Knitted blanket finished.

Last night I finished my knitted blanket that I started last November. I can't believe I've actually finished it in under a year, as I left it alone for ages whilst I learnt to crochet. I'm incredibly proud of it, it is beautiful.

The pattern is from Debbie Abrahams book Blankets and throws to knit. It is full of gorgeous blankets that you just want to own. 

I've actually made my blanket two rows less than the original as I felt it was big enough for me. I also changed one of the patterns as I wasn't keen on the original, but that's the beauty of it you can adapt it to your tastes. In the end I decided to crochet the edging instead of picking up hundreds of stitches and also left out the beads from the edging. I think it still looks ok though.

I haven't decided yet where to put it, but I feel it needs to be out on display for all to see, admire and stroke.

The yarn is funny to work with it's Rowan Denim and it acts like denim as well, all the colour comes out on your hands and stains the wooden knitting needles. It also fades and shrinks when washed. Debbie suggests making up the blanket and then washing it but I as usual decided to do it differently. I washed the individual squares in separate coloured batches and then sewed them together, I couldn't face the risk of the blue running into the cream it would have been heartbreaking after all that work.

It has been a complete labour of love but I am quite pleased that I have finished it, I have so many other projects I want to get on with including the ripple- along with Lucy from Attic 24.

Hope you like it as well, let me know if you have made this blanket I would love to see your pictures.  

Crochet chickens

I've been meaning to show you these for a while. I'm quite pleased with them, they worked out ok, what do you think? Do they look like chickens? They are not as greedy as my other two.
The blanket edging is going ok so far. I finally finished stitching it together yesterday and it looks good, hopefully I will be able to show you it very soon.

Apple cake

As promised yesterday here is the apple cake recipe. A friend gave me a boxful of Bramley apples so I need to find lots of different ways to use them.

1 large Bramley apple approx 225g
225g self raising flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp mixed spice
125g butter
125g caster sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs, beaten

Heat the oven to 190c and grease a 20cm cake tin. Peel and core apple and dice, keeping a few slices to decorate the top.
Sift flour, baking powder and mixed spice into a bowl. Rub in butter to make breadcrumbs.
Stir in sugar, apple and zest, then stir in beaten eggs to form a stiff mixture. Spoon into cake tin and level the surface. Decorate the top with the apple slices. I sprinkled the top at this point with demerara sugar to give it some crunch.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until springy to touch. Leave to cool then tuck in.
A slice makes all the sewing together of my blanket so much more enjoyable.

Nearly finished

It's true I've nearly finished my Debbie Abrahams picnic blanket! I finished knitting my last square last night and now I've got the daunting task of sewing them all together and then edging it. I think I'm going to change the pattern slightly and try and crochet the edge, hopefully it will look good. I'm looking on other people's blogs for edging inspiration. If you have any ideas to offer I'd love to hear them.
The picture of the pile of knitted squares is just some of them, there are a lot more! Looks like I'm in for a busy weekend. Luckily there is a delicious smell coming from the kitchen to keep my spirits up. I made an apple cake this morning and I will share the recipe with you next time.

Look what arrived today.

The lovely plate that I won in a giveaway on the fantastic meme rose's blog. I'm so excited to have won, and the plate is so beautiful. I need decide where it will look best now. Thankyou so much to Meme Rose for a great giveaway. Take a look at her blog I'd you haven't already.
Ps. I hope this works as I'm doing it from my phone for the first time so the picture may or may not be here! Fingers crossed.