A Taste of Yorkshire

On Saturday Rosie and I went to the latest York area Clandestine Cake Club meeting.  The Theme for this meeting was 'A Taste of Yorkshire' so I decided to make my Nana's Parkin Recipe (although I had a touch of collapsing cake syndrome.)

The meeting was held at Rachel's house and sponsored by Yorkshire tea,  and we had several tea loafs, a lemon cake and a Wensleydale and Apple Cake as well as my parkin.

Parkin is traditionally a very sticky heavy cake and my Grandpa didn't care for it so Nana would make this one which he preferred:

Parkin

Mix together in a bowl :

8oz plain flour
4oz sugar
1 teaspoon Baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Meanwhile melt together in a pan:
6oz butter
4oz Golden Syrup

Add to the bowl with the dry ingredients along with 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda dissolved in a cup of hot water along with a beaten egg.

Mix well and pour into a greased loaf tin.

Bake at 160 degrees centigrade for about an hour. 

This is my Grandparents in their youth, my Grandpa was always a very natty dresser!

Meanwhile I have made steady progress on the pre-stitching for the 'Along the James River' Class

 Along the James River copyright Forget Me Nots In Stitching 2012

using the kit materials

Theme-a-licious - Amazon April

 

In my goals for April I said that I was going to work on the Scottish Sampler from the Goodhart book and that I would start the pre-stitching for my classes with Lauren Sauer at the end of June.

I'm very pleased to have finished the border on the Scottish sampler and to be started on the alphabets

Scottish Sampler 1757 charted by Erica Uten 

from the Goodheart Sampler Book by Needleprint

stitched using the fabric & silks provided at Ackworth 2008

I only have pre-stitching for one of the classes in June, the Along the James River pocket.  Most of the month was spent doing the prep work but I did manage to get to a start on the stitching.

Along the James River copyright Forget Me Nots In Stitching 2012

using the kit materials

For May I'm going to have to take a break from 'Theme-a-licious' because I want to concentrate on the pre-stitching.  I think if I focus on it I have a fighting chance of getting it done before the class.

Sorry for my recent absence a combination of the Easter holidays from school and then Christopher catching Chicken Pox has meant that there hasn't been much time for me this month.  So I've been reaching for my stitching, knitting & books to unwind when I've had a moment to myself rather than sitting down with the laptop.

So this is a bit of a drive by post with a couple of things that I finally 'finished' in March and I shall be back next week with the 'Theme-a-licious' round up for the month.

First I finally got round to sewing up the cardigan I was knitting for Rosie.  I finished the knitting last year, quite why it took so long to put together is anyone's guess

Cardigan from Debbie Bliss Magazine Autumn/Winter 2011

knit in Debbie Bliss Angel

I also managed to 'finish' this little design from HobNob designs that I stitched back in 2004!

 

Theme-a-licious Update - March Madness

 

In my last update I said that I would like to finish the eyelet alphabet on my 'March Madness' project Juda Hayle in Miniature by Eileen Bennett.  Unfortunately I was feeling rather under the weather for the last couple of weeks, so such tiny stitching wasn't appealing (Deco got plenty of love instead!) but I did get a few more letters done.  I can see the end of this alphabet now!

Juda Hale School Sampler  in Miniature copyright Eileen Bennett 2004 Stitched using the kit materials

I did meet my main goal for March and Alpine Garden is finished! A delight to stitch as always with a Drawn Thread design and I'm thrilled to have it stitched at last.  I just have to stitch Prairie Garden now to complete the set.

Alpine Garden by The Drawn Thread copyright 2000

stitched using the recommended materials 

Now onto my goals for 'Amazon April', Heather's guidance is 'dip your needle into the vast swath of fabric dedicated to your BIGGEST projects!' 

So I am going to pull the Scottish Sampler from the Goodhart Book back out to work on this month,  I'm not going to start something new to replace 'Alpine Garden' as I am expecting that the pre-stitching for this years classes with Lauren Sauer to arrive soon and I will need to crack on with that.

Theme-a-licious Check In - March Madness

 

Here is my progress on my 'March Madness' goals - I said that my version was going to be working over one on 35 count by picking up 'Juda Hayle in Miniature' by Eileen Bennett.

I've made steady progress on this one, I'm almost finished another row of the eyelet alphabet.  The eyelets are a real sod to stitch over one, if I'd realised just how much I would have substituted another stitch.  I average one letter a night with this, I'm hoping that  I can finish the final row of this alphabet this month.  I've left the needle in for scale.

Juda Hale School Sampler  in Miniature copyright Eileen Bennett 2004
Stitched using the kit materials

My other goal for March is too finish The Drawn Threads Alpine Garden. Progress is slow and steady, I've finished another band.

Alpine Garden by The Drawn Thread copyright 2000

stitched using the recommended materials 

I really liked the leaf stitch used for the dividing band, it was a fun one to do and looks gorgeous

Alpine Garden by The Drawn Thread copyright 2000

stitched using the recommended materials 

 

Five!

It was Rosie's birthday last weekend, apparently she's five but I swear I just brought her home from hospital.  Go figure!

She had a very clear idea about her birthday cake, it had to be a Princess castle.  So taking inspiration from Rachel at DollyBakes and using one of her recipes in the Clandestine Cake Cookbook (my Valentines present)  I did a Lemon bundt cake in the shape of a castle.  Then Rosie got to work with the glittery writing icing and the shimmer spray to turn it into the castle of her imagination.

 

Theme-a-licious Update - Febuary

Since my last update stitching time has been seriously short, a combination of half-term and a bad sore throat since the last update has left me to tired to stitch during the evenings.

I did manage to finish the center section of Alpine Garden then things ground to a halt

Alpine Garden by The Drawn Thread copyright 2000

stitched using the recommended materials 

A close up of the centre, I know I say this every time but it is so pretty

Alpine Garden by The Drawn Thread copyright 2000

stitched using the recommended materials 

And on Fruits of the Vine I've finished the front of the scissor fob

Fruits of the Vine by With My Needle copyright 2010

stitched using the kit materials

and made good progress on the inside of the needle roll

Fruits of the Vine by With My Needle copyright 2010

stitched using the kit materials

And onto 'March Madness'  I'm going to take a slightly different take on this.  I've decided that my definition this year is to work over one on 35 count! So my weekend project is going to be Eileen Bennett's Juda Hale in Miniature.  Otherwise I'm really hoping that I can finish Alpine Garden this month.