Eviltedi has done it again

Another "interesting" number to go with the earlier 44444, 55555, 66666, 77777, and 88888

Spiked Stitched Crochet Sock

Freebie pattern HERE thanks to Lion Brand

remember you need to be signed in to see most things here tho.

Turned out quite well, using DK wool and a 4.5mm hook. Will make it's partner later on, and they should fit my 3 yr old over his normal ones to make wellieboot socks.

I like the general pattern, but i think next time i would just use 2 colours...there's a lot of carrying the wool up the inside that could easily get tangled with tiny toes, altho with a couple of washes it should felt into the rest okay.

icey

I LOVE this first one, and they definitely deserve to be clicked on and looked at with the better definition

the "steps" of ice were quite amazing

Kiss

Handwarmers for Granny

My Granny is now...errr...87 years old. Yup 87 and still going pretty strong LOL.

But like most older peeps she feels the cold in her extremities...just not enough to wear gloves in the house cos then she can't do her crosswords.

SO...fingerless mits...gives the warmth of mittens with fingertips and thumb free to hold her pen.

She already has a bright pink pair I made for a tester size, but she needs at least a wash and a wear...so here's her 2nd set.

It's...eeerrrr...metro?

This is the top side of Lynx's attempt at a manly shower-flower thingy...the underneath had the usual netting bit in black, but the top had me giggling. A black rubber holder and an orange ...eerrr...I'll call it a buffer, I THINK it's for buffing away dry skin or something, but it's rough as hell.

Last years gift boxes had a plaited plastic net thingy with loops on either end and looked at least good as a back scrubber...but this is taking metrosexuality a bit far, just make a black net thing without its own variety of a gimp mask and it will do the job fine without the added expense and undoubtable using less carbons.

pikachu

yup...still about...honestly

Been a tad busy...check out Teeny Dudes for some of what i've been up to

http://teenydudes.blogspot.com/

yes it's been a while

i have a few bits and bobs done, just havnt had much time to write stuff as i've been busy elsewhere on netland LOL

Itsa mia Mario

WHOO HOO...in the words of the dude himself LOL

Well I got him finished other than a couple of buttons on his braces, but i'll pick them up tomorrow hopefully.

Pattern with many thanks to Wolfdreamer who kindly offers the patterns for free on their blog

Wolfdreamer Off The Hook Mario Pattern

and this is how my little dude turned out

And a close up of the face

A few fiddley bits but in general an easy to follow pattern, clearly explained. I sewed on the eyes rather than just glueing as he's for the boys. Gregor hasn't had him more that about 12 inches from his side since i made him. Mario has sat next to him on the sofa while he was "driving" with Daddy playing Forza 3, then sitting next to the beanbag in the toy room...and now he's kipping in Gregor bed, full pride of place on the pillow.

I think he likes him :-)

Now onto Yoshi, but this one is a bought pattern from Etsy...just a read thru says it's a bit more fiddly.

And after that i have a Southpark character pattern to play with...thinking of other adaptions of it too.

My kids are nuts

Brian is thankfully in bed...after climbing on windowsill, climbing on wheeled coffee table to get onto big unit and getting stuck cos it runs away as he pushes leaving his legs dangling AGAIN screeching "muh-mee help it skay-wee"...then running full pelt and PRETENDING to fall over (it's so overacted it's unreal) saying "i crashed"...pulling me here and there to show me that the ads have come on the tv EVERY BREAK on nick jr


And that was only for the 3 hours Gregor was at nursery...then i got it in stereo LOL

Thank gawd mine actually go to bed at night, and if Brian gets up early say about 6ish he goes and switches on the TV and sky in the toyroom and plitters about playing for about an hour before coming into our room and dropping Hubbys slippers on his face to waken him saying "ah want-ah milk peeezzzz" (clever boy dosnt do that to Mummy)

This morning tho i was woken up with a gun in my face...okay a purple waterpistol thing but a tad disconcerting having that pointing at you held by a smiley wee face saying "hiyah muhmee"

