knitted: green cables hat

After learning stranded knitting last month I decided to undertake another new knitting challenge: cables! It looks all fancy-pants and complicated but actually is a deceptively straight forward technique.

The pattern is called "close cables hat" by Anna and Heidi Pickles and like my fingerless gloves it's a free Ravelry download (update: arrghh, the pattern has been removed, sorry! I must have got it in the nick of time.) I came across the pattern through Elise, so thanks Elise! It was a very satisfying knit as it only took a couple of evenings to make. It also gave me the opportunity to make a pom pom which I haven't done in YEARS. Man I love a big pom pom.

(After seeing this photo I'm wondering whether I should have trimmed it better, haha.)

After reading other knitters comments about the hat being too small/short I went a half size larger with my needles and added 4 extra rows of K6, P1 after row 10 in the decrease section. I'm happy with the finished size as it easily covers my ears (I hate having cold ears!) and has a little slouch. My only worry is that it's already on the large side and it will likely stretch with wear as I used an acrylic/wool mix yarn (Hayfield Chunky with Wool in Olive.) Worst comes to worst I can always thread some elastic through the ribbing.

In the meantime I have an exceptionally comfy hat which can easily be pulled on or off without disrupting my hair clips. This is a big positive for anybody like myself who is in that awkward phase of growing out their fringe. I'm also loving how zingy the green looks next to my orange coat.

On a side note, it's really difficult to take photoraphs of yourself in a massive hat whilst holding a camera. It's an entertaining work out to achieve the composition you're after!

knitted: cosy kites

My old shop bought fingerless gloves have definitely seen better days so I thought it was time to knit myself a new pair. I also fancied trying my hand at stranded knitting and gloves seemed like a sensible place to start.

It turns out stranded knitting isn't as scary as I thought! Saying that, I could not get the hang of holding a colour in each hand so I carried everything with my right, picking up and setting down strands when needed. This resulted in a tangled mess which needed untwisting after every round, but hey, I got there in the end.

The pattern is "Kites" by Simone Bechtold and a free Ravelry download - gotta love a free pattern! I think it's a great beginner project for stranded knitting as the triangle pattern repeat is clear to follow and the gloves themselves involve minimal shaping which makes them easy to customise. (I made a couple of modifications which can be found on my ravelry project page) I also love how simple yet effective the thumb detail looks, I haven't seen anything like that on gloves before.

My only real difficulty with this project was choosing my colours as colour possibilities are endless! Ultimately I knew I wanted my gloves to match my orange winter coat I bought last year so I went with a funky combination of orange, green and a pinky-purple. The orange and green are both J.C. Rennie Unique Shetland yarn in colourways 1016 cantaloupe and 207 stonehenge and the purple is Jamiesons of Shetland Spindrift 563 rouge.

I'm really pleased with how my gloves have turned out. At first they were a bit on the snug side (I have fairly large hands) but after a wash and a few wears they've stretched comfortably. I can see gloves these being surgically attached to my hands all winter!

mustard and funky triangles

I made a new skirt! I'm resisting the urge to shout "ta-daaah!" but that's basically what I want to say every time I finish a sewing project. I'm so slow that it always feels like a massive achievement, like I've climbed the top of a mountain.

This is a Tilly and the Buttons Arielle skirt in a fantastically funky needlecord which I purchased from Fabric Rehab earlier this year. I'm absolutely gutted to hear that they are closing down as they are one of my favourite places for finding fabric in fun prints.

There were three "firsts" with this skirt: catchstitching a hem, making covered buttons (OH MY GOD SO BEAUTIFUL, COVERED BUTTONS ON EVERYTHING) and multiple buttonholes. Learning is fun! I'm embarrassed that it has taken me almost a year to use the automatic buttonhole function on my new sewing machine (I upgraded last Christmas). I genuinely squealed with delight as I couldn't believe how easily it produced a buttonhole. It's so much better than the 4 step buttonhole function on my old Singer, which I only tried once. I definitely feel the urge to make more items with buttonholes.

I'm also feeling rather smug about the insides of this skirt, it's so pleasingly neat!

Easing the lining into the facing at the inside curve was a bit tricky, so the facing looks a bit manhandled there, but other than that I think the finish looks really professional. All the understitching and sharp, turned out corners make me very happy. I also french seamed my lining pieces and catchstitched the skirt hem for even more neat construction bonus points.

My waist and hip measurements fall into size 3 so that's what I cut out. My only alteration was adding an extra buttonhole, which gave me around 3 inches extra length, as I felt the mini version really would be too mini on me. (For reference, I'm somewhere between 5ft 7"-8".) I really like the finished length - cute but not so short that I feel self conscious.

The fit is very flattering however it is *very* fitted, not a skirt to be lunging in or climbing over fences. It's for "ladylike" days, haha. Ideally I'd prefer more room for movement but I think that's just because I'm used to wearing flared styles whereas this is straight. If I had made this skirt in a fabric with a bit of stretch then it would be perfect.

I did adjust the side seams a little bit afterwards, grading out 1/8 inch each side from the hip to the hem. However I then realised that unless I adjust the lining pieces as well then the first alteration doesn't make much difference. I can't be bothered unpicking french seams (uggghh) so it's staying as it is.

 Man I love those covered buttons.

