S’no hat for snow

When I started making the Snowdrop Beret by Swallows Return for my brother’s girlfriend, Kitty, for Christmas, I didn’t really take notice of the fact it said it was a hat for spring (because of the lace pattern letting the breeze through!). When do we ever get really cold winters in the UK? I just thought it was a really pretty pattern.

Unfortunately, it’s been the coldest winter for 30 years and much of the country’s been covered in snow for quite a few weeks. Kitty discovered just how cold the wind was as it whipped through her hat on the beach in Norfolk on New Year’s Day. Sorry Kitty!

Still the pattern is pretty and, even though it took me a while, it did help me get to grips with lace. The only modification I made was using a weightier wool – Sirar Click Chunky in Indy. I chose this because I wanted the beret to be a bit floppier, but it made the pattern slightly less visible, so I think I would stick to dk weight if I made it again.

The pics below show the difference between the bumpy, lumpy hat pre-blocking.

And the smoother, flatter hat being blocked on a dinner plate.

To block, I just dampened the beret slightly (rather than washing it or soaking it) and followed Susie F Handmade’s blocking technique to protect the ribbing from stretching.

Just like Grandma used to make

We all love our Grandmas very much, but when it comes to getting them presents for Christmas they can be awkward so-and-sos! “Oh I don’t need anything, my love,” they say or “Just spending time with you is a present enough.” But we all know full well that if, come Christmas day, they didn’t get given anything, they’d be in a sulk until Easter.

So I was relieved when, on a visit to Grandma’s in the Autumn, I noticed that her tea cosy was looking a little worse for wear. Here was something she genuinely needed and it meant I could tick one present off the list. I wanted to make a tea cosy that matched the old design as much as possible, so was thrilled to find this Traditional fluted tea cosy by Yasmin, who also associated the design with her Nan, lovely!

I made a few modifications, like using 5mm needles to accommodate the slightly chunkier wool I used for one of the colours (King Cole Waves Multi in Pampas). My second wool was dk weight so I held that double and it seemed to work out. I also cast on 30 less stitches so I had less folds to fit a 2 cup pot. I finished the cosy off with a flower.

Here’s my Grandma with her new tea cosy on Christmas day. She may be 90, but she can still have a giggle! Happy Christmas Grandma x

Snuggly, chunky Christmas socks

Last Christmas was my first knitting Christmas, so everyone got scarves. But this year I decided to give myself more of a challenge and make everyone socks despite what I’d heard about them being a pain to knit. I wasn’t completely foolhardy though, I did find some good patterns using big needles and chunky wool, so it didn’t take THAT long to make them. 3 pairs later, I’m a sock convert. Being able to knit such a staple of everyday living makes me feel like I’ll be useful when the oil runs out, or the world ends, or whatever’s going to happen that means we can’t buy socks from the shops anymore. So here’s how they turned out:

David’s socks

David got some short hiking socks made with Patons Shadow Tweed in Grey/Undyed/Charcoal on 4mm dpns using this Chunky Sock pattern by Arlene Williams.

Mum’s socks
Mum got long welly socks made with King Cole Magnum Multi Chunky in Bracken using this Cottage Slipper Socks pattern from Lion Brand (register and log in for free to get the pattern) and 6mm dpns instead of 9mm to make them smaller and tighter knit (my Mum has teeny size 3 feet!).

Dad’s socks
Dad got long welly socks too made from Sidar Click Chunky in Treehouse. His socks were a bit of a hybrid of the above 2 patterns. I used the Chunky Sock pattern on 6mm dpns instead of 4mm, but by the time I got to the heel I realised they were HUGE so did the leg shaping from the Cottage Slipper Socks, then heel and foot from Chunky Sock pattern again. I should have just used the 4mm dpns as the pattern said in the first place, so a lesson learned there!

