Seeing out the old year......

This will be the last blog post of the year.

In some ways its not been a good year & I cant wait for the new one to start.Maybe with it will bring an answer to my back injury .

The Christmas period was a bit of a washout in some ways.I was ill throughout & have had about 3 weeks of some sort of flu virus.It absolutely floored me on Christmas day & left me in bed.Mr T to the rescue,he was going to cook anyway,but he ended up doing all of it.Bless him ,he is such a great man.Shame family were cancelled at the last moment & lucky for them they had food in their own cupboards.

Having been crook ,I didn't get to post any of the projects I completed.I will share these in the New Year .I have crafted my fingers off & knitted & knitted!

For now you will have to be happy with a picture of the loveliest Christmas cake in the world!(or at least mine!!)Its from Ruth over on The Pink Whisk & is a recipe she got from the Bourke Street Bakery cook book.Santa reckoned I was a good girl & I now have a copy of this in my collection.I cant wait to bake something else from it.

Have a great New Years Eve.We have a dear friend coming over to stay the night.We are childless this year as they are doing their own thing.

Have a lovely one & I leave you with a picture of my cake...Mmmmm

Door Wreath

I love having a new door wreath.

I had a lovely one last year but this year somehow it just wasnt going to cut the mustard!

I wanted to have a Pom Pom wreath!!

Any excuse to use my new Pom Pom malers from Clover....they are so good!

I bought a wicker wreath base form our local craft shop in Warwick Street in Worthing then applied using my trusty hot glue gun nearly a whole box of baubles from Wilkinsons & some lovely fluffy pom poms.

I just love it!

Christmas Treats!! Nom Nom...

I had a spare couple of hours this afternoon so I donned my pinny & turned into "Domestic Goddess", (said like the narrator on X Factor when he says "Olly Murs!!")
This what I whipped up for tonight’s Knit & Natter.

Just the usual Victoria sponge cake in muffin tins ,some Royal Icing & fondant icing Christmas trees & some edible glitter sprinkled on top.I used some Royal Icing from Tate & Lyle.I have never seen it before but it is icing sugar mixed with dried egg white.You just mix it with a drop of water until the right consistency.I also added a little glycerin to stop the icing from breaking any teeth.Very easy to use.

Mens Fingerless gloves

The weather has been very cold so I have made lots of these.
Here is the pattern for you to try.





Men’s Fingerless gloves

Materials

1 ½ 50g skeins of Aran weight yarn.
4mm needles
3 ¼mm needles. For ribbing
Sewing up wool needle.

These gloves are made knitted flat in one piece with a side seam.
Abbreviations
Sts stitches
Rs right side
Dec decrease
St st stocking stitch, knit 1 row, purl 1 row.
M1 make one stitch, by picking up loop between stitches & knitting into the back of loop to make a stitch.
Garter stitch knit every row.

Method for right glove

Using 3 ¼ mm needles .cast on 46 sts. Start by making a k2, p2 rib for 3 inches finishing with the rs.
Next row (dec) (p2, k2, p2tog, k2) twice(p2 ,k2)twice, p2, k2, p2 (k2, p2tog, k2, p2)twice (42 sts)
Next row (Rs facing)
Change to 4mm needles.
Stocking stitch for 8 rows (or you can form pattern of 6 rows st st , 2 rows reversed st st).Finish ending with a wrong side wrong leaving the right side facing for next row.

Shape thumb **
K22 sts, m1, k3, m1, k17 sts (44sts)
Work 3 rows in pattern
Row 5 (rs) K22, m1, k5, m1, k17 (46sts)
Continue in pattern for 3 rows, increasing as above every next & following 4th row until 52 sts are on the needle.
Work 1 row ending with rs facing for next row. **

Divide for thumb
K22, slip the next 13 sts on a holder (I use a piece of yarn in a different colour), knit next 17 sts .
Continue to knit for another 17 rows across 39 sts or as long as required to fit hand. Knit 3 rows in garter stitch, cast off knit wise.

Knit thumb

With stitches that are on the piece of yarn facing you with the right side, starting from the right end of the stitches slip them back on to a 4mm needle. Holding this needle in the left hand, rejoin the yarn at the base of the stitch at the end of the needle point, ready to start knitting again.
Next row
Purl into back & front of stitch, purl to last stitch, purl into back & front of stitch. (15sts)
Stocking stitch 7 rows.


Next row Change to 3 ¼ mm needles,
Knit 2 rows cast off knit wise. Try to cast off not too tightly. If you have a problem with this, try using a larger sized needle to cast off.

Making up

Using matching yarn & wool sewing up needle, stitch up the side seam of the main glove from the ribbing to end using either ladder stitch or over sew.
Stitch up seam of thumb using the same method.
Left glove.
Reverse shaping at **to** for thumb.This means instead of starting with K 22 ,you will start with K17.

I hope you enjoy making them.Let me know how you get on with the pattern & if I need to amend anything. You can message me easily via Ravelry , user name is Lilibet21. I am not a knitwear designer so my pattern writing skills are minimal.


If you live in the UK you will no doubt had lots of snow.Grouse & Maisie were not that keen on getting cold & wet ,but for Peggy it was a different matter!!Never mind being an oldie.It brought out her inner pup!!