MonthJanuary 2009

New lojoco site! ThingsToDoToday.org

John and I, as lojoco, have launched a new website: Things To Do Today.

To be neat, we launched it on 1st January and I added it my projects page but forgot to blog about it over here. To steal the blurb from there though:

Updated daily, Monday to Friday, Things To Do Today is intended to be the lefty, crafty equivalent of all those “buy this gadget! look at this guy getting hit in the balls!” sites: every day, we feature four interesting things for people to do or make. These could be links to yummy recipes, fun things to make, excellent articles to read or beautiful videos to watch – or just ideas, tips or reminders for things you could or should do. If you ever need a bit of inspiration for tea or for your next craft project, you might well find the answer on Things To Do Today.

Continue reading

Flatbread with honey & sesame oil

I wanted to make some flatbreads to go with our lamb tagine this evening but all the recipes called for plain flour & yeast and I couldn’t find any of the latter in our over-stuffed cupboard. I kept the yeast-activating honey from the recipes I found though and aside from that just improvised.

They turned out ace – sweet and tasty in their own right but the taste didn’t overpower or clash with the flavour of the tagine.

Recipe for flatbreads with honey & sesame oil

(I don’t really measure/weigh stuff so quantities are estimates)

  • About 150g of self-raising flour (since I had some of that)
  • 1tablespoon ish of olive oil
  • 1teaspoon ish of honey
  • A tiny bit (maybe half a teaspoon) of sesame oil
  • Some water
  • Toasted sesame seeds (completely optional topping)

Preheat the oven to about gas mark 5.

Put the flour in a mixing bowl and add the honey & the oils. Mix together (but it won’t mix that well because it’s pretty dry).

Gradually add water, mixing all the time until you get a well mixed stiff (ie, not sloppy) dough. Knead it a bit.

Divide dough into pieces – four for (my) hand-size breads, six for smaller ones. Roll them in your hands to make a ball then squish them out flat on a dusted board/counter. Squish them out further with your palm until they’re, I don’t know, just under 1cm? in height. Throw some toasted sesame seeds on the top if you want to use them.

Lightly grease up a baking tray with olive oil, or if you’re an excitable sort, a little sesame oil. Plop the breads on the tray and put the trays in the oven, top shelf, for about, I don’t know, I’m really not good at this numbers business, 15 minutes? – until they’re cooked but no more lightly brown on the bottom and slightly browning on the top. Leave to stand for a minute then serve immediately or as immediately as you can manage if you’re anything like us.

Making stuff: another crochet net shopping bag

crocheted shopping bag

I’ve made a few of these crocheted shopping bags now and am refining them further and further every time. They’re roughly based on Melinama’s pattern though (a note – she uses US stitches so SC = our DC; and her DC = our TC).

My favourite thing is they’re super quick and easy to make – I’m not particularly fast at crochet but I can make them in a few hours. They’re a great project for beginners too because you only need to know chain, double crochet and treble crochet (US = chain, SC and DC). They cemented my love of crochet because they were the first thing I made that produced something really different to knitting.

Most of my bags so far have been made out of some super cheap dishcloth-style cotton so the stretch comes from the stitches not the yarn. The beige for this one was heavier than normal so in comparison, I had to double up the purple so it didn’t look weird. A single thread of the purple would have been strong enough though. (I’ve also tried making a bag out of old carrier bags cut into strips and crocheted using a chunky hook. It was fun as a Recycle This-style project but something about it seems a little too stretchy for regular use.)

I like making the handles considerably wider than in Melinama’s pattern – TCs in each stitch up each side – and joined to the body in more than places than just the first chain/last slip stitch. If I had more patience, I’d probably do two rows of TCs up each side but by that point, I get over excited about the finishing line being so close. I do love how neat the top of the bag is though.

The bags crunch down pretty small when not in use but then stretch up quite a lot as soon as you put something heavy in them. Really pretty smashing.

Making stuff: fiery ginger and honey biscuits

ginger and honey biscuits

I’ve been in a bit of a biscuit making phase recently – something I’ve not really done before because the effort has seemed like it was out of proportion with the end product. Then I found a really simple and quick recipe for cinnamon biscuits and made a batch for John in November, and after that a (probably short-lived) obsession was born.

I kinda use recipes and knitting/crochet/sewing patterns as a vague guide – something to give me a rough idea to riff off rather than something follow slavish. I also don’t usually measure stuff out when I’m cooking so the recipe details are estimates based on the original recipe I used for the cinnamon ones.

I made this set of biscuits to take around to enjoy during a night of gaming with Dathan and Gianni. The dough was perhaps the best yet and they stayed in nice cute rounds. They’re crunchy not soft but YUM.

Continue reading

Making stuff: a knitting needle bag made from old jeans

knitting needle bag made from old jeans

As my love of knitting and crochet has grown so has my collection of needles, hooks and other related accessories.

I decided I needed a needle bag to keep them all neat but despite digging the sewing machine out, didn’t fancy doing too much sewing. My first thought was to modify an old pillow case – I have a stash of vintage ones for crafting with courtesy of various charity shops – but then realised an old pair of jeans would be even better – lots of built-in pockets!

Vague instructions below but it’s dead simple. The belt is old cheap one that I worn too much and snapped the last 6 inches off the tip — too short for me now but a perfect (if largely unnecessary) accessory here.

I made it and took the photo a few weeks ago – the front pockets are now filled with crochet hooks in one side and short double pointed needles in the other. I’ve got stuff I don’t use much in the back pockets – picking shears in one side, cable needles and stuff in the other – with the main pocket stuffed full of regular needles and circular ones. It works pretty well and I can find everything I need – plus, it lifts of the hooks and is easily transportable too if I ever need to take my stuff anywhere (might add a detachable strap if that looks likely).

The bag hangs on the side of my “craft” unit in our living room – it’s relatively flat and looks comparitively neat compared to the rest of the crap bursting out of said unit/the rest of our house and is, reasonably, cat proof.
Continue reading