Busy As A Bee And The art Of Procrastination.

I have yet to make great progress on Daddy Troll’s coat.  The pieces are all cut out but I have not sewed a stitch of it yet.  I am procrastinating! This is bad, very very bad!
 There is nothing like a job you don’t really want to tackle to make you come up with a million and one excuses to do loads of other stuff that you really don’t need to do right now.  Anything but finish the one thing you should be doing.
Here are some of the things that I have done so far this month in the name of procrastination!.

First off we tried some Fimo decorations.  These are not the best thing I have ever done, but it kept us busy(procrastinating) for a whole morning.

The kids made candy canes.

Then then Middling Troll asked for a Christmassy head dress for brownies.  Sadly the LED lights no longer work, but they were green from the 99p shop and served the purpose very well.  She looked great, but I had no battery life in the camera so it’s a very slightly dull, after the event shot I’m afraid.

Then I interrupted Middling Troll in the making of some sample decorations. When the decorations had been made I then filled 30ish bags with Christmas crafting ingredients for an evening of Woodcraft Folk Christmas crafting.  The activity went down very well though, and all the kids seemed to really enjoy making lollipop stick Rudolphs, Santas, Elves, Angels or whatever their imaginations came up with.

Then I decided to make 5 Morsbags to be given as gifts.  Middling Troll will be leaving brownies in January and coming to the Woodcraft Folk with Eldest, Youngest and myself.  Gifts for her leaders were needed and this seemed like the right thing to do rather than buy something from a shop whcih would be forgotten quickly. Information on what a Morsbag is for those of you who may not know can be found here Morsbags

So, still not having touched Daddy Troll’s coat I decided that I needed a sewing/knitting basket that I could take out and about with me, having seen and coveted a friend’s woven bag which she had carried some projects in to a homeschool outing.

Here is my version - I actually made two of these, one for me and one for a swap.

Then came an egg crisis, lots of eggs all despearte to be used at once, so some Lemon Curd was made, as was Lemon cake, but that did hang round long enough to have it’s photo taken.

Then just as I thought about spending some time on Daddy Troll’s coat, a call for help came to save me.  I could just say delay, but you know I’d be lying, right? 

Some stock was needed for a fundraising sale  - so a quick stash rummage found two fat quarters of Christmas fabric, a jar of Lavender grown in the summer and some toy stuffing and ribbon saw me whipping up these in no time, well I wasn’t rushing too much, ahem.

And just when you thought I couldn’t procrastinate a moment longer, - 10 days to go! I hear you say, pull you finger out and finish your man’s pressie.  Loads of time, I say, - heaps - an eternity.  I can fit some more stuff in can’t I? 

Well good progress has been made on my cardigan.  The back and both front pieces are now done, I just need two arms and I’m good to sew and block.  That can be tomorrows job ;)

The Yule Journey Begins

It’s lovely to begin the journey to Yule with a bang don’t you think.  The nights may still be drawing in and the weather is getting colder, but in just a few weeks on December 21st the wheel will turn once again.  We will reach the winter solstice and the days will grow ever longer once more.

So in celebration of the beginning of December me and three baby Trolls made a very festive tray bake.

Mincemeat Marmalade Tray Bake Cake

So this needs three separate layers.  The first of which is a basic shortbread mixture.  The second is a layer of mincemeat and the final layer is marmalade sponge cake.


To make the shortbread -

4oz butter
2oz caster sugar
6oz plain flour

1. Rub the flour into the butter to form fine breadcrumbs - add the sugar and mix.  
2. Press down into a well greased tray ( we used a circular pyrex dish that was 10 inches wide). 
3. Make a few pricks in the mixture with a fork.
4. Then spread a whole jar of mincemeat onto the shortbread - ours was ready made, but homemade would be even better.

