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Friday 29 March 2019

Getting kids into crafting

People often ask me how I got into crafting - for some the complexities of knitting, crochet and embroidery just seem a step too far and when I tell them I've been doing it since I was small they can be quite surprised. I have such fond memories of learning to knit, sew and crochet with my Nanna and have always found it such a great way to relax, even managing to squeeze in a bit of cross stitch whilst at university (when I thought I was soooo busy and just didn't have time for stuff - how I laugh about that now as a parent!)

My eldest 3 years ago when
he first learnt to knit
I think the impression that knitting etc. is something that the older generations do is starting to be displaced, but it was certainly prevalent up until a few years ago. The advent of programmes like The Great British Sewing Bee and Kirstie's Handmade Christmas has definitely helped to make crafting cooler as well as being able to source so many different fabrics and notions online. You certainly wouldn't have found cross stitch charts for the Avengers and Harry Potter when I was a kid! (Now I've found these I'm kinda desperate to get one of each, but I'd better finish my Lake Baikal first). But there can still be this thing about boys doing knitting, sewing etc. as it's still deemed by some as being a 'girl's hobby'.

Not in MY house!! Don't get me wrong, we have the typical boy activities (LEGO, so much Lego) but I guess because the boys are so used to seeing me with a needle or hook of some description it has
sparked their interest. I taught both boys to knit a little while ago now and while they haven't got past the knit stitch, they are both pretty competent in it. More recently though they have got into cross stitch.  It's a fairly simple craft to learn, after all it's essentially just sewing a load of crosses, and it can be quite quick with some of the smaller charts and projects you can buy.

Both boys have recently finished a project and Master L took his in to show his teacher this week. He is clearly proud of what he has achieved, as he should be. he has now started a much bigger project and the really wonderful thing is that he too finds it relaxing. He struggles with his behaviour sometimes, nit always making good choices and I've noticed that he is so much calmer when he is absorbed in his stitching. Such a bonus.
Master L's cross stitch project part way through and the
finished article

I'm not daft and I strongly suspect that in a few years when the boys are teenagers they will laugh at me if I suggest they make something. BUT I do hope that, like me, they return to it in the future and pass their knowledge on to any children they may have. I am so looking forward to being able to teach little miss how to knit, crochet and sew. For now we will stick with the simpler activities like painting and sticking, making good use of suggestions that I find on blogs such as the wonderful Red Ted Art.

How about you? What got you into crafting and how do you encourage your children to join in?  Is it a case of 'monkey see, monkey do' or are you a bit more proactive with it?  Let me know in the comments here or via Facebook or Instagram.

Until next time,

M x

Friday 22 March 2019

Finished project - March

Hurray!! I have a finished project to share with you 😁 It's the long awaited (by me at least haha) jumper that I knit in the round from the bottom up using a pattern I converted. As I've mentioned previously, this is the first time I've knit a jumper in this way and while there have been a small handful of issues I've had to overcome, I'm so so pleased with how it's turned out. Added bonus that I even have enough yarn left over to make a matching one for my little girl (at almost 2 mummy still
has some control over what she wears and what could be cuter than matching hand knit jumpers?

So, a summary of what went well and what went not so well (i.e. what mistakes I made that I had to very swiftly learn from)...

I started off with the body of the jumper and very quickly made a common mistake : I twisted my cast on row when I joined my knitting to knit in the round. The worst thing was I didn't actually notice until I'd knit 4 or 5 rounds of knit 1 purl 1 so I was pretty cross with myself. Still, mistake corrected (nothing like starting all over again to build  on your skills) I happily completed the body section up to the part where I would add the arms. Once the ribbing is complete it's a straightforward stocking stitch which when knit in the round is just the knit stitch over and over - bonus as I'm quickest at the knit stitch! When I was almost done though, I realised that I had dropped a stitch which had undone quite a way down so out came my trusty crochet hook to fix the problem. It's frustrating when these things happen, but the fix is fairly simple once you know how.

The arms knitted up reasonably quickly and I was pleased with how they came up. The experienced eye can see where I've done the increases, but the hubby who can't knit assures me that the untrained eye can't tell and to be fair, from a distance I can't tell either so I'm happy. For my first time using double pointed needles they really did come up well. Then came the bit I was excited about and dreading in equal measure; the yoke. This is the section where you join the arms and the body 'tubes' together to make one big tube. I was surprised at how easy it came together in the end. I popped live stitches onto safety pins (these are where the body meets the arms at the underarms) and merrily knitted all the way around the 360 plus stitches in the new round.

