Recoudre découdre

Gocco - First Attempt!

2012-01-19T06:30:00.000-08:00

I mentioned back in September that I'd be trying out a new type of printing (well, new to me anyway) in the form of Gocco. I knew I wanted to have a go at printing some xmas cards, but it was all a bit last minute because I spent so long designing and assembling wedding invitations. Luckily, I had already prepared a card design, so didn't have to spend long on that side of things. I used a character called Mr.Xmas Tree, who is an old favourite from some felt xmas decorations I made a couple of years ago.

I was a bit worried about the photocopying aspect of the image, as I'd heard of problems exposing the image to the screen, so I decided to trace the image by hand with the carbon pen provided in the Gocco kit. Exposing the screen was really straightforward. That stage of the process worked really well and, at that point, I was feeling pretty confident. Then, I applied some green ink to the xmas tree. I don't know whether the ink was too old or had been stored incorrectly (I had purchased from eBay, so it's possible), but the consistency didn't seem right. When I tried to print, the red text came out ok, but the xmas tree was just a mess. I then had to clean the screen, which takes quite a while, before I could try again. On my second attempt, I tried another green ink, but managed to smear the ink on the wrong side of the screen, so it had to be cleaned again. By this time, I had spent several hours on it, so wasn't in the best of moods! I decided to put it to one side and try again on another day.

So, the next day, I did give it another go. I took a bit more care when applying the ink, making sure the screen didn't move. The xmas tree part still wasn't as I planned, but his shape and face were coming out clearly so I decided to go ahead and print all the cards. I can't say I'm entirely happy with the results, but it was my first attempt so I probably shouldn't be so hard on myself.

It feels wrong to be blogging about Christmas in January, but that should be the last of it now. We're still eating Christmas cake though...

Christmas 2011

2012-01-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in my previous blog post, I love Christmas food. A traditional Christmas cake is no exception. I made them in 2008 and 2009, but not last year because we moved to Bristol in November. You have to make your cake in October, then feed with brandy before the marzipan and icing layers and I was a bit stuck for time.

I stuck to my trusty Mary Berry celebration cake recipe, which certainly didn't let me down. I also made a zesty orange marzipan layer, which adds a different taste and texture to the finished cake.

I haven't iced a cake for a couple of years and the last one I did (a birthday cake) didn't go so well, so I was a little apprehensive about trying again. At first, I thought buying the ready rolled icing would be helpful and take some of the stress out of the process. That was a bad move. As I was unrolling the icing, it cracked and was unusable in that state. I kneaded and re-rolled it, but just couldn't get it right. After a quick dash to Co-op to purchase some ready-to-roll icing, it took twenty minutes to ice the cake and smooth it out. Twenty minutes! I'm never bothering with ready rolled icing again, that's for sure. And I think it's the best job I've done of icing a cake. No creases or major bumps on the sides and I managed to get quite a sharp edge after smoothing.

The next stage was the decoration. I've never put much thought into the decoration of my Christmas cakes in the past, prefering to use ribbon or plastic decorations, but I fancied a change this year. I took inspiration from the Pink Whisk blog and her Stars and Sparkle Christmas cake. I chose red instead of the blue because....well, I just love red. It was pretty fiddly and time consuming, but looks really effective. It tasted ok too. Not as boozy as the previous one I made, but that's probably because I've been distracted with other things in the lead up to Christmas.

I do like to give homemade gifts at Christmas, but I didn't have much time to prepare this year. I did manage to frame a cat drawing for my Grandma though. I used my graphics tablet, but did it in the style of a very fine black pen. She seemed very pleased with it!

Lebkuchen

2011-12-07T15:08:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas. Yes! For me it's the best time of year for food. We already a Harvey Nichol's Christmas pudding, M&S gingerbread cream (like Bailey's, but better), a pannetone from a wonderful Italian deli in Montpelier, winter spiced nuts and a special tin of biscuits.

So, I felt in the mood for some Christmas baking. My brother is getting married in February and I've spent the last couple of weeks creating the wedding invitations, so things have been a little bit hectic (I will post more on that at a later date). I thought a little baking would probably be just what I needed and I'm a huge fan of lebkuchen, so figured I should try making my own. There are tons of lebkuchen recipes on the internet and they vary quite a lot, so picking one was difficult. I settled on one from The Pink Whisk blog in the end. Just in case you don't know or aren't from the UK, then The Pink Whisk is written by Ruth Clemens, who was a runner-up in the first series of BBC's The Great British Bake Off.

The dough has to rest overnight, at least, so I made it on Wednesday and baked on Friday. You can keep it in the fridge for upto three days, to let the flavours develop. It was pretty tricky, cutting out the shapes, as the dough was extremely sticky. I popped the rolled-out dough (inbetween two sheets of greaseproof paper) in the freezer to firm up while each batch was baking. I used the recipe's glaze, with some lemon juice, on half of the lebkuchen and drizzled chocolate on the rest.

I'm fairly pleased with the results. The texture is right, but they're not as dark or rich as the ones I normally buy. There's a definite gingerbread taste to them, so they're not awful by any means. I get the feeling I might have to try several recipes to find the perfect lebkuchen. I'm sure I'll have help eating the experiments though....

Halloween & Guy Fawkes 2011

2011-11-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

I never celebrated Halloween as a child, so I'm always tempted to do more now. I don't go as far as dressing up and treat or treating though. I first made pumpkin pie two years ago, where I used fresh pumpkin and then carved it into a lantern. This year I decided to try out Libby's tinned pumpkin puree for a change. I know it's what lots of Americans use, so I figured it would probably turn out fairly authentic. It took a while to decide between the recipe on the tin or the one I used two years ago, but I decided to redo the old one. The tinned one calls for evaporated milk and fewer spices, which didn't sound as nice to me. It also doesn't instruct you to blind bake your pastry before adding the filling and, as we all know, no one likes a soggy bottom. The result.... it was nice, but I didn't find tinned pumpkin as nice as fresh pumpkin. It lacked something. Anyway, I did discover that some maple syrup whipped into cream makes a really good accompaniment to the pumpkin pie.

I can remember going to firework displays when I was growing up, but I don't recall eating many of the traditional foods. I think we may have had treacle toffee. It seems bizarre to think that Parkin originates from northern England and the first time I tried it was probably whilst living in London! So, I decided to have a go at making parkin this year. You are supposed to bake parkin a week in advance, as the texture and flavours will improve over time. I did find that it was very treacly and rich, but at the same time quite crumbly. I'm not quite sure whether it's supposed to crumble so much, but we did enjoy it. I love the flavours this time of year and it just occured to me how autumnal the colours are in both of these bakes.

Sicily

2011-10-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

Since my last post I've had a birthday, been on holiday and done much baking. I just forgot to blog about it...

Firstly, one of my best friends bought me the Cox Cookies & Cake book as a birthday present. I'd looked at it in a bookshop a while ago and thought it was full of glamorous and delicious cupcakes. There are so many recipes I want to try, but I decided to start with the black forest soft cookies recipe. I adore soft, chewy cookies and cherries are the king of all fruits, so it had to be done. The bitter chocolate really goes well with the kirsch soaked cherries and they keep well because they're meant to be soft. I slightly overcooked them, but it means I've resolved to buy an oven thermometer before I attempt macarons. My husband bought Pierre Hermé's Macarons book for me. I've been waiting for it to be translated to English for a couple of years, so I'm looking forward to trying out a recipe!

We finally managed to book a holiday, once I'd got round to renewing my passport and we could decide where we wanted to go. As we'd left it so late, it needed to be somewhere that would still be warm. In the end, we chose Siracusa in Sicily. We'd seen a few different parts of Italy, very briefly when on a cruise a couple of years ago, but not really explored it any more than that. Obviously the ice cream appealed to me, to start with, then I discovered all kinds of Sicilian delicacies that sounded right up my street.

