Busy, Busy, Busy. . . .

Have been very busy this week, especially with Christmas coming.

Had an SOS from a friend who is worried about her rabbits and guinea pigs getting cold during the winter months.  She has moved them into her shed, and has asked me for shredded paper to help with the bedding.  

Different companies, who I have never heard off, have sent me catalogues and leaflets which is very kind of them. So after discussion we have decided that a layer of newspaper at the bottom of the cage, a layer of shredded paper, straw and then hay may make the difference. We are also going to give them the inside cardboard tubes from kitchen rolls to give them something to shred and make bedding for themselves. There will also be blankets to go on top of the cages, to keep them warm. 

As she has quite a lot of animals, the "Big Shred" begins, especially as we have a few harsh months ahead of us.  Afterwards, the used bedding will be put into a designated composter, for used bedding only, and allowed to rot down.

Off course, I will still continue making the fire logs and putting plain paper into my composter.

The reaction and breakdown of everything that is put into the composter will be a lot slower during the winter months.  Basically, the temperature has been lowered (due to the colder weather) and it will take longer to "cook" the contents and make sure that it breaks down evenly.  It's similar to a cooker, the lower the heat, the longer it takes to cook.

  

Now that the pink baby blanket has been completed, I've now started a scarf using chunky wool and 4mm knitting needles.  I cast on 25 stitches and using basic knit stitch.  This is not an overnight, quickie knit, but several days work. So using basic knit stitch the long knit has started.

Also started making knitted Christmas stockings for the Christmas tree, using double knit wool and 3mm knitting needles. They may be little darlings, but they are time consuming to make.

It's been a busy and fruitful week.  

Big thank you to the people who kept the postman employed and sent me leaflets, brochures and general junk mail.  It has been shredded and put into the composters.  

Also, I have made quite a few fire logs.  I've also added dry leaves that have fallen from the apple tree to the fire logs.  This will help them to burn.  

The milk chocolate sponges have come together nicely and has been a joy to knit.  Slightly different texture to the other knitted cakes and cookies,but the contrast is so worthwhile.

Also finished crocheting the pink baby blanket and made sure that all the ends were sewn in to give a neat finish.  

Continued making fondant fancies (mint flavour this time) and had a great time doing so.

Chocolate Sponge Cake

The weather is changing and the last of the tomato crops, chilli's  and apples have been brought in.  The tomato's have been blanched, skinned and placed in a container and placed in the freezer.  The chilli's frozen flat on an open tray, in the chest freezer and they will be left for a couple of days before being placed into small freezer bags.  And the last of the apples stewed and will be used for a sweet.

Knitting

To continue with the Christmas present making, the Fondant Fancies and the Swiss Roll slices have been made and I thought some Chocolate Sponge Cakes would be nice to do.

Taking milk chocolate coloured double knit wool, 10 stitches were cast on to 4mm knitting needles.  41 rows were garter stitched and then cast off.

The cast on and cast off edges were over sewn together and fastened off. Stitches were picked up, using a wool needle and milk chocolate double knit wool, at one of the row ends, pulled up tightly and fasten off. The chocolate sponge was turned the right side out.  A 4.5cm diameter circle of cardboard was pushed inside the knitted piece, so that the centre of the circle is at the centre of the gathered row ends.  The second set of row ends were gathered using the wool needle and double knit milk chocolate wool.  The chocolate sponge is stuffed lightly, the ends pulled up and gathered tightly, then fastened off.

To make the cream 10 stitches were cast on and garter stitched for 4 rows. The wool was cut, leaving a tail and pulled through all ten stitches.  It was pulled tightly and fastened off.  This made a dome-shaped piece and then flattened in the palm.  Glue was spread inside and around the lower edge of the cream and then pressed in the position at the centre top of the sponge.

Have spent a little while making the paper patches to hold the material in shape for my retirement quilt.  The quality of some of the envelopes are not as thick as they used to be and I chose to shred them for the composter.

