Mrs Next-Door and helping out your dentist

We are very fortunate in where we live. Reading is big enough to be interesting, yet not so big that it is a sprawling mass. We have a well regarded University, with all the benefits that brings, plus a very diverse ethnic and cultural population. I love it.

However, there is a problem with Mrs Next-Door. The family next to us is Pakistani, with 4 small boys. We are separated by a high wall, so cannot see each other. But my kitchen door and her kitchen door face each other. In this hot weather, both doors have been open and that is the cause of the problem.

Twice a day, the most delicious, mouth watering smells ever come wafting across the wall. I don't mean just that smells nice, I mean seriously considering sacrificing your first-born. Fin and I are on a very fixed budget, but I can't count the number of times we have succumbed and phoned for a takeaway from our favourite Nepalese restaurant.

So yesterday, I surfed the web for a couple of recipes and Faithful Fin got the ingredients from the Co-op and a local Asian store.

Don't they look fresh and appealing?

With my trust iPad beside me, I set to and made bhindi bhaji:

and Bombay potatoes:

We had them with naan bread. They did taste lovely, if I say it myself.

Now to Helping out your Dentist, as in the title of this post.

With so much fresh produce, I felt almost duty bound to counteract the healthy benefits. So I decided to do toffee bananas and ice cream.

There are many recipes for this, requiring sugar thermometers or glasses of cold water. I have a trust recipe that I will share:

Put 2 very large tablespoons of butter in a pan.

As it is melting, add an obscene amount of sugar.

Decide that probably a bit more sugar won't harm and add it.

Get your little glass jar of cinnamon. 

As you attempt to put in a little, too much will inevitably fly out. Don't worry, just stir it in.

Add bananas (each sliced into 3).

Cook, stirring almost continuously until either you get bored or the toffee sauce starts to pull together.

Serve with ice cream.

Forget that melted sugar is fiendishly hot and take a big spoonful, thus causing a blister in the roof of your mouth.

Enjoy and make a note in your diary to phone for a dental appointment.

Ooooh I do like a postal delivery

Yarn and associated supplies are in abundance in our *ahem* compact flat. I was, however, in desperate need for more toy stuffing. Now stuffing is legitimately in the 'need' category - when it's gone, it's gone (as supermarkets are fond of saying). This contrasts sharply with 'needing' more yarn, which can usually be translated into 'I have no need of, but seriously desire to acquire more, yarn'.

Fin was feeling pretty grotty (7 weeks post operative) as her eye is still not sorted out, so suggested I order on line. Ooooh, Aladdin 's cave!

'Love Knitting' is the most amazing yarn store. I ordered at 4 p.m. one day, and it arrived at 10 a.m. the next day, with free postage.

This is what 6 bags of stuffing look like (Atos is a pretty large collie cross, and he takes up most of his 2 sweater sofa):

These giraffes were what required the stuffing:

I have modified the Kornflake Stew pattern slightly, to give them shorter and chunkier necks, legs and arms. This design appeals to me more, being of the shorter limbed, chunkier persuasion myself!

These 2 are the first items for my nascent Etsy shop. I must admit, I really love the organza gift bags they are in. In the past, I have always used tissue paper. Given that soft toys are quite difficult to wrap, I have never been totally satisfied with the result. This seems to solve the problem and also allows the purchaser to see what has been bought, before handing it over to the recipient:

Appliqué Please

It's funny how your perspective changes over time. In 1973, at the Girls' Grammar School I attended, I had to drop sewing and home economics to take Latin. In the 'A' stream, home ec was not an option.

At the time, I had no interest in cooking and sewing, so it was no big deal.

Fast forward to being in my 50s. How I wish I had had the chance to pursue them. Cooking is a source of real pleasure for me, and working with fibre and textiles is my greatest joy outside of my family and friends.

One thing I did learn and still love to do, is appliqué.

Here is my journey from start to finish:

I use the crochet pieces to make first templates on paper.

After faffing around with them to get the shape that fits, I transfer them onto cardboard and label them with the toy design, for future use.

My fabric stash is modest, nearly all Fat Quarters. Appliqué takes up so little fabric, though, this stash will last for ages. I pick a fabric that suits the toy on which I am working.

I bought this bumper pack of embroidery thread at Hobbycraft, a couple of years ago, when it was on special offer. I choose either a contrasting or toning thread, for sewing on the appliqué patch.

I minimise fraying by ironing fusible interfacing onto the back of my chosen fabric. For designs such as this, where distinct pictorial elements are needed, a comparatively large amount of fabric is needed for small appliqué pieces. When the fabric is, for instance, spots, only little scraps are necessary.

This is how the appliqués turn out. For the first time, the pattern I was using turned out as intended:

I got me some shelves

You Tube is a phenomenon I have only discovered in the last year. I am very skittish around technology, though I do love this iPad. 

Anyhoo...there are some brilliant podcasts of yarn stashes,yarn hauls, craft rooms, finished projects and craft organisation systems, all perfect for saddos
aficionados like me.