Cannoli are great and we managed to eat three while we were there. They're little tubes of fried pastry, filled with a sweet ricotta cream. I thought the filling would be overwhelming and sickly, but it was really lovely. We managed to squeeze in an extra one before going home because our flight was delayed by three hours. The ice cream was amazing too. Flavours tried were cannoli (of course), cinnamon, coconut, watermelon, mandarin, cherry and zuppa inglese, which is supposed to be English custard/trifle flavoured. Oh and the hot chocolate! The richest, thickest hot chocolate I've ever had.

When we got home, I was instantly missing the cakes and ice cream. We had bought some Sicilian lemon cream before we left, strangely enough, so I knew I had to make something to complement that. I've never made a traditional tarte tatin before, just a savoury tomato & caramelised onion one. It's such a classic bake that I'm surprised I haven't made it before really. It took a while to peel and slice all the apples, but on the whole it was easier than expected. It did annoy me slightly that I felt my neatly arranged apples move when trying to tip it out onto a plate. It also didn't look very caramelised, unlike some other tarte tatins I've seen. I used a Mary Berry recipe, but I might be tempted to try another if I ever made it again. It tasted nice anyway, which is the main thing.

Whoopie!

2011-09-05T02:37:00.000-07:00

At the start of 2005 I packed up my possessions and left my parent's house near Warrington for London. I decided to move for my career (ha!) and the majority of my friends live there. I lived in East Ham with two friends Jon and Dan. Jon has lived there for many years before and after my time there, so when we heard the house was being sold we know it would be the end of an era for him. On Saturday night, we went to a farewell party there. It was lovely to go back one last time and nice to see some things haven't changed since I left!

Since trying the red velvet whoopie pie recipe from Hummingbird Bakery's Cake Days, I've been eager to have another go at a different flavour. I was a bit concerned the banoffee whoopie pies look a little too rustic in their photograph, but actually mine look a bit smoother. I think mine are smaller than they recommend because I seem to get 16-18 pies, whereas the recipe suggests it should make 10-12. Because you have two cookies/sponges sandwiched with icing, I worry that a larger size would be incredibly sickly. The recipe was straightforward, but I found the pies needed longer in the oven than stated in the book.

I actually made the Fluff frosting this time. When I made the tiramisu cupcakes, I only used half the frosting. After some investigation on the Internet, it seems other people have had similar problems. I found that half the whoopie pie frosting was more than enough to create 16 pies. And it was very good frosting. The banana flavour is in the pie (along with a hint of cinnamon) and toffee in the icing. They certainly went down well at the party!

In other exciting news, my good friend Annie has kindly donated her Gocco to help me on my quest to set up a small business. It is very generous and will allow me to do small print runs at home. I've seen some fantastic results from other Gocco enthusiasts. I'm looking forward to getting started, although I need to be less precious about the art work. I guess if I wasn't a perfectionist, then I wouldn't be me, but I do need to learn how to let things go sometimes.

Letterpress

2011-08-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

When I haven't blogged in a while, I sometimes wonder if that means I've been inactive or really busy. I think the past month has been a mixture of the two.

Occasionally, I will browse evening and short course in Bristol to see if there's anything that will improve my career prospects or be useful in setting up my own business. On looking through UWE's offerings, I spotted a letterpress course as part of their summer school. I wondered why I hadn't noticed it before, especially considering it was in the last week of July. Anyway, after much umming and ahhing about the cost and practicalities of attending, I decided to go for it. As I have been thinking about starting my own stationery business over recent months, I felt that letterpress would be a good skill to have. Plus I adore letterpress and would've loved to have used the technique for our own wedding invites last year. For those of you not sure what letterpress actually is, as usual Wikipedia provides the answer. The course was based at UWE's Bower Ashton campus, which feels like you're in the middle of nowhere because it's on the edge of the Ashton Court estate. I liked the contrast of the modern buildings, with huge windows looking over the countryside and the decorative vintage presses in the studio. It was quite relaxing really.

Firstly, we learnt about typesetting. I was a little hesitant, because I was so keen to print images, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed typesetting. We started with the lead type. It's very fiddly and time consuming, but ultimately very relaxing. Wooden typesetting looks very effective, but is perhaps a little too rustic for my tastes. I was stuck for something to set, but settled on some She & Him lyrics (basically because I love them so much and I thought it would look sweet in letterpress). I chose to do a second print in lead, partly because I liked it and there are only two presses so there was quite a bit of hanging around.

First attempt at typsetting. Quote from She & Him.

Wooden typesetting. Quote from She & Him.

Lead type, secured into the Vandercook press.

Result of above typesetting. Quote from Patience & Prudence song "A Smile & a Ribbon".

The second part of the learning was dedicated around photopolymer plates. At this point, we got to use our own images and designs. I signed upto the course less than a week before it started (what can I say, I'm indecisive) so I didn't have much time to prepare any new designs. I did work on some Christmas greeting card designs, but because of time constraints I didn't really get the chance to use them on the course. However, I did produce two photopolymer plates and got the chance to print one of them. The process of producing the plates reminded me of screenprinting, but with a bit more elbow grease. And it's less accurate than screenprinting, it seems.

Photopolymer plate.

Results from photopolyer plate (above)

Photopolymer plate of Midland design.

I felt like I learnt a lot over the week and, that if I did ever get my own small press for home use, the skills I'd learnt would be transferable. Although everything I did print had a slight indentation, I was a little disappointed not to have time to create a definite relief. Hopefully that's something I'll get the chance to experiment with in the future. When I left university after my degree, I felt I had endured rather than enjoyed the whole experience. Even though this was a short course, the atmosphere couldn't have been more different. It did cement my suspicions I should never have studied fashion in the first place, but also made me a little more relaxed about the possibility of completing an MA one day.

Vandercook press

Cases of type

Wooden & lead furniture

Hummingbird Bakery - Cake Days

2011-06-27T01:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been a little bit quiet during June. I was working full-time for a couple of weeks, which meant that I didn't have much time (or energy!) for making and baking. Although, this meant that by the end of the work placement I was dying to do something fun.

I have to admit, I've not actually been to the Hummingbird Bakery yet. I know, I know.... that sounds a bit odd considering how much of a cake fan I am. I didn't bake much when I lived in London, back in 2005/2006, so I guess that had something to do with it. Anyway, for those who don't know, Hummingbird Bakery brought over the American craze for cupcakes, made famous by Magnolia Bakery on Sex and the City. Since then, you can get cupcakes pretty much anywhere now, but I think Hummingbird Bakery still have the edge.

After flicking through their latest recipe book, Cake Days, I was excited to see lots of recipes for whoopie pies and layer cakes, alongside some more interesting cupcakes. Seeing as June is the month for birthdays in my family, it was the perfect opportunity to try out some new recipes. I normally try to stick to child-friendly cakes, because of my niece (2) and nephew (4), but I really liked the idea of tiramisu cupcakes. I mean, who wouldn't?! To cater for the children, I also made some red velvet whoopie pies. Having said that, the children thought that a red cake was just a bit too weird and my niece was tucking into a tiramisu one!

The tiramisu ones were really, really good. It was a very time consuming recipe, but worth it for a special occasion. There are three steps; baking vanilla cupcakes, cutting/soaking the centre of the cake with a Kahlua & espresso syrup and icing the cakes with a mascarpone, cream and Kahlua frosting. They certainly tasted of tiramisu.

