Baking Disaster!

Three ruined cakes in four days!

 

I have always enjoyed baking, and have not been too bad at it. We have a tradition of giving home-made cakes to friends for Yuletide gifts.
So, I made the first Dundee cake. Good. Then the second - not good. Burnt. Hmm. So I made the first Ginger cake. It sank! I hadn't opened the door during the baking, so what was going on?  I have bought a new oven thermometer, and checked the shelf position. The third Dundee was made, and put in... and that sank too!
I am really cheesed off, more than a little bewildered, and not baking for the foreseeable future.

Home, Sweet Home.

Every year, Best Beloved and I are invited, by certain friends, to a 'making' party. This year it was assembling and decorating Gingerbread houses. Fantastic fun, and a real sugar overload.

 

 The first picture is about halfway through the evening. At least another half-dozen houses were added to the 'village', later. Some were very restrained and elegant, others were notable by their exuberance.

 

 Our own effort was heavy on Liquorice, and chocolate. It was surprisingly difficult to find 'Walnut Whips', for the topiary. Once we had tracked some down, we then saw lots of something similar in Marks & Spencer! Ah, well. Note the chocolate 'log' store, and the  'Matchmakers' 'solar panels'.

 

Little sis was enthusiastic about our house, so I decided to make a little 'Water Mill' for her and her other half.

The Waggon Wheel is obviously standing in for the waterwheel!

                                    

                   And bobbly liquorice rounds for drive nuts. Yup, quite bonkers. Good fun, though.

Last word on Wovember ( this year! )

Very proud to have been given the Ewe-sain Bolt Award for my Icelandic cardi.

  

For lots more about Wovember, the awards, and working with wool, go and have a look at www.Wovember.com

Finished!



Wovember Icelandic Cardigan....  cont'd.

 

The matching button-hole band was picked up and worked to match the first band. Praise be, it actually matched. Then, an applied I-cord was used to make the buttonholes. Then the whole thing was washed and soaked in conditioner, and pressed to shape on a towel and left to dry.

 In order that the whole of the Wovember Icelandic cardigan was handmade, I followed Kate Davies' instructions for making woven wool buttons. Despite being my first attempt, I am quite pleased with them. They were made from scraps of wool from the cardigan.

 

Here in place, there is one button in the green, and the lower four in the oatmeal. (The applied I-cord can be seen quite clearly, to the right of the buttons).

 

Finished!

Although it has taken a few days to get photos taken and uploaded, the cardigan was completed within the Wovember timescale. I hope to wear it to the next Knit Night.

Hmm. Now, what to make next.......?

Icelandic, continued

The Icelandic cardigan continues..........

 

 

I have been happily knitting the cardigan, there not being much else I can do, at the moment. Once past the division for body and sleeves, it all went very quickly. Then I thought ''that seems awfully

big'', so I measured across the chest. Five inches bigger than I wanted, or intended!

I checked my gauge, and then the instructions. I can only think that where it says increase twice under each arm, it means decrease. So, I unravelled about eight inches, and did decreases instead of increases. Then the cardigan grew quite quickly. I did about nine inches of length, and then the recommended length of rib.

 

Then it was time to make the reinforcement for the steek. The tutorials posted by Kate Davies, and the video posted by Ragga Eiriksdottir, the designer of the 'Idunn' pattern, gave me enough courage to get on and do it.



 

                                              All ready to cut!

 

 

So, the steek was cut. Then a small matter of picking up stitches along the reinforced sides, and knitting the bands to make the sandwich. Here, one side is done. Phew!
More to follow.....

( the second photo is the most accurate colour. The weather is such that the light is awful for taking pics).



Knitting on...

 

The plaster cast has come off. Relief! But of course, I have to get used to walking again.

 

The Icelandic sweater is coming on nicely..... The pattern is simple and well written, the slight problem is in the sizing, and the different understanding of knitters' expressions. Not that it will be a great problem, I will unravel a little of the main body, and put in some ( or a lot of ) decreases.

Apologies for the lack of photos - the weather is so overcast that I can't get any decent ones. If tomorrow is brighter, I will remedy the lack.

 

 

 

And......

 

( cartoon by Jacky Fleming.)

....... Or am I just being unreasonably cynical?

Wovember

I have been following the 'Wovember' blog since it started a few years ago. ( go and have a look Here )
This year I was determined to enter into the spirit of the thing properly, so I spent time and effort choosing a suitable project, downloading the pattern, and sourcing the yarn.
The pattern is Idunn,  a top-down Icelandic cardigan, although there will be modifications. The yarn is Istex Letlopi, which is the recommended yarn.  The colours I have chosen are light beige, and sage green. I bought it from Deramores, who were incredibly quick in fulfilling the order.

 This yarn, actually I can say 'wool' in this case, is an Aran weight, so I am using 4.5 mm needles. Cast on late on Saturday, I have done a couple of inches already. The yarn feels a bit rough, at the moment, but I know that once washed and conditioned, it will alter. I also know from experience that Icelandic wool hand-knits go on forever.