Or yarny items !
There has been lots of knitting for Christmas , but it has slowed down with the January ennui.
Some was secret Santa , some was for gifts , some was for ME , and some was gifted to me .
I started the Middlefield sweater from New England Knits before Christmas and got a lot of wear out it during the really cold spell (even before I photographed it) . I love this sweater , however , the neckline probably should have been higher up to stop it slipping throughout the day. That said , it is a very cosy sweater , just perfect for a cold winter
Excuse the bad photography - there is never a photographer about when you need them!
This is the sweater after its first wash - kept its shape nicely . The yarn is Rowan in Pure Wool Aran , colourway Sage , and it took just under 4 balls . (Very economical , yarn cost approx £25 ).
The buttons are courtesy of our good knitting group buddy Marion . She was given some vintage haberdashery which she gifted to our knitting group . Buttons are a very dark bottle green .
I also received some lovely woolly , knitted gifts - my favourite being this scarf from my sister . The pattern is from Louisa Hardings' Little Cake book ,and the yarn is hand-dyed BFL aran by Breagha yarns (local hand-dyer) . It is so cosy and can be worn as a mini-stole too .
The colour is gorgeous , a testament to Innes' (the dyer) skills .
There have been lots of other yarny goodness , but more of that later .
Just now I am trying some new and not so new recipes' . One being Nigel Slaters "lazy Loaf (soda bread) . I think I may have done two things wrong . 1) not thin down the yoghurt enough and 2) not flattened the pre-baked loaf enough . It came out looking lovely but was still uncooked in the middle. The "ends" tasted good and the rest looks fine after another baking in the oven for 20 mins .
The recipe uses baking soda and natural yoghurt instead of yeast and water , and makes a tasty soda bread (have now eaten three slices!)
I am also cooking up some stock to make some stuffing that will go with my twice stuffed Roast Chicken . This recipe has parma ham tucked under the sckin of the chicken , and some in with the bread stuffing that goes inside the chicken . I have done this recipe before and it is very tasty. If I can't get hold of parma ham , some bacon does the trick too!
Looking forward to a tasty dinner this evening!
Happy New Year to you all!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that the weather didn't dampen the joy too much. Ours was as manic as Christmas gets with two children. Haven't lacerated my feet yet with all the lego about. I am almost a lego engineer as DS2 needs a wee help now and again to build his models (he barks orders while I build!)
There was mad Christmas knitting which some got finished and others didn't . There was mad food shopping after the snow cleared .
And there was the realisation of how lucky we are to have our families and friends to celebrate with .
This year I hope to blog a bit more often , and finish a few more projects , oh yes , and keep breathing!
Here's to a Happy , Hopeful and Prosperous 2011 !
Due to the lack of frivolity and celebrations , it would appear that St Andrew was a very dour Presbyterian Saint! And having a Saints Day JUST before the first day of Advent means there is so much else going on (and I still managed to forget the Advent Calendars!)
However , the children did make St Andrews Day cards at school , and the local bakers had iced cakes with mini-Saltires on them!
The other week , I was having a wee rummage in the local Charity shop and got myself a few bargains .
One , was Christmas Cards with Tartan Reindeer on them.
Two was a lovely silk red dress .
And three , was the above knitting kit - it is a lambswool angora mix yarn , simply divine .
I didn't know the Isle of Bute ( a short ferry ride from here) had an Angora Farm , nor had I heard of the designer Carol Bentzen . The pattern is for handknitting OR machine knitting , and there are the machine knit cards too .
The design is very 1980's , cream batwing sweater with coloured asymmetric pattern on it , and included the teazle brush to fluff it up as well as pads for the shoulders. Very Dynasty!
I don't think I will knit up this pattern and may use the yarn for something else .
Just now I will admire it , give it a wee stroke when no one is looking.
And, since St Andrew was a fisherman , tonight we are having a very traditional meal - Cottage Pie ! (Well I reckon he needed a break from all that fish!)
Happy St Andrews Day to you all !
Spent the weekend in East Kilbride where snow in winter is such a common occurrence they stopped talking about it years ago! And it was proper snow , not slushy or wet or crunchy and icy , but powdery fine and lying thickly.
Even Gourock got a good covering , and someone just had to walk over the untouched snow in our front garden in his wellies!
Poor DH is stranded at Southhampton Airport just now , not sure how and when he'll get back - bbbrrrrr !
Last week was lovely and NOT snowy , and there was the monthly meeting of the Clyde Coast Spinners Weavers and Dyers Guild , headed up by our own Kimmie !
It was held in the Angies lovely home this time , and we couldn't wait to get the official business over .
Yes , Rosies weaving is lovely and coming on a treat , but that wasn't the reason we scooted through the agenda at breakneck speed!
THIS was the reason , Angie's gorgeous home baked Chocolate cake , my teeth are still tingling with the thought of it !
On the knitting front , my New England Knits sweater is coming on a treat , and I have started something else . Lets just say , Intarsia is easier if you cut and join !
Grey, dreich, wet, windy, cold, just plain miserable!
I'm glad I have my beautiful sweater!
Had my nice light sweater on earlier , but need something cosier!
Waiting for Gas man to check my fire , so can't put it on yet , at least I have some cosy knitting to do ( as well as wear!)
Time for tea !
Have been feeling gradually better these last few days , so much so I decided to try and bake scones AND cook a pork joint in my new slow cooker (courtesy of my mother , after a very BAD roast beef incident at our house!)
As usual I only made enough mix for about 8 small scones , but I wanted to make sure I didn't waste too much stuff if they turned out bad. !?!
Since I was keeping an eye on my friends wee boy , I had three hungry tums to fill , but I managed to make 9 scones , so it was 2 a piece and one leftover....... it went missing so my pal had to do with some bought cookies instead!
And the pork - not too dry , and kept "shredding" when I tried to cut it. Still tasted good.
Maybe try pancakes tomorrow!
DS2 has just broken a beautiful Royal Doulton figurine given to me by my sister - Its was all white and was two wee girls , one slightly taller than the other and it was called ...... sisters . I tried not to explode , but felt very depressed throwing it in the bin .... sigh!
He was very contrite , the wee soul , but Mummy needs to be in a different room just now .
Twas a lovely crisp morning , this morning , however there were several road accidents due to folk not realising how slippy it was , one appeared to be quite bad . And now the rain is back .
Mondays eh ?