The whoopie pies I was less impressed with. They look the part and the texture was good. It was quite a dense texture, somewhere inbetween a cake and a cookie, which is how a whoopie should be. They just didn't taste enough of anything. There was a hint of chocolate (2 tablespoons), but not rich enough for me. I also didn't use their filling, because I felt that an entire jar of Fluff was a bit extreme. I replaced it with a simple buttercream, which was sweet enough anyway! Some preferred these to shop bought whoopie pies, because they're less sickly so they weren't a disaster. I would definitely recommend this book if you're tired of the usual cupcake recipes and ready for a new challenge.

Sundae Girl

2011-05-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

My mum has had an ice cream maker for years. Even with some encouragement from me (in the form of the Ben & Jerry's ice cream book) I don't think she really took to it. After some discussion about making ice cream myself, my mum kindly gave her machine to me! We were oop north recently because it was Annie-May's christening and I'd been asked to be her godmother. We had a whistle-stop visit to my parents while we were there, so I was able to pick up the ice cream maker.

I wasn't planning to make ice cream so soon, but I had 1/2 can of Dulce de Leche that needed using up. So, that was flavour decided. The next challenge was to find a recipe that only used 1/2 a tin. Once I did find one, it wasn't without it's problems. I chose an American recipe, which uses "heavy cream" and "half & half". After much searching on the Internet, I worked out that heavy cream is whipping cream and half & half is a mixture of single cream and skimmed/semi-skimmed milk. A lot of people seemed to think heavy is actually double here in the UK, but when you compare the fat content, it's much closer to whipping. I also wondered if half & half was the US equivalent of Elmlea, but that has vegetable oil in it.

Once I'd worked out what ingredients I needed, I just need to be brave and go for it! It was easier than I thought it would be and I added some fudge pieces to the mixture along with the pecans. I have to say, it does taste fantastic and I think I'll be making more ice cream in the future. We ate it with some crumbled cinder toffee. Next time I'd like to try a more exciting flavour, like bubblegum or turkish delight...

Brave Panda

2011-05-14T04:30:00.000-07:00

My husband, Andrew, started brewing his own beer last year. We had a successful batch last year, plus a disaster with ginger beer. Just imagine a sticky ginger beer fountain, which coated me, Andrew and the kitchen including the ceiling. We can laugh at it now...

Andrew decided he wanted to try making a stout. I am a bit like a child, in that I sometimes like blackcurrant in mine! Anyway, the kit was for an Imperial Stout. After a bit of research into the history of stout, I found that this type was also known as "Russian imperial stout". Apparently, Thrale's brewery in London used to brew it in the 18th century and export to the court of Catherine II of Russia. It's high alcohol content was to prevent it from freezing in transport. After finding out about it's Russian roots, I thought I would design a label to suit it.

To start with, I knew I wanted to involve pandas. No real reason, other than I think pandas are extremely cute and I just wanted to draw one... I combined that with the meaning of the word "stout" to settle on the name of "Brave Panda". I wanted to incorporate it's Russian history, so I translated brave panda into смелый панды. I like to think the chain symbolises his braveness, despite looking so cute. We tried the final on bottles, but felt the 'gold' background was better suited to a stout.

I completed this a while ago, but the labels were sat on the dining table for a long time before we actually applied them.

Banoffee

2011-05-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

I have just spent the weekend visiting the North. It was a very brief trip as I was attending a Christening today in Chorley. Not just any Christening, but Annie-May's. To cut a long story short, Annie-May is the daughter of my chief bridesmaid, Kay. I was asked to be her godmother shortly after she was born, which was equally exciting and scary! Standing in front of people in church was a bit nervewracking, but it's a honour so it was all worth it.

As well as going to the Christening today, we also paid a quick visit to my parents today, so made some special banoffee cupcakes. I used this recipe, which I discovered after becoming hooked on Channel 4's Baking Mad programme with Eric Lanlard (cupcake genius). I can honestly say, they tasted as good as they look. Sadly, we left our few cupcakes behind so my parents are forcing themselves to eat them. Poor things...

Cupcake Eggstravaganza!

2011-05-01T13:26:00.000-07:00

Seeing Cadbury's mini eggs in the shops since Christmas has been pretty tempting, but I managed to resist until a week before Easter. Yes, I know, how good am I?! I also quite fancied trying something new and challenging. I was thinking about spring colours and decided I wanted to do multicoloured icing. To start with I baked a dozen chocolate cupcakes.

Whilst the cupcakes were cooling, I started the icing. I just used a simple buttercream to start with, then added colourless strawberry flavouring. Once the flavour was sorted, I separated the icing into three bowls. This allowed me to start the colouring process. I wanted pale yellow, pink and green shades; the colours of spring.

Once I had the perfect spring shades, I used the Saran method to allow me to pipe all three colours at once. Using sheets of clingfilm, I put a stripe of icing in the centre and rolled it so it was enclosed. I then twisted the edges of the clingfilm and tied off both ends, to keep the icing from escaping. When I had my three colours ready in the clingfilm, I cut one end of each and placed into my piping bag. At first, just the pink came through, but it did work to some extent after a while. I didn't manage to get all three colours on one cupcake, but I think that might be because I put too much icing in each clingfilm piece. It was really hard to photograph and capture the colours, because they're so pale. The last photo shows the yellow and pink icing working quite well together though. It reminds me of rhubard & custard and Fruit Salad sweets!

Annie-May

2011-04-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

Annie-May was due on 7th April, but just couldn't wait to meet to world. She arrived on 22nd March, which meant that the leisurely pace I'd previously been knitting at needed to speed up! Annie-May is the beautiful daughter of Kay, who was the best chief bridesmaid anyone could ask for at my wedding last July. I met Kay in Manchester, where we both studied fashion at the time. I think we have a similar sense of humour and, for some reason, we're a bit obsessed with Kinder eggs (I suspect work avoidance at uni started that craze...)

Once I knew Kay was having a girl, I decided to go crazy with the pink. She had a red pram ready for Annie-May, so I figured a pink and red blanket would be good. Any excuse to knit with pink wool! I also love cable knit, so I decided on the cable & lace pattern by Stephanie Ament.

I was a bit slow to start with, as I haven't knitted anything in a while and it took me a few rows before I could memorise the pattern. I added a moss stitch border to prevent curling edges (8 rows at either end, 7 stitches to both sides) and used Rowan's All Seasons Cotton, because I used it on the last baby blanket I made and I know it has survived the washing machine. It did turn out a bit squarer than I'd imagined, but I was really pleased with the cable and lace effect. I even managed to get a little drawing to show my and Kay's mutual love of cupcakes!

Tea Time

2011-03-20T06:44:00.000-07:00

We were overwhelmed by the amount of great kitchen shops on our honeymoon in Perpignan last July. We managed to buy coloured steak knives, bird cocktail stick dispenser, the Happy Chopper (a manual chopping device), angel bottle stopper and a set of silicone teacups & saucers. I would've bought more, but my luggage allowance was at it's maximum on the way there (yes, I know I probably didn't need that many shoes for one week). The two shops we spent a lot of our time in were La Chaise Longue and Maison Quinta, which were crammed full of kitchen goodies and gadgets.

Anyway, with moving house last November, the teacups & saucers managed to get buried at the back of a cupboard and I haven't tried them out..... until now. Using my usual chocolate cupcake recipe, I half filled the cups with cake mixture. They cooked really well actually. I also tried out a different buttercream recipe, using egg whites, butter, caster sugar, vanilla extract and grounded coffee (Hasbean's Blake, if you must know!) It was a bit scary, especially as I started with dried egg whites, but after a bit of curdling and lots of mixing it finally came together. My piping was hindered by fact that my piping gun broke, so I guess I'll go back to the traditional piping bags next time.

