Neighbourly Gifts

Yesterday I received some very upsetting news and after a good cry (I often do that) and a vent on Facebook, (I so rarely do that) I am trying to be a little more philosophical and am hoping that as we live in times where the sand is quite literally shifting underneath us and changes occur daily from one

A gift of red roses just when I needed it, thank you 

announcement to another, I hope that the current situation I now find myself in, will be resolved and quickly.  

What is the issue?  

I can not visit mamma in Norway from January 1st for as long as the pandemic is upon us, as the UK will have left the EU and so Norway has no agreement with us and one is not yet on the horizon.  As I am sure you would know from reading this blog where my feelings are at, I voted very firmly to STAY IN THE EU.  I did not foresee this problem and none of us foresaw the pandemic, but still, I am smarting even more so now that we are leaving, it brings back all the emotions of four years ago when we woke up that fateful morning to the news we would be leaving the EU.  It was a tough day and I felt bruised and battered then but nothing to how I felt yesterday.   So many lovely comments were received on Facebook and chocolates and flowers were received (you know who you are and I thank you from the bottom of my heart)  So I am keeping everything crossed that tomorrow or the next day or even the following week, we will hear the news that this issue is resolved and that I can visit mamma.  Never in my life did I think I would not be allowed to travel between our two countries.  How much I have taken for granted and how privileged I have been.

Home made envelope for gifts

This brings me to today's post which is all about giving and sharing with those that we cannot meet up with for a coffee and a chat as we would normally leading up to Christmas.  I have begun to deliver a few cookies here and there and many more to still be delivered, just as a little cheery hello from me to you to say I miss you, have a Norwegian Christmas cookie on me and think of me whilst you sit a while with a cup of something warming.

I have often used the see-through food bags that you can purchase and tie the cookies up in ribbon but now trying to be more aware and responsible about the use of plastic, I have more latterly sent cookies in tins which can be reused and indeed will send out some still that way this year.  However, encouraged by the class I work with and their current paper crafting challenge to make advent boxes, 3D Christmas trees and hanging paper decorations, I set myself the task of creating a paper vessel for gifting my cookies.  

The paper envelopes are not of my design and on google, there are so many different versions and many the same so I jumped right in and here is the version that I used and came up with.  It is so easy, quick and effective, give it a try, easy for young and old...

Home made envelopes for cookie gifting:

♥  All you need is a square of paper and ribbon if you have.

Take a square piece of paper

Fold it in half keeping the design on the outside

Take one corner and fold it across, so that the top of the
fold is horizontal.  DO NOT fold it so it touches
the other side, leave a gap of 3-4mm

Fold the other side over, this time,
this fold can just touch the opposite edge.

The envelope should look like this
when you have folded over both corners.

The apex at the top should have two sheets.  Take
the inner sheet and fold it so that it fits snuggly
into the front folded over corner as in the above photograph.

Insert your cookie...

or three!

Fold over the top and tie up with ribbon. 
All ready to gift as a cookie hug.

♥  Thinking of those today that I cannot see, know that you are in my thoughts and I send you all my love until we can be together again  ♥

A Christmas window

Growing up in a mixed-race household was a privilege and one I did not really appreciate until I was much older.  As with all things in life, much from my childhood has seeped into who I am as an adult.  The December days and the joy I feel about them most certainly come from my mother and her mother too.  

Long before it was trendy to dress the windows my mother added crocheted snowflakes to ours and although I have not asked her, I wonder if that was to bring a piece of her winter homeland back to an often wet and windy December in the UK.  When I began this blog seven years ago, one of the first blog posts was all about snowflakes on the window and I shared many patterns as well as for those who could not crochet an alternative, see here.  Most years thereafter I have thought of other ways to also treat a window at home to some Christmas dressing.                                                              This year is no exception and my French windows in the study have been subjected to their quickest makeover to date, all I needed was a white chalk marker.  So quick and so effective.  I am not nor have ever been someone who could draw but if I can do this then I am sure you can and those of you who do have an artistic flair I am sure can come up with some wonderful creations.  Below are my efforts, it was like giving myself permission to Christmas graffiti all over the windows.  It felt naughty but was so much fun and we are really enjoying it.

And for those of you worrying or wondering, I bought markers that wipe off very easily with water and a gentle rub with a cloth, I tested it out before I let my Christmas artistic streak loose...

A quick test to make sure the markers clean off ok

All it needed was a damp cloth
and it wiped away quickly

I used these markers but you can, of course, use 
any you like, just make sure they will clean off easily

A Christmas Window

♥  Do you get excited for Christmas?   ♥

Christmas trivet

Knitting consisting of lots of bobbles

So much happens in the kitchen at Christmas it can be warm and cosy and just me in there pottering about with my Christmas makes and bakes or it can be raucous when everyone is finally home with so much news to share.  Leading up to Christmas day itself the kitchen becomes even more of a hub of the home than normal.  And the day, itself with so much cooking taking place, pots and pans are literally flying all over the place whilst we all go about our designated cooking chores, of course sipping on some tipple or other such like trying not to bump into each other in our rather narrow kitchen.  

