An excellent weekend

Oh no he didn't!  Oh yes he did!  Panto time!

 And I nearly didn't make it. On Friday evening as I drove to the end of my road I noticed that there was an enormous traffic jam (we don't get many as we live in the countryside) but realised that I was not going to get to Colchester the normal way. Took a detour through some lanes and hit the traffic jam from the opposite direction, so took the "long cut".  This took me about 20 minutes longer than I expected and arrived at the theatre with a 5 minutes to spare!  I found out after that a lorry had overturned on the A12, closing the road, this means that traffic diverts through the country lanes near us, but there was another accident on this route and it seems the whole of North Essex was at a standstill.
I joined the others from the WIGS (WI girls) at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester for a fabulous production of Sleeping Beauty.  What fun it was!  lots of singing, dancing, silly jokes, being squirted with water and an ice cream tub in the interval.

Saturday was a lovely bright and sunny day, popped to the market to stock up on fruit and veg and came home to get out in the garden.
 Picked up this lovely pot of daffodils for just £1.

I let the chickens into the greenhouse and they had a lovely time dust bathing - rolling around in the dry earth working it into their feathers.  They then stand up and have a good shake and cover me in dust!  They must have loved it as Sunday they laid two eggs.  Have been having one or none most days.  I don't think that Marjorie is laying though, I have had words with her.

 Time to start sowing some seeds. I love sweetpeas and try and grow lots on the allotment.  I am starting them off in the cold greenhouse now, in pots.  Sowed some mixed winter salad leaves in a big pot.  In theory you should be able to grow lettuce all year round and not have to buy those expensive bags from the supermarket, but I have yet to achieve this.  Perhaps that should have been my resolution this year  - to grow all my own lettuce!
Leek seeds in the greenhouse, onions and lavender in the airing cupboard - just got to wait and see now.....................  I will let you know if anything grows.

 Just one week after Alice's birthday it was Jared's turn.  His birthday was on Friday, but he had had exams this week and decided to stay at Uni and have  a party with all his friends.  He came home of Saturday and of course I made him a cake  - chocolate sponge (made with eggs from the girls) filled with cream (found half a pot in the freezer) blackcurrent jelly ( a Christmas present from a friend) topped with buttercream (left over from Alice's cake) and decorated with half a packet of chocolate buttons (left over from the gingerbread house).
Yes I am on a mission to use up all the bits and pieces in the cupboards and freezer.  Just shopping for things as I need them - I wonder how long I can go before I need to do a "big shop"?

Sunday was spent cleaning the house, doing my household accounts, a bit of crochet and finished by watching the darts final and Sherlock  -excellent weekend!

Advent calendar

Thursday 19the December

Tea cosy ta da!

Was beginning to think that I would never get this finished. Had a bit of trouble with the frilled edge, still not sure that I followed the instructions properly. And then in no time last night I did the holly and sewed it up.
Mr Hh was a bit unsure and asked what it was exactly
A Christmas pudding tea cosy!!!

Advent Calender

Monday 9th December

Christmas cards

 All my cards are written.  Work ones have been given out.  Local ones will be hand delivered and some need posting.

I ordered my cards from Dots and Spots  The very talented Becky from Somerset designs and sells them.  She runs the small business from her home and there are some lovely photos of her home and studio on her Blog  I was lucky to take advantage of one of her Friday offers and got them half price and free postage.  She also has some lovely birthday cards and gift wrap, I am sure I will be placing another order soon!

Autumn Equinox

Today is the Autumn Equinox.  The day and night are equal in length.  It is the start of Autumn.

I am ready for it now.

Today I went for a walk and cut some autumn foliage from the hedgerows.

Arranged with some dried seed pods.

I knitted an Autumn garland with leaves, acorns and Rudbeckia flowers.

I cleaned the kitchen and re-arranged the dresser, so pleased with how it looks

Flowers, leaves, acorns, fir cones and conkers.  

Yesterday I was given some damsons and used the to make some wine, you only need the juice, so this morning I cooked up the pulp and made some Chinese style plum sauce

My duvet is the sort with a thin one and a thicker one that snap together to make an extra warm one.  Today I took the thin summer one off and popped it in the wash and put the warmer one on the bed, will be nice and cosy now!

A Gift

Yesterday my sister gave birth to her first baby, my nephew.   Far away in Hong Kong.  I have seen photos, he looks beautiful. My sister looks worn out!  He has been named Arlo.

I knitted him a blanket, I don't think he will need such a warm blanket there as it is so hot, but I didn't know he would be born there when I started it. 

I also made him a hat, it's probably too warm for that too

But I am sure that he will need them both when he comes to visit in January.  I can't wait to meet him.   

 

Warm wrists .... cold finger tips

I don't like being cold and I don't like the wind whistling up my sleeves, so I knitted these gloves with extra long arm bits.  You need to put them on and then pull your jumper right down and then put your coat on  NO GAPS.  Only problem is your finger tips get cold.  You can't have everything!!  I like them for driving and for those very chilly days when working on the laptop. 