There's a reason only six of the twelve were iced in this way! Another thing we spotted whilst in France last year was Speculoos spread. Again, I couldn't get any due to my bulging suitcase, but I never forgot how delicious it looked. Speculoos are those biscuits you sometimes get in cafes and hotels with a coffee; they're sort of caramelised, spiced thins. I just happened to be talking about the spread with my lovely Belgian friend Annie, who also loves it. That lead to her mum bring me a jar of it (and some amazing Ovatine crunchy spread too) a few weeks ago. I tried both the spreads on top of the chocolate cupcakes and they made a fantastic alternative to buttercream. My husband is trying to calm me down so the spreads will last a bit longer now....

Silicone tea cups are available at Amazon, Paperchase and probably most kitchen shops in the UK now.

Lovely Lamingtons

2011-03-01T02:53:00.000-08:00

It's possibly the worst kept secret that I am very fond of Australian soaps. I guess I started watching them in 1980s, but didn't give up when most people did. They're my guilty pleasure. Anyway, I've picked up on Lamingtons over the years and always wanted to try those little squares of sponge, chocolate and dessicated coconut. I'm a big fan of coconut.

Here comes the history.... The Lamington is said to be named after Lord Lamington, who was the Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901. Apparently, his chef was asked to provide food for guests at short notice, so he cut up left over sponge, dipped them in chocolate and coconut. Another theory is that he accidently dropped a sponge into chocolate. I'd like to think if you're a chef then you actually came about that idea, rather than sponge dropping. Anyway, they became popular and have become something of a national cake. According the Wikipedia (so take this with a pinch of salt) Lord Lamington wasn't a huge fan of the cakes..I mean, what's not to like?

There are lots of Lamington recipes on the Internet, but I wanted something pretty authentic. My friend Katey advised the Women's Weekly recipe for a traditional Lamington. I was intending to use this recipe, but stupidly didn't notice it calls for 6 eggs. Instead I used the Reader's Digest recipe as it still uses 3 eggs, cornflour and no butter. I was a bit concerned about leaving butter out, but it turned out fine. In fact, it's the only thing that's cooked properly since we moved to Bristol. The oven can get too hot and I have had a few disasters, but the Lamington sponge was a success. On it's own, it reminded me of those trifle sponge fingers. Most Lamington recipes have cocoa in the icing, but I wanted to use plain chocolate, so I used Waitrose's recipe. The icing process is pretty messy and I would suggest putting newspaper under a wire cooling rack to catch any drips. Dessicated coconut went everywhere too. They do look like Lamingtons though! They certainly taste richer than you'd imagine plain sponge and chocolate icing to be and I'm planning to try some with jam or cream in the middle. Or both!

Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin'?

2010-12-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

I had high hopes of making a Moomin gingerbread house this year. I did get as far as making all the gingerbread pieces, but found putting together a six sided shape with just icing was just too difficult. I will try again next year, but probably use liquid sugar, which is apparently rock solid when it dries. My husband will be recruited to help too!

I did manage to make some orange and ginger stained glass biscuits to hang on the Christmas tree. They didn't turn out as neat as Good Food's examples, but they never do, do they? I was wary of leaving them on the tree as apparently the sweet centre can melt and leave a sticky mess on your presents and carpet. They tasted nice though, which is main thing. I'm not sure I'd bother making them next year though. I'd rather make something I can leave on the tree....

Anyway, hope you all had a merry old time! xx

Bring me sunshine....

2010-09-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

For me, my favourite part of organising our wedding was the chance to design. There is a lot of lovely wedding stationery available, but it meant a lot to us to be able to put our own stamp on it. As we had such a defined theme, it also made sense, because we could make the stationery tie in with other aspects of the wedding.

The first thing we had to think about was the format of the invitation and what information needed to go within that. I'm not sure I knew about the wonder of pocketfolds before we got engaged, but they are wonderful! Of course, everything was in our colour scheme of strawberry, chocolate and vanilla.....er, I mean pink, brown and ivory. Each pocketfold contained an invite, map of Morecambe, RSVP/dietary requirement card and gift information, sealed with ice cream & heart sticker. My hard drive completely died not long before the wedding and I stupidly didn't back up the designs for the invitation so all we have left are the extras we made :(.

Favours were a pretty fun thing to design and make too! I felt this is where we could really do something unique. Inside each ice cream van was a little packet of Jelly Belly jelly beans in strawberry cheesecake, chocolate pudding and French vanilla flavours. I really enjoyed designing the ice cream van box, but putting together about 70 of them was a bit tiresome. Seeing all of them lined up was really cute! They went down a treat with guests too.

The table decoration was kept quite simple, but we made numbered flags to be placed in glass bottles, alongside mini birdcages and pink milkshake glasses (I say glasses, but they were actually ceramic). The three types of menu used a variety of graphics, some from the invitation.

And check out the cute little carousel Andrew made for the top table!

Theme - Retro Neapolitan Seaside!

2010-09-07T07:03:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of you have got some idea of the colour scheme and theme by now. We arrived at a neapolitan ice cream colour scheme by accident really. I quite fancied pink for my bridesmaids and accessories, ivory was going to be the colour of my dress and Andrew wanted a brown suit. The fact that we were going to hire an ice cream van and get married by the sea, reinforced our decision! Yes, that's right, we hired an ice cream van! I heard about Sunset Ices via the Internet and seen the van on previous visits to Morecambe. It's a beautifully retro restored Bedford CF van and even has the Morrissey quote "Everyday is like sundae" on the side. We hired the van, and the lovely Kate, to serve ice creams following the ceremony. I have to say everyone absolutely loved that bit and thought that is really made the day.

Following on with the theme, we then chose our florist. Catherine was great because she completely understood what we wanted, but also seemed really excited about all of our ideas. It was quite refreshing as we'd spoken to some people who thought we should tone things down and go for a more traditional approach. I don't really do traditional.... I knew I wanted simple pink roses, which Catherine translated into dome hand-tied bouquet of pink heaven roses, no greenery, the stem to be cut short and bound with brown chocolate satin to match Andrew's suit. The bridesmaids had a smaller version of mine with ivory Akito roses and one pink mini gerbera which looked so adorable! The boys had a mixture of the pink and ivory roses as buttonholes. As we also didn't want elaborate flower displays as decoration, we decided on two birdcages filled with roses - so cute! Catherine is now trading under the name Wedding Flowers by Catherine.

The cake was pretty important to us, particularly because I'm a keen baker myself. I definitely had something specific in mind for this. Again, simple, retro chic was what we wanted and Creative Cakes in Lancaster helped us create exactly what we wanted. I sent Caroline a paper copy of the design and she did an amazing job making it a reality. The top tier was sponge and the bottom two tiers were fruit cake (I say "were", we still have some in the cupboard). We had Moomin and Snorkmaiden cake toppers, mainly because we went to Finland shortly after meeting and we just generally love Moomins.

Our photographer for the day was the wonderful Phillip Gibbs of Tall Order Photography, based in Lancaster. We spoke to two photographers initially, but Phil was the more enthusiastic and easy to talk to of the two. He understood the whole vintage/retro feel we were looking for and didn't look at me like a weirdo for having examples of photos I liked and trying to explain the whole techicolour aspect. We were also impressed with how well he interacted with guests at the wedding and didn't at all feel intrusive. Plus, most importantly, he took a lot of fantastic shots so we have great photographic memories! I think, what impressed me most, was that he'd researched how ladies stood in 1950s photos and gave me a quick lesson on how to pose my feet. Here is one of my favourite images from the day, that really sums up our retro seaside happiness:

The Dress - Dolly Couture

2010-09-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

I'm as sure most brides will tell you, the dress is the most important purchase for their wedding day. I think, for me, that was definitely true and I spent many agonising hours browsing the internet trying to find the dress in my head, in real life. I'd say it took over a year for me to actually decide. That may paint me as some kind of Bridezilla type, but t was because I didn't want a full-length or meringue style dress. If you want something even slightly different from that, it becomes so much harder to find the right dress. Being a fan of anything '50s or '60s and, in particular Audrey Hepburn, it just felt right to pick a shorter, tea length dress. Actually, it's far more practical as you can walk and dance carefree, knowing that the bottom of your dress isn't getting dirty! For me, my ideal dress would have been the one Audrey Hepburn wears in Funny Face. It would've been great, had I been a size 6... So, I had to look at lots of different '50s tea dresses and think about what would suit me.

