Off the hook :: cushion cover

When I started this project I intended it to become a throw for the bedroom, but I found I didn't like working the joining round so it's become a cushion cover instead.

Both sides are the same and it's crocheted together along 3 sides and closes with mis-matched buttons on the other - I can't ever find matching buttons in my button tin, even if I wanted to.

There is so much cushion pad showing that I had to make a cushion cover to go under the crocheted one - it looked horrible against the white. Luckily I had a scrap of beige (isn't that a hideous word?) fabric that was just about large enough.

Hook :: 4.5mm 

Yarn :: Rowan organic DK in 4 shades: chestnut, wheat, mulberry and powder

Pattern :: Sunshine and Shade throw by Katherine Eng

Size :: 35cm x 35cm

I've started on the throw using a new motif, which you can see in my last post. It's raining and cold today, September is looming, and sitting making a blanket in the evenings is beginning to seem like a Good Idea.

Have a great weekend everyone. x

Back to normality

Well, I've tackled the washing mountain, thanking my stars that we came back to some fine weather, albeit about 15°C cooler than we'd got used to.  Don't you think this cloud looks like a dog?

I've dragged 2 unwilling children around the supermarket, cooked, cleaned, vacuumed... It's like we never went away!

We had a lovely time in France. My daughter wanted to spend all day, every day, on the water slides and it was too hot to be dragging them around sightseeing, so we mostly just went along with it - staying on the campsite either in the pool or on the playground.  

Now we are counting down the days until it's time to go back to school (11). I need to write a list of uniform still to buy and feet need measuring. Three weeks today my youngest starts in the school nursery and, for the first time in 6½ years, I'm going to be all on my own during the day. I don't really know yet how I feel about this. I think I'm welcoming and dreading it in equal measure.

But today, just a usual kind of day, we're feeling the nip in the air that wasn't there before we went away, having friends round to play, making chicken stock, planning a blanket, and wondering whether to give in to a sudden urge to make a coffee cake.

Holiday snaps

Nous sommes de retour de nos vacances en France. Le temps était fantastique et nous avons tous eu un bon moment. Voici quelques choses que me rappellent toujours de la France...

Sea and sand

Yesterday, on a day which could only be described as 'blustery', we decided to go to the seaside.  It was sunny at home, not so much at Llandudno.  It looks a bit cloudy, does it not?

  

It was cold and I don't like sandy beaches as I can't bear the feeling of sand between my toes. Give me a stream or river to paddle in any day but I very rarely go in the sea.  #2 is like me and hates the feeling of sand but #1 is the kind of freak that goes into the sea then rolls in the sand until she's covered from head to toe. Just typing that makes me twitch with horror and revulsion.

Anyhow, the children enjoyed it.  Sandcastle building (and smashing) with Dad, ice-cream, a ride on the spinning teacups and the sun came out just in time for the 'Punch and Judy' show...

We're off somewhere a bit warmer tomorrow. And not a beach in sight.

Yarn Review :: Hilo Haven Thread

I have been sent some yarn to review by Nadya and Katie at Hilo Haven.  Hilo Haven supply Linhasita waxed polyester threads, known as 'hilo', alongside beads and patterns for crochet and macramé.

Hilo Haven is a co-operative of two mothers based in Costa Rica and England. Nadya and Katie met in Costa Rica three years ago while they both made a living from their crafts. Over time they decided to become suppliers of the Linhasita thread they were using and they set up Hilo Haven.

Hilo is made with two strands of waxed polyester thread, twisted together to form a 1mm thread and is available in over 150 shades.

Nadya sent me a 1m length of 20 different coloured threads, a set of wooden beads and a 100g roll of thread.

The thread is said to be good for 3D work, so to test it out I made a mesh vase...

I have to say I was quite surprised by the result.  The vase is both pliable - I can turn it inside out through the neck - and capable of holding its shape.

I also made a little basket with small flowers for the top.

The colours are great, I think, nice and bright.

So, what did I think of this yarn?

Pros:

• great for 3D work
• pliable
• excellent range of colours
• very strong
• a 100g roll of thread goes a long way

Cons:

• the thread does not flow off the hook as easily as most yarns
• the thread feels quite 'sticky' and I had to modify the way I held it to compensate for this

All in all, once I'd got used to how it handled, I enjoyed experimenting with this yarn. It was fun to try something different.

You can order from Hilo Haven at http://www.hilohaven.com or at http://www.hilohaven.etsy.com.


Disclosure: I was sent the thread and beads on the understanding I would provide a review but I do not think this biased my review at all.


Edited to add: for other reviews of this yarn see crochetyourway and crochetconcupiscence

Quarry Bank Mill

Since I last posted our enjoyment of the school holidays has gone considerably downhill. I tell you, if we carry on as we did yesterday my children will be desperate to go to school come September! So today's  entertainment was a trip out to Quarry Bank Mill.  I love it here as there's plenty to do and see and you can tell your children how lucky they are because if they'd been born 200 years ago they'd have been stuck inside carding cotton at their age.

I also love it because I grew up in a village that had a working cotton mill and the smell and the noise in the room where the looms are working reminds me of going into the mill shop to buy fabric when I was a little girl.

There is, this Summer, a fabulous exhibition of embroidery - 'Losing the Thread' - by Louise Gardiner.  I respected the posters that said 'no photography', but you can check out her work if you follow the link. 

This photo is of the exhibition flier

Elsewhere, there were these teeny tiny people to look at...

windmills to make, spinning and weaving demonstrations, the playground and the paths around the grounds to enjoy...

A great way to spend 4 hours.

Gougère

So, how's your Summer holiday going? Mine's not been too bad so far (thanks in part to the  kids club at my gym).  I quite like the school holidays though - no rushing up and out of the door for 8:40am is a Very Good Thing.  And it is always a rush, isn't it, however early you get up.


Thanks for all your comments on my crochet and embroidery recently - I do appreciate them.


Today I made gougère (or savoury cheese puffs if you like). 

I make these quite often as the children love them. As do I.  And, despite what you may have read*, they are very easy to make. The first time I ever made gougère was at university and I had to make do with a crappy university oven. If I can do that and make it work, it can't be that tricky.


I will admit that making these will make your arm ache and that there are times when you think it will never work, but it will as long as you keep beating.


The recipe makes around 20 small puffs or 1 gougère ring and is to serve 6.


2 oz butter
½ pint milk
4 oz flour, sifted
4 eggs
3 oz gruyère cheese
salt and pepper


Heat the oven to 190°C


Cut the butter into small pieces and put in a pan with the milk, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil.


Pour in the sifted flour and stir until you have a thick smooth paste that comes away from the sides of the pan.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the eggs one at a time. (At first you will have a horrible slimy mess, but just keep stirring!)  The mixture will become thick and glossy.

Add the diced cheese and leave to cool.


Put spoonfuls of mixture (I used a soup spoon) onto a lined or well greased baking tray leaving 2cm between each.  (I forgot to take a photo of this part.)


Bake for 25 minutes.

If you want to make a ring - put the spoonfuls into a ring around 7" in diameter, brush with milk and bake for 45 minutes.




Because I make these for 2 small children and 2 adults I halve the mixture but I suspect this will not do for much longer -  today there was a fight over who got to eat the last one.




* Elizabeth David, in 'French Provincial Cooking', says 'it is rather tricky to make...'