Tomato's and Knitted Swiss Roll Slices

Another morning of composting and crop collection.

The second composter had a couple of worms in this morning.  At the moment it is acceptable and in good condition.  Hopefully continuous adding on a daily basis will encourage more worms to come and do their job.


Have collected more crops off the tomato plant.

Also, the chilli plants have come into their own and the green chilli's are gradually turning red.

I suspect that within the next couple of days I will have enough chilli's to open freeze and place in small pots.

More fire logs made, and these are worth their weight in gold.  Have tried them in the chiminea and they were brilliant for helping with starting the fire and burnt for quite a few minutes until the charcoal took hold.

Have started on making swiss roll slices.  Four stitches were cast onto 4mm knitting needles using double knit chocolate wool.  Seventy-three rows were knitted and then cast off.

The cream centre was made by casting on four stitches of double knit cream wool onto 4mm knitting needles.  Sixty-seven rows were knitted and then cast off.  

The ends were sewn in and the swiss roll was rolled, with the cream inside. The swiss roll was sewn at the edge and through the the actual slice itself to make sure it held its shape.

The swiss roll slice were fun to make and also very relaxing to do.  

Think they are looking pretty good.

Knitted Lemon Iced Biscuits

Knitted iced biscuits, although made in three parts and are time consuming to make, do look very good.

The biscuit base are made by casting on 9 stitches of double knit wool and stocking stitch 41 rows.

The iced part of the biscuit is made by casting on 8 stitches of double knit lemon coloured wool and stocking stitch 27 rows.

The cast on and off seams were sewn together for the biscuit.  This make it into a cylinder.  Stitches were picked up from the top edge of the cylinder using a needle and wool.  It was pulled tightly and tied off.  It was turned inside out, so that the seams are on the inside and the edges folded in and flattened to make a biscuit.

The iced lemon part was put together exactly the same as above and also flattened.

The lemon part was stuck to the biscuit area using multi-purpose glue and allowed to dry.

Using 4mm needles 14 stitches were cast on using orange double knit wool. One row was knitted and then the wool was thread through the stitches, pulled tightly and cast off.  The cast on/off edges were sewn together to make an orange circle.  Six of these were made to stick on top of the lemon icing using multi-purpose glue.

The biscuits were left to dry thoroughly.

It was lovely knitting these and seeing the biscuits coming together.  Time consuming, but so worthwhile and I think they turned out quite well.

Good Day Crafting

A good start to the morning, post has been, envelopes made into internal patches for my retirement patchwork quilt and excess shredded for the composter.

Six firelogs made and ready for the chiminea.

The crochet pink baby blanket is increasing and am enjoying watching it grow. The double knit wool crochets very smoothly. Still got a little way to go, but looking good.

Another mistletoe sampler using a red background.  This only took 2 hours to make using 14 count Aida.  

I rather like this, it only a personal opinion, but it does look 

Christmasey to me.

The retirement patches are coming along well too.  Managed to hit my goal of another 3 patches this week and it is feeling good.  Have collected nearly 100 now and although I have a long way to go, each one contributes to my future.

  

Mistletoe Sampler with Blue Frame

Composter number two was fed after the mail drop this morning. We had the apple peel and cores from yesterday plus the left over paper to put in it. Feeding little and often, and with the help from worms I hope to have a good compost in approximately 3 years from that one.  It took me nearly a year to fill composter number one, and with two years to mulch down, it should take approximately 3 years.



As the weather is inclement I thought it better to stay indoors and continue with another Mistletoe sampler for my Christmas Cards.  I sat down and calculated how much each card cost and was surprised that it was only 22 pence in material costs.  That is inclusive of Aida, thread, card and insert. Perhaps I am wrong but it seems cheaper than the cost of a card at the local supermarket.

This time I chose to make the sampler with a lovely blue frame.

The Mistletoe Sampler with Blue Frame

I have continue crocheting the pink baby blanket.  It is gradually getting bigger.  Am loving it, very relaxing.