Donkey Poo.

If you blog, do you check your blog stats?  On Blogger there is a little link you can click that will show you what keywords people put into search engines that then leads to them clicking on your blog.

I often have a little-look-see, our of curiosity.  But you can imagine my surprise when last time I did it it came up with this....

DONKEY POO???

First of all, who Googles 'Donkey Poo'?  And why?  And more to the point, why did it lead to my blog?

Well, a little search soon figured that one out.

I was experimenting with Okra, and I quote....

I added a blob of peanut butter (no idea what inspired me to do that) the peanuts burnt and the smell coming from the pan smelled like donkey poo. I turned the pan off quickly and piled it onto a plate. Donkey poo or not, I was still gonna eat it.

But back to Donkey Poo. I have just Googled it myself - yeah, I know, strange.  Anyway, it's a cake!

"Looks like Poo, tastes like Heaven"...... apparently.

Go check it out, and if you buy a packet, let me know what it's like  :)

http://www.donkeypoo.co.uk/

Patons Big Fab yarn band scarf.

At work we sell Patons Big Fab yarn - it's really popular as it is gorgeously thick and chunky, in a lovely range of colours, is buy 2 get the 3rd free (at this very moment in time) and it comes with a free pattern for a snood/scarf on the ball band - bonus!

Except, that free pattern is driving everyone nuts.  No one can seem to work out how it is done.  So off I was sent home with a ball, to work it out.

The pattern is thus:

Basic Pattern: Alt k1, p1; work 1 yarn-over before each stitch. On all foll rows work sts as they appear and a yarn-over before each stitch, let the yarn-overs of previous row slide off the needle. 

Ok, so I cast on the 24 stitches and set off - all I managed to do was get yarn wound round the needle in a criss cross of confusion.  Pull it out, start again.  Same, and yet again, same.

Time to Google, wondering just how many other people are having issues with this pattern.  A lot it seems, there are questions all over knitting forums asking how to work it out.  Phew, at least it's not me being a bit dim.

It's a drop stitch pattern, I can see that and I have done plenty of drop-stitch scarves in my time, but this one is just not working!

My Google search found out that the original pattern had been translated from German - badly - so it has been re-written, you can find it HERE.

I did this, but if you don't concentrate fully (ie, watch X-Factor whilst knitting) and miss a couple of loops, it does throw the pattern out somewhat.

Here is an easy alternative.

• Using 20mm needles, cast on 20 stitches. 
• Stocking stitch (knit a row, purl a row) to the end of the ball leaving enough yarn to sew the ends together. 
• Join cast on and cast off seams together.

Shown with a 4mm crochet hook to show how mashoooive these needles are  :)

 Simples!  And so cosy and warm, you will want one in every colour for your winter wardrobe.  They hardly take any time to make either, I bashed this one up in an evening  (while watching X-Factor ;)  )

Lovely chunky stitches.

Dawn, manager of Carlisle Hobbycraft, kindly being my model :)

You can double it up as a chunky neck warmer.

Or wear it as a hood/snood.

Crochet Event, Morecambe.

Sunday saw us hop, skip and jumping down the M6 motorway towards Morecambe.  Well, actually, Hubster drove, we didn't hop, skip and jump at all.

I was heading to a Crochet event at The Platform in Morecambe.  It was organised by Pauline Turner the lady behind the International Diploma in Crochet that I am doing.

It's only an hour and 15 away from home, but it was a horribly rainy day - good old Cumbrian weather.

We got to The Platform and lucky for us there was a parking space right outside  :)

Unlucky for us, there was a notice on the door saying they had moved venues!  

Some robbing git had stolen the lead from the roof of the building and it had leaked!

A mile and a half down the road we found the hotel, and thankfully, another free parking spot.

Inside we go, free entry - which is great, more money for bits & bobs.

There was loads of crochet samples and things to look at, the organisers had done well to move the whole exhibition in very little time.

There wasn't much shopping to be done sadly, just one tool stall and a couple of yarn stalls, so I didn't spend many of my pennies at all.  I did buy a frame to learn to do hairpin crochet though.

We wandered around a couple of times, then left to have a pootle about Morecambe. But it was miserable weather - these brightly coloured flowers in a row was a stark contrast to the grey, growly sea.

We went back to The Platform where behind it is a Fayre & Square pub.  They do the most yummy veggie toad-in-the-hole.  Extra gravy, coz I'm a proper Northern girl!

After a wander around the covered market, where I did spend some pennies on yarn and fabric, we drove all the way back up the M6 in the piddling rain, homeward bound.

DMC urban glam 'Rebel' yarn.

When I was in Cornwall a few months ago, I popped into a lovely little yarn shop, as you do, and got browsing through the yummy selection of yarns.

I spotted a DMC one, called Urban Glam Rebel - available in a few colours, I bought a ball of pale dusky pinky shades.

