It has been wonderful having fresh tomatoes and zucchini and zucca flowers all summer.
Fresh figs!
See how big those leaves are now!
Flowers still grow!
Tuesday, 20 September 2016
How does your garden grow?: part 2!
I should have shared photos of my garden but got totally sidetracked. A few days ago there was a horrible hailstorm so I thought it was totally destroyed but strangely things are surviving and we even have zucca flowers once more!
It has been wonderful having fresh tomatoes and zucchini and zucca flowers all summer.
Tomatoes.
Fresh figs!
Great big zucche!
3 different types.
Hailstones I thought would ruin all!
See how big those leaves are now!
Flowers still grow!
It has been wonderful having fresh tomatoes and zucchini and zucca flowers all summer.
Fresh figs!
See how big those leaves are now!
Flowers still grow!
Nature's fruits
Well it is porcini mushroom time again. DH has dutifully paid the tax and can go and collect them!
Everytime he goes he finds a few, even one is enough to make him happy but usually it is far more.
This afternoon after we got back from picking up DD from school he went to find some. I thought it was too late but he brought back this beauty: 500 grams!
and not a single maggot!
Some others he brought the other day.
Rositi and porcini here.
DH suggested taking a photo with my dolls:
This is the school uniform I am making sans cardi!
Everytime he goes he finds a few, even one is enough to make him happy but usually it is far more.
and not a single maggot!
Some others he brought the other day.
Rositi and porcini here.
DH suggested taking a photo with my dolls:
This is the school uniform I am making sans cardi!
Here with her cardigan!
So risotto or fettucini?
Sunday, 11 September 2016
Thoughts.
How can it be?
Life is so strange:
I feel like my daughter inside my brain.
Yet I looked in the mirror
And what did I see?
There was my mother
Looking at me!
I wonder what happened? Where have all the years gone?
I am Grandma Renwick now yet the dreaming teenager is still there somewhere inside!
Life is so strange:
I feel like my daughter inside my brain.
Yet I looked in the mirror
And what did I see?
There was my mother
Looking at me!
I wonder what happened? Where have all the years gone?
I am Grandma Renwick now yet the dreaming teenager is still there somewhere inside!
Thursday, 18 August 2016
American Girl School Sweater
American
Girl Doll School Sweater:
Notions:
Yarn:
Fingering yarn.
Fili&Fili
Baby Cachemire, 80% merino wool, 20% cachemire.1 ball= 50gm. 250m.
Needles:
USA
1 / 2.5mm needles
(Or
those required to get gauge)
A
small size cable needle. (a short DP or darning needle can
substitute)
Gauge.
8
sts x 10 rows = 1” in Stockinette.
Abbreviations.
Co:
cast on. (I used a cable cast on but any desired method is OK)
Bo:
Bind off (cast off)
R:
row
Rs:
right side of work.
Ws:
wrong side of work.
K:
knit.
P:
purl.
Ssk:
Slip 2 sts knitwise and knit as one through back loop.
K2tog:
Knit 2 sts together as one.
P2tog:
Purl 2 stitches together as one.
C5f:
Put 3 sts on cable needle and hold in front, knit two sts and then
knit the 3 sts on holder.
Ss:
Stocking or stockinette stitch. ( Right side, knit 1 row ; wrong
side, purl 1 row; repeat for as many rows indicated. )
Knitting
Instructions.
Body.
Cast
on 104 sts.
1-2:
*K1, p1; repeat from * to end.
3:
K1, p1, ssk, yo, *k1, p1; repeat from * to end.
4-6:
As rows 1-2.
Start
body:
1:
K1, p1, k1, p1, k96, p1, k1, p1, k1.
2:
P1, k1, p1, k1, p96, k1, p1, k1, p1.
3-24:
As rows 1-2.
Adjust
length here if you like.
Divide
work:
1:
K1, p1, k1, p1, k22, bo 3 sts, k46 sts, bo 3sts, k22, p1, k1,
p1, k1.
Continue
working on front and backs separately.
Right
Back.
2:
P1, k1, p1, k1, p22.
3:
K1,
ssk, knit to last 4sts, p1, k1, p1, k1.
4:
P1, k1, p1, k1, purl to end.
5-24:
As rows 3-4.
