more kittens

Cals kittens are doing really well. They are 2 weeks old now and about 3 times the size when they were born, all of them have there eyes open and they are staring to be more mobile. Cal is still very protective of them and won't let me play with them for long but it won't be long now till they are weaned and that's when the fun really begins :)

Cal has done amazingly well for a first time mum. I could do without the den moves at 4 in the morning. Last week she decided she wanted the kittens in bed with me so I woke up to little scratches at the back of my knee and found Cal and 2 kittens sharing my bed. That's the problem with den moves, Cal can't count and she doesn't know when she's moved all her kittens. I've woken up a couple of times to find half have been moved and I have to persuade Cal to keep all her kittens together.

They only big problem I have is Cassi, Cals sister. She doesn't understand why her friend and cuddle bunny doesn't want her around at the mo, so she is very upset and has started growling and hissing at Cal. Its come to blows a few times between them and Cassi has started spending more and more time outside. I know things will settle down when the kittens are weaned but its just so sad seeing them mad at each other when they were so close. When Cassi does come in she spends most of her time hiding under my crochet and looking very sweet.

 more cute pics of kittens :)

owl pattern update

Question: is the right or wrong side of the crochet the outside of the bag? Your pics look like the wrong side and my piece, I'm about 5rounds into it, is curling towards the wrong side as the outside.

I received this comment on my owl bag pattern and I thought the best way to answer it was to remake the bag and show you it step by step so here goes.

 This first pics shows the bag after on row 3 of the pattern. You can see that the bag is twisting, this is perfectly normal. After row 3 of the pattern you continue going round in single crochet until the bag is 2 3rds of the finished height.

 After about 5 more rounds you can see that the bag is still twisting but don't worry it will sort itself out

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You can see now after about 15 rounds that the bag has started t flatten out.

 Now we've done 2 3rds and its time to change colour but first we'll look at the right and wrong sides of single crochet stitch.

 I don't know if this is true to all crochet but in amigurumi the above is considered the right side of the fabric, it has a nice even texture.

 Its a bit tough to tell the difference with a multicoloured yarn but this is the wrong side of the fabric.

Now after I changed colour and did the last 3rd in that colour I'm ready to decorate the bag. Instead of crocheting the eyes this time I decided to use felt and embroidery. First I cut out the felt shapes I wanted and placed them on the bag to make sure I was happy with the design.

 I've added wings and a crown to this owl just cause I think it looks cute.

Now finished, I used blanket stitch round the eyes and added v's in different embroidery colours on the wings to look like feathers.

So there you go I hope this helps anyone having a problem with this pattern

Happy crocheting :)

Easter kittens

You can keep you chocolate and bunnys I got an even better easter surprise. Last night Cal had her kitten.

5 little bundles of fluff. I'm so proud of Cal she did really well, she started about 5pm last night and went to her birthing box, she was purring and quite content throughout and by 7pm we had 3 kittens. I thought that was all we were gonna get but at 9pm she started again and we got another 2. All the kittens are really well with beautiful markings. I think we've got 3 girls and 2 boys.  Mother and babys are all well and happy :)

More cheesecake anyone?

 While I've not been doing much crocheting but I have been doing a lot of baking and if you've read any of this blog you'll know I and my friends are big fans of cheesecake. I have a very good recipe for a basic set cheesecake and I've used this base to experiment and make lots of different flavours. These are mini cheesecakes made in little foil pie tins and the will feed 2 people each or 1 greedy person but the best bit for me at least is they freeze well, so I can make a batch when I have some free time and then pop them in the freezer for when I want a sweet treat or I have friends coming round.

This time I've made my classic chocolate orange which you can find the recipe for here which is always a huge hit with friends and family. Next up is lemon meringue which a very simple lemon cheesecake topped with crushed meringue and candid lemon peel. Finally Eton mess, a rich strawberry cheesecake with meringue pieces topped with more meringue, fresh strawberry and chocolate.
 Don't they look lovely together like that and it got me thinking, a full stall of these at a food fair would look amazing don't you think? maybe I should give it a go. What do you recon guys shall I start a new cupcake fad with my mini cheesecakes? Here dreaming anyway :)

Any day now

Any day now this little lady is gonna pop and we are going to have baby kittens :) I'm so excited to see how many she has and what they look like. I know I'm gonna have my hands full for a while but its gonna be great fun.