I  only bought one ball as I didn't have a plan for what to make with it, I thought if I was to make something large I could probably send down for some more.

But yesterday, the cat was sitting on my project box and I couldn't get in - you are not allowed to move a cat in this house - so I had to do something else.  I spotted the DMC yarn on my desk and decided to make an infinite scarf with it.

So far so good, until I came to the first texture change - what's this I see?  A knot!  Ok, I have come across knots in yarn before - most annoying, but it happens.   I give the yarn a little tug and the knot comes apart.  Well, that would have been good if I had just worked over it, my scarf would have fell apart in time.  So I re-knot the yarn and off I go.  Of course, now I have ends to sew in, which isn't ideal in this design as it is a large stitch effect, but as it's different textures all over the place it probably wont show too much.

A few meters down, another crappy knot - crappy in the sense that it is just not tied very tightly and comes apart at the slightest pull.  Then another, and another...... and so it continues with each texture change.

The knots are not only not very tight, but they have also been clipped so the yarn ends are right beside the knot, this is why they come apart as easily as they do.

All in all the quality is pants, the yarn isn't half as nice as it looked on the ball - and it wasn't cheap you know, somewhere around the £6/£7 a ball mark if I remember correctly.   I read a blurb on one website that says it is "knotted by hand to create an interesting patchwork effect".  Whoever knotted it wants to learn how to tie a proper knot.

The yarn does work up quite nicely to be honest, it's just a pity it's not properly joined.

If you fancy the "patchwork effect" of this yarn, do yourself a favour and go buy a few balls of various different textures and knot them together yourself.  :)


ps:  I can't show you what I made from it as it's a Christmas pressie  :)  Will show you all in the New Year.

Innocent Smoothie Hats

Innocent Smoothies have a campaign going at the moment, called The Big Knit.

It is basically where people knit or crochet little hats that will fit on top of their Innocent Smoothie bottles and send them in to them.

There are some free patterns on their website if you fancy having a wee go.  Each hat took me about 20 minutes to make and hardly any yarn at all.

When the bottles are sold, each one with a hat will raise 25p towards Age UK.

So, as I had to do a knitting demo in Hobbycraft this week (one hour each day) I thought, why not use the time to do something good.  So Hobbycraft have paid for the time for these little hats to be made - wasn't that nice of them?  :)

The first one is crocheted, the second two are knitted.

In total, 9 little hats will be making their way to this great campaign, I am guessing they won't be lonely judging by this photo.....

That's a lot of little hats!

Are you joining in?

Dishcloths / Facecloths

I have been making dishcloths and facecloths of late.  At Hobbycraft there is some gorgeous cotton yarn from Puppets.  Only availble in bright white or vanilla cream colours but I have been looking at it for a while wondering just what I could do with it to show off it's natural, rustic look.

Aha!  Facecloths.

I found this pattern for a scrubbie - so made that first.  Not quite sure what to think of it, the pattern says to use acrylic yarn but I didn't think that would be very nice to wash with, so I went with the cotton.  But it just looks a bit scruffy, if you get what I mean.

I then just decided to work some squares.

The first one was good old plain double crochet (or single crochet if you are reading from the US) but worked into the BACK of the loops to give a lovely ridged effect.  I did two rows of DC all the way round to finish it off.

The next one was treble crochet (or double crochet if you are reading from the US), again working into the back of the loops for texture.  I think this one is a bit 'open' though, I prefer the double crochet one I think.

The next one I did was a mixture of both - almost like a rib stitch in knitting.  I did 1 x DC, 1 x TR, 1 x DC, 1 x TR and so on.  Working back I worked the DC's into the TR's and the TR's into the DC's.  Does that make sense?  I edged it with a DC all the way round.  I quite like this one.

I used a 6mm hook throughout, as this cotton is quite thick, thicker than DK.

I am popping one of these facecloths into the BIRTHDAY BLOG BOX,  it is the first item to go in there  :)

Time.

Time, is a funny old thing isn't it?

I am not good with time, I am renowned for being late.  Everything goes in my diary 15 minutes earlier than it needs to be so I get there 'on time' even though in reality I am running about like a white rabbit shouting "I'm late, I'm late...."

I am not too bad with arriving at work on time, early on in my employment I had to give myself an exact time to leave the house by, the clock on my car has to say --.45 to the minute for me to know I will be in work on time.  It works well.

I don't like time, I don't like the way it ticks away too quickly.  I don't like the way it runs out before you are finished what you are doing.  There is nothing nicer than not having to worry about the clock.

On my days off I rise when I wake, eat when I am hungry and sleep when I am tired - THIS is how life should be.

Then there is TIME - you know, not general time, ticking away in the background, but TIME it takes to do something.  Usually for someone else, a commission, or  something that needs to be finished at a certain time.

