By Helen

new book: paper (yes paper) flowers…

I try really, really, really hard not to buy craft books.  I already have a lot of craft books and sometimes, especially when they are very themed, I find that they stifling creativity: encouraging you down one particular route rather than letting you walk your own path.  Every now and then, though, one comes which you know you have to have on your bookshelf.  That is what happened the other day, I found a book which I fell instantly in love with and had to have there and then.  The book is all about making paper (yes paper, not fabric) flowers: in fact the book is called Paper Flowers and is by the incredibly talented Denise Brown…

The book has thirty-five step by step projects to make your own fabulous flowers.  Here are just a few of my favourite (it was VERY hard to choose)…

Aren’t they just lovely?  I can’t wait to get making.  I have to warn you: I am very tempted to try and adapt some of these paper flowers into fabric flowers!

Have a lovely weekend!

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crochet garden: book review…

It has been a long time since I have treated myself to a new book about crochet.  This isn’t because I haven’t wanted one: oh, no – quite the opposite.  There are soooo many excellent crochet books out there; it is difficult to choose just one. One of my very lovely friends gave me a book voucher for Christmas, so I decided to indulge and purchase a shiny new crochet book.  I love buying new books.  I love the whole process, the browsing, the flicking through pages, the never knowing what delights are to be found between the pages.  Decisions, decisions…I’ve looked at Crochet Garden by Suzann Thompson a few times, but always put the book back on the self, thinking do I need another crochet flower book?  Well, yes I do!  Don’t we all?

The book is full of hints and tips, even for experienced crochets.  Who knew about needle-joining, for the perfect finishing off?  Genius!  The book is brim full of truly beautiful illustrations…

The patterns are clear and easy to follow.  Though there are no charts.  What I really love is that the book, really does offer something a little-bit different, from other crochet books.  The variety of flowers to be crocheted and the use of suggested colours and yarns are just brilliant.   I can’t wait to get crocheting…

Thank you Suzann, a really amazing book! 

Xxx

Ps – I don’t think it makes any difference (but just so you know) the patterns are written using American crochet terms, so you will need to do a little bit of translation! 

facing my baking demons: loaf cakes…

It is ages since I have blogged about baking.  This is not because I haven’t baked: I have, it is just I have had so many other things to tell you about, blogging about baking took a back-seat.  This is going to change: this year I am facing up to my baking demon – the loaf cake.  I am a good baker, I bake great cakes (even if they are not the prettiest things), Si says so, friends and family say so: but I can’t bake loaf cakes.  Give me a recipe for a round cake or a square cake, everything is fine.  Give me a recipe for a loaf cake and the end result will be nothing short of disastrous.  Every loaf cake I have ever baked has collapse into an interesting V shape.  Think deep valley here, running down the middle of the cake.  I have no idea why: if any of you know why this happens, please, let me know.   So this year, right here, right now, I am going to tackle my issues with loaf cakes: and you are coming along with me…

I have the king of baking: Paul Holywood’s How To Bake in support…

I have a picture, so I know exactly what I am aiming for…

And, I AM going to following his instructions to the letter.  No deviations, no thinking well if I just add this.  Are you ready?  Good.

9.45 – Start the cake.  Gather together all ingredients and weigh them out very very accurately. 

9.50 – Everything is ready to go, first job to beat (does he mean cream?  sorry no deviating) the sugar and butter together.  This can take up to ten minutes.  Ten minutes!!

9.53 – Seven minutes of creaming (sorry beating) to go.  My arm hurts!

10.03 – Adding in the lemon curd.  Yuuuummmmmm lemon curd.  Resisting the urge to eat the lemon curd.  Is adding one table spoon of lemon curd, really enough?  Right, no deviating: stick to the recipe.  It’s just I really like lemons; I like my lemons to be so tart that your face hurts when you taste them. 

10.10 – Ready for the oven…

10.30 – Half way through cooking.  Resisting the temptation to open the oven door.  I don’t want it collapsing on me. 

10.50  - It should be ready!

10.51 – It is ready.  Out of the oven.  It looks like the one in Paul’s picture. I have been here before.  Normally in the next ten minutes is when the valley shaping starts to happen.  Figures-crossed while I make the drizzle.

10.58 – It hasn’t collapsed, yet, so I am going to carefully pour over the drizzle: still hoping for the best.   Looking good…

Yep, I think that this is going to be ok…

Here’s to my next adventure into baking loaf cakes…

Happy baking: it is the perfect weekend for it...

crochet flowers…

You’ve probably realised that I love to crochet flowers.  I haven’t been able to crochet flowers for the last few weeks.  My yarn stash was packed away ahead of the building work.  I miss popping up stairs to grab a ball of yarn on a crochet wimp.  While we were packing the house away, I was able to slide my hand into the draw: and with the help of a torch pull something out.  I can’t imagine what state those draws will be in!  For the last few weeks, nothing, no access.  To get my crochet flower fix, I have spent some happy time browsing my crochet book collection: and I thought that I would share one of my favourite with you.  This book is as good as Lesley Stanfield's; but in a very different way.  The book that I want to tell you about is Crochet Flowers by the incredibly talented Nicky Epstein….

The book is just beautiful!  Full of gorgeous photographs of crochet flowers; in some of the most amazing yarn you have ever seen.  Each flower has the crochet pattern, so you can easily crochet the flowers for yourself.  And most (if not all) of the flowers have crochet charts; brilliant for those of us who prefer to look at pictures rather than read words!  One note of caution; if you do read and follow the crochet patterns, they are written in American; while translation is no big issue – it is worth remembering before you start!

