Nap-time upcycling and a photo shoot

I had a few minutes 'spare' whilst both children were napping today, and a little project beckoned to me.  I made an impulse buy in a sale up in a local town this morning (never a particularly wise idea, but not expensive!) and when I got home and tried it on (I was wearing a sleeping baby in the shop, so could not try on there) I was less than convinced...

To be honest, I was less than loving those frills... So. I decided to cut them off (to be used for something else when I get inspiration) and instead make a little binding out of a contrasting fabric (something I've been meaning to do for a while having seen lots of lovely on-line ideas) and stitch it on- much more simple, but hopefully nice!

I have a lovely Cath Kidston material that I have been eaking out due to it's general loveliness (and general expensiveness, let's be honest) and I used that.

It doesn't look bad at all now.  Certainly it's a bit more individual!

Early on in the year I knitted a lovely Debbie Bliss cabled cardi for the impending arrival (Poppy!).  Today I shot some pictures of her wearing it- I think both she and it look pretty good (to be utterly biased)...

Lastly I'd like to share with you one of my lovely birthday presents- a scarf! (A scarf in the summer? Yes, a scarf in the summer).  It's made from a beautifully cool (fair trade) jersey material and it is definitely summer colours...

Isn't it lovely?  I got one in two colours, and then ordered two more for presents.  I imagine it would be very warm in the winter, but it's also lovely for keeping you nice and toasty if sitting outside in the evening in the summer.  (On a practical note, it's also big enough to use as a snuggly blanket for a baby as I did with P when pushing her back from the park when it was a bit chillier the other day).

Enjoy your weekend.

C x

I've done-knit! *

So I finally finished the cabled cardigan- started on December 25th, and completed yesterday on March 4th!  It was quite a labour of love- given how long some little-person clothes take to make!

The finishing always takes far longer than you think it will, so a good deal of yesterday was spent knitting borders, sewing pieces together and weaving in loose ends...

Some was completed outside whilst E played in the garden, a friend's baby slept in the garden and my friend continued on with her cross-stitch...

So there we have it. It's huge- I did 3-6 months size, but I reckon it'll fit for about a year! It's also really quite heavy because the knitting is pretty dense- 3.25 needles and Cashmerino wool.  But for something that's taken this long (along side lots of other projects, naturally!) I'm glad it will last for a while!

I modified a few little bits and bobs (as I am now a little prone to doing as my confidence grows) such as slightly reducing the size of the border as I wasn't convinced I'd have enough wool to complete the project otherwise.  As it was I had a very small amount left- not quite enough for some matching booties, unfortunately!

What shall I do next?! Answers on a postcard! (in all seriousness- any ideas?!)

For the immediate future (i.e. after finishing this post) I need to go and put on a Boef Bourguinon (again à la Julia Child) for a belated Birthday dinner party for my Husband.

I hope you have a restful weekend.

Cx

* p.s. I would like to unreservedly apologise for the pun in the title of this post.  Upon remarking to my Husband that I didn't know what to name the post, he suggested the pun, and I couldn't quite resist!

In 1509....

... Henry VIII became King.  Did you know that? I'd imagine a number of you did.

I like dates, being a History teacher.  I also like mugs.  The other day I dropped one of my favourites.  One which bore the above fact, and which was given to me as a gift from a colleague after organising and executing (excuse the pun!) a school trip to the Tower of London.

Picture taken from the HRP shop

Many who know me and my family would say that it's not really a big shame to have one fewer mug in the cupboard, but I like that so many of them are of particular sentimental value.  So, I thought I'd share the date, and remember my lovely mug!

In a similar vein, and knowing me well, Al made me this mug for a birthday or Christmas past...

It has run a little in the dishwasher after many uses, but it has a comprehensive list of all the Kings and Queens of England and Britain from 829 to present day.  It's quirky, and I like it.  (Incidentally if you want one, you can buy these particular ones on the website where Al designed it!)

Today I made potatoes gratin à la Julia Child (have you seen Julie and Julia? I do so love that film!).  I thought I should be 'good' and try out another recipe, as I can tend to stick with a few meals that I know well.  It was yummy though- I recommend it.  We had it as a main meal rather than a side, and I cooked the version with eggs and ham (using the second half of a smoked gammon joint I'd frozen a week or so back).  Simple, thrifty and tasty!

This afternoon was one of those beautiful, cold and clear ones that smelt of the approaching spring.  There's something about seeing sunlight streaming in the windows that lifts the spirit, and Elysée loves any opportunity to race around the garden.  Lovely.

I'm now on my last centimetre or two of the hood on my cabled cardi, and then begins the long task of sewing it up, weaving in the ends and doing the borders.  I wonder if I can finish it tonight... 

Enjoy your evening, whatever you're doing!

Cx

Rice Pudding and Raspberry Leaf Tea

I've been drinking a lot of raspberry leaf tea this past week and a half.  It's meant to be good at helping when the ol' labour kicks off, and I must say in the mean time it intensifies the Braxton Hick's contractions.  All well and good- home stretch now (quite a scary thought!)

A friend has posted several times on Facebook recently about making rice pudding for her family, and every time I see her mention it, it makes me yearn for it.  I do have a bit of a weakness for a good old home made rice pudding.  I found a lovely recipe on BBC Good Food (once again they come good!) and it's so easy.  I didn't have pudding rice (it seems that not many supermarkets stock it these days, and people get very confused when you ask for it, wondering if you in fact mean tinned rice pudding!) so I used risotto rice, which worked excellently.

I love making this because a) it is so easy- just bung everything in a dish, pop it in the oven for a couple of hours, and voilà- a delicious dessert, and b) because it's great if you're trying to be thrifty- rice, milk, sugar and a dash of nutmeg- it doesn't break the bank!