I found the pattern here FALLBERRY MITTS and used a lovely variegated yarn, Summerspun by Rowan. 

OSCAR -THE LITTLE FAIRISLE TANKTOP

Started knitting this fair isle tank top, to fit a toddler in the summer.  It was supposed to be my entry in to the village show, for a hand knitted garment for a baby or child.  I had finished the back and front and just needed to do the neck and armhole bands.  Got the call to go into hospital and have my foot done and didn't bother finish it.  Until this week, had finished another project (more of that another day) and hadn't got the right size needles to start on my hat. Knitted in the King Cole double knit, not too keen on the yarn as it is a bit "itchy"!! Found the pattern here Oscar It has now been put away until next September when I hope to enter it.
I am going to link this to ta-dah-tuesday

Had a busy weekend, back on my feet and able to get about, so catching up on jobs not done.  first stop on Saturday morning was to the little theatre in the town to get tickets for their next production  - The Boyfriend- they usually do a musical in the Autumn.  I am looking forward to it but Mr HH is not quite so keen.  A quick trip to the shops and market to stock up on fruit and veg, then home to continue making the bread and hang out yet more washing.
I managed to completely tidy the front garden, another job ticked off the list.
Sunday morning saw me wielding the vacuum and dusters as i couldn't ignore the dust and dirt a minute longer and then out in the garden to wash my greenhouse.  No photos - but quite a damp job- Mr HH on the hose and me with a broom -what fun.
Top that off with Strictly, Downton Abby and a good laugh at Friday Night Dinner to round off the weekend..............

SOCKS

 I have finished some knitting!  Have had loads of projects on the go but these are done.  A pair of socks for my son (aka Bigfoot!!) will be  a Christmas present.  Knitted from a yarn that self stripes the pattern, so clever how it does it, all you have to do is knit!

I have decided to join in with this Christmas swap.  I found it on Vintage Vickis blog  Which then linked to Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping's website

who is organising the swop.  I have seen these on various blogs and it seems that you are matched up with someone and swap a present, there are some rules about how many items you can swap and how much the maximum spend is.  It also has to link to a Christmas carol or song, which will get me thinking.  Just hope I can find some good things to go in the parcel.

 

Christmas swap!!

                                                                                                                                                                 

A Hand Knitted Garment

Beautiful buttons! Found them at the "Stitch and Craft" Show at Braintree on Saturday. Had a fun day out with my crafty friends! There were lots of card making stalls but not much for scrapbooking. We all still managed to buy something.
The buttons were to attach to the cuffs of these gloves that I have knitted. The stitch is called Ringwood stitch and gives a lovely texture to the knitting.
I will be entering them into the Horticultural society spring show. Class 64 - A hand knitted garment. That's another thing finished and ticked off ready for the show.

A LITTLE BIT OF KNITTING

What a beautiful sunny day we have had in this part of Essex! 9 C on the thermometer in the car at lunch time! I think that spring is just around the corner and about time too, I have had enough of those damp dull days of January.
Just before Christmas my sister phoned to say could I knit my niece a headband / ear warmer thing, apparently all the shops like Topshop and Riverisland were selling them at £15 which was far too much. I had not seen them but knitted this and I think it was what she wanted, I wonder if it could have been a little chunkier?

A LITTLE BIT OF KNITTING

Baaa Baaa!!
Our horticultural society holds two shows each year, spring and autumn. There are lots of categories to enter from flowers to wine to cooking. This year I am determined to do well in the handicraft section. There are 6 classes to enter: a painting, a soft toy, a piece of crochet, a piece of embroidery, a piece of cross stitch, a hand knitted garment and an exhibit of any other handicraft. I definitely can not paint so won't be doing a painting and I still have to learn how to crochet!! But I am getting on well, have a pair of gloves nearly done for the hand knitted garment and...
Little Baa Lamb is my soft toy entry.

I found him here: http://www.petitepurls.com/Winter09/winter2009_plamb.html

PS can anyone tell me how to do those links where you say I found it here and you just have to click on the link???

A LITTLE BIT OF KNITTING

Is it a hot water bottle cover? No its a cover for Baby. Baby? Baby what?

Alice's new baby laptop. "So useful, you can just pop it in your handbag and carry it around anywhere"!!!
Baby needed a nice soft cover to protect it. So I knitted this. Multi coloured pink, red and orange popcorn yarn knitted together with a 100% wool in varigated pink. Finished with a flap and button.

This will protect Baby from all dangers of the handbag except for those naughty leaky bottles of water!

New shop

A while ago I bought a new mobile and it was a touch screen one. I didn't want to scratch it so needed a cover for it, so I knitted one. Well, a friend saw it and liked it and asked me to make one for them, I was pleased to do this for them and then someone else asked for one and I then I thought perhaps I could sell them. So I have spent the last couple of weeks knitting and below are three that I have made.

I set up my shop on Folksy last night and posted 6 mobile covers. I hope to add some more items soon.
This one with the blackberry on is for a "Blackberry" of course"

See my shop at http://www.folksy.com/shops/HandmadeHomemadeLizzy

Let me know what you think!

