Merry Christmas....

It's Boxing day night and I am officially tired and full of food! It has been a lovely Christmas. I got to spend most of yesterday with the family, eating Christmas dinner and playing with my nieces. Christmas is so much fun when there are children around. We played silly games on the wii and laughed at Dad trying to fly his new remote controlled helicopter! In the evening I went to see my boyfriend and got more pressies (yes it is official, more on that later!). It was lovely.

I can officially report that my cakes and biscuits went down very well. The biscuits were lovely, especially the cheese ones...not bad considering I have never made biscuits before!

Sorry, no pictures of the biscuits but here are a few of the cakes.

One present down and a little crafty rant....

One positive thing has come out of being off work. I have been able to plan and make a few Christmas presents. The first completed item is my cable hot water bottle for my niece.

This is from a pattern in Lets Knit Magazine and was made using Sirdar Supersoft Aran yarn. My favourite bargain Aran yarn. It is so soft and yet the 100g balls are only £3.15 in my local sewing shop and I used less than one ball. I bought 3 so I am trying to think of something else to knit with it...possibly a cover for my netbook if I can find a good pattern.

As much as possible I try to use the yarn specified in the pattern and did so in this project. Sometimes though it just isn't and this is where I start a little rant if you don't mind. There are some beautiful yarns available made from exotic fibres that are obviously much better quality than the man-made alternatives but why do they have to be so damned expensive?! I simply refuse to spend more on yarn to make a project than I would spend in a shop to buy the finished article. It's just ridiculous! I found a lovely tank top pattern the other week that would cost £60 just for the wool! OK, rant over.

Coming soon (hopefully) a chunky bag. x

Apparently....

Kenco says knitters are on the rise! - Simply Knitting

They certainly are! I have been trawling through the internet today in search of more Christmas gift ideas. I want to make some nice little gifts for family and friends so I really need to get started. I don't really want to spend lots of money on knitting books (unless a particularly nice one catches my eye!) as that would defeat the whole point of a frugal Christmas. I have found some cute little patterns on the Let's Knit Magazine website (see the link in My Favourite Places).

In other crafty news, my new book is on it's way! Happy face! Since I started baking I have wanted a single baking book that has all types of cakes, bread and pastry recipes from the classic to the unique and I found it.

Step-By-Step Baking (image from Amazon) is that book. I can't wait to get my hands on it and start making some cakes and bread! I already am pretty good at cupcakes (albeit low-faff all in one jobs...they are pretty awesome though if I do say so myself) but I need to practice bigger cakes, victoria sponges, fruit cakes, etc. I also have this urge to practice a bit of cake decorating too.

This is on the assumption that I will have time in my busy schedule for baking! I confirmed my volunteer teaching assistant job today and I start on the 6th October. My weeks from the 3rd October will be as follows:

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will be work from 7am to 5pm, Thursday I will be in school from around 8.30am to 3.30pm and Friday I will be back at work from 8am to 5pm. Wednesdays I have rainbow meetings from 6pm until 7pm. I need to fit in 16 hours of study a week (mostly on the weekends) and 5 days a week I need to fit in an hour of exercise at the gym.....whew! I am exhausted just typing that. At least I won't be bored.....bring it on!

Home-made Christmas ideas

Some Christmas ideas. As I'm making my gifts this year, it's never too early! These sites have been bookmarked....

BBC Good Food - Christmas gifts

Delicious Magazine Christmas Gift Recipes:

Food Channel Christmas Hamper Ideas

I like the idea of doing mini Christmas cakes and some kind of chutney with cheeses and home-made biscuits.

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