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Crafts

Couple Renovates Old House in Portugal – Year Four Timelapse

It's been another year of huge achievements on our ongoing renovation project in Portugal: a downstairs bathroom, moving in downstairs, a hot running shower to name a few. Join us for an epic recap of everything we built this year from plumbing to electrics, tiling to plastering, painting, woodworking, decorating, installing ceilings and bathroom…

Making Cider With Our Own Apples and Special Guests

This season was a great one for apples so the obvious choice was to make some hard cider. We've experimented with making cider from apples in the past and successfully made apple cider vinegar. More recently we've had success with cider making from store bought juice. But with so many apples on the trees this…

Blown Away by YOUR Generosity! Crochet Auction Update

Some time ago we auctioned off three of Kylie's mosaic crochet pieces for charity after returning from a life changing volunteer trip to Vietnam. Today we'll reveal how much money you lovely people helped us raise, provide an update on the Vietnam house building project and showcase some of Kylie's in progress knitting and…

What does Kylie DO for FUN?

It's time to answer another question and today we're going to find out what Kylie enjoys doing on her days off (even though we don't have too many of those!) Patterns on Ravelry Zebra bag Shawls Cat cushion 1 Cat cushion 2 Mosaic pouf Placemats (in progress)

Making WINE from COURGETTES?

We love a good experiment and this one is certainly going to be interesting! We've made country wines out of all sorts of fruit but can you make vegetable wine out of courgettes? We had a HUGE glut of courgettes this year and ran out of ideas for what to do with them -…

Melon Fizz: DELICIOUS Drink or Massive Mistake?

We've had a bumper crop of melons this year – from massive watermelons to slightly smaller Sapo greens to cantaloupes of a couple of varieties. There's still a few fruit ripening in the garden but we have a whole load that need eating or preserving. Join us in the temporary processing kitchen for an…

Are We Rich? Let’s Talk INCOME Streams

How are we funding our Portugal renovation project? Are we rich? Do we work? Where does our money come from? Did we receive some kind of inheritance or win the lottery? Let's talk finances and how we are able to afford to do this project and live a simple – yet comfortable – life. …

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    In the Kitchen

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    Yarn Projects (crochet/knitting)

    Knitting Needles

    I've only just started knitting again and have had to upgrade from my original Symfonie needles (they tend to snap quite easily). I have a set of stainless steel needles from ChiaoGoo and also an ebony set from Lantern Moon.

    I like both! The stainless steel was a little hard to get used to but yarn really glides on them. I like the look and feel of the Lantern Moon set too, but unfortunately they don't come in all the sizes I tend to use so I now end up switching between the two sets.

    Crochet Hooks

    I've tried loads of different single hooks to find the 'perfect' hook. I finally found what I was looking for in the Clover soft touch range. The hook glides well and the thumb rest is really comfortable. Unfortunately they don't seem to be available in a set, so I have a jar full of all the sizes I like to use.

    Tunisian Crochet Hooks

    My favourites are these from Lantern Moon, they're super comfortable and glide really well, and the best bit is that they swivel. They are also compatible with the KnitPro Symfonie hooks (these seem less sturdy but also glide well).

    I also have a set from ChiaoGoo made from bamboo. These are very lightweight but I find that they can snag on some yarns (a nail file often helps to make the hook head better).

    Yarn

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