The Queen Sister's Blanket

Here is the progress of my giant granny square blanket, as promised yesterday. As I said in my previous post,  I found my inspiration watching the Netflix last season of The Crown series. It was interesting and quite astonishing to see such a blanket in the living room of the sister's queen : a whimsy touch in a classical traditional decor I guess, in accordance with the unconventional personality of the sister's queen.

I wish I could progress more in my crochet but I had other priorities, such as housework and garden duties : gathering the fallen leaves in the front garden, and then welcoming my grand children. We shall start soon baking cookies!

In the last picture my crochet square is displayed on the first quilt I made, an Eight Point Star pattern.

You can buy this blanket from my Etsy shop : pochonsEtcomptines

My new Etsy shop : yayaCousette

Happy Mail!

 

At last a post delivery yesterday : my order from UK placed one month ago... 

After opening the parcel I started immediately my new crochet project : another giant granny square blanket inspired by the Netflix series The Crown! Pictures and explanations in my next post... 

So happy with my new yarns! The colors are faithful to the pictures of the site. I like as well the texture : soft but not heavy. There is always a kind of anxiety when ordering without seeing and touching the product, but in the present case I was not disappointed. I use a crochet number 4.5.

Going back to my crocheting... 

I will show you the progress tomorrow.

New Quilt Project

It has been a long time since I started a new quilting project. Missing quilting...

After reorganizing my closet I found various leftovers, among which those solid colors, and I wonder wether they could match or not in a new quilt. I am thinking of a simple and quickly sewn quilt like a nine patch or a four patch.

I love the four patch quilts but I always found the most difficult to match the colors, and was often disappointed with the result. Sometimes the most simple things are the most difficult to succeed in.

As regards my fabric shelves, I am very satisfied with my idea of sewing a curtain to protect the fabrics from the sun and the light. I had an old blackout curtain not in use anymore that I cut into the size of the shelves then fixed three clamps and hanged it on three nails.

After the efforts the reward : time for a big slice of Italian Panettone... with a cup of coffee!!!

Famous French Sablés de Noël Recipe

Family big success : I have not the time to cook a batch that I have to prepare the next one, as those cookies are eaten in no time!! 

Therefore I thought of writing for you the recipe of my own family very easy French Stars sablés de Noêl.

Regarding the glazed hazelnut and almond biscuits I followed Christelle's recipe in her French blog Cookismo : Click

SABLÉS de NOÊL RECIPE

• Flour                    190 g
• Butter (soft)         125 g
• Sugar                   125 g
• Eggs                     3 egg yolks (keep the whites for the hazelnut cookies)
• Salt                       1 pinch
• Ginger powder     1 tablespoon 
• Baking powder     1 teaspoon
• Half a lemon juice  

Mix well the soft butter with the sugar,

Add the egg yolks and the lemon,

Add the flour, baking powder and salt,

Knead until the dough comes together in a ball,

Leave it to rest for a while (or not if you are like me in a hurry),

Spread the batter of 5mm thickness on your floured countertop.

Use a cookie cutter to make about 26 stars,

Bake in preheated oven at 160 C (320 F) turning heat for 15 mn.

Kids Christmas Crafts

Two of my five grand children who are living here in Greece came visit us for the week end. It was such a happiness to see them so joyful and enthusiastic for preparing Christmas! My six years old grand-son and my four years old grand-daughter helped me baking the French traditional Christmas cookies : sablés de Noël. After what, with the help of their father, they cut some paper ornaments and garlands, and hanged them on the tree. It is the first time I let the children decorate the Christmas tree without interfering and I must say that they did a very good job!

The Christmas Stars quilt is the second quilt I did years ago and it's always a pleasure to see it again at this time of the year. You can see several detailed pictures of it in a previous post : Click.

Sleeveless Sweater Finished!

Happy to finish, and to present you my new sweater. I have shown the progress of it in my previous post. 

