Those of you who know me personally are aware that I have just suffered my third consecutive miscarriage, so the below are a couple of silly things that I wrote in the early weeks of my pregnancy to keep myself sane when I wasn't telling anyone about the pregnancy in case (as happened) it didn't last to term. 

They are not about my kitchen, garden or craft room, but I think they're at least vaguely amusing...

Caramel shortbread just saved somebody's life

Today is Week 4 day 7 of my third pregnancy and have slept badly for the last 4 nights. I felt horribly sick all morning and had meetings at work pushed back and back, only managed about half of my lunch and have been in a bad mood because of people accusing me of abandoning colleagues (with respect to travel to work) when it was nothing of the sort.

After the much-delayed meeting actually rolled around it was attended by the most obstructive person I have ever had the misfortune to work with, and I spent more time calmly explaining to him what we had already done than taking the actual invitees through the new content and getting feedback and he had the nerve to complain that he had not received a pre-briefing when he had not been invited and should not have even been there.

So I was in desperate need of a gin at that point. Best thing available, given my condition and the fact I am at work, is a lemon and ginger tea, and a caramel shortbread.

So now, with my blood sugar sorted out a bit, I am no longer plotting his untimely demise. Thus, caramel shortbread saved a man's life today.

Ginger biscuits vs. stale cigarette smoke

Well, the nausea was abating... Today is wk5 day 2

Some vile creature has sat beside me on the train absolutely reeking of cigarettes and it is really turning up the nausea.

I didn't feel great when I got on the train but got a pair of ginger biccies and a hot chocolate and wasn't doing too badly. Going to have to have the second biscuit now or I might be sick on this woman. Bork.

Update

Ok, so, this has all been rather quiet for the past two years, but I haven't stopped making things; I just got very bad at updating the blog!

I will try to get all of my photos uploaded with a little explanation of what each is and who it was for over the next few weeks.

Christmas Gifts 2014 (yes, this post is long overdue now!)

Ok, so, I am not going to post this before Christmas, because I don't want my family members to see the gifts that I have made for them, it will spoil the surprise!

Mamma Slippers!
Here are some Slippers that I crocheted for my Mam, they are a direct scale-up of some baby booties that she joked she would like a pair of. I covered the buttons myself with a nice contrasting mini-polka dot fabric that I have used to make a pin-cushion elsewhere. I also used puff paint on the soles of the slippers to cut down the slipperiness as my Mam and Dad have a lot of laminate flooring and I don't want to cause my Mam any injuries!

I made myself just the base shoe-part of these slippers before I made these (to test for size as our feet are very similar sizes), but decided to keep the cuff for my Mam's pair as that was the design that she saw and liked, and from experience this cuff will help to keep the slippers on her feet! Mine are a touch to big, so the lack of cuff makes them squiggle around a bit on my feet - again, I don't want slipper-squiggle to make Mammy fall over and hurt herself!

Nephew and Niece Scarves
 
Here are the scarves that I made for my niece and nephew - at first glance you will think they are completely gender-stereotyped colours, but you will have to blame the kids for that as these are their favourite colours - Blue for Will and Pink for Laura. 

It might not look like it, but I used the same pattern base for these two - I just changed the working axis: i.e. I did Will's blue and white in the longways axis and Laura's pink in the short axis; makes them look quite different. I think I am tending towards the longways as my preference, but I like both overall and I am happy that the kids will enjoy wearing them.

Tatting Equipment

Hello again readers, all two of you, ha ha.

I promised that would do a blog on tatting equipment, so here it is!

My stubby-fingered hands

I am not certain how one could tat without hands. I don't want to seem exclusive of those who do not have hands, but *I* only know how to tat if I use both of my hands at all times.

You need this positioning of hands/yarn to make rings...

That's the yarn wrapped up between my thumb and forefinger, away from me over the top/back of my fingers and back up between my thumb and forefinger over to the shuttle

and this positioning of hands/yarn to make chains.

