Making Mondays: The Awesome Finished Scarf and...

the, um, the 'interesting' hat.

Yay! I finished the scarf and finally put the pom poms Yashar and I made on the ends of it today. You can find the link to the pattern here and the post from way back when I started it last winter here (I took a very long break from it and just got inspired to finish in the preparation for the cold winter ahead).  I think it turned out pretty cute...and Yashar was happy to put it on for me despite the warm day :)   This is him doing his best 'work it for the camera' poses.  

You can see the detail of the scarf in this photo below.  I really liked how this pattern turned out...although I have to admit that pretty much every time I knit a scarf, I get half way through and think, why on earth did I start to knit another scarf?!!  I start out thinking ...oh, a scarf for Yashar will be quick and easy...forgetting how long they are!  I tend to get a little bored half way through... but I'm happy I stuck with it!  He will be using this one a lot.

Not planning for him to use this hat so much though.  The photo below is not very clear...and that's probably a good thing.   I used the beautiful Odessa pattern, which you can find here (without the beads).  The pattern is free - although you might have to sign up to ravelry.com to get it.

The problems?  Firstly, as Senol likes to tell me, I worry about the small details too much, so it was pretty typical of me that the first half of the hat I actually knitted too neatly!  I made the stitches so tight  that there ended up being no nice little hole to show the diagonal pattern in the hat...you might be able to see in the pattern a little more in the top of the hat...but still...  The other problem was that I used a thicker yarn, and so changed the amount of stitches...which didn't work out at the top of the hat, where I just totally winged it and basically stuffed up the pattern.  Oh well...the thing I love about hats is they are so quick, so I will give this one another go soon...hopefully before Winter :)

right now i'm eating...

this...and it is yum!   Yashar and I are always making cakes...who could say no to that little face asking if we can make one together??

I have a basic fairly low sugar cake recipe (based on a recipe in the beautiful book bills open kitchen) that I use and then add what ever fruits we have available to it.  My faves are with nectarines or apricots. 

Today we went to our weekly local market - the 'pazar' to get our fruit, vegies, herbs etc and the strawberries looked great...so when Yashar asked to make cake out they came!

The basic recipe:
1 and a half cups of flour
3 quarters of a cup of sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
180 grams of soft butter
3 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
teaspoon of vanilla

Stir all the dry ingredients together and make a well in the centre.  Whisk the wet ingredients (except the butter) in another bowl and then pour the mixture, along with the butter, into the well in the bowl of dry ingredients.  Use beaters to mix well.  Pour into greased and floured cake tin - for this one I used a banana bread type tin - but it also works well in a low rectangular tin - especially with larger fruits that tend to sink.

Put the pieces of whatever fruit you are using on top and bake in an oven at 180 degrees celsius for 40 mins (you can take it out about half way and sprinkle extra sugar on it if you like).

...then end up eating the whole thing yourself...  ;)

Autumn, Fall, Pom Poms

Autumn is definitely here.  Yesterday was the first time I put socks on in about 4 months!  And  - although it wasn't the first time I put on my new favourite jumper with a squirrel with ear muffs on the front - it was the first time I put it on because I actually needed to.

Yashar and I have been collecting pinecones and making some rather luscious pompoms.  And I have been knitting (some good...hmm some not quite working out - show you on Monday) and I have been thinking about raincoats like these super cute ones over at Aunty Ollie.

A couple of recent orders of my French Village Print got me inspired to retake the photographs of it for the shop.    Better than before - I hope :)  The new photos definitely show the print more clearly....hmmm...kinda important.

What have you been doing to prepare for the cold weather (...or the hot weather for the other half of the world)? 

Making Mondays: Cushions and Tomato Lasagne

I made couple of cushions I made a little while back that I hadn't managed to show you yet.  So here they are!   The one on the right (in the photo below) is made from a pillow case and the one on the left is made from an old favourite top of mine and the other part of the pillow case.  I took the photos in Yashar's room (the cushions actually live on our couch though) because the sun always streams in there in the afternoons.

