Nimble Fingers and Steady Eyebrows

Why Thank You, I made it Myself

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 14:19:00 +0000

Dear Laura,

Things have been rather up in the air over on this side of the pond. We have been doing "work" on the house. Basically destroying it in the name of renovation. Now as you can see there is a hole in my floor

and in my ceiling

We have been taking the back chimney out. Originally we covered the hole in plastic so that the dust wouldn't get everywhere, then lowered the bricks carefully out of the window (I was stiff all week, I have no upper body strength)

Having managed to do three quarters of it ourselves (to be fair R did most of the work), we got some builders to do the rest, unfortunately, there was no covering the hole with plastic or anything sensible like that, so the dust from the destruction flew up the now none existant chimney and settled in an even thick layer all over the house. All over the house, there is dust in even the furthest corner of the house.

It seems the dust arrived along with spring here in DC, the magnolias are coming out and it was a gorgeous 20 degrees the other day. Just in time for an extensive spring clean.

Here are some other holes we have made.

Why thank you they are impressive aren't they, we made them ourselves.

Lots of love

Annie

four

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:47:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

S is four today. I can hardly believe it. Such a big chap!

Happy Birthday, sweetest of boys.

Love from,

Laura

dinosaur birthday party

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 07:44:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

It was S's fourth birthday party today. Twenty three little dinosaurs gathered together to celebrate.

We dug in the sandpit for 'fossils'; decorated party bags with dinosaur stickers; played 'pin the horn on the triceratops', musical dinosaur footprints and musical dinosaur statues. We ate dinosaur sandwiches, dinosaur biscuits (iced by my brother's lovely girlfriend) and of course, a dinosaur cake.

I completely neglected to take any photographs at the party, apart from the quick snapshot above of the party boy waiting for his guests! It was a whirlwind afternoon, but the dinosaurs went home happy.

Love from,

Laura

PS: Thank you to Libby for the blog award, we really appreciate you thinking of us.

The Iron and I

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:45:00 +0000

Dear Laura,

My relationship with irons has never been one of love. They are hot and yet they require you to pour water into a tiny hole at the top which then leaks on to the irons surface, sizzling and spitting as it goes down. Not to mention the electrical chord which constantly flips in front of the iron tempting it to melt the plastic protection, short circuit the whole thing and create its own set of fireworks, whilst throwing you across the room. And so for the majority of my life I have stayed far far away from them.

When I was younger, still at home, and wanting money, my mum used to pay me to iron, I got quite good at ironing my dads shirts, 20p each. I was also allowed to watch 'Home and Away' whilst doing this so it was win win for everyone (especially my mother who sensibly delegated the ironing tasks of the house to someone else, a lesson for us all). Then of course there was that minuscule ironing board we had in Thailand, 4 inches off the floor and about a foot long, I would desperately iron my teaching skirts every morning sat cross legged on the floor trying not to burn myself. Since then I have avoided ever buying clothes that involve ironing. I have a shirt at the moment which is supposed to be wrinkled, perfect!

It turns out though that the iron might just turn out to be my friend after all. All the sewing means that sometimes, sometimes, I have to get the iron out and iron down my seams (yawn yawn...but it does make things look better and easier to sew). And I found some new toys and now it seems the iron might be the best thing ever.

Check out my bias binding maker...

There was one casualty though.

Lots of Love

Annie

the beginnings of a quilt

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:41:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

For almost a year now, I have been musing on my next quilt. I am making it for little S, and I want it to be just right. My collection of bluey green fabrics has grown and grown until at last, finally, I felt ready to begin cutting.

I decided that for this quilt I would use an arrangement of simple squares, fairly small ones to match the delicate prints on the fabric. Armed with my rotary cutter, quilting ruler, and some You Tube tutorials, I braved the first cut. Cutting out squares wasn't unduly difficult. What I struggled with was figuring out how to make sure that there was minimal possible wastage with each piece of fabric.

It's been a bit of a learning curve but I now have some small - but growing - piles of squares, a stack of fabrics ready to be cut, and my bag of fabric scraps remains comparatively empty. Slowly but surely, a quilt is taking shape.

Meanwhile, in knitting news, I have finally cast off the second of my one-skein handwarmers (which I talked about in this post) As it turned out, I needn't have worried- I finished them with yarn to spare. The trickiest part proved to be photographing them (always a challenge when you are your own model!)