That's not to say I don't love this skirt because I really do think it's beautiful, but it might not get worn as frequently as others due to practicality. However it will be handy in wild, winter weather: no fear of this skirt blowing up in the wind!

I'm on a bit of a creative roll at the moment as I've finished two knitting projects and I'm currently having sewing adventures with jersey. Blog posts coming soon!

apple, cinnamon and maple syrup cupcakes

....and fairy cakes. I couldn't decide which size to go for so I made both.

After seeing Sammie's maple syrup frosted apple cupcakes last week I immediately felt compelled to bake apple and maple syrup cupcakes, only I fancied pairing mine with cinnamon and a maple cream cheese icing. Other than that, the recipe is essentially the same, but Sammie's look way more photogenic. Haha! I intended to pipe my icing but there was a lot of air trapped in the piping bag which made the icing burst out the nozzle in a very uneven manner, so out came the palette knife to smooth everything over. I also didn't make enough icing which was a bit stupid. It's the flavour that counts, right?

It's hard to go wrong with apple, cinnamon and maple syrup; they're such classic, warm, autumnal flavours. The apples are grated into the mixture, rather than chopped, so the flavour is distributed evenly through the sponges. I don't think I need to elaborate much on the maple syrup cream cheese icing - it's very, very tasty.

Please don't be put off by my dull presentation, these are lovely, little cakes.

apple, cinnamon and maple syrup cupcakes

sponges:
6oz (175g) softened butter/margarine

6oz (175g) soft light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

7oz (200g) self raising flour

2 eating apples, grated (mine weighed about 5oz)

icing:
(this is enough to lightly cover 24 fairy cakes and a few cupcakes but I'd double, at least, if you want to pipe it on in swirls)
50g softened butter
100g cream cheese
125g icing sugar 
a few drops (or however much you fancy) of maple syrup

For cupcakes, preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. For fairy cakes preheat to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Fill your cupcake/bun trays with paper cases. In a large bowl beat together the margarine and sugar for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from splitting. Add the maple syrup and cinnamon followed by the flour and mix together until fully combined. Grate the apples and stir them into the mixture - you'll need to work quickly with the grater as apples brown quickly.

Spoon the mixture into the cake cases, filling them about 2/3 full. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes (12-15 minutes for fairy cakes as they're smaller) until well risen, golden and spring back when touched. Leave to cool in the tins for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the icing, beat the butter until smooth then add the icing sugar. Once combined, add the cream cheese and the maple syrup and mix until the icing is light and fluffy. Feel free to adjust amounts to personal taste or if you want a different consistency. Spread the icing on top with a palette knife or pipe it on with a piping bag and nozzle.

a slightly underbaked maple syrup and pumpkin cake

My first bake on the blog in weeks and my first foray into baking with pumpkins, but sadly it didn't quite work. The cake skewer came out clean and the cake felt firm BUT MY CAKE SKEWER LIED. It became apparent that more baking was required once I cut into the cake.

However despite the very dense texture the flavours were lovely. I have to admit I was sceptical about baking with pumpkins (no idea why, just one of those unfounded notions) so I'm happy to have been proven wrong.

It tasted similar to a well spiced carrot cake but with the bonus addition of maple syrup. I added a few drops of maple syrup to the cream cheese icing as well which made it ridiculously tasty. I'll certainly try the recipe again and give it a little longer in the oven.

"Why suddenly bake with pumpkin when you think you dislike pumpkin?" I hear you ask. Well, I carved a small pumpkin this Hallowe'en in addition to my usual neepie lanterns ("neep" is Scots for turnip) and couldn't bear to waste the innards. I still think I prefer carving neeps as I like the physical challenge the Scottish tradition, however I enjoyed the orange glow of a pumpkin.

My neepie and pumpkin are on the far right. I appear to have a thing for angry teeth - it's probably the Nicolas Cage influence.

In the spirit of thriftiness I also roasted the pumpkin seeds - one tray with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and the other with oil and chilli powder/cayenne pepper. They were so tasty, bordering on addictive!

Maple syrup and pumpkin cake

Recipe adapted from a thanksgiving pumpkin cake in the "Clandestine Cake Club Cookbook" - I halved quantities to suit the amount of pumpkin puree I had, which resulted in a teeny weeny 6 inch cake.

for the cake:
125g plain flour

50g caster sugar

50g soft dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp mixed spice/ ground ginger

2 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp salt

125g pumpkin puree
1 egg

60 ml sunflower oil

for the icing:
25g softened butter
50g cream cheese
50g icing sugar (I ended up adding a couple more spoonfuls to thicken my icing)
few drops of maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 200C/ Fan 180C/ Gas 6. Grease and line a 6 inch round cake tin. Mix together the flour, sugars, baking powder, spices, salt and maple syrup in a large bowl. Add the pumpkin puree, oil and eggs and mix together (in a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer) until everything is well combined.

Pour the cake mixture into the tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes until risen, firm to touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake in the tin for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing, beat the butter until smooth then add the icing sugar. Once combined, add the cream cheese and the maple syrup and mix until the icing is light and fluffy. Feel free to add more cream cheese or icing to adjust the consistency or flavour to personal taste. Spread the icing on top of the cooled cake and finish with a dusting of icing sugar.