Baby Alpaca

Here is a little baby alpaca I have crocheted using baby alpaca yarn. I made it for my sister and her husben because they are both mad about alpacas. Alpaca yarn is really soft and very nice to work with, making this little alpaca has made me mad about alpaca too.  I found the patten on Etsy from a really lovely shop where you can buy lots of very clever pattens for little animals.  Here is a link to the shop.  PlanetJune's Esty shop

Mince Pie Pastry

Over the past week I have made three batches of mince pies and I used three different recipes for the pastry, some of which can be found in Nigella's Christmas.  Like the mincemeat I have combined some of the recipes together to make the best one.  

Mince meat for mince Pies

Christmas is coming and for me the best things about christmas is eating yummy food.  I love the smells and warming tastes that christmas treats have to offer, like mince pies and hulled wine. Christmas is the only time of year I start to miss home and the English christmas, especially mince pies. 
Mince pies were traditionally made using a combination of minced meats, fruits and spices, the recipe was thought to be brought over from the middle east in the 13th century. New the minced meat is no longer used and they are made using dried fruit and spices however the name minced meat is still used. 
 I haven't be able to find them in Belgium so my desperation has led me to making them.  I found a few different recipes some from Nigella Lawson's Christmas cookbook.  but I couldn't find all the ingredients here, so I combined some of the recipes and added other thing where needed. Here is the recipe I ended up using for the mince meat.   

Computer Pocket

 Living in a yurt does not offer the luxury of space, this only means we need to be more creative with storage and spacing.  For a long time now my computer didn't have a home and when I am not using it I always put it in or on the book shelf.  But this has resulted in one too many fatalities and the death of my old computer. So I have been determent to find a solution, and it came to me one day.  I always sit on the sofa when I am using my computer and so I thought why not make a little pocket that somehow fixes to the sofa for my computer to live in. 

This is what I made; It has 6 straps, 3 attached at the top and 3 at the back so that it ties under the arm of the sofa.   

 It can also be used for putting books and newspapers in. So all in all its is a very useful little pocket.   

Advent Wreath

 Me and my big girl went for a really lovely walk today to find green branches and leaves for our wreath because today is the first day of Advent.  An Advent wreath traditionally symbolises bringing the light of Christ in to the home in the dark days leading up to christmas. But these days it is used more as a count down to christmas; one candle is let on the first sunday of Advent and then the following three sundays until Christmas. I am not really a religions person, but I find this a really lovely way for the children to count down the weeks leading up to christmas.   

On the 6th of December is St, Nichols and in Belgium it is a really big deal.  The children get lots and lots of presents and chocolate in their shoes. I have made a little St, Nichols for the girls to go on our seasonal table. 
I just have to mention that I didn't make the house, that is still on my 'to do list'.    

Slippers, Slippers and more Slippers

Wow its been a long time since I have posted anything.  That is because I have been a busy mummy and I have been busy making slippers.  I have been making them for christmas markets and I have had a couple of orders.  Here are some of then ones that didn't sell.  I have now put them on my Etsy shop.  In the next coming weeks I will be busy making slippers too as a have a few more orders, but I will hopefully have time for posting here as well.  

Sheepskin Gilet

Today is my little Girl's birthday, and yesterday I still didn't have a present for her, so last night I was in a bit of a stress.  I try to always make something for the girls for their birthdays but this year I was stuck as what to make.  Last night I was looking through all my bits and bobs and found some leftover sheepskin from an old coat that I made in to a gilet for myself.  I was going to use it to make slippers but it is too soft.  So I had an idea to make a little gilet for her birthday. She was very happy this morning with her new gilet and her new hat and scarf that she got from her auntie. 

Big Slippers

I was ask to make some big slippers for a friend.  They were not easy to make, especially to make them the same size.  They ended up being a bit big around the top but I think that it makes them more comfortable. 

 


 As the slippers are bigger then the ones I usually make I had more space to put flowers and I could not resist making lots of them.