Bench

I've been painting a lot lately, trying to put my own touch in my new pad. A bench was left on the balcony, the metal part was all rusted and the wood was starting to rot so I dismantled it, sand the wood and clean the metal parts. I used the paint I bought for the balcony rail to paint the metal parts and the paint for the windows for the wood pieces.

Here is the result and I must admit I am rather proud of myself and my brand new bench :o)

Now, if we could have some sunshine I could use it...

It is amazing what a bit of TLC can do!

Tomatoes

I've taken a new hobby: gardening. My new pad has a balcony so I've decided to have a few edible plants. I've got loads of orchids and they are dead easy to maintain (just need to water them once a week) but tomatoes are much more demanding! I've planted them at the end of march and left them behind my south facing window. I've dispatched them in various location now that I've moved. 4 are in the kitchen, 2 on the balcony and 2 on the landing. They all have flowers and the ones in the kitchen have started producing fruits. I have 5 little green tomatoes so far and much more to come :)

I also have some alpine strawberries:

In July I am going to plant a pumpkin as well. I am dreaming of having a huge one on my balcony :o) I'll report on that later....

BACK!

What's my excuse this time for not blogging for more than 2 months????

MOVING!!!!

I moved into my new place on 6th May but I haven't had time to sit down and enjoy it yet! I've been painting, entertaining friends, travelling, gardening, decorating, planning holidays, working....

Knitting is not on the list because I simply didn't have time for it! I did some before moving though:

Pattern from Lucinda Guy book "Designs for kids". Half of them have now moved to their new owners. A couple of them are enjoying sunshine in France and one will be flying to Poland soon...

I've arranged a little knitting corner in my new pad:

That's it for now. Next time, I'll show you my tomatoes :o)

Inspired by the sea

I've been trying to design a mirror for my grandma for weeks now...Finally, inspiration arrived yesterday...
I knew the color scheme had to be blue, my gran favorite color. I also wanted to use some beads. So the inspiration came from the waves....
The dark color is teal. If you look closer there is some stripes of blue and green.
Dimensions: 30 x 20 cm


At the same time I made a little suncatcher for a colleague who loves sailing and is going to retire at the end of the month.


Enjoy your weekend!

Mirror

Finish at last!
I've started this mirror a few weeks ago and as I was putting the finishing touches, I broke a glass piece! Luckily it was the outside part of the flower so it wasn't too bad to repair.
To consolidate it, I framed it with tinned brass sticks.
Size: 50x50cm.

Now, I am going to wrap it very carefully and my parents will bring it back in France next month (they are making the 1700km journey by car). It is a gift for my godmother.

Cheeky Monkey

This is what fell off my needles lately:

another pair of socks! Cable rib socks from "Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave". I've modified the pattern a little: started from the toe and did a short row heel.

For one of my friend's nephew, I've knitted this cheeky jumper (pattern from knitting magazine 050, May 2008):

Now, on my needles, I have another pair of socks (for me, as always) and a lace smoke ring (vent d'est vent d'ouest, free Ravelry download) using the nice yak yarn camoun sent me :o) (and this is for me as well!).

Alsacian Biscuits

I spent Sunday baking some some alsacian biscuits from Suzanne Roth's book "les petits gateaux d'alsace". Here is the results:

Oatmeal macaroons:
200g oatmeal (I used porridge oat)
200g grounded almonds
225g sugar
3 egg whites
Beat the egg whites until fluffy and add the sugar while beating.
Mix almond and oatmeal and add to the egg white.
Roll the dough into 2.5cm balls and roll them in oatmeal.
Bake around 20 minutes at 120 C

Lemon stars:
100g butter
70g icing sugar
250g flour
1/2 tea spoon of baking powder
a pinch of salt
lemon zest
1 egg yolk
3 table spoon of cream
Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Add the egg yolk, cream and butter (soft) cut in small pieces and beat together. Put it in the fridge for 30min to rest.
Roll out the dough and cut star shapes.
Bake 10 minutes at 180 C.
Icing: mix an egg white with the same quantity of icing sugar and some lemon juice.
Cover the stars (once cool) and let it dry.


Linz:
125g almond powder
125g butter
125g sugar
125g flour
1 pinch of clove powder
1/2 tea spoon of cinnamon powder
1 pinch of baking powder
1 egg
jam (I used bramble)
Mix the flour, almond, sugar, baking powder and spices. Add the egg and the butter (soft) and beat together. Make a ball and leave it in the fridge to rest for 2-3 hours.
Roll the dough into 2cm balls and make an indentation in the center with a finger. Fill with some jam and spread some almond on top.
Bake for about 20 minutes at 180 C.


I've tried these biscuits on my colleagues at work today and I am happy to say that there isn't any casualties to report (so far), therefore, they are quite safe to eat :oD

They are delicious actually and they will keep for some time in a metal tin.

Tradition

It is now a tradition! Every year before Christmas I send a parcel to my friend Camoun and at the beginning of the following year she send me one. I forgot to take a picture of the one I sent her, but I managed one of the parcel she sent me before I had a go at the chocolate...
As you can see, she's been extremely generous: 3 tablets of chocolate (there are only 2 left now...), a bag of bergamot orange sweeties (a speciality from Nancy, yum yum), a soap scented with bergamot as well, a recipe book to bake Alsacian biscuits, and a huge ball of yarn (50% yak, 50% sheep, dead soft :o) from Bellelaine.fr)


Tomorrow, I am going to bake some of these biscuits and try them on my guineapigs at work on Monday ;oD
I'll report here later...

Meandering Vines Shawl

I've been wondering for a long time what to do with 6 balls of Artesano inca cloud alpaca I had in my stash when I found this pattern: Meandering Vines Shawl. It is a free ravelry download. It is a very easy pattern and the result is really nice.
I did 6 repeats of the lace pattern on 5mm needles.
Before blocking it looked like a mess:


Once blocked, you can see the nice pattern:



It is a gift for a friend I will be visiting in June...

Hearts and Flowers socks

One more pair!
For me, as usual :o)
But I must admit that I am glad to have so many pairs (a dozen) of hand knitted socks because they are warm and cosy and, with the weather we had this winter, they've been put to good use!


The pattern is called hearts and flowers socks from Wendy Johnson book "socks from the toe up". I used one ball of Zauberball and 2.25mm dpn.

Now I have to decide on the next pair of socks I am going to knit (for me again, I am so selfish when it comes to socks). I like to have a pair to knit as it is a small portable project you can take anywhere :o)