Hurray for Pancake Day!

I love holidays that involve food, although, mind you, that basically means all holidays doesn't it? :) But pancake day has always had a special place in my heart - I love a good pancake!

Usually my mum whips up the family pancakes - she can flip a pancake like a pro! - but this year I decided to have a go myself and I have to say I think I did pretty well...

I used this recipe for Smashed Raspberry Chocolate Chunk Pancakes (although I substituted raspberries for strawberries) from my all time favourite food blog, Joy the Baker. If you read my blog regularly you will know that Joy's recipes often end up in my Wednesday Wonderfuls posts, I just love the treats she creates! These pancakes were completely fool proof, and if I, as a pancake novice, could cook them up with no problems at all, then I'm sure they'll work for anyone!

And if chocolately/raspberry treats aren't really your thing then never fear, Joy is a bit of a self-proclaimed pancake addict and so has a whole variety of other pancake recipes to tempt you (seriously, the girl is amazing!). Here are my picks of the rest:

Gingerbread Pancakes

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

Wholewheat Banana Walnut Pancakes

or just good old-fashioned Buttermilk Pancakes

Happy Pancake Day!

Katie xxx

What's on my sewing (well, knitting!) table...

Hello there lovely readers, Happy Monday to you all!

Let me start by saying a big thank you to everyone who has contacted me about getting involved in the UFO/Stash Busting Project Monthly Round Up, it's so exciting that so many of you want to be included! Check out this post if you want to be featured in the Round Up, the final date for submissions is February 24th, so you still have time. If you've already gotten in touch then I will be contacting you soon, I can't wait to start taking a look at what you've all Stash Busted so far :)

Talking of Stash Busting and completing UFOs, I have been tackling a rather mammoth project recently and I wanted to show you my progress so far. I'm not quite sure what possessed me to knit my own dressing gown, but the second I saw this pattern I fell in love and I knew that my life wouldn't be complete without it. I started it last year whilst on the European tour of Hair and I've finally finished the main body of the dressing gown and now I just have to knit up the trim. Take a look...

Dressing Gown Front

Dressing Gown Back

I know, pretty epic right? :) 

You can see from the above images that I haven't yet completed the trim for the left front of the dressing gown, but the trim seems to grow pretty fast so hopefully it won't be too long now! I also need to add the same trim to the cuffs and add a crocheted belt, but then I will finally be done, I just want to be able to wear this a few times before the weather turns!

Here are a few close ups to show the details, forgive me for showing this dressing gown off, I feel that it deserves it after the amount of time it has taken to knit it up!

I must admit, she is a beauty, isn't she? I'm completely smitten with this project, I just can't wait to finally finish and swan around the house in my new dressing gown! She's almost too glamourous to only be worn indoors, just look at the curve of the train...

**swoon!**

Hopefully I'll finish this project in the coming week, wish me luck!

Katie xxx 

Calling all UFO/Stash Busters!!!

Hello there lovely readers, it's time for some more talk about my UFO/Stash Busting Project!

Since my initial post things have been going well. I have been working hard on organising my stash and have already completed a couple of UFO/Busters myself, but what I'm really interested in is how is the Project going for you?

So I'm going to put together the:

UFO/Stash Busting Project Monthly Round Up!

A number of you showed an interest in joining me on my Project, some of you have even been lovely enough to add my badge to your blogs, so I want to see what you've been up to! I want to put together a feature for everyone taking part in the Project at the end of each month so we can all bask in the glory of our progress. Plus it's always fun to see all the lovely things that other people have created :) 

If you have created something beautiful this month then it's time to show it off! But also don;t feel pressured into having to submit something every month, take part in as many or as few Monthly Round Ups as is convenient for you. This also means that you can take part in the UFO/Stash Busting Project whenever you want, as I know that some of you may only have fabrics in your stash the are for a particular season, so feel free to join in whenever suits you best :)

Here's what you need to do if you want to be included:

**If you have a blog send me a link to a post (or posts!) about any UFOs or Stash Busting Projects you have completed this month. Pictures are a must, we all want to see the lovelies you have created!**

**If you don't have a blog, never fear, you can still be included too! Drop me an e-mail we'll find a way to get some pictures of your creations up on the blog if you want to share them :)**

**Obviously completed projects are preferred but if you've got a fascinating work in progress to share then that's great too. Also if you've created any tutorials to use up your stash then I would love to include those too!**

**The closing date for all submissions is February 24th so I have time to put the post together before the end of the month (obviously this would normally be slightly later, but February is an annoyingly short month!)**

So, if you feel like being included then please do drop me a line! Either leave me a comment on this post or email me at 

misskatie.littleredsquirrel@gmail.com 

I can't wait to see what you've been up to!

