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Leprechauns Crossing

Happy St. Patrick's to everyone who's been touched by the magic of Ireland! 

I had the chance to spend 3 and half years in this amazing country and I experienced myself how it simply grows on you and makes you hate the weather but learn to really appreciate the sun the people and the music... 

And who can forget the green color of the grass and the hills - always fresh and always young and the Irish sheep of course - always bold and never far away from the middle of the road... :)

So here it is - Sláinte for Ireland and the Irish... and for the leprechauns of course!

Crème Caramel

Finding a recipe for Crème Caramel to actually work for me took some time, but last week I finally made it. So here it is -it's delicious, smooth and yes - already gone :) Enjoy the recipe!

Ingredients (8-9 servings):

Image by craftcookie

Custard:

1 l milk

8 whole eggs

120 g sugar

vanilla

Caramel:

120 g sugar

4 tablespoons water
rum soaked raisins



Caramel: 
Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan. For additional flavor you could replace one table spoon of water with one table spoon of lemon juice. Bring to a boil and cook until the color turns to amber. Don't stir and don't let the caramel get too dark. While still hot, quickly pour into ramekins to coat bottom. Let it cool down. For additional flavor add some rum soaked raisins on top of the caramel.
If you're a particularly big caramel fan, make a larger quantity. The "sugar-to-water" proportion is 30 g of sugar to 1 tablespoon of water.  

Custard:
Heat oven to 325 degrees (160 Celsius).
In a saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla, until it starts simmering gently. Add sugar to the milk and stir until the sugar dissolves completely. Remove the milk from the heat and let it cool down a bit.

Beat the eggs, slowly stir in small amount of milk to even out the temperature of the milk and the eggs. Gradually and slowly start adding the eggs to the rest of the milk. Pour into the ramekins.

Place the ramekins into a large roasting pan and put the pan into the oven. Carefully, pour enough water to come halfway up the sides of the pan (this way you won't have to carry and balance a heavy water and custard filled pan around the kitchen).

Bake for around an hour until set (or a bit more if necessary). Knife inserted in the center of a ramekin should come out clean. Remove the ramekins from the water bath and let them cool down to room temperature. Run a knife around the edge to loosen and invert onto a plate to serving. Garnish with some cream, if you feel like it.

If not serving immediately - refrigerate.

Homemade Cherry Jam With Rum & Almonds

Cherries have always been my favorite fruit and I can eat them until I'm just about to explode. So when me and my husband went cherry picking at the Cherry Avenue Farms last Saturday I was in paradise. And here's a little piece of my cherry paradise for you - a delicious and easy recipe for homemade cherry jam with rum and almonds.

Image by craftcookie

Ingredients:
1 kg pitted sweet cherries
750 g brown sugar
2-3 tablespoons rum

80 g peeled almonds

Cooking time:
1 h 15-20 minutes

Stem, wash and pit 1.25 kg of ripe, sweet cherries. This should give you around 1 kg of pitted cherries.
Combine the cherries and the sugar and let stand in the fridge for couple of hours.

Image by craftcookie

Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat (around 4.5). Stir frequently with
a wooden spoon and skim foam off surface for the next hour/hour and
5-10 minutes.

Reduce the heat and add 2-3 tablespoons rum and 80 g of peeled almonds to the mixture. Keep stirring for another 10 minutes to allow flavors to mix.

Ladle jam into preheated jars, leaving some head space. Seal jars, turn them upside down and leave them to cool down.

Makes about 4 250 ml (1/2 pint) jars. Enjoy!

New Stitches in the 'Knit & Purl' Section

Couple of days ago we added a couple of new stitches in the 'Knit & Purl' section of craftcookie.com. The first  stitch we'd like to introduce is the Stockinette Bobbles stitch.

Stockinette Bobbles            Side View
Images by craftcookie

This is the first bobble stitch we added to our library as a way to introduce one of the many techniques to make a bobble. All of them begin with making an odd number of stitches (usually 5 or 7) into one and the same stitch on a wrong side row of your work. Then, in the more traditional techniques you need to turn your work, work the newly increased stitches, turn again and decrease the stitches back to one, before continuing with the rest of the right side row. In the technique we used to create the Stockinette Bobbles the increased stitches aren't worked separately and there is no turning of the work for the specific purpose of finishing a bobble. Easy and simple.

