Sourdough buckwheat loaf

sourdough buckwheat

Just a quick post as I'm so excited about my sourdough buckwheat loaf. It's a recipe I found on a really interesting blog at http://phickle.com/gluten-free-sourdough-buckwheat-bread-recipe . I don't usually bake on a school night (working day) but I was intrigued by the prospect of a gluten free sourdough loaf. It's made with just water, buckwheat, salt and sesame seeds and has taken 48 hours from start to finish. I've no idea if it tastes nice, but will let you know. Nb the picture above shows tomorrow's lunch -frittata and buckwheat bread - all part of the eat well and exercise more plan for life.

I'll also try and catch up with my latest crochet and sewing adventures (poncho, elf, quilt, hat) and New Year holiday in Kent.

Sun and mud

Sunday morning and the sun is shining. Time to drop everything else and go for a quick walk - Christmas can wait.  We decided to go to the barns to do  a little circular route along the footpaths and down to the railway centre and then back up to the barns. It's a walk we've done a couple of times before but it was extremely muddy today and we were slipping and sliding all over the place. I was really glad it was just a short walk because it was really hard work underfoot and we were in serious danger of going arse over elbow (or at least I was) and  when we finally got home, the rain arrived and it was miserable again. It was a well timed and very welcome brief interlude from the mild and wet weather we have had for the last few weeks.

Baby hat and bootees

I've ground to a halt with a couple of projects at the moment so obviously it's time to start something else.........This time I've run out of deer making wool. I was convinced that I had enough wool before I started but a ran out after finishing the first antler. I only have one more antler to do and then it's pretty much done apart from making the mount. I actually haven't done the mount for the Christmas deer yet, but I'm waiting for technical assistance with cutting out the plywood. That might have implied that I was going to cut out the plywood, but actually I'm just going to wait until it is done for me :). In the meantime, I've crocheted a newborn baby hat and bootee set for a colleague who is due to leave at Christmas. The hat and bootee were surprisingly quick to make so it means that I have started AND finished something. Hoorah. BTW the hat and bootee pattern can be found here. It's in american crochet terminology but once you have your head around that It's a nicely written pattern. It also has front and back post trebles so is probably an intermediate pattern, but it makes such a lovely stretchy bootee that it's worth it persevering to learn the technique.

Here's a preview of my Christmas deer. At the moment, it's just lying around waiting to be mounted. I have a couple of weeks to get it done in time for the festive season...... 

Here's a pretty doily beret style hat for a daughter. The finished hat has a little flower on the headband which I hadn't done when I took the photo. It was a nice quick little project using some left over wool from a previous hat and glove session, so fit the bill in a number of ways; quick, cheap and a happy daughter.

This was a finishing off job. The garland was made around last Christmas and I made the buttons whilst on the New Year holiday helped by our (mostly) tame and very talented potter friend Rob Rutterford. Anyway, the pottery was glazed and fired and returned in the summer and all I needed to do was to replace the buttons on the garland with the special pottery ones.  Well now it is done and it looks so much better. I only wish that I had done 11 instead of 9 buttons because I didn't have enough to replace the end buttons.

This is very much a started rather than finished project. I want to make a door garland for winter. So far I've only managed the covering for the wreath and a few leaves and things, but at least it's a start. The best thing about it so far is that it is again using left over bits and bobs of wool. The random colour change wool worked particularly well as it meant that there was not a lot of procrastination choosing the wool and colour scheme - it was very much a case of JFDI (just flipping do it - the polite version)

Faux taxidermy

A quick post about my recent knitting projects. I decided that is was really essential to have a knitted deer head for the wall. I found a fantastic free pattern  for a deer's head and it really does look as good as the pattern. I found the instructions really easy to follow, although there was quite a lot of counting so it meant that I couldn't knit and watch tv too! Fortunately our recent holiday in the Yorkshire Dales was so wet it was quite appropriate to be sitting knitting instead of out walking..........obviously.