Justin Alexander Candy Anthony Stephanie Allin

I found that no one on the UK high street had anything suitable although I did come close with Justin Alexander's tea length dress, but finally decided against that when I walked past it in a shop window without realising it was that dress . Somehow in real life, it looked a lot plainer, which was a shame. I was also eyeing up a lovely Stephanie Allin dress and fancied getting a Candy Anthony custom made dress, but sadly all were out of my price range (the Nina was about £2000 and Candy Anthony start at £995 for a very plain gown and £3000 for one I liked...) looked into shortening lots of full length dresses, hiring a dressmaker and making the dress myself. I figured making your own wedding dress is probably too stressful... This led me to a website I had looked at before, but dismissed because it was in the US. Although at first it seemed ridiculous to order overseas, once I'd weighed up the cost of shipping and decided their dresses were adorable, it became the best option.

And that website is Dolly Couture! It's run by a lady called Dolly Thicke, who found it so difficult to find a shorter, vintage style wedding dress for herself, she decided to set up her own business. I had a hard time choosing a style as they are all so nice! At the time I noticed they had posted a photo of a new style called 'Beverly Hills'. I loved 90% of it, so decided to alter it slightly, using the previous '50s dress research I'd done.

1950s dress shape

Original Beverly Hills design

My photoshopped version of Beverly Hills

The alterations I made were to remove the straps, make the sweetheart neckline less rounded and slightly pointy, shaped the waistband towards the neckline and made the skirt fuller. However, I loved the little chiffon rosettes and huge bow. It was simple and chic, but still a dress fit for a special day! Dolly always advises to allow for adjustments when the dress arrived and I just needed the bust to be taken in slightly (a friend's mum kindly helped out here as I still didn't trust myself and my sewing skills near my dress). I had the dress made longer than the original Beverly Hills, which is probably the only thing I would change if I could. Being 5ft 3", I think the length made me look slightly stumpy in some photos, but I was trying to achieve that classic Audrey length.

Accessories - my birdcage veil was from Etsy shop Velvet Owl, Tarina Tarantino Pink Head earrings (yeah, Hello Kitty!!), pearl necklace and pale pink shoes. I did want some little ivory gloves too, but I just couldn't find any, sadly. If anyone wonders where the bow is......I left it at home! It was attached separately and I only realised I'd left it behind when we were in Morecambe (approx. 4 hours from our house). I felt sick because it was one of the features that really made the dress, but there wasn't much I could do about it at that time. Plus it didn't really detract from how wonderful the day was ♥

Wedding photographs by Tall Order Photography

Venue - The Midland Hotel

2010-09-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

2010 is a very special year, as it's when Andrew and I tied the knot! It seems a long time since we booked the venue back in 2008. I think we wanted 2009 initially, but as they'd only re-opened in June 2008, the whole of 2009 was booked up. Anyway, the venue of choice was The Midland in Morecambe. The white art deco exterior, ultra modern interior and seaside location really won us over. The Midland's history is very interesting; it's a grade 2 listed building, purchased in 2003 by Urban Splash whose aim was to restore the hotel to it's former glory, but also run it as a modern hotel.

Originally, The Midland was commissioned by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company as a modern replacement for the Victorian hotel that stood on the same site. It cost £72,000 and the architect Oliver Hill was chosen to oversee the project. I think what made Hill a good choice was his eye for detail. His keen interest in upholstery, décor and furniture meant that he took complete control over the interior colour scheme, furnishings and art work.

Hill also commissioned Eric Gill to carve the two seahorses for the outside of the building, the circular medallion on the ceiling at the centre of the staircase and a map of the Lake District and Lancashire coast on the wall of the South Room. The most spectacular piece is his bas-refief entitled "Odysseus welcomed from the sea by Nausicaa" which stands at 5m x 3m. Gill designed many typefaces which are in everyday use today, but I was a little disturbed when I did some research on him. If I just say his initial plan for the relief was rejected on the grounds that it was too explicit and leave it at that! It's fantastic that all Gill's work has been restored, but it's sad that the Eric Ravilious painting in the rotunda café didn't survive due to poor preparatory work.

Another interesting contributer is the textile designer Marion Dorn. Deemed as one of the most important textile and rug designers of the first half of the 20th century, she created hand-knotted rugs for the entrance lounge which spanned nearly five metres in diameter. When we saw a wedding planner back in 2008, she said they were recreating the original rugs. It certainly looks a lot more cosy in the lounge now, with the rugs and armchairs.

The original opening was on Wednesday 12th July 1933 and a crowd of about 500 people had gathered even though there was not a lot for them to see! It soon became the place to stay attacting the wealthy and famous. Theatre stars performing at the Winter Gardens would become frequent guests, but my favourite is Coco Chanel. My motto during our planning was "if it's good enough for Chanel, it's good enough for me".

It seems that The Midland didn't enjoy success for very long as in 1939 it was requisitioned by the Government for us as a military hospital during the war. The dining room became a ward and the café a pshyiotherapy centre. Upstairs there were operating theatres, x-ray facitilies, dental surgery and chemist. When the war was over, the building was in a bad state of repair. It was repaired to some extent and reopened in 1948, but it wasn't as profitable. It changed hands many times, but never regained the popularity in the '30s. By the 1970s holidaymakers were heading abroad and British seaside resorts had lost their appeal.

After a few failed attempts to revive The Midland, it was bought by Urban Splash in 2003. They opened their doors in June 2008 and I have to say, I think they've done a fantastic job. I love that they've managed to restore a lot of the original features, yet combine it with ultra modern décor without ruining the whole feel of the hotel. The guest rooms have no reference to the '30s, which some might not like, but I think their attention to detail is something that Oliver Hill would approve of. The novel way of closing the bathroom door, hidden ironing board/iron, stylish chairs and lighting (different in a lot of rooms) turned me into an excited child. We had the best suite for our wedding night which had 'his & hers' sinks and toilet, a huge circular bath with shower from the ceiling in the centre, hot tub on the terrace and just generally enormous lounge area. In a nutshell, we loved it!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

Hand drawn images of cats, using Wacom Intuos graphic tablet. Given to my mum.

Hand drawn image of a cat, printed onto textured paper and mounted on origami paper. Given to my Auntie Val.

A close-up of the two T-Shirt graphics I painted. The colour isn't quite right - left should be khaki and right a deep burgundy. And that's an origami penguin on the right, if you can't tell...

Christmas cake, with a lot of brandy and zest orange marzipan.

Choo choo!

2009-11-02T04:41:00.001-08:00

It seems like a while since I last blogged. I think the trouble is I've got lots of projects on the go at one time, but hopefully I'll get to finish them all. I'm currently designing some bicycle decals for Andrew, knitting a jumper, sewing some new clothes for myself and always baking something. It's also roughly 8 months until the wedding now, so I'm trying to make a final decision about my dress. We have the venue, registrar, ice cream van and florist booked. We think we've found a DJ, although finding a photographer has proved difficult. I'll have to think about designing the favour boxes and invitations soon. Still, we're really looking forward to the day! Oh, and the honeymoon...

