Baking - what a jolly way to spend an evening. 

I made Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s hazelnut and chocolate cake on Tuesday and haven’t included a picture because my version looks absolutely nothing like his version.  In fact, mine is a rather stolid looking object – I must have done something wrong because it’s very crumbly so I’ve “glued” it together with the chocolate glaze (which is as deep as the Zion narrows in parts where there are crevasses and cracks in the cake).  As with all things edible the main thing is the flavour though.  The depth of flavour is incredible and it has such a richness to it (that’ll be the 400g of hazelnuts).  It’s just my presentation that’s poor so I’d say it’s the cake equivalent of a Ferrari engine inside a Robin Reliant.  Hopefully people will see past the visual impact and appreciate the performance on the taste buds.  The flavour has torque.

Last night I baked the 24 cupcakes although sadly only 23 will make it to their cake stand tomorrow as one found its final resting place in my tummy.  Let’s call it chef’s perks.  Although when I caught sight of myself in the mirror before I started getting ready for bed it was clear chef had been in receipt of several perks – there was cake mix dried to my chin and cheek from licking out the bowls and green food dye from the frosting smudged across my forehead.  I’m fairly confident Lorraine Pascal never looks so scrappy after baking but licking the bowl is almost better than the cake in my view ... 

So I’m all ready to go for the Afternoon Tea my friend Kate and I are hosting for Pancreatic Cancer UK tomorrow.  Here’s to a good afternoon of much fun for a good cause.

Owls - all the rage in Stitchville





Stitching

The Christmas stockings are coming along – some of them more quickly than others - and as I work my way through I’m realising what I would do differently if I were to do this again.  Buy them.  Not really.  Hmmm.  There are loads of beautiful Christmas stockings out there already made though and clearly they look what they are – professionally finished.  There have been several “gah” moments when I stumble across another lot of them and wonder why I’m doing them myself.  Apart from the pleasure of it of course.  I’m hoping my home spun look and personalised stockings will appeal more than store bought goodies.  I have also noticed a plethora of knit baubles in the shops and a lot of them are seamed which has made me ponder – wouldn’t it be easier to knit them in the round?  No fiddly seams to finish and a neater shape.  Maybe that’s my inexperience with finishing talking.

So, what would I do differently.  I’ve left the appliqué raw edged thinking it would add character but I hadn’t counted on the nature of linen and its ability to fray given the slightest prompting.  The positive is that I’ve mastered my arch-nemesis zigzag stitch once and for all as I’ve had to edge all of the linen pieces, but if only I’d realised before I appliquéd on the lettering.  Next time, I’d sew under the edges.  Oscar’s ho ho hO is looking a bit sorry for itself even with my newly introduced chain stitch to tidy it up. 

The other thing I would have done is listen to my instinct on the tree “A” as I don’t like the green felt – it looks as if someone’s left a misshapen snooker table in the middle of a misshapen crop circle.  Too late now, although I’m wondering whether I just stitch another tree over the top of the felt one in the dark green odd spot material I had in mind in the first place.  The lesson here is ask others’ advice but don’t assume they know better – each time I see it, I grimace and that means it probably will have to change, not least as I dislike it sufficiently that I can see I’ve been careless on the baubles and French knots – a clear sign I knew it wasn’t right and should have tried to fix it sooner.

Although it’s the simplest, my favourite is the Santa “I” – in the end I left the front pretty much untouched and the detail is on the back, but I think it looks adorable and very understated.  To make up for that, as I’m not sure 7 years olds particularly care for understated, I did sew a bell to the hat of the boy on the front.

Next is the Elf for Elsa and then we’re nearly there with making up.  Again, a Eureka moment in the middle of the night when it occurred to me how best to sew the lining, boot, plush and hook together and the next day my research on YouTube showed me I had been right so I must have been learning something over all these months and that’s quite a nice feeling. 

Knitting

Liberty were running a Rowan workshop to knit a Christmas stocking so I thought, “why not?  I’ll give it a go”.  Which I did – it’s a good venue, apart from the lighting which is more suited to mole watching, bat bothering and other nocturnal pursuits, but what a lovely room and a delicious cream tea.  I’ll buy reading spectacles for goodness sake if the venue is good.  First attempts at beading and frills are attached.  If I could track down knitters graph paper then I’d have a go at designing a reindeer motif and knit one for the office, specifically the administrator in my team who soundly teases me every time I mention any of my crafty activities.

The Rowan instructor was impressive – she was very clear, thorough and although not always gentle with people about their progress she was honest in a way that was constructive and helpful.  Out of a group of eight there were four of us who knew how to knit and another four whose skill level varied between absolute beginner to pretty much a beginner (although that person also didn’t like knitting long rows of stitches, changing colours, adding in new yarns, using needles etc – I did rather wonder why she was there but as she was sucking up large quantities of the tutor’s time I didn’t get a chance to ask).  That cream tea though, you’d have to go some way to beat it and the session itself provided reassurance that while I think I know nothing I’m actually fairly competent and can have a go at most things (whether or not I will is a different thing).  Oxford Street or its surrounds are too busy at the weekends and I’m reminded why I typically shop online.  I have now signed up for one of Rowan’s Professional Finishing classes, but ended up booking in York for next March as I thought it was a good opportunity to visit my sister and probably marginally less of a melee than The Big Smoke.

