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.

Cushion reveal

Here at last is my cushion that was inspired by our holiday to Italy, and was actually started in the blazing sun, seems such a distant memory now. The colours represent different aspects of our Italian holiday. The red is obviously the gorgeous red tomatoes, of which we had many. The green represents the olive trees and basil and the beige is the colour of the parched earth ( they hadn't had any rain for two months and it was incredibly dusty).

On the otherside of the cushion are the bright colours, the yellow is the sun, and the bright blue is indicative of the beautiful, cloudless sky and the cool water of the swimming pool. I don't know which side I like best. 

I do like the sunflower though on the front.

It started off life as an idea for a blanket but I started to run out of wool quite quickly and I didn't want to buy more as I already have a stash that's getting larger by the day, plus I have loads more ideas I want to get on with, so it was changed to a cushion.

 

The buttons I bought from Duttons in Harrogate at the weekend. I spend ages deliberating over the enormous selection in every colour you could imagine,and I change my mind so many times until the right one jumps out at me. I could happily while away a whole morning in there.

Even though I am supposed to be cracking on with my knitted denim blanket and the mohair scarf, I can't resist starting something else that I spotted on one of my many internet browsing sessions. (I really should stop looking). I convinced myself that it's worth doing as it's going to use up my stash, so I got started straight away. Here is the beginning of my odd bits of wool blanket. 

It's a project that I have copied from MeMe Rose quite unashamedly. It's such a simple idea, and I can use all my old bits of sock and other wool that is too small to make something else with. I'm also going to use up my acrylic to add colour. It's going to look fab when it's finished.  

Some of these hexagons are made using scraps of Sirdar Crofter and they create a fantastic effect. I hope all the different wool weights work together, well there's only one way to find out. Watch this space.

Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday so I thought I would share my day with you. I got some wonderful pressies from my family and friends. My two good friends bought me these, the wool is a super kid mohair and silk mix and is soooo soft. 

It begs to be made into something special, so I trawled the internet looking for inspiration to do it justice. I have decided to make a crocheted scarf out of what is actually small snowflakes from the Attic 24 blog, i'm hoping they will fit together to form a lovely lacy scarf. This is the first one I have made and will look a lot lacier when it has been blocked. I will keep you up to date on it's progress, but I expect it will be slow as the yarn is very fluffy and takes a lot of concentration. 

From my family I got money to spend on what my husband would describe as "tat" but what I would call gorgeous must haves such as this body scrub from Molten Brown which I have had my eye on for ages and couldn't justify the price tag, but that's what birthday money is for.

  

From my lovely hubby I got an i-phone, how fantastic. I don't class myself as a gadget freak but I am hooked it is the best phone I have ever had. I love it. From Little T I got a bouquet of flowers and these three swarovski crystal penguins. Aren't they adorable?

They are to go with the crystal ducks that he got me for my very first mother's day 11 years ago. They sit on my bedroom windowsill which gets the full sun so they really sparkle.

After opening my pressies and feeling really spoilt we set off for a day out in Harrogate. We spent the morning wandering round the shops (separately, as I don't fancy the wargaming shops and they don't fancy the "tat" shops). I spent quite a long time in the button shop choosing something to go on my new cushion. There are so many to choose from in Duttons and I keep changing my mind but I get there in the end. I will show them next time when I reveal the cushion.

 We met for lunch in the Tapas restaurant and then went to Harlow Carr RHS gardens for the afternoon. I made a bee-line for the veg patch as it's always my favourite.

It's still looking good even though it's nearing the end of the growing season. I left Little T in charge of taking some photos for my blog and I wandered off to look at the rest of the gardens. He hasn't done a bad job has he?

I love this plant it would make a great design for a cushion.

I rounded off the day with a quick visit to the shop to purchase my Sarah Raven diary for next year. I have had this diary for the last few years now and use it to keep garden and weather notes.

I also bought some tulip bulbs for a vibrant splash of colour next spring. I will have lots of fun deciding where to plant them.

So we had a great day out and it was finished off with fish and chips and Champagne, how decadent. As I type Hubby and Little T are busy in the kitchen making chicken pie for the very first time! It sounds very calm in there. They both request it for their birthdays so I did the same. I am looking forward to it immensely and it is going to be accompanied by my homegrown parsnips and carrots roasted in maple syrup. Yum.