The recipe for our Lemon Poppyseed Cake goes back a long way to growing up in Durban in the 1970s. My uncle’s sport at the time was canoeing and he completed numerous Dusi Canoe Marathons. This approximately 120km, 3-day race finished on a Saturday morning in Durban and the whole family would go to watch. There were often hours of waiting so people packed picnics. And my grandmother would bake a lemon drizzle cake that became known in our family as Dusi Cake. It was baked in a tray and served cut into squares and was always delicious!

Having become an experimenter as an adult I have of course adapted the recipe. This doesn’t always turn out well with baking, but since my changes were only the addition of poppyseeds and plain yoghurt it wasn’t a huge risk. And now whenever my. mum bakes it she uses the “new” recipe. We still call it Dusi Cake even though most of the regulars think of it as Lemon Poppyseed Cake. There have been numerous requests for the recipe, so here it comes.

Lemon Poppyseed Cake Ingredients

250g butter
250g castor sugar
300g self-raising flour
3 eggs
1 cup plain/natural yoghurt
lemon zest
juice of 1 lemon and 100g castor sugar

Method

Cut the butter into small pieces and melt slowly.
Turn off the heat and stir in the sugar, allowing it to melt.
Beat the eggs and stir into the mixture with the flour, poppyseeds, yoghurt and lemon zest.
Bake at 200C / 410F in a ~20x30cm baking tray or glass dish for 25-30mins.
While the cake is baking mix the lemon juice and castor sugar.
Check that a knife comes out clean before taking the cake out of the oven.
Pour the lemon sugar mixture on while the cake is hot.
Allow it to cool then cut into squares and serve.

Delicious!

The post Lemon Poppyseed Cake appeared first on cowgirlblues.

Yes, you read it right, today we’re talking about knitted chickens. This is different from yarn chicken. Although that might be involved if you are using up scraps or if you haven’t planned perfectly. Do you have no idea what I’m talking about? Perhaps you haven’t been on Ravelry recently. Because Annette Corsino’s Emotional Support Chicken patterns have been trending for a while. There are knit and crochet pattern options. And as of 2 April there are 2052 Ravelry projects. Not bad for a chicken!

About the project

The pattern is straightforward. It’s 95% knit with a little purl thrown in for the beak. And the shaping is fairly simple. You knit the tail section using clever construction. Then work the body up to the head and beak. Finally, you knit the base as separate piece, along with the wattle and comb. At the end you sew it all together, stuff it (most – especially roast – chickens are better stuffed!) and there it is. My knitted chicken turned out bigger than I expected, even knit on 3.5mm needles, a smaller size than recommended. I knit loosely but didn’t worry about the gauge. But I made sure the knit fabric was tight enough so that the stuffing wouldn’t come out.

Yarn used

In terms of your colours this is a great stash buster and an egg-cellent way to use up little odds and ends. I knit mine in our Merino DK. The body of the chicken is in Writing in the Sand because I had a leftover ball in my stash drawer. If you’re looking for some “traditional” chicken colours Barbra Streisand and Miriam Makeba are great options. And I used bits of Carrot Juice, Lipstick and Lemon for the contrast colours. The next one might be more adventurous in terms of colour. And yes, there definitely will be a next one!

End result

One of the middle-aged dads carried it around the garden during the Easter egg hunt, much to my amusement. It fit perfectly under his adult arm, and that was where most of the grown-ups at our Easter lunch tucked it. He started a chicken cuddling trend and everyone at the lunch table wanted a turn. I’ve never had such an enthusiastic response to a knitted project. So I’ll definitely be making a few more.

As the pattern says “Life is hard. We all need a chicken to help make it better!!!” and I couldn’t agree more. Knitted chickens are clean, cuddly and quiet. Neighbours won’t complain about 4am cock-a-doodle-doing, there’s no mess to clean up, and you don’t have to worry about feeding, watering or putting them to bed at night. In fact you won’t have to worry about anything with your knitted chicken under your arm keeping you calm and stress free!

You can find our Ravelry project here.

The post Knitted Chickens appeared first on cowgirlblues.

Seductive Sock yarns are a tempting purchase. Since you only need one skein for a pair they make a good souvenir or impulse purchase. Give in to the temptation of gorgeous colour arrays. They don’t need to “go” with everything in your wardrobe or any other yarn in your stash. But it’s a good idea to pick your pattern carefully.

Don’t knit cables with a busy variegated yarn! The colour competes with the cable pattern. You lose the hard work you put in on the cable technique.  Plus I hate knitting cables

Be careful with detailed lace stitch patterns for the same reason. All your efforts evaporate when the colour takes centre stage.