The baby blanket is also chugging along – I’m about half way through and then I need to tackle the entrelac which is a new thing to learn and a bit daunting looking but should also make the blanket look rather spiffing.  Apart from a few bodges on stitch count – the perils of knitting past one’s bedtime – it’s going ok and I really like the way it looks.  In the light the colour is also a zingy and refreshing looking green colour.  In the evening, by lamp light, it’s alarmingly close to baby goo colour so that is either a good thing, as it’ll hide the grossness, or it’s a very bad thing, as baby grossness is horrible in and of itself and one doesn’t need to be reminded of it in its absence. 



The bobbles close up

 I’d really like to turn my hand to designing knits but am not quite sure where to start really; might have to add it to my long list of “things I want to do but full-time work gets in the way of”.

Sewing again

To try and mix things up a bit, I’m off to the Make Lounge next Tuesday to make a Log Cabin quilted cushion.  I’ve been to two workshops about paper piecing and hand quilting which I thoroughly enjoyed.  However, I’m making a baby quilt for a friend and I wanted to do machine quilting which means I need to learn how to do it really accurately – I’d be a lot less bothered if it was for me as I could have a tinker and deal with any issues as they arose.  However it’s not for me and I want it to be as close to perfect as possible. 

I already think I have a good idea about what to do to keep it simple.  I would have just got stuck in this weekend, and then I saw the course and decided it might be fun to learn properly.  It was either that or a machine appliqué workshop which would be fun to do, but less immediately useful.  For the quilt itself I’ve chosen a mixture of the three Urban Zoologie owl prints – Bermuda, Blue and Multi – and coupled them with spotty fabrics in complementary colours.  Am starting to pick up a bit of information on colour theory and it’s really fascinating.  It’s definitely informing the way I’m see things.  I bought these from Fabric Rehab which is a website I'm embarrassingly addicted to and keep popping onto to see what new treats might be available.  Must.  Stop.  There's a recession you know.

My plan is to do 6.5” squares and then quilt square shapes about ¼” inside the seam lines so it’s a super simple quilt but hopefully quite effective.  More on that as things progress as things will no doubt change as I plod through the making process.

The only other news is my craft room which is due to start being put together on the 28^th.  Or more accurately, knocked down and put back together.  In the meantime I have to clear the spare room of all my stuff (and there’s already a sizeable pile for the charity shop) and buy flooring for what will be the new sewing area.  I should also really decide on a colour and start steeling myself for the nerve racking endeavour of making my first roman blinds.  I really can’t wait to have a room dedicated to sewing – increasingly I have been living surrounded by yarns and fabrics and it starts to get a bit chaotic living surrounded by clutter.  A trip to Ikea at the weekend gave me lots of storage and I’ve already started sorting through things so they are at least stored well and properly and will in due course have a new home to go to. 

Not sure if other people have found this but I do sometimes find it difficult to convince others that spending time making things is important and an actual "thing".  Often I’ll try and extract myself for the day and often get a response that the crafty stuff isn’t a priority.  I struggle with it slightly as I don’t really have a good response – it’s ultimately quite a selfish use of time, but not doing it makes me feel cooped up and frustrated.  Sometimes I wish I could take a sabbatical (from work, from people?) and spend the time learning more about different crafts, getting my paws on different ways of making and totally immerse myself in the culture of it.  All very self-indulgent but what a wonder to find something where you enjoy the practical and the theoretical aspects. 

Right, am off to teach a beginner to knit - we did casting on and stocking stitch last time, and we're moving on to ribbing so she can make a snood...

Ho ho oh

As it’s nearly November, I can feel my Christmas self start twitching – as a crafty sort, you need to start planning early to make things (that's my excuse) and often this can cause a lot of tension with other not-so-excited-by-Christmas types who get twitchy when you start discussing the merits of reindeer over snowmen in October.  What odd people they are, but there’s no way of overcoming that type of prejudice so I rise above, button my lip and sit on my hands desperately waiting for the 1 November.  When they gawp, horrified at me, I feign embarrassment (most of it, some of it is genuine as I do know better really) and blame it on the fact I made my Christmas cakes in early September.  This means they’re nearly weapons grade when I take the lids off for feeding and am sure my eyebrows are looking thinner – they smell delicious but are not for tee-totallers as they will make granny drunk at 50 paces).  On that note, I’ve made six of varying sizes as I thought they might make nice gifts.  What I hadn’t realised is how much looking after and space six cakes need and really hadn’t considered in any detail how I might think about decorating them when I’ve never decorated a cake before (apart from a blob of icing on fairy cakes) in a kitchen the size of a postage stamp.  Anyway, those worries are for later in the year.

