dillpickle unfinished

My Creative space

2011-11-10T15:06:00.000+11:00

Have you ever been knitting away with joyful abandon getting closer and closer to starting the next section of the project, only to realise once you get there that you've gotten the stitch pattern back to front right from the start?

I have.

The line of stitches between the holes should be all neat and straight rather than all messy and leany. Oops.

Having gone from casting on 10 stitches to having 284 stitches on the needles, I decided that rather than ripping back the ENTIRE thing, instead I would work on the theory that it might block OK? Ahem. At the very least, it will be a design feature...!?

Next time, remember to read the chart from right to left!!

Creative spacers congregate here.

Picnic knitting

2011-11-06T21:20:00.000+11:00

Yesterday...

Fantastic weather...

Good food...

Great company...

And a sock.

Perfect.

Ahhh-choo!

2011-10-17T16:14:00.001+11:00

It's a bit dusty around here...!

Life has been pretty hectic over the last few months. Among other things, I've gone back to work two mornings a week, which is long enough to feel like I'm staying in touch with the job I've been trained for, but short enough that I don't feel like I'm missing too much of the girls growing up.

And they are definitely growing up. The smallest turned one a couple of weeks ago! Time really does fly past without being noticed, especially when kids are small and each day can seem like an eternity. There is good sense in taking a moment to STOP, and mark these milestones properly.

Liquorice Allsorts and Raspberry Bullets are rather useful cake decorating luxuries!

And even though I haven't been particularly successful in recording it, I've been making stuff fairly enthusiastically. Recently I've been working on...

...A stripey beanie for a friend's six month old...

...The beginnings of my first knitted lace shawl...

Hopefully I will be back before long with further evidence of my productivity!

Space invaders

2011-05-09T20:20:00.004+10:00

Sometime during late summer, our vege patch was consumed by self sown pumpkins.

While it's out-of-control nature is frighteningly reflective of the chaos in our lives at the moment, there have been some up sides to the invasion.

[Yes, that is a pumpkin growing in a Camellia]

42.4 kilograms of pumpkins later, I think we might be set for winter?

my creative space

2011-04-07T12:58:00.002+10:00

Early this year, I secretly* decided to set myself the goal of knitting each of us in the family a garment of some description. The smallest is getting a cardigan, the big girl is getting a stripy jumper, I will be getting a vest (gulp - first adult sized knitted garment ever to me made by me - I hope I like it!), and my husband is getting a scarf. I know scarves probably don't technically count as a garment, but for the purposes of this self-imposed goal, it does. He approved it and chose the colour so hopefully that means he'll wear it!

Over the last couple of weeks, I've made some good progress toward that goal.

One purple Garter yoke baby cardi (Ravelry link) 75% done and just waiting for me to find the right sized dpns (I know I have some somewhere!) so I can do the sleeves and finish the buttonhole band...

One well-and-truly underway Wayfarer scarf using Shelter yarn in pumpernickel...

And another pair of socks. Oh, hang on, socks aren't on the list! These are just another piece of evidence to support the theory that when the sock bug bites, it won't let go very easily...

These will be Spring Forward socks in Ms Gusset yarn which I like an awful lot!

Good holidays with lots of car time when you discover that, contrary to belief, you can knit in the car (when someone else is driving) leads to very satisfying knitterly progress.

For lots of making inspiration, visit Kirsty's place.

*It's not so secret any more, is it!?!

A road trip

2011-04-04T14:52:00.004+10:00

About three weeks ago, we embarked on the biggest road trip we've done since having kids. Before leaving, there was a suitable amount of angst about how we would entertain a 2 year old and a 6 month old on several days where we'd be driving for up to seven hours, as well as how on earth we'd fit everything we needed in the car! But we did it, and not only did we survive, but we had a really enjoyable holiday.

Here are some of the highlights:

1. I discovered the joys of car knitting!

I've often read about others knitting in the car on long car trips but had decided that it wouldn't work for me because I get car sick if I read, but I can do it! I can knit in the car! Much knitting was done on this trip as a result.