Love from,

Laura

PS: Thank you so much for my beautiful birthday present. Needless to say, I love it. xx

PPS: Knitting details, as ever, on Ravelry.

Birthday Wash Bags

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:18:00 +0000

Dear Laura,

I have been rather slow on the crafting side of things lately but luckily your birthday inspired me to make something new and exciting. I found this amazing oil cloth (well not quite oil cloth it is kind of coated fabric) with this great pattern. I couldn't resist it and I thought you would like it. So I made a wash bag, I have been trying to figure out the pattern for ages, and I think I have it figured out now, there was little trial and error on this one though.

Lots of happy birthdays to you, I hope you like it.

Lots of love

Annie

snowdrop sunday

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:26:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

Last weekend we went to see the snowdrops in the garden of the nearby National Trust house. There was still some residual snow on the ground and it was lovely to see the flowers peeking through their frozen coverlet.

Back at home in the warm, it seemed the perfect opportunity to get involved in Emma and Cathy's Den Building Week.

It may look like cushions, blankets and an ironing board, but to those in the know, it's a home for a veritable menagerie of imaginary creatures!

Love from,

Laura

Cushions and Blankets

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Dear Laura,

When I was visiting you I did a little photo shoot of all the things that I have made you over the years. And my there are a lot! I think you have been the lucky recipient of nearly all my crafts some better than others (we won't mention little S's rather strangely shaped jumper). Either you are very polite and you have a very good memory, and put all those things out just for my visit, or you actually quite like them. I hope it is the second because making things for you is so much fun, a happy recipient is all anyone needs to encourage some more sewing/knitting. Here are some of the things I found.

A teacup cushion...

and a little boys blanket...

Ok so I didn't find the blanket draped over the back of the sofa, it was actually in the blanket box, R retrieved it for me. It was easier to photograph on the sofa.

Thanks for liking the strange creations that come out of my head and in doing so encouraging me to make more.

Lots of love

Annie

tea cosies

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:51:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

I have a bit of a thing for retro knitted striped tea cosies. As far as I am concerned, they combine some of my favourite things in the world- knitting, tea and vintage style. I have every intention of knitting one at some point (and the Ravelry queue to prove it). Luckily, my tea won't be getting cold in the meantime because I have two vintage beauties.

The top cosy I found in a vintage shop on St Catherine's Hill in fabulous Frome and the bottom cosy belonged to my beloved Granny Tiger. I often see others in various vintage emporiums but have so far resisted on the basis that I only have two teapots, and so one more could only be the start of a collection.

It was my birthday at the weekend, and I was treated to a morning to myself to have a little mooch around Bristol. I was delighted to find this beautiful print by Katie from As Petals Fall at the Harbourside Market- how could I resist?! Funnily enough, I had been looking covetously at her work online just the other week, but I didn't make the connection until I got home. Even D, who is not exactly a tea cosy fan, was taken with it, and not even because it happens to be in the colours of Bristol City FC!

A pot of tea brewing, and to go with it, a slice of cake. A beautiful birthday cake, handmade for me by my wonderful boys.

Yum!

Love from,

Laura

sew much in love

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:59:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope that love is in the air on your side of the Atlantic.

Sweet D must have remembered me showing him a picture of this spool holder in Mollie Makes a while ago. A surprise, and rather a fitting gift from the man who bought me my sewing machine all those years ago (if you have forgotten the story, you can read it here.)

D...thank you, and I love you.

Love from,

Laura

Crocheting on the Metro

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:59:00 +0000

Dear Laura,

We had some snow, look at these poor daffs thinking it was spring and suddenly being plunged into sub zero temperatures.

It was pretty cold this weekend so we tried to remain firmly indoors. As I mentioned last week, it has been rather hard to motivate myself (as well as find the time) to do my granny squares. So on Saturday I decided to attempt crocheting on the Metro as we wound our way to the Portrait Gallery. I felt this was rather brave as I have tried knitting before and it was all elbows and pointed looks.

It turns out crocheting is much easier. Less nudging the person next to you and much more actual knotting and winding and creating.

Look I even managed a whole square!

Here is one of my favourite exhibits at the gallery. It is a gorgeous building as well but I will leave those photos for another time.

Initial crochet success means that I am going to try to granny on my commute. Wish me luck!