The other stitches we included recently are created with nothing more than simple knit and purl stitches. They are also the first stitches with shiny new written instructions!

And here they are:

Stockinette Mosaic                            Garter Stitch Stripes                       4x2 Basket Weave
Images by craftcookie

Written Instructions Are Coming To Craftcookie.com

Poll Results (Image by craftcookie.com)

Over the past couple of months we've been asking you whether you had a preference for knitting charts or traditional, written knitting instructions.

As you can see the results are in and 74% of the votes are in favor of the written instructions. What you might ask is what we are going to do about it?

Craftcookie.com was created with the idea to offer a rich and useful resource for knitting stitches for our visitors and we are taking every piece of feedback and every idea we're getting very seriously. So over the next weeks we'll be gradually adding written instructions to the knitting charts on the website. In the meantime we would like to thank you for being our loyal fans and for your patience, while we're working on improving the site.

Your opinion truly counts.

My Knitting Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

We wish you all to love and be loved and to find joy in every little moment you share with the special people in your life :)
Here's our special greeting for the occasion and if you haven't seen Strictly Ballroom - one of our favorite, favorite movies ever - today's the day.



Just in case you're in the mood for a hearty knitting, have you tried our special Valentine's Day stitches?

• Simple Stockinette Hearts
• Your Twisted Heart I
• Your Twisted Heart II

Enjoy your day!

Knit Marie Antoinette Doll

Image by AmyGaines

Amy Gaines never fails to deliver a pleasant and in this case a royal surprise with her patterns. 

Today she added an amazing new item to her Etsy Shop - a knit Marie Antoinette doll. There's really no way to save the superlatives - the detailing of the dress and the wig is exquisite and the the only question is "Is His Majesty Louis XVI in sight?" 

You can get the pattern in PDF format from Amy's Etsy shop for $6.00 USD.

Related books on Amazon:

  

Baby Hat - Done!

Couple of weeks ago I finished a pair of baby crossover booties designed by Ceradka and now I finally have a matching hat to go with them.

Image by craftcookie

This time I used a free pattern I found on randomstitches which turned out to be very easy and fast to knit. The whole project took around 4 hours including some time for size adjustment.

Materials: 

- set of 5 size 4.5 double-point needles

- 4.5 hook for the crochet flower

- Impeccable™ worsted yarn by Loops & Threads™

Pattern:

- Leaf Top Hat For Baby by randomstitches (in PDF)

I changed the number of of stitches from 64 to 56 and used different needle size to get a hat for a newborn baby (the original pattern is suitable for an infant). So at the end I got 13 cm (~5 inches) depth and 32 cm (12.6 inches) circumference.

Pattern Review: 

I will definitely put the baby hat pattern by randomstitches in my library of knit basics. It's very clear and it even contains instructions on how to knit an i-cord. It's easily customizable and it gives you endless opportunities when it comes to sizes, knitting stitches, colors and embellishments. In the end it will give you a beautiful, finished project in no time.

  

Valentine's Day on Etsy

There's a tidal wave of love coming your way :). In the next couple of days you can expect posts about Valentine's day DIY projects, gifts, knit and crochet projects and some hearty knitting stitches. There's less than a month left to prepare a surprise, so the earlier we start, the better.

The crafters on Etsy don't waste any time and have already stocked their shops with cute and affordable items. Here's our hand-picked, eye candy selection.