2. Kids can cope quite well travelling long distances in the car. Surprising! Some tips for increased pleasantness:

Leave as early as you can and plan extended breaks (at least 30 minutes) along the way.
Pack a picnic lunch so you can stop when you need to.
Make sure you have a variety of kid's music on hand. Listening to the same 3 albums over and over for thousands of kilometres will drive anyone completely mad, even if you thought they weren't too bad to start with!
Collect up a pile of small age appropriate goodies and make them up into surprise packages to be handed out throughout the trip. We used stickers and paper, a tub of playdough with a plate or tray, Mr Men and Grug books (slightly less successful for a 2 year old who can't read yet), and crayon rocks.
Humbly accept the offer of a car DVD player and DVDs from a friend even though you'd sworn black and blue you'd never ever have one. We only used it twice, and watched episodes of Play School, but it was greatly appreciated late in the afternoon of the second day of the Melbourne to Armidale leg, and again late one afternoon as we hit the crazy Sydney traffic.

3. I think Dad liked his mittens. The main reason for the trip was Dad's 80th birthday party, so I made him some fingerless mitts as a present. I still need to ravel them but will do so soon!

4. Our holiday at the beach was brilliant. The water was 26ºC and the weather was magnificent.

The cottage that we stayed in was great, and had a lovely view up the river from the balcony...

...as well as some interesting wildlife!

We'd like to stay at the same place this time next year, but for longer. Five nights was not quite long enough!

It's nice to be back, though, and I'm looking forward to rediscovering the rhythm of life around these parts. And doing more knitting. Of course!

my creative space...

2011-03-03T15:17:00.003+11:00

Fingerless mitts for my Dad's 80th birthday(!).

One down, one to go. Pleasantly, they're nice and quick!

My Creative Space here.

Hooray times two

2011-02-28T15:10:00.004+11:00

The first Hooray:

My monkey socks are finished (ravelled here)! According to my sister, they look reptilian enough that if I sewed buttons for eyes on the toes I would frighten lots of people. Hmmm. Even so, they're warm and comfortable, and I might even get away with wearing them out and about under my jeans this winter! Maybe?

I have now cast on for a pair of fingerless mitts for my Dad's birthday which is in a couple of weeks. I'm optimistic that I might get them finished in time because the pattern is from Joelle Hoverson's More Last Minute Knitted Gifts. The first one is two-thirds finished so I'm still hopeful!

The second Hooray:

I'm finally back menu planning again! This is rather exciting because I find that menu planning gives me a sense of slightly more control in the highly chaotic world of parenting young children. It will also hopefully mean a reduction in food waste and less takeaway.

In addition to choosing meals using my normal methods, I've implemented Vic's Random Recipe system*. I have far too many recipe books for my own good, so I'm hoping this strategy might result in some of my neglected books getting some use. So far it's been rather successful, and I've found a couple of things I probably never would have cooked otherwise. To eliminate personal bias, I'm using random.org to randomly choose a shelf, then a book from that shelf, a page from the book and if necessary, a recipe from the page. Though this week's Random recipe was originally Fried Bows, a Spanish sweet biscuit. Rather than serve these for dinner, I used my commonsense and generated another random number for a recipe from the same book. I figure if the recipe or book chosen isn't a dinner type of thing, I can take one step back and try again!?! I might start to experiment with non-main-meal type recipes at some stage, but for now I'm working with a single theme!

Another change to my planning at this point is that I'm not allocating particular meals to particular days. Rather, I'm just selecting 7 (or so) meals to be eaten during the week, so that I've got some flexibility if I don't get to the right shop on a given day for particular ingredients. Right now I need a sense of control without rigidity, so hopefully this strategy will deliver.

This week's menu:

Gnocchi with tomato and pancetta sauce

Zucchini, bacon and onion quiche or frittata

Beef stew (from freezer)

Chinese chicken wings

Red Mullet baked with breadcrumbs and Rancio wine (Random Recipe from 1080 Recipes)

Eggplant Parmagiana

Zucchini pasta

*Vic has also started a Meal Plan Monday Linky thing, so if you're interested in joining in or checking out some other meal plans, visit here.

Space junk

2011-02-25T15:31:00.002+11:00

When you have small children, lots of STUFF gets all over the place. While there are many disadvantages, like treading on something small when you least expect it (ouch! You'd think I'd learn to look more closely...) and every space in the house being taken over by kid clutter, I've discovered that some of it is actually useful!

Take this rather unattractive ball, for example. It's perfect for neatening up my toe grafting on my socks.