Do try Noma Ndlovu’s Dambisa Socks It’s a perfect pattern for a more subtly variegated colourway like Adele in Proper Sock. Also good for speckles. And it comes with both written and charted instructions for the lace detail.

Noma Ndlovu of Bigger Than Life Hand Knits is also South African (whoop, whoop!) and has a lot of cute patterns in her Ravelry store.

And of course, browse our selection of Proper Sock colours and find the perfect one for your next project!

How to use a “busy” aka seductive sock yarn skein?

Find a less busy pattern that will show off those seductive sock yarns instead of competing with them!
Pick a simple sock pattern like Summer Lee’s I’m So Basic Socks. Here the colour can shine without the pattern getting in the way. Brighten things up or tone them down with heel and toe contrasts. Or sneak in a few stripes that pick out one of your variegated colour elements.
Any stitch texture or pattern is hard to see against a busy yarn colour backdrop. It’s a great time to practise your stocking stitch/stockinette and let the yarn do the work!

Happy sock knitting!

The post Seductive sock yarns! appeared first on cowgirlblues.

Where to start the pattern process?

Seasoned sweater knitters don’t hesitate when choosing a pattern. If they like the picture they’ll quickly jump in. The idea of using a different yarn, adjusting the fit, or adding their own details is not a huge challenge because they’ve done this many times before. If you’re that person you probably aren’t reading this. So let’s talk from the perspective of a slightly newer knitter.
We are inundated with inspiration all the time. Which can be frustrating if you aren’t confident in your technical abilities. So if you’re planning a first sweater try to keep it simple. You may have yarn friends with suggestions, or get ideas from your local yarn store. Even so, I highly recommend using Ravelry to do your own research on any suggestions you receive. There is a lot of free info to explore before you commit to a purchase.
Ravelry’s Advanced Search feature is an awesome tool to find a pattern. Or just use the pattern information page to explore the details of a pattern someone has suggested.

Who to trust?

It’s tempting to dive in with a knitting pattern someone has suggested. But do they know how you learn? What your knitting skill level is? And what you’re hoping to achieve?
I love sharing things I’ve enjoyed, and often get carried away with my own enthusiasm for something. So my recommendation might have been great for me, but perhaps it’s not what you need.

First and foremost, trust yourself! Even if I have pattern recommendations I explore the details on Ravelry.
If you need video tutorials then use the Attributes feature in the pattern search to make sure you’re choosing a pattern where these are included. The more specific you are about what you want the smaller the list of search results. And scrolling through images of patterns that actually meet your criteria is a much more satisfying process than randomly browsing on Pinterest or Instagram, then feeling frustrated because you can’t work with what you find.

How to pick a pattern?

Ultimately, picking a knitting pattern is a personal choice and you have to make the decision. But doing your homework can help to make you feel a lot more confident in the choice you are making. The great things about using the advanced search function is that it’s really easy to remove criteria if you don’t find what you are looking for. I didn’t think I was looking for a knitting pattern as I have several in my project queue. But I have been wondering about one of Jacqueline Cieslak’s patterns, and her Rift pullover came out on top of my list. I selected a sport weight yarn, so any of our Merino Twist colours, since we are heading into warmer weather. But it’s very easy to adjust your search criteria once you have a list of results.

There’s probably a good reason for that. I love being able to see pictures of other people’s projects to get an idea of the pattern worn by different shaped and sized people. And the clarity and difficult ratings are pretty helpful too!

Happy searching, and even happier knitting!

The post Picking a Knitting Pattern appeared first on cowgirlblues.

1. Choose the perfect sweater yarn

When starting a sweater project the yarn choice is important. And you don’t have to knit with the same yarn the designer used. My starting point is always the meterage of the recommended yarn. Erinome calls for a heavy lace/light fingering weight, and the recommended yarn meterage is ~500m/545y per 100g. Our Merino Single Lace is a little lighter than this at 600m/660y per 100g. But since I’m knitting lace and Kidsilk held together this should be a similar weight. If my gauge is correct and I’m happy with the drape of the swatch I’m good to go.

Of course there is colour to think about also, and this is very much a personal preference. I knew I wanted to use a Kidsilk Multicolour and chose 9 to 5. And I LOVE the watercolour effect of marling a solid and a multicolour together. So I swatched with various Single Lace solid colours to go with it. I chose Camps Bay because I had the lace yarn from a previous project I decided not to knit.  Although looking at the swatches I would have loved the Sage and 9 to 5 combination also. They are all beautiful!

