and very talented potter friend Rob Rutterford. Anyway, the pottery was glazed and fired and returned in the summer and all I needed to do was to replace the buttons on the garland with the special pottery ones.  Well now it is done and it looks so much better. I only wish that I had done 11 instead of 9 buttons because I didn't have enough to replace the end buttons.

This is very much a started rather than finished project. I want to make a door garland for winter. So far I've only managed the covering for the wreath and a few leaves and things, but at least it's a start. The best thing about it so far is that it is again using left over bits and bobs of wool. The random colour change wool worked particularly well as it meant that there was not a lot of procrastination choosing the wool and colour scheme - it was very much a case of JFDI (just flipping do it - the polite version)

Faux taxidermy

A quick post about my recent knitting projects. I decided that is was really essential to have a knitted deer head for the wall. I found a fantastic free pattern  for a deer's head and it really does look as good as the pattern. I found the instructions really easy to follow, although there was quite a lot of counting so it meant that I couldn't knit and watch tv too! Fortunately our recent holiday in the Yorkshire Dales was so wet it was quite appropriate to be sitting knitting instead of out walking..........obviously.

I intend to mount my deer head on a sort of fabric padded plaque, so will update with a photo when it is finished. I've pretty much decided to use some Christmas coloured fabric so that my deer will just be a Christmas decoration. This is mainly because I've started making another one...........how could I resist? The second one will be bigger and deer coloured and will be an everyday, always on the wall piece of taxidermy.

Bonfire night update......

.........well, it all went with a bit of bang, whizz and wow. The food went down a treat. The bonfire was not too wet to burn and the fireworks were fantastic. The weather......well, it could have been better but it didn't swamp it down, and we all fit quite nicely in the 'hall' (or where the hall will be one day). We even had time to play with sparklers.  ahhhhh, family!

Bakewell Wool Gathering

It's hard to believe that a year has passed since I went to the Bakewell woolly show last year, but it has come around again. This year I managed to get a place on a 'Freeform Crochet' workshop  with Pauline Fitzpatrick. I mostly follow patterns when I'm making anything, usually because I don't have time or ingenuity to make up my own. I have a few notable exceptions such as Wendy Wensleydale, but on the whole I tend to use or adapt someone else's pattern. I've wanted to have a go at freeform crochet for a while but have not made the time to play and research how to go about it so took the plunge when I saw that there was a place left on the workshop. It didn't disappoint. The pieces of work Pauline had brought were quite stunning and she was wearing a marvellous freeform crochet cardy. I'm not sure I will ever manage anything quite so detailed, but was quite pleased with my effort on the day. I took some photo's of Pauline's work at the workshop, but the photo's really didn't do them any  justice so haven't included them.

I have a bag of crochet motifs that I have been building up on a periodic basis. Most of them I've done when I've been away on holiday as it is really easy to just pick up a ball of wool and a hook and do a motif or two and then pack it all away after the holiday. I made a start joining them together to make a funky wrap or poncho, but there are some odd shaped gaps so thought that I might learn some techniques during the workshop to fit them together better. I've certainly got a few more ideas on how to finish it now. The only problem is that I haven't an excuse for not finishing my wrap thingy apart from the old lame excuse of lack of time!

I have been very productive this week on the crochet and knitting front. I wanted to use up the left over super chunky wool from the fox cowl, plus a ball I bought on holiday, and I found a fab free pattern for a headband for using it up. It took a while to work out the pattern, but once I'd sussed it there was no stopping me. I found that I could easily make one an evening, and on Sunday I made two! The last two were in black and I don't have a photo of these as they have already been despatched as birthday presents. Anyway, it was really satisfying using up all the wool. I also made a pair of chunky mittens to match the fox cowl and these would have been made in an evening as well except that I inadvertently made two right mittens and had to re-do one as a left mitten! 

I'll finish with an absolutely stunning sunset. Our temporary accommodation might be bijou but it has a surprisingly lovely view. I say temporary, but we've been there a year now and it's beginning to feel quite permanent, somewhat disturbingly!

Ooh, I nearly forgot. We had a lovely walk at Carsington water last week. It's just stunning driving through the Derwent valley on the way to the reservoir, but it was equally beautiful there too.

I just can't stop........here are a couple of photo's from the barns. It's turning very autumnal everywhere. I really love autumn........ when the sun is shining, and absolutely hate it when it's foggy and dark.

Failynn Fox Cowl

failynn fox cowl

I've actually finished something that I can show. I'm not really keen on commissions because they tie you to doing something that you might not particularly like and then it becomes a chore rather than a pleasure. I prefer going with the flow and making what I want to make.......and then giving it away! It's a case of like it or lump it with my gifts. So, when asked to make a fun fox cowl, I ooh'd  and  quickly changed the subject. I had a sneaky look afterwards and decided that since it was made with super chunky wool it would knit up really quickly, and was a really easy pattern. The trouble is that even something that is quick and easy to do, it can still end up costing quite a lot, and if you gift one child, you have to gift them all, and then it really becomes expensive. A compromise was reached and this ended up a paid for commission (cost price only!). The pattern was duly downloaded from ravellry and  the wool ordered from the internet and I got cracking.  It really only took a few evenings, although I ran out of foxy coloured wool and had to order some more, so that delayed it a bit. Now I have to find something to make to finish of the remnants of wool, although I've found that you can never use all the wool up. You think that you are and start something, but always run out and have to buy more.