CUP CAKES AND BABIES

My friend at work is expecting a baby next month. I have been busy knitting for her and have just finished this set of a hat, cardy and mittens.

I made cupcakes for Beth's last meeting before she goes off on maternity leave. I saw these "baby" paper cases in Hamburg when I went out for the Christmas markets. They have ducks, dummies and nappy pins on them. I got blue and pink baby sugar decorations form http://www.almondart.com/ This cake decorating shop is based in Clacton and does mail order.

The "blue" cupcakes were lemon with lemon icing and the "pink" were strawberry, made with jam stirred through and vanilla icing.

Alice let me borrow the cup cake stand that she had for Christmas and they looked quite beautiful and tasted very nice.

knitted flowers

The flowers attached to "My Sisters Hat" were knitted, below is the instructions. I found the pattern on a knitting site somewhere, but am sorry to the person who wrote them, as I can't give them the credit, as I didn't save the link. But I am sure that person would be pleased to see them being used!

They are very easy to knit, just a bit fiddly and don't look like anything until you sew them up.

Materials: Using 2.25mm (USA size 1, UK/Canadian size 13) needles and 4 ply yarn

Pattern:

cast on 5 stitches
row 1: **slip 1, knit 3. turn leaving remaining stitch unworked
row 2: purl 3, turn leaving remaining stitch unworked
row 3: knit 3, turn leaving remaining stitch unworked
row 4: purl 3, turn leaving remaining stitch unworked
row 5: knit 4
row 6: purl 2 together, purl 1, purl 2 together (3 stitches)
row 7: knit 1, knit 2 together and pass first stitch over to give 1 stitch on needle
Use this stitch to cast on 4 more stitches (5 in total) and repeat from ** to give desired number of petals (3, 4 or 5)

If you'd like a larger flower then simply cast on 7 stitches and follow the same principle of working only on the centre 5 stitches for the first 6 rows and then decreasing by knitting 2 stitches together at both ends of the following rows until you have a single stitch again. Repeat for the desired number of petals.

To finish:
thread end through last remaining stitch and then gather up the middle of the flower by catching up 2 stitches the from base of each ‘petal’, pulling up tight and tying off the ends.

Attach to article and sew a contrasting french knot / button / felt circle in the centre of flower.

Working on the middle stitches only gives the ‘petal’ a natural curl. Once the flower is finished you can choose to curl petals up or down.

MY SISTERS HAT

My sister, Clare said, when we were out shopping that she wanted a hat, something like this, she said pointing to a knitted beanie with Reebok on the side, but without any writing on it. She decided she would like a pink one and I said that I would knit it. Well the hat turned out nothing like the one we had seen, much chunkier and with flowers on it. I posted it, "Up North"!!!! and waited with baited breathe to see if she liked it. 3 days later the text message came - Yes she likes it! Hopefully she can send a picture of herself modelling it!

Sat nav bags

Oh dear I haven't written anyting for two weeks, have been a little busy, doing lots of knitting and scrapbooking. I am working on a wedding album for my sister, so can't post any pictures of the pages yet, just in case she sees them before I have finished.



We have a sat nav and Lukey has one for work but they didn't come with cases. When we first got them they had little plastic bags which have now worn out. We didn't want to scratch the screens when they are put in a bag or pocket so needed a case or cover for them. I had looked on the official site and seen the price of them, so decided to knit them! I used the wool left over from my socks for my one and sewed on some sequins and beads that are in my bead box. The other one was made with some cotton left from making a dishcloth, this one had a draw string and embroidered name on the front. I didn't have a pattern for these, just modified a sock pattern and knitted them on 4 double pointed needles - just like a sock! Easy!

finished knitting my first pair of socks

I started off by casting on 44 stitches onto one needle.









Then spread the stitches over 3 needles. The first couple of rows were the tricky bits. Trying not to twist the stitches or create stiches.












This is the ribbed cuff - socks are worked from the top down, whereas normal knitting is usually done from the bottom up!







The heel is turned!











Et voila!!! a finished pair of socks. They were actually quite quick to do. The next step to master is a bit of a pattern, maybe some stripes. I sewed a little felt flower to the sid of each sock.

Earlier this year I had bought some new curtains from Ikea, they were far too long, so I had to shorten them and cut quite a bit off. I used a lot of this material to make my bunting. But had cut off the felt flowers for using for something and here was that perfect something.

Also today I added the yeast to the strawberry wine and started to stir it twice a day. Stirred the strawberry cordial twice. Strained the Borage and Malt wine into a demi john. Made a loaf of bread, walked to the market and did some gardening...... more about all this another day

Knitting

I haven't knitted for years, used to make lots of jumpers for the children, but they went out of fashion. A couple of weeks ago I saw some handknitted dishcloths on a blog, looked futher and found some free paterns to download and then managed to find a shop selling knitting wool. Three dishcloths later.... I found some very funky sock patterns, but had always been told socks were too hard.

Up for a challenge I ordered a book from the libray.