Long time, no post

Well hello blogland!  It has been a long time - almost a month in fact!  I seem to lose track of all time during the Summer months.  We're well into the school holidays here so children and family have keeping me busy not to mention a couple of challenging situations.  My sewing room has largely been out of action due to a little stream of Summer visitors who have come our way, and I've pretty much decided to put my Farmer's Wife Quilt on hold until September.  I have, however, been busy knitting away but progress is always much slower than with machine sewing so there is not much photographic evidence of my hard work yet!  This last week I did set up my sewing machine on the dining room table to press on with a couple of baby quilts I need to finish.  There is a sneak peak of one above and the second one is well in progress :-).  Hopefully I'll be posting some finished projects by the end of this coming week.  Baby projects are going to keep me busy for a while yet - my sister-in-law is having a third baby, my twin niece and nephew are coming up to 6 months and I have a group of particularly fertile friends!  I can also divulge that some of these baby projects will be for my own surprise little bundle - I'm nearly 17 weeks pregnant.  In the words of one of my friends: "a happy accident"!!!

Bagels

I went to University in London which is where I became properly acquainted with bagels. Not the supermarket variety which I grown up with, but the proper hot-from-the-bakery Brick Lane variety. Since those youthful days I've also experienced bagels in NYC which took bagel eating to a new level. Despite my bagel love, I had never attempted making them myself - until this afternoon. Using the recipe from the River Cottage 'Bread' book, I can report success and they were nowhere nearly as labour intensive as I had imagined. The proof will be in the eating of course - I can't claim they will be as good as the Jewish bakery ones but I'm looking forward to enjoying one with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs :-).

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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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