Knitting magazines and knitting cafes!

I am in awe of the knitting hysteria that is taking over in recent times and which is gaining in popularity at the speed of a lightening! It is no longer the pastime of only our grandmothers while our nimble fingers lay idle. The younger generations are finally encompassing the pleasure that can be derived from such a simple task as well understanding the joy felt at creating such wonderful knitted goods! It is a spectacular feat to observe! For many years I was apprehensive in telling a soul about my much-loved hobby for fear I would be ridiculed and laughed at. It is not many a woman in her teens and early 20s which wishes to be mortified and degraded by her peers! But with the spirit and determination of a young Jane Eyre in her battle to prove herself to be good and just and never a liar...I persevered with my 'uncool' activity in silence until the day arose that Julia Roberts and her knitting celebrity pals made it once again...a trendy hobby!

And what a world awaits those that seek to partake in a little needle clicking! A world of fabulous wools in every colour and fibre; simple or intricate patterns - whatever your choice - which enable the knitter to churn out beautiful clothing, toys and much more; Social groups to indulge our obsessions; a network of crafters worldwide coming together in shared love of a single hobby.

Gone are the days when knitting meant frumpy old fashioned designs, with the internet and a wealth of knitting magazines available, even a beginner knitter can create a fashionable item for others to admire. I myself am a great fan of the style presented by Vogue Knitting. Although I have never had the pleasure of creating an item from this fashionable magazine. It is unfortunate for me that I have not yet been able to source a supplier in the west of Ireland. But it is a task I have not yet given up on.

While reading something of late (the name I can't recall) I was informed of a shop-cafe in Beaumont Dublin, aptly named Stitch, which is "Dublin’s new knitting and stitching shop...a place to sit, knit and relax with a good old-fashioned cup of tea and a chat." What an amazing concept! How I have dreamed in the past of establishing a place like this! A refuge for the knitter of the world! I also discovered on their website that they stock Vogue knitting! How happy was I! I have since contacted the creative duo via there website about ordering a copy of the autumn issue. I am very much looking forward to a response!

Knitting and other needle craft groups are popping up everywhere. I myself am a member of CafeCreate in Galway, which was recently featured in the Sunday World. I would love to set up my own group as I am not living in the city and have to travel to attend the group on a Saturday in Galway. Although I say this, I have not really endeavored to go very far with this. I feel I would probably miss the gang in CafeCreate far too much.

As some of you may have noticed, My writing seems very formal today. I am currently reading Jane Eyre at a furious speed so that I can view it in the cinema. I guess the way in which it is written is rubbing off on me! So with all the old fashioned reading and writing..I also decided to knit myself a vintage style jumper from last winters issue of simply knitting. I think I am growing quite fond of pretending to live in a world void of technology, in ignorance of the fact that I am currently typing my blog on a personal computer! woops! Time to switch you off and have some classic me time enjoying the simplicity of life in times gone by!

Happy Knitting and Crafting

Helena =D

Booties, Booties, Booties

More booties have been created! A little elfin pair, a pair of Mary Janes and aran style booties (yes I only show one in pictures...there is two but I have not taken a photo yet).

All are knitted in cream worsted weight wool and to fit a newborn. However the elfin booties and the aran style booties are a little larger than newborn in my opinion. A great purchase if you ask me as the child will get great wear out of them! =D

Lots of booties!

Elf Booties

Mary Jane Booties with cute purple button

The cyclops bootie! =D

My First Pair of Booties!!

After the successful completion  of Bertie on Saturday, it was full steam ahead with my knitting! I was on a roll and nobody could stop me!

Saturday night was spent watching movies with my other half and knitting my first pair of booties which I hope to sell! The pattern was a little difficult to me as it was written differently to previous patterns I worked with and although it stated that a circular needle could be used to knit in the round...it could not!!! The boot was far too tiny..so I used double pointed needles (DPNs) instead! I have to say I am very pleased with the outcome!! I have posted some pictures of these adorable little new born baby booties below!

Knitted with worsted weight cream wool, they have a seed/moss stitch sole, garter stitch edge, stocking stitch insole and a rib stitch cuff. My favorite is the seed stitch sole as I love this stitch. It is very pretty and almost resembles the sole of shop bought booties as it has a bobbled look.

