piping and sock yarn

Hi

I have been attending a sewing course on Thursday evenings for two weeks now and last week we all decided that we wanted to learn how to make piping. So i would like to present my first ever piped cushion. I love it so much, its the right colours for me and its also (if i do say so my self) really well made! I'm so so proud of it. Its hard to get the hang of, i found, but once you get it its a fab skill to have.

This week Ive also been practicing my spinning. Ive defiantly caught the sock knitting bug now, i finished my first pair of sock last Thursday and since then Ive completed one more with a beautiful lace pattern on it. I have been so  excited about knitting the socks that i decide to try spinning my own sock yarn as well. It has been hard as i have never spun anything this thin before but after a few bobbins of thicker yarn i now have some very thin yarn ready to become a sock! i also just love the colours. I'm not sure how easy it is to see in the picture but it has a few streaks of shin through it as well.

I brought the roving from worldofwool.com and I'm so so happy with it! I'm also lusting after this yarn which is 3% sterling silver which just sounds too interesting to pass up, however i think ordering more that 3 skeins of yarn (just for sock knitting) this weekend already is enough and i will have to wait for a little while before i can justify buying this

 

Charlotte xx

Just for me

Hi

Sooooo today I was planning to post some pictures of some place mats that i have been making, however, my sewing machine has decided that on the last but one place mat (of eight) that it no longer wants to use the cotton that i have been using. Very frustrating! Any way so i thought i would show you a few things that i have been working on 'just for me' instead!

So to start with, for Christmas i was lucky enough to receive a brand new computer. Its very lovely, however I've never had a desk top computer before so i don't have a mouse mat. So i tried my hand at some crazy quilting and made my self this mouse mat. 

I wanted something fairly original and quirky so i chose this fabric from my stash and stitched over some of the pattern to create some crazy quilting.

Secondly I have recently been teaching my self to spin using a spinning wheel. I have been trying to get to a spinning group which is held every first Thursday of the month but something has always come up or it has snowed so i had no way to get there! Anyway so there has always been something! So i brought a book called start spinning which was really helpful but i found the most helpful thing was to watch spinning tutorials on youtube. I could then use the book to simply remind me how do do certain things.

I don't think I'm doing to badly for a complete beginner. I even made my first hat from hand spun wool the other day, however it was snapped up by a friend too quickly so i don't have a photo at the moment. But i will get one.

And lastly I am attending a knit-a-long next Tuesday hosted by imake in Guernsey. We will all knit socks, most people attending have never knit socks before. Unfortunately for me that includes me! I don't like the idea that i can't just pick up the pattern and away i go. I read the pattern (with difficulty but i will explain about that later, funny story) and shock horror i didn't understand half of what it was asking me to do. So not being able to cope i had to start my sock before the knit along so it at least looks like i have always know what i am doing! It is a very basic pattern but i am actually fairly happy with how it has come out so far.

Unfortunately the toes fit Steve better than they fit me! Very sad but i think if i promise to make some more in a slightly more manly colour then he will let me keep my very first pair of socks.

Ah yes the funny story that i promised... when Martine sent us the pattern to have a look over before the knit-a-long she attached it as an image but it was upside down. I have an ipad and kept turning the ipad over to try to view the pattern and it kept flipping so it was always the wrong way. It took me a while before i gave up and printed it. Is that not a definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

Anyways that's all form me today

Thanks for reading

Charlotte

  

New Years Resolution

Hi

So after a very long break I am back and in a very bloggy mood. This year my new years resolution is to blog more! I have a lot of very exciting things that are just starting and I think it is important to document all of those things!

I will be introducing new product lines via this blog. and this blog will be under going a make over itself (although I'm not sure how I will be doing that yet, it WILL happen) 

I'm also very interested in a website called pinterest at the moment. I have been finding some very good ideas for my new house on there along with beautiful crafty things and recipe inspiration. It is actually where I got the inspiration to make my first macaroons! I was very very nervous as I had heard so many horror stories about making them, but luck was defiantly on my side and some how I managed to make some fairly successful first macaroons.

Soo....

Chocolate Macaroons with a Butter Cream Filling


Ingredients

• 3 large egg whites
• 100g ground almonds
• 150g icing sugar
• 35g cocoa powder
• 125g caster sugar (divided into two portions)

• Put the ground almonds, icing sugar and cocoa powder in a blender and pulse until it is a fine powder.
• Then sift the mixture into a large bowl.

• Put the egg whites into a large bowl with half the caster sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form.
• Add the rest of the caster sugar and continue whisking until the sugar has dissolved

• Gently mix all of the powder mixture into the egg whites. I used a figure of eight motion. You must take care not to over mix the batter.

• Line two baking tray with parchment paper
• At this point you should be using a pastry bag to pipe small mounds of the mixture, however i don't have a pastry bag and my next best thing didn't work so well either...... so i just used a teaspoon to dollop the mixture on to the tray. they did come out a little wonky but i think it just adds character :-) the dollops should be around the size of a walnut, i didn't see this part of the recipe, so mine were all different shapes and sizes :-)

• Allow the macaroons to sit for 20-30 minutes before you put them in the oven, in this time a skin should form and they will no longer be wet to the touch.
• Now bake the macaroons at 160 degrees (fan assisted) for 12-14 minutes. The shells should be smooth and shiny and they should have feet which i learnt is the bubbly part at the bottom. (i was way too over excited when i saw that mine had this)

• Allow for the macaroons to cool for a few moments and they should come of the baking tray easily.

• For the filling i just mixed up a simple chocolate butter cream

• The boys enjoyed them and the pooch tried to sneak a few too :-)

This is the first recipe i have ever blogged so if anyone tries the recipe and it works or doesn't please let me know as i am very interested in any feedback.

Thanks

Charlotte x