The book is a true source of inspiration, even if you don’t follow the patterns and prefer to crochet things up as you go along (as I do) I would recommend that this book is placed on your bookshelf.  Go on treat yourself…

 Ps – building work should finish today or tomorrow.  Very excited to start decorating, can’t wait to share it all with you…

cooking up a feast…

Si and I love having friends over and cooking for them; and that is exactly what we did a couple of weeks ago.  It was the perfect opportunity to cook something from my new cookbook.  Rachel Khoo’s The Little Paris Kitchen…

Ever since watching The Little Paris Kitchen I had been hooked, so when the cookbook came out, I knew that it was destined for my bookshelf.  After spending time reading the recipes and looking at the beautiful photographs: I decided what to cook. 

The meal was to start with galette aux pommes de terre et poires avec Roquefort (potato and pear galette with Roquefort.   I have to say my galette looked NOTHING  like Rachel’s…

But then I have not been trained at the Cordon Bleu cookery school.  Despite their appearance they tasted fantastic, even if I do say so myself!  Next I made boulettes de viande avec une sauce piquante et des pates d’Alsace (meatballs in spicy sauce with Alsatian pasta), only I substituted the Alsatian pasta for good old penne.   This did look like Rachel’s…

The only hick-up with this, was I felt like I was eating gravy with pasta.  Nevertheless it tasted good!  Next came dessert, which Si offered to make.  Si carried on the Rachel Khoo theme choosing to make a dark chocolate and raspberry pudding…

This was good, very VERY good!  Chocolate and raspberry loveliness, what more can you ask for?

All of the recipes were very easy to follow and we keep trying out different things from the cookbook and from Rachel’s amazing blog.  I would recommend that you try some out and create your own Little Paris kitchen in your own little home,…

Enjoy x

crochet stitches...

I suspect very many of you are like me: and have shelves and shelves full of books.  It has been my thought to gradually, over time, to blog reviews of each of them (well the crochet ones: other wise reviewing ALL of them would be a whole new blog).  So far in the year (yes it really has been almost a year) of blogging I have reviewed a grand total of one book that is devoted just to crochet.

So, here is number two...

This is one of my favourite, fall back books.  When you are reading a pattern, or wanting to crochet something beautiful, this is the book that takes you back to basics and offers you an array of stitches to chose from.  It has an amazing illustrated stitch index, making it really reader friendly.  Each stitch is then explained in detail and charted.  My only negative here is that some of the charts are printed in yellow.  Yellow on white printing, is something which I struggle with. 

On one of those mad days I did come up with the idea to crochet my way through the book.  Then after mastering each of the 200 stitches (including the section on Tunisian crochet) I could call myself a real-life, proper, grown-up crocheter.  Need-less-to-say this is one of those things that I haven't yet got around to doing!

This book should be on all crocheters' book shelves, as it is brilliant as a book for beginners and equally good for those with more knowledge. 

Go on treat yourself Now...

 

crochet brooches...

So here are some more of the finished crochet projects that I gave you a sneaky peek of...

They were inspired by a pattern, for an Irish Rose, in one of my favourite crochet books, although as ever, I did adapt the pattern.

The brooches show one of the things I love most about crochet: the diversity you can achieve.  Both of the brooches are crocheted to the same pattern, but by using different yarn that finish is completely different.  I love the shimmer of the Lang Lanalux yarn, used on the darker brooch: the image doesn't do the shimmer justice!

Hope you like them..?

Christmas crochet find...

I was having a good old rummage in one of my local charity shops, and I happened upon this...

Perfect for making all those Christmas decorations!

There are some great projects in here.  There are also some, which I have to confess, I find a little creepy - perhaps something to do with watching too much Dr Who as a child.  Moving on from the creepy Christmas makes, others are just lovely!

As yet I haven't followed any of the patterns, so I can't comment one how well written there are.  They look simple and straight forward and are written in both English and American.  Even if you don't follow the patterns: some of the photographs of the finished projects are great and will give enough inspiration to create your own Christmas decorations.

Now where is my hook...

a little treat...

Normally by mid-November Si has placed a ban on me buying books, CDs and DVDs without him knowing: this is so I don't end up buying something he has bought, or is going to buy, for my Christmas present.  To date this hasn't happened.  Now this is not because Si isn't putting thought into my Christmas present: it is simply because this year I am getting something other than a book, CD or DVD. 

So, I am free to buy myself the occasional little treat...

I am a huge Kirstie fan.  Remember how excited I got at the Yorkshire Show back in July?  Needless to say I have been watching her new show, where she is entering craft competitions at local shows, like what she was up to at the Yorkshire Show.

The TV show is great and the book is just as good.  What I love about the Kirstie's writing, is that she writes as she speaks.  The book is crammed full of ideas from baking, to things to make for the garden, to gorgeous gifts to make for friends.  There really is something in here for everyone. 

Knowing where to start is the real problem: a problem which I'll tackle in the New Year once my Christmas making has finished.

The book has just one negative:  there is no crochet...but it is a beautiful book, so Kirstie is forgiven (just).

crochet book...

I thought that I would share with you one of my very favourite crochet books...

 
As the photo tells the book is 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet by the very talented Lesley Stanfield.  This is one of my  most well used crochet books as the damage to the spine will testify for.

The book is (as the title suggests) dedicated to both knitting and crocheting: it is split into the two sections, with equal time spent on each craft.  This can be a rarity - as crochet so often made to feel like knitting's poor relation.  Not in this book. 

I can't really comment on the knitting sections (I can knit - just choose not to, in favour of the flexibility and freedom of crochet), but the crochet section is FANTASTIC.  It is even themed into basic, intermediate and advance patterns, so there is truly something for all.  The patterns are charted, for those of us who prefer not to read: as crochet patterns can be scarily wordy in places.  The results are always, as the worked-up photographs show.  Perfect!

This book should take pride of place on the bookshelves of all knitters and crocheters.