They're full on hard work...but wouldn't change them

The Green Bag Finished

The finished bag...pattern HERE

PIcture isn't the best but this was all I got before the batteries died on me...they're recharging at the moment LOL

If i was doing it again i would make the sides longer and make a deeper bag...it felt a little open hence why I've added on a fastening tag. The button is a toggle off a (very) old duffle coat i had. Many moons ago on a clearout i'd come across it...it was ripped and got recyled into a couple of cushion covers, and a couple of toggles were left over. I felt the natural colour of the toggle complimented the mossy green of the bag...looks okay :)

Now back to the Mario toy....body is now made...Gregor is gonna have kittens when he sees it LOL

The finished Windmill Bag

Firstly credit must go to the pattern that i got off the internet

windmill bag pattern


This is my finished bag

Here it is being modeled by my 3yr old...at this time it was carrying Roary the Racing car, a fancy hotwheels racing car of whatever prototype variety and a matcbox lambo...the boy likes his cars PMSL

Here it is in a similar sort of picture as the original pattern. 100gram balls of double knitting for scale. I used 4mm (UK size 8, US size 6) needles, and Double Knitting (US worsted weight, Aus 8ply). Pattern is easy enough for most beginners, the i-cord bind-off is a little finicky and time consuming, but gives a good solid finishing edge and as it leads into the i-cord for the handles it does mean that these are secure on at least the bag edge. If you can cast on, garter stitch cast off and i-cord it's a breeze...you tube easily explains i-cord and the bind off.

Now...i did mean to write all that up last night, but for whatever reason (fell asleep) i didnt get round to it, so today i was on the other green coloured bag pattern found HERE . Got the main bit finished and moved onto the lining. In my MAH-HOOO-SIVE stash of fabric oddments it took a while as there was quite a few i liked...matching and contrasting...eventually decided on the multicoloured patterned one. I'm a little further on than the pics as i now have the lining fully stitched in and started the gathering band...so far so good.

Only other thing for today...no F1 yet...yawns with TV boredom

oh...X Factor is back... :-D

a little piccy update

As I said earlier today, I'm making the windmill bag in deep red/pinky colours...piccy with 4th panel just started

I was reminded today that tyre warmers are not to be used next year in F1. A bit unfortunate after what we had here last year.

Gregor was 2 and well nutty about F1 already...then he started doing something strange to all his cars...at 1st we didn't understand why, but he was always wrapping up the wheels...most often with paper that he'd ripped off his magazines, but sometimes using the babywipes...the latter was usually on his toy Roary the Racing Car maybe due to the larger wheels.

It wasnt until we noticed him doing it JUST before a race started...he was copying the tyre warmers. At just over 2 years old he had already figured out that the F1 cars had covers on their tyres and obviously felt HIS cars needed them too...so Mummy thought...lets MAKE Roary some. Knitting being the best bet as i could easily make a closed stretchy tube that he could ease on himself. A few interrupted-by-2-kids hours later i had this...

top left...size 12 needles, DK wool, 15 sts, 65 rows (12 stitches would be enough)

top right...sew cast on and cast off edges together
bottom left...use row ends to gather as tight as you can and fasten off tightly
bottom right...the finished tyre warmer
 
 
Now I had only got this far before Gregor was nosying about...he disappeared...came back with Roary...and without actually being told or shown what to do started putting the finished one on !!! A little bit more sewing later and Roary had toasty tyres for bed that night LOL

Final blether for this post. One of my primary (junior school/age 5-11) classmates mum popped a photo on Facebook...we think its primary 3,maybe 4 (age 7 or 8). I'm the 2nd from the right on the back row :)

Hectic few days

There's been lots happening...getting ready for new school term etc...hopefully some photos later on.

In the process of 3 works in progress tho...

This bag in mossy green

This bag in a deep red/pinky combination

and

Mario plushie for the 3yr old Mario Kart mad spawn.

typical me trying to do too many things at once...but there is a reason

the green bag i'm doing the main part...know where i am and dont need to view the pattern just now so i can pick up/put down as i go

red/pink bag...easy pattern,know what i'm doing so won't need PC/lappy for pattern again

Mario is a different story...lots of shaping so need the pattern and better doing it when i'm not trying to do other things at the same time (ie in the evening once the spawn are in bed is good)

there's just not enough hours in the day...especially as there are other works that have been abandoned

A day of Gardening with a "Pit Stop"

The past couple of days have been quite nice, so we finally got round to tidying up the garden.

