Photo and project updates

You will notice that the photo of me on the Header has finally become smaller after much frustration.  I posted on Ravelry to get some support about how to make my blog get more followers and hits and obviously I got a lot that day.  In fact it was 274 to be exact and it was rather good to see that.  Plus I got another follower from a lady on Ravelry.

I got one comment on Ravelry on how to make the photo smaller which actually put me in the direction of how to do it and is much appreciated. I did however get a few comments about the photo of me being rather stern looking, serious face and that I should have a photo of me smiling.  I actually think it is a good photo of me because it is hiding what you do not see, a double chin, grey hair and a gap in my teeth.  So I shall keep it there for now.

I have spent the past 4 days at home and only going out to walk the dog the past 2 days due a bug going around so I have spent a fare few hours watching podcasts, knitting, crochet and jewellery making.  Here are my latest projects.

This photo shows you what I have been up to and as you can see there are a few projects.

In the front of the photo and on the needles is a hat that my partner wants and it is called Full of Mini's Hat by Barbara Nalewko, the pattern is on Ravelry.  She has a podcast called KnittingILove and is a Polish lady living in Ireland with her husband.

I was drawn to the pattern because I wanted something that I could do that was different to other hat designs and to also use up some of my sock yarn.  It is really thick in texture, very tactile and will be very warm once finished.  I will have to block it when it is finished because it is snug on the head around the brim part and Frank said that it was ok but I think it needs a soak and perhaps next time use a slightly bigger needle for the brim.



On the top of the Hat is a crochet purse that I have had a go at making, I am in the process of making another at the moment using up some yarn that I got from Frank one year at Christmas.  I am hoping to make a few of them and have just ordered some zips and some plain fabric from my favourite on line store Woolwarehouse.co.uk.

Behind the crochet purse is a crochet bag that I did about a week ago and my intention was to have a bag in the summer to either use as a handbag or as a little shopping bag that I can use if I just need to go to the shops at the end of my road to get a few bits.  I have lined it with some fabric left over from making the pillows for my Grand children and I intend to get a couple of handles, possibly leather to attach.  I thoroughly enjoyed the lining process and the little bit of hand stitching inside and brought back memories of when I use to do patchwork and quilting.

I have ordered some Iron on Interfacing from Woolwarehouse too so that on my next bag project it gives a bit more stability of the fabric.

 I have also been looking at a few books and I do like to grab a couple of my books and leave on my coffee table to just browse over every now and then. The Knitting Masterclass and Jewellery for Dummies has been my choice for my coffee table.  They are both from my local library and what caught my interest in the Knitting Masterclass is quite a lot of detail about short row shaping and I loved the bolster cushion  pattern that is in there so I have that in my head to maybe do one day.  The other book called 400 Knitting Stitches was my treat a few weeks ago from Hobbycraft.


So as you can see I have been rather busy, I did make a bread pudding the other day and it has come out the best one so far but I cannot see it lasting for very long in this house.  Frank has taken some to work and we had a piece each last night for our tea.

I am now going to have a bit of breakfast with another cuppa and then am going to Asda to see if I can get some more photo's printed in their store and maybe have a browse around for a while. The weather forecast is not good today, in fact it is dark, gloomy and raining and is only 9am whilst I am writing this.

I will leave you with a close up of the Full of Mini's Hat and want to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to have a look at my little blog.

Bye for now xx

Ice Cream

In this post I was trying to upload a short video of an ice cream that I make at least once a week for my partner Frank.  He loves his ice cream and the price of ice cream in the shops can cost you a lot, especially the branded ones.  We refuse to buy them not only because of the cost but the actual ice cream is so hard to spoon out of the container  but also the taste is not that nice.  We tend to buy a plain Vanilla Ice Cream from our local Co-Op which is around £2.50 a tub and is yummy.

As my readers know I watch a lot of Podcasts and recently became a Patreon of the Bakery Bears Podcast which I have watched since it started about 4 years ago.  Kay and Dan film every 2 weeks and include a lot of different daily activities to which they film, ie visiting places of interest, knitting, crochet and cooking.  They also do a quiz which is lots of fun, Dan is a knitter too, they also talk about music and discuss films and much more.

Recently Kay recorded a segment called Bakery Bears Kitchen and she made Eve's pudding and Ice-Cream.  The pudding looks so yummy but in my house of 2 adults it would end up being me eating most of it and I do not have much will power at the moment so I decided to have a go at making the Ice-Cream that Kay showed you.   It is quite delicious and to not lick the bowl out is hard to resist so I adapted it slightly by actually mixing up the ingredients into the plastic tub that I am going to freeze it in.

The episode of the Bakery Bears I am referring to is called Episode 120 so if you get a chance take a look at it, you will not be disappointed.

London in Bloom

London in Bloom has come around again and my partner Frank has been working in Duncan Terrace Gardens in historic Islington.  The lawn area has been lifted and re-turfed and the following photo's shows you the progress..

Ready for top-soil

Top soil being added

Water retention crystals added

Heel and tread to consolidate soil

The team decided to shut off access to this area whilst working on it for safety and luckily the weather was on their side so they could crack on with the job.

Frank and his team beginning the turf laying

The next two photos show the turf almost done and you can see the sun ray design which is caused by unrolling in alternative directions.

Unfortunately a temporary fence had to be erected to stop public and their dogs from spoiling it and also to give it time to establish.  

The gardens have recently had many new plants put in and many improvements made to the existing planting. This work has been carried out jointly between Islington Council and the Friends of Duncan Terrace led by Clare who works tirelessly maintaining and developing the planting and without whom none of this would be happening. 

New planting of Hellebores, Liriope and Euphorbia.

The photo on the right shows that the bark has been laid.

Saturday 30th March was the beginning of Islington in Bloom 2019 and the official start took place at 11am in Duncan Terrace and was attended by Councillor Claudia Webb and also later in the day the Mayor of Islington.  Local residents also attended with some fun activities going on and Clare was in attendance to promote the day. 

 Councillor Webb plants a Hebe while Clare and Frank look on

A fun time was had by all

This is just the start of an immense task between Islington Council and the Friends of Duncan Terrace  to maintain the gardens to a high standard for the community to enjoy and hopefully impress the judges for London in Bloom.