Finally another one!

I have finally made the second 'Slip for Lippy' make-up bag (call this a pattern test if you like) and it worked! So now you have no excuses not to make one haha...

This was an attempt at a stash bust, but the bag uses up only tiny scraps of yarn... I will need to make a few more to shift all the stuff that is in too small a quantity to make much else! The pattern is the second ever post on this blog, if you haven't found it on Ravelry in pdf form

Almond Macaroons

I  have recently become very addicted to these Almond Macaroons. They are so quick to make- which means that they get eaten quickly too...

You need:

1 egg white
85g ground almonds
85g caster sugar (golden or whatever)
1/2 tsp almond extract
Some almond halves if you really want

Put your pinny on, wash your hands and get the oven on 180 C (gas mark 4..?)

1. Beat the egg white until frothy (looks like saliva mmm!)
2. Stir in the rest of the ingredients
3. Squash it all up into a dough
4. Roll up about 12 little balls from the dough and put on a baking sheet
4a. Pop an almond half on top of each one, if the mood takes you
5.Bung in the oven for about 15-20 mins (until pale golden)

Try and have the patience to let them cool down before scoffing the lot with a pot of tea.

Get someone else to do the washing up :-)

Hill for PM- legalize!!

Superbear! (not to be confused with Superman, or Superted...)

Ok, so the Makka Pakka project has gone into hibernation since I was told that a certain 3 year old had outgrown such babyish things, and was now obsessed with Superman. Challenge! I have no idea how to make a person look realistic though the medium of knitting, so decided not to and made a Superbear instead. (this would also avoid having to figure out how to do hair - and that little curl on Superman's head that makes people not recognise he is Clark Kent. Stupid people)

Anyway, I had used a bear pattern before with some success, so decided to base Superbear on that. I would have made Superted, but the kids don't know who he is these days- or Spotty man or Texas Pete! The shame! I digress... Here he is:

So, I used the Bitsy Bear pattern by Yvonne Boucher, from Knitting Pattern Central (super-organised Ravelry people can go here instead). The bear is basically the same, I just used different colours for his boots and paws so he looks like he is wearing the Superman suit. I did the 'S' logo on the fly- which is probably why you need to squint a little to see it properly! I will write it out if anyone really wants it.

The ever-important 'pants on the outside' were made in the same way as the pants in the pattern, except I needed to  make them a bit shorter so they didn't cover the 'S' logo. After all that I made a rectangular cape in garter stitch, crocheted around the edges and then he was good to go! (Ravelry project page here if you want to have a further nosey).

And he can fly, by the way.

Wonky Makka Pakka

OK, so I tried making Makka Pakka. Totally improvised, wrong colour, wrong shape- basically just a brown blob. So, I made notes about what to change for the second one in the hope that it might be a pattern worth sharing!

What did my little niece do when she saw it? Jumped up and down, yelling 'MABBA BABBA!!' and then proceeded to thrust the brown blob thing in everyone's face to show them 'Mabba Babba'. I suppose she recognized it! A one year old's imagination is obviously far more active than mine... but she loves  it to bits, which is great!

I'll have a bash at mark 2 soon... here is the picture of the first one, for your entertainment!

And here is what Makka Pakka actually looks like...

A few days off soon = a new pattern or two?

I am nearly at the end of the recent batch of evil, nasty, near-impossible assignments with FAR too much maths in them, and my thoughts have turned to what nice things I can do when I have finished...
Once I get over the inevitable hangover after the last hand-in, and caught up on sleep (oooo... how I have missed it!) I might have a day or two to do something crafty...

I have made mittens and hats and gloves and scarves during the snowy period... now it has all melted, and I am wrapped in all kinds of wool, I think I will make some toys with all the left-overs and oddments (they have started to take over my wardrobe!)

I am thinking, sock puppets? With button eyes ( I seem to have a whole bag of 'spare' buttons from clothes I don't seem to have anymore...)

Or perhaps a Makka Pakka from 'In the night garden' for a 1 year old girl who is a little obsessed... I can only seem to find crochet patterns for the slightly disturbing kid's TV character, and I am utterly shit at crochet! So, watch this space and see how I get on with my rare couple of days chilling out! Lets hope the beer doesn't totally take over...