Or rather re-tidying...we did a whack when we 1st moved in at the end of May, but the weather hasn't been the best so it got a tad overgrown again. Plans for next year to grow stuff but we were a couple of month late in here to do anything worthwhile.

The boys have a bubble blowing lawnmower, and when Hubby started mowing the grass the 2yr old dissappeared into the house and returned with their mower...and proceded to copy ever move Hubby made, be it direction and even the stance with one leg forward

I also managed to get into the tatties. I'd popped 6 sprouting potatoes in the ground not long after we moved in, and the flowers had just died off so i knew they were ready to lift. From those 6 small new potatoes I got a whole big pot of them...and the 3yr old was highly amused by the tatties coming out the soil

Once we'd filled not only OUR brown garden waste wheelie bin but the mother-in-laws too we thought it was time to stop (we did put the grass clippings into the new compost bin...pat's own back).

The next job of the day was Granny's scooter. The mobility scooter needed the wheels pumped up a bit, and Hubby thought Gregor would love the short run to the garage and back...he didn't just love it, he had a complete ball of a time. Standing between Hubbys legs as he drove it...and then came the wheel filling. The wee soul thought he was doing a pit-stop..."THIS IS RACING DADDY!!!"...thank goodness he had a nappy on or he'd literally have wet himself with excitement PMSL. Hubby brought it back here (we're halfway between garage and grannys) and took Brian a wee run up and down our street...

Not very far, but he thoroughly enjoyed the run, Gregor ran to meet them coming back then raced them home. He was chuffed to win. Both boys were a tad miffed that the scooter had to go away again...who knows maybe another jaunt sometime.

And hopefully another good day tomorrow so we can trim the hedge a bit...it's not bad as you can no doubt see,but ours is the most overgrown looking one on the street so we'd better neaten it LOL.

Plarn project 1

1st I'd better explain Plarn. It's short for PLastic yARN and is basically loops of cut up plastic bags, looped together to create a long string which can then be knitted or crocheted with...googling plarn will give plenty of how-to's to make it. Anyway,the blue bag <---- is gawd knows how many bags from Asda cut up and ready to string together.

I then decided to make a pegbag...being made of platic bags it dosnt matter if it gets wet in the wonderful Scottish summers we have. No pattern exactly as such...a 5.5mm hook, about 15 or 16 chain, working 1/2 double crochet down both sides with increases and the ends for a couple of rows...then working straight rounds for about 12 rows round...back and forth for about 6 rows to create the hole of about 12 missed stitches, chain to rejoin at the top of hole, working DCs over chain on the next round, another 6 rounds then single crochet thru both sides together to finish top seam. Insert the coathanger, in this case it was an age 1.5-2 yrs trousers hanger, then neatening the hole with a cuple of rounds of SC. the pic ---> dosnt really show the hole well unforts

 This piccy is better. Now filled with pegs and hanging on the kitchen door. Until this i was just using a single poly bag to put my pegs in and due to the wind it was a tad difficult at times. hopefully the weight of this should work a lot better.

One plarn project done...LOADS more bags chopped and made into plarn...what's next ?

Wasp

Alpha Male at 3.5 Years Old

Our 3 yr old is definitely showing some alpha male signs...or rather that he understands the way it works...and it's quite interesting to see it.

While getting his morning bum change...

He pointed to Hubby..."you're number 1"

Then to himself... "I'm number 2"

Then to his younger brother (2yr old)..."Brian's 3"...and followed that with "...and Mummy's 4"

So Hubby asked..."why is Mummy number 4 and not number 1 or 2?"..."Cos she's a girl"

Interesting....