These booties can be purchased by:

1. Contacting me directly on my blog or facebook page

 or

2. My Etsy Shop -  http://www.etsy.com/shop/HelenaAgCniotail

If anybody would like these booties made to order in a specific colour or size please feel free to contact me.

Happy Knitting and Crafting

Helena =D

Bertie Bassett is complete!!!!

Oh Bertie!!! You look so yummy yum!!

The Complete Bertie 

Yesterday was a very productive day! I headed along to Cafe Create (Galway's very own Stitch'n'Bitch group) and buckled down to some serious knitting and sewing. Mostly sewing unfortunately. I may have mentioned before that sewing is the absolute bane of my existence! A real cause of misery for me...and the only part of creating wonderful knitted items I despise. But alas, after 2 hours of hard slogging...I got there! And the overall result is a Bertie Bassett good enough to eat!

Happy Knitting and Crafting,

Helena =D

I want liquorice allsorts everytime I see him!!

And here he finally is...My Bertie Bassett! Every time I see him I just want to eat liquorice allsorts!! Heehee!

Bertie's almost finished!

 His arms are finished and I am currently sewing them up!! All that is left to do with our dear Bertie after is knit him a walking cane and sew on his felt eyes!! I am finally getting there!! I think I will be sad to finish him as he was so much fun to make and see him come together with all his individual sweets!!!

Bertie's arms and the felt for his eyes!

Hoping to post again soon with yet more photos!!

Happy Knitting and Crafting

Helena =D

Broken Camera

So... I do realise I promised photographs of Bertie Bassett...but unfortunately there is an issue with this happening. Our camera is completely and utterly banjaxed. Last New Years Eve..it was dropped and the touch screen cracked. We continued to use the camera as it still took photographs. We just could not adjust the settings. A few weeks back..the SD card needed formatting and now when we turn on the camera it requires us to insert a date and time and we can't do this due to the broken screen. So it appears we will have to purchase a new camera! Unfortunately an expenditure like this does not fit in to our budget at present! When I am home tonight I will snap some photographs with my android phone...and then attempt to locate the SD chip that arrived with the phone in order to transfer the photographs to my netbook! I am not very technical minded so this may take a while...and an especially long while if I am in a lazy mood. For example...last night I decided to knit one of Bertie's arms..I managed half it and then was too lazy to do anymore, settled myself down to watch the movie HOP and fell asleep half way through. Not only did I fall into a deep slumber..but so did my hubby to be. So clearly we were both immensely exhausted...which I am happy to use as my excuse for being too sluggish to knit! In fairness...we were not home after work until 8.20pm as we had to visit the priest in our local parish to fill out our pre-nuptial enquiry form! It is official now..he's going to marry me! Heehee!

Hoping to snap out of this lethargic behaviour soon and get my arse in gear!!

Happy knitting and crafting

Helena =D

P.S. Invitations are on a go slow as well! Really must stop being so ridiculously lazy!

Taking my time with Bertie!

I miss knitting! During the summer I fall slave to the idea that if I sit inside I am wasting the good weather. So now, I am very much looking forward to the long dark cold evenings of winter, because for some reason when the summer approaches...the evenings become longer and time spent at home becomes less and less...and so my knitting is left to gather dust in the corner. Already there is a nip in the air, and I can feel myself full of anticipation for the nights spent in front of a roaring fire curled up with my fiance and our little dog, blanket thrown over us and knitting in hand! Poor Bertie is stuffed half made in my knitting bag behind the couch! I vow to take him out soon and finish him off!

So as I have mentioned on countless occasions, I am getting married and that is the reason for knitting all the stuffed toys in the past number of months!! My next project is to knit lots of booties and sell them at Christmas craft fairs starting in November. As many of you know..weddings are expensive..I am hoping to sell some booties and make a little extra cash to help us on our way! I will post pictures of my booties as I make them on my blog and anybody that wishes to buy them before they hit the stalls please feel free to drop me a comment!!