That's the yarn coming up from the ball, wrapped around my little finger for tension, forwards across the back of my fingers then between my thumb and forefinger then out to the shuttle

Both of those use both hands, but I think you might be able to rig something up to provide you tension in place of that hand (my left, because I'm right handed). Then, you would need to get the knot-work done (the looping and flipping) that my right hand does using something else, maybe your mouth?

I really wasn't being flippant, I have no idea how you could do this without at least one hand. I am sure people with no hands manage more complex things and could work this out themselves, because they're more used to thinking about it, but I need my hands.

Next on the list is yarn; you will have noticed this in the photo above. That in the picture of the hand positions is size 8 crochet cotton (Anchor brand, as it happens). It is not the best for finished pieces, particularly if they have lots of picots, as it's a 2-thread yarn and splits apart in picots. It's pretty good for getting the gist of how to tat though, particularly the variegated stuff (that really lets you see if you've successfully flipped or not and that's the key to tatting) and it's something I have a lot of, being a crochet thread bulk-buyer.

This over here to the right is also a crochet thread, but it's size 10 (a bit finer) and importantly the composition of it is very different, splits less in picots and thus gives a nicer finish.  It's a "vintage" colour though, and not one I want to make much jewellery out of to give to my family and friends.

Marilee Rockley, the tatting queen (as far as I am currently concerned) recommends Lisbeth thread, which I have recently bought 4 colours of and I am very impressed with the quality of finish that I am able to achieve using these yarns, so I am now happy that I can make Christmas gifts for my family that they may actually wear!

Lisbeth is an American brand, and eBay and Amazon vendors will charge you CRAZY prices (I mean over £15-20 with postage for one of these balls). I got mine here for £2.60 each (prices are always subject to change, please use this only as a ROM comparison) and the P&P was very reasonable (under 4 quid in August 2014, prices will vary with the size of your parcel and are charged directly in line with the Royal Mail parcel weights and sizes). The site was quite a find, actually, their Links page is a bit of a goldmine for patterns, other links for tatting expertise etc. so don't be put off by the fact the site looks a bit like I could've made it for them!

Shuttles, for shuttle tatting ;-)

On the left here you can see the two plastic shuttles that I started out with. These were great because they were cheap, very easy to wind and hold a lot of yarn. However, you will notice I am using the little ones in the photos - note the proportion that they have to my hands, for most people the plastic ones will look like that proportionally (approximately the length of your thumb).
The plastic ones are too big for my hands and make my thumb/wrist injury flare up really badly when I use them for too long because it puts too much strain on that tendon that runs down the back of the thumb into the wrist (the one I already have trouble with), so once I decided that I wanted to progress with tatting as a hobby properly, I bought the four shuttles on the right.

These four were handmade by an American craftsman who sells on eBay and are the perfect size for my hands. They also hold a lot of yarn, though they can be harder to wind (the beaks are really tight on a couple of them) and being handmade they don't have the machine-moulded precision of the plastic ones, for example one of them doesn't have its spindle in the centre. The chap on eBay who made these ones makes lots of sizes with a variety of woods, posts out very quickly and (even though there's one wonky one) I still think the quality is excellent. I might even get some more in a few weeks
I provide you a link to his vendor page here
  

Stuff without photos

Depending on the shuttle, you may also need a crochet hook for joining through picots (the plastic shuttles shown have long, fine noses on the beaks that just about get the job done) and there's the usual requirement for scissors to snip and needles to sew in ends.

You can add embellishment with beads of different sizes - seed beads appropriate to the size of yarn go well individually and in threes onto picots, and larger beads can be used to link two sides of a piece with a bit more flourish than a long picot.

Well, I think that's about enough from me for today, there you have a brief introduction into what you might need to start tatting based on what I have needed and where I have found products that I am happy to use. 

Please note that I don't have any form of commission on those links, nor do I take any responsibility if your dealings with those vendors go south; there's no prejudice, commitment or warranty on me sharing those links, just a recommendation based on personal experience. It would be nice to know if anyone does get anything from either of them though, and how things work out for your tatting if you go for it.

Until next time, PixieKitten out!

