Stitch and Creative Craft Show

I took my rascal to the Stitch and Creative Craft Show at London Excel on the 28th last month. The venue is smaller compared to the Knitting and Stitching Show, at Alexander Palace which is a good thing, because I could take my rascal there and still be able to see everything. My rascal tried silk painting and thoroughly enjoyed it, here is a photo, I must frame the painting.

[Half way through the painting]

There wasn't much in terms of knitting and sewing there, but I'm planning on going to the one in London Olympia this month [if my daughter is ok] which promises two floors of crafting, one for sewing and the other for knitting. Yay!! Looking forward to that... let me know if anyone is interested in going, it would be nice to meet some fellow bloggers there.

On the cardigan front...not much happening but I've started another hat....Hee! Hee! Hee!

Here is a photo of some seriously delicious [I can't remember what these are called...choux...something] made by Gracie (it was so yummy that I secretly ate 3....Hee! Hee! Hee!)

[My daughter helped with the chocolate topping and the cream...]

Spring and Female Icons

Happy Spring! It's lovely that the days are getting longer and the weather is getting warmer (I hope the reports on more snow and cold weather are not true). I'm still finishing of the cardigan and avoiding new projects so I have nothing to show. Hopefully I'll get my act together, but feeling very tired after work. Anyway, I found this meme on Sweet Tiding's blog and thought I'd test it out. I was secretly hoping that I would end up being a Audrey (Hepburn) or a Grace (Kelly), but look who I am:

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Katharine!

You are a Katharine -- "I am happy and open to new things"

Katharines are energetic, lively, and optimistic. They want to contribute to the world.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Give me companionship, affection, and freedom.
• * Engage with me in stimulating conversation and laughter.
• * Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories.
• * Don't try to change my style. Accept me the way I am.
• * Be responsible for youself. I dislike clingy or needy people.
• * Don't tell me what to do.

What I Like About Being a Katharine

• * being optimistic and not letting life's troubles get me down
• * being spontaneous and free-spirited
• * being outspoken and outrageous. It's part of the fun.
• * being generous and trying to make the world a better place
• * having the guts to take risks and to try exciting adventures
• * having such varied interests and abilities - not sure about abilities, but I do have a lot of interests. Hee! Hee!
  What's Hard About Being a Katharine
• * not having enough time to do all the things I want - you can say that again
• * not completing things I start - well apart from ballet, piano and my yoga course, I think I have completed most things....ok I will finish the cardigan.
• * not being able to profit from the benefits that come from specializing; not making a commitment to a career
• * having a tendency to be ungrounded; getting lost in plans or fantasies
• * feeling confined when I'm in a one-to-one relationship

Katharines as Children Often

• * are action oriented and adventuresome - my Mum knows all about this. I was fairly active as a child, you can often find me hanging upside down in the playground and/or on the monkey bars (until I broke my arm)
• * drum up excitement
• * prefer being with other children to being alone
• * finesse their way around adults
• * dream of the freedom they'll have when they grow up

Katharines as Parents

• * are often enthusiastic and generous
• * want their children to be exposed to many adventures in life - Jaxs knows all about this
• * may be too busy with their own activities to be attentive - ahem...yep guilty, but only when I'm reading or knitting. Honest.

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at

Go on have a go....

Pancake Day and Baking

Happy Pancake Day everyone! I hope everyone have been eating lots of yummy pancakes. I made some over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I haven't been doing much crafting as I'm still finishing my daughter's cardigan and I'm trying not to get distracted by other projects. However, I've been doing some baking. After reading Domesticali's blog on making cinnamon buns, I had to make them. It's funny how you could give the same recipe to two people and the end product will always be different. The buns tasted lovely (even Mum said so......so it must be good) but it looked nothing like the ones Domesticali made nor does it look like the ones The Black Apple made. I think I need to knead the dough a bit more next time and perhaps glaze it before baking. The next thing I must make is Jo's Heritage Lemon Cake which looks absolutely scrumptious.

Ok...I'd better get back to the cardigan.

Finishing Techniques and an 80s Strawberry Cake

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentines Day. Here is a photo of the London Eye that I took while waiting for the river boat with my Hubby.

