Top tip: Weaving in the ends as you go

I recently shared this tip with Kate over at Purple Pear Farm and some of her readers came nosing round here to find out more. If that's you, welcome!

This is a tip I developed because I am a lazy crafter and I hate weaving in all the ends after a big project - especially as many ends as you get from a stripy crochet blanket. There are two methods - the simple and the slightly more complex - but both will work well in any pattern in which you are crocheting a row in colour A and then a row in colour B.

The easy method

Change yarns as normal. Once you have a loop of the new colour on your hook and are ready to begin the first stitches, hold the two yarn ends (old and new colours together) along the top of the last row of stitching. As you crochet the next row, these ends will be caught in the new stitches (see below.) After a few stitches, just trim the stubby ends sticking out and carry on along the row.

The slightly more complex but still easy method

The reason for the second method is that if the two colours are strong contrasts, the end of the new yarn can sometimes peek out visibly against the row of old yarn it is now held against.

This time, hold the yarn end of the OLD colour along the last row and catch it in the new stitches as above, but AT THE SAME TIME hold the yarn end of the NEW colour along the 'active yarn' and use them together, so you will effectively be using a double yarn for the first few stitches. (The picture below should make that clearer.)

I hope these work for you - let me know if they're not clear and I'll post some more pictures. My preferred pattern is Lucy's ripple pattern from Attic 24. If you haven't stopped by, it is a haven for all things crochet so go check it out.

Do you have any favourite tips for finishing as you go?

How to: Hot mulled apple juice

When you're feeling a little under the weather, there's nothing better than mulled apple juice to give you a boost. It's a fruity, spicy, nourishing, warming kick that's like getting hugged from the inside. You will need:

- Apple juice
- A lemon and/or an orange (or other citrus fruit of your choice), preferably unwaxed
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, mace, other wintry Christmassy spices lurking in your cupboard
- Honey

Stick some apple juice in a pan. Could be litres, could be one mug's worth. Add in some slices of (washed) citrus fruit, a dollop of honey and a generous sprinkling of spices. Warm through for half an hour or more.

Drink.

I usually dilute this a little as the flavours can become very concentrated but it's just lovely if you have a cough/cold, or as an alcohol-free alternative to mulled wine at Christmas. 

Warning: If making more than you will drink in one sitting, store in the fridge and drink within 2-3 days. It starts fermenting really quickly, and goes all bitter, tangy and slightly fizzy. Deeply unpleasant. To be avoided. Drink it fresh and hot!

Salted caramel sauce

I have recently become a slight addict to salted caramel. I first discovered it when I tried some salted caramel ice cream, and now I'm hooked. Only I'm rationing myself, because it's so damn more-ish. (Is that how you spell it?)

I found this great recipe from Nigella (our heroine for all things indulgent) in Stylist magazine which I have adapted to make is a quick and easy job for pouring over vanilla ice cream or into hot chocolate. This takes me about ten minutes.

The many uses of baking soda

Baking soda is fantastic for cleaning stainless steel. I have recently allowed my sink to get into a terrible state - oh the shame! But take a look at the effects of five minutes with some baking soda and a damp cloth.

It really is blindingly simple. Scatter some baking soda over the sink, scrub with a damp cloth and then rinse. Buff dry with a rag or tea towel for extra shine. So what are you waiting for? Go make your sink shiny!

Winterising: Clear your drains

As a renter, there really isn't much that you can do to prepare your home for winter, but keeping your drains clear is an easy and cheap way to avoid a potentially much bigger problem. While as a renter you probably wouldn't have to pay for the repairs, you would certainly have to live with the problem, and you just know that the pipes would burst on Christmas Eve or a bank holiday weekend.

Cleaning drains is incredibly easy. You need those two reliable, trusty friends - baking soda, and white vinegar.

Lavender Bath Bags

My crafty mojo has been sadly lacking recently. What I really needed was a simple, easy project whose benefits could be immediately enjoyed. I turned to Cheryl's how-to for Lavender Soap Scrubs over at Time to Craft. As I used mine for a luxurious long soak in the bathtub rather than a shower, I found myself thinking of them as bath bags.

If you haven't visited Time to Craft, you absolutely must - there are loads of easy crafty and baking tutorials, and most are designed to be done for or with children. So head on over there right now!

How to: make an all-purpose cleaner

I use this cleaner in the kitchen, the bathroom, and for cleaning windows, tables, doors, walls... Basically, everything. It works fantastically well, cuts through grease and limescale and soap scum, and leaves surfaces shiny. As it has tea tree oil in it, it also acts as a mild antiseptic, antibacterial and antifungal, but is completely fine to use around asthmatics.

It's really, really complicated. Seriously. It will take you ages. Are you ready?

Winterising: Bleeding radiators

There are many blog entries and articles about preparing for winter around on the internet, not to mention in books about green living and self-sufficiency. However, most of these assume that you own your own home and can therefore make changes to the roofing, insulation, windows, heating systems and so on. There's not a lot out there for renters, so I'm exploring what I can do in my home.

The first thing is to bleed your radiators. All you need for this is a radiator bleeding key and something to mop up water eg a rag or kitchen towel. A radiator bleeding key can be bought cheaply from DIY stores - I got mine from Brico. Instructions are below and can also be found here.

As we are on the top floor of the building, air accumulates very quickly in our radiators and we bleed them several times each winter. They usually tell us when they need bleeding - the apartment gets very, very cold! We were freezing last week, but after bleeding the radiators on Friday, it's lovely and snugly and warm now!

How to: make your own moisteuriser

Well, how I make my own moisteuriser, anyway. I have been experimenting with homemade options and natural things like aloe vera gel, sweet almond oil, but everything has left my skin feeling tight and dry after a few days to a week. I have been using only this to nourish my face for almost a month and I love love LOVE it!

How to: improve washing up liquid

OK so I don't know if this will work for everyone, but I find this teeny tiny little tip helps me make the washing up liquid go further whilst also washing things more effectively - less scrubbing required.

It is simply this: dilute your washing up liquid with white vinegar. You could also use lemon juice for this, it would smell better, but I can get cheaper white vinegar than lemon juice so I use that. I use an old washing up liquid dispenser, and in it I mix about one part vinegar to two parts washing up liquid. If you have sensitive skin, this may not be great for your hands, but it really cuts through grease a lot more easily, and one tiny dribble (it is now pouring rather than squeezing consistency) is enough for the nastiest pots and pans.

I have pondered making my own out of castile soap at some point, but am still struggling to identify a local source of castile soap. And how would a few drops of essential oil go with the mix, do you think?

How to: clean a bathtub with a lemon

My homemade cleaning tips come from a variety of sources - from books, blogs and tv series. This one comes from the tv series How clean is your house, in which the Queens of Clean Kim and Aggie tackle the dirtiest houses you have ever seen. Often the inhabitants suffer from asthma and other respiratory problems (probably in part from the dust), so the programme often demonstrates non-toxic cleaning techniques.

This tip for shiny bathtubs with minimum cost comes mostly from Kim and Aggy, with one addition from me.