So, I have also been crocheting lots of swallowtail butterflies, some directly from and some variations on this basis Megan's Swallowtail Butterfly Pattern

I have made a lot of different sizes and used them for a few different things, the most notable has been on my sister's birthday card

These next two are photos of the same little tiny guy who I crocheted from some very cheap machine cotton that's a bit poor quality for using in the machine (snags it up horribly, tension gets upset etc.) but works nicely with a 0.65 mm hook.

I have done another one in lilac of the same batch of cottons, but the photos I took didn't turn out very  well.

Then here is a whole menagerie. One the same size as on the card, some in embroidery cotton I had left from years ago (it was a really good set which made some lovely fishes from when I was about 8) and the fuzzy one is in lace-weight thread, which was a pest to crochet with; think that's going to become tatting thread!  There's a couple of the easiest flower pattern ever on there as well, I love that pattern, I adapted it from the old butterfly pattern that I have used before, 5 sets instead of 8 sets and away you go.

These are the ones from the card before they went onto it.


I am hoping to make a whole load of them to attach to cushion covers, possibly do some as hairpins as well, they are very cute!

New skill : shuttle tatting

Shuttle tatting is an old art that all-but died out until quite recently. I bought a video class on Craftsy: Shuttle Tatting with Marilee Rockley. Once you have mastered the basics, including the vital flick/switch, she starts you off with these gorgeous little butterflies.

Then she shows you a flower and an edging motif

This is where it gets a little more complicated, lock joins to make this bracelet. Don't worry, these are all practice pieces - any gifts I intend to give will need me to have made many more practise pieces first... 

 

 

...but I do intend to make a set of bracelet and matching earrings for some of the special ladies in my life

So, that's the start of my foray into the awesome world of shuttle tatting; expect to see more where they came from as I get better over time.

expect a flurry of activity...

Well, as always it has been a long time since I posted anything on this blog. I started using 3rd revolution to record my crafty exploits but it's not the most user-friendly of sites and often doesn't display all of the things that I include in my posts.

So, I have returned to my own blog to put up my crafting and I'll do a quick run- down of all the projects that were on 3rd rev but didn't get onto here.

Expect a flurry of activity over the next few hours!

Tiny mint spies and Flatternusse

Oh, ok, so I never actually wrote this blog post, that's a bit annoying

I bought some Lakeland bakeware before Christmas and made some really cute little mince pies and some really rubbish pfeffernusse (my eggs were old and they ended up really flat - I didn't even bother to ice them)

That's about as interesting as it gets, so here's a couple of pictures

No, those ones are the good ones from last year... See how they're nice and bulbous? Well, that didn't happen this time

These ones are the flat rubbish ones...

 And those are the beautiful little mint spies, well, the ones that made it to get photographed! That's a 24-hole tin and I had to make more :) great piece of kit from Lakeland though.

Crochet hats!

Sorry I haven't been posting on here much, I have been very busy with my new job. What a rubbish phrase, and used far too often by too many people...


Anyway, I made the first of these hats much earlier in the year

This is my hat for me to wear, I made the butterfly using the most commonly found butterfly pattern and the hat was made using a pattern-plan as opposed to an actual pattern.
Magic ring with 10 dc (US sc), then 2dc in one stitch, dc in next stitch around into those ten, next round 2 dc, dc, dc, continuing each subsequent round with one extra dc before the 2 dc.
Once you get up to the size you want for the crown, plain dc into each stitch for as many rounds as necessary.

I made another one on this basis, which I will be sending out to my best friend from High School for her first baby, and I hope it will fit her!

 
I also crocheted this last one for the second baby that Amy, my school friend, is still cooking up and I must be a psychic because she told me two days after I finished the hat that baby 2 is a girl!

So here are the two little hats together.

I have been wondering if the little cream hat will be big enough, but since I didn't have a baby close to hand to check the sizes on I just have to hope.
If not, I guess bibbit #2 can have it once she is big enough

I have also been making lots of snowflakes, thanks to the wonderful Birthday present my sister bought me and once I have some photos of those done I will post them up in a blog. All design credits for those are reserved and I will make sure that is stated clearly, I also won't be able to share any patterns, but will give you the title and author of the book!
It really is wonderful though, I cannot thank my sister enough for such a thoughtful gift!

