GBBO 2020 - Week 1

 

It’s that time of year again where I every week I watch bake off and actually want to bake. Actually, I didn’t watch it last year. I eventually came off my high horse of never watching it again since it moved channel. I got over that but last year I was just too busy and I never did get the chance to catch up with it as planned. This year though I will watch it and I am in the mood to bake along.

I was a little sad to see Sandy leave as a cohost but Matt Lucas has proven to be fun and I’m looking forward to watching him and Noel. I see he has already caused with his opening but I thought it was funny. The contestants themselves seem like a nice bunch and I am looking forward to getting to know them as the show progresses. Warning, if you haven’t seen this episode I suggest you don’t read any further.

The first week was cake week and the signature dish is battenberg. Didn’t realise how controversial a battenberg is. Most people love it or hate it. I’m afraid I myself am not a fan as I hate marzipan. My gran used to buy a battenberg to bring over for a cup of tea. I could tolerate it as the marzipan was so thin I could peel it off and the cake would just taste like cake. With the bakers versions though the marzipan looked so thick for most that peeling wouldn’t work. It was interesting though to see all the different flavours. The one above is by baker Dave and is probably the one that appealed to me most as it is a chocolate espresso martini. Seeing this I wish I liked it. I am pretty sure that this isn’t the first time this cake made an appearance on bake off. Wasn’t it a technical dish at some point?

The technical was a classic. Pineapple upside down cake. This was one of my mum’s specialities after her scones and her Christmas cake and dumpling. However, she didn’t make it like this. There was no caramel or whipped cream. Plus it was one cake and not lots of individual cakes. She also substituted the cherry for jam as she hated cherries. Still, it was an interesting take on the classic and I think most of the bakers seemed to struggle with it. Poor Dave though. His went flying through the air after poor Sura tried to swat away a fly and didn’t see Dave coming up behind her. I felt so sorry for her. If you fancy trying this recipe you will find it on the GBBO website. It’s a Paul recipe in case you were wondering.

Lastly was the show stopper and the bakers had to make a sculpture of someone they admired made mostly from cake. In other words they couldn’t cheat by using mainly rice crispy treats as a base (guess who has watched cake wars). This was hilarious. Some of the most disturbing sculptures were seen that day. The winner of the week was Peter who kind of cheated since he sculpted Chris hoy in his cycling helmet and glasses. You have to admire him for that though. Plus, all of his bakes turned out well so I think it was well deserved. It did make me wonder who I would choose to sculpt. I would struggle I think as some of the people I admire I think it would be seen as poor taste. However, I did think that Stephen King would be a good one since I think he would have a sense of humour about it.

Sadly the first contestant to go was Loriea. She wasn’t the only one to have a bad week to be honest so I think it must have been a difficult decision. I did honestly think that she has scraped a pass (despite using bubblegum flavouring but that’s just my personal taste). She doesn’t appear to be on twitter but you can follow her and see her bakes on Instagram under Loriea_cc.

As always with GBBO, none of these images belong to me but do belong to Channel 4 and the GBBO franchise.

So I had a go at my mum’s recipe. My dad had sent it to me along with her scone recipe many moons ago. I should have used a small tin and I should have added the cherries after it came out the oven (perhaps with jam as per my mum). However, it actually turned out well. It tasted just like my mum’s and the sponge was light. I will definitely make this again. I decided not to make the GBBO version because I didn’t have the little tins and I wanted to use my mum’s recipe. I’m pleased with the result. 

Happy Birthday To Me!

 

So my birthday was a month ago now and some of these purchases are not as a result of my birthday. But any excuse to buy yourself yarn goodies or show off your yarn goodies, right? So first up is the most recent goodies from the Sea Creatures club by Mothy & the Squid. This one is based on The Southern Blue Devil Fish. How beautiful is this? I love the deep blues and it matches the fish perfectly. I am also in love with the little coaster that came with it. Will definitely be using it.

So here is what I did treat myself to for my birthday. So, a friend of my sister asked what I had bought myself for my birthday. I hadn’t thought about it to be honest. I asked if paying my NMC fees (that’s right £120 to be allowed to do my job) counted. Apparently not. As luck would have it The Loveliest Yarn Company then posted that they would receive more copies of 52 Weeks of Socks published by Laine magazine and we could pre-order. I have been considering purchasing this book since it was first out for pre-order. As I had a lot of sock knitting books and was starting to design my own I held out. This is such a beautiful book though. Above all of my sock knitting books. It’s a solid hardback book with lovely binding. A book for the coffee table (if you like coffee table books). There are so many beautiful patterns in there. I know a few people are challenging themselves to knit them all. I might do the same but I am thinking that I will hold off until the new year. Something for me to look forward to. Now the question is do I start at pattern 1 or do I randomly choose what appeals to me?

Another book that has been on my radar is Cat Knits by Marna Gilligan. It’s the hat that I liked immediately and I thought my sister would love it. So I added this to my birthday shopping. It is another lovely book (not a coffee table book). Definitely only for the cat fans among you. There are quite a few patterns in there that I would knit. Plus my sister has already earmarked which ones she would like. I’m surprised she hasn’t done what she does when I get a new cookbook. Which is place a post it to ensure I know what she wants. I’m looking forward to it.

I saw this zipped cardigan in an issue of The Knitter and I really wanted to knit it for my dad. He has something similar (bought) which he wears all the time and I thought it would be nice that I knitted one. I know he had a jumper from my mum that he wore to death. Since I knitted my own cardigan he has been hinting (I say hinting, there was no real hint to it) that I knit him a 2ply colourwork vest. Keep in mind I am a beginner with large garments. My mum always refused to knit him this so I was quite happy also refusing his request. However, I thought this would be perfect. I ordered the yarn direct from Bergere de France. It’s actually fairly reasonable and it comes in lots of lovely colours. I have to admit that I had to reign in my excitement at the colours and remember who I was knitting for. I think my dad would have preferred a much darker grey. I decided to go with the lighter though as it suits him and I still need to knit it. I’m pleased to say that it is already on the pins and is knitting up well so far.