Look closely and you can
see one of my loom bands 😂
It's all about decreasing from then on to the neckline, forming the raglan to the shoulders as you go. I used loom bands (yes! loom bands) as stitch markers as that's one thing I don't yet have in my stash
of knitting paraphernalia and I'm clearly too impatient to wait until I get chance to pick them up. It's not ideal though and I wouldn't necessarily do that again as they have a tendency to slip under the stitches and that kinda goes against the whole marking your place thing... Anyway, once or twice I realised the loom bands had shifted and had to undo some stitches to correct the raglan which was frustrating but not the end of the world. The biggest issue for me here was two of the balls of yarn I was using ended in massive knots. but I persevered and overcame (I was not going to be beaten or waste yarn!!)



Working the short rows around the neckline blagged my head a bit and I had to refer to trusty old YouTube to remind myself of the best way to do it. Once I'd got my head around it though, I was off on the final stretch before working on the collar. Knitting the rib for the collar was painful. I was so close to the end and there aren't even that many stitches in those rounds, but OMG I just could NOT get them done fast enough.  I cast off last night and quickly tried it on (still with the underarm stitches on safety pins) and it fit great.

This morning, I used the kitchener stitch to graft the live stitches together, slip stitch the collar to the inside to give a rolled collar effect and sewed in the ends and that's it. One completed jumper with absolutely, positively NO sewing up!! Normally, the completed parts of the jumper (sleeves, front and back) would sit around for weeks while I conjured up the impetus to sew them together and finish up but I have none of that this time and will happily be wearing it tomorrow. Yippee!!


Now for the fun part of typing up the pattern instructions from my roughly scrawled notes whilst wearing my new snuggly jumper. I'll certainly be giving another one a go and planning out some tweaks to add some more detail to the jumper.

Until next time,

M x


Friday 15 March 2019

Homemade crispy pancakes

Urgh, don't you just hate it when household appliances go wrong? I've had a split hose on my vacuum and a leaky washing machine. Luckily both have been an easy (and cheap) fix, but it is frustrating when things like this happen. Especially with a family of 5 as the washing mountain soon became huge while we waited for the new part.

Anyway, in the world of crafting I've been having lots of fun gaining inspiration from Instagram and  a new blog I found: the barefoot crafter. In her most recent blog post she has made the cutest little clutch bag and now I'm planning on something similar but to hold the basics for little miss. As she's almost 2 now (where did that go??) we don't always need a full change of clothes and numerous clean nappies etc. but my handbag is simply not big enough to carry the extra couple of bits I need some days.  I want to make something that suits all purposes but isn't as big as a changing bag, as bulky as a rucksack or as easy to tip out as a tote. My main issue at the moment though seems to be a severe lack of time to craft now that little miss has decided she no longer needs a midday nap.

One thing I remembered after clicking post last week was that I'd been a little more adventurous this year for Shrove Tuesday. Instead of sticking with my old staples of syrup and lemon and sugar as toppings, where I keep pancakes just for pudding, I decided to give my very own crispy pancakes a whirl. I remember eating these as a kid and while they are still available, I haven't been able to source my all time favourite cheese filled ones in my local supermarkets.

Image result for crispy pancakes
Picture credit - Google images
I've made crispy pancakes once before so I knew what I was up to, and yet I still found it took me ages (that may have been because I had some *help* or it may just have been my very old and temperamental oven). I think with a little more preparation beforehand though such as making a large batch of bolognese/cottage pie/cheese sauce or whatever your chosen filling is would cut down the length of time it takes. According to the husband it would also be easier with ready made pancakes but for me that's cheating (no shame though if that's how you roll).



So, in case you fancy it, here's the how to...

Ingredients:
100g plain flour
2 eggs
300 ml milk
oil
egg wash (I used 2 eggs)
breadcrumbs
your chosen fillings

1) Put your flour in a bowl and make a small well in the centre. Add your eggs and about half the milk and whisk until smooth. Then add in the rest of your milk and whisk again until you have a smooth consistency reminiscent of double cream.

