Falling behind...

I realise I haven't posted a Sunday baking in a while. A long while. Last Sunday we didn't get a chance to back seeing as my boyfriend and I were so busy with uni/school work, and the Sunday before that... Well. We decided to make some White Chocolate cupcakes from a recipe mum had mysteriously found and couldn't remember where from.

It did not go well.

They tasted nice when they were just out of the oven - gooey white chocolate lumps with a bit of a crunchy topping... mmmmm. But as soon as they were left to cool - duhn duhn duuh - they were horrible! They tasted more like scones than anything else. Very dry for a cupcake.

Don't be fooled by how they look! You can tell in the first picture how little they rose, even though the recipe asked for a whole table spoonful of baking powder!

On the plus side I am making a scarf for my friend for Christmas, and as soon as it's finished I'll post the pattern. It's super easy and makes up pretty quickly as it uses chunky wool! I'm also making this cute dolphin for my dolphin-obsessed friend, and it's turning out great so far.

Poppy pattern

As you probably know it was remembrance Sunday this Sunday, and so instead of Sunday baking I decided to make a crochet poppy. Don't worry, I still donated :) So, here we go! You'll need a 4.00mm hook and some red and some black DK wool.

R1: Make a magic circle and chain 3

R2: Dc 11 times into the circle and join with a slip stitch to the beginning ch3.

R3: Ch3, then dc into the same stitch. Dc twice into the next two stitches. Dc once into the next stitch. Now we're going to dc into the same stitch, but this time into the front of the stitch. I hope these pictures explain things better!

Now slip stitch into the next stitch. Ch3, and dc into the same stitch. Dc twice into the next two stitches. Dc once into the next stitch. Now we're going to the "dc into the same stitch, but this time into the front of the stitch" thing again:

^ This is what it should look like by now. Do you see how doing the 'dc into the front of the stitch' makes the petals more defined?

Slip stitch into the next stitch and ch3, and dc into the same stitch (we're basically going to repeat the last petal again, but if you need it I'll write it again :P ). Dc twice into the next two stitches. Dc once into the next stitch. Dc into the front of the same stitch. Finally, slip stitch into the ch3 we did at the very start in R1.

Ta-dah! You can either leave the poppy like this, or make a black circle to put in the middle by making a magic circle, chaining 2 and then doing 7 or so single crochets into the circle and pulling it tight.

Now just sew the black circle into the middle and sew the remaining ends in :)

You can either use a safety pin to attach it, or do like I did at put it onto a ball-chain-lock thingy to hang it from my school bag :)

Enjoy!

Thanks!

I wanted to thank everyone who's viewed my Halloween inspired set - I've now had over 1000 views! Seeing how people have said they wanted to use my pattern and what they thought has made my week, and I want to thank all of you!

Now, this week has been a little different as it was half term at school, and so the two 'Sunday Baking' days became one 'Wednesday Baking'. One of my all-time favourites is Lemon Meringue Pie and I was so excited about making one! We used a tried and well tested recipe from Mary Berry's Day By Day Cooking. I'd definitely recommend getting this book if you can find it! It's got so many good recipies - another one of our favourites is the chicken curry. Me being a student and hopefully moving away to uni after my gap year I'll definitely be taking this book with me. Here are the photo's;

Mmm, this is making me hungry for Lemon Meringue Pie!

I can't post the recipe here for copyright reasons (I'm guessing), but if you want a free recipe a quick google search gives some good results.

I'm also working on a granny square blanket! It's been a long haul, but finally I'm at the joining stage! Fingers crossed it looks good when its finished.

Halloween hat & gloves pattern!

Seeing as I'm not one for dressing up in skimpy outfits in freezing October, I thought the best way to get into the Halloween spirit was to make up some practical things! And here they are, my Halloween hat and gloves...

For both use a 4.00 mm hook and DK wool. You will need just under 100g of orange and a little bit of green. (Pattern in * -- * is repeated to the end of the round.) This pattern uses US crochet terms.


Hat: using orange DK

R1: Ch6 and join with slip stitch to form circle

R2: Ch3, DC 17 times in circle and slip stitch to beginning Ch3 (18)

R3: Ch3, DC into the last round’s Ch3, then DC twice in each stitch. Slip stitch to beginning Ch3 (36)

R4: Ch3, DC twice into next stitch, *DC, DC twice in next stitch*. Slip stitch to beginning Ch3 (54)

R5: Ch3, DC into next stitch, then DC twice into following stitch. *2DC, DC twice in next stitch*. Slip stitch to beginning Ch3 (72)

R6: Ch3, DC into next two stitches, then DC twice into third. *3DC, DC twice in next stitch*. Slip stitch to beginning Ch3 (90)

R7: Ch3, DC into next three stitches, then DC twice into fourth. *4DC, DC twice in next stitch*. Slip stitch to beginning Ch3 (108)

R8: Ch3, DC into next four stitches, then DC twice into fifth. *5DC, DC twice in next stitch*. Slip stitch to beginning Ch3 (126)

R9: Ch3, DC into next five stitches, then DC twice into sixth. *6DC, DC twice in next stitch*. Slip stitch to beginning Ch3 (144)

R10: Ch3, DC into next six stitches, then DC twice into seventh. *7DC, DC twice in next stitch*. Slip stitch to beginning Ch3 (162)