Ahhh....I loved that top, but with Yashar around, I have surrendered to the fact that things will get broken, favourite tops will gets stained, a conversation will never go uninterrupted :)

I'm not going to put the step by step instructions here - because it really depends on what you are using - and you can see pretty much I've done in the photos... the left hand side of the cushion was the bottom of my tshirt (it was pink with a nice big black stretchy bit on the bottom...hehehe I'm sure there is a name for it ...let me know if you know what its called!)   And the little silhouette was a part of the tshirt that I very quickly sewed on with the edges folded under.  Hmmm...I hope that makes sense  :)

And a ps...

I have been slightly obsessed with lasagne lately...leave one in the fridge and I can't stop myself from going in to the kitchen for 'one more bite'!   I have been using the recipes for both the meat and the plain tomato versions from Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros.  I love how the recipes in that book are simple, are the sort of food both children and adults like and all the recipes have so far turned out to be delicious! 

This is the tomato lasagne - so simple - the only ingredients are tomato, oil, basil, garlic, bechamel sauce (butter, flour and milk) and pasta sheets.  I served it with a fresh rocket salad -  I bought the rocket from one of the farmer's trucks that goes around our streets each day and was yum!

Crafty Gatherings: Christmasy Crafty Plans

I know that it is incredibly, ridiculously early to be talking about Christmas but.....if you are anything like me...where projects tend to take a while, and then I have to allow for international shipping... yikes, I better get to work!  :)  Here is a little gathering of Christmas things to make or at least to think about making ;) in the coming months...

I think this felt flower wreath would actually suit a Summer Christmas perfectly (like the one's I'm used to in Australia)  - those neon threads make me think of zinc and the beach!   Instructions here from The Purl Bee

Alicia Paulson - For the past 3 years Alicia has been putting together these cute little felt ornament kits...and this one has to be my hands down favourite. Available here, but be quick - she always sells out quickly!

This felted ball wreath is amazing!  You can find the instruction at Pickles.

And I love this Silhouettes in the Snow Garland.   You can download the template and you can find all the instructions here at A Field Journal.

Have a great weekend!

V
xo

Another Blanket Made With Love

This blanket is amazing!  It's another beautiful hand crocheted blanket made by my mother in law - Sevim.

You might remember the blankets she made here and here.  And the response was wonderful - such beautiful comments and emails literally from around the world!  I was so excited for her! I have just finished blocking this one and put in the shop. You can find it in the shop here.  I'm sure it won't be there long!

**edit - Yikes -that was quick! - the blanket her now sold and is on it's way across the seas.  If you are interested in a custom blanket please contact me - I'm sure Sevim would love to make something special for you :)**

This one is similar to a custom blanket she made - although with a very slightly different colour mix - and this one is a touch smaller.  The work that goes in to these blows me away.

Making Mondays: Fabric Swatch

A few weeks ago I noticed at the last minute that Spoonflower were having a free swatch day so I didn't want to miss the opportunity to try it out.  If you haven't come across Spoonflower - its a website where you can upload your design and then they print it on fabric for you - awesome!

I quickly uploaded a smaller version of the wallpaper design I did for Studio Nommo a little while back and ordered a swatch in their Linen-Cotton Canvas - it's a light weight canvas made of 55% linen, 45% cotton.

When it arrived I was amazed - the print quality is beautiful, the colours were vibrant and correct and the fabric is fantastic. The swatch is around 25 x 25cm, but now I'm wondering about what I could make if I ordered a larger quantity...maybe teatowels?  - The linen fabric would be perfect for this - or maybe fabric for baby blankets in their soft cotton....What do you think?

And phew!- there was a referendum to change the constitution here over the weekend (and it will be changed, with the majority voting Yes).  Despite being quite interested in politics previously ...(a little secret - in a previous life I worked as a lawyer for the Australian Government) I don't tend to follow much here (and this is clearly not a political blog!...really I just don't want to go there!).  The reason I mention it is that I'm definitely glad to see the referendum finished with... because my husband likes to get in a room with people he knows would be passionately for the 'Yes' vote and others that were strongly for the 'No' vote and then say loudly...hmmm, I haven't made up my mind yet...what are you all voting and why?    Then he would sit back and enjoy watching the sparks fly!  It sure made for an 'interesting' break over Bayram.      I hope all of you that had a break over Bayram had a lovely one :)

A Crafty Gathering and Iyi Bayramlar!

