Today is the last day of school and what a wonderful surprise the kids got when they saw snow out of the window when they woke up, laying white and shiny on the ground and rooftops and cars. It was still falling as we were walking to school this morning. There was only about an inch of it on the ground, but Oh, the excitement! 
They just wandered off stomping and listening to the snow crunching under their shoes
We don't get to see snow that much, I am hoping it'll stay until this afternoon so that we could make a real snowman :)It's been an odd autumn/winter term, we went through probably every single seasonal ailment possible; I feel so drained most of the time and knitting has been slow going and mostly for publications, but I do have something to show. Last issue of Yarn Forward landed here about a week ago with one of my patterns in it.
The design is a simple one that's knit in one piece from bottom up with all the trims added on at the end and patch-pockets for all of their special treasures as a finishing touch. A perfect layering piece to throw over a top for just a tad of extra warmth and leaving their arms free, waistcoats work for any season.
Rowan's Purelife DK wool was an absolute pleasure to knit with. I do have a soft spot for knitting with pure wool and the moment I opened the package I was in my wool heaven, it smelt earthy and slightly sheep-y - it was gorgeous.
...men and bunnies are todays treat.
The recipe is vaguely based on Spicy tree biscuits recipe, those were so easy to make: add ingredients one after another then freeze and bake for about 10 minutes. They turned out to be the softest and most fragrant gingerbread biscuits of all times.
85g of butter roughly chopped
100g golden sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp ginger
3 Tbsp golden syrup
275-300g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Made about 30 biscuits, this would depend on how big or small your cutters are.
Beat butter and sugar together until well combined, add the egg and beat again. Stir in spices, baking powder and golden sirup, then fold in the flour until dough is not too sticky. Wrap in plastic and put in a freezer (I kept the dough in the freezer until my oven was the right temperature for baking, about 10-15 minutes).
Preheat the oven to 180'C and line baking sheet with parchment (I use silicone sheet that does not need greasing) and grease lightly.
Turn the dough on a floured surface and roll out to a thickness of about 0.5cm; cut out shapes with cutters and place them on the backing sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges start to turn just golden brown. Let them cool for a couple of minutes and they are good to serve.
Welsh Cakes, a recipe is from BBC Food again; I used golden caster sugar instead of the white one and dried cranberries instead of the raisins, turned out delicious.
ETA -- I also subbed lard for butter, because just a thought of lard makes me feel queasy and butter for olive spread
I find that winter is just about the perfect excuse for baking every day, and I'd eat anything that would have flour as a main ingredient in ample amounts. The husband kept saying (only half jokingly) for years that when I turn 30 my metabolism will change and then I'd have to start eating cakes like most people do -- in moderation; well, I am hoping it never does because there are so many cakes and biscuits out there that I still haven't tried.
Poppyseed and honey cake (BBCfood link) was the most delicious honey cake I ever tasted. Everything about it was perfect including the glaze that was cleverly made with pureed strawberries instead of water that made it ever so fragrant. One for the recipe folder.
A while ago, I am thinking it must be almost a year ago, I sent a hat to Interweave Knits and was so pleased (to say the least) to find out that it was going to be published in the magazine. I am very delighted to announce that it's been out for a couple of weeks now as part of the Holiday Gifts Issue of 2009 (link to bonus photos). The look that I wanted to achieve was one of spirals traveling from both left and right that merge in one of those neverending twirly patterns you get with spiral art kits that kids can spend hours concentrating on. What are they called? I love the way it was photographed, showing off all that beautiful shapely rib pattern in all its glory. The yarn I used was Rowan Purelife Wool, that was perfect for the job - it's always a little worrying when you are waiting for the yarn to come, and hoping that it'll be close enough to the yarn you were planning for the project - it was soft, yet bouncy enough to carry on the pattern the way it is. Hmmm, I love pure wool!
In other news - last month I put together a Cabled Hat Collection (Ravelry link) which includes 6 hats - see below - that can be purchased on Ravelry if you are a member for time being. I am not going to be adding patterns for sale from my blog anymore as I am hoping to finish working on the website soon-ish from where there will be a separate link to the pattern shop that I think would be more convenient.
And the last but not least: I had a really short haircut, short for me, anyway. Main reason being, that last December I had a great idea of dying my hair bright red. I loved it. But, red as you can imagine was a very hight maintenance colour, it needed to be touched up every month and also my hair needed to be bleached first. Lots of work and don't even start me on what that bleach did to my hair. I was desperate for my brown hair to grow back, it took almost a year and I am all choppy now as my hairdresser was instructed to cut as much of the bleached hair as possible while leaving me with something manageable at the same time, which he did. I have to say that it looks better in real life, as least I think it does, and did I mention that there aren't any greys yet? xxx
This was a last minute project that was started and finished on Friday night, it took more than a minute obviously and being in such a mad rush to finish I (to my horror) discovered that I sewed one of the sleeves the wrong way round and there was no time to fix it unfortunately. The girl was really pleased nevertheless.
Pattern - Simplicity 7113
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