Anyway, back to what I've been upto. Last weekend saw my nephew, Joshua, turn three years old. I got quite excited about all the possibilities of birthday cakes, but decided Joshua would like some kind of train cake (he loves Thomas the Tank Engine, like most little boys). I wanted to do a two tier cake, so the bottom tier was chocolate and the top tier, plain sponge.

After much apricot jam I iced both tiers with white icing, followed by green, which I trimmed to create the look of grass. I painted the top tier with a solution of powdered blue colouring and vodka, to look like sky. I added some hills with leftover green icing and put a red 3 on the top. The last thing to do was pipe the track on the 'grass' (mmm, chocolate icing). I did cheat a little with the train aspect of the cake, although I did like how the candles sat in the carriages. Joshua seemed to like it anyway!

Saturday was halloween. We don't really celebrate it, but I have been talking about making pumpkin pie for a while. I couldn't resist scooping out the flesh and creating a lantern. The pie is lovely - a bit like egg custard, but with added flavour. I even had some pumpkin left over and made some creamy soup today.

Daisy

2009-06-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

I have a new niece! She's called Daisy (such a cute name) and is approximately four days old. I've been keeping the details of her presents secret so they would be a complete surprise. Since we didn't know the gender of the baby, I had to come up with a unisex colour scheme. I thought that cream, navy and red would suit boys and girls, plus add a wonderful '60s sailor theme! I wonder if I'll ever tire of nautical inspired things... Another thing I had to take into consideration was washable yarn, suitable for a new born. Rowan All Seasons cotton seemed like a good option and I imagine it'll be hardwearing too. Well, I hope so!

The first item I completed was a baby blanket. This looks more difficult than it actually is, just because of the waves the pattern creates. I had a few issues with it to start with, but that was down to my yarnovers. I thought I'd been doing them right all these years, but I soon found out I wasn't! I was really pleased with how neat the end result was and managed not to make any mistakes, yay!

For the second item, I chose to do something quite different from my past projects. An elephant! Again, this was easier than it looks, although I had trouble towards the end because an allergy has caused my hands to blister. Luckily I only had the ears to do at that stage.

Hot Hot Hot

2009-03-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

I finished this a few weeks ago, but it has been sat waiting to be photographed. Another Ravelry pattern, which was a quick knit. I used this as an opportunity to get rid of some yarn that has been sitting around (usually when I've got one ball or less left). I haven't tried it out yet, but it feels quite cuddly!

Betty's Beret

2009-02-19T12:07:00.000-08:00

This was a lovely quick knit. I ♥ cable knit, pink and berets, so it was the obvious choice. This is my first pattern taken from Ravelry and it does make things a lot easier. My queue is a little bit too long on there now! The pattern is by Ashley Hasse and called 'Cabled Beret', surprisingly. I used Rowan Handknit Cotton in a nice bright pink. However, it has turned out a bit too big so if I were to knit it again, I'd probably remove one of the cable repeats. I haven't blocked it yet, which might actually solve this problem anyway. I think it really suits Betty, so even if I can't wear it she looks fabulous! I'm wondering whether to knit a white fluffy bow to attach to it now...

Marshmallow World

2009-01-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

I hope it isn't bad luck to blog about Christmas decorations this long after the festive season! I decided to make these little felt decorations as I kept spotting them in the shops, but didn't fancy paying lots of money for them. All it took was a few doodles, felt, glue, embroidery thread, ribbon and a little imagination....

PS. The title of this post is a reference to my favourite Christmas song, recorded by Darlene Love and produced by Phil Spector.

Three Tees

2009-01-14T08:04:00.001-08:00

Close up of hand painted black bicycle print. Based on a drawing of a Raleigh bicycle from '70s catalogue.

Me, doing my best Jean Seberg impression.

Jean!

One of Andrew's Christmas presents. Print taken from drawings by me.

Get Back

2009-01-14T07:29:00.000-08:00

It's been such a long time since I last blogged! I feel a bit guilty, as I have got things to show, but just didn't feel like blogging at the time I guess. So what's been happening since my last post? Well, in September we went on a cruise around the Mediterranean with my future in-laws. We had a great time and it was the first time I'd been to Italy. It was a week of amazing food and drink, not to mention a trip to Sephora!

Just in case you missed it above or elsewhere on the internet, yes I did make the reference 'my future in-laws'! Since the engagement we spent a long time looking for a ring and browsing the internet for venues. After much debate, we settled on the Midland Hotel in Morecambe and have booked it for a Saturday in summer 2010. Everything about Morecambe just seemed to fall in place for us and I got to the point where I couldn't imagine getting married anywhere else. I've been looking at dresses on the internet, but it's far too early to be trying them on. If we decide to have a classic fruit wedding cake, then I will probably make it myself. I made one cake at Christmas, fed with lots of brandy then topped with homemade zesty marzipan and royal icing. It went down very well! I probably won't put any ideas relating to the wedding on here as I don't want Andrew to see my dress before the day and it would be a bit boring if the guests saw everything too!

So, I think what I'll do now is update the projects I have finished then hopefully keep it upto date from now on.

Peachy

2008-08-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the painting of a peach meringue recipe from a 1960's Petticoat magazine. It looks pretty cool against the brick fireplace in our living room.

I originally found the image whilst browsing old '60s magazines in the National Arts Library within the V&A and thought that it would make a fantastic painting. That was in 2005, but I recently bought some issues of Petticoat on eBay, one of which contains the peach meringue recipe.

We spent a weekend in Antwerp last month as we needed a holiday and I needed the inspiration. I just love it there - mainly because of the fashion. The Walter shop (Walter Van Beirendonck) becomes more sparse on each visit, which is a shame. It's still a unique shop though! Where else would you find a log cabin, conveyor belt, and automatic garage door entrance? I remembered this time not to lean on the suspended counter as it makes you feel dizzy. I want to know where the giant white teddy bear has gone though - I think it had Antoni & Alison items in there back in 2001. We also went to ModeMuseum (MoMu) as it wasn't open when I'd visited with uni. The Veronique Branquinho exhibition was really interesting. I'm always a bit worried that fashion exhibitions can be a bit sterile, but it kept us entertained for quite a while (yes, both of us!) I miss Antwerp, particularly the waffles.

Sock it to 'em!!

2008-06-19T09:53:00.001-07:00

I've been working on this for months, just picking it up when I have some spare time. I had the idea to make some kind of sock as a protective cover for my laptop when it's not in use. Obviously, you can get them for mp3 players, but I thought it would be interesting to do it on a larger scale. I have quite a lot of sock patterns bookmarked, but seeing as I've never worn the pair of socks I made, it would be a waste of time to knit more. You get the most lovely patterns on socks though, so I figured I'd take it and adapt it for the laptop sock. I chose to use Monkey by Cookie A and bought myself a new, lovely KnitPicks circular needle (I was disappointed I couldn't use my new pink Denise needles, but they don't go small enough). It was a really easy knit actually and definitely a good one for doing whilst watching the tv.

Sorry I left it so long inbetween posts. There's been changes here which have taken up my time. Basically, I've quit my job so I can work on my portfolio. I'm having a stab at having a creative career and I quite fancy doing some freelance. There is a good chance it won't work out, as it's been so long since I graduated and I have very little industry experience, but I have to try to escape the admin/managerial route I could take.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T15:27:00.000-08:00

Here is the heart shaped coffee and walnut cake I made for Valentine's Day. It was a bit tricky doing two tiers, but I managed to get away with it. Most importantly it tastes lovely. I also made these biscuits a while ago (I did make some pink cupcakes too, but didn't get a photo of them unfortunately).

