Baby, It's Cold Outside

It's officially winter which has seen an increase in requests from friends and family for knitty and crochet goodies.


Firstly are these Braided Mitts (Ravelry log on required if you want the pattern).  Made for a friend who is a gent, was worried they were going to be a bit small, but the sizing was perfect.  Used Deramore Stylecraft DK in Grey for them, on size 5mm circular needles.  I knit in the round on two circular needles, I find this the easiest way to knit in the round for smaller diameters. A video tutorial for this  can be found here.

These pretty wee things are Diagonal Eyelet Hand Warmers this time for my Filipino friend who always feeds me delicious food.

These were knit flat and then seamed, leaving a gap for the thumbs rather than knitting up a thumb gussett.  This made them super easy and fast to make up, and the eyelets make an interesting pattern.  Used around 2/3 of a 50g ball of Moda Vera 100% pure wool..  They looked small when made, but the eyelets actually allow a bit of stretch.

Crochet Crown

Last week Lara had a Kings and Queen themed mufti day at school. Thinking it would be nice to be different I crocheted Lara a crown. I started off following a pattern to begin with but then winged it and finished it my own way.
I thought she looked awesome!

Personalised Birth Details Print

Today while battling a head cold and watching the three sprogs, I felt an over whelming urge/need to create something that didn't also create mess. After some searching on Pinterest and other  blogs I decided to make some birth detail prints for the children.
Here are todays efforts (excuse the random lines around the edges-I had issues as I turned them into PDFs but then couldn't upload and had to use the snipping tool)

I can't wait to have them hanging on the walls!

Paper Bows

Debs sent me a link to some lovely wee paper bows and challenged me to make them.  And so I did!  They're actually incredibly easy to do, and the tutorial, although in Chinese, is simple enough to follow from the photos.

What a great finishing touch to all our crafty gifts, aye?! Link to the tutorial can be found here.

Rainbow Spiderweb Blanket

Having been inspired by Tori's Spiderman blanket, I decided to have a go at trying the pattern out for myself. It's comes together very quickly, and is a much easier pattern for a beginner to follow than it looks like!

And so, my boys' Rainbow Spiderweb Blankets!

Crocheted using Deramores Stylecraft Special DK, which is a lovely soft acrylic - the colours (red to purple) are Matador, Jaffa, Sunshine, Green, Turquise, Wisteria.  Oh, and white!

Jelly Crystal Meringues

These are a super easy treat that are quick to whip up, even if, as per normal meringues, they take a while to cook.  Using jelly crystals means they are flavoured differently depending on what flavour you pick.  







INGREDIENTS
3 egg whites (size 8s preferably, use 4 eggs if smaller).
1/2 c caster sugar
1 packet of jelly crystals

METHOD
Combine the sugar and the jelly crystals until well combined.  In another bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peak.  Once this stage is reached, slowly add the sugar/crystal combination a table spoon at time, ensuring that each addition is well mixed into the egg whites.  Once it is all combined, keep mixing for a further two minutes, ensuring well combined.

Line a tray with baking paper and pipe the meringue onto it.  Bake at 120 °C for 40 - 50 minutes depending on your oven. They don't need much cooling, are good to go practically straight away.

I have baked this as a whole like a pavlova, and it came out just fine.  Be aware that due to the gelatin in the jelly, the middle is a different consistency to a normal pav, it is more chewy, but it still has that delightful crust.  Actually it has MORE of that deliciousness, which is my favourite part.

Green Hallows

O.k so this one has been 8 months in the making. Last winter I made my son a Pink & Purple Hallows Cardigan  I found Here on Ravelry and he LOVED it so much so that he asked for a Green and Black one.
As it started to get too warm before I finished it I put it aside enjoyed our unseasonably hot summer and didn't think anything more of it. But now it's cooling down again I decided to pick it up and finish it and aside from sewing in some ends and picking buttons it's done.

I had decided I didn't like the sleeves in the pattern and that I would make up my own pattern for the sleeves which I've never done before but I thought worst comes to worst I rip it back and start again.

My sleeve pattern went something like this:

Sleeves

Pick up 64 stitches along shoulder edge (1 stitch per 2 rows).
Knit 9 rows.
Decrease every 9 rows until 40 stitches left.

Work 9 rows in 2x2 rib, change to body colour and knit another 3 rows following the 2x2 rib.

Cast off.