Making Stock

I've been busy making stock for my Folksy shop this week.....although I am finding it very slow going on there with only one sale to date...but I suppose it is early days and I am not the most patient of people!

So what have I been making.......

Baby Dress and Shoes in 4ply cotton yarn

  

Baby Boys Cardigan

I have also been working on a new knitting design called 'Isabella' which is currently being test knitted to iron out any problems before it is added to my collection of patterns for sale.

If anyone would like to take a peep at my Folksy Shop I would welcome any feedback.

Tipeetoes Baby Handknits Folksy Shop

Ripple Blanket

I seem to have a craze for crocheted baby blankets and chair throws at the moment.  On our few days away earlier in the month I picked up some yarn in a great craft shop we stumbled upon whilst we were sight seeing  in Rochester.  I thought I would use the yarn to make a throw for the back of my 'crocheting' chair by the window in our dining room.  Done in shades of chocolate, coffee and cream it suits my dining room perfectly.  The yarn I used is a DK weight and I used a size 4.5mm hook.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Homemade Strawberry Jam

My strawberry harvest has been fantastic this year, unfortunately I am the only one that likes them....so what to do with all the strawberries???  I decided to make strawberry jam

I looked around for a good recipe and came across this one on the Good Food Channel Site:
Strawberry Jam Recipe

I halved the amount of strawberries and added vanilla seeds but then followed the recipe as suggested.

Chopped and ready to simmer with the lemon juice

I scraped the seeds from the vanilla pod and put those into the pan too

Simmering away to soften the strawberries

Jars ready to go into the oven to sterilise

Time to add the sugar and to turn up the heat

Jam boiling away to reach 104 degrees

And the finished result.....six jars of delicious strawberry and vanilla jam

Crochet Baby Blanket

Here are some pics of  my latest baby blanket...I really love this pattern and can see this design becoming a firm favourite of mine...hope you like it as much as I do

Courgettes and Crafts

I think these flowers are great, so bright and bold with the promise of all those lovely courgettes to follow. They are so prolific that I only ever grow a couple of plants and usually end up with a glut of fruit that I end up giving away.

I finally got around to taking pics of the baby dress I was making, I'm so pleased with how it turned out so delicate looking

I added some white appliqued flowers to the bodice and threaded white ribbon through each of the cuffs.

Leeds Castle

We spent an eventful day at Leeds Castle, this is where my hubby had his fall.  The staff were lovely and administered first aid and provided us with a wheelchair for the rest of our time there.  It really is a beautiful place and the gardens are stunning.

There were lots of peacocks strolling around the grounds, all very bold and completely unafraid of us humans

There is quite a walk from the entrance upto the castle itself but the walk through the parkland was lovely

I love this picture of the pond

This is the Barbican area, just behind here is where my hubby had his fall

The usual way to enter the castle is down through the cellars, but as I was now pushing my husband around in a wheelchair we entered through the front door.

One of the first rooms you see is the Queens Bedroom and then onto her bathroom

This is the Queens courtyard

A few random pics from some of the rooms we viewed

On our way out to the Car Park

and the Castle

Literally across the road from Rochester Cathedral is Rochester Castle...you have probably guessed that we love history and love to visit sites of historical interest.  Read about the Castle here

We climbed all the way to the top of the Castle and had a lovely walk in the grounds.  Lots of school children were on visits so it was really quite busy.

After we had taken in the sights of the Castle we walked down Rochester High Street which is full of interesting shop windows to peep into and found a delightful little cafe where we stopped for lunch and a very welcome pot of tea.

Rochester Cathedral

We spent a lovely day in Rochester whilst we were away.  It is such a lovely little town and I found a great craft shop which I really enjoyed looking around.  I even broke my yarn ban and brought home a few balls of yarn in shades of coffee and cream which I am going to turn into something to remind me of our trip away.

Here are a few pics of the Cathedral which is the second oldest in England and was founded in 604AD.  The official website for the Cathedral can be found here Rochester Cathedral Website

You can take a virtual tour around the Cathedral here: Virtual Tour

Thank you for the well wishes for my husband, he is being well looked after and I even baked him some banana and chocolate muffins this afternoon to cheer him up :-)