Anyway, sorry it's taken me so long to update. I have been very ill pretty much since the last post, so I don't have much to report. I'm slowly working on a painting when I feel upto it and we're trying to do the RPM challenge. I am finding it difficult to get motivated so whether we get it finished on time or not is another matter. I treated myself to a reverse-key MicroKorg with Christmas money and it's proving very handy so far. Here's a photo of me working hard on finding the right sound, while Andrew snaps away managing to get not only my pyjama bottoms, but also my blanket in the shot. Oh well...

Goodbye...

2007-10-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

I guess I have a lot of things to update on since I last blogged. Quite a lot of good and a little bit of bad.

I'll start with the good. I went on holiday for a week, to Carcassonne, Perpignan and Barcelona. I loved the shopping in France, felt relaxed for the first time in ages and found it really hard coming home then going back to work. I won't ramble on about it and get my photos out, as I have horrid memories of being forced to go through two packs of photos when my grandparents ever returned from holiday. There was generally a story for each photo.

Other good news, I've finally gone blonde! No more umming and ahhing - it's done. I really like it and everyone else seems to think it suits me too. I was aiming for a Sylvie Vartan/Dusty Springfield/Tippi Hedren type blonde, which seems to have worked well. I can't really say blondes have more fun just yet as it's been quite a bad week, but we'll see over time....

The final great thing to happen is that I've actually made a start on my portfolio. I invested in a Wacom Intuos3 graphic tablet as most of my designs start with print ideas. It is absolutely brilliant - I love being able to draw straight onto the computer. Unfortunately, this means no knitting in the near future. I won't post any glimpses of my current design project, but here's a self portrait I did when I was playing around.Then, there's the bad news. Unfortunately, my beloved cat Scraggy was put down yesterday. I only found out at lunchtime he was having an operation. My parents feel a bit lost at the moment, I think. I was really upset last night and have just been feeling fed up today. I know I didn't see him that often, but I will miss him a lot. My mum is keeping his ashes until Christmas then we can bury him in the garden together. I'm not looking forward to this Christmas for two reasons now.

The Icing on the Cake

2007-08-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

I decided to make some carrot and orange cupcakes on Friday evening as Andrew's mum was coming to stay for the weekend. I have been talking about cake stands for months, but never seemed to find one that was perfect. Andrew's mum arrived with a large box on Saturday morning and ta-da! There it was, pretty much the cake stand I had been imagining for months. It's from Maxwell & Williams and I'm now eyeing up the teapot from the same range.I sort of wish I knew more knitters in Swindon, then we could start a knitting circle. I think my cupcakes look great on my new cake stand. The only trouble is that I'll have to bake lots more cakes now.....

Wanted - Part Two

2007-07-29T02:06:00.000-07:00

At the moment, I'm loving Sylvie Vartan's style. She has the most perfect blonde bob and simple chic clothes that I would kill for. I try to keep things simple, but I still fall for some garments that have elaborate patterns. I think it's because I love to design prints. I ordered a few things online yesterday, which I'm hoping will look good. I'm not completely sure about the purple dress, but I'll have to see how it looks on me.

I also have my eye on a few things at the minute.....

It's all about being ladylike, prim and proper. Someone at work made a joke about me being the kind of person who would have my name embroidered onto my hankerchiefs. I could've told them to get lost, but it sounds like quite a good idea. I never did get any Mary Quant, Marimekko or Orla Kiely goodies from my last 'wanted' post, by the way. I haven't been to London in months, so maybe next time I go I'll have a shopping spree.

On the knitting front, I've started Shimmer, got Petal ready to go and lots of baby items in the pipeline. I think I might knit my mum Branching Out, perhaps in Rowan lurex shimmer (in claret), but I can't decide if it'll be too sparkly. She tends to sneeze when she comes into contact with wool, but lurex shimmer is polyester and viscose so it would be good from that point of view. I guess a cotton dk would also be a good option, like Rowan Cotton Glacé in poppy. I think it's going to be red anyway....

PS. I hope you like the nautical theme to my blog!

Baby Boom (Part One)

2007-07-07T09:47:00.000-07:00

There's a bit of a baby boom happening around me at the moment. No, not me. One of my work colleague's had a baby girl (Olivia) a few weeks ago, another colleague and my best friend from university are both currently pregnant. "Great", I thought, "there's an excuse to knit and sew some baby clothes!" So I invested in The Little Sublime Hand Knit Book. Quite a few pattern books had some strange/ugly baby clothes and accessories, but this one seemed to have a good balance.

For Olivia I decided to knit the retro bonnet and t-bar sandals (called 'beach sandals' in the book). in Sublime's baby cashmere merino silk dk, shade Vanilla 03. The moss stitch feels really nice and soft. What frustrated me a little was trying to keep the sandals neat and tidy because they're so small and fiddly in 0-3 months size. I think they look ok, but I'm not convinced I should give them to her. I think they'd look better in the larger sizes. Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a perfectionist...

However, I'm quite pleased with the bonnet. It has ear flaps and fastens under the chin with a button. I didn't like the flower in the pattern so I found another one on the internet, which looked much neater and added a button to it. It doesn't look like we're getting much of a summer this year, so I expect she might get to wear the bonnet straight away.

Hedera

2007-06-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

Ta da! Hedera is complete. They were quite painless considering I've never knitted any socks before. I was a bit anxious about turning the heel, but it was easier than I imagined. I'm not sure why it's made out to be a difficult thing in the knitting world. I shortened the length, as they would've been really high if I hadn't. I wanted them to be cute ankle socks. I think it looks more flattering as a result. I made a few other amendments along the way too (the toe is shortened, which I prefer).

They're a bit too thick and not very comfortable with shoes. So I still have that problem, that I doubt I'll ever wear them. It's becoming an annoying regular theme for me! They're going to be packed away until winter anyway, so I may wear them around the house to keep my feet warm. I do love the colour though. I used Opal Uni 4 ply in colour 1415, which I think goes wonderfully with the gold glitter heels!

Cherish The Thought

2007-05-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

It's finished! I bought the Cherish kit from the Kim Hargreaves website back in January, but it sat untouched until a few weeks ago (in fact, I started it the date of my last blog entry). I did finish it on Sunday, but have been a bit poorly since then and too tired to post a picture. So it actually only took one week from start to finish, which I think is pretty good going considering I haven't knit a garment before. I also put the speed down to the fact that the wool and needles are so big. The pattern can get a little confusing at times, not least because it's in vertical card form and I thought you followed the pattern down, as opposed to across (ok, I hold my hands up and admit that's probably is down to my excitement and not reading it properly). On the whole it was straightforward - there were only a few head scratching moments.

However, I'm not completely happy with the finished item. The chunkiness is perhaps a little too much. I think I prefer daintier knits. It's not the most flattering garment either, which is something that bugs me. I'm also thinking it looks handmade, which is a problem I've had with knitted things in the past. Maybe it's because I can achieve a high standard of finishing when it comes to sewing and I'm not quite up to speed with the techniques of knitting just yet or maybe I should choose patterns with thinner wool and needles. I think I'll have to be a bit more patient anyway. It has given me the taste for knitting garments though and I already have my eye on other patterns to try.

In fact, this week I have cast on my first pair of socks. I'm not a fan of ankle socks normally (only knee highs and over the knee socks do it for me, sadly), but I wanted to see if turning a heel really was that scary. So I've picked Hedera using Opal Uni 4 ply (colour 1415) for my first attempt. My first heel has been successfully turned and I don't see what the fuss was all about! The lace pattern is really feminine and effective. I also really like working with the Brittany 2.5mm birch needles and the colour of the wool is just perfect. After the socks are finished I've promised myself that I'll either finish the oil painting, do a fashion project for my portfolio or make some clothes for myself. I'll do all of them eventually, but it's tough deciding. I've got the first two weeks of June to myself, so I imagine it'll be a very productive time!