All images are owned by the respective Etsy shop owners

From top left:

1. Crocheted Red Hearts (set of 4) by sabanhur - $16.00 USD + $5.00 USD worldwide shipping

2. Love Grows Here Ornament by BelaStitches - $12.00 USD + $4.00 USD worldwide shipping

3. I Love I Love I Love... - 8'5"x 11" deluxe art print by cjprints - $11.99 USD + $4.99 USD US only shipping

4. Wool Felt Heart Ornament Collection (set of 12) by stephaniemonroe - $36.00 USD + $7.50 USD worldwide shipping ($3.00 USD US shipping)

5. Love Primitive Wooden Distressed Sign by chunkymonkeyluv - $10.00 USD + $4.75 USD US shipping

6. Love Grows Best In Little Houses - Wood Sign/Shelf Blocks by SimpleBlockSayings - $17.95 USD + shipping from $7.95 to $14.00 USD to Australia, Canada, UK and US only

7. Miniature Clay Heart House by thelittlereddoor - $15.00 USD + $4.00 USD worldwide shipping ($2.00 USD to US and Canada)

8. Lovely Wood Heart Flowers (set of 3) by jodyaleavitt - $18.95 USD + $5.50 USD US shipping

9. Rustic Valentine's Gift Tags (set of 8) by fannyandbea -  $5.50 USD + $5.00 USD worlwide shipping  ($1.50 USD to US and $3.00 USD to Canada)

If you picked your favorite, be quick and grab it, before it's gone!

  

Top 5 Free Knit Baby Booties

As promised in the post about Ceradka's Etsy shop, the Top 5 list of free knit baby booties patterns is finally ready.

So let's see who made it:

Image by Saartje Knits

1. Saartje's Bootees by Saartje de Bruijn from Saartje Knits - this pattern is without a doubt one of the most popular free patterns on the web and is currently topping the Ravelry chart in the same category with as I write this 9146 projects compared to 1697 projects for the runner up - Christine's Stay-On Baby Booties.

These booties are a great choice, because they look fashionable enough for a little princess or a gentleman and you can customize them any way you want - you could knit with single or multiple colors, you could use different buttons and additional embellishments and you could even experiment with the stitch pattern. If you're looking for insipiration and ideas - check the results from my search on Google Images.

The instructions for the booties come in PDF format and are very detailed and clear. There are even some pictures explaining how to make the left and the right strap, so what more could we possibly do, except of giving Saartjes Bootees a go - even if it means to make a pair in size 6/7 or bigger...

2. Stay-On Booties - Time to cheat (just a bit). What follows are a couple of really nice free patterns for stay-on booties and I really couldn't give a preference to one or another, because all of them have something nice about them. I decided to put them into 2nd place not only because they look good but also for their practicality - you can be almost sure that they stay on and warm your baby's feet - at least for a while longer than usual.

Image by chopped tomatoes            Image by pickinandthrowin              Image by lanaecotone

• Greemy Baby Booties by Chopped Tomatoes - beautifully made with a single seam on the sole
• Seamless Booties Bottom Up and Seamless Booties Top Down by YarnThrower from Pickin' And Throwin' - two variations of the same pattern. Not only nice but also very comfortable for baby feet, as they have no seems at all!
• Scarpine Alessandra by Lana E Cotone. Even though the blog is in Italian, there is an English version of the pattern. What I really like about these booties is the beautiful cable top and the detailed instructions.

Image by sockpixie

3. Magic Slippers by Sockpixie - here's a true classic. You can make these   from any leftover yarn and when it comes to embellishing it - let your imagination run wild - for example why not put a tiny round nose, eyes, whiskers and a pair of tiny ears, to turn them into cute pair of mice or kittens...

You can find the instructions here.

Image by autumnblossomknits

4. Mary Jane Booties by Lucie Sinkler - another very popular pattern. You can find images of this style of booties as knit or crochet projects and they look equally good. Some of the feedback I've seen online is that these are easier to knit compared to Saartije's Booties because the single strap is much easier to knit.

The basic pattern instructions are provided by Lucie Sinkler on howstuffworks.com

Image by Kids Tricot

5. Kiholo Booties by Muriel Agator from Kids Tricot - I chose this pattern because it's quite different. It creates the illusion of a bootie within a bootie and the end result is very nice.

The PDF pattern for Les Chaussons Kiholo (doesn't that sound cute ;) in English can be found here. And for those, who just like me are curious what Kiholo means, apparently it's a bay in Hawaii. Judging by the pictures I've seen Kiholo Bay is pretty stunning...

I hope you found this list helpful and that it made up your mind about selecting your next baby project. If you have any other favorites, feel free to post them as comments and share them with me and your fellow knitters.