I came across the potholder pattern whilst thinking about my Christmas kitchen and thought it would be both a practical and festive addition to the red theme I have every year.  Having also not knitted bobbles before I was keen to challenge myself and try something new. This is a pattern I wish I had designed, it was fun to make and relatively quick.  Both my sister and mother having seen this would like one.  I'll add it to the to-do list...

Does anyone else forget things quickly, misplace things or walk into a room and have absolutely no idea why you entered?  It seems to be happening to me with more and more regularity... I'm not even going there by saying it's my age, but it is my age!  So as I sit here typing away to tell you about this pattern, I cannot remember how I did it at all, I even had to just watch the little clip to remind me how I knitted the bobbles, here it is for you in case you are interested... Knitted bobbles video

As long as you can purl and knit then you can make this trivet.  

Again with anything felted it is made in 100% wool, knitted larger than the required size and shrunk in the washing machine with towels to aid the rubbing and friction on a normal 40-degree cycle.  It is IMPERATIVE that as soon as the cycle is over you remove the trivet and lay it on a flat surface and pull it into shape.  The corners may want to curl a bit but with wriggling it you will get them to lay flat.  It will take a day or two to dry out completely.  Since I have made it, I've used hot pans from the hob and baking sheets from the oven and it has protected my work surface.  I'm rather pleased with this and if I remember to I may not because of my age! after Christmas will make a couple more.

The back of the knitted trivet
makes me think of a shaggy beard

Each bobble is knitted back and forth individually on the right side of the work and each bobble row is bound with a row of purling on the wrong side.  It's quite a therapeutic knit once you get into the swing of the pattern and it's incredible how the bobbles felt into thick balls, it is such a clever pattern.

To ensure the red bobbles do not pull the whole piece,
each bobble has it's own beginning and ending thread,
with no carrying over to the next bobble.

Finished knitted piece before machine felting

Close up of a knitted bobble before machine felting

Another great name from GarnStudio find the pattern here: Hot heart ♥

❤️ The youngest has returned from university so we are now all under one roof ready for Christmas but we will be thinking of those we cannot catch up with in person this year . Hugs to you all  ❤️

Ginger Lemon Cookies

Today's post brings you the fourth of the seven bakes for Christmas.  As many of you know here in the eclectic home we bake seven cookies each and every December as is the custom in Norway. Today's cookies are up there amongst my favourite and I must admit to not only baking these at Christmas because they are just soooo good.  The warmth of the ginger is perfectly complemented by the zest of the lemon, these buttery cookies really do melt in the mouth, yet also have a great snap. 

Ginger Lemon Cookies ~ makes approximately 30

You will need:

♥  125g butter, room temperature

♥  250g sugar

♥  grated zest lemon

♥  225g plain flour

♥  1 tsp baking powder

♥  4 tsp ground ginger

Use a fork to slightly flatten the balls of dough

♥  Mix the butter and sugar until pale and creamy.

♥  Add the remaining ingrediants and mix to form a dough.

♥  Divide the mixture into thirds.  [At this point, I make a descion if I am going to bake all the cookies at once or whether I will cover in cling film one or two portions and keep in the fridge until needed.  this dough if kept airtight will last for about a week in the fridge.  It could also be frozen for up to four weeks.  Just remember to defrost throughly before continuing with the next steps.]

♥ Each portion should make between 8 -10 balls.  Place the small balls of dough on lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of room between each.  

♥  Using a fork, gently push each dough ball to flatten it slightly, see photograph.    

♥  Bake in a pre heated oven of 160 degrees Celcius for 10-12 minutes or until slighly golden.

♥  Cool on a wire rack before enjoying.

Freshly baked ginger lemon cookies

Stacked cookies make a great gift

Time for a spiced tea and a cookie,
can you see a piece of lemon zest in the cookie,
it's such a complimentary flavour to the warmth of the ginger

♥  Just over two weeks to Christmas Eve, how are your preparations going?  ♥

Wire decorations

I have long wanted to make myself some wire decorations and so felt it high time to give it a go.  Raiding the shed where the other half stores his bits and bobs, I managed to find pretty much all I needed:  

Angel wire decoration

• wire, strong enough to hold a shape but soft enough to be pliable
• pliers also used for wire cutting as well as holding and shaping
• nails and hammer (I tried dressmaking pins at first but they were not strong enough)
• A piece of board  to hammer into, I used an old chopping board past its sell by date but still lurking in the kitchen
• various objects from around the house to aid shape formation

This seems to be the year of angel making for me, a surprise as they are not something I am usually drawn to.  But I really fancied making some wire angels which is how this all began.

