Monday 12 October 2009

Nothing exciting

Well, after all the rain last week, and the bootfair Sunday morning having been cancelled because " the field was too wet ", ppffft, and Poppy not being well, I felt somewhat under the weather and decided I needed to start a new project. Even though I have one or six on the go already. And even though I should be making soaps and gift packs etc.

Do you remember the pile of pastel knitted squares I found in a charity shop a few months ago? Probably not, lol, so here is a quick reminder -

At least this photo shows the proper colours. I have been trying to take pics this morning, but despite the decent weather, the light indoors is crap and the colours just don't look right, so imagine all the following pics with the colours shown above.

I dug them out yesterday morning, feeling thoroughly in need of cosy comfy woolliness, and decided to crochet them together. I thought it would give the little lanky a bit of texture, to have those little ridges connecting all the squares. Hmm.

Then I thought it could really do with some more texture, so the obvious thing to do was..................... crochet flowers to sew onto the squares!!

I spent a few hours with my work-in-progress yesterday afternoon, and one or two more in the evening after dinner and felt much better for it. It didn't get too boring either, making up a strip, then a flower or two, then back to making strips again, another flower....... you know what I mean. It is coming along nicely and of course I'll keep you up to date with my progress. Here are a few pics of what I have done so far ( errrmmm, try and imagine it all without all those pesky loose ends, lol, )-

Oh, and as we are talking about knitted stuff, I might as well show you these two knitting bags I found at a jumble sale a little while ago. I love these bags, so useful for all the projects one seems to have on the go all the time, and they look pretty, too.Hey look, one of the bags even has a " Buy British " on the wooden handle-

Another thing, when the weather turns horrid grey and wet, thoughts often turn to food, strange that, eh? Well, Juanitatortilla was talking about tortilla de patatas in one of her posts last week, here, I think, which REALLY got me in the mood for making tortillas again. Hadn't done that in a while, because it is fairly labour intensive. But we all love them a lot, so I sacrificed some crochet/doggiecuddle/charityshop time and made a couple-
Looks pretty good, doesn' it? I was taught how to make proper spanish tortilla de patatas by a Spanish student, who stayed with us for a while many years ago. He had to admit in the end, that my tortillas were much better than his, teeheheheee. ( If anybody is interested in how to make tortillas properly, let me know and I'll put up a quick tutorial ).

A few months ago, Lucy over at Attic24 posted a recipe for the most delicious Tiffin. I just had to try it out with my granddaughter, and we all thought it was extreme yumminess. Friday our little darling was with us again for the day and we decided to make some more. I changed the recipe a little again, using macadamia nuts and walnuts instead of pecans, using slightly less butter and golden sirup and adding some cream instead, and it was gooooooooorgeous. So gorgeous in fact, that my sons, my grown up sons, mind, forced me to make some more on Sunday! Goes without saying that it all disappeared very quickly again, lol.

Must go and look after my Poppy girl again now. She has been poorly since Friday and we were a bit worried about her, because usually she is such a boistrous and mischievous little madam, and the last few days, she has not been herself at all. Wouldn't play with Hector, wouldn't come up on the settees, didn't jump up to greet us......... She was eating ok though, so we ruled out anything bad in her tummy. I took her to the vet first thing this morning, and after a very thorough examination, he found that she had damaged a muscle in her back, the silly cow, probably playing too roughly with Hector, and that obviously made her very uncomfortable. As upsetting as that is, it is very good news, at least its nothing serious, and with painkillers, careful walks on the lead, no jumping and lots of massages (!!!) she should be right as rain again within a week or so. Of course we just have to spoil her a little while she is feeling sorry for herself ( she is very good at looking very depressed in her bed ), perhaps a little roast chicken will cheer her up..........

13 comments:

Michela said...

Nothing exciting???!!! Lovely crochet flowers, yummy tortillas and scrumptuos Tiffin! Now my tummy is rambling, and it's all your fault!
Hope Poppy gets better soon!

Pomona said...

I would love an authentic tortilla recipe! I have a big bag of knitted squares I did about five years (seven years?) ago, which I have never stitched together - all very endy as well! But I am glad to hear that I am not the only one with a multitude of projects on the go - I always feel slightly guilty about the selection of bags with needles sticking out hanging about the house!

Pomona x

Sarah - Red Gingham said...

Love your pretty flowers! That's going to be a very lovely blanket when you've finished with it. I'm betting Poppy will claim that one for sure. Acutally I think you'll fall for those big soppy eyes of hers and give it to her. I do hope she bounding about very soon, there's nothing worse than a dog feeling sorry for herself.

Floss said...

Aww, there's nothing like a look from a poorly dog to make you feel guilty, is there? Having a spaniel, I spend a lot of time feeling unnecessarily apologetic for things...

The food looks great (will find the tiffin recipe for Son 2) and the blanket is so scrummy now!

Kelly said...

The blanket is looking fantastic!
I'm loving the look of that Tiffin, it looks lovely. Macadamias are my fave!

Lots of Love

Kelly xxxxx

Victoria - Florence and Mary said...

What a lovely coloured blanket!

I would love to know how to do tortillas properly.

Victoria x

Sarah - Red Gingham said...

Ha ha you got a jolly Christmas tree too!! I'm not sure if I want a constant reminder any more! It is pretty though.

Hey guess what? I got my parcel from Jo yesterday!!! It's fabulous but I bet you knew what was in it anyway. I need to send her an email for whenever she manages to find time to view her emails. Such lovely gifts, am feeling very spoilt indeed!

Elizabethd said...

Your blanket is going to be lovely, colourful and comforting.
I too learned to make Tortillas from a Spanish girl....loads of garlic!

Anonymous said...

I love your crochet flowers , the blanket is going to be very pretty with them.
Tortilla and tiffin look delicious ,it's a pitty I can't taste them through the screen...
I hope Poppy'll get better soon, dogs can look at you with so sad eyes ...

Lace hearts said...

That's so fab that you're ressurrecting the abandoned squares. The original knitter would be so pleased.
I would absolutely love a tute on tortilla making. I've never managed to get it right - I've always thought because I don't have one of the proper pans that can be flipped on the stove. So yes please. A good tortilla is so nice.

SaSabi said...

Thank you, grazie grazie mille!!!
Sabina

Aлиса said...

Привет!
Старые вышивка, кружево и фото - прекрасны!

cheerfulness said...

Please, please, the tortilla tutorial. It looks so yummy! :o)