I intend to mount my deer head on a sort of fabric padded plaque, so will update with a photo when it is finished. I've pretty much decided to use some Christmas coloured fabric so that my deer will just be a Christmas decoration. This is mainly because I've started making another one...........how could I resist? The second one will be bigger and deer coloured and will be an everyday, always on the wall piece of taxidermy.

Bonfire night update......

.........well, it all went with a bit of bang, whizz and wow. The food went down a treat. The bonfire was not too wet to burn and the fireworks were fantastic. The weather......well, it could have been better but it didn't swamp it down, and we all fit quite nicely in the 'hall' (or where the hall will be one day). We even had time to play with sparklers.  ahhhhh, family!

Bonfire night

Just a quick note. We are having a bonfire party tonight so have been preparing lots of foody fun to have with the bonfire and fireworks. So far there is a vat of chilli con carne to have with jacket potatoes, fruitburst muffins (a fruity and spicy concoction designed to invoke the wintery season), and some chocolate and almond toffee. It's all a bit experimental so will have to see if it tastes as good as it sounds.

It's more like a bonfire pic-nic because we are taking everything over to the barns and all the family are coming up to join us. Sadly the weather is absolutely pants so it might end up being a bit of a damp squib. Hopefully, the food will be worth it.........

Bakewell Wool Gathering

It's hard to believe that a year has passed since I went to the Bakewell woolly show last year, but it has come around again. This year I managed to get a place on a 'Freeform Crochet' workshop  with Pauline Fitzpatrick. I mostly follow patterns when I'm making anything, usually because I don't have time or ingenuity to make up my own. I have a few notable exceptions such as Wendy Wensleydale, but on the whole I tend to use or adapt someone else's pattern. I've wanted to have a go at freeform crochet for a while but have not made the time to play and research how to go about it so took the plunge when I saw that there was a place left on the workshop. It didn't disappoint. The pieces of work Pauline had brought were quite stunning and she was wearing a marvellous freeform crochet cardy. I'm not sure I will ever manage anything quite so detailed, but was quite pleased with my effort on the day. I took some photo's of Pauline's work at the workshop, but the photo's really didn't do them any  justice so haven't included them.

I have a bag of crochet motifs that I have been building up on a periodic basis. Most of them I've done when I've been away on holiday as it is really easy to just pick up a ball of wool and a hook and do a motif or two and then pack it all away after the holiday. I made a start joining them together to make a funky wrap or poncho, but there are some odd shaped gaps so thought that I might learn some techniques during the workshop to fit them together better. I've certainly got a few more ideas on how to finish it now. The only problem is that I haven't an excuse for not finishing my wrap thingy apart from the old lame excuse of lack of time!

I have been very productive this week on the crochet and knitting front. I wanted to use up the left over super chunky wool from the fox cowl, plus a ball I bought on holiday, and I found a fab free pattern for a headband for using it up. It took a while to work out the pattern, but once I'd sussed it there was no stopping me. I found that I could easily make one an evening, and on Sunday I made two! The last two were in black and I don't have a photo of these as they have already been despatched as birthday presents. Anyway, it was really satisfying using up all the wool. I also made a pair of chunky mittens to match the fox cowl and these would have been made in an evening as well except that I inadvertently made two right mittens and had to re-do one as a left mitten! 

I'll finish with an absolutely stunning sunset. Our temporary accommodation might be bijou but it has a surprisingly lovely view. I say temporary, but we've been there a year now and it's beginning to feel quite permanent, somewhat disturbingly!

Ooh, I nearly forgot. We had a lovely walk at Carsington water last week. It's just stunning driving through the Derwent valley on the way to the reservoir, but it was equally beautiful there too.

I just can't stop........here are a couple of photo's from the barns. It's turning very autumnal everywhere. I really love autumn........ when the sun is shining, and absolutely hate it when it's foggy and dark.