weekend baking

On Sunday, I found myself at my parent's house for the day. So I decided to take advantage of the large kitchen and aga and bake a few things I'd been thinking of trying for a while.

A french apple tart recipe, found in a Mary Berry cookbook, had been on my to-bake list for a long time. The layered slices of apples on the top appealed to me, instead of hiding them away under more pastry. 

This was the first time I'd baked blind, but didn't have any problems. There's something very satisfying abut filling a pie dish with little ceramic beans, letting them do their thing, and then pop them back into their container. Job done.

The tart tasted delicious. Although there was hardly any sugar in the recipe, it was still very sweet. Perfect with a big dollop of Rhinka vanilla ice cream.

My first batch of brownies were pretty good - a bit crispy at the edges, but the centre was soft, helped by the chunks of marshmallow I added to the recipe. Easy and yum.

A successful day of baking.

aran jumper

I have embarked on my first jumper. It isn't just a simple jumper. It's an aran jumper.


Up until recently, my knitting projects had mostly consisted of scarves, which were usually just row after row of garter stitch. Eventually, scarves began to get a bit tedious. There are only so many scarves a girl can wear. So I sought out a knitting class that would push me to learn new stitches and try more adventurous projects.

During the class, I completed a poncho and a beanie. I have since realised I will never wear the poncho, and so the wool will be pulled apart and put to better use. The finished beanie turned out a little small, but it was very quick and easy to do once I had gotten the hang of the stitches involved.

So although this may be a big leap from yo, k3tog....cables are the next stitch on my to-do list.

 I found this pattern book in fantastic little wool shop in larne (?!?!). My class teacher had the same one, from which she'd knitted a large cable throw. The jumpers and cardigans in it look so cosy and perfect for keeping warm in our drizzly climate... I decided pretty quickly to embark on my first aran jumper.

I'm only a couple of rows in, but I'm planning on devoting the next few evenings to it in order to begin the aran stitches. Hopefully it will be finished in time to wear this winter...

oh, hello...

my name is kathryn and i love to make things. 

these things can include knitted things, stitched things, baked things, and photographs...

this is a place where i hope to share these things.