Fairy cake semi-fail

Mr V and I made some fairy cakes today (mini cupcakes). They taste great, but my attempts at icing (after Mr V had gone to bed) aren't quite so great:

I iced them all and then tried to put the sprinkles on. Turns out that doesn't work too well. I had to poke each tiny sugar star into the icing. So, next time it's ice-then-sprinkle, ice-then-sprinkle, ice-then-sprinkle etc, etc.

The recipe is from Easy to Make! Cakes and Bakes (Good Housekeeping). First one I've tried from there, but so far, so good...

Baby Cardigan

It's been a long time, I know, but at last I am proud to present a finished project - a baby cardigan. "Baby" being the operative word, since it's tiny and much too small for its recipient. Damn and blast.

Still, I am rather pleased with how it turned out. I made it from Baby Crochet: 20 Hand Crochet Designs for Babies 0-24 Months by Lois Daykin. It's the first garment I've made and it was pleasingly easy to do. Lot of ends to weave in (why I leave them all to the end, I don't know), but no actual difficulties.

I blocked it - another first for me - but even that sneaky stretching didn't perform the much needed miracle. Ho hum, next time I'll check my gauge twice and then still use a larger hook to be sure.

If there are any readers left out there after my four-month hiatus, hello! My new job is going very well, as evidenced by a total dearth of posts. Had a horrible cycling accident shortly after I started and broke my back, but that's healing nicely now, so no long term harm done. Sounds worse than it is/was, honest!

From Runner to Clutch

This clutch bag started life as a table runner, which I bought back in July with a load of other fabric. As soon as I saw the runner I knew I wanted to make it into a bag, but it's taken me until now to get round to it.

I used a pattern from Making Handbags: Retro, Chic and Luxurious Designs, finally assuaging the craft book guilt I always have when I've bought a book and not made anything from it.

I'm quite pleased with the way it looks, but in reality it's a bit soft and squishy, so I'm not sure it will be all that great in use. And the question is - with or without the tassel?

Mohair Capelet

I finally got round to doing something with the excess Schachenmayr nomotta idena Mohair Lux I have, although there is still a lot left over (see here for why I have so much. And yes, I abandoned The Tapeworm). Since I couldn't really see myself wearing anything made from mohair, I let my husband choose from three shawl patterns. He chose Cold Shoulders from Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker.

Using two strands together to get an approximation of the correct weight of yarn, the pattern worked up really quickly. I also got to make my first pom-poms (the first since childhood at least, and that was a looong time ago).

And here's the finished project:



I actually really like it (although I think the pom-poms are a little large), but I'm still stumped on what to wear it with - any suggestions greatly received! I know that all things wooly are currently in vogue, but I'm not sure if I have the guts to wear it with my normal casual clothes.

And still the question remains - what to do with the rest of the mohair?

Celery and Cashew Soup

Having a bit of an excess of celery in the fridge, I decided to make some soup. Celery and Cashew might sound a bit odd, but it is very tasty. Of course, if you don't like celery (like my husband), you won't like this, but you don't need to love the stuff to enjoy the soup. I now have three lovely portions in the freezer ready for future lunches. All in all, a nice creative couple of hours while VV was asleep.

Sorry there's no photo, but the soup wasn't very photogenic and I missed the ever decreasing window of daylight here in Finland.

I can't reproduce the recipe for the soup here, since it's from a book, but I can tell you the book - New Covent Garden Book of Soups: New, Old and Odd Recipes. I've made a few of the recipes in the past and they've all been very tasty (I highly recommend the Pistou).

EDIT: I read up on copyright law and I *think* I can publish the recipe, so here it is:

Celery and Cashew Nut Soup

Ingredients

• 75g (3oz) butter
• 2 heads of celery, roughly chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 150g (5oz) unsalted cashew nuts
• 1.5 litres (2.5 pints) vegetable stock
• To garnish: 50g (2oz) unsalted cashew nuts, chopped, and celery leaves

Directions

1. Melt the butter and cook the celery and garlic gently for 20 minutes in a covered saucepan, without colouring.
2. Grind the nuts finely in a food processor and add to the pan along with the stock.
3. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
4. Cool a little, then puree in a liquidiser.
5. Pass the soup through a sieve into a clean saucepan.
6. For the garnish, put the cashew nuts into a frying pan over a high heat. Shake frequently until the nuts brown. Cool.
7. Reheat the soup gently and serve garnished with toasted chopped cashew nuts and chopped celery leaves.

My First Beanie

And it turns out that the title is more accurate that it first seems. How so? All will be revealed in good time!