Hoping to post pictures of Bertie soon! It is my fiance's stag weekend and he is heading off to Derry with the lads for the weekend giving me plenty of time to catch up on some baking, knitting pampering and hanging out with my girlies!! =D

Happy Knitting and Crafting

Helena =D

It has been a while!!! Unfortunately I was not very well at all and had to take a little holiday in the hospital! After suffering with a swollen abdomen and lower right abdominal pain for over 24 hours I decided it was time to take a trip to my GP. He sent me to A&E where they were unsure what was the cause and I was admitted for observation and an ultrasound scan. Unsure whether it was an ovarian cyst or my appendix causing my discomfort the doctors decided to perform a laparoscopy. This showed up free fluid in my abdomen (possibly from a burst cyst) which was removed along with my appendix for good measure! Waking up groggy, appendixless and with a severely distended tummy, I began the recovery process..which fortunately allowed me plenty of time to catch up on some knitting! Unfortunately this only lasted a week..then it was back to work.

As you may have read in my previous posts I have been working on some projects for my upcoming wedding. Since my most recent post I have more or less completed the bride and groom!! see below for a picture!!

Cosying up by the fire!

 

 

 

My almost complete bride..she still needs flowers

 

 

The handsome groom!!

 I still have some work to do on the bride such as her bouquet and a bit more detail in her dress! These little things I will do closer the wedding!!

If you look at my previous posts you will notice that I changed a few details on both the bride and groom. As my hubby to be is starting to lose his hair and so keeps it very short - I gave the groom no hair and instead shaded in with a colouring pencil to give he effect of short stubby hair =D. And for the bride, I gave her no sleeves and lengthened her veil...not giving anything away at all am I?? =P


Prior to my stay in hospital, I had my bridesmaids over for a girly weekend to help make wedding invitations! After dancing the night away until 5am Saturday morning it was a bit of a slow start on the Saturday..but we got there..below is the finished result!

I decided to hand make our invitations so they are more personal to us! All the card stock was ordered from the US and I used a guillotine to cut them to the desired shape and size. I designed the invite on photoshop (many, many, many hours of photoshop - I now consider myself an expert). Double sided tape was then used to stick everything. I also hand drew a map for the directions (google maps version was just so dull heehee). This was then scanned into the computer and printed on the back side of the directions insert! I am so proud of the results! I have only made a few so far to date! It's been pretty crazy trying to settle back in to work and life in general after being in the hospital..not to mention that I still have the original abdominal pain I was admitted with! But I am sure I will get there eventually! And I know it will be so worth it!!

So I will leave you with what I am currently crafting, along with the invitations of course..I am a very good at multitasking =D. My current project and I think by far my fiance's favorite...a knitted Bertie Bassett!! I have him more or less completely finished but as I had no stuffing to fill him with he was placed aside for a few days..but it won't be long now and he will be joining the others in time for the big day!! Hoping to post pictures soon!!


Happy knitting and crafting,


Helena =D

The groom is getting ready to join his bride!

The groom has stepped up to the plate!! He's chose his undergarments and jacket and is deciding on top hats as I type!

Don't they make a lovely couple?!!!

The groom without his jacket

The groom wearing his jacket alongside his bride

I am really enjoying knitting these little characters! They are nice and simple and getting me very excited about my own wedding!! They are just the icing on the cake..literally! =D

Happy Knitting and Crafting

Helena =D

The bride is getting ready for her big day!!

 The bride is getting ready quite rapidly for her big day!! She now has her undergarments and dress ready and next on the list is her veil before heading for a hair trial. Shes not yet sure what colour hair she wants!!

What's under the dress!

The Bride and her dress

Happy Knitting and Crafting

Helena =D

Young Sweetie is Complete!!

I finished Young Sweetie on schedule!! Below are some pictures!! I am so delighted with how she turned out that I can't stop looking at her and picking her up!! I think Fred may be a little jealous!! =D

The chocolate apple and ice cream cone before I sewed them on

Do you think she looks like her pattern companion?

Young Sweetie in all her glory!!

Next on the list of things to knit are a bride and groom!! Another Jean Greenhowe pattern! I am a huge fan of hers!! Patterns are easy to follow and always a joy to knit!!

