I made these mittens over the past few days from this pattern that I found via Ravelry.





I knitted them on 3.5mm dpns, with 8ply acrylic, and corridale sliver from Ashford that I had lying in my stash.  I've never made something so pretty from my stash before!

Ravelry project notes are here

[Marshmallows]

Hey everyone, I just made a batch of marshmallows, and thought I might share my recipe. 

(these are a few of the orphans - I took them over to my folk's last night and we ate most of them)

Most of the recipes I've seen online call for you to use a mixer to mix boiling hot syrup into gelatine, and I don't know about you, but the thought of splattering hot syrup on my skin scares the bejeebers out of me!

But I adapted an old recipe (found it in one of my mum's notebooks) in which you cool the mixture down before whipping it up.  It's a truckload safer, and the marshmallows are delish!

So, here goes:

Marshmallows

2 tbsp gelatine
1/2 cup cold water

2 cups white sugar
1 cup cold water

1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp almond essence

Directions:
1.  Combine gelatine and 1st measure of water, and set aside.
2.  Combine sugar and rest of water in a large pot (I use a 2 litre one), and heat on low until sugar is dissolved.
3.  Cook gelatine mixture on high in the microwave for 40 seconds (until the gelatine just dissolves), then add to the pot on the stove.  Bring to the boil and gently boil for 15 minutes.
4.  Remove from heat, and leave to cool until lukewarm.
5.  Add the essences, and beat the lukewarm mixture until light and fluffy - about double in volume.  If it doesn't reach this stage after a couple of minutes, then your mix is still a little hot, so place it in the fridge for a minute or two.  You can cool it on the bench, but I'm impatient.
6.  Wet and line a container with greaseproof paper (I use two icecream containers).  Pour the marshmallow in and put in the fridge for an hour or two, until very cold, and set.
7.  Cut into cubes, and dredge in icing sugar, or toasted coconut.  Leave to dry on a cake rack for an hour or so.

They are now ready to eat!  But they taste much better if you can leave them for at least a day.  You can keep them in an airtight container in a cool dark place, the fridge makes them rubbery though.

Of course, you can flavour them however you like - I also like raspberry essence with a little citric acid, or strawberry with vanilla.  I've been thinking about trying them with candied zest or coconut in them too.

Anyone else facing a very long engagement?  I cannot get married within the next 32 months (more like 36 in reality), and I'm not sure if there are any things I can really decide before the 12 month mark (the furtherest out most checklists go).

Anyone else dealing with (or dealt with) the same thing?  I'm just feeling a little left out as all the people I know have chosen a 10 month engagement at the extreme longest.

Hey everyone, I just bought a pair of Ashford hand carders, and was wondering how to stain/finish them for protection.  I bought my Ashford Trad wheel second hand so it was already finished and I have very little woodworking experience.  The side edges are a little rough, so do they need sanding?  It came with a little square of sandpaper, so is that what it's for?  I can't imagine how sandpaper is used for carding.

But I'm so proud of them, here's a pic:


That's my first rolag (my partner calls them 'wool poos'), it's black corridale with a tiny bit of blue angelina.

This is my very first stuffie ever:


She's a Weighted Companion Cube from the game portal.  My partner played it obsessively until he reached the end, and as I'm low in cashflow (being a postgrad student will do that!) I thought I should make him a companion cube as a gift.  I found templates for the pieces here: http://jetlogs.org/2007/10/29/companion-cube-plushie-sewing-pattern/
And its made of acrylic felt and sewn together with matching embroidery floss.

He absolutely loved it and took pictures of it to work to show his buddies, and they thought it was awesome too.

There are a few things I'd change if I made it again, like take into account that I didn't need a seam allowance, so I should have made the cube itself larger.  But it took days to make so I can't imagine making another any time soon.  But I really do want to make a storage cube to keep her company (for the uninitiated, it's just the same, but without the hearts, and blue lines instead of pink)

Anyone have a recipe for proper Scottish tablet?  My mum's family was discussing it in the weekend (they emigrated from Scotland to New Zealand in the 60s) and wished they still had my grandmother's recipe (she passed away when I was 6).  We've already rejected a few recipes we've found in books as not being quite there.

So, anyone have a recipe they'd like to share?

Thanks heaps!
Natalie, and the Still family.

I made this page a few days ago on ScrapBlog when I just found out about digital scrapbooking (I'm already a sewer, knitter, crocheter and spinner so I just can't justify having a whole other section of physical crafting goods in my tiny little flat - I already have a whole cupboard full of fibre and fabric).

Here it is (click for big):

It's just a simple page with a few of my favourite shots my partner and I took when we went on earlier this year.

I'm still very proud of my first attempt, and now I'm deep in learning how to use Paint Shop Pro 9, so I can have complete control over my pages.

But really, if you have a few digital pics, and you are interested, head over the ScrapBlog and give it a go.  It's so easy and so inspiring!

Hey everyone, I'm making a dress just like this
http://www.jcpenney.com/products/119adf5.jsp
but with green satin, not tan

It's for my graduation, but since it'll be in winter, I'm going to need something to cover my arms, and hopefully back.  Does anyone have any pattern suggestions for shrugs or capelets that would suit this style?  Preferably free, but if the perfect one is for sale, I'd pay for it.

I have intermediate knitting skills (it's not till August so there's plenty of time to work on an advanced pattern) and also intermediate/advanced crochet skills.

Thanks in advance!  I'm off to buy dress fabric tomorrow 

Hey everyone, I used e.r.i.k.a's lined zipper pouch tute to make these cute little makeup purses for my best friend's 24th birthday.  The backs are black, but the fronts are iron on transfers that I printed off on my bubble jet of two of Klimt's paintings.

She absolutely loves Gustav Klimt (she even based her 6th form art portfolio around his work, and all of her paintings were stunning!)
I hope she likes them, her fiance bought her a gorgeous full-colour Klimt book for her birthday, so I guess she's still nuts about him

So, here they are,
Klimt's Young Ladies on the left, and Klimt's The Kiss on the right:


And I even lined them in colours from the paintings:


So, what do you guys think?

Hi everyone, I've just finished making a Fit To Be Tied for one of my best friends' birthday.  She'll be a grand ol' 24 tomorrow, so I wanted to make something to make her smile, and anything pink will make her smile!

I used an 8ply (dk) acrylic, and a 3.5mm hook, so it's slightly smaller than the pattern states, but it's nice and sturdy so that's the main thing.  I lined it in cotton (by the way, a fat quarter is the perfect size for lining two of these), and invisible quilting thread makes for really neat stitching.

I also made a little card pocket in it, It's so bright and girly, it even makes me *squee*!

So, without further ado, here's the front:


And the inside, with label and the card pocket:


Thanks for looking guys, I'm quite proud of this one!