WOYWW 235, Crochet & Pickles

Two for one this week for WOYWW.

Here's my crafty bit, the result of my crochet ideas where I've made some covers for simple boring looking retractable tape measures. I think they'll make good quick and easy to make fundraisers.

For nosey folk there are lots and lots more over at 

Julia's headquarters, the Stamping Ground 

so get there pdq for a good old nosey!

I think I have the pongiest desk on the block this week. The house stinks, my hands stink, everywhere reeks but I don't mind in the least as I've had my annual pickle making fest and I LOVE them. Here's the evidence.

Maybe you'd like to do some for yourself, if you can get pickling onions (not shallots) they're hard to find as no one seems bothered making them these days, so I'll add my "how to do" at the bottom of this post.

Here are the stages of my labours....
anyone remember Hilda Baker and Nellie Pledge's pickling factory? "Eeeewwh, I must get a little finger on me watch"... You'd have to have seen it to know it!!!

Here's some of the results... a good stock for family and friends to share,

and very wrinkly fingers after all that peeling and water.

 Here's my way of pickling onions, taught to me by my Little Nin, my grandmother, who died aged 87 around 1970.

I used about 5lbs of pickling onions and 2 litres of Malt Vinegar which produced 15 jars of varying sizes.
The quantities may vary as smaller onions pack closely into the jars so therefore need less vinegar.

First, top and tail the onions and, as you go along, pop them into cold water to loosen the skins.

Then remove every trace of the skins and place them into brine... that's a saturated solution of salt which is made by adding as much cooking salt to water until no more will dissolve.

Place a plate on top of the onions to keep them all immersed and leave for 24 hours.

Meanwhile, put 2 litres of malt vinegar into a large stainless steel pan and 2 dessertspoons of pickling spice (dried seeds and spices which can be bought ready mixed and includes mustard seed, allspice, peppercorns, cloves, ginger, chillies). Add more or less according to how spicy you like your pickles... I love them really spicy.

Gently bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Cool and return it to the vinegar bottles along with the spice, ready for the next day.

Next day, drain off the brine then rinse the onions in plenty of cold water and drain well. Dab dry with a clean tea towel.

Sterilise the jam jars. I now sterilise mine in the microwave by adding a little hot water to each jar before placing them in the microwave and bringing the water to the boil for a minute or two. They can be sterilised the traditional way on a baking tray in a warm oven as for jam making.

Take care removing the HOT jars and when draining off the hot water. 

Pack the onions into the dry, cold, sterilised jars.

Fill with the spiced vinegar and, half to one teaspoon of the spices, to each jar. Do not fill the jars to the top but make sure the onions are completely covered. Check there are no air locks in the jars.

Cover the top of each jar with a circle of cellophane (the ones available for jam making ) or wax paper and fasten lids securely. The cellophane creates a barrier stopping the vinegar corroding the lids.

Label and store around 4 weeks before use but I must admit that I can never wait that long!

Note: The onions will be softer if you add hot water at any stage.

The onions will be softer if you add the vinegar when it is still hot.

Add extra spice to one or two jars so you can later test which you prefer for future reference.

Now you can dream of perfect cheese and pickles, ham and pickles or just a fork and a jar of pickles.

Liverpool City Centre Christmas

Liverpool is in full festive dress and there is so much going on in the city centre. 

Here's just a little taster.

You can see in the background of the first picture, behind those giant red baubles, the helter skelter which is part of the entertainment on the top level of the Liverpool One shopping mall.  

This shows the scene from the middle to the lower level

We have a traditional "real" Christmas Tree but I rather like this modern metal structure in one of the shopping arcades leading off Church Street.

I love these new shop fronts built in an old style.

There's a German style Market right in the centre....

and these two ghoulish girls were advertising "Shiverpool" Ghost tours through the old parts and back cracks of the city.

This fantastic facade is our M&S store!

German Church Christmas Bazaar in Liverpool

On Saturday, I joined my friend Jacqui at the German Church in Liverpool for their Christmas Bazaar.

A really colourful, interesting, event in the heart of our city.

Handmade crafts....

It was such a lovely atmosphere.

A taste of Germany right here and a gathering of German people who live, and work or study, in Liverpool.

Wonderfully scrumptious home made cakes, selling fast! 

Hand knitted baubles

Holly garlands and fresh produce

Popular German foodstuffs and traditional bread and bagels, all freshly made by the Liverpool German Baker.

We enjoyed some cake and a glass of hot Gluhwein and came home with some lovely buys.

Afterwards I walked into the city centre to see Liverpool's commercial German style market, but I'll save that for another day.

Leeds, Ready for Christmas

After visitng the Twisted Threads Show in Harrogate we took a trip the next day into Leeds,

where the run up to Christmas is in full swing.

The  Beautiful dome of the Corn Exchange, once a hive of busy trading and now a haven for shoppers. There are individual shops upstairs and downstairs along the three levels of galleries, all selling crafts and an interesting range of handmade goods.

This is such a spectacular building.

The Victorian Market Hall exterior

The traditional  cast iron vaulted structure of the old Victorian market.

