The heat is on in cup cake land.

CUP CAKES and A VILLAGE A WEEK

my challenge since I have returned to the UK has been a village a week. The biggest change that I had noticed with the tea rooms
Is the cup cake competition......

(One of my other fav things to do is visit tea rooms)

And I'm sucked in, loving the taste the look that added extras such as glitter, the pastels colours and the funky/kitsch display stands.

The heat is on in cup cake land.

Above

Village one , Walling-ford.....cute shop and cupcakes only how perfect.

My basic break down

Appearance
Taste
Sponge

Divine the first will be a hard act to follow with lovely lemon/glitter a sponge that melted, divine and bite sized, pretty perfect.

Worcester cup cake

Worcester

A uni whistle stop tour, and what a little gem my son found a little non chain health food restaurant, just on the corner of the local mini market.

Icing
The Rainbow icing pretty to look at a good texture, ripple effect but a little too much (sickly)

The sponge
Gorgeous ,melt in you mouth sponge.

Henley

Henley

The French coffee shop to on the corner,(I'm rubbish with names) very posh and great service wait to be seated.

Pistachio now it's funny as I'm really not keen on pistachio, but the green colour was just insatiable.

A little disappointed,the sponge was dry and the icing, more buttery than pistachio the worst yet.

But the shop and service great, I chose badly;-(to think I could have chosen pink.

Marlow (my favourite)

Marlow (Edible glitter) Award Winner

The coffee shop sat on the corner at the top of the high street.
(name...Loaf? something similar)

My favourite

The overall appearance, the sponge, the taste, the buttery topping and the little white Maltese an add winner. So far

Heathrow
Costa 2

Costa Air port

Weeellllllll I had to try the pink one........

Same same ok a little dry and straight from a packet but cute in appearance.

Costa Milton Keynes 1

I blogged the two Costa's around the wrong way this should have been 1st.

Milton Keynes (I know town not village, extended my brief).....I know a chain, but they didn't have much to choose from, no independent food stores all chains.

Lemon or pink, I took lemon and to be fair it was pretty ok.

A little dry but really better than expected and it may be of mass production but basically it was just what the perfect cup cake should look like.

Picnic Reading

Cup caked out.......

I took the veggie sumosa, beautiful , fresh with a spicy kick, it even felt very healthy fired (not fatty) and with a just baked freshness very enjoyable.

I think I need a new challenge as the cup cakes are now over done.;-(

Apologies for forgetting names, basically this took months and as with a lot of thing that you think you'll remember you don't and I didn't so coffee shop names got forgotten.

Also I did want to mention Lou lou belle, Pangbourne.........
Not good, not even a cup cake on display!!! I had to just have lunch and shockingly it has gone a little down hill.

Playing catch up.......

Lets knit
(Last months, still on sale)

I know that I keep harping on about the fact that I was the back page of lets knit but here I go again.

This photo was in a local news agents, the thus magazine for sale with me/my story in it!.;-)

My dress that's in Jackson's, more art than actual wearable dress
but I makes me smile.

Only for the month so not long left until the 8th? (ish) to see the dress in the flesh if you have not yet.

Jock (Bucks goats centre)

Great value place, affordable/ one may say cheap.

Half term over and the reason for catch up is that Monet and I had an eventful one, trying to find as many petting zoo's well more farms as possible. Fuelling my daughter obsession with her possible vet career(only time will tell)

My recycled dress that became a poncho is now completed.

(previous post "The Village" and you can see how its life began)

Tonnes and tonnes of stitches and I feel it's now become a little bit more Mary Pop-pin's than The Village and I may get blown away;-)

Hats

This is a B'n'S Beanie (my only rough pattern two plain two purl) winters coming and as always nearing Xmas the hats are all lost..........

This is my New York yarn from Jan its wool and acrylic, I have made many of theses before but for some reason I think that I used the wrong sized needles and the large came up toddler size? go figure.


So being clever I decided to make my own pattern, only this is in prototype mode.

I used needles (12) but when I completed the hat the join was so messy chunky wool, chunky seam.

I realised that If id knitted on a round.... no join? (Sherlock moment) so I'll re-do on a round.

Hat collection started, prototype one nearly ready.......... watch this space.

My own hat pattern in the making.

Buzy Bee (Sick Dog) Beryl B's Knits

1st thing, yes buzzzzyyyyyy

Reasons why the blog slowed.........