I fantasise about my own craft room. Many a restless night has been spent debating colour schemes and furnishings for this nonexistent place.

However, about a month ago, we had reached critical mass with yarn and other crafty supplies. Our lovely friend James helped store a huge amount of stuff in the spare bedroom. What was left was my current stash. Fin had me drive her to Argos. I didn't know what she had in mind, but she emerged with a flat pack. That evening she spent an hour sitting cross legged on the ground and - hey presto! - a rather lovely set of shelves appeared. Ok so they are just chipboard with laminate, but the design is nice and it works. The shelves fit beautifully on top of my current cubbies, though they need a good reorganisation before I brave the camera.

So, here are pictures for the non yarn lovers, plus details for my fellow addicts.

Extreme left, bottom and middle shelves: Stylecraft Baby acrylic. Pale turquoise and lemon in 4 ply, the rest in DK.  Bottom right: Stylecraft Special DK purchased online from The Wool Warehouse @ £1.69 for 100g ball. Middle cubby - from L to R: Hayfield Baby Changes yarn, King Cole Flash yarn, Stylecraft variegated.  In the clear plastic basket: Sirdar Snuggly Pearls. Top right: Patons wool blend Aran weight. Top left: more Stylecraft Special DK.

On top of the shelves, I have some knitting books and ones relating to hand work and crafting.

During a bad bout of depression, I discovered Debbie Macomber's books about a knitting shop. They are very light reading but I have a selection of them. The as yet unread ones are for when I am unable to concentrate on anything more taxing. The knitting needle holders were covered in crochet by me last summer. The smaller one was originally a can of tomatoes and the taller, a cylinder of biscuits. I got the idea from Lucy at Attic24's blog.

The tool caddy is a Lazy Susan, covered in fabric, which I bought off Etsy about 3 years ago.

So, not exactly a craft room, but it is a nice little area in which to work. All the colours lift my spirits and are a source of inspiration for new projects.

Knit A Square

In May, I found myself at a crossroads. I needed to knit but had absolutely no interest in making toys. In fact, the very thought of them made me physically ill. So, I spent days just surfing the web.

What I finally came up with as interesting, engaging and worthwhile was the charity Knit A Square. They are South African based and provide blankets, garments and toys to desperately poor AIDS orphans.

I have not knitted children's clothes since my own boys were little. The KAS patterns are very simple. They need garments that will last for the child, are long enough to cover distended bellies caused by malnutrition and disease, are soft and comfortable and are nice and bright so they are child friendly.

Apparently,the little ones always have garments, but the older children miss out. So I made a set for 8 year old size. This is the first set:

I have used good old Stylecraft Special DK  @£1.69 for 100g. It comes in over 50 colours, is very soft and isn't the squeaky, shiny, sweat inducing acrylic of yesteryear.

I will do a post of the other completed sets at a later date.

Crochet Love

I have been knitting forever. Well, for 49 years since the age of 5. It all started in the Infant School playground.

I have always been unsporty and have seen risks in things physical. Even at 5, reading was my favourite pastime. However, books weren't allowed on the playground. The craze was skipping. Skipping solo or jumping rope wielded by 2  friends. Could not do it. Could not co-ordinate. So I needed a substitute activity - knitting.

Do you remember when trolls were cute little toys with lots of hair, not nasty people on the internet? Well, I knitted up wardrobes of clothes for my trolls. All kinds of lacy effects and textures.

And so it remained...though I moved on to clothes for my boys.

2 years ago, I thought I would try my hand at crochet and made several blankets.

Well, 2 weeks ago, I had the desire to make toys.

So far, just 2 made, but I am very happy with them:

This puppy was originally meant to be a bear! However, I did not make the head spherical enough and I sewed the muzzle on too low. So,

 a quick rescue mission by making long bunny ears and voila a hybrid bear/bunny/puppy. Despite these *ahem* newbie mistakes design modifications, I love the way it turned out and will be deliberately making more, in other colours.

The 2nd toy is a giraffe. Crikey, crochet produces MASSIVE toys. I reduced the neck length and it is still 15" tall sitting. Similarly, 

I reduced the length of the arms and legs to be in proportion.

I made another mistake with this one! I buy nearly all of my yarn on line. I love filling virtual shopping carts, even if I never proceed to the checkout! Well, apparently the baby yarn in pale turquoise and pale lemon that I had chosen was in 4 ply. I don't do 4 ply. So I held the 2 colours together and I like the resulting green effect. I also love the way you can see the two separate colours close up.

The spots gave me trouble. The pattern didn't have any, because it was designed as a stripy giraffe. I started off by sewing on fabric spots, like I sewed fabric into the puppy ears, but that didn't work for me. So I crocheted the spots and used embroidery thread to blanket stitch them on and stitch a lazy daisy in each one.

I will be back in a couple of days with a teddy bear (or a dog/rabbit/unicorn/dolphin depending on my accuracy in interpreting the pattern!)