Mittens and candy canes

I haven't been posting much recently as I can't :( I am taking part in some secret exchanges and so all my new stuff can't be shown just in case the person they are intended for sees them.

I have however been busy ferreting away with other stuff too including going and getting myself a new job woohoo. I am really looking forward to getting in the workforce again after being a stay at home mum for so long.

I have made some candy canes as a practice for Christmas. Here is how to make them. 

You will need:

One packet of ready made regal icing

Peppermint flavouring, red and green food colouring paste

soften your icing by kneading it until soft and pliable.

Add peppermint flavouring to taste I like mine quite strong and so used a lot, if the icing starts to become sticky add some icing sugar to firm up again.

Half the icing leaving half white, half the other half and colour one section green and the other red

When you have finished you should end up with something looking like this

 make a sausage of white and a thinner one of a colour

Twist together and roll to seal them together.

Put them onto a wire rack to dry out over night. store in a sealed container until required, they can last for months as long as they remain airtight.

you will end up with something like the ones below 

I have also made some mittens to go with the girls matching sets for Christmas. I couldn't find a pattern that would work for all three sets and so I came up with on of my own using a few other patterns I found. here is the result and underneath is the pattern.

Cast on 34 stitches using 4.5mm needles

row 1 knit 2 purl 2 to end

row 2 purl 2 knit 2 to end

repeat these two rows 9 times so you have 18 rows altogether

row 19 k2, p2

row 20 k2, p2, k2, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, p1, k2, p2, k1, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, p2,k2,p2, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, k1, p2, k2, p1 increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, k2, p2, k2. (you should now have 38 stitches)

row 21 knit to end repeat 5 more times

row 27 k18, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, k18

row 28 knit to end

row 29 k20, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, k20

row 30 knit to end

row 31 k21, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, k21

row 32 knit to end

row 33 k22, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back,increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, k22

row 34 knit to end

row 35 k23, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back k23

row 36 knit to end

row 37 k24, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, k24

row 38 knit to end

row 39 (you should now have 52 stitches) k18, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, slip the next 14 stitches on to a stitch holder, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, k18.

(leave the 14 stitches on holder as this is thumb)

At this point things change for each pair you are making as you only need to go as high as the top of the little finger for the person you are making for. measure from the top of the ribbing to the top of the little finger before starting to decrease. just knit each row to end to the required length.

to start decrease, 

row 1 knit 2 together, k8 repeat to end

 row 2 knit to end

row 3  knit 2 together, k7 repeat to end

row 4 knit to end

row 5  knit 2 together, k6 repeat to end

row 6 knit to end

row7  knit 2 together, k5 repeat to end

row 8 knit to end

row 9 knit 2 together, k4 repeat to end

row 10 knit to end

row 11 knit 2 together, k3 repeat to end
row 12 knit to end
row 13 knit 2 together to end
row 14 knit to end
row 15 cast off

For the thumb
Pick up the 14 stitches
row 1 increase one stitch by knitting into front and back, k12, increase one stitch by knitting into front and back,
row 2 - 10 knit to end
row 11 knit 2 together to end
cast off

Make up by sewing the seam along one side and on the thumb.

One last thing before I go is my TUSAL report which I am very late for :(

The Wedding

The Wedding
Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Day Five

Day Six

Day Seven

Day Eight

Day Nine

 Day Ten

Day Eleven

Day Twelve

Day Thirteen

Day Fourteen

Day Fifteen

Day Sixteen

Day Seventeen

Day Eighteen

Day Nineteen

 Day Twenty

Day Twenty One

 Day Twenty Two

Days Twenty Three to Twenty Seven have been lost due to phone malfunction :(
Day Twenty Eight

Day Twenty Nine

 Day Thirty

 Day Thirty One

 Day Thirty Two

Day Thirty Three

 Day Thirty Four

 Day Thirty Five

Day Thirty Six

Finished in it's frame

Hats all done

I have been busy knitting away this week making the matching hats to the girls scarfs.

I will give you a quick pattern to make your own underneath

OK so you need to know how many stitches to cast on. Using 3mm needles. You need to measure around the head in cm. You then multiply that number by 2.3. you then round to the nearest number. For example Kerry's head is 55cm.

So I multiply that by 2.3 to get 126.5 I will round that up to 127 and cast on that many.

First row knit to end

Second row purl to end

repeat these two rows a further 4 times. This causes the bottom to curl up (which is what you want)

Switch to 3.75mm needles and knit each row until the work is 14cm long.

Then on a RS (you are looking at the side of the work that goes on the outside) knit 1, knit 2 together. repeat this for the whole row ending on a knit 1.

next row knit to end

next row knit 1, knit 2 together. repeat this for the whole row ending on a knit 1.

next row knit to end

knit 1, knit 2 together. repeat this for the whole row ending on a knit 1.

next row knit to end

knit 1, knit 2 together. repeat this for the whole row ending on a knit 1.

next row knit to end

knit 1, knit 2 together. repeat this for the whole row ending on a knit 1.

next row knit to end

knit 1, knit 2 together. repeat this for the whole row ending on a knit 1.

next row knit to end.

From this point you knit 1 knit 2 together on all rows until you have no stitches left.

Leave a long piece of yarn to stitch up your  work.

This is the pattern for both Kerry and Jessica's hat.

Emily's hat is a little different, but only in that the first 8 rows rather than knitting the whole row then purling a whole row I knit 3 purl 3 on all 8 rows making sure that I kept the pattern right so it would stretch correctly.

Here is how to make the pompoms on the top.

1. Wrap yarn around your hand several times.

2. The more times you wrap the bigger your pompom will be.

3. Remove your hand and pinch the yarn around the middle.

4. Tie another piece of yarn around the middle and pull it tight knot until secure.

5. cut all the loops of yarn all the way around.

6. You should end up with something like this.

7. Trim the ends to make it a uniform ball.

8. Using the ends of the yarn you tied around you could either trim them  to form part of the pompom or like I am use them to attach to the top of the hat.

9. Pull both ends through the top of your hat  and tie a couple of knots 

10. trim off excess yarn

11. This is how it looks.

I have also gotten 'The Wedding' back from the framers. It looks great if I do say so myself. Here, have a look.

Hehehe it's still in the wrapping. I can not wait until she sees it. I hope she loves it as much as I do.

Oh yes I also baked some muffins today they were delish. Here's the recipe

250g self raising flour

140g caster sugar

100g dessicated coconut

150ml millk

120ml vegetable oil

1 large egg

mix all ingredients together in a bowl split between 12 muffin cups and bake on 180 for 20 mins. how easy is that?

I was going to take a photo of them but they were all eaten before I could.

Ok all of to work out how to knit some mittens now. Speak soon x