Finished Projects: Easy Striped Baby Blanket

I started knitting this blanket when I was pregnant. I more or less lost my creative mojo when I was pregnant, but I saw this pattern and it inspired me to make something for my new arrival. I had been wanting to use up some teal coloured cotton yarn I bought for something else, plus some other yarns in my stash. The teal green, navy and silver worked really well together, a very similar colour scheme I saw in Kmart, so I'm totally #ontrend! 

Oh Hello! Introducing my new arrival :) He makes a pretty good photography prop!

Luckily for me I managed to finish the blanket before my little guy arrived! I also managed to get some matching booties done.

Matching booties to warm little feet! 

You can find the free pattern for this blanket here. It's surprisingly easy- if you can knit and purl you can make this! The pattern is from the fabulous Debbie Bliss knitting book "60 Quick Baby Knits". This is a really great book, although I don't own it (wishlist) I have borrowed it from the library before. 

The fancy looking border is actually just a simple seed stitch design- alternating rows of knit/purl then purl/knit creating a textured look. 

If you're interested in finding other patterns I like, feel free to follow my Crochet, Knitting & Yarn Pinterest board! I've also saved a few tips and tricks there too. 

Nothing cosier than a mummy made blanket to snuggle under!

Yarns used for this project:

Teal Green: 4 Seasons "Flinders" 100% Cotton 8 Ply Colour 80337207 

Silver: Panda "Dianella" 100% Viscose derived from Bamboo  Colour Shooting Star

Navy: 4 Seasons "Superwash Merino" 100% Merino 4 Ply

All purchased from Spotlight Stores 

Happy making x

Black Forest Chocolate Fudge

At Christmas last year, my clever sister made a few home made gifts, including the most delicious Chocolate Baileys Liqueur Fudge. It was so soft, smooth and creamy, I had to have the recipe. Being pregnant I didn't think it was such a great idea to include a liqueur in my version (even though it's a minuscule amount), and because I like to work with what I have, I also adapted the flavour with the chocolate too. I'm sure you could use a variety of different chocolate flavours, including plain dark, milk or white chocolate  Maybe not soft filled ones like peppermint or caramel, simply because I imagine you need enough chocolate to help set the fudge. You can also substitute the liqueur for anything too, if you want to make a non-alcoholic fudge then use a flavoured syrup like the type you put into coffee. I used milkshake syrup and it worked fine!

You can find the original recipe here, and if you're a fudge fan, you might like my recipe for White Chocolate Russian Fudge too! 

Black Forest Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients
Melted butter to grease
1 can sweetened condensed milk
100g butter, cubed
255g (1 ¼ cups) brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons glucose syrup
150g of Whittakers Berry & Biscuit Chocolate, finely chopped
30ml cream
30ml chocolate syrup OR
¼ cup of any liqueur or alcohol (vodka, kahlua, baileys, cointreau etc)

Method
1.  Grease your dish with butter or non-stick cooking spray
2. Melt the condensed milk, butter, brown sugar and glucose syrup in a heavy base saucepan over medium-low heat until smooth, around 3 minutes. 
3. Turn the the heat up and cook the fudge for 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly until it becomes thick and a darker caramel colour.
4. Remove from heat and stir in the cream & syrup, then add the chopped chocolate slowly until the mixture is relatively smooth. It's important not to add the chocolate in all at once as you will lose the silky smooth texture
5. Pour into prepared pan and allow to cool for an hour before covering and putting in the fridge to set. 
Cut into small pieces with a sharp knife. 
Store in the fridge especially during hot weather 

Try not to eat it all at once!

Happy Making!