To make the Marmalade cake layer -

• 225g self-raising flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 115g margarine
• 85g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon orange essence
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 good tablespoons thick cut orange marmalade
• 2 tablespoons milk

1. Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl, rub in the margarine until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
2. Stir in the sugar and orange essence, then add the eggs, marmalade and milk.
3. Mix well to achieve the consistency of a thick batter.  Pour over the mincemeat mixture.
4. Bake in the center of the preheated oven until golden brown and a knife comes out clean, about 1 hour. 

Then enjoy.

Handbags and Fanny Hammocks.

It’s been a good crafty week so far with lots of projects progressed and two completed. Yes TWO - go Mumma!

On Monday I looked at my sorry, well worn and loved handbag and decided it was time to make a new one.  Admittedly I’m not really a handbag type of girl, normally shoving my things in a canvas shopping bag, but since I have a house full of fabric, I don’t really have an excuse.

I already had the Runaround Bag pattern in my stash so I set about creating a wild mess, choosing fabric, finding all the bits and bobs that one needs to sew. In my house this generally means moving one mountain of stuff from one table to another to create some room to work and then removing everything that was in it’s place and putting it somewhere that you can and WILL trip over it at every possible turn.

With all this done, I cut out my pattern, cut out my fabric and began to sew.  Then cut out the bits that I had forgotten to cut out and began to sew some more.  This up and down was repeated a few more times until I finally had all my bits cut and sewn and voila, Mumma Troll gots a new handbag.

The exterior is a linen tablecloth, the interior is a vintage curtain and the binding is all homemade from a wacky charity shop shirt using a nifty tutorial I found Here

Here is the inside - sorry crap photo alert!

I had been hoping to post this earlier - however anyone living in the same part of the world as me ie. Saarf London might too have noticed the dismal, grey, Godawful bloody weather has not been conducive to wonderful photo taking. So excuse the grey, photos I shall try to have a word with the powers that be to see if we can’t shifty this greyness along for a bit!


The next project I completed this week is not for the squeamish, nor is it for those who try their best to ignore the normal, perfectly natural female functions of their body.  Of course it is of the period, menstruation, monthlies, the curse that I talk.
Now millions of women all over the globe choose disposable sanitary items for such an occasion, but personally I hate waste.  I hate things being thrown away.  I hate shopping, in fact I hate the whole commercialism thing, but that’s another post.

I chose, many years ago now, to not increase landfill mass as much as I could so out went the throw away sanitary items and in came the washable ones. The first lot I bought were an expense at the time but many years later they have kinda died of death.  This time round I decided that I could just make my own, so with another raid of the stash and another collection of sewing paraphernalia I assembled my bits and began.

Firstly I drew my pattern. This was easy enough, I just drew around a pad I already had and added a bit of length out of personal preference.

Then I spent an age cutting out the various layers. Ignore how creased the pac a mac fabric looks - that gets smoothed over whilst sewing.

The base layer is an old pac a mac.  The middle two layers are Zorb which is a super absorbent fabric made for washable nappies and the final top layer is the fun bit.
 I raided my stash and found a little dragon fabric, a little Halloween fabric and some very purdy purple Batik fabric. I assembled my layers and zigzag stitched around them and then down the middle.

Finally I added a short section of black elastic and raided the button tin for some buttony goodness.
Now Mumma Troll has a handbag and a totally unique set of Fanny hammocks.

Here is the batik - monthlies hula anyone?

Then we have the dragons - let them lie I say ;)

And finally, I’m not afraid of the curse - are you?

XXX

Autumn Cosiness

There is something special about this time of year.  A mixture of colder darker evenings that draw you inwards - a time to reflect on the year gone by.  Watching the leaves turn through fiery hues until they dance their final dance and become part of the landscape of the Earth once more.

Fine frosty mornings are always a favourite, glistening trees and sparkling grass in the park. Sunday however was a rainy day.  By that I don’t mean a few hours of the wet stuff, I mean it was raining when we woke up and it was still raining over 12 hours later!  There was only one thing for it, and that was to hunker down and get the cosy going.



