It’s decidedly autumnal here now. It’s probably the last time I buy berries for the season, but they were delicious with the pavlova I made at the weekend.

Her brilliant cake was designed and made by Clare at Crouch End Cakes. Our little miss is bonkers about butterflies, snails and ladybirds and this is just what she wanted. The look on her face when she saw it was priceless. AND it was as beautiful to eat, so delicious, which made my day so much easier to cater for 30 people. Fabulous.

enjoying birthday gifts and spoils from Ally Pally

riding our new bike to the park

baking fork biscuits, swiss roll and parkin from here

and waiting for the next instalment of the mystery sock for Socktoberfest

Amy Karol’s (aka. Angry Chicken’s) Chocolate Cake
from her recipe cheat sheet
3 x 10″ chocolate cakes stacked with butter cream icing

Considering Amy’s recipe uses american measurements, it turned out fine. I made two batches in total as I knew I’d need 3 cakes to stack. The balance of the mixture went a long way. It made 20 regular size cupcakes, 12 mini cupcakes and 4 texan muffins. I think I was also economical with the sugar as well. Maybe using 2/3 of what the recipe calls for.

It was light, delicious and the perfect end to our barbecue.

When you’re staying in someoneelse’s home, you can never be sure how the oven works, but this turned out a treat. Delicious Victoria Sandwich filled with cream and a tin of John West’s finest cherries. Made to celebrate Coco’s Grandad’s birthday.

It’s Shrove Tuesday today, so here’s my pancake recipe (well, my Nan’s actually). I’ve made it so often it’s engrained in the brain! They’re american-style ones that rise and must be eaten with maple syrup. Happy eating!

Never fail pancakes
3 heaped TSP self-raising flour
1/4 tsp each of bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar
1 TSP castor sugar
1 egg
add enough milk to dropping consistency

After having a hiatus due to a very sore right arm and elbow - most definitely caused by too much knitting, I finally got this finished for master Moore in Melbourne. It’s his birthday next weekend, so I need to get this in the post. I also received some wadding to finish his quilt but think I won’t risk posting that over and will bring it when I visit next year. It only took a couple of days to make once I’d received the back-ordered cotton. However it looks quite wide, so I reckon he’ll have to grow into this one!

Felix 1-2 yrs
Rowan Junior
All Seasons Cotton - Fern & Military
4mm Addis

I got another gift sorted for a colleague of Mapman’s - handmade card and cotton hat. Think this is Rowan 4ply cotton. It was a leftover from Mickey, the jumper with the intarsia star. Somehow I forgot to take a shot of it when I made it last year.

AND I made 100 cupcakes, brownie and birthday cake for Mapman’s birthday last week…….I hear the office were very pleased!

One more thing, I did my swap with Noo of Spitting Yarn. We met for lunch at a funky cafe and had a lovely chat. She was very sweet and included some absolutely stunning colourful macaroons from Paul along with the wool and book. They were so delish they didn’t last long and the raspberry one was my favourite. Although maybe it’s a toss up between the pistachio and the raspberry… They recently opened in Hampstead and I remember we got some gorgeous baguettes when Mum and Dad were visiting in the summer.

I am on the cusp of finishing Mist! Am up to the shaping of the top of the sleeve. Perhaps one or two more evenings of moss stitch and I’ll be able to think about sewing her up because it’s been v v cold and I could do with wearing a lovely wooly cardi.

Here’s a shot of Jack Frost on my geraniums.

I was blog lurking last week, as you do and came across Spitting Yarn’s offer to swap. She has some Jaegar Matchmaker in cream and blue, some pink Sirdar Nova and Knitting Pretty by Kris Percival. Now the book will be perfect for a friend of mine, I wouldn’t use the Nova but I would definitely make something for a little person with the Jaegar. So we emailed for a bit, I suggested one of my needlecases, but they’re not much really, they’re little and don’t take much making. Then I had a great idea to offer to make her a Christmas cake. Well, she couldn’t say yes fast enough and here it is!

The recipe is an old family one and has been celebrated for Christmas and weddings forever! We decided that not everyone likes icing, so I chose to decorate it with some cherries and blanched almonds instead and am very pleased with the result. All it needs is a lovely wide ribbon and a pretty plate and she’s in business.

All the usual suspects that you find in a fruit cake are in here and organic to boot! Secret ingredients - vintage Calvados and cranberries.

I went for a walk in the glorious sunshine down our high street this morning. The trip was to get some brown dye for some wool crepe so I can cut out a skirt I want to make. Anyway, I got distracted by these few things. The Constance Spry Cookery Book 1956 2nd edition. It’s a wonderful compendium of classic recipes and I believe was used as reference for Cordon Bleu. I just love the gold embossed cover and it’s a shame the spine has bleached the candy pink colour out. It has wonderful sections like force-meats, farces & stuffings and devils, barbecues & marinades and explains the differences between your duxelles, mirepoix and brunoise and relays in detail ‘how to take care of your fat bath’! Wonderful stuff. It might even get Mapman interested…..

Mauve is not a favourite of mine, so this vintage Patons Lucelle may get dyed at some point. It’s so very soft - a wool/angora mix and complete with original cards. I’ve not used 2ply before but it’ll be destined for something baby related.

The Twilleys Crysette is a vintage cotton. I scored 11 of these 25g balls and look forward to getting my hand s on the Kool-Aid an American friend got me on a recent trip back home. I should be in receipt of that tomorrow.

Lucky me! My friends from Oz brought us over some treats but I need to make them last until we get there in January.