Lots of love

Annie

snow mitts

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:33:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

Ever since I finished R's mitts last week, S has been asking me for his own pair. He requested brown and blue because (as you have been informed) those are "boy colours" (!). I cast them off on Thursday night... just in time for Friday morning's snow.

"Perfect, Mummy!" was the verdict. High praise indeed.

Love from,

Laura

PS: Details here on Ravelry

perfectly plain

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:38:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

I am developing a burgeoning affection for the apparently humble loaf cake. It began when I rather extravagantly (or so it seemed to me) splashed out on some loaf tin liners. I suppose that it doesn't really take long to grease and flour or to line a loaf tin. Nevertheless, using a liner feels like streamlining the whole bake, and it also makes for a more even appearance to the loaf. Strangely, using a liner makes me feel that the baking of a loaf cake can be almost the work of mere moments.

As you know, Marmalade Loaf was my most recent bake, but today the imminent arrival of some very dear friends called for something to be nibbled with a cup of tea. I chose the Hummingbird Bakery's Chocolate and Coffee Loaf Cake, from their Cake Days book. I was not disappointed. It is a dark, dense and deeply plain cake ... and it is all the better for it. There is always a place for fancy cupcakes with gaudy icing, but sometimes -for everyday- what is needed is something simple. The flavour is pure chocolate, intensified by a hint of coffee; the crumb is springy and soft; the colour is ebony pitch. A perfectly plain cake.

Plainness also has its place in knitting. Some people call a knit stitch a 'plain stitch' (as in plain and purl) Strictly speaking, I think that 'plain knit' is a more old-fashioned term for what is now often called Stockinette stitch. I have been doing what I see as plain knitting- knitting every stitch- which is of course now called Garter stitch. I've produced a squashy garter stitch square, which is destined for an old shale edging. I'm using Ysolda's pattern to create a Hap Blanket .

I've found that the plain simplicity of the stitch has really allowed the texture and colour of the yarn to shine. I'm finally making use of the lovely greeny blue alpaca yarn that I showed you in this post last year. No one appreciates a blanket more than sweet little R, my constant companion. He calls for a 'bla bla' whenever he sits down- be it for a cuddle, a story, or an episode of Abney and Teal. As you may have spotted from the very first picture, he has a fondness for cake, too. Hand knit blankets and home made cake- truly an appreciation of the finer things in life!

Love from,

Laura

PS: We have been having a few troubles with our blog feed. Hopefully these are now resolved, which should mean that our images finally show up in Google Reader, but it does also mean that our email subscription link was broken. It has now been replaced, so anyone who subscribes by email will need to click on the new link to subscribe again. Very sorry for any inconvenience!

the mud test

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:05:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

I cast off the second mini mitt yesterday. My model was not very keen on standing still for long enough to show them off, but he was happy to subject them to an extensive series of mud-based tests. Which they passed. Phew.

Love from,

Laura

PS: Details of the mitts on Ravelry here. Also- as you can see in the final photo -little R is wearing the striped hat that I made for S a couple of years ago: you can read about it here.

Not quite a Granny a Day

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:51:00 +0000

Dear Laura,

Buoyed by you and Claire at noknittedknickers I have been revisiting my granny squares.First I piled them up in towers

Then I sorted them into colour piles

Then I made a giant tower

Which fell over

So I made a snake

Once I had finished pretending my crochet squares were lego and knowing the foolishness of laying them on the bed to see how far I have got, I spaciously laid them on the floor to make myself feel better.

Then I put them back in their storage box

The one thing I didn't do of course was actually crochet another square! Ho hum... well I have done a few since the new year, here is my 2012 crop.

Whenever I need that extra little push I search the internet to find this picture "Helsinki Cathedral Steps"

Lots of love

Annie

a non matching pair

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:36:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

I have cast off two hand warmers this week. The only problem is that they are an entirely non matching pair. In fact, they are completely different sizes. The first was knitted from this pattern with the leftover skein of gorgeous grey yarn from my Autumn Skies Cowl.

They are pretty, warm and quick to knit. Ordinarily I'd have been very keen to cast on the second and complete the pair, but this is a one-skein project, and I began with just the tiniest bit less than one skein. I am ever so slightly nervous that I will run out of yarn before I finish the second hand warmer. So I decided to procrastinate and cast on a different project.

