Off my needles: felted slippers

I never really understood slippers. I mean obviously the concept of them was not ungraspable, however they were just never really something I got on with until the last few years. 

I had previously made these from a kit I picked up at the Knit and Stitch Ally Pally a few years back; they were a beautiful forest green and I wore them until they were full of holes and fairly filthy, slobbing out to the car in them, spilling porridge and coffee on them whilst clumsily making my breakfast in the dark in them...

When I got a hole so badly that my big toe was poking out, I realised I needed to knit myself up a new pair, however wanted to try and find the cheapest feltable (is that a word?) wool that I could, as I knew they would last about as long as my other ones, and I wear them to death. A quick google search and Ravelry hunt told me that the Cascade 220 was 100% wool and good for felting, so I picked a couple of this colour, I think it was midnight blue or something, from their Heathers collection. It's so good that brands like Cascade and the Drops Alpaca ranges are getting more readily available over here, sometimes you want relatively priced yarn that isn't acrylic, which is pretty hard to find in the UK, I feel like.

Anyway, the pattern you can buy online, or there are similar ones all over Ravelry, but you basically knit giant floppy shapes with the yarn held double, and then you stick them in the washing machine until they felt up. They're super cosy, and great for shuffling about the house in.

I've knit them for a friend, too, who seemed to enjoy them, and they knit amazingly fast - so I would say they make good gifts. They loosen up over time, but that can easily be resolved by a quick wash, and they quickly shrink back up again. Obsessed doesn't even cut it - I'm rarely without these, these days.

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Christmas (2016) Preparation...

I've been a bit out of the loops with blogging, recently. I'm not sure what happened, but one minute it was Halloween and I was all excited for Autumn - then I blinked and it was December 

Somewhere in between a lot happened, apparently. I escaped to the Derbyshire countryside, and even flew across to America, leaving me with seriously depleted funds (new handbag, anyone? And Sephora is a dangerous place...).
I decided, a little bit too late, that I wasn't to make gifts for people - however it is definitely my plan for next year. Hopefully by this time next year, I can be like Mina Philipp and have churned out about 40 pairs of socks in a year!

Since I got back from America, I've stormed through two pairs of socks for people for Christmas, made a huge batch of honeycomb, made two slabs of fudge for my closest friends, as always finding the time to knock out some Orange and Cardamom biscuits for the family.

I think throughout next year, I really want to put the emphasis on making more things for people. I've been discussing it over the last few weeks with people, to test the waters, because theres always that worry (of mine) that people will think I'm being cheap or something. Turns out no, the general consensus is that my friends think hand-made gifts are sweet and thoughtful (which is what I was aiming for...) and also, it makes me think hard about who the people are I'm making things for, because I always go a bit mad and overboard at this time of year.
So, if you're my friend, you're probably getting handknit socks sometime between now and Christmas 2016... Please subtly drop into conversation your foot size.

Also, please excuse the extreme close-up (don't judge my knitting too closely!) - as these are a gift for someone for Christmas, who may or may not read my blog, I'm not sure! I'm obsessed with the 'eye of the partridge' heel that I picked up in the Hermione's Every Day Sock pattern - and have knit it on every pair of socks recently. I think it's 100% more beautiful than the slip stitch heel I usually favour! 

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homemade pina colada ice-cream recipe!

Look, I could've easily gone with a if you like dancing in the rain, you'll like my ice-cream sort of title, but thought I'd be chill, because I was hoping I'd get your attention anyway with this bowl of deliciousness.

This is no recipe of mine, but one from Nigella Lawson, whose way of describing food disturbs me (something too sensual about it for my British sensitivities) but her recipes are always some of the very best. I suppose that's why she's good at what she does - that and she looks great in a wrap dress and was married to a multi-millionaire but I digress.

It's so freaking easy to make, it tastes phenomenal, and when you say you've made your own ice-cream sans ice-cream maker, people think you're some sort of culinary genius, when you're really just a bit lazy.

For more pictures and the recipe, keep reading;

autumn leaf bunting diy

I thought I'd show you guys my most recent make, that is hanging proudly in my window, my little autumn leaf bunting. Having been a fan of Attic-24 and her kind of bunting for a while now, I wanted to do something similar that was more me. I'd had this nutscene twine hanging about for a bit and thought I would make some little autumn-leaf bunting. It's a fairly similar pattern, so I'm just linking to the ones that I used, but thought you might like to know how I did it..

YOU'LL NEED:

- 3 small rolls of Nutscene twine, I used a brown, an orange and a yellow)

- crochet hook, suitable for the size of yarn or twine you're using

- a method of hanging, I like those 3M hooks.

- needle

1. I'm not going to repost the crochet instructions here, partly because I'm crap at crochet, and there are so many out there to choose from. I used this pattern for the large leaf and the medium fat bottom leaf from this page, for the small ones.

2. I will say that if you're using the twine, it's pretty hard on the hands to crochet with,and I found it really tough to just crochet in general, so you may need to be wary of that.