2) Make your pancakes by frying in a little oil, turning once the pancake batter starts to bubble or the mixture appears to have 'set'. You should be able to lift the edge with a fish slice and can check how golden brown the pancake is. You can toss your pancake to turn it or play it safe with a fish slice. Cook as many pancakes as you need and reserve any extra mix for pudding pancakes if you wish.

Image result for crispy pancakes
Picture credit - BBC Good Food
3) To fill your pancakes, spoon your chosen filling (you can literally choose anything and I'm sat here now thinking about making some ratatouille ones) onto one half of the pancake, fold the pancake and then using a little of the egg wash, seal the edge. You can then dip in the egg wash making sure top and bottom are coated and then do the same in the breadcrumbs. Place onto a baking tray.

4) Once all your pancakes are filled and coated,  bake them in a preheated oven (190C/ Gas5) for 15 mins and voila, scrummy crispy pancakes just like Findus used to make. We had ours with chips and beans, but salad and potatoes would work too, or potato waffles and peas, whatever you fancy 😁 These can be frozen too so you could make ahead of time, just be sure to follow food safety guidelines, particularly with your fillings.

I shook things up this time and used crushed nachos instead of breadcrumbs - OK this was born of necessity as I'm rubbish at making breadcrumbs and  Aldi didn't have any, but it worked really well  and added a nice crunch to the meal.

So there you have it, this weeks blog post. I have everything crossed that next week I will have a completed project to show you. But before I go, here is a pic of the card I made which I mentioned last week. It was for my lovely big brother who has been a VW camper van enthusiast for many years (although he hasn't as yet got round to owning one). I have another birthday card to share with you next week, but the recipient won't have opened it yet.

Until next time,

M x

Friday 8 March 2019

Weekly catch up

Doors are on, just need to plumb in the
dishwasher when it arrives, add some more
worktop to the left of the cooker and move the a
cupboard and then add the new cooker. Then it's
decorating time!!
So I've been a little MIA the last couple of weeks. Basically with the kitchen refit and a stinking cold, half term for us was a bit of a right off and that cold/virus thing has lingered and I've still been suffering with it over the last week. It's left me pretty exhausted but I've still been crafting away of an evening as for me it's the best type of self-care. I'm sure I'm not alone in that.

The kitchen project is coming along nicely although we've stalled a little now as we're waiting on tradesmen to do a couple of jobs that we can't. One's on holiday and one is super busy and the day he was supposed to come his little one was poorly so I need to get it rearranged. We will get there though, and we at least have a functioning kitchen again It may be small, but for the first time since we moved in to this house I finally feel like it's the best use of the space. Washing up in the bathroom sink for 2/3 days was NOT fun though and did force us to think about what we were having to eat (so we cheated and ate out haha).



As you can see we had some help (and some hindrance) with the kitchen refit. Little miss really enjoyed getting involved and particularly enjoyed climbing into the cupboards. She was not impressed when we added shelves and put plates etc. back in!

Jumper wise I've finished one of the sleeves and have made a good start on the second sleeve. I'm reasonably tall and have long arms so I tend to add a good 2-3 inches extra to any pattern to gain the desired length. It's been fun knitting in the round though and has meant I've had more of an idea about the length as I can 'try it on'. I'm hoping to get it finished this month - just in time for the warmer days, I didn't think that one through did I? - and when it's fully completed I'll do a more thorough review and publish the pattern.

 I've been getting my cross stitch on as well and have started to enjoy it again even though it's a 'confetti' section where there is a lot of changing colours. As I've mentioned before, the size of the Lake Baikal means that it is by no means a quick project and this one probably won't be completed until Christmas time. That was the point of that project though, something I could get my teeth into  and that would last a while. Over on Instagram I joined in with the #saturdaynightcraftalong and it was great to see some other crafty peoples work. There are some absolutely gorgeous creations that really get you inspired.

I'm very conscious that I haven't had any completed projects for a little while - it feels more like I've become a serial starter rather than finisher which I find frustrating as I love the buzz I get from a completed craft project. I'm going to try and focus on completing one project a month as a minimum and then blog the highs, lows and what I've learnt along the way for those projects. That's the plan anyway! I have got one finish to show you, but you'll have to wait until next week for that one as the recipient hasn't seen it yet 😁

I'm going to leave it there for today and go have some fun with little miss.

Until next time,

M x