Warms hand, cold fingers

My glubs are finally finished and ready to be sent to my mother to help keep her elderly little hands warm.

These were super easy to make:

Using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK yarn I made a foundation chain of 32 stitches, which creates a square that once folded in half is nice and loose (but not too loose) for medium-sized hands.

I then did one row of treble crochet stitch before doing nine double rows of treble stitch (to create larger stripes) and then finished off with a last row of treble stitch to create my finished square.

Finished the edges of the square off with double crochet stitch and then added a shell edging at the top.

I then turned the squares into fingerless mittens by joining sides with double crochet worked from the outside, leaving open a gap of two stripes for the thumb.

To make a shell edging:

Complete a double crochet stitch into the first stitch of double crochet that you edged the square with, then miss two stiches and work five treble stitches into the next stitch. Miss the following two stitches (the first shell is complete) and start again at the double crochet.

You might have to fudge the last shell a bit as I haven't checked the maths of it and the edging of one my glubs fitted perfectly, while the other one was fudged a bit (but you can't tell). Clearly, the problem lies with me. Not much of a problem, though. Really.

All stitches are given in the UK terms.

To see what others are up to in the creative spaces today go here.

Brown sugar

I was reminded yesterday that brown sugar is not a less processed form of white sugar. In fact, it's just white sugar with molasses added. Now I can't be bothered making brown sugar every time I need it so am happy to buy it. However, some recipes call for dark brown sugar - and I draw the line at buying that. Instead, I add molasses to either white caster sugar or brown sugar - whatever I have more of in the cupboard at the time.

Above is packet white caster sugar, packet brown sugar and dark brown sugar I've made from pulsing 2 cups of caster sugar with about a 1/4 cup of molasses in a food processor.

Life is sweet. Crowded cupboards aren't.

Bulbalicious

It's been two weeks since I potted up hyacinth, tulip and something-else-I-can't-remember-or-recognise bulbs into three pots - and already there are green little arms poking through the soil and reaching for the sun.

Keep reaching, I say, as this is week one of the six coldest weeks of the year - and proof that it's not too late for inconsistent gardeners like myself to fiddle about with bulbs and pots.

Inner west France

The bright weekend sunshine provided the perfect excuse to roam around a couple of markets. Picked up five elegant little glasses for just $1 each, my favourite buy of the weekend, on Saturday at Rozelle Markets.

Along with the apples that came home with me on Sunday from Marrickville Markets was an almost pristine copy of Vicki Archer's My French Life, $10, an old metal bicycle basket, $10, which I'll use for office storage.

Continuing with the unintentional rustic French theme I also popped into my bag a new, but old-style, dishwashing moppy thing, $5, from a stall selling millet brooms, natural bristle wooden dustpan and scrubbing brushes, and all sorts of beautifully made cleaning items from the Snowy Mountains area of NSW.

Everything they had was well priced so keep a look out for them at a market near you as they don't do any regular stints but move around. I have to use the generic term 'they' as stupidly I didn't get 'their' name.

Must have been intoxicated by all that sunshine. If only I could have distilled and sipped it from one of my glasses. With a croissant.

Le chat

The Child was sitting on the floor of her room practising her flute while inexplicably wearing a grass skirt (I do not ask). Suddenly, she heard and felt some scratching. The Cat was trying to make a nest in her skirt.

I don't know who's odder, the Child or the Cat but they both make me laugh, and I was reminded of an old book I had somewhere. Scratching around myself, I found French for Cats: All the French your Cat will ever Need, written by Henry Beard, a co-founder of National Lampoon magazine.

Why a cat speaking French is even more amusing than a cat speaking cat is I don't know. It just is. Must be the perceived shared attitude.

If only I could get Le Chat to wear a beret.

Cranky pear cake

Tossing up to either go for a run/shuffle or clean the oven before I start the day properly. Either way, I'll need a reward so I've made Sticky Pear Gingerbread. Should you wish to ruin all the good work brought about by exercise or give your oven walls an extra layer of neglect, here's the recipe:

125g butter
1/3 cup treacle
1/3 cup golden syrup
2/3 cup brown sugar
1-2/3 cup flour
4 tsps baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
1-1/4 cups milk
1 egg
2 large or 3 small pears, peeled, cored & diced

• Pre-heat oven at 170C (bit lower if fan-forced).
• Heat butter, treacle, golden syrup & sugar until butter is melted and sugar dissolved. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.
• Sift flour, baking powder, bicarb soda and ground ginger into a bowl and whisk in treacle mixutre, egg and milk. Fold in pears.
• Pour into a square or loaf tin and bake for 60-75mins, depending on choice of tin. Cake is cooked when skewer comes out clean.

Don't be put off by the cracks in the top of mine as I was a little lazy about getting it out of the tin and rather than turning it upside down I pulled it out by the underlying baking paper. The pear-cake equivalent of getting out of bed on the wrong side. Would make anyone cranky - or crinkly in this case.

See what others are up to in their creatives spaces today here.

June reading

Have just finished reading The Novel in the Viola, the new book from Mr Rosenblum's List author Natasha Solomons. I'd recommend it as a bed book, winter's equivalent of a beach read; something to curl up and get lost in but whose plot I'll have completely forgotten in a month's time. It was like a great fling: fun while it lasted. (I think my brain is still affected by the WW2-era language. Who says fling?)

Next on my list is Linda Grant's The Thoughtful Dresser, something I've wanted to read for ages. I can't describe the premise any better than the blurb on the back: "...the thinking woman's guide to our relationship with what we wear..." This non-fiction subject has become its own mini genre over the last few years, and, when done well, it's engrossing, insightful, playful and poignant. When its not done well, it's more a superficial romp through someone's wardrobe, which doesn't interest me. Justine Picardie's 2006 My Mother's Wedding Dress was the first such book I picked up and I've been hooked ever since. I have high hopes for The Thoughtful Dresser as Grant is a Man Booker-prize shortlisted author.

Pia Jane Bijkerk's My Heart Wanders arrived in the post a week ago and I haven't got further than flicking through it yet. Looks pretty. Very pretty. Regardless of how the words will sound to my ears, it's a book I could enjoy for its looks alone.

If I could just crawl back into bed right now with a mug of hot chocolate...