I decided it was about time I tried my hand at a hat and thought I would make one for my brother, who has recently started up his own business doing flat roofs. Not quite sure what that involves, but I think hot black sticky stuff features somewhere along the line.

So, out came my trusty Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. Flicking to page 125, I started in earnest on the Boy Beanie by Laura Killoran (check out her own site here - I rather like the look of her Applejack Cap, as it happens).

Merrily I crocheted away, sitting on the sofa drinking tea, as is my custom. And I was pretty pleased with the result. That is until I tried it on. It's like wearing some kind of mediaeval torture device! Luckily there is one small-headed person in my family and it fits him just perfectly - six-month-old VV. And here it is - both mine and his first beanie:



I suspect it was my yarn choice - leftovers from the Rabbit Slippers from the same book, plus some random orange wool - that was the culprit, helped in part by my super-tight stitches. Oh well, it was about time I crocheted something for my son. The hat was a doddle though, so with the right yarn in hand, I'll try again sometime...

Book Review: Sew Everything Workshop

Although I am not a total novice when it comes to machine sewing, I am self-taught and have a tendancy to bodge things when I don't know how to do them properly. With this in mind, I decided it was about time I got myself a how-to book and S.E.W. Sew Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp, came to the rescue.



And it's great! It's fun to read - I read the whole thing in one sitting, it's so engaging - and very easy to understand. The book also comes with 25 projects to do (and these are ones you will want to make, from clothing, to accessories and gifts), along with 10 paper patterns in a folder at the front. The whole book is ring-bound, which should make it hard-wearing.

The only downside to this book is that it inspired me to upgrade to an electronic sewing machine, which was a bit of a shock to my purse moths. The machine is a Singer 9940, discontinued now so I got a good deal on it. And it does practically everything except make tea!

But back to the book - I have already recommended it to my non-sewing best friend, who rushed out and bought it and is now hoping for her first sewing machine at Christmas. I'm planning to make some projects from it too, which I'll post here.

I had hoped that the author, Diana Rupp, had a blog, but it has the dreaded "under construction" message at the moment...

EDIT: I did find the SEW Flickr group, so you can check out some of the projects people have made from the group:

www.flickr.com

Masking Tape vs Net Curtains

I know what I'll be using in the future:



It might be a bit of a faff for something that may not last that long, but for a rented place it's perfect. And since we are planning to rent for a good while yet, I can see it coming soon to a window near me!

This idea and the image above is from a book called Patterns in Design, Art and Architecture and were created by textile artist Claudia Caviezel.

Via My Weblog, via Apartment Therapy.

Bear Baby Booties

Can't resist a spot of alliteration. Finished these cuties last weekend, for my friend's new baby (as yet unnamed). I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out, although I think the bears' faces are a little too cartoony:



They're from Baby Crochet: 20 Hand Crochet Designs for Babies 0-24 Months by Lois Daykin and they're the first project I've done from the book. Instructions were easy to follow, although they lacked the step to sew up the bottom of the booties. Pretty obvious it needed doing though, so no biggie. I used about half a ball of the pink yarn and next to nothing of the beige and white - helpful to know in case you plan to make them yourself. Luckily I have two more female babies to make for, so I'm sure I can think of a use for the pink!

Bookcase with integral steps

We've just admitted that we are true book hoarders and got ourselves some more Ikea Billy bookcases. Boring, I know, but we have some already and they are reasonably priced and not too bad looking. One day I'd love to have a whole room full of books (I think these rooms might be called libraries) with floor-to-ceiling bookcases. In which case, this bookcase by Danny Kuo would be most excellent:



It's a prototype at the moment, but what potential!

Via Unclutterer.

My Fave Blogs: Unclutterer

Welcome to this, the first in a series of introductions to the blogs that I read on a daily basis. I say daily, but what I really mean is whenever they make a post - I use Google Reader to subscribe to blogs that I like and check it out whenever I sit down for a minute with a nice cuppa (so that's pretty often...).

First up - Unclutterer. I am by nature a pack-rat extraordinaire. I love - or even live - to hoard. I am incapable of throwing anything away, either because "you never know when it might come in handy" or because throwing something that is not broken away is just too wasteful. I know where the former comes from (my family are pack-rats too), but I'm not sure about the latter.

My husband will no doubt attest to how annoying this is to put up with. When I moved to Finland I drove him mad by sorting and resorting of all my wordly possessions (he would substitute "crap" for "possessions") into different piles, to give to friends, recycle, sell on ebay etc etc. I stand by my "piling system", but I admit that it doesn't often do much to reduce the overall number of possessions that I own (and have thus dragged over here).