Continue
making decreases as before at arm on right side to row 25. (15sts)
25:
K1,
ssk, k8, p1, k1, p1, k1.
26:
Bo 5 sts, p9.
27:
K1, ssk, K4, K2 tog.
28:
Purl.
Bind
off all sts.
Left
Back.
2:
P22, K1, p1, k1, p1.
3:
K1, p1, k1, p1, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.
4:
Purl to last 4sts, k1, p1, k1, p1.
5-24:
As rows 3-4. (Add buttonholes on rows 11 and 23)
25:
K1, p1, k1, p1, k8, k2tog, k1.
26:
Purl to last 4sts, k1, p1, k1, p1.
27:
Bo 5, k6, k2tog, k1.
28:
P6, P2tog.
Bind
off all sts.
Front.
2:
P46.
3:
K1, ssk, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.
4:
Purl.
5:
Repeat row 3.
6:
Repeat row 4.
Continue
repeating rows 3 and 4 to row 20. (28 sts on needle)
21:
K1,ssk,
k6, Bo 10sts, k6, k2tog, k1.
Continue
separately on both sides of neck:
22:
Purl.
23:
Ssk, k3, k2tog, k1.
24:
P6.
25:
K1,
ssk, k1, k2tog, k1.
26:
P4.
27:
K1, k2tog, k1.
28:
Purl.
Bind
off.
Other
side of neck.
22:
Purl.
23:
K1,
ssk, k3, k2tog.
24:
P6.
25:
K1,
ssk, k1, k2tog.
26:
P4.
27:
K1, ssk, k1
28:
Purl.
Bind
off.
Sleeves.
Cast
on 30 sts.
1:
*K1, p1; repeat from * to end.
2-6:
As row 1
Start
increases:
1:
Kfb, Knit to last stitch, kfb.
2:
P32.
3:
Knit.
4:
Purl.
5:
Kfb, Knit to last stitch, kfb.
6:
P34.
7:
Knit.
8:
Purl.
9:
Kfb, Knit to last stitch, kfb.
10:
P36.
11:
Knit.
12:
Purl.
13:
Kfb, Knit to last stitch, kfb.
14:
P38
15:
Knit.
16:
Purl.
17-32:
As rows 15-16.
Start
decreasing:
1:
K1, ssk,
knit
to last 3
stitches, knit 2 tog, k1.
2:
Purl.
3-28:
As rows 1-2. (10sts).
Bind
off.
Cable
collar.
Cast
on 34 stitches.
1:
S1, k2, p2, k10, p3, k16.
2:
P16, k3, p10, k2, p3.
3-8:
As rows 1-2.
9:
S1, k2, p2, C5f, k5, p3, C5f, k11.
10:
P16, k3, p10, k2, p3.
11-12:
As rows 1-2.
13:
S1, k2, p2, k5, C5f, p3, k5, C5f, k6.
14:
P16, k3, p10, k2, p3.
15-16:
As rows 1-2.
17:
S1, k2, p2, k10, p3; turn work.
18:
K3, p10, k2, p3.
19-20:
As rows 1-2.
21-22:
As rows 9-10.
23-24:
As rows 1-2.
25-26:
As rows 13-14.
27-28:
As rows 1-2.
Repeat
rows 9-28 for 5 times or to length necessary to stitch around neck.
Bind off all stitches.
Sew
collar to neck edge. Collar is sewn to the top back edge, sleeve top,
front, second sleeve top and other back edge. The sleeve tops are
included in the neckline count. Sew all seams and sew on buttons.
Patricia
Renwick © Copyright
2013.
All
rights reserved. You
may sell items made from this pattern but not the pattern. Please
respect my design rights.
I have updated and revived my school sweater pattern. This is available as a PDF download free on Ravelry.
Wednesday, 27 July 2016
How does your garden grow?
Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?
No silver bells and cockles shells here but some zucchini and tomatoes!
Not my garden either but the tiny piece of land which belongs to the house across the road. No-one lives there and as we have had the the key for many years, this year when DH cleaned it I finally persuaded him to plant something useful instead of leaving it empty.
It just grows wild otherwise and there were often adders there so it is far better to keep it cleared. The old man gave us the key originally and his sons have changed locks and given us the new keys after he passed a few years ago.
