Keeping Me Inspired.....

After a long crochet session with this gorgeous lady over the weekend I am now dreaming of the delicious linens that will accompany this burnt orange bodice once it's eventually finished.....

And how lucky am I that my very special friend came with an arm full of gorgeous books for me to peruse for the next week or 2....
I'm loving the Japanese craft one most of all and am so totally starting one of these sweet little Summer tops for myself, ASAP!!!!!

So now it's time to hit the fabric stash in search of the perfect fabric to match.....

Here's hoping you have a chance to be surrounded by people who keep you inspired some time this week too.... :)

Quandong Jam....

This time of year spells the start of Quandong Season.... If you've never eaten a Quandong before they're a cherry sized fruit with a tart, almost bitter, flavour.... They grow wild in the bush out in these parts and I'm lucky enough to have 2 huge trees on 'Darling Downs' Station, and 1 of these is full to the brim with fruit at the moment.....

Here's how I turn these little bite sized treasures into some yum-o jam....

First you need to wash your fruit and then start removing the seed.....

To remove the seed, grab a sharp knife and slice through the flesh like so.... Now squeeze the back of the Quandong and you'll see the seed starting to pop out..... Squeeze a little harder and that baby will pop right on out..... And there you have it a seeded quandong ready for jam making... The beauty about this fruit is that is breaks down really well when cooking so there's no need to chop it up before you start which saves a hell of a lot of time..... Another great thing is that it freeze really well. So if you're short on time when you get all of your fruit seeded just pop them in the freezer until you have the 4 hours spare to make your jam. On to the jam making....
Once you've seeded a full bucket of Quandong's, add them to a large heavy based pot with 5 cups of water and about 1kg of sugar (I like to add a little less than this so that my jam starts rather tart). Bring your mixture to the boil, with the lid on.
Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer, with the lid off, for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, stirring often and making sure your gooey mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of your pot.

After 3 hours of simmering I like to test the 'set' of the jam. To do this place a small plate in the freezer for approx 5 mins, once it's chilled add a teaspoon of your mixture to the plate and return it to the freezer for a couple of minutes.

Your jam is ready if when you push your pointer finger into the cooled mixture it wrinkles. If you find it hard to understand what I mean in this step I am more than happy to do a picture tutorial on this stage of the jam making process, just let me know in the comments...

If your mixture doesn't wrinkle keep simmering, checking the setting point every 15 mins. Once your jam is ready and has reached 'setting' point, pour it into hot sterilized jars and seal.... A bucket full of Quandongs (about 4kg) makes me 30 x 250ml jars of jam....

Remember all of those seeds that you removed from your fruit, well don't through them away.... They come in handy for loads of fun crafty things like crochet covered jewelery not to mention how awesome they are for playing marbles, my kids just love them!!!

Home Baked Bread....

As the days start to warm up I am frequently reminded of why I love this time of year so much!!!!

The garden is bursting at the seams with new life, little baby lambs dot my paddocks and the festive season count down has begun.... But most of all I love this time of year because of this........

For just over a week, during the cold days of Winter, DH works round the clock planting our crops. We then patiently wait for the days to become longer and the Sun to shine stronger, just so our red dirt paddock's can be transformed into luscious green wheat fields hopefully bringing with it precious income for the farm.....

Yesterday while on the hunt for Quangdong Trees we spotted our first hatching's of locust. Ever so mindful of the devastation these pests can bring we now have another side of mother nature to contend with... So with this weighing heavy on our minds we cross our fingers and hope for the best...

On another 'wheat' related subject, I'd so love to oneday be able to mill my own wheat into flour.... Nothing makes me feel more at home than the smell of freshly baking bread coming from the kitchen...

After my bread machine 'blew-up' just over 10 months ago I've been making bread by hand.... It took a little while to tweak a recipe that was just right for me and my family but now that I have it's a staple with fresh bread baked daily....

