Emilia Bird: Birthday makes and birthday bakes

Tuesday, 2 August 2011

Birthday makes and birthday bakes

This weekend was full of birthday fun and I did lots of making and baking for the special occasions. This is a very nice thing about being on holiday - plenty of time for making and baking.

a nice feature of the socks is that they stand up alone.

Here are the socks I knitted for my mum. I used some rowan pure wool 4 ply in 'antique' and this pattern from the guardian. They were a real delight to knit, although perhaps could have been a little longer at the ankle. It's not often I knit socks though and these were definitely the best pair yet. I would like some for myself before the summer is out.

award winning!

On sunday we went for a garden party in honour of Mum's birthday and also because it had been mine and my sister's birthdays in July too. Mum's garden won first place in the Burgess Hill in Bloom competition (garden design category) so it was a treat to sit there in the sun. I am so pleased for Mum that she won and proud of her too. Gardens take a lot of work i think.

Mum had asked me to make a cake for the occasion as there were lots of people there and it is nice to help. I decided a good summer treat would be the apple and raspberry cake i made a few weeks ago.

two cakes are better than one (on the left is apple and raspberry cake and on the right Beth's birthday sponge)

Here is it on the left. And here on the right you can also see a birthday cake for my friend Beth. On saturday night we had a good old knees up for that event, and this sponge had come out really very nicely indeed. The recipe for this one is:

8oz butter/margerine, 8oz caster sugar, 9oz self raising flour, 3 eggs, 2 tablespoons of very hot water (added only once the other things are mixed together well).

It makes a very lovely light sponge.

Also for Beth's birthday I knitted a red tea cosy just like ours. I have been really impressed with this little make as really does keep the pot hot. I even used the pattern I had written there so was pleased to have written it down to know what I did. I did make a couple of modifications though like having fewer stitches and making the ruffle in garter stitch. Beth likes tea and has a nice teapot so I thought this would be a good gift.