Long Time, No See

2007-05-06T16:32:00.001-07:00

I've not got much to update on my creative activities, unfortunately. Yesterday, however, I made a very exciting purchase. A beautiful Schwinn SS cruiser.

I've been eyeing cruisers up for at least the past year. It's pretty obvious why! The position of the handlebars and the saddle are really comfortable. I'm hoping to find a white wicker basket and I've already purchased this bell. Predictable, eh? I had my heart set on an original 1930s Schwinn, but they're unlikely to come up for sale and probably weigh a ton compared to the modern day equivalent. I'm glad the some of the details are the same though, like the saddle:

Modern Schwinn saddle

1930s Schwinn Excelsior

I've knit the front right piece of Cherish this evening, which when I sat down and concentrated, wasn't really that hard. The pattern is slightly confusing in parts; It could certainly do with being clearer. Even the buttonhole was completely painless. If I can do Cherish, then I think I'll probably continue making a few more knitted garments. Petal, Peace, Hush and Blithe all look fantastic. I've also got a few knee high socks patterns bookmarked. Then again, I do have the oil painting to finish , lots of summer clothes ideas and a fashion project to get down on paper too....

Wanted - Reward $100

2007-03-25T10:01:00.001-07:00

It has been mentioned on several occasions that I have a distinctive style. I like to think I don't just wear what everyone else does. People whose style I admire are Audrey Hepburn, Sylvie Vartan, Jean Seberg and France Gall. I watched 'How to Steal a Million' for the first time a few nights ago and that clean look is exactly what I want.

I've spotted a few things on the internet I'd quite like, but I've also got a couple of items in mind to make. I want some shell tops with big buttons on the back in various patterns and inverted pleated knee length skirts. Here's a bunch of other things I wouldn't mind if I somehow had a ridiculous amount of money.

Badges Schmadges

2007-03-18T15:09:00.001-07:00

I've been on a badge designing spree, for our monthly clubnight Dimestore Disco. We just need to take a vote on one of them or chain me to the drawing board to do some more.

Happy Mothers Day

2007-03-15T06:23:00.000-07:00

Let's hope she doesn't read this....

Pencil drawing

No 1

2007-02-25T10:05:00.001-08:00

To create your own Jackson Pollock style chocolate topping, go here.

Let's Make This Precious

2007-02-10T09:34:00.000-08:00

I've finished the knotted openwork scarf! It was getting a bit repetitive towards the end, but kept a flu-ridden Sarah entertained last week. I'm not sure how much I'll actually wear it, but at least I've tried something a little different. I've not blocked it yet, but I'm waiting until I get a spray bottle thingy then I can pin it out and just dampen it. The proper way is to wet it, but I'm not overly keen on spending too much time on it now considering I may not even wear it.

I bought some alpaca wool a few weeks ago, from Toft Alpacas. It just happens to be around the corner from Andrew's mums which is handy! I got two skeins of Special Blend Four Ply in black, with the intention of making a beret with it, but I might be a little distracted by other things for a while. I'm wondering whether I can knit with a metallic thread to create a sparkly finish. Might work, might not.

I have decided to revamp my portfolio, making it a mixture of fashion and graphic design. I've just bought my first sketchbook in years and I'm getting quite excited about my first project. No idea what it'll be about, but excited anyway. I'm hoping I'll be able to break into the world of freelance, but not really sure how easy it will be.

Hey Now

2007-01-21T12:36:00.000-08:00

On the stereo: Lesley Gore
Sometimes I get to thinkin' 'bout days gone by
And I start cryin' every time

I've got about 30 inches of the knotted openwork scarf done, but as predicted I've been distracted by the kit I purchased. Well, I don't feel like I've got much done this week at all as it's being squeezed inbetween looking for a new job and housework. Ahh, domestic bliss! Anyway, enough of that, back to the kit. I get a bit bored knitting scarves and hats; I guess I'm always looking for the next challenge. The kit comes in the form of Cherish from the Kim Hargreaves website. I wasn't overly brave and opted for smoky coloured wool, just like they've used in the photo. I started the back piece this evening and noticing that using 12mm needles and chunky wool means you progress a lot faster than using 3mm needles and DK wool (remember my two attempts at the basket weave sweater?) I was having a panic about the picot edging, but I think it'll look better when it's all sewn together and stretched on the body. I'm trying not to worry too much about it at the moment. It was a pain to knit the ribbed edge sideways, cast off, then pick up stitches along the top. It's not much to look at, I know, but bear with me.... Just look at my needles! I bought these about five years ago for a uni project, but have been unused since then. I think the smoky grey wool looks fabulous against the vibrant pink needles. I'm also thinking of ditching the co-ordinating button that comes in the kit and using an oversized plastic one instead. White or pink would do the trick.

I really, really want to make Shimmer, also from Kim Hargreaves. I'm slightly put off by the statement 'suitable for the experienced knitter' so I think I may stick to the beret pattern I found online and find some DK weight glittery wool or Rowan kidsilk night in Starry Night. I guess my next task really should be some sewing or painting. I haven't made any clothes for months and the fire place is screaming out for a painting. It'll be the first time in about 9 years I've painted on canvas, but hopefully it'll be like riding a bike.

I'm off to write a song. Plinky plonk.

Knit Wit

2007-01-14T04:11:00.000-08:00

Wow! it's the first official post in the new blog. Well, one with some content anyway.

I thought I'd start by posting some things I did before Christmas. Unfortunately, I gave two things away without taking photos of them, so I'm still awaiting photos from them. Anyway, I have the first hat that I ever knitted, so that'll do for now. Andrew wanted a new hat and I wanted to knit one, so there was a simple solution! Based on the "That chocolate's gone straight to your ribs" hat, I made this using Jaegar's extra fine merino DK in shade 972 (chocolate brown), Debbie Bliss cotton DK in shades 01 (white) and 42 (orange). It was pretty easy. The decreases were easier than I had anticipated. I think Andrew's pretty happy with the results and it goes very well with his khaki duffel coat. It's been keeping his brain warm since the end of October/early November. It certainly kept me entertained on all the train journeys I was making around that time (I was travelling from London to Swindon regularly, having job interviews and looking at houses).

At the moment I'm working on something which was a bit of a last minute decision. I had intended to order Rowan Kidsilk Night in Starry Night, but managed to select Starlight instead. I blame the sleep deprived state I was in - stupid cough. I was going to make a black sparkly beret, but ended up with white sparkly wool. What was I to do? I'd fancied trying out some sort of lace knitting for a while, so I thought this would be the opportunity to try out something quite easy. I found the knotted openwork scarf and it all seemed quite straight forward. I'm using 4mm needles instead of the 5.5mm recommended on the pattern. I think it'll look a lot neater once it's been blocked. I have a kit from Kim Hargreaves sat at the Post Office depot right now, so the lace scarf will probably get put to one side in favour of that when I pick it up. I'm getting quite excited about the cardigan. It doesn't look too fancy, but will be nice to be able to venture into the world of garments as I don't wear scarves very often.

I've also been busy buying patterns on eBay. I've got plenty of patterns to be getting on with, that's for sure!

Hello!

2007-01-08T13:26:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my shiny, new blog. This will be a celebration of everything creative, whether that be art, fashion, knitting or music. You'll be glad to know I'm not quite ready to venture into the world of performance art just yet and somehow doubt I ever will. So you've no excuse not to regularly check my projects.

For commissions, please email me at saz.pops@gmail.com. If you don't ask, you don't get.

Enjoy!