He'd said something similar the other night, but Daddy was 1,Mummy 2,he was 3 and Brian 4...and the odd other time he's said he was 1 and Brian was 2...so I think he's realised roughly what place is his, altho i'm not keen on being number 4 personally just cos i'm a "girl" LOL

But i'm interested to see how this is developing in his little mind and they way he's describing it in a way he understands.

a 3yr olds imagination

Gingerbread

I've tried many recipes over the years, but this one is my personal favourite...a soft sticky,sweet cake that lasts for a few days without drying out...easy too

RECIPE

preheat oven to 160C, grease and line one 1lb or 2 1/2lb loaf tins

8oz soft brown sugar
2oz butter
1 tablespoon treacle (or syrup for a lighter sponge)
8 fluid oz milk

put the above ingredients in a pot and heat till sugar dissolved then leave to cool

in another bowl put...

8oz plain flour
2tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp bicarbonate of soda

once sugar/milk mixture is cooled pour it into flour mix, mix thoroughly and pour into greased and lined tin/tins

bake for approx 1 hour or until when you stick a knife in the center it comes out clean

leave to cool slightly in the tins before tipping out and cooling completely on wire rack

Wonderful served as a thick slice with butter and a cup of tea...also great served with warm custard.

Enjoy

Cheesecake

The chocolate cheese...minging as it was...inspired a cheesecake making

Easy enough recipe.

line a 7-8" cake tin with tinfoil (makes for easy removal if you dont have a spring side tin)

smash up about 200g of digestives...depends how thick you like your base...easiest way is to empty them into on of those clear freezerbags and bash with a rolling pin...you can roll the pin over it to bash up and smaller chunks and if you hold the bag by the handles and give it a shake any lumps tend to rise to the top making it easier to get rid of them

to the biscuit powder add about 30grams of melted butter...i say about 30 as sometimes you may need a little more depending on your base thickness (ie how many biscuits you originally bashed lol)...mix well, you'll know you have enough butter in when if you press down it just holds together

empty the biscuit mix into the lined rin and press down evenly with the back of a spoon (or your fingers if you really want)...personally i just do a base,some people like to push it up the sides too, but that's up to you. Pop it in the fridge to let it set slightly while you make the filling.

The filling is soooo easy it's unreal. But you do need an electric mixer or whisk...or a handwhisk and a nice helpful friend with amazing biceps :-D

For the basic filling empty 200g of full fat soft cheese into mixing bowl, add in about 2 heaped dessertspoons of icing sugar. (i try not to work in tablespoons as most people dont have them anymore). combine cheese and sugar then add in 1/2 pint (250mls) of double cream...i didnt say it was healthy lol...and whisk.

Make sure to scrape the cheese off the bottom of the bowl so it mixes fully as it does tend to stick to the bottom, but keep whipping until the mixture holds it's shape...think Mr Whippy icecream softness...but be careful not to overwhip as it will turn to butter suddenly, once it gets close turn the speed down or better yet move to hand whisk at that point so you can feel when it's ready.

Empty the mix onto the base and smooth out...pop in fridge till ready to serve.

Now for the experimant bit. Above is the recipe for the basic cheesecake...but we all have our favourite varieties.

The picture of the one i made is a Choc Chip Cheesecake...all i did was grate chocolate and mix it through the filling before emptying it on the base...then a little more chocolate grated on top for decoration...you could also add in a couple of drops of mint flavouring and green colouring and make a mint choc chip cheesecake...cut an after eight in half on the diagonal and serve a slive of cheesecake with a swirl of cream with the after eight half placed artistically in it

If you can get the tins of Carnation Caramel (the cheats way as we always got the tin of condensed milk and boiled it in water for about 4 hours to get the same stuff lol)...you could put a layer of that between the base and filling and/or a thin layer on top.

the traditional topping of mandarin orange segments and grated chocolate is another option.

summer fruits are great too...be it just strawberries or the raspberry/blackberry/strawberry frozen mix. the frozen mix is great  as you can take out just enough for what you need, put in a microwavable bowl with a little icing sugar and a splash of water or orange juice, warm until the berries have defrosted and serve a triangle of the plain cheesecake with a little berry sauce thing on the side...add a mint leaf for that proper arty farty look LOL

The list of varieties is almost endless and only limited by imagination...cheesecake is wonderful

:-)

eviltedi's gamerscore

About 2 years ago hubby accidentally got this score

So he had to even it up, got 55555 at one point...we took a pic but i cant find it at the moment. Anyways, after that we thought...hold on...all the 4s,all the 5s...lets see if we can work out all the 6s and...