3. Leave enough string to hang them from. I found that I could easily get 1 large leaf and 2 small ones from each small roll of twine, with a length to spare - but then ended up with a giant knot in one of them and had to use the leftover length...

4. When you've crocheted all your leaves, use an iron to gently steam them flat as they have a tendency to curl in on themselves.

5. Sew in any ends, and thread through with a needle onto your length of yarn and hang in your window.

So there you go, it's pretty simple but it looks really cute, and it'll be staying up well into the new year, I think. I might even try making a Christmas-themed garland, though I might try a knitted one next time, because I'm really not very good at crochet (I had to have my mum help me with these because I get super confused between the US/UK crochet terms haha). Let me know if you try this out, I'd love to see photos! 

quick and easy breakfast porridge

Porridge is not one of those things I ever considered really for breakfast, I have to say. When I was little, mum used to make it for us before school on cold mornings, or my Grandma would make it when we went to visit her, but the only way I liked it then was with copious amounts of sugar and milk. I stopped having it when I realised there were more fun breakfasts out there, like coco pops...

Flash forward to uni and my friend Amy used to eat a lot of those little instant porridge pots. They never looked that appealing to me, but who knows, I busy was enjoying my sausage bap with extra ketchup. In the supermarket a few months back, I had a flash of intrigue and threw one into my trolley, and it promptly sat in my kitchen cupboard until the weather turned cold enough for me to warrant trying it. 

And it wasn't a pleasant experience, is all I can say. It was pretty much like eating glue, I don't know if thats because I had to add water, or what, but it was like tasteless glue in a little paper cup. More determined this time around, I set out on a mission to buy some oats, and give it a go again. A couple of mornings later and I have it down fine art! I do it in the microwave, because, really, I can't be trusted with fire and gas at 7.30AM.

I'll include my little recipe here, but it's really not a recipe, more a ratio.

INGREDIENTS
For one large serving:
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1 cup semi-skimmed milk
- Toppings of your choice!

1. Place a 1/2 cup of porridge oats in a microwavable bowl. For ease in the morning, I use a 1/2 cup measure, because who can be bothered weighing things that early in the morning? Google tells me it's about 90g.
2. Add the milk to the bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. I microwave it in 30 second blasts, and mix in-between, to make sure all the oats are being covered by the milk.
3. Leave to stand for about 30-60 seconds, whilst finding/preparing your toppings. 

My go-to favourite-topping is a good helping of jam, currently rotating between peach, plum or pear jam, with a handful of raisins or nuts, depending on what I can find in the morning, thought I've experimented with some slightly less healthier versions that involved chocolate chips, but my favourite is with lots of jam. It sort of feels like I'm having rice pudding for breakfast, and I can imagine I'm somewhat decadent.
Have you got any topping recommendations? I'd like to upgrade my porridge-game..

homemade flatbreads + recipe

This post starts with how most thrown-together recipes start: my mum making dinner and me wanting to bake something. She was making her ever-so-perfect chicken tagine the other week and I was in the mood for carbs, those on diets know the cravings come quickly and without warning.  

A quick google later, we settled on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's flatbreads, following this recipe on the wonderfully named blog, Mean Mothercooker. They were best eaten hot, straight from the pan, with a bowl of tzatiki and a spoonful of houmous as accompaniment.

YOU'LL NEED:
- 250g plain flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 150ml warm water.

STEPS:
1. In a bowl, combine flour and salt. Add the oil and water until it forms a dough.
2. Knead on a floured surface for 5 minutes until the dough feels elastic and smooth.
3. Return to the bowl, cover, leave to rest.
4. When you're about to eat them, roll dough into a sausage and divide into 8 rounded balls of dough.
5. On a floured surface, roll the balls into circles around 3mm thick.
6. Heat a heavy-based, non stick frying pan (we used a griddle pan) until it is very hot.
7. Turn the heat down, and place the flatbreads carefully in pan. Let the first side cook for about 2-3 minutes, until the dough no-longer sticks to the pan. Flip, and repeat but for 1-2 minutes on this side. Eat immediately.

It's really very simple, and they're so great eaten hot. 

do-it-yourself gifts - part two

image from transientexpression.com, tutsplus.com and julieblanner.com 

This year, I want to try and make as many presents as possible, because I want to give nice things to my friends and family even if I am a bit poor this year, because they still deserve nice things. Over the next three weekends I am going to show you some of my favourite items you can do for friends - that will cute and thoughtful, and won't break the bank!
This week we have things that we have enough time to get making, and can be churned out, so to speak, if you have a lot of friends and relatives. 