Cards

Emi's Birthday card - needs a beak though!

Mariko's Birthday card - a gerbera flower, one of her favourites

Mothers' Day card for my Mam, afternoon tea

All handmade by me in my flat.

Owl Biscuits

Two Blogs in one day? What madness is this??
Yes, well, I dunno, I just saw the owl biscuits photo when I was uploading my crochet photos and I just wanted to show you these guys

I baked them for my friend Emi for her birthday. She loves owls and I was visiting her home for dinner a few days after her birthday, a few of them were a bit overdone and I broke the first few I took out of the oven through careless handling so I was lucky enough to be able to profit slightly from my carelessness and munched the substandard ones myself!

The recipe is from here Halloween hoot owl biscuits

Crochet!

I've been inspired by my great friend Emi to take up crochet.
I started out last January just before I succumbed to De Quernan's Syndrome in my right hand - which is basically completely ruining the tendons that run through your wrist and into your thumb through over-use (stripping wallpaper and failing to rest at all when I got tendonitis).
With the stupidity of my GP (I've swapped since), the length of time waiting on specialist appointments and physiotherapy, I finally finished my treatment at the end of November.
So, I picked crochet back up properly in the lead up to my TOPCIMA exam (for relaxation purposes in the evenings) and after mastering the basic stitches with the aid of some great videos online,  I've managed to learn how to do Butterflies

First Butterfly I ever made!

...which I adapted to make a 5 petal flower too (no photos yet)

Tiny Whale hiding behind my husband's ear

Then there's also this little fella (the mini-whale, not my husband!)














He's for my Nephew because that's what he asked me to make for him when he saw me finish off the second butterfly (not featured here).
I think the eyes are a bit wonky, but it's difficult  to get them sorted if you put them on when the pattern tells you to. Those were made from one nice flat shiny bead and one tiny black bead.

My Dad asked for a dragon, so that's going to be one of the next projects I think.
In the meantime, I'm going to make lots of small flowers from the fine crochet yarn that I have so I can use them for card making and suchlike.

Big thanks to my Mammy for all of the ends of wool that she's donated to me from her knitting ball-ends, I'm really enjoying all of the different colours and will be making lots of different flowers and butterflies with them.

Stay tuned for Owl Biscuits!

Hello readers!

All the very best of the season to you all.

I have been away from here for a good long while, but I have been baking in the meantime. I think it tends to just end up on my G+ page without much story behind it because I'm still such a busy bee!

Quick life-update:
I get the results from my penultimate level of exams for CIMA on Jan 15th, hoping to have reached the final level of one mega-exam in the end-of-February sitting.
Once that is done I will start work on my husband +Ash Wilkinson 's accounts for his self-employed business and start taking more time to post updates on here. I might try to make it a weekly thing.

"Best of the Year" Bakes

The year has been very quiet for craft, primarily because I have spent since mid-February recovering from De Quernan's Syndrome (aggravated thumb/wrist tendons) and only actually got physio at the end of November! But here are some of the Bakes I did not share with you that I am pleased with:

Christmas Cake!

In keeping with the season, The first item on the list is my Christmas Cake.
All decorations are hand-made by me.
It is a dark fruit cake, covered in the traditional marzipan and Royal Icing.

And this is what it looked like in October, ready to go into the oven. It contains no Mixed Peel (food of Satan), nor raisins, nor currants. Sultanas, dried cranberries and glace cherries are the dried fruit.
I also broke with tradition on the fruit-soaking/cake-feeding liquor and went for Rum instead of Brandy. We don't drink Brandy, so I didn't have any to use.






Choux Buns

Fresh from the oven

 In Septemeber my husband bought me the much-coveted GBBO Showstoppers book and I decided to have a go at Choux buns and fill them with Creme Patissiere.

