Tiny Woolly Nest

Tiny Woolly Nest Knitting Pattern

Requirements

Small amount of chunky yarn, I used Drops Nepal.  If you want to felt the finished nest please use wool yarn.

5mm double point needles

Sewing up needle

Washing machine for felting

Mini Egg (or you could felt your own)

Instructions

Cast on 35 stitches, share over three needles and get ready to knit in the round being careful not to twist the stitches.

Row 1 Knit

Row 2 Purl

Row 3 *K6 k front and back of next stitch* repeat around (40 stitches)

Row 4 Purl

Row 5 Knit

Row 6 Purl

Row 7 Knit

Row 8 Purl

Row 9 *ssk k6 k2tog* repeat around (32 stitches)

Row 10 and all other even rows purl

Row 11 *ssk k4 k2tog* repeat around (24 stitches)

Row 13 *ssk k2 k2tog* repeat around (16 stitches)

Row 15 *ssk k2tog* (8 stitches)

Cut yarn and thread through remaining stitches to bind off.

You can keep the nest as it is or you can throw it into the washing machine to felt it.

"Six little rabbits!!"

Wow, what a fun little museum!  Miss E spent most of the time ahhhing at all the displays.  She loved Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddle Duck, I thought Jeremy Fisher and of course Old Brown were the best, and we were both a little disappointed we didn't get to see slimy old Mr Jackson the toad annoying Mrs Tittlemouse in her once tidy house.  Tiddly widdly widdly!!!

If you are ever nearby with young (or older!) Beatrix Potter fans I definitely recommend a visit to The World of Beatrix Potter.

Outside

We've been enjoying getting outside as much as we can and making the most of every bit of sunshine now that Spring is definitely on its way.

Bonnets

Things have been soooo busy here, hence the lack of blogging.  I have been disappearing under a pile of yarn and hats!  Here are some gorgeous photos taken by some fab photographers of my new pure wool bonnets.  Aren't the models adorable?!  Big thank you to Linda Clarke Photography and Nurtured With Love and of course the models and their families.

Cable Beanie Hat

The talented photographer Linda Clarke has taken this gorgeous photograph of my cable beanie.  What a lovely little man, wonder what he is dreaming about.

Hat available here on Etsy

Bread and Butter Pudding

Made a gorgeous bread and butter pudding today.  I like all the fancy pants recipes with Baileys, cream chocolate or bananas, brioche, fruit loaf etc but today I wanted an old fashioned Use-Up-Your-Old-Bread type of  store cupboard recipe so after a bit of googling I found one that fitted the bill here.

I altered it by reducing the sugar to 75g as it said it was super sweet but I still felt it was too sugary.  I also added some nutmeg as all custardy puddings *need* a scrape or two of nutmeg!

Here is my adapted version incase you have some old bread to use up...

• 50g sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• a few grates of fresh nutmeg
• 5 slices of any old bread
• 2 handfuls of sultanas (or more if you like them on top but I can't stand burnt dried fruit!)
• 500ml milk
• 2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to GM 5, grease a dish.
2. Mix together the sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon.
3. Butter the bread and cut into triangles.
4. Layer up alternate layers of bread with sultanas and the sugary spicey mix (I ended up with bread topped with some of the spiced sugar but kept all the sultanas under the top bread layer)
5. Whisk together the eggs and milk and pour over the pudding.
6. Leave to soak for about 10 mins.
7. Cook for 35-45 Minutes until set and browned.

This is said to serve 7 but to be honest I think 4 would be a better estimate as myself and Mr T ate over half of it in one sitting!

Bulbs

Things have been really busy around here recently and I have neglected this blog.  Here are some pictures from September.  I love bulbs, those first flowers of Spring.  I try and plant some new ones each year and now my little garden is starting to look pretty colourful when the days start getting longer again!

Acorn Hats

New and improved acorn hats.  Love these, think the oak leaf really finished them off nicely.  Can't wait to see some photos of them being worn as my small people are too big to model them.  If you would like one yourself they are for sale here here on Etsy.

Indian Summer

Back from a lovely few days of R and R.  Even managed to get a suntan in Wales!!!!  I love these last few days of summer.

The Last Days of Summer

I have been busy enjoying the last bits of summer sun with some of my favourite people, and of course a very happy and energetic sniffer of a dog!

A Day at The Zoo

Neutral Button Beanie

New unisex button beanie, the yarn is very subtly variegated and super soft.  Am tempted to knit hats in children's and adults sizes in it! Newborn size is available for sale on Etsy.

Birthday Presents

Take a peek at the new pictures I treated myself to for my birthday.  They are designs from Catherine Campbell, one is in the bathroom and one downstairs.  My photos really don't do them justice so go along and check out her website.

Princess Penelope and the Runaway Kitten

Miss E chose this lovely book from the library a few weeks ago.  I am always a sucker for a knitting theme so we both enjoyed reading this one!  The kitten reminded us, more than a little bit, of our ginger wool thief Merlin.

I love her outfit, the illustrator has got 4 year old girls down to a tee.  Miss E is often found wearing a random selection of dressing up clothes and wellies!

If its not available at your local library the book is available on Amazon here.

Bake ing Off again

This week my baking plans were disrupted by my birthday, and the need for a chocolate cake, biscuits just wouldn't have done it for me!

I used this Mary Berry recipe and added about half a punnet of defrosted frozen raspberrys on top of the layer of ganache in the centre of the cake.  The raspberrys worked really well, their squishiness meant they actually were better than fresh ones (and about half the price too!).

Button Beanies

Another new design for the shop and new yarn.  And I really love this yarn, it is soft, squishy and the colour changes are gorgeous.  I am waiting for the buttons to be delivered then these can be listed in the shop.  One of these is already reserved for a special little man who will be arriving before Christmas ;)

Felted Dragons

Aren't these dragons amazing?!  We saw them at Ordsall Hall along with the owls I blogged about here here.  I have always wanted to have a go at needle felting but have put it off as I know both of the little people would want to have a go and Miss E is still a bit to young to be stabbing things with barbed needles!

This Enchanted Pixie

Earlier this year I finally got round to treating myself to some jewelry from the lovely Polly at This Enchanted Pixie.  I had lost these photos but whilst looking for something else I found them again (isn't that always the way?!)  Anyway, I love these necklaces and have worn them loads.  Wish I could get a good photo of them being worn but that's virtually impossible with my old camera and phone so here they are when they arrived!

Polly writes an inspirational blog about her life home educating her three girls, crafting, baking, gardening as well as running a business selling her hand made jewelry and cosmetics.  She is also expecting a new baby boy so she is a busy lady!