For the baby Trolls that meant getting homework done, making models, watching films and playing games after helping with household chores.  For daddy Troll and myself that meant getting chores done first and then I sneaked some time for crafting while Daddy troll escaped into computer land.

I finished some wrist warmers to match the hat that was my first foray into knitting. Here is the hat - details of which you can find over on  Ravelry HERE although I din’t use the suggested wool - because who follows the rules ever ;)

I used 3 and a bit balls of KIKO instead and this is so thick and cosy and such a beautiful colour too.

Then I found another very easy pattern for the wrist warmers because I still had some wool left.  They also had a few new techniques in it that I didn’t know, such as in row button holeing (for making thumb holes) and cable cast on. The pattern again is from Ravelry - isn’t that the greatest site for knitters!

They are called Cheetahs because they are fast to make, and I’d have to agree, especially in such a chunky yarn each one took no more than two hours from start to finish. You can find it HERE

In other news, I have so far managed to cut out all the pattern pieces for Daddy Troll’s new coat, now on to the bit I dont’ like, which is cutting out all the pattern pieces from the fabric.  It also looks like I’m going to have to be a bit inventive with the toggle fastenings as they seem to be quite elusive in this country - however I can get hold of leather scraps and horn buttons. I think a bit of experimentation might be coming this way soon.

Wingspan Bites The Dust

Here it is my finished Wingspan and Beyond

I have to say that this was a really great beginner project.  It is all done in knit stitch but introduced me to a technique I’m sure every seasoned knitter will know called German Short Rows.  Being a total rookie in the yarn department however, I called upon the mighty all knowing You Tube, sat and watched THIS tutorial and began. After the first couple of rows it was easy and I had this finished in a few days.

The Ravelry tutorial also shows you lots of ways that you can alter the look of this scarf/shawl, larger, longer,  beaded and fringed are just some of the options available to you.  This is certainly going to be a pattern I come back to at some point - but next time I want all the bells and whistles on it.  I’m thinking lacy, beaded, big and bright too!

So having completed that project I now have a choice, actually I have about a million choices, but since I’m not an octopus I shall have to choose just one.  

I think since that C thingy (insert grumpy grinch face and a bah humbug too) is not too far away I should get on with Daddy Troll’s gift. I’m going to be making Albion and since the fabrics arrived yesterday I think this is it.  He chose some dark brown boiled wool and some brushed cotton plaid from Truro Fabrics.  I still have buttons and toggle closures to get but I can make a good start on this today. So on that note I’d better get a wiggle on it. Toodle pip.

Beginnings

Welcome to the beginning.

Many of you know me - but for those of you who don’t I hope that over time we shall get to know each other.

I am Mumma Troll, a 36 year old mother of three baby trolls and wife to Daddy Troll.

I am also a typical Piscean with a highly addictive nature and this blog is my musings on probably my main addiction - crafting.

I should state here and now that I am highly envious of those crafters who are driven and determined and do great things with their art, but I am fickle and my perseverance is often fleeting, starting another project long before the finishing line of the current one is in sight.

I sew, sometimes clothes, sometimes quilts and sometimes random and quirky items just for the pure fun of it.  I also make jewellery, play with herbs( nothing illegal, just in case you were pondering how far my addictions actually take me), cook, bake, felt, garden and zentangle and just this week I added knitting to that list after avoiding it for a very long time.


The name Mumma Troll - well this is entirely based on my grumpiness and the fact that I am a mother.

I mostly like solitude and find the thronging masses of this Earth quite disconcerting.  I am always miffed at those Facebook quizzes which ask you where your preferred residence would be as they never seem to include darkest dankest cave miles from human civilisation, obviously this would be my personal choice time over. I usually settle for that little woodland cottage instead, but there should ALWAYS be a dark dank cave option!

So after a brief introduction I shall say toodleoo for now and leave you with a little snippet of my latest crafting, the beginnings of a scarf called Wingspan , which I am knitting up in Yarnfair Stripes Red/Grey/Brown colourway.