I like to buy yarn locally if possible, but I more often than not end up ordering from the internet. This forces a bit of planning to take advantage of free postage and so I have made decisions on everyone's Christmas presents and ordered accordingly. I've now got a basket of woolly loveliness to convert into wearable woolly wonders.

Ongoing and finished projects

I haven't blogged lately about my current works. That is mainly because I haven't actually finished very much. I'm still beavering away with my hexagon quilt which is going to be a variation on the 'grandmothers flower garden' pattern. So far I have completed 40 flowers, so that is growing nicely. I decided to press all the hexagons with their seam allowances so that it makes it easier to sew together, and it does......but blimey, such a lot of ironing. The only way to do it without going mad  is to set the ironing board to a comfy height and do it in front of the telly or whilst listening to a  good audio story (Terry Pratchett - Reaper Man is the current listen).

I am still quilting my african themed quilt at Nottingham Patchwork Group sewing days. I progressed this a bit further last Sunday and it is close to being finished. I reckon a couple more sessions and it will be finished........well, possibly. Here is how it is at the block layout stage

mad pirate

My pirate outfit is finished, but I can't show you that yet because it's a surprise present. Oh, ok then, here it is..........modelled by me! I know, it really suits me.

i-cord vase cover for a jam jar

And finally, something finished and it's for me. It started life with my newest knitting gadget to make knitted cord (see here).  I wanted  a pretty vase and although we have many vases, they are all in storage, so armed with an empty (and clean) olive jar, I decided it would look really nice with the cord wrapped and stitched around it. Well, it does look lovely, but bloomin' heck, it took ages. I'm definitely hanging onto this one - kids, are you listening? 

I'm also working on a very secret crochet project, so I don't know why I mentioned it because I just cannot say what it is. I'm also planning a knitting project which is a special request from a daughter. More on that to follow. 

Ooh, and I found a photo of some pottery that I had a go at during the new year holiday. I was very much guided by Rob Rutterford,  the master potter himself - see here for his website, and I really can't claim any input at all to the glazing, but I really enjoyed playing with the clay! The buttons will go on my hearts and flowers garland when I get around to it. They were made especially for it and are absolutely perfect for the job. Will update with a photo when it's done!

#SourdoughSeptember

Chocolate and banana muffins are another (delicious) way to use up sourdough starter, along with ripe banana's that no-one wants to eat. The sourdough starter needs to be fed regularly otherwise it will get too sour and probably a bit mouldy (or even die), so I try and use some every week and refresh the remains with some flour and water to keep it a happy. You may have noticed that I have a very relaxed *read 'lazy'* attitude to maintaining my sourdough starter!  

family tea

I combined my two starters together (Derbyshire starter and a San Francisco starter from Christmas) because I hadn't labelled them and was getting them mixed up. Interestingly, they definitely had a different smell, although I couldn't tell any difference on baking. Now I have a single starter that could be described as multi cultural. Anyway, back to the story. I wanted to make some different bread for family tea instead of a sourdough, so looked for inspiration at the recipes on the BakeryBits blog. These are generally devised by Vanessa Kimbell and I love that she comes up with new recipes for sourdough bread, and also some interesting cakes and muffins using sourdough starter. She also uses a 'la cloche' baking dome so it fits my style of baking perfectly.

I digress......back to family tea..... I found two recipes that fit the bill for today's family tea; Chocolate and Banana Sourdough Muffins, and Cumin and Sultana rolls.

The muffins are incredibly easy to make. It really is a case of mix the crumble topping ingredients and set aside , mix the dry ingredients together, mix the wet ingredients together and then combine the wet and dry together. Plop the mixture into the muffin cases and then pile topping  on the er.... top. Bung in the oven for about 20-25 minutes and there you have it, delicious chocolatey muffins

Muffins ready to mix

chocolate and banana sourdough muffins

The bread rolls are an unusual combination of cumin and sultana, but it really works as a taste combination. The fragrance of the lightly toasted cumin seeds and the baking bread  permeates the whole house making you instantly hungry. The rolls are shaped and then proved in the baking dome base and then popped in the oven with a pre-heated lid. It's so easy. In fact I made another batch this morning, since the last lot didn't make it past teatime.

cumin and sultana bread rolls

I have to mention the amazing purple smoothie I made last week. It started with a spot of blackberry picking from the back of the car park at the flat. They are the most succulent, huge blackberries ever. I just couldn't resist and it only took about 20 minutes to pick nearly a kilo! I didn't fancy making jam using the pretty useless cooker that's in the flat, so decided to freeze the blackberries for smoothie-ing and juicing. What a purple delight a blackberry, yoghurt and banana smoothie is! And so very delicious with sourdough cheese scones for lunch.