Crochet Hats

I started to knit with enthusiasm when I was pregnant with Nicole, thanks to encouragement from my good friend, Liz.  I've since admired crochet, and wished to try it, but always chickened out, until I borrowed a fabulous book from the local library called "Essential Crochet" by Erika Knight.  It showed step by step how to make the stitches, and had photos to boot.  It got me started.  I soon discovered how much quicker crochet seems to be than knitting.  I like small achievable projects, so I've settled on hats to try out my newly learned skill.  One puzzle that fellow crocheters will be familiar with is the fact that the English conventional names for crochet stitches are different from the American conventional names.  Thus, you'd better know in which country the pattern you are reading was published before you start, otherwise you won't know whether you're doing a double or a treble or a half treble, or a double treble....aaaarrrrggghhhh!   The English names seem more logical to me, sorry about that to anyone who likes the American names.

Bonjour!

 This is the first one I made.  It was intended for me, but young Keith commandeered it for himself.  It looks rather like a beret on him, we thought.  So he got to keep it.  Nicole immediately demanded that one be made for her.  In pink and purple please Mum.

The princess in pink hat

 Nicole's looks less like a beret because I added a flare at the base to make it more feminine, and just to try it to see how it would look.  I like it.  (Not that blokes cannot have flares on their hats).   I like them both.  I am currently working on 2 more hats for 2 friends, in a different colour to these.  I am using variegated sock wool for all of these because they make such a beautiful colour.

The flare

Juicing Part II

Throughout this carrot/apple juicing experience, I've pondered on how I could use the pulp rather than composting it.  Not that there is anything wrong with composting.  Then I had a light bulb moment - I could put the pulp into cakes or bread to increase the vegetable consumption of the smaller members of the household!  Ha!  They won't even realize they are eating vegetables.  Well, it turns out that I have underestimated my children YET AGAIN - they are way more intelligent and capable than I give them credit for.

SO, I made 1litre of apple/carrot/beetroot/celery/ginger juice, and this produced approximately 10 cups of pulp of various colours.  I added 1 cup of carrot pulp to a 350g Laucke's Crusty White loaf, and here's how it turned out - 
As you can see in the above picture, adding carrot pulp to the bread resulted in a satisfying uniform orange colour, with the occasional speck of carrot.  Kids declared it to be delicious hot, when spread with butter. Curiously, when the same bread was served up as toast the next morning, the response I got was "Is this carrot???  How DARE you put carrot in my toast!!!!!"  Fickle creatures, aren't they.  When I tried adding beetroot juice to a loaf of bread, the result was not uniform.  The outside of the bread was slightly beetroot colour, but not the inside of the bread.  Not sure what this means, but no doubt there is a simple chemical explanation.

Bread with Beetroot juice added

 Yet again, the small members of the house failed to fall for the "hide the vegetables" trick.  Darn it.   My next effort will be to integrate vegetable pulp into chocolate cake.  Stay tuned.....

Beetroot Juice and Home-made Laundry Liquid

I tried a new addition to the juicer this week - beetroot.  I stuck with the 60/40 carrot/apple with a hint of ginger and celery, and added one whole beetroot.  Sure makes a pretty colour!  It tastes great, too.  It's a winner in my book.  The only advice I would give is to NOT consume it while wearing a white Tshirt.  Which brings me to my next discovery - Homemade Laundry Liquid.  I first read about this in the Women's Weekly (Monthly) which my Nanan treats me to each month.  The article was by Rhonda Hetzel, and the recipe for the liquid, as well as a wealth of other money-saving hints for the home can be found here: http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com.au/
I first tried making the powder without taking it to the next step of heating and liquifying it, but that didn't work as well, as some of the soap flakes would not dissolve in the washing machine and so I ended up with soap flakes in the filter.  The lesson from this is "Don't be lazy, Kate!

3L bottle formerly holding milk

10L container

If you follow the recipe on Rhonda's site, you will find that the percentages I have stated on the bottle in the picture are approximations.  It was simply easier than writing 1.25% twice.  Hmmm I detect the "Lazy Chip being employed again.  The cost of making this laundry liquid is way cheaper than buying detergent.  And it works.  I wash in hot or warm water now instead of cold, but I'm OK with that, as warm/hot water is the best for removing oil-based stains, and the cost savings of making the liquid far outweigh the cost of heating the water.