Acacia tops and Sprinkle Skirts

I had these little outfits planned from before Christmas but I simply ran out of time to get it all finished. The tops have been done for almost a month but the skirts just didn’t happen before Christmas. I am glad that I didn’t try and squeeze them in as the hand stitching took a lot longer than i thought it would. Probably about 2-3 hours per skirt! It was so simple but pretty time consuming.

The tops are the Acacia pattern by Georgie Hallam. They are so gorgeous and the fit is just great. My girls seem to have pretty sensitive skin but the Bendigo Cotton that I knit these is is very soft and doesn’t irritate them at all. I love that this outfit is the favourite at the moment. Nothing better than seeing your kids love what you made for them!

The skirts are based on the Mary Lee skirt by Viola Lee patterns. The pattern is for a double layered skirt but I wanted something more simple that they could pretty much slip on with any of their summer tops but I didn’t want them to be too plain so I added the hand stitching so make them a little more special. I also made one for Eve but I haven’t knit her top so I decided not to photograph hers until I get it done!

For the stitching I just chose 5 colours for Pearle Cotton(which really isn’t very cheap!) to match the yarn I used for the tops and did a simple running stitch around the bottom of the skirt.It is very much inspired by this skirt I found on Pinterest.

I actually took 1 inch off the lengths in the pattern and if I make them again(which I think I will, in some pretty prints) I will take at least another 1-2 inches off. I think they sit just a little too long.

Sprinkle Stitches

Just a little sneak peak of what I am up to today. It is very relaxing sitting in the sun doing a little hand stitching!

I hope to finish tonight and maybe I will get time tomorrow to photograph the finished items!

Oliver & S Ice Cream Dress

I totally adore how this dress came out. I had a picture in my mind of how I wanted it to look and I purchased the fabric online. I was a little worried that the colours wouldn’t be what I thought they would be because you really can’t always count on the photos you see on the screen being exactly like the actual fabric but I was very pleased when it all arrived.

I played around with the colour order for a bit and finally settled on this. I definitely wanted a darker colour near her face and on the hem to help keep it looking clean and I think this works well.

It went together really well and quite quickly too. I love the finishing details and how as many seams as possible are enclosed. It makes the dress (even the inside) look so neat!

I will definitely be making this one again, in fact I have already pulled a couple of possible fabric combos out of my stash. Now I just need to decide!

Tuscan Apple Cake

Oh my this is REALLY yummy! Not very good for my waistline though. We are off on a family holiday to Queensland in a week and a half and there will be plenty of time spent in bathers…my body did not need this cake (or the ice cream I had with it!). Oh well I will just have to jump on the treadmill tomorrow I think(and hide the rest of the cake!).

I saw this delicious and very easy cake on a blog (I totally can’t remember which one!) and it looked delicious so I pinned it (as I do with everything these days!). Yesterday my husband came home with a bag of apples only to discover that we already had one in the cupboard. So I just had to make an apple cake and this was the perfect one as I used 7 apples! Yes that isn’t a typo, I actually used 7 apples! The recipe calls for 4 small apples which weigh a total of 910g…well 4 apples weighed about half of this so I went with the weight and not the number. The result? A super moist very appley cake!

So here is the Recipe(the original recipe is from over here)

Tuscan Apple Cake

2 tablespoons Butter
13⁄4 cups (200 grams) flour
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (140 grams) Sugar
2 large Eggs
120 ml Milk
2 teaspoons Baking powder
1 teaspoon Baking soda
Grated zest of 1 lemon
910 grams Apples(this was 7 of my apples)

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prepare a 20cm round cake pan.

Using an electric mixer beat the 2/3 cup (130 grams) sugar and the eggs until creamy and light yellow. Beat in the flour, milk, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Peel and core the apples. Dice one and sprinkle it over the batter. Cut the remaining apples into thin slices and spread them in a neat pattern over the diced apples in the pan. Scatter thin pats of butter over the apples and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake for about 75 minutes, until dark golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. ( I found that 75 minutes was too long and the base of my cake was a little overcooked. I would check it after 60 minutes and see if it needs any longer)

52 in 52

This is my (or one of) new years resolution! I aim to complete 52 knitting or crochet projects in 52 weeks! There will definitely be some smaller projects among them such as hats and dolls clothes but I also want to knit a few things for me this year. I don’t think this is really too hard but I will have to be organised and not have the in between project times where I can not knit for a couple of weeks at times!

 

Source: d30opm7hsgivgh.cloudfront.net via Meika on Pinterest

I already have 3 things on the needles so I am right for projects for a little while. These were all started last year but I have decided that is ok. I just have to complete 52 with the space of 12 months.

 

Source: kbaird.com via Meika on Pinterest

The only challenge I think I will have is also fitting in my sewing! Since my Christmas sewing I have fallen back in love with my sewing machine so I will have to find a way to balance my sewing and knitting time!

 

Source: flickr.com via Meika on Pinterest

I have started a project on Ravelry to keep track of it all and my list of potential projects is already huge! So you can expect 1 post a week (on average!) with a completed item! How exciting is that!

Source: google.fr via Meika on Pinterest