No brownie does it better

I don’t know why, but I’d always thought chocolate brownies were really difficult to make, or at least tricky to get right, so I’d never attempted them, until now. And once again Nigella hasn’t let me down. Say what you like about her silly tele programmes, but damn her recipes are good. These are adapted from the recipe in How to be a Domestic Goddess and they are absolutely delicious. The recipe Nigella gives is for 48 brownies, designed to be stacked up and poked with candles for a great alternative to birthday cake. But as they’re quite expensive to make, the recipe below uses half the ingredients and it makes plenty.

Dark chocolate, white chocolate and raspberry brownies
190g unsalted butter
190g really good dark chocolate
3 large eggs
half tbsp vanilla extract
250g caster sugar
115g plain flour
half tsp salt
75g white chocolate, cut into bite-sized chunks
75g raspberries, washed and patted dry
greased tin measuring 29 x 19 x 3.5cm (I use the disposable tinfoil roasting tins you can buy so it saves lining a normal tin, but then wash them out and reuse them).

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/gas mark 4.
2. Melt the butter and chocolate together and set aside to cool.
3. In a bowl or jug, beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla.
4. Measure the flour into another bowl and add the salt.
5. Beat the eggs and sugar into the cooled chocolate, then add the flour. Beat to combine smoothly.
6. Stir in the white choclate chunks gently.
7. Scrape out half of the mixture into the tin, then plop the raspberries over, distributing evenly. Cover with the rest of the brownie mixture and smooth out.
8. Bake for about 25 mins. Nigella says “when it’s ready the top should be dried to a paler brown speckle, but the middle still dark and dense and gooey. Keep alert, keep checking: teh difference between gungy brownies and dry brownies is only a few minutes; remember that they will continue to cook as they cool.”
9. Leave to cool completely then cut into squares.

These went down a treat zapped in the microwave for about 10-20 seconds and served with vanilla ice cream for my housemate Joe’s birthday and cut into mini squares at our Christmas party.

Hat’s the way I like it

It’s often the way with knitting that if anyone sees what you’re up to, they pipe up and ask you to make something for them too. This was the case when Woody, my housemate at the time, saw me feverishly trying to get Ruthie’s mittens ready before her birthday. I was foolish enough to agree. Woody liked the pattern of the mittens, but they’re not really the thing for the fashionable man about town, so I made him the hat instead. Although the pattern is for knitting the hat flat, I did it in the round and was much happier when I reached the end and there were no silly seams to sew up. No pic of Woody modelling the finished hat (yet), just me. I really enjoyed making this and I reckon I might get round to doing one for myself one day.

The only modifications I made to the pattern were starting with 12 rows of rib instead of 8 and I swapped the colours around a bit, so that I got more of colour A than colour C (I wanted it to be mostly grey).

The link to the pattern is in the my first mittens post.

My first mittens

Ok, so they turned out more like oven gloves, but I’m still proud of my first pair of mittens! I knitted them as part two of Ruthie’s birthday present from a pattern I found amongst a haul of magazine cut-outs from the 70s and 80s brought in to Knit Club. I thought they’d be easier as they’re knitted flat, but all the sewing together of the seams was quite tedious and I think I pressed them a little enthusiastically. Still I really like the pattern and I know how to do Fair Isle now too, so altogether a good project and probably not that difficult to adapt to knit in the round.

Here’s a pic of me when I started making them on the beach on one of the last really sunny days of Sept 2009.

Click here for a pdf of the pattern.
(It may take a while as it’s a big file)

More monkey news

It hasn’t taken long for knitted garden monkeys to start popping up all over the country. Seems they’re resourceful little fellas with sightings coming in from motorway service stations to hot air balloons. This handsome specimen looks like he has found a cosy home all the way east in Cambridge. I was lucky enough to visit his new owner Ruthie on her 30th birthday at the start of October. “Jeffrey’s settled in remarkably quickly,” Ruthie said, “he likes to lend a hand around the house and especially likes helping to hang washing out on the line. He’s ever so well behaved.”