2. Get the right gauge

Gauge or tension is typically measured over a 10x10cm or 4×4″ swatch at the recommended needle size, to check that you have the same number of stitches and rows as the pattern designer. If you do, then your project’s finished measurements should be the same as the pattern, assuming you followed the instructions! But it might take more than one swatch to get it right. I’m knitting Lily Kate France’s Erinome Sweater which calls for a gauge of 21 stitches and 32 rows using 3.75mm needles. Since I always knit with our yarn range it’s helpful to have swatch references using different needle sizes. And since I didn’t already have these in my collection I worked up a few options.

As you can see my stitch count is correct using a 3.25mm needle. And this makes sense to my tension is typically a little on the loose side. The row count is less important than the stitches as I can always add a extra rows if the length isn’t right.

3. Measure for size

Getting the sweater fit right is always my biggest concern. Especially since I knitted two sweaters last year that didn’t fit well. So to get better at it I took Kim McBrien Evans‘ Solo Measurements class at VKL in April. It was extremely informative and really worthwhile to take my own measurements and focus on fit for 2 hours.

Did you know you have TWO bust measurements?  Upper Torso (or Upper Bust) is right up into your armpits. And Full Bust is around the widest part of your bust.
Kim recommends choosing the pattern size that fits your Upper Torso measurement so that you get a good fit on the shoulders, then adding additional bust shaping if needed. This is a dropped shoulder pattern so that’s less of an issue here. Lily Kate and I have different body shapes, so it’s not going to fit me the same as it fits her. But I like the waist ties and I’m going to follow her recommendation on bust ease. Since it’s a top down knit if it’s too big in the bust I can always shape it in.

Kim is teaching several classes at VKL in May if you want to get better fitting knits. You might see me there!

Happy knitting!

The post Starting a Sweater appeared first on cowgirlblues.

Pink is our colour theme for the month of February. And yes, it’s linked to Valentine’s Day, although technically that should make it red. But mostly that’s just a starting point to think about the colour in a more open minded way.

What colour is pink? Well, you can think of it as just a faded shade of red. Or you could start from primary colours and build it up. It comes in shades ranging from nude to fuchsia and everything in between. When you think pink what adjectives or colour descriptors come to mind?
Pastel, powder, shell, champagne, blush, rose, candyfloss, baby, ballet, dusty, faded, salmon, coral, flamingo, bubblegum, carnation, watermelon, raspberry, cerise, shocking, hot!

Pink became a very gender-defining colour in the late 20th century in western culture. Supposedly, pink is for girls and blue is for boys. And there is plenty of evidence to support these stereotypes. Just walk into any children’s store and look at baby clothes, accessories and toys. But it wasn’t always this way.

According to Kassia St Clair, who wrote “The Secret Lives of Colour” ”It is, after all, just faded red, which in the era of scarlet-jacketed soldiers and red-robed cardinals was the most masculine colour, while blue was the signature hue of the Virgin Mary.”
It was first used as a colour name in the late 17th century, and likely was named after the Dianthus flower, also known as a “pink” And its first appearance in the Oxford English Dictionary was at the same time, to describe pale red.

Pink has been a political colour since the 1920s, when Time magazine coined the term ‘pinko’ for anyone thought to have communist, socialist or ultra liberal-leanings. Perhaps this was connected to the “red” communists of the Russian revolution.
It became the colour of activism in 2020s with the pink hat march on Washington.
Did you knit one? Did you march?
The colour was part of a feminist response to old-fashioned sexism. So it isn’t called “shocking pink” for nothing.

Whatever your politics there are plenty of ways to chose a rosy hue for your crafting project. We have a range of pink yarn shades in all our yarn bases. And our most popular multi colour is Happy Days, which definitely fits the pink theme!
And there are lots of swatch images in our online shop that illustrate the effect of combining different yarn colours. So you can get a shade that suits your preference, whichever way that leans!

The post Think pink! appeared first on cowgirlblues.

MATERIALS:

1 x 100g skein of Aran Single in a multi-colour or solid
5mm circular knitting needles or double pointeds if you prefer
Darning needle for finishing the ends
Cardboard and scissors or a pompom maker for the pompom

GAUGE:

14st and 20rows to 10x10cm / 4 inches
Measured over stocking stitch in the round

KNITTING INSTRUCTIONS:

Using the longtail cast-on cast on 64 stitches. This is my go-to cast-on method. But you can use whichever cast-on you prefer for hats.
Join your stitches to work in the round.
Knit until your work measures approximately 20cm / 8inches

Work your decreases as follows:
Split your stitches so you have 32st on each needle (if you are using the magic loop)
R1: (K2tog, knit to end of needle), repeat on the other needle
R2&3: Knit
Repeat these 3 rounds nine more times until you have 42st
Then decrease on every round until 20st remain.
Keep knitting until your yarn tail is approximately 20cm long or until you’re happy with the hat length.
Thread the tail into a darning needle and pull it through all the stitches then stitch around a few times to secure it tightly.
Use the remaining tail to sew on your pompom.