Needless to say we were then on the hunt for another single point achievement and a couple of months or so later we got his score to this point

Can you guess what's coming next ?

YUP...after much more gaming the next milestone was getting close...searched through things to find a 1 or 6 point achievement...CLONING CLYDE !!! I got that one AGES ago and got the 200 points, but 'Tedi only had 79 points on it so far. In that game was a 16 pointer...but there was an 18 point that would unlock before it...thankfully tho there was a 12 pointer to "even" it back up

After much Frog Clyde jumping on that fecking Flushed Away level to get faster than the Par time the 18 blinked....went to cheat menu, switched on Mutant Clyde...16 blinked...connected 2nd contoller,opened up a versus game in split screen and the 12 point blinked...score at that point was 88828 !!! EEEEK much excitement...60 points was all that was needed. Back to Crackdown and Crackdown 2 and a couple more achievements.

I went shopping...needed some bits and bobs (got the chocolate cheese) came back home and he'd JUST unlocked the last one for....

WHHOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Now to look for a 99999 :-)

Chocolate Cheese

Yes...you DID read right...CHOCOLATE flavoured cheese

I like chocolate...a LOT....I like cheese...a LOT

This was...errr...interesting.

Texture of cheese...not the cheap rubbery cr*p but the texture of a good quality one that melts away and leave a slight covering on the inside of your mouth.

The taste tho is kinda weird...a bit like cheesecake, not totally horrid but on it's own is missing something. I must get some digestive biscuits tomorrow as i think that's what it needs....like a cheesecake needs it's pastry or biscuit base.

Personally...i think I'll spend the next £1.50 on getting Savers digestives, Savers soft cheese, a tub of double cream and whatever left over on chocolate and make a full sized chocolate cheesecake instead

More Dolly Pics

Well she now has the name Lucy, and i have been reliably informed that she is getting well loved.

In her very bright stripey dress

And in her Blue Pinafore dress with her own little dolly...little dolly has a dress that matches her one above. The reason for this is cos her new owner (who is 3 years old) has a very similarly coloured dress that she really likes...so they can all be colour   co-ordinated LOL

On other makes...this lot is the unsewn bits that make up a knitted car (see red car further down the page)...i've just realised i don't have a fully made up pic of the blue one, but it's tucked up in bed with a 2 yr old and i don't fancy disturbing him to get it LOL

27th July re: Hockenheim

I originally answered most of this to a friend over facebook, but i'll elaborate a little more here thanks to space lol.

A little view on what happened on Sundays German GP after Ferrari basically,but without physically saying it, asked Massa to move over and let Alonso by...


Martin Brundle makes a good case


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8856345.stm

DC also said the team orders rule is impossible to police...EJ also makes a good point, team orders are against the rules now so Ferrari should be punished for it.

We all know team orders happen, 2002 Ferrari did it as blatently as the world has seen (for those that don't remember after the last corner and on the finishing straight Rubens Barrichello LET Michael Schumacher past as he had been ordered to by deliberately slowing down), hence their fine then and the rule being brought in. other teams were and still are much more subtle about it (oops we took an extra second or so to put your tyre on and change the angle of the back wing slightly)...we know it happens but we also know it's usually not blatently implemented as much until the end of a season when the mathematical points needed come into effect...ferrari have done so poorly at the start of this season the ONLY chance they have now IS to push their leading points driver...in this case Alonso was 21 points ahead before the race started so he got priority.

What they SHOULD have done was let Domenicali give the "order", and preferably in some pre-agreed code words...Rob Smedley should never have been put in that position and you could hear in his voice over the radio that he did NOT want to give that information.

