Wonderful woolly world

So there's a story behind my latest crochet project:

Being new to the wonderful world of wool, I had no idea what I had stumbled upon when I picked up a few balls of Noro Iro at the charity shop.
When I saw it, I thought it looked gorgeous- loved the colour changes and could see from the label that, being wool and silk, it must be good quality.



I wasn't sure how well it would crochet, or what I would do with it, so bought it home and had a play.
Hmmmmm.
Very nice, I thought.
I shall make myself a cowl or something.

Later on that evening I decided to do a bit of Googling to see what I could find out about this Noro stuff .. . and.... Bejaysus!...how much?...!...

I had paid the princely sum of 50p a skein and this Iro wool sells for over 10 quid a go!

Suffice to say, I was back to that shop the very next morning to buy up everything they had:



And wow! It is lovely stuff. I've nabbed some more Iro, loads of Silk Garden and a couple of skeins of Kureyon too. (see, I'm an expert now).
I think the lady in the shop thought I was a bit mad, trying to cram a gazillion balls of yarn on the top of the buggy (cue wails of unhappy child underneath the woolly mountain) and attempting to steer it with one arm (the other trying to keep the gazillion balls of yarn from spilling all over the shop).

I have no idea what to do with all of this just yet, I'm sure the inspiration will come. I feel very grateful to the lady who donated this and will do her proud.

And so, to begin, a one skein cowl, made from the Noro Iro.




I just love these colours.
I have to admit, it took a fair few goes to get this right; too long, too dense, wrong stitch etc. I finally arrived at a dc-ch1-dc (US) solution, which I think works well.





Very seasonal, I know.
If the rain keeps coming, I shall wear this tomorrow.

Xx

Handmade vintage votives

A simple algorithm:

Empty jam jars and charity shop tumblers
+ vintage lace trims and garden twine
= elegant vintage votives




Too easy. You have to try it. Look how pretty they are on my mantlepiece:



And lit? Just gorgeous!






Perfect.
Xx

Vintage phone case crochet

Here's a little project I've been working on recently:



I cannot take any credit for the thought process, design or original idea in any form. I simply fancied making a case for my phone, Googled an image search and found this at Cult of Crochet.
'Well,' I thought to meself, 'I love it AND I have exactly the same coloured yarn in my stash! Game on.

It was very simple to make: (click on the link for exact details)
Crochet a rectangle to fit your phone or gadget, and include button holes. This pattern used a version of grit stitch, which looks fab.



I then blanket stitched a piece of vintage curtain fabric to the inside:



Then added some vintage buttons, stitched the sides, et voilà!



A little case for my little and very non-gadget-tech-basic mobile telephoney.



Happy days.
X

Curry and thank you

Well, this little curry (totally homemade prawn Dhansak) really hits the spot: tasty, spicy and healthy too. It's been a regular on mine and the Mister's dinner menu for some years now, but has always been cooked by him.



Until now, that is...
So I asked him for the recipe and I will share the version in the photo which I cooked earlier.
Advance warning: all measurements and timings are estimated by the Mister, all measurements can be varied according to taste/ what's in the cupboard/ how many glasses of wine you've had beforehand and so, the curry is different every time- we've never had a bad one yet!

Serves 2 with plenty sauce. Easily up-scaled for more peeps.
You need:
Medium Onion
A few cloves of garlic,
Man-sized handful of red lentils and yellow lentils
Tsp each turmeric, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek powder, black mustard seeds,
Chillies (whatever rocks your boat- we use a mix of dried and frozen ones we grew ourselves)
10 black peppercorns,
Tsp fresh ginger or half tsp ground
1 lemon
Prawns or chicken (however much you fancy, fresh or ready-cooked
Hand-blender and pestle and mortar/ small mixer/ rolling pin

Method:
First, make the dhal:
Fry onion until softened. Add couple cloves garlic and turmeric and fry briefly. Add lentils, salt and pepper and about a pint of water. Allow to cook for 20 mins or so, until lentils are soft. Blend. (if your mix is a bit watery, add more red lentils and cook for another 10 mins or so. If too thick, add water).

Meanwhile, bash up the spices to make a paste:
Coriander seeds, cumin seeds, chilli (to taste- you can always add more later), black peppercorns, 4 cloves garlic (or to taste) fenugreek, black mustard seeds, ginger, lemon zest. (if you are using fresh chicken, then marinade it in this paste while you wait for the dhal to cook)

Once your dhal is cooked and blended, add the spice paste (if you haven't marinated with it) Cook for a few mins.
Add fresh chicken and marinade and cook for 20 mins or
Add fresh prawns and cook for 3-4 mins or
Use ready cooked prawns or chicken and heat through.
Add juice of a lemon.
Check seasoning (this curry needs a fair sprinkling of salt, I find)

Serve with rice and a sprinkling of fresh coriander.

Enjoy. And feel smug that this is tasty and good for you too!
Xx

P.s. My thank you's are for the lovely bloggy awards I have been given recently. Seriously, thank you.
I would love to add the pics, but my laptop is now dead and my iPad just will not (cannot?) grab icons to add to my sidebar. (if anyone knows a way around this, I would love to know)
Much love xx

Chloe's dress and odds and ends

This post is a bit of a hodge-podge of different things I've been up to in the last week.
So here she is again, this time dressed:




I crocheted her little dress using a variation of Beth's (By hook, by hand) basic doll camisole pattern and added a simple shell stitch skirt. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and the yarn is cute too - it has a sparkle to it.
Thanks again, Beth. Am already planning my next doll..

Next, some more crafty makes...

Owls:))


Owls with pockets? Who doesn't need one?

Making more blocks ready to print:



And some lush vintage must-haves from the the olde antique shoppe:


A lovely hand stitched tablecloth- in beautiful condition. Loving that roses motif.


Vintage edging and doilies (Doilies??!! My inner granny had a loud voice that day)

And, most amusingly...



Yes, bunnies. A cruet set, no less. Cute, kitsch AND useful.
Bet you all want one now.

Wishing you all a good week!
Xx