Dress to Jacksons (I still haven't managed to blog this!!)

Uni (son) sorted, a quick visit just to check up and he's managing.

My friend turned 40 (Stockholm Kim) cocktails all round one word, Fabulous.

My dog (Rasmus) got sick, again ........

He is like having my third child but sadly, he has been very sick.
(I just haven't managed the" just a dog" Sentence yet).........
Will I ever, he's part of my family. A sad couple of weeks but he's hopefully going to get better.

That all said here's a story about a knit success.

Beryl Brewis





I read this recently in the Mail on Sunday,you mag. In ore of the achievement I thought that she defiantly deserved her place on all knit blogs, so pass this on.........

Beryl words

Nan sweat shops, very funny and very true how many people do get the praise that there work deserves. Time and Skill, pure knit talent.

The knitted Scarf

The knitted scarf goes a long way, it just shows that the knitted stitch is therapy and it to if you very lucky (right time, right place) with huge determination can make the knit shine.

Below said scarf.

Rasmus reminder before


After (lumpy bumpy but luckily not the cancer that they thought)

My dress as it went on route to Jacksons knit wear dept, update report to follow.

Let's Knit Mag, A Roof Top Shout.......

A Roof Top Shout

A proud, lets brag moment.......

ME, me, me.

I can not believe it! , I made the Inspiration Page.........

Well that's a bit of a lie (I'm fabulous!, of cousre I could make it) ,
My works fabulous and this only proves it.

I made the back page.

A little bit of Dye.



Basic Dying

A bowl.

A cotton charity shop roll.

Blue Dye.

Yellow Dye.

Dipped in.

Turned over.

left to dry.

Yellow

Blue



Yellow and blue makes green.

Doggy Crochet and a 1976 Yarn ?

Weird Habits

I have a habit of keeping the yarn labels, it's because my yarn is a collection from all over, brought new given old and charity shop chic.

Rarely using the same yarns to complete a project (always mixing)

I keep the label and clip together referencing whichever project that I worked on at that time. (Accounts/yarn management)

This yarn made me think about just how old that some yarns be it an acrylic sit in a stash, the label saying 1976

The fact that it's called lady love........

And that this yarn that had been kept safe for so long whether it be forgotten, unloved is now happily crocheted in my sons uni blanket.
(Another laughter moment)

Lady Love 1976

Dog Diary's

Entry Doggy Crochet, Step one

Rasmus obviously getting a little fed up with my mass amount of stitching, thought if you cant beat them join them.........

This week I caught him on my sofa using his teeth and doggy paws.......
unfortunately he is not that clever as he thought.

Below stressed at his lack of achievement, not a single stitch.

My dog trying his paw at crochet.

Recycled

The Shrug that was once part of a dress and with my Re-do 2 has now become a useful shrug.





Impressive

Looking through lets knit magazine I discovered Thistle and Broom.

Currently studying part time /textile and Eva Fleg Lambert was mentioned for her dying techniques.

Had a little click on the site and saw this, wow just fabulous its Ardalanish Tweed/satin made to measure evening gown.

The red genuine Harris Tweed Ardalansih certified organic Tweed......
Could it get any better.

The Julia Roberts red in pretty women springs to mind.

http://www.thistleandbroom.com/shopping/apparel/wool/dichotomy-gown.htm

Retail Window Displays, Knit Fest Frenzy.........

Primark

From Low End Primark to high End Accessorizes, it's all gone knit crazy. It seems every window display has gone knit crazy..........

I'm featuring my two favourite, Primark as I just love the huge printed columns that have the knit printed on them and even the colour scheme that's greys pinks and peaches.

And best of all completely max'd out with knit. Be it shop brought the link then could inspire some to take the sticks and create there own flower or scarf.

Or the fact that as long as knit wear is IN (what's in stays)
The yarn shops should hopefully do well.......

(Better off by the interest of the new knitter if only for a scarf as once the bug bites the stash increases)




Knitting is big around the world.

Crochet is my world.

This is an advert for national hand knit week? something like that but the concept is a winner in my book;-)


Accessorize................


Knits..............

This really is the Knitty pretty of the city, it's so in your face, large knitted letters.

They are a beautiful shop packed with the modern autumnal colours, that it of the turquoise/jade and purples and reds, plently of pom-poms are always a big hit.

With there prices in store (high) no expense spared for the window display.

What a great idea for window ad, its a knit innovation.