Hand warmers again, but this time, boy-sized ones. In fact, they were supposed to be mitts for S to use when riding his scooter, but despite some modifications to make them bigger, they were too small for him. Luckily they fit little R perfectly- just the job for chilly buggy rides. This is an incredibly speedy knit- someone with more free time than me could certainly whip up a pair in a single evening. Which is good, as I now have to knit a second one for R and also an even larger pair for S. Oh, and bite the bullet and finish the grey hand warmers for myself.

Looks like I'd better get knitting...

Love from,

Laura

PS: Grey hand warmer details on Ravelry here, boys' hand warmer details on Ravelry here.

Very Hungry Catepillar PJs

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:43:00 +0000

Dear Laura,

When I was in New Mexico last, I not only found the very hungry caterpillar material I used for little Ms cushion (see here), but I also found some smaller Eric Carle caterpillars on this fabric.

Little R there doing some awesome modelling! I love this material, and I love making PJs. I am getting better at sizes but I still have some work to do on making everything fit.

Lots of love

Annie

beach in winter

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

Muted tones with splashes of colour. A refreshing sea breeze. Paddling in the shallows and making long shadows in the sun. Sandcastle making and pebble collecting.

We all came home happy.

Love from,

Laura

It Started With a Tweet

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:31:00 +0000

Dear Laura,

I have a bit of a strange relationship with twitter, I feel like when I comment on someones tweet I am interrupting a conversation by shouting in their face. I do love it though, I love hearing what people have been up to, catching up on news stories and looking at all those granny squares which inspire me to keep going on my own. Now it turns out that it is also an awesome place to barter. When you sent me this tweet I was over the moon.

I have always wanted a pair of hand knitted socks, they are such a luxury and I have tried a gazillion times to knit them myself but I have never got anywhere. I was a little nervous at first but once I started chatting with Susie (@knittingKnoobie) my worries were eased. Neither of us had bartered before so we came up with our own strategy. I sent her lots of material choices and a million questions about what design she might want, which she calmly avoided and sensibly chose the material, gave me the dimensions and sent me a link to a swift bag she liked. She asked me for some colours I liked and wanted to know whether she should make it a surprise or let me know what pattern and wool she would use. I opted for the surprise.

Luckily that Monday was Martin Luther King Jr day which meant I had the day off to watch Sherlock and sew up the swift bag (best day ever!) Here is the result...

Originally Susie wanted some sheep or yarn themed fabric, unfortunately I didn't have any in my stash so I made a little sheep to keep the yarn swift company.

Then before I knew it this tweet came swishing through cyberspace

I was so excited, I quickly put the finishing touches to the bag and bundled it into the post as soon as I could. Then I waited... I knew Susie had sent the socks so everyday I raced to the post as soon as I could but nothing. The next day I ran home excited and asked R 'is there any post for me, is there?'. Still nothing, my heart sank, I was sure she might have got the address wrong and my lovely hand knitted socks were sat in someone else's house. I took a deep breath and thought ok, it hasn't been that long they will arrive soon, patience patience...

The next day I came home from work, "is there any post for me, is there, is there?" R had a sneaky smile on his face and said, "I don't know you'd better look in the kitchen". I ran in my heart singing, and there it was, the package I had been longing for. I ripped it open and inside there were these beautiful socks.

I love them, they are so expertly made and fit perfectly, Susie also has a blog and wrote about the barter on her blog "Knitting Knoobie". It started with a tweet and ended with a pair of beautiful hand knitted socks

Lots of love

Annie

p.s. After the success of this barter I am happy to barter some more if anyone would like to. I can sew pretty much anything (I think!) so let me know if you are interested.

marmalade cake

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:01:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

The marmalade is made. This year's batch was rather a good one, as it turned out. I combined a couple of different recipes - I followed the usual Riverford recipe but added in an overnight steep for the peel and reduced down the initial boiling time. The marmalade had a lovely voluptuous wobble and a delicious flavour.Time to bake a marmalade cake...

This year I replaced the usual orange water icing with a marmalade buttercream. A little extra sweet comfort for a cold, hail-ridden January day.

