Rose Petal Jelly

We cracked open a few bottles of elderflower champagne last week and it was surprisingly lovely:) so nice in fact I went straight out and picked more flowers to make another batch. I bottled it yesterday morning so now we are back to having 6 x 1 ltr bottles again , phew!! I plan on making a larger batch next year I didn't want to commit this year incase I didn't like it.

The elderflowers inspired me to  try using other types of flowers in recipes, so I decided to use some rose petals from our garden. We have loads this year beautiful pinks and reds.

Since making this recipe I have found loads of different ways of making rose jelly and jam online.I assumed jam and jelly to be the same but apparently not, the difference being, jelly is clear.

I plan on making more and this time I'm going to try a jam, if you use citric acid it holds the colour so if I use a combination of pink and red petals I'll hopefully end up with a beautiful dark pink jam:)

Tis The Season For Elderflowers

I went picking elderflowers last Friday, firstly I had to figure out what they looked like.When you start looking you suddenly realise there are alot of white headed wild flowers out there. After confirmation of what they look like we headed out and realised we are surrounded by them! We picked just enough for a 6 litre batch, I wanted to make sure I could actually make it first and more importantly make sure we actually like the taste:)

Its a really simple process, I used a BBC Hugh Fearnley recipe. For correct measurments google it, its easy to find online. All you need is water, sugar and lemons and 15 elderflower heads in full bloom.
 Step 1 heat water add sugar stir to dissolve add lemon rind and juice and elderflower heads, stir.

Cover in Muslin and wait for a few days.

there are mixed opinions on how long you wait before bottling it, some say straight away others say wait 6 days. I did a bit of both I waited 4 days before bottling!

Line a sieve with muslin and pour liquid

Steralise bottles and use a funnel to pour liquid in.

All I have to do now is wait for two weeks!!

Homemade Birthday Pressie

I like them so much I'm making another one for myself in a lovely green colour Limeade.


I mentioned in one of my recent posts I had made a pressie for my lovely sister in law but I couldn't post the images before she recieved the package, it would of ruined the element of surprise!!! She has now recieved it and even though there is currently a heatwave and no way she could actually wear it without melting, she loves it:)

IMGP0621

IMGP0621
Originally uploaded by sazknits

I've decided to pick a new 'long term' project something I work on while doing smaller/quicker items:)

I saved this jumper into my wish list over a year ago and would really love to make it in a mustard colour. Pattern available on Ravelry its called 'owls' by Kate Davies. I love it! It's knitted in a chunky wool but it has a lovely fitted shape rather than bulky, which is never flattering:)

This is a challenge for me, I have made one jumper which took a whole year to complete!
Wish me luck.

Crochet

I've been lured to the idea of  learning how to crochet because I love granny squares and  I just know a pretty crochet cushion would look lovely on our charcoal grey sofa.  My friend Jill did sign us up for a beginners class a few months ago but alas it was cancelled. We do plan to sign up for another class but in the meantime I thought why not try you-tube again. I did attempt this before and was disappointed by video after video of bad quality images and overly complicated instructions. Until now, I found two great instructional videos the first is;
Crochet - From Start To Finishing with Bev Dillon and the second is The knit witch 'single crochet stitch' and double crochet stitch. Maybe I was just having a good day but I found these instructions really worked for me and now I can do a single crochet stitch and a double, Yay!

I plan to watch more videos over the next few weeks so I can eventually learn how to make my first very own granny square, who knows it could lead to a cushion cover or some pretty crochet jewellery:)

The End Result

The End Result
Originally uploaded by yvestown

Crochet Glamour #22

Crochet Glamour #22
Originally uploaded by Crochet Gourmet