So many interesting market stalls

Here's our favourite, Cafe Moor and on this tiny stall

they prepared, cooked and served the most amazing food...

to eat on the spot....

and they also sold North African and Middle Eastern delicacies to take home.

Just around the corner from it was Spice Corner, jam packed with, I imagine, every spice and herb on the planet.

I loved the traditional fresh fishmongers, which are dying out in most towns and cities due to pre packed supermarket fish etc. The displays were fabulous and I wanted to buy some but we weren't going home for another day so I didn't fancy the drive home with it in the car!

The beautiful old arcades were all dripping with Christmas lights and looking as spectacular as in any London arcade.

The German Christmas Market seemed just like those I've visited over in Germany itself but not a word of the German language was to be heard. The stalls were all staffed by Polish and English people which seemed so odd.

Right next door to this Moose Head sign I entered a small chalet building which amazingly opened out to a HUGE, Ginormous, Unexpected....

  Bierkeller....with a full house of revellers at around 2. 15pm with all the appropriate steins of beer an loud oompah music. It was just like opening a Tardis when I opened the door.

Leeds proved to be an interesting city, with wonderful buildings old and new and so many unique features to see. The people were so mannerly and friendly and the city was quite affluent and vibrant. Good to see on all counts.

Loved it! Well done Yorkshire for colouring our visit so well.

Decorations & Applique for WOYWW 234

WOYWW 234

My desk this week is very festive (and quite messy on the breakfast table) whilst I'm making easy peasy tree decorations. I'll shove it all onto that tray PDQ when I make my porridge! It's amazing to think that I've been making Christmas crafts since September, starting when I was demonstrating in Abakhan store and since then I've been making as much as possible for the CHICS (children's cancer care) fundraising sale. 

I don't usually begin to think of the "C" word until it's almost too late.

For these decorations I'm combining paper and felt by stitching (by machine) pretty, intricate, die cuts onto felt then cutting around them. So quick, so easy and they could also be made using stamped images.

I started off by cutting out the felt before machining but the card and felt shifted in the process so I soon realised it was easier to cut around them after machining. 

WOYWW is the inspiration of our prestigious leader Julia over at the Stamping Ground so pop over to find out all about it and to be amazed by all the other wonders to be found there via a simple click HERE !!!!

I used metallic threads for top stitching and it looks quite effective and a machined blanket stitch is good too around the edge.

They will have a ribbon and a tiny bell too. 

I've also cut a slit for a pocket, in the felt at the back, to hold a chocolate treat or a candy cane.Aldi has a great choice of chocolate items at cheap prices and the candy canes are only 75p for 10 in Home Bargains Stores. (There may be a Home Bargains near most UK residents as they are spreading across England.) 

I've also been making patchwork blocks for the monthly challenge for the quilting and patchwork group in our village, which I attend. 

Members take turns in choosing a technique and this month it was appliqué.

 We were given animal templates and guidelines to colours and fabrics.

I really enjoyed making these and so I made several towards the charity quilt they will be made into.

Previous months, challenges have been traditional blocks...

This is a rather complex block, from last month in the stages of making. A real learning curve for me.

This one was a bit easier!

and I loved doing this one

I'm now looking forward to seeing the quilts produced from our blocks when they are completed and in February it is my turn to set the design and I get to keep them from all the members!!

Threads Show - Harrogate

I've just returned from visiting the Threads Show in Harrogate. A riot of inspiration and colour for anyone who sews, knits or crafts in any form with threads or fabric. 

I really enjoyed the show and treated myself to some lovely stash including some Japanese fabrics. 

I didn't take very many pics at the show as many displays banned photography but I did manage a sneaky shot of these fabulous embroidered tree panels and love the way they were encased in perspex standing frames.

I also treated myself to a full kit of these marbling dyes which are so easy to use and instantly permanent.

They are effective on any fabric and they work well on textured surfaces such as shells, pebbles or frames. 

My intention is to marble fabric to make into a patchwork quilt.

There were highs and lows to the trip and I think I'd plan differently if ever I returned to Harrogate for a show. Next time I envisage using train or an organised coach trip. First, we couldn't get accommodation in the town but fortunately I found a super hotel via Travelzoo at a bargain rate, although it was near Leeds and thus a fair way from the show. 

The main problem of the visit was the nightmare of trying to find parking in Harrogate, as most of the car parks were full very early so, we drove round and round for over an hour and then, when we managed to find one which stated 73 spaces were available, we drove around inside for over 30 minutes before we found a vacant spot. Far too time wasting and stressful.

Here's one of the highs.....

Monks Fryston Hall, where we stayed....

dating from 12th Century, oozing with history and once a settlement of monks, before it was transformed into this stately residence. It has beautiful, extensive grounds, rolling down past it's lake and orchards, to a river and, even in the bitter cold of a Yorkshire late Autumn, it was lovely to take a stroll around. 

The main halls are wood panelled with a minstrel gallery around the stair well and there were roaring log fires.

The food was first class, as was the service, especially when we weren't paying top price!
The following day we made an interesting trip to Leeds.... but that's another story.....