Rabbit Baby Booties

This is a pattern from Debbie Bliss Farm Yard Knits.

I was in the mood for quick and easy baby booties. I searched every where to find the right pattern.

Then I found this one!! They are so cute!!

And these are mine!!

 

Just before I had sewn the eyes on.

  

So cute.

 My seems are not great but I still think they look nice. They took me longer than expected to knit as they are doubled over and line with another colour wool and then the layers are sewn together.

 I used a cheep acrylic wool which wasn't very soft and was difficult to knit with.

 If I made them again I would use a soft baby wool. This project was a more time consuming than I was expecting it to be.

 They are a lot nicer even with the acrylic wool than I was expecting.

And here my partner is modelling them for me on his big toe!! Lovely!

These might be another keeper. Don't think I can part with them!! I have that odd seem as a good excuse. Yay! Might have to have a baby one day.

Corned Beef

Last night I had a go at making corned beef using the recipe from

Donna Hay's cook book "A Cook's Guide". I bought it a few months ago and I finally have had time to try a few recipes out.

 I love the big clear pictures of each recipe.

So this is what it is supposed to look like. Yum huh.

And this is what mine looks like.

 The carrots.

And on the plate

With gravy

But here you can tell a little more.

Bugger.

Where is that moist looking meat? Unfortunately it had an odd taste and was dry.

 At least the gravy hid the taste!!

Well I think I know what went wrong and it was completely my fault for listening to other peoples advise instead of following the recipe as it is written. Make sure you use all the correct ingredients!! I substituted my vinegar because I didn't have malted vinegar and I knew the whole time this was a bad idea but I still did it!!

And to top it off I cooked it for way too long. The recipe said the skewer would come out easily when it was ready but at no time did this happen. I think there was a bit of gristle I was not aware of each time I tested it.

 The good news is the potato and the broccoli tasted beautiful!!

Time to try something else!!

Cooking Day - Caramel Slice

Today was a cooking day.

I had the whole day to my self and was supposed to be sick with a horrid cold I just can't kick, but I can't sit still. So much to do when I have the place to myself!!

I bought this book a few months ago and it was time to finally try out a few recipes.

Yum Caramel Slice!!

So I made the base and put it in the oven. Now it was time to make the caramel while the base cooks.

The caramel took a bit longer than expected to thicken. I halved the caramel quantities because caramel slice is so rich and I find it's hard to eat.

If you follow the recipe correctly the caramel will be a lot thicker.

The base cooked perfectly on time

Then I add the caramel.

That spoon on the base - Bad idea. The base stuck to the spoon but no big disaster, easily fixed. It was soon to be covered in caramel.

This is the caramel covered base completely cooked. Now I have to wait for it to cool before adding the chocolate.

My chocolate ready to go. I recommend not mixing varieties like I did as above. They don't all melt at the same heat. I had lumps which I had to remove and replace with more chocolate. I find using a good quality chocolate will makes life easier and is worth the extra expense.

This is my chocolate melting. You can see the choc bit lumps which I had to remove.

Finally my melted chocolate on top and in the fridge to cool.

At last!! Set hard and ready to cut.

Can't wait to see what it looks like inside!

Yum! this is completely evil!!

So Yummy.

I thought I had cut it small enough being so rich but I think I should probably cut it smaller now!!!

While I waited for the caramel slice to cool I made some bread for lunches next week. Tastes awesome with cheese and ham toasted.

Yum! Can't wait to eat this one. I just love the way a baked loaf looks especially when they brown nicely like this one. And there are no extras (preservatives, colours etc) in this loaf that I don't know about!

I also baked an easy packet cake for desert tonight! If you look carefully you can see I pinched a piece of chocolate off the top of the cake and it left a hole. Whoops! I had to test it to see if it was still yummy!! Of course!

I'm hopeing to try the recipe for corned beef tomorrow. I've never made it before but it looks so good. Might have home made bread with corned beef, cheese, and chutney for lunches next week. Yum!

Time to rest now! An exhausting but rewarding day!!

Sock monkey

At long last I got to make a sock monkey!!

I'm very pleased with him. 

It cost me $1.99 for a pair of size one socks at Best and Less, and some stuffing I already had. Cheep pressy for whoever I decide will get him!!

I used a pattern as a guide for my first attempt but I googled some designs for the face. I didn't like buttons as eyes as used in the pattern and I wasn't sure how old the child who would get it was, so better to be safe and sew the face on.

The heart on his chest was a remnant from the material hats I made and the ribbon is one of those ties that come on clothes to stop them falling off the hangers while in the shops.

Here is the pattern I used. I recommend you read it all first before starting as until I did so, I didn't understand it. It's pretty easy once you get motivated. There is also a tutorial which I was too lazy to watch which may help!!