If you want the pompom in the same colour yarn make it first. That way you don’t have to work out how much yarn to leave at the end.
I quite like the contrast colour pompom, but that’s up to you.

FYI … I deliberately used a k2tog decrease on both sides. It creates a bit of a twist in the hat as you decrease which adds a jaunty angle that I like.
If you prefer, use an SSK on the second needle decrease.
And the hat is reversible, so choose whether you prefer the knit or purl side before you stitch the pompom on!

ABBREVIATIONS:

K – knit
St – stitch
K2tog – knit the next two stitches together, one stitch decreased
SSK – slip 1 knitwise, slip 1 knitwise, transfer these two stitches back to the original needle and knit them together through the back of the loop, one stitch decreased

Being someone who likes to re-use stuff I had a collection of bells in a drawer. Truth be told I collect them every time I receive a Lindt chocolate bunny, or if I see someone else eating one. As the bunnies usually have a ribbon around their necks with a bell on it. They were perfect for a bit of a festive jingle, so each hat has a couple stitched into the pompom.

Ho, ho, ho!
Happy knitting …

The post Holiday Hats appeared first on cowgirlblues.

MATERIALS

1 x 100g skein of Cowgirlblues Proper Sock yarn, I used Bridget’s Blush, one of our Limited Edition colours
1 x 20g mini ball of Cowgirlblues Proper Sock in Lemon
2.5mm CiaoGoo circular knitting needles
A darning needle for finishing the ends and a couple of stitch markers

GAUGE

My tension is generally on the loose side. And this project was no exception. My 32st measured 12cm instead of 10cm. So normally one would go down a needle size. But I was stuck at home with a sinus infection so I used what I had. To get the right size for my feet I knitted the smallest pattern size, there are three adult size options.

COLOUR

This project was all about sparking joy, a la Marie Kondo. So I wanted the colours to stand out. I had decided from the outset that I’d have ruffles and toes in a contrast colour, and I started with the main colour. Looking at the options the Lemon really spoke to me. It’s fun, and sunny and cheerful. And it definitely ticks the “joy” box. I wasn’t sure how far the mini ball would go as the ruffle cast on has 4x the number of stitches of a normal cuff, but it worked out.

KNITTING INSTRUCTIONS

I wanted proper anklets to wear with trainers, or my Birkenstock sandals. Quelle horreure! This literally means “how awful” when translated from French. And has always been a fashion no-no in my world. But over the winter I came to love my Birkies with socks and I think it has a place.
Using the Lemon contrast colour I cast on for the ruffles, and only changed to the Main Colour when I had finished the ruffle decrease and was ready to work the cuff. These I changed also, shortening them to only 5cm.
From there I followed the pattern. First working the short row heel option, although A heel flap alternative is also included in the instructions. Then I worked the foot, all using the magic loop method. And as I got to the toe decreases I switched back to my contrast colour.
The second sock went smoothly too. Although I need to do some research on short row heel methods. Mine weren’t as tight as I’d have liked even when consciously pulling to close any gaps.

After finishing the second sock I had plenty of yarn left. I only used 40g of the Main colour and about 13g of the Lemon contrast. So I decided there was enough for a teeny-tiny pair of matching socks for Anabel, my 18 month old niece. This required a bit more concentration as Sari’s pattern

BABY SOCK ADJUSTMENTS

First step was some calculations and guestimates about her foot size as I didn’t have any actual measurements.
I did some googling, pictured her shoes, and decided to work on 40st for the cuff, which meant 160st cast on.
Before starting I split my remaining Lemon yarn in half to make sure I would get two socks the same. It wasn’t a lot. So I did the cast on and first ruffle round in Lemon then went back to the Main colour. I made the anklets shorter on these also, 3.5cm, then started the short row heel.
Working with the same ratio of starting:finishing stitches on the short rows I worked until 9st remained between the slipped st with yarn overs, then worked the other half of the heel.
I’m not sure if I got the foot length right, but here’s hoping. I decided 10cm looked good, so I did 16 rounds between the heel and toe, and I changed to the last bit of Lemon for the toe. It worked out with about 30cm to spare once I’d done the Kitchener Stitch closing.

NEXT STEP

Finish the other little sock. And check to see if they fit!
I’m not big on blocking being the impatient sort. So I steamed and lightly pressed them.
Watch this space for a family photo when Anabel tries them on.

PS Yes, that’s a little “L” stitched onto the toe of the left foot. I knitted it slightly shorter as my right foot is longer. I want to get a “formula” for the perfect sock for me. So it was a “two birds, one stone” situation.

The post Midnight Dancer appeared first on cowgirlblues.