Have you ever done it before????? It's so rewarding turning a lump of dough like this.....

Into something as deliciously tasting as this.....
And no word of a lie, if you have a lovely Sunny spot on your bench top you can have oven fresh bread like this in less than 1 1/2 hours.... Believe me, it's true!!!

So if you'd like me to do a little tutorial of how I make my bread just share your interest in my comments and I'll pop it up in a post... :)

Cinnamon Oat Bars

I've been making soap for my family for the past 12 months and thought it was high time I shared the recipe with you all....

My most favourite bar by far would have to be 'cinnamon oat'.... It makes for the perfect kitchen soap and washers up dirty garden hands a treat!!!!
It's also super soft on the kiddies hands, works up a lather really well,
and the heavenly smell it leaves always has me smelling my fingers for hours after every wash : : YUMM-O!!!!
So here's my super simple soap recipe.....

Grate up 3 cups of plain, unscented soap flakes (you could just as easily use lux flakes if you'd prefer to not grate your own). Put these flakes into a heavy based saucepan with 2/3 cups of milk and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Heat slowly... This is important as you don't want the milk to burn and trust me, if you rush it it will!!!!

When the soap flakes start to melt add 1/3 cups of milk powder. Stir until all of the lumps have dissolved and your mixture is smooth, almost melted wax like in consistency.

Now I like to add my flavours... Have fun with this!!!

I add 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon essential oil and 1/4 cup of mixed oats and bran for my cinnamon oat bars. (I also love adding lemon rind and lemon essential oil for an odour busting bar. These bars are perfect to use after handling garlic and onions)...

Once you're happy with the consistency of your mixture it's time to pour it into a mould.
I have an old aluminium ice tray that I use for my soap, it measures 6cm x 22cm and is about 5cm deep. Any container of similar size will do (plastic, glass, aluminium, etc), just make sure you grease it well with olive oil.

Allow the soap to set for at least 2 hours and then turn it out onto a chopping board and slice into 1.5cm wedges. I now like to cure my soap by sitting it on a wire rack for at least 24hours. Store your soap somewhere dry until you're ready to use it, I put mine in an old biscuit tin....
From each batch of soap I usually get about a dozen bars which lasts my family of 4 for 3 months, minimum... At a cost of approximately $2.50 a batch this really is a much more economical way to clean your family, don't you think???

Favourite Fibre....

I have a gorgeous lady that often comes into my shop who's an amazing craft-er... She has been on the hunt for a super simple fingerless glove pattern that she can knit flat for the past couple of months now...

So with this in mind I set to work and drafted her up a little pattern.... (If you'd like a copy too just let me know in the comments and I'll forward it on to you)....

I've also been working on something quite special for another lady I know... She requested it to be silk-y, smooth and breathable....

An accessory to adorn her head in the warmer months.....

I was allowed to use whatever fibre I liked and you know what, the first one that came to mind was my new Debbie Bliss Silk....

What would be your perfect Spring/Summer fibre if you had to choose???? I'm loving this silk but it would be in heavy competition with my new favourite fibre, Debbie bliss' fair-trade cotton, Eco-baby....

Happy Knitting....... Jodie xx-xx

I Heart Visitors!!!!!

I was lucky enough to have a few blog-y visitors happen upon my store Saturday....

It was so good to catch up, even if it was only briefly....

Here's some links to the pic's that they took....

Fiona, Peg and Gaizie.....

Thanks for popping in Ladies, I can't wait for you to come back again!!!!

Here's a sneak peak at the size 2-3 crochet dress pattern that I'm currently drafting....

(more details on my Ravelry page here)

With size 6-18 months and 2-3 years done I'm now working on size 3-4 years and am hoping to release the patten come next week, fingers crossed... Is there any other sizes that you might be interested in????

Happy Knitting............. Jodie xx-xx

A Little More Ruffle....