First I drew out the size and shape of the angel I was after, use the below photo to help you, roughly I decided to use a figure of 8 shape, have the head about 1/3 the size of the entire angel and to have the wings about the same length as the angel from head to base.  

Being organised before starting to craft
makes life so much easier, gather
everything you may need before you begin

Initial wire bending to make
the head and body of the angel

Once I had a rough idea I began winding the wire around my hands to create the figure of 8 shape you see in the photos.  I wasn’t entirely happy with the end figure of 8 shape so on my second attempt, I used a round speaker and a bottle of paint to wind the wire around to form a much neater figure of 8. Once satisfied, or as satisfied as I could be, I wound a few times around between the body and the head to form a neck.  

Basic angel body

To make a more defined and smooth body and head
you can use everyday objects and wind 
the wire around them, here I have used a
speaker and a bottle of paint!

Moving onto the wings I again created an 8 shape but perpendicular to the body.  After having completed 3 rounds I then spread the wire out to create a more wing-like look.  I played around with each of the angels I made so there is no uniform look.  I like it a bit eclectic as you can probably tell.

This wire angel has the spread-out wings

The mantlepiece often has a change
around even during the festive season!

Draw out the star shape and hammer in nails
at each vertex,
I nailed into an old wooden chopping board

To make the stars, I drew out the shape I was after and then placed the paper onto my old chopping board, hammering in nails at every vertex, so each point of the star and at each inside join, see photo for clarification.  I then wound the wire around the nails making a complete turn around each nail, remembering not to pull too tightly as I needed to remove the stars from the board. Saying that I did use a pair of pliers to try and make the wire a little straighter between each nail. Again be careful to not pull too tight or the wire could snap.  Once I reached the beginning nail again I made a twisted hook so to be able to hang the star up with.  

Each angel and star were made to be deliberately different but if you wanted a more uniform look that would work too.  These are rustic or do I mean childish-looking decoration but I happen to quite like them. They won’t win me any prizes but in my dining room with low lighting, I think they look ok. 

Depending on the strength of your wire you can use the pliers
to pull the wire a little tauter  and make the edges straighter
and crisper, this is not necessary however

A 'rustic' wire star decoration

Can you spot a couple of stars hidden in the garland?

There was no stopping whilst I had the equipment out.  I made a couple of Christmas tree wire holders.  That can either be used for place names, small menu or drinks cards or even as a tree decoration in its own right.  Once I begin on a theme it just rolls and rolls.  

What else could be made with wire...

♥  What have you planned to make this year?  ♥

Christmas basket

Christmas crafting begins in the summer for me when 

I visit mamma in Norway and this year despite

the coronavirus I managed to squeeze in a quick flying 

visit to see her and of course some knitting...  

I love felting, all types but there is something quite unknown about knitting/felting as to what size your eventual items will be.  Wondering whether the width will marry up correctly to the height.  Mamma always says it depends too on your washing machine, a bit like knowing your own oven, does your oven cook a little quicker or slower than recipes say and so it is with washing machines ... it all adds to the spice I say.

Don't you just love how increases look on dpn

It's so exciting when the pattern begins to emerge

The basket begins to emerge

The stitch definition will be lost when felted

Basket before felting

Dpn decreases for the base of the basket

Could this be a hat? 

Photo to show the size of the basket before felting

Place the knitted basket in the washing machine with a couple of 
towels to aid the friction and rubbing whilst being washed

Once the basket comes out of the washing machine it is imperative to mould it onto something to get the correct shape.  Sometimes it takes a few goes to find the correct mould... 

I definitely was not the correct size or shape for the drying process so I resorted to using a bucket.  Unfortunately, the photos I took have mysteriously disappeared and as I do not own a round bucket and now with lockdown restrictions in place I can not just 'pop' back over to mamma's to take another photo with her bucket, you will have to imagine the next photo...

Imagine a photo here of an upturned purple bucket,  

with the felted basket, wet and dripping with water, tied around and around  

tightly to the bucket to hold the walls as close as possible to the sides of the bucket.

Here is a mock-up of what the
the imagined photo could look like... ;)

A Christmas Felted basket, ready to use

The basket is large, it has a diameter of 25cm and a height of 16cm and is proving perfect for Christmas satsumas and clementines...

Knitted felt basket full of Christmas satsumas,
what could be more appealing?

If you are interested in making this, the pattern is from Garn Studio and can be found here: Felt basket they also have patterns for Spring baskets too.

♥  How are your Christmas preparations coming along?  ♥