Given that clearly I have a bit of a sweet tooth at the moment, I also decided to try out banana and chocolate chip bread in our bread maker.  I tried out a (disastrous) white bread recipe on the back of a yeast packet today, which did not work properly for some unknown reason, and after that decided that I had to have one bread success today, so I looked around on line for a nice (and not too complex) sounding recipe for banana bread.  What better than one with chocolate chips too?

I found the recipe here, but when I was about to turn on the bread maker, I did do a double take about the fact that it had no sugar in it (not in itself a problem, but it didn't sound normal for a sweet bread!) so I added 3 tbsp of sugar to the mix.  I was a little nervous about how it would turn out- especially given my failure once today already! However, I needn't have worried- it is delicious, and I particularly love the dark chocolate chips (chunks?)! A good breakfast tomorrow me thinks!

I finished my fat-quarters bag, and went with blue straps in the end.  I'm pleased with how it turned out, but with retrospect, you need a little more of one single type of fabric to make a bag of a more practical size.  It was my first little play with making up patterns myself, and I've learned a few bits and bobs, but it's given me lots of ideas for developing in the future!  And in the meantime, I reckon it would make a nice peg bag!

Right. I must stop now, and get on with clicking my needles together to finish that cabled cardi.  I'd like to complete it before the little one puts in her appearance, and I'm getting pretty close...
If you fancy another crafty blog read, one that I'm enjoying at the moment is Flossie Teacakes.  Lots of inspiration to be gleaned from there!

Hoping that you're having a lovely week.

Cx

Mud and Crafts.

I laughed when I read Fay's blog post a few days back, documenting Flo's taste of mud in the garden.  E is a big fan of mud.  His current favourite thing to do in the garden (when not chasing or playing ball with the cat) is to dig for worms.  Failing that he will aim to mix mud and water in whatever suitable container he can find, and drink as much of it as possible before being stopped by my husband or myself!  As you can see, today he was rather a state after a short while in the garden.

I am so thankful for our garden though.  I love that he's old enough to be able to play in the garden (and that he enjoys doing it), and that he wants to do it at any given opportunity.  I was raised by parents who were always championing the benefits of fresh air, and I've become one of them myself now!

In our garden we have some beautiful daffodils starting to blow their trumpets.

And the promise of many more to come! (Thank you Mummy for planting last summer whilst I was feeling grotty!)

I made another carrot cake today from the same lovely recipe.  Except this time I added sultanas too.  Good move. It tastes great!

I've been doing a little more on the crochet Granny squares, am progressing on the cabled cardi and am eagerly anticipating an evening of crafting and fun with two good friends. Lovely.

I hope your weekend is going well.

Is spring approaching?

Today was another beautiful day.  It makes such a difference to how you feel doesn't? I certainly feel cheered by the blue sky and aeroplane tracks.  That was especially nice after a night when my toddler woke up a number of times (teeth/cold/just because?!)

We have some beautiful flowers starting to spring up around the edge of our garden- most notably Snowdrops...

And Crocuses (croci?).

In keeping with the cheery weather and spring-like feel, I've been trying to finish off a project that I started last summer! (very remiss- I am usually quite good about finishing one thing before starting the next... well, within reason!).  This project is the Bird Mobile from the Cath Kidston Sew! book.

I thought that this would make a lovely little addition for hanging above the crib for when the little one puts in her appearance.  I'm also making another one in tandem for the shop.

In other news, I had to undo about 60 rows of my cable knit cardi (grr!) because I'd been inaccurate in measuring my arm holes. Oh well, you live and learn... I'm almost back to where I was before I undid it all...

I made some lovely "Coffee Kisses"- recipe c/o my Nanna, which made for a delightful Crafternoon with one of my friends yesterday...

I can post the recipe if anyone would like it.

And, isn't this a lovely mug? My Dad gave it to me- he'd been given in as an "anniversary edition" for his school, but they have lots of mugs at home, and I was rather taken by the classic Emma Bridgewater shape and design.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend.

Cold and Crisp

Today I have made two fish pies. I never used to be into them particularly, but I have developed a love for them in recent years, and even more so during this pregnancy (in the early days I had major fish and prawn cravings!), but I am still experimenting to find the perfect recipe! Holly, the cook at a local Children's' centre makes an amazing one, but says she makes it up as she goes along. Hmm. Today's ones are smelling good though (with smoked mackerel in them for a change), and one is about to be delivered to a friend who has just had a second little baby- Hooray!

The teacup cushion cover is taking shape nicely, and I am enjoying rediscovering blanket stitch...

My two baby cardigans are progressing well, if rather slowly (perhaps because I have several projects on the go!).  I haven't yet got to the more tricky lace knitting bit of the lucille cardigan...

... and I have just learned how to 'insert' a pocket into the Debbie Bliss cabled cardigan.

Right. That's about it on the craft side of things today. I am enjoying a few more minutes of peace before I go and get my energetic toddler out of bed.  Today we had a rather long walk into town, as I decided (given family resolutions to be more thrifty this year) that I was not going to pay the exorbitant parking prices to get into town, but instead I was going to walk from the nearest possible free parking (about 1 hour round trip once we had gone to the one shop we were going in for).  This was a lovely bit of exercise on an absolutely beautiful day (cold and crisp- my favourite!) but my back is now suffering a little with the extra weight that one gets 31 weeks into pregnancy. Oh well- I think I shall need to do a bit of taking it easy for the rest of the day (as if!).

I hope you are all having a lovely week. I'm off to deliver fish pie, and to hopefully glimpse a wee new baby for a moment or two!