Jean Greenhowe's Bride and Groom

 This pattern is from the Little Gift Dolls pattern book! I have already started the bride! I have her legs, body and head knitted and stuffed and her face sewn on! I am now knitting her arms! These dolls are much smaller than young sweetie so therefore don't take as long! I hope to finishthe bride within a few weeks and hope to be finished both bride and groom by August...although I refuse to state when in August as you might hold me to it! =D

Happy Knitting and Crafting

Helena =D

Young sweetie pics update!!

I have been very busy indeed for the last few days...I made it my mission to spend at least one hour every night working on young sweetie! You can see the results in the photos below! Again I forgot to take some photos of my progress along the way!!

Young sweetie from the back

The above photo is taken from behind to show y'all the detail from this angle. I love her cross over straps and pink liquorice buttons. She also has liquorice buttons on the front of her pinafore. I knitted and attached these first and then did the back ones...the back ones came out better after all the practice with the first two!

Young sweetie is gathering her sweets

This photo is of young sweetie to the front. She has her liquorice sweet buttons on her pinafore, her chocolate flake and candy sticks in her pockets and my favorite bit of all...the lollipops on her hat!! I love these..I think the really add character!!! I have attached a photo below of the lollipops before I sewed then to her hat.

Lollipops!

The lollipop sticks, chocolate flake and candy sticks were made by inserting straws inside the knitted piece. I don't have photos...as guess what..you guessed it...I FORGOT TO TAKE SOME! I am knitting the chocolate apple at the moment. The stick for the chocolate apple is also made up by inserting a straw..I will make sure to take photos of this!! =D

Hope you like my young sweetie update!! Please let me know by leaving a comment!!

Happy Knitting and Crafting


Helena =D

Over a month later and finally a young sweetie update!

OMIGOD! Haven'tpostedinamonth.Iamsosorry!

That is me muttering with embarrassment at my blog update tardiness!

Let me see..what have I been doing for the last month...yes..it has been exactly a month since my last update!! It is criminal in fact!

As I have mentioned before..the weekend is really the only time I have to myself to knit, visit friends and really get to spend time with my fiance...the latter two which I seem to be doing a lot more of lately...It must be a summer thing....an inability to sit indoors when one could be outside enjoying the summer sun!! Summer sun?!! That may be a slight exaggeration here in Ireland....more like..the marginally warmer temperatures which would still be classed as winter in most countries around the world but here in Ireland calls for BBQS and the wearing of inappropriate summer clothes despite the fact it is only 12 degrees Celsius! But alas..we do it anyway and so...knitting becomes more a winter hobby...something to do on the dark evenings in front of a warm fire!! I intend to break this habit and make knitting a summer hobby also!!! After all, I need to..young sweetie has a very important job to do and must be finished on time...summer is no excuse!

So in between weekends of visiting friends..some which we flew to Madrid to visit (a valid excuse for not knitting), a very bad toothache and a visit to the dentist which left me bed bound for a weekend and a trip to Antrim in Northern Ireland..I finally managed to knit and attach Young Sweeties arms and here she is!!! All she needs now are her sweets!!

An almost complete Young Sweetie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And she already has some of them!! In her pockets are two sticks of rock and a flake..unfortunately..I have no pictures to add as I forgot to take some!! Sometimes I get so absorbed with knitting that I forget to obtain the camera and snap some photos ..I just want to get each piece finished so I can have that rush of satisfaction!! =D

I promise to have pictures for my next bog post..and I promise not to leave it quite so long...I have set an end date for which young sweetie must be finished!! And that is Thursday 23rd June!!! A fairly random date but it might put some speed on me!!