Which are now finished! Comfortably before the end of February, which was my self-imposed deadline, though not without a setback involving a two-year-old and the removal of all four needles that we wont talk about.

I will try to post proof of the completed socks in the next couple of days.

It's official

2011-02-22T13:45:00.003+11:00

I was sitting in the waiting room at the osteopath the other day, knitting away on my particularly frightening monkey sock as I have done the past few times I've been in there, when the receptionist said to the lady she was chatting to, "Look at what she's knitting. It's a sock!".

And the lady responded, "Oh, yes, I know. I've seen her knitting in the medical centre!"

Clearly, I'm becoming the local crazy knitter lady.

Date and Apricot Loaf

2011-02-20T21:24:00.002+11:00

Several years ago, I asked my mother-in-law for her Date Loaf recipe, because my husband had told me several times how much he loved it. As it was possibly the easiest recipe ever, it's become part of the repertoire! And it's a perfect baking option for those mornings when you desperately need to amuse a two-year-old who has the attention span of, well, a two year old.

Until you realise you don't have enough dates in the cupboard. Thankfully my problem-solving brain is beginning to show some signs of life (finally), so I added apricots to make up the difference. I think the addition was rather nice, though I'm not sure that the purist (husband) thought it was quite as good as the original!

Date and Apricot Loaf

1/2 cup dates, chopped

1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped (or just use a whole cup of dates if you're a purist)

1 cup sugar

1 cup boiling water

1 tsp bicarb soda

60g butter

1 egg, beaten

2 cups self-raising flour

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp mixed spice

Preheat oven to 180ºC.

Stir together fruit, sugar, water, soda and butter. When cooled slightly, add egg, flour and spices. Pour mixture into a greased and lined loaf tin, and bake for about 45 mins, until a skewer poked in the middle comes out clean. Serve sliced and buttered if you like, but it's yummy just as is, too.

My creative space...

2011-02-17T10:34:00.002+11:00

An experiment.

One I've been wanting to do for quite a while, but haven't found the five minute space required until now.

I'm trying out my interpretation of instructions for drying lavender from the garden provided to me months ago by Tanya.

I'll let you know if it works!

The home of My Creative Space is here.

my creative space...

2011-02-03T15:58:00.003+11:00

Our vege patch is requiring some pretty intense zucchini centred creativity at the moment. To say that they're prolific would be an understatement. This 1.6 kg monster was a stealth zucchini, hiding in the garden until it was so big that we couldn't possibly NOT see it!

In an effort to turn it into an edible meal, I decided to cut it into rounds, cut out the middle and fill the holes with stuffing. It was surprisingly yummy, even if the skin was a little tough. You could use any type of stuffing you liked, but this time I used a pork, basil and parmesan stuffing and cooked it with a basic tomato sauce. Obviously, you don't need a giant zucchini to do this - normal zucchinis cut lengthways and hollowed out would be yummy, too!

Zucchini with pork, basil & parmesan stuffing

(serves 4)

1 extra large zucchini cut into rounds with seeds removed (or lots of little ones halved lengthways with seeds removed)

Olive oil

1 white bread roll

1/4 cup milk, approx

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

400g pork mince

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, finely shredded

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan

salt & freshly ground pepper

1 jar tomato passata

salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 180ºC. In a large, oiled baking dish, place the zucchini in a single layer, rubbing tops of zucchini with a little oil as well. Pull the insides out of the bread roll and put it in a bowl with enough milk to soak through all the bread. Set aside. Fry the onion in a little olive oil until translucent, add half the garlic and cook for another minute then set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, mix together pork, basil, half the parmesan, bread and milk, onion and garlic, and season well with salt & pepper. Divide the pork mixture between the zucchini slices and bake for about 15 mins.

Meanwhile, place remaining garlic in a cold saucepan with about 1 tablespoon olive oil and set over medium heat, keeping a close eye on it and stirring frequently. When it starts to colour add tomato passata (be careful, it will probably spit), bring to boil and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Season to taste.

Remove zucchini from oven, carefully pour tomato sauce around the zucchini and sprinkle stuffing with remaining parmesan. Return to oven for 20 mins or until zucchini is tender. You may need to cover the dish with foil if the sauce is drying out or the cheese browns too quickly.

Serve with salad.