With ruffles on the brain this week I turned my hand to making this gorgeous knitted scarf (free pattern available here).... I've had my eye on this for quite some time now and when a new shade of Heirloom 8ply Alpaca happened upon my shop last week it was definitely a sign, time to start a knitting!!!

I'm thrilled to bits with how it's turned out but must admit, it wouldn't be finished today if it wasn't thanks to a visit from my Mum....
She knitted the bulk of this baby for me during her visit last week, leaving the daunting task of the 450st ruffle to me.....

Happy Knitting ....................................... Jodie xx-xx

Crochet Version....

After making the knitted dress for Connie I knew I just had to turn my hand at trying to make a little crochet one to match for my Millie (size 1). I used Debbie Bliss Ecobaby, again, in a gorgeous olive shade (available in my shop for $9.50 a ball)... I love how this one turned out even more so than the knitted version (is that possible).... The ruffle is just perfect and the slight flair on the sleeves divine!!!!

But my most favourite part of all is the handmade buttons on the back, they really do set the whole thing off don't you think???


So with all of this crochet excitement I'm now working on a size 3-4 and am hoping to have it finished today... What do you think??? Would you like me to post the pattern up here for both sizes when I'm done??? Maybe you have a size in mind that you'd like instead, measure the chest circumference and pop it into my comments... I'm no genius but I'll do my darnedest to create a crochet dress pattern to match...

1 Ball Projects.....

I've been looking for patterns to make for Spring that only use 1 x 50g ball of yarn in an effort to introduce some of the more 'boutique' yarns to my local girls... I love using nice yarn but when you're paying anywhere from $9.50+ per ball those projects that take more than 1/2 a dozen do seem a tad on the expensive side...

What do you think??? What kind of yarn do you like to purchase and is there a limit that you put on yourself when it comes to the price???

This dress was a great little '1 ball project' that I whipped up in only 2 evenings (free pattern available here).

I used some Debbie Bliss Ecobaby yarn which sells for $9.50 a ball. I would so totally use this yarn again!!!! It was silky smooth to the touch and a dream to knit with... The colour, almost teal, is divine and looks just gorgeous teamed up with the blue/black wool/linen blend that I used for the skirt of the dress...

I'm really loving cotton at the moment and have used it again to make this little pair of super cute baby booties for my shop....... It's Sierra and is another gorgeous yarn!!! The 80% cotton, 20% wool blend is just exquisite!!! It has a real texture to it that allows it to mould beautifully to a pattern....

There are so many gorgeous yarns available which really makes me excited to be a knitter/crocheter.... What's a great yarn that you've used lately, one that's really made your heart sing???

Hugs............. Jodie xx-xx

End of Lamb Marking.....

As we slowly etch towards the end of lamb marking 5 minutes has come my way bringing with it a chance to reflect a little....

Before long Miss Millie will be big enough to help out as well. Ever mindful of this I treasure the days watching my little baby on the other side of the fence....

I'm so grateful to be able to live this gloriously simple life that I do even if at times it feels as though we are forever chasing our tails... The memories that we are making, being a close knit family that is lucky enough to work and play together, makes it all worth while....
So as Millie watches the last of the lambs run off into the paddock, another long day on the farm is complete and as always, leaves us thirsty for more....

Silk-y Goodness........ *winner*

When I first saw Debbie Bliss Pure Silk I knew it wouldn't be long before I'd have to have some of my very own..... Well, guess what??? I now do!!!!! *squeel*

So with all of this Silk-y goodness I just couldn't resist playing around a bit and came up with this little bookmark.... I just love this stuff!!! It's delicious to use and drapes so beautifully when crocheted up into lace... Have you ever used silk fibre/yarn before??? I'd love to hear what YOU thought of it...

Thanks to everyone who entered my give-away... There are so many great stories which makes it so hard to choose just 1 winner so I put my 6 favourite into a hat and Miss Connie drew out the winner..... So, Congratulations....... Knitter Sue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Email me your snail mail and I'll pop your Noro in the post asap...