Until again..Happy knitting and crafting


Helena =D

An Easter bonnet, edible Easter nests and a tour of the Irish landscape

I revealed in my previous post that I have been dreadfully lazy and incapable of lifting my knitting needles and adjoining wool out of their flower print knitting bag residence. However I must retract this statement as I have not been terribly idle at all! I have in fact over the last number of weeks been exceptionally active! With the fantastic help of my 10 soon to be 11 year old niece, we created an Easter bonnet and prepared amazing edible bird nests. Both of which we brought camping with us to Westport in County Mayo for the Easter weekend.  Along with all these ventures I have once again strived to improve my fitness level by hiking and cycling in the west of Ireland! The views are breathtaking and I don’t feel like I am exercising at all. My gluteus maximus muscles say otherwise much to my satisfaction! Below I will take you through how we made the Easter bonnet and bird nests as well as show you some of the spectacular views we encountered on our trip away and activity packed weekends since. As one can observe from this post, this Sunday is a day of rest as I feel it is fully deserved every once in a while. Even if it feels outrageous to still be sitting in ones pyjamas at 3pm in the afternoon.  Shhh...Tell no one...

Easter Nests

Ingredients and materials for the bird nests

 Above I have a photograph of all the ingredients required to make the bird nests. Below is a list of the ingredients and how I prepared the bird nests.

1 pack of Cadbury Mini Eggs

120 g All Bran

225g cooking chocolate

Saucepan of boiling water

Glass bowl

Large plastic bowl

Old egg containers

Mixing spoon

In a bowl I placed the All Bran. Over a saucepan of boiling water I melted the cooking chocolate in the glass bowl. I added the cooking chocolate to the bowl of All Bran and using a wooden spoon mixed the two together. I then spooned the mixture into the egg cartons and topped each nest with two mini eggs. And there you have it, edible Easter bird nests! 

Completed bird nests

We added little chicks for an extra Easter touch

Easter Bonnet

Continuing with our Easter creativity, I have stated the materials we needed to assemble the bonnet along with the photographs below which demonstrate the Easter Bonnet assembly from start to finish! It was a big hit with my niece and she subsequently modelled it for the remainder of the day!

Materials used:

A straw hat

Tacky glue

Ribbon

Feathers

Paper flowers

Fluffy chicks (please refrain from using actual live chickens)

The materials used to assemble the Easter bonnet

Sticking on the feathers with tacky glue

The finished bonnet from the side modelled by my niece

The  Easter Bonnet from the front

And especially for those of you who appreciate the spectacular scenery which exists all around us I have attached some photographs of the beauty of the west of Ireland.

Killary Harbour

near Leenane Co.Galway/Co.Mayo

The beginning of a 10km walk alongside Killary Harbour 

Foher, a village deserted during the famine

Rosroe Quay with Connaught's highest
 mountain Mweelrea in the background.
A grassy boreen leads from here to Foher and it was along this boreen
 that food was brought to the people of Foher during the Famine.

A view of little Killary Harbour from a mountain valley
 which divides the two harbours.

A view of Killary harbour from the same valley
from which little Killary can been  viewed.

Westport/Murrisk, Co.Mayo

Standing at the peak of Croagh Patrick,
 Ireland's holiest mountain.

The valley we descended between Croagh Patrick
and Ben Goram Mountain.

Climbing down the valley next to a stream

Crossing the stream as it became larger

A view of the valley from the other side

The Easter Bunny at  Westport House

Birthday Celebrations

I think that is all for my post today. It is my fiancé's birthday and I have made a delicious Victoria sponge birthday cake with fresh cream and strawberries. Which we are about to devour in large chunks I have no doubt. I have made this cake before and it was a massive success with all that ate it. It is a recipe from The Big Book of Baking.

My favourite baking book

This is the most dog eared recipe book in my home! I got it on offer in Eason's bookshop in Galway for €8.99 and it is most certainly worth every penny and then some! I will leave you with a photograph of the cake. I swear I would give all my readers a large slice if I could but I am unable!

The Victoria Sponge Birthday cake

Happy Knitting and Crafting,


Helena =D

Why have I not been Knitting!!

I have been so lazy lately! I have not knit since my last blog post about young sweetie. Every day I come home from the lab with the intention of knitting! But then I end up curled up on the couch watching TV. I never just watch TV. I always do something else while doing so! I think I am ill. If this strange behaviour does not stop soon I may have to take a visit to my GP! Here is hoping I will break this nasty no knitting habit soon!! Young Sweetie will not knit herself and she has a very important job at our wedding sweet counter!! At least I have not gone over the edge altogether..I am still reading bucket loads. So at least there is a small smattering of normality still remaining in my everyday routine!