Slipping Stitches - Part 1

We've just added four new knitting stitches to our library and what they all have in common is that they are all created with simple knit, purl and slip stitches.

Ribboned Stockinette Stitch - Back                                Eyelet Moss Stitch - Front
Images by craftcookie

All of them are very easy, but most of all so quick to knit. Another reason why we like slip stitches so much is that they can create a great variety of textures and patterns which in most cases are equally beautiful on both sides - perfect for any reversible project. Of course you can expect more of these slip stitch jewels, that quite often don't get the attention they deserve.

Check Mark Ribs - Front                                                  Raised Stockinette - Front
Images by craftcookie

Here are the instructions for the first small batch of slip stitch patterns:

• Ribboned Stockinette Stitch
• Eyelet Moss Stitch
• Check Mark Ribs
• Raised Stockinette

Don't forget to rate them, by clicking the stars under the stitch name and if you have any favorite slip stitch pattern, send it along to contact@craftcookie.com and we'll make sure to add it to our collection.

Baby Crossover Booties - Done!

The baby crossover booties by Ceradka are finally ready and here's the result compared to the original from the pattern and my short review.

Image by craftcookie                                                      Image by Ceradka

To start with, I would definitely recommend this pattern.

The  instructions by Ceradka are very clear and the booties are easy to knit, once you find the right number of stitches to fit your yarn and the sole size you'd like to get (for example I had to go down from 34 to 26 and from size 3.5 needles to size 3.0 in order to get smaller sized booties).

The assembly and adding the finishing touches takes more time than the knitting, but what you'll have in the end is a pair of very beautiful and I'd say non-traditional booties, so the time investment is totally worth it. You can decorate the booties in any way you like - I tried different buttons and crochet flowers before I chose the ones you're seeing in the pictures.

So, if you would like to go for these booties, here are some more details:

Where to find it: Ceradka's Shop on Etsy
Price: $4.00
Time for the project: Between 4 and 6 hours based on my own experience (it will take you longer if you have to adjust the size)
Difficulty: Medium (beginners might find the re-joining of the yarn in some parts and the assembly a bit too difficult)

Adorable Baby Booties by Ceradka

A friend of ours is expecting a baby girl in the next couple of weeks and we thought why not give her something hand-made - a pair of knit booties and a matching hat to go along with them. So, for the past few days I've been scouring the web for the booties pattern, that would catch my eye - something cute, girly and different. And I found it - in Ceradka's shop on Etsy.

Katy, who is the shop's owner and designer is a stay at home mom from London, who's been designing knit and crochet patterns for the past couple of years. You can find all sorts of masterpiece patterns in her shop - from a sock monkey  to a gorgeous slouch hat and what's my favorite part - a great variety of crochet and knit baby booties.

Images by Ceradka

The baby booties patterns cost just $4 and you can even get a discount - you can buy any 3 patterns for $9, any 4 patterns for $12 and any 5 patterns for $15. Patterns are emailed as a PDF document with detailed instructions and some of them even contain pictures to guide you through the knitting/crocheting and assembly steps.

Images by Ceradka

I just got the Baby Crossover Booties myself and I'll keep you posted on my progress. And of course expect to see Craftcookie's Top 5 of free knit baby booties patterns very soon.

Related Books on Amazon: 

The Brioches Are Coming

We're sure you've heard the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside"... well we've just added two new stitches to our library to save you from the weather :)

Half Brioche - Front                           Brioche (same on both sides)            Half Brioche - Back
Images by craftcookie

The Brioche and the Half Brioche stitches are two of our all time favorites. Both of them create a rich, soft, warm fabric that simply invites you to cuddle in. They are also extremely easy and fast to knit and are the perfect fit for a scarf or a cozy throw.

So, if you're in need of a last minute present - for yourself or for someone dear to you - knit away!

You can use one or more colors (if you prefer to create a striped project); you can simply bind off or add tassels on both ends and the best part is you won't need more than two full days to create a long, luxurious scarf.

Here are the knitting stitch instructions:

• Brioche Stitch - looks the same on both sides
• Half Brioche Stitch - looks different on both sides, but perfectly reversible

And because it always creates a good mood - there's the song. Enjoy!