R11: Ch3, DC in all. Slip stitch to beginning Ch3 (162)

R12: Ch3, DC in all. Slip stitch to beginning Ch3 (162)

R13: Ch2, SC in 3, dec 1. *SC in 4, dec1*. Slip stitch to beginning Ch2 (135)

R14: Ch2, SC in 2, dec 1. *SC in 3, dec1*. Slip stitch to beginning Ch2 (108)

R15: Ch2, SC in 1, dec 1. *SC in 2, dec1*. Slip stitch to beginning Ch2 (81)

R16: Ch2, dec 1. *SC in 1, dec1*. Slip stitch to beginning Ch2 (54)

R17: Ch2, SC in all. Slip stitch to beginning Ch2 (54)

R18: Ch2, SC in all. Slip stitch to beginning Ch2 (54)

R19: Ch2, SC in all. Slip stitch to beginning Ch2 (54)

Gloves (make two): starting with orange DK

It is important you keep track of the beginning stitch of every round for this, so make sure to use a stitch marker! Or be in a quiet room where you can count to your hearts content..

R1: Ch10 + 1 for turning. Turn (10)

R2: SC in all. Ch1 for turning, then turn. Repeat this another 24 times (so 25 rows of SC in total) or enough to go around your wrist.

R3: Slip stitch the top to the bottom. Bind off.

R4: Work single crochets all around. To fit my hand I single crochet 27 around, and I will use 27 when writing stitch counts at the end of each row – but bear in mind I have slightly smaller hands than average, so if you have particularly large hands, your yarn is not very giving or making this for a man I suggest increasing the number of single crochets in this round.

R5: SC in beginning stitch, SC twice in the next two stitches, then SC all round. (29)

R6: SC in beginning stitch and following stitch, then SC twice in the next two stitches. SC all round. (31)

R7: SC in beginning stitch and following two stitches, then SC twice in the next two stitches. SC all round. (33)

R8: SC in beginning stitch and following three stitches, then SC twice in the next two stitches. SC all round. (35)

R9: SC in all (35)

R10: SC in beginning stitch, Ch5, skip 10 stitches and SC in the 11th. SC all round (30)

R11: SC in all (30) Repeat another 5 times.

Now change to the green DK

R12: SC in all (30) bind off.

Leaf (make three): using green DK

Use this pattern to make your leaves - I made three of the same size and attached one to the back of my hat and one onto the top of each glove. Alternatively you could make smaller ones to go around the top or cuff of your gloves!

Here are some pictures of the final products...

I hope you get to make these for Halloween! I'd love to see any pictures you have of anything you make using my patterns, so just email them to me at dottymiss.x@gmail.com :)

Sunday baking and a giveaway

As I was away this weekend, my mum took it upon herself to bake something I'd picked out to make myself! It's a delicious-looking recipe for Coffee Walnut Loaf! She didn't make any changes apart from using margarine instead of mascarpone for the filling, and it was simply mouth watering! Unfortunately this meant I didn't get any pictures of the process, but she assures me it was simple.
I'll copy the recipe here, but this is not my own and I do not claim it to be so!

You will need:

For the loaf -

• unsalted butter for the tin
• 225g • 8oz self-raising flour
• 225g • 8oz light muscovado sugar
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 225ml • 8fl oz groundnut oil
• 4 medium eggs separated
• 50ml • 1¾ fl oz cold strong black coffee or espresso
• 50ml • 1¾ fl oz whole milk
• 75g • 3oz nibbed or chopped walnuts

For the coffee cream inside -

• 125g • 4½ oz mascarpone or margarine
• 2 tsp cold strong black coffee or espresso
• 1 tsp golden syrup
• 1 tsp icing sugar sifted

For on the top -

• 100g • 3½ oz icing sugar sifted
• 1-2 tbsp cold strong black coffee or espresso
• 6-8 walnut halves to decorate
• icing sugar for dusting

1) Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and butter a loaf tin about 22cm • 8½ in long, 1.3 litre • 2¼ pt capacity.

2) Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Add the oil, egg yolks, coffee and milk and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.

3) Whisk the egg whites until stiff in a large bowl using an electric whisk and fold into the mixture in two goes. Stir in the walnuts and transfer the mixture to the cake tin, smoothing the surface.

4) Give the tin several sharp taps on the work surface to bring up any large
air bubbles.

5) Bake for 50-55 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then run a knife around the edge and turn out on to a wire rack. Place it the right way up and leave to cool. If not icing it straight away, wrap it in clingfilm.

6) To make the coffee cream, spoon the mascarpone/margarine into a bowl and beat in the coffee, then the syrup and icing sugar.

7) Slit the cake horizontally, about two thirds of the way up the sides to account for the risen dome. Spread the cream over the lower half and sandwich with the top.

8) To make the icing, blend the icing sugar and coffee together in a bowl and drizzle down the centre of the cake, smoothing it towards the sides using a palette knife. Don’t worry about completely covering the surface or about it trickling down the sides. Decorate the top with the walnut halves and dust over a little icing sugar. Leave to set for 1 hour.

Whilst this is in the oven I suggest you enter this great giveaway! It's from Nicole from Stitch 22, and for the chance to win one of her artworks just follow the steps :)