• Knit or crochet headbands; my girlfriends have loved these as presents in the past, and I think I'll be utilising them again because they're really quick to make and, in my opinion, much much nicer than the ones you get in Primark that are probably made somewhere horrible and will fall apart in five minutes. I would love to receive one, I know that! There are lots of variations on this theme, like the braided one above, and this Antropologie inspired version, progressing to something to something a little more complicated like this one called Saving Grace, or a real cute seed-stitch bow-headband. Failing that, get a free account with Ravelry and browse their archives, there are loads!
• Handmade cases; this is a sort of catch-all image, but there are all kinds of patterns out there, knitted, crocheted, sewn - hundreds. Search on Pinterest for Kindles/iPad/iPhone case, and there are loads of really good ideas. I love this step-by-step tutorial from tutsplus.com in a self-striping yarn that is really cute, and in the right kind of wool it would be good for guys as well. Here are some great ideas for crocheted iPad cases, or handmade Kindle cases. Find a cute fabric and basically sew an envelope - maybe with some foam in -  for a good protective case.
• Homemade beauty products; obviously, everyone loves something for a good soak and everyone loves getting bath stuff for Christmas (or I do, at least). Giving a home-remedy bath scrub or cleansing balm gives it a great little twist, particularly if you find a cute little vintage jar or Kilner jar to tie a bow around. I would be sure to write a little list of ingredients just incase the recipient is allergic or sensitive to anything. OF course, there are thousands of recipes for all sorts of bath and beauty products out there, I've been making a cleansing balm of Coconut oil and Vitamin E oil of late, and I am really loving that. However, I have rounded up some of my favourites: Gemma has a very similar balm cleanser and Meg has both a cleansing clay mask, lavender bath soakk and a suitably Christmassy vanilla chai body scrub. Bow Tied Beauty also has a wealth of information about making your own products, which may come in useful and I love this mint milk bath from Julie Blanner, but she has a lot of other amazing sounding things which I suggest browsing if interested. 

gifts - part one

Have you started thinking about presents? I know that now I've been paid I'll have to gather my bits and bobs - I think that hopefully I have got all my immediately family sorted, now just a few friends to think about! Attempting to be a bit more organised this year - how about you?

do-it-yourself gifts - part one

image from wit and whistle, rowan

Christmas is coming, as I'm sure you're sick of already! I don't know if you're like me, but my cash isn't stretching as far this year, unfortunately. I've seen a lot of posts already about gifts for him/her, even a stocking fillers under £50 (I don't have that kind of money?! I wish I did!)..  This year, I want to try and make as many presents as possible, because I want to give nice things to my friends and family even if I am a bit poor this year, because they still deserve nice things. Over the next four weekends I am going to show you some of my favourite items you can do for friends - that will cute and thoughtful, and won't break the bank!

• Handmade candles; now this might not sound so cheap, because you do need to buy a few things for it- the wax (I recommend the soy container wax, that melts in the microwave) the wick tabs (get the premade wicks!) and some glue dots to stick the wick down. Whilst this might sound like a lot, you can make a lot of candles from one bag of wax - making it very cost effective. Then you have to scour charity shops for some cute little cups and jars (or you might have some around your house) that you can use. There lots of variations on how to make them, but these are the two simplest methods to follow: here and here. Perfect for: girlfriends, mothers, grandmothers.
• Hand-decorated sharpie ceramics; this is something that all over Pinterest at the moment, drawing on plain ceramic with black sharpies, that you then bake in the oven and it 'sets' it onto the mug! There are two ways to gift this cute little gift. You could draw it on first and do a cute design, or give it to the person with instructions. Get some cheap mugs from Tesco and go crazy. This blog tells you exactly how to make them, or search Pinterest for ideas (search; sharpie mug). Perfect for: couples (do his and hers mugs), teenagers or adults who like giving-things-a-go and are creative.
• Hand-knit hats; now if you can't knit already, I probably suggest missing this one out, but if you have some skills in the department, brush up on them and find some easy knit hats on Ravelry (there are hundreds!). Everyone loves knitwear at Christmas, and you've probably got yarn that you haven't touched that is suitable in your stash! The hat pictured is from a Rowan Easy Winter Knits catalogue, but there are lots of free ones: beginner hat and scarf and ridged pom-pom hat are two of my favourites. Perfect for: anyone really! Plain beanies for men in blue, green or grey go down well, or in bright neon colours for fashion-conscious friends.

candlemaking

I've wanted to make my own candles for a little while - my mum bought some soya wax the other week and let me make some candles. Soya wax is good because you can melt it in a Pyrex jar in the microwave; no messing about on the stove: perfect. I've posted about candles you can make in old jelly moulds before and have always wanted to try it, but the price of 'vintage Jello moulds' is ridiculous! Then I came across these metal tart tins in my local cheapy-cheap shop (£1.50 for six) and thought they would be perfect.. They look super adorable, and I added some fragrance that I had bought from the same website as the wax and they're lovely. All you have to do is fill your container with the unmelted wax (to know how much to melt), put it in a microwavable container and melt for 30 second blasts, stirring in between. When done, make sure you have the wick held in place with some string, a peg, etc, and pour in the wax. Leave to set and bingo, some lovely little candles. Just a tip, you use a lot more wax than you think, so buy more than necessary!