Crafty Gatherings:  A place where the coolest things to make come to hang out, look cool and sip on Lattes.

Paper City - Made by Joel

Pom Pom Garland - Honestly ...WTF (via Poppytalk)

Liberty Coin Purse - available as a kit from the Purl

Hardback book covers - Ohdeedoh.com

Tomorrow is the end of the month of fasting and the start of Bayram (Eid).  To everyone celebrating Eid/Bayram over the next few days, I hope you have a wonderful break with loved ones.  This is a very special time of year here and we will be spending it with Senol's family (with lots of laughs and yummy food I'm sure!)    Iyi Bayramlar!

Making Mondays: Toy Bag Prototype

Now that Yashar is a little older he has started to get in to all those smaller toys - little animal figurines, cars, wooden blocks, finger puppets, lego....   And at the moment everything just gets thrown in to one (actually 2 now!) big ugly fabric toy boxy type thing.  Not awesome.

It's not only the ugliness that gets me, but I want it to be organised so we can pull out one type of toys - say the wooden mechnics set - and play with that.  Now everything is just mixed in together, we spend ages searching for the pieces and most of the time Yashar doesn't bother looking in the toy box at all!

So my idea is to have little bags to easily separate the types of toys.  I want them to be able to sit in a toy box, or be ready to grab and go to Grandma's and to have a window so I can easily see what is in it.  This is the prototype - I designed it, got the fabric and then was lucky enough to have a friend who is an amazing sewer to sew it for me :)  I like how you can see both the toys and the pretty fabric lining through the clear window.

Ok, so this fabric is definitely very girly - but I always seem to have a very hard time finding nice boyish or 'non girlish' fabric!  And this was so pretty!  Plus, I am hoping to give all the nieces and nephews some of these as well for Christmas!   Don't tell!  :)  I have some changes I want to make to the design (maybe shorter, the window a little smaller and maybe something to make it stand up itself more - you can see in the photo below that it is a little too floppy at the moment) and I am hoping to finally make it to the Kadikoy fabric market soon (woohoo - can't wait!).  I'll keep you updated :)

And I am off now to add these prints to the shop.  Yay!  **All finished - you can find them here and here**

The finished blankets

Here are the finished blankets!   The blankets that Sevim makes are just so lovely that when I package them up they get some extra special treatment.

After blocking these I carefully folded them up and tied on little Light Garden tags with satin ribbon.  The tag is with the snowy bear on it - a nice fit for a cosy blanket I think :)  

Then I wrapped them in a layer of tissue and then some brown paper and some satin ribbon wrapped a few times around it.  Then Yashar and I carefully delivered these ones to the post office (where everyone knows Yashar and they let him go behind the counter to 'help' with the parcels - very cute!)

Sevim is working on another blanket now... that woman amazes me!

Have a great weekend!

V
xo

Long Weekend Blocking

Monday was a public holiday here and it also ended up being a holiday from Making Mondays of sorts this week – not that I’m not busy making things of course! And I have been having internet ‘issues’ – how did I ever survive without it ;)

I spent part of the weekend blocking two blankets that my mother in law made for a custom order. The blankets turned out so beautifully – I’m sure that I spent much longer than I needed to blocking just because I kept stopping to stare at the different colour combinations and the amazing work she's done.  The colours reminded me of beautiful bright flowers in a lush field or garden bed.   More photos of the finished blankets coming soon :)

The long weekend also meant I had a little extra time to myself, which was lovely, I even had time to just take photos of a few things around the house that grabbed my eye.

 

Back to blocking.  Do you block your knitting or crochet projects? I discovered blocking a little while back and now I always do it.  It makes whatever the item is in to the shape it is meant to be, relaxes the curling that you get in some pieces and generally makes whatever it is hang beautifully. For the uninitiated Alicia Paulson’s lovely and straight forward instructions are here. The way I block is largely the same, except instead of spraying water I put my iron on the highest setting, with the most steam. Then I hold the iron a centimeter or so above the piece (being careful not to touch it at all) and steam away! Then, like Alicia, I leave the piece to dry –usually over night.

For smaller pieces I just pin them to the ironing board, but for larger blankets, pinning to a mattress seems to be the best way. If the item is something that needs to be sewn together, then I would always block before sewing the pieces together.

V
xx