Marmalade Loaf Cake

175g soft butter
175g caster sugar
a large orange
75g marmalade
175g self-raising flour
3 eggs

250g icing sugar
80g soft butter
25ml whole milk
two heaped teaspoons marmalade

Heat the oven to 180 C/ gas mark 4
Line a loaf tin 25x11x7cm

Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Zest the orange and juice half of it.
Break the eggs into a small bowl and break them up with a fork. Add them to the butter and sugar a little at a time, beating well in between additions. Beat in the marmalade and the orange zest.
Fold in the flour with a metal spoon, slowly and firmly.
Finally, stir in the juice of half the orange.
Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth the top.
Bake for forty five minutes, checking it after thirty five. You may find that you need to cover the top of the cake with some tin foil towards the end of the cooking time if it browns too quickly.
Leave to cool in the tin, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the frosting, beat together the icing sugar and butter. Pour in the milk and beat until soft and fluffy. Stir in the marmalade.

Spread the icing over the cooled cake.

Recipe adapted from The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater

Love from,

Laura

PS: Visit Silverpebble's Making Winter bloghop for more cosiness and comfort.

Hello Mr Doggy

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:38:00 +0000

Dear Laura,

There is someone I would like you to meet.

He likes to lie by doors, he doesn't like drafts coming into the house

He is very friendly. I think he will like it by this door.

Lots of love

Annie

getting ready for marmalade

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:12:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

It's that time again. My seville oranges have arrived from Riverford and I'm all ready for an evening of marmalade making. This year, I'm aiming for a thin cut... well, thin-ish anyway.

The best thing is that once the marmalade is made, it will be time to bake my annual marmalade cake. Just like last year and the year before that...

Love from

Laura

Owl Arm Warmers

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:46:00 +0000

Dear Laura,

Christmas is a distant memory now, but as I was going through my Christmas holiday snaps, I realized that I hadn't shown you these Owl hand warmers I gave my sister and nephew for Christmas.

The wool came from Arizona, more about that here. I originally wanted to knit it into socks for me, but couldn't quite find the motivation. As I was knitting what I thought were going to be socks I realised they were probably going to be too small. So instead I copied the owl on your mug cosy and set to work making leg warmers for my nephew. When I saw him before christmas he was still not too keen on wearing trousers so my sister would put him in leg warmers. His parents were teenagers in the 80s after all!

But how large is a child's leg? Well a child's leg is probably the same size as an adults arm I thought to myself, therefore, as my brain is likely to process, why not make leg warmers for him to wear at home then transfer them to arm warmers for my sister when she is out and about. Genius I hear you cry. Well that is what I thought, unfortunately, it seems like my lovely nephew has decided that trousers are a good idea now, so it looks like they are just going to be arm warmers.

Lots of love

Annie

a granny a day

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:32:00 +0000

Dear Annie,

Last year, when we began work on our blankets - as one of our new year's resolutions for 2011 (ahem!)- I decided that I would try to make a granny square a day. Given that the blanket is still far from finished, you can see that I was not entirely successful.

However, my granny blanket has recently been given a new lease of life. First of all, you reminded me of it when you visited with your own crochet grannies. I dug out my own bag of squares and was reminded of how much I loved the colour combinations and the gradual building of a whole.

Then, I read on Twitter that Mollie Makes were starting a granny square a day project. This was the push that I needed to bring my blanket out of hibernation. Along with Claire, Amy and of course your good self, I have been diligently crocheting one granny square a day and sharing it with the #agrannyaday hash tag. A little camaraderie and moral support goes along way (thanks, ladies!) and I'm now eleven squares closer to a completed blanket. Hopefully my dedication will last at least long enough for me to complete a lap-sized blanket, even if I don't manage a king-sized one.

Love from,

Laura

Patchwork Quilts

noreply@blogger.com (nimble fingers and steady eyebrows) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:21:00 +0000

Dear Laura,

You might have seen this quilt before. It is of course the one I made for little S lots of years ago. When little S came in to play I asked him about the blanket. The conversation went a little like this:

"I made this for you before you were born"
"Why?"
"Because I thought you might like it"
"Why?"
"Because it has a lot of colours,"
"Why?"
"I didn't know which colours you liked then so I put lots in, do you like the colours?"
"I like blue and black and brown, because they are boy colours, and orange, orange is a boy colour too."

So that's cleared that up!

Little R seemed much keener though ... Whilst I was playing fighting dinosaurs or some such game little R ran over to the box in your living room and was trying to open it. Obviously the box is about 4 times as big as him and he was unsuccessful in opening it, so I helped him. I was a little confused about what was in this box, but there it was the patchwork quilt I had made all those years ago, little R even pointed to it. Well that pleased me no end, so we got it out and played on top of it. (top marks for little R).

Lots of love

Annie