Katie xxx

Eggcellent Egg Cups!

I'm sorry for the terrible title, I just couldn't resist! You may remember that on my recent trip to Brighton I visited the Pottery Painting Cafe and spent a lovely time painting a couple of egg cups for me and my Sweetheart (I know, how can I stand such a crazy rock and roll lifestyle!). Well on a recent trip home the finished cups were waiting for me, I am so thrilled with how they turned out!

Here they are when I had finished painting them:

And here they are after being glazed and fired, all pretty and shiny! 

A "K" for me and an "E" for my Sweetheart :)

I'm crazy happy with how they turned out, aren't they cute? I would recommend the Pottery Painting Cafe to anyone in the Brighton area, it's great fun and you get a gorgeous keepsake afterwards. I'm totally in love with these egg cups, I can't wait to enjoy some eggs and soldiers with our new fancy china wear!

Katie xxx

Wednesday Wonderfuls #57

Hello there and welcome to this week's Wednesday Wonderfuls!

I've had a lovely week, what with Valentine's Day preparations and the actual day, plus I went out to Bill's in Covent Garden with my lovely mum (now my favourite cafe!), and I got the chance to hang out with some gorgeous puppies, so life has been good!

I hope you've all had great weeks too, but allow me to add some more joy to your lives with this week's Wednesday Wonderfuls!

• A few thoughts on thrifting from the lovely Casey of Elegant Musings.
• Fancy trying your hand at some painting? Well you cannot fail to be inspired by this gorgeous piece by Cassie Stephens over at her blog. Seriously, this is one if the cutest paintings I have ever seen, I want one!
• I am a huge fan of Joan from Mad Men, so you can imagine how excited I was to see Gertie's version of Joan's rose appliqué dress. This is another technique I am itching to try!
• Another great tutorial from A Beautiful Mess, this time for a scout inspired bow tie. Don't you think this looks just like something Florence Welch would wear? :)
• I loved this piece about wearing what you love over at Tuppence Ha'penny Vintage, I agree wholeheartedly with every word.
• Finally, you really should check out this interview by Kat of Rock and Roll Bride with Megan of Princess Lasertron. Both of these ladies are gorgeous, stylish, savvy business women with many gems of advice to share, both of their blogs are a joy to read :)

Yet again another fab selection of Wonderfuls this week, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! 

Katie xxx

My Valentine's Day

In pictures! With the help of my trusty instagram app :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day, filled with lovely love and yummy treats (the treats are always an integral part of any holiday for me!). I had a gorgeous time with my Sweetheart, we spent some proper quality time together munching sweets and sharing presents (he bought me the most beautiful wicker and bakelite bag, swoon!) and we treated ourselves to the Marks and Spencers dine in for two deal so we didn't have to worry too much about cooking. And it was worth it, the food was divine! We also watched Midnight in Paris and it blew both of us away, seriously, if you haven't already, watch it now! It was a very special day spent with my very special someone :)

Katie xxx

The Swing Dress - Finally Completed!

Project: Swing Dress (originally part of Casey's Swing Dress Sew Along)

Pattern: 1940s "Swing" Dress pattern from Sense and Sensibility Patterns

Stash Buster? yes, and it was a UFO too!

Items From Stash: Floral fabric, swing dress pattern

Date Started: January 2011

Date Finished: February 2012

New Techniques Used: none

Wear Again? Definitely :)

I cannot believe this dress is finally finished!!! Seriously, I am so excited that I can finally wear it out, I've been working on it for over a year in total! This dress has been my longest ever UFO, it's the main reason I started my Stash Busting/UFO Challenge, I needed the incentive to finish this dress! And here it is in all it's glory :)

I struggled so much with this pattern originally, I just couldn't get my head around it, but this time around it all came together beautifully and I really enjoyed the construction process. The final look is something a lot more sophisticated and grown up than what I usually wear, and I like it! I have already received an abundance of compliments on this dress after wearing it out a few times, it seems to be a big hit with everyone. My Sweetheart went as far as saying it was his favourite of all the outfits I have ever made, so I think I'll probably be wearing it quite a bit in the future!

I want to dedicate the completion of this dress (finally, hallelujah!) to two very special ladies in the blogging world. Firstly Casey for hosting the Sew Along for this dress, as her posts were amazing and informative and if you ever want to sew this dress then you really should follow every scrap of her advice. And secondly the lovely Tasha who gave me some sewing advice for this dress way back at the start of the sew along which finally helped everything become clear when I restarted the project, so thank you! 

I hope you like the dress as much as I do! 

Katie xxx