The Thursday hub of creativity can be found here. Check it out for some serious inspiration!

Zucchini and a rainbow

2011-01-30T14:12:00.004+11:00

What happens when you plant zucchinis in your vege patch and then go away for a few days?

This:

They're just slightly enormous.

I've discovered that cutting them into rounds, removing the seeds and stuffing the cavity works rather nicely for oh-my-goodness-it's-a-monster-zucchini. We've also been eating a lot of vaguely normal sized zucchini at the moment: zucchini and feta frittata, zucchini parmagiana, zucchini in stir fry, zucchini on the side... If you have any yummy zucchini recipes that you'd like to share, please let me know! And we only planted 2 seeds!?!

On another note, I've signed up to make granny squares for Sarah London's Crochet a Rainbow project which will result in a whole lot of granny blankets being given to people who lost most (if not all) of their things in the still-happening Australian floods. Sarah is collecting granny squares from volunteers all over the world and stitching them together into blankets. For me this is great - I get to feel vaguely useful, get to make granny squares and don't have to sew them together (which I find rather tedious). I'm pleased to be able to contribute something other than just money - money is very necessary (obviously), but it feels quite impersonal, and it's good to be able to DO something.*

If you would like to crochet some granny squares too, go and check out all the details by clicking on the button below, or in the sidebar.

*I know that this is all about MY response from afar, but I think action is better than simply moving on and forgetting.

my creative space...

2011-01-27T15:07:00.003+11:00

Green, green, green, YELLOW!!

Green, YELLOW!!

Green, green, green, YELLOW!!

Over the last couple of weeks, including some time away, a pair of socks have been taking shape. While the knitting can have it's rather surprising moments (the appearance of YELLOW(!!) in between those lovely greens can be a tad frightening at times), I think the finished result is quite pleasing.* Fortunately!

I've just started sock number 2, which I think I'd like to get finished by the end of February. That should give me enough space to work on other projects, too...

I'm hoping to have a satisfying and productive creative space this year, with a focus on the process rather than the outcome, though it will be nice to finish a few things, too! Of course, I have a long list of things I'd like to make, so it will be interesting to see how long it takes to get overwhelmed by outcomes and the process gets relegated to a requirement rather than a pleasure...

To visit the creative spaces of other more or less idealistic and optimistic crafters, many of whom will actually succeed in making what they say they want to (how novel!), go here.

*Except for the unfortunate 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, Oi, Oi!' parochial factor, but we can look past that for now...

clickety-clack...

2011-01-20T17:47:00.003+11:00

Could 2011 be the year of knitting?

Many of the things on my To Make list so far are knitted things. My first finished project for the year is a knitted thing. Or things: my Through The Loops Mystery sockalong socks are complete!

As these are my first handmade socks, I'm yet to work out how to get a decent photo of my own feet, but these socks are rather nice. I'm looking forward to the cooler weather rolling around so I can actually wear them!

It seems the sock bug has properly bitten - I've cast on a pair of Monkey Socks in a rather frighteningly bright colourway, but I think (I hope) it works when the pattern is stretched as it will be when it's worn. Since taking this picture about a week ago, I'm now about half way through the foot of the first sock, so I'm making some serious progress!

To provide a bit of variety, I've also started a shawl, which I'm crocheting out of an enormous cone of laceweight yarn that I ordered from WEBS along with at least three other shawls worth of laceweight yarn. I clearly had a one track mind when placing that order! I'd better include at least a couple of shawls on my To Make list this year...

Well, hello there...?

2011-01-08T13:55:00.009+11:00

It's been a while!

For me, 2010 finished a bit like a balloon with a slow leak, resulting in a slightly flabby crumpled heap effect by the end of it. Fortunately, things are starting to get back on track a little with an emerging enthusiasm for the slow things of summer, including the beach, the pool, berries, and more time in the backyard with the girls.

Somehow, in the insanity that was December (including a husband away for a week and a half, a two-year old birthday party the day after he got back, general pre-Christmas craziness as well as hosting Christmas lunch), I did manage to make a few (rather unspectacular) gifts:

A Silvan Star washcloth for Jodie's Christmas Washcloth Swap;

A Grit Stitch washcloth for a friend who had said she'd like one (Sucker? Hopefully she wasn't just being polite!); and

two Bump Stitch washcloths (Ravelry link) for another friend, who I KNOW appreciates handmade. Do you think I have a washcloth problem?