Some plain, some with chocolate on top - all filled with creme pat' and blueberries

Gaining the Husband's Seal of approval

They went down very well and I plan to try the Swans in the book some time in the New Year, possibly for a nice Easter tea.

The addition of fresh fruit to the filling made them a little less-guilty a pleasure, and helped to lift the stodginess that I find choux can sometimes have (when you have 10 buns to eat between 2 people, even if they're airy and light like mine were, there's a denseness comes from plain creme patissiere!)



Husband's Birthday Cake
My husband shares his birthday with his mum and in previous years I have made them a joint cake, but as his mum didn't seem all that impressed last year, I decided I'd just make it for him this time. I did make two separate mini-loaf cakes (each big enough to share between two) from the same mix to have as "her" cakes, but she didn't seem that impressed with those either. Maybe she just wants someone to buy her a cake instead? I think I may never know.
Anyway, Ash's Birthday cake:

As you can see from the piped Chocolate on the Christmas cake, I have learned that greaseproof paper and practising are better than going straight for the cake. It was quite impressive in February, but the standards are always getting higher.



I was certain that I had taken photos of the crown of bread I made the other day for dipping into a baked camembert - it was made with seeded flour, chopped rosemary and serrano ham wrapped into the rolls and it was very tasty.

I have also recently made onion bhajis and samosas from scratch, and hope to get back to making sushi in the New Year when Ash and I get started on our get fit campaign. A stone and a half each to lose by the summer - roll on the veg-packed lunch boxes and soup-filled evenings!

So long, for now

Super(food)Brownies!

I made these brownies with beetroot and blueberries today, reducing the fat and upping the antioxidants without making something unpleasant!

Anyone that thinks beetroot needs to remain in a vinegar-y jar, only to come to the table with corned beef and cold meats, I urge you to try something new - get some raw from a farm shop (or garden/allotment - ours came from Ash's Granny's farm) or some boiled, vacuum packed ones  that you can get in most supermarket chilled veg sections (NOT in vinegar) and give this recipe a go!

There are other ones out there, by the way - if you don't like this one there is a similar one on bbc good food (no blueberries) and I know Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall has done some because he inspired me last year!

Remember, whilst working with beetroot, to avoid "murderer hands" you should wear plastic gloves!

3-4 medium raw beetroot, peeled, topped & tailed, chopped into chunks

100 g margarine/ butter 

200 g plain chocolate

250 g golden caster sugar (or soft dark brown sugar gives a denser brownie)

3 large eggs

100 g plain flour

40 g cocoa powder

100 g Blueberries (optional)

50 g extra chocolate chopped (optional)

*Pre-heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.*

1.     Put the beetroot into a bowl. Add a splash of water, cover with cling film, then microwave on High for 10-15 mins (until tender).

2.     While the beetroot cooks, grease & line a 9 inch square cake tin. Roughly chop the 200 g of chocolate and cut the butter into cubes. Drain off any excess liquid from the beetroot, then whizz them down as smooth as you can with your choice of blender, food processor or hand held whizzer.

3.     Melt the 200 g of chocolate and butter over a water-bath whilst you blitz the beetroot down, then stir them together and leave to cool slightly.

4.     Put the sugar and eggs into a large bowl, then beat using an electric hand whisk until thick, pale and foamy, about 2 mins. Spoon the beetroot mix into the bowl then use a large metal spoon to fold it into the whisked eggs. Try to conserve as much air in the mixture as you can. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder, then gently fold these in to make a smooth batter. If you’re using the optional extras, stir them in now, very gently.

5.     Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 25-35 mins or until risen all over, with an even crust. Cool in the tin, then cut into squares – makes 16 brownies in that size tin, but they are nice and deep.

Because my beets were quite big, I ended up with very red, very moist brownies - we like this, but if you like them less easily identified as containing beetroot, you'd be better working with a precise amount of beetroot. The BBC Good Food recipe gives 400g raw flesh as the best amount to work with, but I guess a lot of it is the luck of the draw as some beets will be more inclined to soak up water when cooking initially.