This year I rebelled against the pressure to ignore Christmas until December and came out in favour of the supermarkets.  Early in October I covertly found all the fabric I wanted for Christmas stockings for the nieces and nephews and on Wednesday evening, I started cutting out the shapes.  I wasn’t really anticipating how much moulting would go on with the plush for the top of the stocking so am not sure my brother or sister will thank me for this addition to their homes but at least their children will have personalised Christmas stockings that, no matter how much they loathe them, they must put out every year for the arrival of their “favourite” auntie.  Cough cough.  Ah, families are lovely. 

I got the shape just by accident really – it’s a Christmas stocking, there are definitely precedents out there so it’s not that I was pushing myself creatively here; in fact, if it had gone wrong I’d have hung up my scissors and shelved Bobby for good for shame.  The fabrics I’d chosen were deliberately evocative of German Christmases of my childhood as I was hoping that, although they’re for my siblings’ children, they might be a bit nostalgic for them too.  I love how the little skiers material has been modernised with a little girl snowboarder, also very appropriate for my niece as both of her parents snowboard (actually, my sister-in-law snowboards while my brother, from what I gather, typically nurses flu in the chalet).

For my brother’s children, it was easy to decide how to personalise the stockings.  My nephew has a reindeer stocking with ho ho hO (he’s called The O for short) appliquéd on in red and cream stripes which match the back of the stocking; and my niece has her name appliquéd under the snowboarding girl, surfing over her own name.  I plan to sew a little bell onto the top of her hat as well.

As ever, apologies for the poor quality of the photographs - I have now borrowed a proper camera but the lender can't find the charger.  This is also just the cut out shapes from the first night - last night I appliqued etc, but haven't taken photos of them yet.

My sister’s children are a bit trickier as their names don’t start with anything I can figure out how to make festive but I do want to make them personal.  Given I started pondering this a while ago I should have had some ideas by now but it’s typically only once the scissors are in my paws that I actually start thinking things through although often after I’ve made the disastrous cut that means I don’t have enough of the fabric I want in the shape I want left to do it and need to improvise wildly.

The nicest thing is that work has been a bit of a downer over the last couple of weeks and doing this over the last week has totally given me a new Zen perspective on it – not watching telly and instead doing something more stimulating has meant I’ve slept better and everything really does look better after a good night’s kip.  Even my zigzag stitch which I’m very happy to say is no longer my arch-nemesis.  Running out of one shade of red halfway round the “A” of my niece’s name was irritating but other than that I was quite delighted with my zigzagging.

Talking of windowless rooms, I actually have a very lovely light and sunny spare room and I'm finally going to take it to task to turn it into project knitting headquarters.  No more Miss Messing about getting into yarn tangled frustration as I try and unpick my way through the living room over mountains of crafty stuff.

There's one wall that needs to come down, and various bits of making good that will need a professional decorator in but once the revamp starts I'll take some pictures and post them here as I'm hoping the transformation will be really rather marvellous.

* The picture above is not what my room looks like at the moment, but I hope I get somewhere near this lovely looking room.

Tricky cornering

My fingers were twitching all weekend for making but the sun was glorious and not necessarily conducive to working with merino wool. 

Saturday was spent in a windowless room pursuing the gentle but complicated art of quilting.  I managed to spend so long pulling together a convoluted patchwork that I didn’t actually get to the quilting but I have lots of ideas – although once out in daylight I realised that the colours that worked under tube lighting looked pretty sickly in the real world so Saturday’s work is being relegated to the “tutorial” pile for future reference.  Sunday I realised that my garden has been completely overwhelmed by Triffids and I couldn’t sit out there to sew or knit without risking knitting some wee beasties into the baby blanket I’m making and am not sure that would do at all.  So I threw open all of my windows and sat basking in the sunshine, blinding myself with my needles; I have sun spots from the light bouncing off my Addi turbos so I’m only reading three letters in every five as I type this – apologies for any typos as a result. 

Over lunch last week, my father and I had what we thought was a lively and interesting chat about the drive to craft and make things – this can’t be simply a recession led love of all things retro.  Man wasn’t designed to sell only services.  Without wanting to sound too Pretty Woman about it, people love creating and building things from model railways to stamp collections, wonky shelves and bobble hats – that drive doesn’t disappear because we’re sitting in our offices making money or selling services (although in my job I definitely don’t make money and HR services are a tricky sell at the best of times).  Perhaps the reversal to wanting to make and grow things represents an appreciation of a more nurturing, recycling and appreciative approach to things, a recognition that new isn’t always better (although it’s not always bad either).

Given how much I love learning about the techniques and history of crafts I’ve also recognised a propensity for analysis paralysis.  A couple of years ago it wouldn’t have occurred to me to stop and think before launching into something – I’d have just had a go.  Now I’ve gone to so many workshops and read so many different books on techniques that I’ve almost worked myself into a corner and can’t get to the point. 

I’d have got the scissors out and taken them to the tunic that’s been in my peripheral vision (as a ruffled tee shirt) for ages and “had a tinker” to see what I could make of it.  Since I got Bobby (my trusty Janome) and actually learnt some of the skills that would help mitigate likely disasters I find it harder to get started.  Knowledge isn’t always power.  Sometimes knowing how things work make the risk of failure that much harder to swallow.