Remember if you’d like to help save the knitted garden monkey, follow these simple instructions.

Big birthday cupcake

After the first knitted cupcake debacle I was scared I may never take up double pointed needles again. But the fast approach of my lovely friend Suzy’s 30th birthday helped me shake off the fear and get knitting again. I met Suzanne back in the day when we were doing English at Nottingham Uni. She was hobbit-sized, mouthy and Northern and I haven’t been able to get rid of her since. (I should also mention she is gorgeous, hideously clever and makes me laugh until I no longer have control of any bodily functions, but that would make her far too big headed so let’s just stick to mouthy and Northern).

Unfortunately, I couldn’t be with her for her big celebration so I popped the cupcake in the post. I just hope she hasn’t tried to eat it.

It’s made exactly the same way as the contraversial cupcake all the way to Row 48. It then goes as follows:
(with candle holder colour)
Row 49: kfb into all sts
Row 50: k all sts
Row 51: k2tog, YO to end
Row 52: k all sts
Row 53: k all sts
Row 54: Pick up purl bumps and k2tog with a stitch from current row (like for icing)
Row 55: k2tog to end (6 stitches)
(with candle colour and on slightly smaller needles if you have them)
Rows 56 – 69 k all sts
(with flame colour)
Row 70: k all sts
Row 71: kfb into all sts
Row 72: k all sts
Row 73: k2tog to end
Row 74: k2 tog to end (3 stitches)
Cut wool leaving at least 6 inches. Thread needle and run through remaining sts, pull tightly. Run needle down through candle, emerging at the base of the candle. Knot and tie off to secure. Cut off any remaining wool.

Milkshake + muffin = yumathon!

There are times when only the very finest banana milkshake will do. And since I discovered the recipe for the very finest banana milkshake, I find I’m having more and more of those times. I often buy too many bananas on purpose just so I’ll have to use them up before they go too squishy. And if I’m already making a banana milkshake well why not make some banana muffins too? It’d be rude not to.

Banana milkshake
2 ripe bananas
2 tbsps yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsps runny honey
about 4 ice cubes
about half a pint milk

Blend all the ingredients together with an electric blender until the ice cubes stop rattling and it’s nice and frothy! (Makes about a pint). If you have some strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or mango throw them in too, but I reckon the basic banana is the best!

Banana and white chocolate muffins (adapted from Nigella Express)
3 very ripe bananas
125ml vegetable oil
250g flour
100g caster sugar
half tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
150g white chocolate pieces

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C/gas mark 6 and line a 12-bun muffin tin with papers
2. Mash the bananas and set aside
3. Pour the oil into a jug and beat in the eggs
Put the flour (I sieve it twice as Delia recommends), sugar, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a large bowl and mix in the beaten egg and oil mixture, followed by the mashed bananas. (Don’t overmix, just enough to combine, doesn’t matter if it’s a bit lumpy)
4. Fold in the chocolate pieces, then divide between muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes.

I baked these for the opening night of this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing and they went down a treat! So did the pomegranate juice and sparkling wine!

A Hat of One’s Own

I am two weeks away from the hand-in date for my MA in Professional Writing. I am meant to be writing a novel, but I have also spent quite a few hours in the last week making this lovely vintage hat. Well, I say vintage, it’s 1970s which I would prefer not to think of as that long ago, but I suppose over 35 years makes it vintage! Anyway, it’s the first hat I’ve knitted for myself and I love it. At least I’m doing something productive with my procrastination time!

I used 2 x 50g balls of Click Chunky in shade 0128: tarn which gives an equivalent tension to the discontinued Patons Husky wool that this pattern was designed for. It was surprisingly quick to knit up and it’s going to keep my ears lovely and warm in winter. Just remember that when you make the bobble, you slip the stitch you’ve been creating the bobble with off with the last purl stitch. I forgot to do this and ended up mucking up the whole pattern and having to start again!
Click here for the pattern. Enjoy!