Power-house stitchery

Hello everybody - it's me, Princess Viv, bravely tackling my reluctance to blog - yay me.

On the 26th of September, Princessi Eleri, Alana, Kate attended Princess Viv's castle for stitchery, with Princess Emily coming later in the evening. Princess Bek was off somewhere being political.

Golden Austrian Cauliflower Soup was served with home made bread and raw butter, followed by steamed veggies, rice, and bourbon chicken for the non-vegan members.

Princess Alana started on another cool amigurumi animal - this time a pink elephant! We also got to see her bee, bunny, and monkey in person.
Zoe and Megan - junior Princessess got out of bed and were VERY impressed - as Zoe declared, "my have monkey now!".
Alana also got pestered by me to show me how to crotchet. After many attempts, and different colours of wool, I managed to crotchet a boob! Here are the instructions in case anyone is interested:
(from http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=177559.0)
Boobie keychain pattern:
Starting with nipple (pink yarn)
Row 1: Ch 2. 6 sc in second ch from hk. Sl st into first sc.
Row 2: Ch 1. Sc in each sc around (6 stitches). Sl st to join.
Row 3: Ch 1. Sc in each sc around (6 stitches). Sl st to join.
Row 4: Ch 1. 2 sc in each sc around (12 stitches). Sl st to join.

Now for the breast (cream yarn)
Row 5: Ch 1. 2 sc in next st. 1 sc in next stitch. Repeat this all the way around (18 stitches). Sl st to join.
Row 6: Ch 1. Sc in each stitch around (18 stitches). Sl st to join.
Row 7: Ch 1. 2 sc in next st. 1 sc in each of next 2 st. Repeat this around ( 24 stitches). Sl st to join.
Row 8: Ch 1. Sc in each stitch around (24 stitches). Sl st to join.
Row 9-10: Repeat row 8. Sl st to join.
Row 11-12: 2sctog for next st (back loops only for first row). Repeat this around (12 stitches). Sl st to join.

Adding O ring (keychain part)

Ch. 1. Holding the key ring next to your yarn, bring your hook under the ring and yarn over coming back under the ring to bring up a loop. Make one sc. Put hook through next stitch and going under the fing again, yo and make another sc. Do this 5 times. this will secure the ring to the boob. Ch. 1. Sl st through all 5 sc you just made. Fasten off. Weave in ends.



Eleri worked on the last star, Kate kept on with her pretty blue sock, Emmy "may" have been knitting - sorry Em, school holiday brain!

My camera was out of batteries, so I'm afraid there will be no photos. I'll master the photos for my next post.

Recipes:
Vegan cream of cauliflower soup:

1 cauliflower, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 leeks, chopped
2 teaspoons powdered veggie stock, or to taste
2 cups carrot juice
4 cups water
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup raw cashews
4-5 good handfuls of spinach

Cover and simmer all ingredients, except cashews and spinach, for 15 minutes or until just tender. Blend soup, put some in blender & whizz up the cashews. Add back to the soup & stir in the spinach.

Chicken
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/3 cup brown sugar - actually I used only a couple of spoonsful
1/2 c chicken stock
1/4 c apple juice
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 minced garlic clove
1.2 tsp minced ginger
500g or so boneless chicken in bite sized pieces

Fry chicken in oil until brown, set aside. In the same pan add everything else, stir till sugar dissolved. Add chicken back & cook gently until sauce is thick enough.