However, I think I have found the cure in Unclutterer. I have now made the first step by designating a Charity Box in which to place items that we do not want or need, which we take down to the nearest charity shop when it's full.

For some easy, beginner-unclutterer tips, try 10 tips to beat clutter in less than five minutes.

(For a more extreme uncluttering tale, have a read of the book, Bonfire Of The Brands: How I Learnt to Live Without Labels by Neil Boorman. Not strictly an uncluttering guide, but a very interesting book by a guy who decided to rid himself of all branded goods, which he then burned in a huge bonfire.)

Meet Cyril the Amigurumi Pig

Cute, isn't he? I made him from Amigurumi!: Super Happy Crochet Cute by Elisabeth Doherty (see cover shot below). He's yellow, because that's what I had in my stash and I figured that it didn't matter, since the multicoloured spots meant he wasn't exactly lifelike anyway.



I found out a few things along the way. Firstly, cotton yarn is not so great for Amigurumi. At least, I don't think it is, but then I haven't used anything else yet. Seems very tight and hurts my hands. Mind you, deciding to take up crochet wasn't the most intelligent plan ever, what with the years of RSI I have behind me.

Second, I am incapable of making two things that match. Both ears are different, both front legs and both back legs. I told myself that adds to Cyril's charm.

And finally, it is really very hard to follow a pattern while looking after a four month old baby. So much unravelling!

Cyril is now at his new home with VV's cousin (my nephew) Luke, over in the UK. Scarily VV weighs the same as Luke who is 2!

PS Sorry for the lack of posts - we've been in the UK visiting friends and family.

Gardening Apron; Craft Book Club

At last I have made a project from Sew and Stow: 31 Fun Sewing Projects to Carry, Hold and Organize Your Life, only 3 months after I bought it. That might actually be a record for me! Here's the finished article, which is a moving-in present for my best friend (who I am sure won't read this before I see her on Sunday):



I'm hoping I'll be quicker off the mark with my next craft book, The Big-Ass Book of Crafts, which I've just ordered from Amazon Marketplace. I reckon I'll manage it too, since I've joined what's possibly the first Craft Book Club, over on Crafty Daisies. The idea is that members get their hands on the month's book and make one of the projects. We then share our creations and discuss the book online. Fab idea in my book (heh), so why don't you join up too?

Great start to the day

The postman brought great things today - my CueCat barcode scanner from LibraryThing and issue 7 of Craft: magazine (my first as a subscriber). I'm saving Craft: for a quiet moment, so more on that later. I've already scanned a couple of books into my LibraryThing library and it's so quick. My library awaits!

Things I want to do...

There are so many things I want to do, all rattling around in my head, that I thought it prudent to note them down. Here goes, in no particular order:

1. Catalogue all my books in Library Thing. Totally anal I know, but I love it. Have persuaded myself that there is a point to this wanton time-user - if our books ever get lost, burnt or otherwise destroyed we can work out a sensible insurance claim. Of course, that will require household contents insurance.
2. Get household contents insurance (see #1).
3. Post more often to my blog. See, I'm doing this one already!
4. Finish making the rest of the fleece nappies. They have already been cut out by hubby, so it's not that much work.
5. Make a nappy bag that both of us will use (no flowers, then). Needs to have cunning strap arrangement so that it works with the baby wrap.
   
6. Make a boring wrap for hubby to use. Again, no flowers.
7. Get on with The Tapeworm. Progress thus far has been slow.
8. Declutter. No small task, but I'm getting great tips from Unclutterer. My hubby pointed out that nearly all the clutter is mine and I have to agree. We started today with a new rule - nothing new can come in without something going out. So, we took a vase to the Salvation Army shop before we set off on our Saturday Adventure.
9. Become more ethical. Very large task, but we've already started. We use washable nappies and we've just signed up to an organic veg box scheme. Yep, there is one here in Finland, but it doesn't run in the winter, when nothing grows. We also just bought some biodegradable nappies to use during the journey to and from my Dad's place in Spain at the end of the month. Sadly we're flying, but next time we'll go by train. I've been thinking ethical for a while, but Leo Hickman's Life Stripped Bare: My Year Trying to Live Ethically has just spurred me into action.

That's all I can think of right now, more to follow and hopefully progress reports too...

Bought a new book

And very excited about it I am too! Having recently decided that I actually rather like sewing, I broke my loosely-enforced craft book embargo and treated myself to Sew and Stow by Betty Oppenheimer.

Based on a quick read through, it looks most excellent and appeals to both my crafty and anal sides. Now to choose a project...