A couple of recipes .... and some good news!

Have had a lovely couple of knitty days , yesterday and today , both of them spent at the lovely Carries' home , as well as a lovely lunch at Innes cottage .

Wednesday morning there was a crowd of us being very busy , there was spinning , knitting , a lace shawl being blocked and a wee one to entertain!

But one of the best things to happen was the news......that Onceasheep will be a shop ! (Actually Karen got her premises and will be opening an Artisan Yarn Store very soon .... watch this space!)

More good news when I returned the lovely Innes to her beautiful cottage ..... her article was printed in the Ashford Wheel magazine along with photo's of her spinning (in her mutch) and wauking the tweed cloth! Unfortunately the fabulous photo of her DH and cousin in their handspun , handknitted sweater holding a sheep in the blazing July sun was NOT included! Shame!

Innes has been spinning since before the "interweb" , and got her instructions by snail mail from her aunt in New Zealand . Her yarn is fabulous , and she also dyes it using natural plants/shells etc. Anyway , I promised her my recipe for fingerless mitts to use in her "studio" . (Got a wee chance to knit some last night at Carries , and my hands are smooth with the lanolin this morning! )

A Fingerless Mitt Recipe

Copyright M Gilchrist 2009

NB : Use larger pins to make bigger sized mitts , alternatively cast on more stitches. Try out different needles / stitches to get desired fit, remember it may look small to start but handspun stretches exponentially!

Knitting terms :- k1 - knit 1 , kfb - knit through front loop of stitch then back loop to make a new stitch

Take one ball of handspun , bulky weight , about 100-200 yards , divide into two .

Take one ball , a set of 5/6mm dpns and cast on 24/30 stitches over 3 needles.

Join to knit in the round (careful not to twist) , and start your cuff pattern (Innes has 1x1 ribbing , I have an eight stitch Vine lace pattern*)

Once you have knitted a long enough cuff (2-3 inches) in desired pattern continue by knitting until it measure 2-3 inches.

Now to start the thumb gusset : -

row 1 - at start of round kfb , then knit to last 2 stitches , kfb then k1

row 2 at start of round k1 kfb , knit to last 3 stitches kfb k2

row 3 , k2 kfb knit until last 4 stitches kfb k3

row 4 , k3 kfb knit until last 5 stitches kfb k4

row 5 , k4 kfb knit until last 6 stitches kfb k5

row 6 , k5 kfb knit until last 7 stitches kfb k6

You can continue increasing the thumb gusset in this manner until you feel it is big enough , but I stopped there!

Next round , knit until the last 6 stitches, STOP .

Take the last 6 stitches from the previous round and the next 6 stitches (12 stitches in total for thumb gusset), and put them on a holder or some waste yarn.

Re-join round , and work body of mitt by knitting in the round for another 2-3 inches .

Finish by repeating the "cuff pattern" at the top , then cast off , leaving enough yarn to be sewn in .

Now to pick up for the thumb , listen carefully !

Take the 6 stitches that would have been at the start of the round and put on the needle , pick up 4 stitches (this is to close the "hole" ) then knit the next 6 stitches (I used three needles again ).

Knit in the round until thumb measures 1/2 inches , then cast off

Sew in Ends!

Using second ball , start Mitt 2!

A Simple Cookie Recipe (to be eaten wearing Mitts!)

Note - if you cook these cookies a bit to long they become crunchier and are technically biscuits , they still taste good , they still disappear like snow off a dyke!

Its all in "old money" , based on Bero Book recipe , when given a choice of sugar/choc chips choose one (or a mix of all three , just remember to keep to weights!)

4oz butter , 3 oz sugar (brown.granulated.caster) , 6oz flour , 2tbsp milk , 2 tbsp golden syrup , chocolate chips (white.milk.dark)

Cream butter and sugar together REALLY WELL , until crunchiness of sugar goes. I tend to knead butter in my hands , put it and sugar in bowl then beat them together until my arms develop muscles like Popeyes!

Add milk and syrup (try not to lick fingers after adding syrup!)and beat into mixture .

Add a third of the flour and mix in until mixture is sticky again , repeat until all flour is mixed well in. Cookie dough will be sticky but not wet!

Chocolate chips are added now , about 3oz (Scotbloc chopped works too)

Place small "dods" or "blobs" on a greased baking tray and do not be particular about how they look , put in oven at Gas Mark 4 (160deg ?) for 10-12 minutes , or almost brown . Take out and leave for 5 minutes to cool as they are very HOT and SOFT (betcha can't!) , then use wooden spoon to fend off small children grabbing handfuls of cookies !

Best get back to nursing a small boy (who is trying to wink at my by holding one eye shut!) , he was sent home from school yesterday apparently ill , but his teacher laughed as he sprinted towards the car holding a sick bowl!

* Will publish tomorrow!