Day 20 of
#yarnlovechallenge
and it’s still not too late join in.
The theme for today is ‘handmade home’.
Handmade home…
Category: winter warmer
January…
With life now returning to a more normal ebb and flow following the festive jollity, I feel like I am back on the treadmill!
So I am being very careful to make sure life at home is given the highest priority. Which of course means in part getting out and walking with the boys and Mr R and of course the dogs.
Now the photo’s I am going to share with you may seem some what gloomy, particularly if you happen to live in a warmer part of the world. But, I have taken great comfort from pulling on my wellies and feeling the sometimes quite squelchy ground, and at other times the cold and frozen ground under my soles.
There was much fuss made in the media about the UK being hit by a polar storm, we were quite excited at the prospect of maybe being snowed in for a while…
You will be relieved to know that I survived the polar storm of 2017 and even managed to get into work!!!!!
I think I have enjoyed the walks just before dusk the most, when the mist clings to everything and envelops all…
because lurking just underneath the ground is the promise of spring. I can feel it when I’m out in the countryside. The biting cold is soon to be replaced with a milder air, a warmer breeze and a brighter light.
But, until then I am happy to stomp around in my wellies, looking at the footprints of what has stomped before me,
and exploring trails I have not been down before.
Getting cold and breathing in that damp air, because it means coming home is all the more cosy…
Don’t you think?
xxxxx
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I’ve Caught the Virus
The Virus Shawl bug, that is.
The yarn is Scheepjes Invicta Colour – 972, a 4 ply fingering weight yarn that is 75% wool and 25% polyamide. The colour way is just gorgeous and the yarn was easy to hook with. Occasionally the length of yarn withered thin, but remained usable nonetheless.
I adored the long colour repeats from turquoise blue into chocolate brown and sage green and couldn’t help get excited each time the colour change slipped over my hook…I don’t think I will ever get bored with the delight a colour changing yarn gives.
The eyelets that form in sequenced linear fashion amazed me. I couldn’t quite believe that a few trebles could create such a beautiful drape and fabric. They reminded me so much of a peacocks tail feather that I had to name this virus shawl The Chocolate Peacock!
All in all a beautiful hook up made all the more simple by following a youtube tutorial of which there are several, I really liked this one though
This pattern is all over the internet, I used this one on Ravelry as a free download.
As for the yarn would I use it again…
yes, to make another virus shawl of course, but this time in beautiful sunset shades (colourway 959).
I may possibly have developed a shawl addiction.
xxxxx
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Homemade Christmas Damson Gin…
If you are new to these parts and are thinking…great! last minute homemade Christmas present then you may be disappointed, BUT you are very welcome here though and I may suggest how to cheat at the end, which might just get you out of that last minute hole.
This process commenced way back in August
I have been really very disciplined and I have been gently shaking the gin each week and more importantly (and amazingly) I have not drunk any…if I did it would have been purely for quality control purposes!!!
So today was the day to open and taste and Oh Joy…it is absolutely gorgeous, the type of sticky, sweet alcoholic gorgeous that one would expect when drinking a damson gin…the type that warms you from the inside.
With a little bit of help from my brewing genius brother I sterilised my newly purchased gin bottles and began to fill them up.
With the addition of a cute little cork heart they are going to make a lovely Christmas stocking filler don’t you think?
Ok, so I said I would help you out of that last minute hole. You could buy some bottles, sterilise them, add purchased alcoholic beverage and add a cute little label, but only if you promise to be more organised next year and make your own!!!
xxxxx
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Making damson gin…
Well what is a girl to do, when she is given a surplus of damsons?…
Gin of course!
I have read that many recipes for damson gin, I became confused. What follows is a conglomeration of several.
The ingredients are this simple…
550g of damsons (because that is how much we had!)
250g of granulated sugar
1 litre of gin
1 litre mason jars x2.
First I sterilised the jars with boiling water.
Then skewered the damsons with a sterile darning needle to get their damson juices flowing. I divided the damsons equally between the jars.
Next, I added 125g of sugar into the first jar and 125g of sugar into the second jar.
Finally, adding 500ml of gin into the first jar and 500ml into the second jar.
I gave the jars a little shake and then popped them on the larder shelf where it is dark…this is important storage information apparently!
I’m not sure if it is a good thing that there is an air space in the jars or not. Looking at the unopened gin bottle there was an air space. So I think I am going to have to do a bit more research. I may be topping up with a bit more gin, but I will let you know if I do. The jars will need a little shake each day for the first week and then weekly after that.
All the recipes differ on how long to leave the gin until you crack it open. Some say 3 months others 6 months and then others a year!!! I should imagine it is when desperate! Again I will let you know. I am hoping it will be in time for Christmas, unless I get desperate before that!!
xxxxx
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Pretty Pumpkins
Oh, my delight in these pretty pumpkins. Whilst we do not celebrate 31st October, halloween in the Robins nest, we do celebrate light in this beautiful, busy and sometimes dark world. As you know I love autumn, and pumpkins certainly contain light and autumnal(ness) in abundance.
I also love spending time with friends and that is exactly what is happening here tonight. We are having some very dear friends over to mark the very significant occasion of our homes transition from ‘no space to have anyone around’ to ‘being able to say come on over for supper’ a transition which has taken many years.
So with a three bean chilli and a hearty beef chilli planned for later, accompanied by a bottle or two of red, these pretty pumpkins will help to create the perfect atmosphere for chatter and laughter late into the night.
xxxxx
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Free Pattern
hot love pattern
![DSCF4942[1]](https://i0.wp.com/ayarnyrobin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/dscf49421.jpg?w=249&h=166&ssl=1 "DSCF4942[1]")
gorgeous sunset colour way
cute love tag notion
and pompoms!
finished back
Hot love waterbottle cover