While my handmaking of gifts was rather minimal this year, I knew I'd be busy so didn't set my goals too high. It would still be nice to make a few more things next Christmas, though.

I'm hoping to make an appearance here a few times over the next couple of weeks, but it is summertime so it's likely to be slightly erratic! I'm hoping to get back into an achievable and consistent blogging routine by February.

I also have an embarrassingly long backlog in my reader because I haven't been visiting much lately. Sanity has required that any available brain output capacity was used up knitting sock* (even if it was only two rows in a day), which meant there has rarely been any left for other things. Hopefully I'll start to get back on top of blogland soon!

I'm also hoping to be able to start thinking about the year ahead this week, which means thinking about goals for making and learning. Mmmm...new projects!

*I think I might finish sock 2 today, so there's been some progress on that front, at least!

first fruits

2010-12-02T13:07:00.003+11:00

These are our first beans from our vege patch for the season.

Slightly disappointingly, they turn green when you cook them, but they're still delicious. And the novelty value of growing purple beans is definitely worth it for the junior gardeners among us!

Options

2010-11-29T15:38:00.003+11:00

Since our family increased in number about 2 months ago (how time flies!), meal planning has not really been on the radar. This is partly due to fantastic friends who provided us with meals nearly every night for the first couple of weeks, and then a couple of meals a week for the next few weeks. These meals, combined with our freezer stockpile and the occasional take away kept us going until we were able to contemplate evening food preparation again*.

The strategy that seems to be working for us at the moment is having a list of meal options for the week, rather than having particular meals assigned to specific nights. That way, I can decide what we're going to have in the morning once I know what kind of night we've had and how revolting everyone is likely to be by the end of the day (myself included). I've been including a few options that rely on me making it to the greengrocer or deli or fish shop, a couple of freezer stockpile options, a couple of meals that we can pull together from the pantry and garden, and if all else fails, there's always take away!

I've only been managing 3 or 4 options at a time up until now, but I'm hoping to start coming up with a week's worth of options soon (7 plus 2 extras in case the whole week is good, or we have more revolting days than expected!). This week, some friends brought us a very exciting box of fruit and veges from the market that we'll use as a starting point**. It was full of asparagus, basil, potatoes, garlic, cucumbers, tomatoes, several mangoes (yum!!), and other summer fruit that's just starting to appear. I'm thinking that one meal might be a thai basil stir fry with asparagus. Mmmm.

I'll try to get a list of options for the week into the sidebar over the next few days, though my ability to follow through on a thought at the moment is a bit pathetic, so it might take longer than anticipated!

I'm also very keen to give Vic's Random Recipe challenge a go, but I might wait a few weeks before adding that to the mix. It sounds like great fun, though, and a very good way to get more use out of some of my underused recipe books.

*I enjoy cooking, so contemplating cooking was one of the things that has been relatively easy to reintegrate into our new lives, once we worked out some of the logistics of dealing with two children during the craziness of the pre-dinner hour. It's the rest of the housework that's still suffering, and is likely to continue to suffer for weeks (if not months) to come!

**Very useful for limiting possibilities when your decision making ability is as impaired as mine is at the moment...

A mystery sock

2010-11-21T20:25:00.002+11:00

Half way there!

I was aiming to have this one finished by early November. A couple of weeks late, but not a complete blow out (as could quite legitimately be expected given my track record...).

It's mate has been cast on, so I might have a full pair by the end of summer! Assuming second sock syndrome doesn't kick in...

My creative space...

2010-11-18T15:25:00.004+11:00

...should be involving variations of this:

Using lovely soft BWM cotton in Sepia (a sadly discontinued colourway for the 2011 collection), you'd think these quick little Christmas gift projects would be just the thing right now, but the call of the socks is too strong. So close to finishing the first one, I can't wait to see how it looks finished and on my foot!

Visit more creative spaces at Kootoyoo.

Experimenting...

2010-11-14T15:50:00.003+11:00

Yesterday I made my first-ever batch of soap. I used Jodie's basic recipe which is very user-friendly for the soap-making-novice! I added fresh lavender from the garden and geranium essential oil as my flavourings, and it smells lovely, even though I was a little light handed with the essential oil.