Top 5 of DIY Angel Ornaments

Continuing the Christmas decoration theme from my post featuring Amy Gaines' knit toys and ornaments we went out in the clouds looking for some lost  DIY angels and here's what ended up in our Top 5 List:

1. Dutch Blue's Angel - this is a very cute sewn angel by Dutch Blue and you can make a whole swarm of them just by using small pieces of different leftover fabrics and by resizing the pattern yourself.

Images by Dutch Blue

2. Earth Angel Ornaments - the instructions for these sweet angels were just published by Sweet Tidings.  Even though they're made of Hessian/Muslin fabric scraps and hemp twine you for a natural, earthy feeling, you could use whatever fabric and twine/yarn you have at the moment. You can find the instructions here.

Images by Sweet Tidings

3. Fabulous Flower Angel - that's without a doubt the most beautiful diy paper angel I've seen so far. The instructions by Lorraine from Paper Vernissage say you have to use the Fabulous Flowers stamp set. I did a bit of search and it turned out that the set was "retired". However we were able to find some used sets that are for sale online. If you're interested check out the search results here. Or here's another idea - if you have a printer at home, save the flowers image found here, enlarge it a bit and print it out on a suitable heavy paper. Then follow Lorraine's instructions to create your angel.

Images by Paper Vernnisage

Image by Anjie Davison

4. Pom Pom Angel/Fairy - we chose this one not only because it's sweet 

and easy, but also because of the shear fun of making it and because it's something kids can help with. You can use yarn in different colors and you can combine the pom poms with wings with different shapes and colors as well.

Anjie Davison from pompomemporium.com has made things even easier, by not only providing the angel/fairy instructions, but also by demonstrating how to make a pom pom.

Isn't that sweet :)

Image by Family Fun Magazine

5. Glittery Angel - this is a nice example of recycling your plastic bottles into something beautiful. You could use different sizes and create a golden or silver angel for your tree top or one to put under the Christmas tree.

In both cases kids can help too :)

You can find the instructions on the Family Fun Magazine's site.

Have fun and if you make any of these angels or one of your own, send us a picture at contact@craftcookie.com.

Amigurumi Patterns & Other Cuties by Amy Gaines

If you're searching for knit and crochet decoration ideas for the upcoming holidays, then you should definitely visit Amy Gaines' shop on Etsy. Amy's creating the cutest knit toys and amigurumi patterns and has been in my favorites ever since 2008. 

Images by Amy Gaines

Right now Amy's going seasonal with PDF patterns such as Knit Christmas Ornament Pattern, Knit Penguin Pattern and the Knit Hedgehog Pattern. Any of them makes a great small gift (patterns cost between $2 and $6).

Images by Amy Gaines

You can also get Amy's books - Little Knitted Creatures and More Cute Little Animals to Crochet on Amazon - they would make a perfect gift for any crafty person you know. They're on my wish list too ;)

Bridal Flowers by xoxoDesigns

I came across the Etsy shop of xoxoDesigns more than a year ago, when I was looking for a bridal flower for my own wedding and I fell in love with Rebecca's designs, after looking through many, many flowers.

As  Rebecca says herself - she has several years of experience of designing in a floral and wedding boutique and her warm love for her creations truly shows even  in the way she wraps them and in the way she deals with her customers.

It felt very personal to me to know that the floral piece I was wearing (yes, that's me in the picture) was hand-crafted for me by a girl, named Rebecca :). I definitely recommend her shop and her work. Her designs range from $30 to $72.

Images by: xoxoDesigns

What this blog is all about?

If you'd ask me where I live, I'd tell you I live online :). I spend a lot of time browsing the Internet - randomly or on purpose - when I'm trying to find a present or simply something a need. And I simply love the fact that I can dive into the talent, creativity and imagination of so many crafters and artists out there and fill my eyes with beauty.

✁ If you are one of those people who have the crafting bug inside...

✁ If love beautiful ideas and things (especially hand-crafted ones) and have an eye for the small details... 

✁ If you're looking for inspiration or would like to do something with your own hands... 

Welcome - have a craftcookie from our jar and get yourself a cup of warm milk with honey.