The TIME clock it very erratic, sometimes it goes slowly allowing you to finish that item super-quickly and therefore impressing everyone who knows you, but mainly the TIME clock speeds on by like it is super powered, what should take two hours ends up taking twenty two.

Take for example this necklace I have been 'repairing' for someone.  I didn't offer to do it, I was asked, no actually, not really even asked - expected, after I had generously fixed two others for her.  No payment is offered, none was expected, but generosity can only be stretched so far.

The necklace has resided in my sideboard draw for about 8 weeks now, TIME had left it there.  It's a big job really, pearl knotting. Not my favourite chore at all.  TIME needed to be set aside to do the job, but more importantly TIME needed to be found to even thing about doing the job.   TIME failed miserably.

In the end said Lady started moaning about her missing necklace.  Fair enough, I had had it a long time and the time had come to force TIME into playing ball and fixing it up.

It took ages!  But in fact I only did a temporary repair as the whole thing needed restrung (it was multi-stranded) and I just fixed the one broken string.  In terms of money TIME would have cost me a lot for that free repair.

So back it went, Lady was grateful as her Grandaughter was coming to collect it that weekend, she's from London you know and things are so expensive to get fixed in London!!!

Obviously, my TIME is free....... I just wish I had more of it  ;)

Crochet & Craik

Craic

"Craic", or "crack", is a term for news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent in Ireland. It is often used with the definite article – the craic. Wikipedia

Monday evening was our monthly "Crochet & Craik" tutored group at Hobbycraft, Carlisle.  It's a busy session with lots of friendly people, you can hear the laughter ring out around the shop when this group is in progress  :

Fiona, steam blocking her bedcover.

Hands working so fast that you can hardly see them!

Ann is making a pretty blanket, the yarn is Sirdar Ella, soft and sparkly as it has a glittery thread running through it.

Look at this amazing wreath made by Flo, from Anchor crochet cotton.  Wowsers!

Busy, busy.

Sharing ideas.

If you would like to come along, beginners and experts all welcome, the next one is Monday 11th November, 6.00-7.30pm in Carlisle Hobbycraft, and the price is £5.00 - bring your own projects.

Storecupboard Dinners - Tarka Dahl & Rosemary Flat Bread

I LOVE Tarka Dahl, 9 times out of 10 I order it in an Indian restaurant, I can never make it quite a nice as the restaurant version, but I think that that might be because I am careful on fat content, and let's be honest, fat and sugar are what gives gorgeous food their fabulous tastes.

So here is a lower fat, option.  Cheap and cheerful, warm and soothing and belly filling.

This is a bit stodgier than restaurant Dahl, but it makes a great dip for veggie sticks, pitta bread and stuff like that.

FOR THE DAHL....

What you need:

• Red Lentils
• Chopped Garlic (I used frozen)
• Cumin Powder
• Cumin Seeds
• Blob of butter
• Olive Oil
• Chilli Flakes

What you do:

• Boil the kettle.
• Give the lentils a good rinse in cold running water - I use half a bag (250g ish - I measure by eye) for two rather generous portions.

• Pop in a pan and cover with boiling water, about an inch or so above the lentils for now.

• As the water boils you will see some froth, skim it off, it will only be in the first few minutes.
• Simmer the lentils for about 20-30 mins, adding more water if they look as though they are getting dry.  You are aiming for a very thick porridge like texture.

MEANWHILE.........

• Put a splosh of olive oil in a frying pan, heat, then add the garlic and cumin seeds with a good shake of chilli flakes.

• Stir-fry until the seeds are toasted then remove from the heat and set to onside.

• When the lentils are at the right consistency add a good teaspooon of cumin powder and a blob of butter to the pan.  

• Take the toasted cumin seed and garlic mix from the frying pan and dump it in the lentils.
• Give it a good stir.

You can now pop this in an oven proof dish with tin foil on the top, and put in the bottom of the oven while your bread cooks.

FOR THE BREAD....

This is a heavily adapted recipe from years ago, I like using cups for measurements as they are quicker to get out of the cupboard than the weighing scales!  Invest in a set - you can usually pick them up from supermarkets these days.

You will need:

• 2 cups of wholemeal flour  
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• Half a cup of water
• A generous shaking of dried Rosemary
• Rock Salt

What you do:

• Dump all of the ingredients in a bowl.

• Get your hand in there and give it a good stir about, until it forms into a lump.

• Turn out onto a floured board and knead it for at least 5 minutes.

• Roll it out thin, thin enough to fill a swiss roll tin.

• Lightly oil the tin and lay the bread on it.  Sprinkle with more dried Rosemary and a shaking of rock salt for an extra bite.

• Cook at Gas 5 for around 25 mins.
• When cooked rip into pieces and serve with the Tarka Dahl.

• Use the bread to scoop up the Dahl to eat.
• Nom nom.

Email me through your Storecupboard Dinner recipes and I will feature them in my blog, or if you prefer add a link to your own blog in the comment box.