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I’m back and have I been busy with knitting, crocheting, traveling and a bit of actual work! I’ve made three birthday gifts last month, two of which are for little ones. Richard also celebrated his 32nd birthday and we went away to the Blue Mountains for the weekend. But Richard got his birthday present months ago and he’s been wearing the handknit Asherton scarf almost everyday.

My friend Linda and her son, Ewan, celebrated their birthdays a week apart and I didn’t know about it till the last minute. So a mad rush through Ravelry and I found a couple of easy patterns to work from. Do you remember the Luxury yarn range from Bendigo Woollen Mills that I knitted into hats? I had enough yarn left over to make the gifts for the mother and son.

Knitted Makeup Bag for Linda
Pretty lace pattern with lovely details. This makeup bag knitted up quickly. Perfect for a last minute gift.


Pattern: Sundance Makeup Bag
Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8ply
Needles: 4mm
Mods: My attempt at a buttonhole failed, probably because I used smaller needles. So I sewed on snap enclosures instead.

Winter Octopus for Ewan
Yes, it’s an amigurumi octopus wearing a turtleneck jumper and a knitted scarf. It is winter here after all. Hehe… Richard was tickled pink when he came home and saw the silly octopus. But most importantly, I’ve been told that two year old Ewan likes it. Success!


Pattern: Amigurumi Octopus
Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8ply and Classic 5ply; Homemaker Venice
Hooks: 3.5mm and 4mm
Mods: Switched between blue and green yarn (held doubled) and crocheted with 4mm hook to create octopus’ jumper. Simple rib scarf knit with 3.25mm needles.

Knitted Bunny for Aurora
This bunny is for a special one year old girl we have yet to meet. When she was born, I knitted her a tomato baby set. We had to miss her first birthday party cos we both had colds. Can’t take a risk with the H1N1 virus going around. Anyway, if you can knit a square, you can make this. A little bit of clever sewing pulls this bunny together.

Note to Simon & Meg: Hope she loves it and plays it with often. Catch up with you guys soon I hope!

Pattern: Knitted Bunny
Yarn: No idea. Didn’t have a ball band.
Needle: 3.5mm
Mods: Made floppy ears and added ribbon for a bow.

That’s all for now but there are more FOs (finished objects) to come, plus travel photos. Thanks for dropping by today! Happy New (Financial) Year!

Related Posts:
Luxurious Knitted Hats
Asherton Reversible Scarf
Holy Knitted Baby Tomatoes, Batman!

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I’m taking a break from blogging for a while. I have been busy with home renovations and not really doing much crafting. I’ll be back soon when the dust settles and the crafting bug bites me again. Thanks for supporting me and I’ll see you soon!

Mount Wondabyne, NSW

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I am proud of my linen cupboard now. I’ll show it off to people when they come over. I will. I’ll say, “Come in, friends! Have you seen my linen cupboard lately?” Have a look at the before and after photos and tell me whether you like all the improvements I’ve made.

BEFORE

Drumroll please!

Ready?

Ta daaa!

AFTER

Have you done home improvements which you’re proud of? Tell me all about it or blog about it and send me a link. Let’s have a show and tell!

Related Post:
I’ve Been Painting

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Chawanmushi is a Japanese appetizer, served hot or cold. It is a savoury egg custard, steamed in a a small cup. Richard and I have talked about making this for years and we’ve assumed it must be hard to make. But we actually had all the ingredients for a simplified version. There are many variations to what actually goes in the egg custard. Some recipes call for chicken, fresh Japanese mushrooms, fish cakes, fresh fish etc. We just used what we had in the pantry.

It took us only 5-10 minutes to prepare and the chawanmushi took 15 minutes to steam. And before we knew it, we had scoffed down two cups each, burning our tongues in the process as we just wouldn’t wait for it to cool down. It was just so warm and sweet and salty at the same time. The soft texture of the egg custard and the chewiness of the shitake mushrooms complimented each other beautifully.

Adapted from this recipe and the sauce is from Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking cookbook (pg 26)

Serves 4
Ingredients for Savoury Steamed Egg Custards (Chawanmushi):
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup Campbell’s fish stock
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sake
10g dry shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 30 mins till soft, chopped
2 pak choy leaves, sliced into small pieces
2 stalks spring onion, chopped (garnish)

1. Beat eggs gently, try not to get bubbles. Add stock, salt, soy sauce, sugar and sake. Mix well & strain through sieve.
2. Divide mushrooms and pak choy into 4 small cups and pour egg mixture on top.
3. Preheat a steamer on high heat (until water is boiling). Lower heat and place cups into steamer. Cover with tea towel and then with the lid. Steam for 15mins or until firm to touch.

Ingredients for the sauce:
A little granulated chicken stock powder
2 tbsp hot water
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil

1. Dissolve stock powder with hot water. Add all other ingredients and mix well.
2. When the chawan mushi is ready, pour a little sauce on each one and garnish with spring onion.

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The only thing I have on my needles now is the Muir scarf which I casted on March 22. It’s been more than two months now and progress is slow. Something about this project is not working for me.

It might be the chart that I’m knitting from. 32 rows for each repeat. It’s painstakingly slow for me and I need to concentrate so hard. Mind you, I have the focus of a goldfish! By the end of the day when I do have time to knit, my brain and eyes are too tired to deal with it. And I swim away from Muir yet again.

The other possibility why I’m put off from this project is the way the Malabrigo yarn stripes. It stripes almost every two rows and the pretty leaf design seem lost. Tell me again why I pushed on with this? I should have listened to my instincts and picked another pattern.

Or it could be that I picked laceweight yarn so progress is slow. In two months, I’ve knitted 70cm. I admit that I have been distracted by other projects. But now I’m left with this. 110cm of lace knitting to go. I can’t bare to frog it and start again because it really is a soft, light and airy scarf. Exactly what I set out to achieve for my friend in Singapore.

I’ve taken a deep breath and I’m going to keep going. I might try to knit an hour of it every morning when I’m bright and alert. (I’m a morning person) Every week, I’ll show you my progress. Maybe that will drive me on.

Have you had a similar experience with one of your craft projects? What did you end up doing?
Related Post:
I Still Knit!

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