Lastly, I bought a hat kit from Toft. This is for my sister for her Christmas/birthday (haven’t decided which yet). I finally caught up with all the Fruity Knitting episodes and really liked the interview with Toft. The podcasters daughter had also knit this very hat as a way of practising her colourwork skills. I thought that would be perfect so picked out colours that I thought my sister would like. I love that the kit comes in a drawstring bag and the pattern is downloadable (which I have still to do). I think I will cast this on for #StudySunday.

Seed Head Socks

The latest socks I have finished are another favourite. These are the Seed Head Socks by Vikki Bird Designs. I have linked her Love Crafts page rather than the design on ravelry so that no one needs to worry about clicking on the link. She has some very pretty designs. I especially like her fox mitts. Please go check her out.

This pattern was designed for the Flower Power Fund and for a period of time proceeds wend to the flower power fund which raises money for Marie Curie. It was how I came across the pattern and the designer. I was immediately taken by the pattern because it looked so delicate. I also knew that there was something new for me to learn from it (such as the little seed heads). The socks are toe up. If you know me you will be aware (maybe) that I am not a fan of toe up. The first time I tried it I was taught by the lovely Ginnie (otherwise known as the sock lady). It was a basic sock and I found that it took so much longer than a cuff down. I don’t know why that would be since your not knitting any more than you would cuff down. However, with this pair and another (I think it was the Christmas stocking) I was learning a new method of casting on. I also had the added joy of knitting the design running up the centre of the sock. I was certainly not bored. It’s a beautiful knit and I enjoyed every second of it. The pattern was written well. It used both charts and written instructions which was helpful. Plus it linked to YouTube videos for the cast on and the seed heads. I highly recommend this pattern for anyone who would like to move beyond the basic pattern. What I will say is that I don’t normally block my socks. My sock blockers are purely for taking photographs. However, these socks do need blocking to show off the pretty pattern.

The yarn I used was a sock yarn by Countess Ablaze. The colour way is called “You look like a bag of spinach”. I initially was going to use a deep pink Donegal yarn. When this arrived though I knew straight away that this was the perfect yarn for the pattern. The delicate colours matched the pattern perfectly and that the two would harmonise rather than drown each other out. The yarn is lovely to work with. Initially I found it a little splitty but that was purely me doing a cast on method I had done only once before. Once I got into the pattern I had absolutely no issues with it and could enjoy it. If you saw last months haul post you will see I have another skein of yarn from Countess Ablaze and I just need to find the perfect sock pattern for it.

These socks (like the last pair) have already been given away. This time to my sister’s best friend. She’s a key worker within a care setting. She’s currently having to isolate for two weeks and my sister wanted to send her a care package and I suggested she put these in with it. She has liked the plain socks I have knitted for her so I think she will like these too.

Next post will probably be another finish as this weekend I am working on a pair of slippers (they are very sock like). I have fixed my Victoria top but couldn’t find my stitch holders and had to order more. I hope to get back on track with that. I have also started my Christmas knitting. Then there is bake off starting next week and I might start my weekly bake off posts again (I’ve gotten over the move to channel 4 although I didn’t watch it last year).

I hope that you are all staying safe both physically and mentally.

Whitethorn Socks

 

These socks are my latest finish from my regular weekend socks challenge. I’m not sure why I call it a challenge as I really don’t need an incentive to concentrate on socks. Anyway. I think that these are my favourites so far. I know I say that every time I finish a pair but at the moment it is true of these. First of all a little warning the link to the pattern will take you to ravelry. 

The pattern is called “Whitethorn Socks” by Lindsey Fowler of Lost and Found. It’s a beautiful pattern and one that I think changes with the colours you use. If you are able to do so you will see on the pattern cover that they are knitted up in a light coloured yarn which shows them off as quite delicate. I feel that this rich green gives them a chunkier, cosy look. I quite like a pattern that does that and I will be knitting these again as a result. The pattern itself is very easy to follow. The cables are an 8 round repeat and very memorable. I think so long as you have a little familiarity with cables this would be a good pattern for anyone wanting to move away from the basic sock.

The yarn is a sock yarn by Mothy and the Squid. It’s part of her Sea Creatures club and this one is inspired by the giant cuttlefish. I LOVE this colourway. I love how rich the greens look thanks to the subtle variations of the shades. I worried that a pattern would drown this out. However, I also felt that it was a little too special for just a plain sock. I am so glad that I chose the pattern that I did as I feel that the two compliment each other. This was a beautiful yarn to work with. I always love knitting with Mothy’s yarns but to have a pattern that you have fallen in love with two doubles that feeling. It was to the extent that I didn’t want to finish knitting them which I think is why it took a little longer than it normally would.

Now, I had promised myself that these socks were for me. I promised myself with the yarn and with the pattern individually. Then a friend in work gifted me some fudge she had made herself. If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen a photo of it. It was the most delicious fudge that I have ever tasted. My sister has said to me that my friend is her new best friend and will be forever known as fudge lady. I of course cleaned out her tub and was prepared to return it. I wanted to fill it though with something I had made before handing it back (has anyone heard of that? I thought it was a thing but seems I’m the only one who thought so). My oven is temperamental just now and while it’s fine for cooking not so fine for baking. I then decided to give her a pair of socks and I thought these were perfect for her. It wasn’t even painful to part with. She loved them and was showing them off all day. The added bonus was that green is her favourite colour. I must have instinctively known.