It's currently half term and I took Monday off to entertain the kids. We bought some popcorn and I made some hot dogs while they watched High School Musical III at my flat. It was all good fun, the older kids watched and sang while the younger kids got a bit bored and brought out the train set.

I'm very close to finishing my daughter's cardigan. This is my first attempt at knitting a garment and I am a bit confused with all the finishing instructions. What do they mean by picking up stitches? I have a some yarn still attached near the neck bit...what do I do with that? How do I sew up the pockets? To try and teach myself these techniques I bought this book.

Hopefully it will answer my questions.

On another subject; I've been addicted to 'Dancing on Ice' recently. I just love it! I was watching a documentary on Torvill and Dean...could you believe that it has been 25 years since they won the Winter Olympics! I remember watching bolero on TV and being completely mesmerised. I haven't been ice skating for more than 10 years....must go one day. Anyway, being inspired by the 80s, I picked up an 80s cookery book that my Dad bought me and made a strawberry cream cake. I was assisted by the Twins who helped to decorate...what do you think?

I-Knit Tomorrow

Oh dear. I've been telling everyone that I will be going to I-Knit tomorrow. However, my rascal has caught a bug and is not feeling too great. Poor thing. So I will be spending some time with her tomorrow evening. A few e-mails have been sent but I thought I'd better let everyone know by writing a quick blog post as well.

I'm hoping to go to I-Knit next Thursday evening and I have arranged to go to Loop next Thursday lunch time with a colleague too. Fingers cross. There are also plans to go to the 'Stitch and Creative Craft Show' at Excel this month with my daughter. I took her with me last year and we had a really good time. Here is a photo of my cheeky girl and a lovely lady showing us how to spin yarn.

Trying to do too much

There is SO MUCH I want to do and make....better make a list:

• Finish my daughter's cardigan

• Take some photos of a fellow bloggger's photo cards (I'm struggling due to poor lighting...where is the sun??) that I received during Christmas and to blog about this month
  
• Goodie bags for my daughter's birthday in May (I need to plan ahead as I do take a long time to do things)
• Knit an apple hat for my daughter
  
• Attempt to knit some socks with this Harry Potter yarn and with my new Brittany needles both from I-Knit


• Knit another hat, but this time with this yarn


• Try making some mittens/wrist warmers (I've drawn up some designs I want to test out)
  
• Attempt to make some summer clothes
  
• Make my first knitted garment for myself - I'm thinking of making a vest using the Debbie Bliss Stella yarn, but I'm not sure whether I have enough yarn, I might look at Ravely. Also I really like the Bergere de France Cropped Jacket

Do anyone have the same problem?

On another subject; I've been asked by Annie from Overmilkwood to show a photo of the finished hat in my last blog post. However, I was so excited to give it to my Mum (third attempt at knitting her a hat after my previous attempts), that I didn't take a photo of her wearing it. Luckily I asked my hubby to model it for me just after knitting it (he doesn't like wearing hats but I forced him to model it...Hee! Hee! Hee!). The hat looks better on my Mum though, I'll take a better photo once I have finished the blue version and I will model it myself next time.

Snowed In and a New Hat for Someone Special

On Sunday evening when it started snowing I was joking with my hubby that we will all be snowed in and there will be no public transport to take us to work. Well, that is exactly what happened today. My Mum got totally snowed in so she could not look after my daughter and I could not get to work. This is the first time my Rascal has ever seen so much snow. At lunch time we went for a walk nearby and helped our neighbours make a giantic snowmen. The view was absolutely amazing. Look at the palm trees covered in snow and the statue below looks like it is wearing a hat and a cape.

[knee deep snow!]

Over the weekend I managed to finish a hat (using the lovely yarn from I Knit) for some one special (my Mum), just in time for the snow. I got this pattern from my first knitting book, Knit 101 (Vogue Knitting). It is a straight forward pattern knitted in the round. It's quite a masculine hat, but the size is just right. I might make another one in blue and purple next time.

In the evening I felt like eating apple pies so I made some mini ones.

The snow is melting now...fingers cross the snow will melt and things will get back to normal.