Neglect!

This blog has been sorely neglected of late.  Life is extremely busy for us as a family at the moment and I cannot even begin to remember when I last sewed at all!  Roll on school holidays and annual leave - the former is still over three weeks away and the latter more!

Even if I haven't managed any sewing (and it's not as if I don't have any sewing to do) I have managed baking and knitting.

A mountain of scones - plain and fruit.  Am thinking of making some cherry ones for the weekend....mmmm!

I've also managed to complete a pair of knitted socks!

 

 These were made as a Father's Day gift for my Dad and were well received.  The yarn is by Regia.  I must say that, in my opinion, socks are the ultimate knitting project - they are portable and quick.  The pattern is easy to remember and the self-striping yarn maintains my interest because I never know what's coming next!  I pretty much always have a pair of socks on the go as well as many other things!

Speaking of other things I'm hoping the postman might bring me some wool-containing packages later.  It is very important to start planning Summer Holiday Knitting before the hiatus starts :-).

Snowflake

Yes, this does seem an unseasonal title for a blog post what with it being mid June.  Snowflake is a lovely, lovely jumper I've made my youngest niece.  I've been knitting a lot of late - I find knitting a more portable and sociable crafting activity.

I loved every minute of knitting this jumper.  You can see why it is called 'Snowflake' what with the lacy yoke and the Christmas colour theme!

The pattern is a Ravelry download by Tin Can Knits - they have the most wonderful collection of patterns.  One of the great things about their collection of patterns is the vast size range - this one ranged from 0-6 months to adult sizes.  I think I'll be making one for my 8 year old for the Winter season! 

I used Rowan's newish yarn, softknit cotton, for 'Snowflake', it is (as the name implies) lovely and soft and contrary to a lot of other cotton yarns, is not like knitting with string!!  The whole garment is knitted in the round, even the sleeves, so there is no need for seaming at the end :-).

While knitting has been productive, sewing has been progressing slowly in comparison.  However, I do have an entire baby quilt cut out ready to piece and a FWQ block ready for sewing so I do hope I'll find some time this week to get them done.

Happy Monday!

Sourdough Lunch

Behind

I've fallen behind with my Farmer's Wife Quilt. I don't know when I last made a block before today. Last week was half-term holiday so little sewing was done. Also we've had nearly a week of glorious weather making it very difficult to sit inside at my sewing table! This afternoon I had a little hour to spare after a lovely lunch out and the busy boy slept. And here is the result:


It's known as Country Path and was a joy to make! I probably need to give attention to a couple of points (maybe...) but I love the red, white and blue scheme.

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Sourdough Love

As you may already know I love baking my own bread. I've increased my repertoire from the basic loaf to include focaccia, ciabatta, baguettes, tortillas and flatbreads and lots of other bready goodness! I can
recommend Paul Hollywood's 'How to Bake' and the 'Bread' River Cottage book for great recipes and invaluable tips.
I've entered a sourdough phase in my life most recently. It never ceases to amaze me that natural yeasts in the atmosphere can not only make the bread rise but also give it such a wonderful flavour. Yesterday we enjoyed this fabulous white chocolate and raspberry sourdough for breakfast:








I mixed the sourdough starter with the salt and bread flour at about 5pm on Saturday evening, kneaded it and left it to rise in my warm kitchen. Just before bed I kneaded in the white chocolate chips and raspberries and placed it in a proving basket. I left it wrapped in a plastic bag until morning when I turned the dough out onto a baking sheet and baked it. There is something truly wonderful about freshly baked bread in the morning - especially with home made damson jam.

(Recipe by Paul Hollywood, available on BBC website)

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Century of Progress

Well, it didn't take me a century, but it was a challenge and it did give me quite a headache.  'Century of Progress' is completed and I am very pleased given how many times I unpicked the thing! If you look very closely (maybe don't!) the points don't exactly meet in the middle, but given the number of triangles and templates involved I am overlooking this issue ;-).  I did iron it VERY badly and I even scorched one of the pieces, but it remains as it is - there is no way this one will be redone.

Ribbons

Hello!  Just dropping in to share this one block so far this week.  It is called 'Ribbons' and I am ecstatic to say that this is my 60th block! 

I think this means there are 23 left to make and I'm about two thirds of the way through.  Happily,after a quick flick through the book, I've realised that the remaining blocks I have to chose from are not all horrendously difficult!

There's a bit of white fabric love going on in my last few blocks so I'm hoping to move away from that and introduce more colour.  The block I'm currently working on is called 'Century of Progress'.  Aptly named - seems as if it's taking me a century to progress at all.  It's a template job - there is no getting away from it.