$100,000 is feck all as far as a fine goes...an average ferrari road car costs more than that...but that (according to Mike Gascoynes Twitter feed) is the maximum the stewards can give financially...ferrari have accepted it and are not appealing, maybe cos history dictates that if you appeal you are likely to get a harsher penalty...so anything else is now down to the WMSC...who now HAVE to give some sort of reprimand as ferrari have basically been given and accepted a guilty verdict. They HAVE to give some reprimand or EVERY team will start using "your team-mate is faster" as the move over code. If they decide to scrap the rule...well lets just look back to turkey, if Horner had been allowed to tell Webber that Vettel was "faster" then Vettel would have 25 more points and currently leading the drivers championship, with Red Bull leading the constructors...as an example.

The rule cannot be fully policed, the pitwalls would start talking in code and we as spectators would end up being left more and more in the dark about what was REALLY being said...if they scrap the rule then blatent orders will obviously start being used and we could well see the end of team mates racing one another, and the number 2 driver will only really be there to hold up rivals and wipe up the points left over...

We obviously don't know the finer points of Massas contract, it is feasible that it's written in there that if he's told to move over he has to

I don't agree with how it was done...Massa deserved that win as he drove better...if Alonso was faster and wanted the win he shouldve used his driver skill and overtaken like anyone else...we now just have to wait and see what the big bosses will say...at least Jean Todt has taken himself out of this equation as no matter what he believed he would be seen to have bias (his son is massas manager too).

I think they've reacted to the public outcry tho, and they'll see what the general public consensus is and use that to decide what to do


Anyway...i may edit this further as i don't think it fully glides from point to point and tangents and comes back a few times...but there we are for the moment

Now to help hubby get a couple more Crackdown achievements...

22nd July Finished Dolly

This is actually the biggest thing i've done in a while...both in physical size and amount of knitting.

Still have to sew up a pinafore dress and an outdoor coat...need to get buttons for them too...but the main doll herself is finished.

I'll pop up a better photo once the batteries recharge, but in almost finished state with wipes packet for scale

21st July More Car Knits

Been busy again.

Very close to having the big doll for the friends wee girls done...the dreaded hair is next on the actual doll ! But once that bit is done it's be finished in no time.

Couple of piccies tho...

This one is Brians steering wheel, it's a little bit smaller than Gregors (who owns the hand giving scale lol) but both boys are sleeping with their respective wheels at the moment. Not sure whether thats cute or sad LOL. Please don't ask for a pattern, this was a crocheted tube, circle and minitubes and I can't remember how many stitches.

The other make over the last few hours has been a little knitted car.

It's only 4 inches long and yes caused more arguements. So a blue variety is in the making for so both boys can have one each.

Hopefully I'll have the big doll nearer finished in the next night or two...more mini-me plans are in place LOL

19th July

And here we have a mini-me...using the Stitched Self pattern I mentioned earlier. She's the dolly partner to a bigger dolly using the Jean Greenhowe twin dressing up doll pattern...big dolly only half done, but mostly just sewing up now.

On another note we have Gregor's new steering wheel. Maybe he'll stop using the tiny orange plastic ring he's been farting about with for the last few weeks or so LMAO

Don't talk to me about front wings

The Red Bull Racing Wing-gate debacle might have mostly calmed down by now, but Vettel, Webber,Horner,Marko and Mateschitz have no idea how easy they have it being short of just one PMSL

Yeah I AM joking...theirs is a multi-million industry...I'm just whinging about £1 cars

So what do I mean? Well we have 2 small boys, both adore cars, both are quite hard on toys. I would love to get them collectable items for the future but I know they would want to play with them and unwittingly destroy them...so the local £1 shop had something close

A "Ferrari", a "Renault" and a "McLaren" were bought for each kiddie (total cost of £6)

  

But boys will be boys as the saying goes....within 24 hours we had...

Long story short, after many broken wings (cue Mister Mister music) and a bit of doctoring to make the space we now have...

Yes that IS a little lego soldier in the "McLaren" and Peppa Pig in the "Ferrari", and only one front wing...

The downforce would be really sh*t on these cars LMAO