I am not a specialist of taking selfies in a mirror, and I must say I had a hard time achieving "proper" pictures 😅, sorry for the bad quality of them, but in fact I wanted to show you the real length over a shirt. On the first picture I think that the shirt is a little too long... or maybe I should have done the sweater a bit longer... next one will be longer and the neckline somewhat deeper. Next one should be perfect! 

In the meantime I have to finish my giant granny square blanket Click, before receiving my next order of yarns from the UK. I am eager to get it to be able to start my new project. I was enthusiastic about the colors I chose and I hope I will not be disappointed when seeing them in reality...

Knitted Sleeveless Sweater

Happy to find at last a pattern requiring only 5 wool balls, as I have several batches of 5 balls in my stash.

Pattern found here : Click. Susanne's blog is a Danish one, although the google translation is a mess and I could rely on the numbers and the pictures (thanks for those close pictures!) to progress with my knitting... I am quite anxious regarding the completed result... 😱😏😆

I use a FONTY yarn Urga 50% yak 50 % wool. Needles number 5.

During the last lockdown I had sewn several project bags like the one I am using presently. I had no pattern but found various pictures of such bags that are very practical with their several inside pockets and their perfect size. See the inside details here : Project bag.

Crochet Giant Granny Square Throw Progress

At the begining of this new lockdown I started searching my stash of yarns with the aim of creating a new multicolor giant granny square blanket.

I picked up all the colored yarns I found for needles or crochet number 4, keeping the brown, grey and beige for another project. 

Here I used the brand Fonty quality Ambiance 100 % superwash Woll superfine SW.

This is a very simple and pleasant project. It is never boring as you change colors. I love playing with varigated colors when I work on a project, that is quilting or knitting. 

Monette's Shawl with a TUTORIAL

This is the third time I knit a shawl with the pattern I created five years ago. I love this pattern because it is so simple and the shawl turns out to be so comfy and beautiful!

I offered the two previous ones : the brown and The green, but I'll try to keep this one for myself... It is ideal to throw on my shoulders when I go outside to fill my basket with logs for the fireplace. As well I feel so warm and comfortable wrapped up in it, reading or watching tv on the sofa!

If you wish to knit such a shawl, you will find the TUTORIAL here : CLICK

Tea Dyeing Tutorial

To progress with my scrappy Giant hexagon quilt,  I needed more reproduction style fabrics. Instead of ordering new fabrics I thought of dyeing some from my stash with the tea method, in order to give them the appearance of old fabrics. This was my first attempt to dye using this method, and I must say that the result was very satisfying. 

Here is what you need if you want to turn your modern fabric into a vintage one :

For one yard fabric :

1 large saucepan

1 Litre water

2 tablespoons salt

5 black tea bags

Here is the method :

1. Bring the water to boil with the salt,
2. Stop the boiling and put your tea bags into the hot water. Let them infuse for 10 mn,
3. Throw the bags away,
4. Rince your fabric under the tap, press out the excess water,
5. Put your fabric in the saucepan of hot tea and leave it for at least 15mn.

You should move the fabric with the help of a wooden spoon so that it is completely covered by the tea.

The longer you will leave the fabric in the tea the darker the result. 

When your fabric gets the color you wish, take it away from the saucepan, press out the water and put it in a bowl filled with cold water. Add a little vinegar, and leave the fabric to soak for about 10 mn, in order to fix the color.

Press out the excess water from your fabric and let it dry flat, if possible outside.

Liberty Pillow

I was not satisfied with my LIBERTY pillow. Laziness never pays : I had not quilted it and it looked flat.

Neither was I pleased with the back of it, done with a basic cotton instead of a Liberty one. 

As regards the sewing of a zip : for those like me who have difficulties with this step, there is the solution of linking the two parts of the back of the pillow with strings, as shown on the last picture. The result is lovely.

Now my pillow looks perfect! 😃