Signing off and hoping to update you on Young Sweetie very soon,

Helena

Dinner Party Recipes: The Side Dishes

Sweet Potato and Carrot Puree

Yield: Far too much for your average dinner party! If serving as a sauce you will need to quarter the recipe. If serving as a mash as equal part potato to sweet potato and carrot to give it a thicker consistency.

Ingredients:

4 large sweet potatoes (approximately 2lb)

1 lb carrots

2 ½ cups of water

1 tbsp of sugar (for fear that you’re not sweet enough already)

12 tbsp of butter (ssshhhhh….what do you mean? it’s a vegetable dish…it is very healthy =D)

1 cup of crème fraiche

½ tsp nutmeg

5lb white potato (optional)

Preparation method:

Clean the potatoes and slice down middle. Place in preheated oven at 200^oC and bake for 1h or until tender.

Peel and chop the carrots. Pace in a saucepan and add the water, sugar, 2 tbsp of butter, salt and pepper.

Place over medium heat and bring to the boil. Cook uncovered until all the liquid boils off and just butter remains. Carrots should be tender. If not add more water and boil it off again.

Scrape out flesh from potatoes and combine with carrots. Add crème fraiche and process/mash until smooth. Add nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.

Glazed Brussel Sprouts with Walnuts

Yield: 4 (Woohoo…the correct quantity of food!!! =D)

Ingredients:

125 ml of water

325g of frozen brussel sprouts (I adore cabbage balls!!)

2 tbsp Butter

100g walnuts

25 g sugar

¼ tsp allspice (plus a little sprinkle…measuring exact amounts reminds me of work..I need to rebel =D)

¼ tsp nutmeg (see brackets above)

Salt for seasoning (optional)

Preparation method:

Cook the brussel sprouts in boiling water until tender. This is where I add the salt. I add a sprinkle to the water before I add the sprouts.  Drain.

In a microwaveable bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar, allspice and nutmeg. Cover and cook on high, stirring once or twice, until the butter is melted and walnuts are warm. Pour over brussel sprouts and serve! Mmmmmm!!

Roasted Irish potato

Ingredients:

As much white potato as you like. I used records. And on average 4 large potatoes which I quartered.

Juices of the meat

Vegetable oil

Salt and pepper

Preparation method:

Cut potatoes to golf ball size. Parboil and fluff up Helena style (steam until slightly tender, place in a bowl and give them a shake).

Add to the baking tin in which the pork fillets are roasting (or whatever meat you are roasting). Add vegetable oil if necessary. Spoon the juice from the meat over each potato. Season with salt and pepper.

Roast until tender and browning.

Remember..The more meat juices the better..It adds great flavor =D

Fillet of Pork Tenderloin stuffed with apricot and pistachio stuffing

Yield:  Enough for two pork tenderloins, two 5kg chickens and a few sandwiches =D I went a bit overboard regards the quantity. But it freezes very well. I later stuffed a chicken and roasted it and even used any leftovers from this to make chicken and stuffing sandwiches! I do not like to waste any food!

Ingrediants:

2 fillets of pork tenderloin (plus 2 chickens and a few sandwiches if you like)

12 cups of breadcrumbs

½ cup of unsalted butter

1 cup of chopped onion

1 tablespoon of dried parsley

1 ½ cups of chopped dried apricots

 2 cups of chicken stock

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp sage

1 tsp majoram

Pinch of salt and black pepper

1 ½ cups of pistachio shelled nuts (preferably unsalted but if this is not possible then add no salt when seasoning)

Preparation method:

Preheat the oven to 200^oC

Place breadcrumbs in mixing bowl

Saute the onion and parsley in unsalted butter until soft. Add apricots and sauté for 10 minutes. Add one cup of stock and seasoning and cook for 3 minutes.

Pour the mixture over the breadcrumbs mixing well. Season with salt and pepper if required and add in the remaining stock. Add the pistachio nuts to the mix.

Slice the pork fillets down the centre like you would a roll or hotdog. Fill with stuffing and tie up with twine. Place the pork fillets in the oven until cooked, remove from oven and enjoy!