Last year the owners didn't even come down here at all, the year before just for a week in October to get some olive oil. They would like to sell the house but there is no market and it is in really bad shape, so it is just sitting there eating money in taxes since the old man died. The usual village story. The old folks pass, there are no jobs and the young people have nearly all emigrated.
As the children grow they prefer more interesting seaside resorts so parents no longer come here on holiday. This is not a tourist place.
Anyway, we planted just a few zucchini and tomato plants and have been blessed with a great yield. I still have the flowers everyday for the "frittelle" (I have a photo recipe here on my blog)
It is amusing as it is now no longer the season so I am the only one on the street who still has some.
Today I made some sauce again with our very own tomatoes. I know we have the ones DH grows with my inlaws, but somehow to actually go into the garden and pick them is so much more satisfying! There is nothing sprayed on them and the only work is to take down a couple of pails of water. I save water when rinsing etc so it is also ecological, water is precious here.
It was amusing that the other day I actually gave my Mil some tomatoes as she didn't have any and was going to buy some!
No silver bells and cockles shells here but some zucchini and tomatoes!
It just grows wild otherwise and there were often adders there so it is far better to keep it cleared. The old man gave us the key originally and his sons have changed locks and given us the new keys after he passed a few years ago.
Last year the owners didn't even come down here at all, the year before just for a week in October to get some olive oil. They would like to sell the house but there is no market and it is in really bad shape, so it is just sitting there eating money in taxes since the old man died. The usual village story. The old folks pass, there are no jobs and the young people have nearly all emigrated.
As the children grow they prefer more interesting seaside resorts so parents no longer come here on holiday. This is not a tourist place.
Anyway, we planted just a few zucchini and tomato plants and have been blessed with a great yield. I still have the flowers everyday for the "frittelle" (I have a photo recipe here on my blog)
It is amusing as it is now no longer the season so I am the only one on the street who still has some.
Today I made some sauce again with our very own tomatoes. I know we have the ones DH grows with my inlaws, but somehow to actually go into the garden and pick them is so much more satisfying! There is nothing sprayed on them and the only work is to take down a couple of pails of water. I save water when rinsing etc so it is also ecological, water is precious here.
It was amusing that the other day I actually gave my Mil some tomatoes as she didn't have any and was going to buy some!
Tuesday, 26 July 2016
What's Cooking?: Yarn!
As some of you know I do not like the local homemade wine. Although many enthuse about it I tend to think it tastes like vinegar...far better to drink a nice glass of ice-cold lemon tea!
So here I was one morning with a bottle of wine. So what did I do? Threw it into a pan, added a skein of yarn and cooked it! Lol!
DD came downstairs. What's cooking? Yarn!
Experiments! At worst a skein of yarn gets thrown out!
I brought it up to a boil and then left it till it cooled down.
Rinse well under running water. No need to add vinegar here! Lol!
Surprise surprise it actually came out quite nicely! It is more of a dusky rose colour than the brown the photo shows. Difficult to show a true colour.
Now I need to design something to knit with it!
So here I was one morning with a bottle of wine. So what did I do? Threw it into a pan, added a skein of yarn and cooked it! Lol!
DD came downstairs. What's cooking? Yarn!
Experiments! At worst a skein of yarn gets thrown out!
I brought it up to a boil and then left it till it cooled down.
Rinse well under running water. No need to add vinegar here! Lol!
Surprise surprise it actually came out quite nicely! It is more of a dusky rose colour than the brown the photo shows. Difficult to show a true colour.
Now I need to design something to knit with it!
Disney Princess Merida doll
Well as I said in my previous post, I bought a Disney Princess Merida doll from Ebay. An almost 14" doll she has such a sweet expression.
Of course she needed a new dress although fortunately she already had her original shoes! (Not an easy find!)
Needles and yarn clickety-click and I have made two new dresses for her!
Obviously a spa-treatment was in order after my success with Ariel!
Now her curls are so cute even though I am the world's worst hairdresser!
As usual the pattern is available in my Ravelry store and will soon be on Etsy!
Of course she needed a new dress although fortunately she already had her original shoes! (Not an easy find!)
Needles and yarn clickety-click and I have made two new dresses for her!
Now her curls are so cute even though I am the world's worst hairdresser!
As usual the pattern is available in my Ravelry store and will soon be on Etsy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)