The fresh lavender might have been a mistake, but I don't have any dried lavender (maybe I should dry my own?? Any tips?). We'll see if the fresh stuff works OK, I guess! The geranium oil (one of my preferred scents) would have been lavender oil if mine had had any scent left, but it's a little bit old. I might have had it since before I was married, which was 12 and a half years ago... Ahem.

I can see lots of soapy Christmas presents being given out this year!! Thanks Jodie.

Stitch & bitch at my place...

2010-11-06T19:31:00.000+11:00

my creative space

2010-11-04T10:14:00.004+11:00

In the last week, I finally managed the last step on this little vest for my daughter. It's been wallowing in the I'm-so-close-to-being-finished-that-I'm-being-ignored pile for several weeks, and has now been set free into the land of toddler wear. Maybe it would rather it stayed in the pile?

It's perfect for those Spring/summer/autumn days that are not quite warm enough for just a shirt, so it should get lots of wear over the next few months (when it's not waiting for another wash!).

It's also perfect for keeping an eye on those pesky chooks to make sure they're scratching around and laying eggs appropriately!

Details:

Pattern: Eden's Adam by Tikki (size 2 vest) - I would highly recommend this pattern (Ravelry link). It has excellent instructions and is a REALLY fast knit (see below).

Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8ply in Bracken (123g, or comfortably less than one 200g ball)

Sticks: 3.5 & 4.5mm circs

Timeframe: 16 September 2010 to 1 November 2010. Actual knitting time was 8 days, which is quite incredible given that I AM the slowest knitter in the universe. I think the speed was due to a really straightforward pattern and the urgency associated with an imminent birth. Productivity increased exponentially in the month before the arrival of daughter number 2!

New skills learnt: Long tail cast on (desperate internet search involved here!), and jogged garter stitch in the round (easy to follow instructions provided with the pattern).

Ravelled here.

Lots of great creating can be found a Kootoyoo. It's well worth a visit!

The fruit of Time-To-Myself

2010-10-30T13:52:00.003+11:00

Time-To-Myself happened again this morning! T took the girls out to the Toy Library which gave me the chance to get back to those drawstring bags that I'd had limited success with last weekend.

I'm very excited to report that they're finished!

Looking at this photo, though, I've just realised that my time-saving attempt of eliminating the bottom seam by folding the fabric has resulted in an upside-down-animal side of the green bag. Oops. Note to self: Pay attention to the directionality of fabric in future!

Still, I'm rather pleased with them. All bits were already on hand (the benefits of stashing for the future!), and these bags are REALLY basic so they were a perfect project for me right now. The original instructions are from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross.

Time-To-Myself is a wonderful thing. I appreciate it even more than ever at the moment.

A very nearly finished object

2010-10-29T15:41:00.005+11:00

While we were on a break a couple of weeks before the baby arrived, I started knitting a little vest for my nearly 2-year-old. I finished the knitting 8 days later (a small miracle in itself), and since then it's been hybernating on my craft table waiting to be blocked.

Today I finally managed it!

There were a few conditions that needed to be met for me to block it: a blocking surface needed to be sourced, and the weather needed to be good! Fortunately for me (and my daughter), today those conditions were very satisfactorily met.

Yesterday I bought some large foam floor-mat-pieces to act as blocking boards (completely inspired by/copied from Helen of Bellsknits who talked about her own camping-mat-blocking-boards AGES ago), and the weather today is lovely and sunny, and the last day that we're likely to have like this for at least a week.

Typically, I'm blocking by guesswork rather than knowledge, never having wet-blocked anything before. I figure that I want the shoulder straps and neckline to sit properly, the vertical knitting lines to sit vaguely straight, and the bottom cast-off row to sit kind of flat rather than kinking up all over the place. Who knows at this point whether I've succeeded? I'll find out before too long, I'm sure.

Do you block your knitting? If you do, what's your approach? Hints and tips will be enthusiastically received!!

Hopefully I'll have fully finished, modeled photos with project details in the next week or so.

P.S. If you're wondering what the beans are for, they're acting as weights to stop the mat blowing off the top of the clothes rack it's resting on to keep it out of reach of inquisitive chooks...

How good is Ravelry?

2010-10-27T19:50:00.003+11:00

My heel is turned, and I'm about to start on the next clue BEFORE the one after that is released!! I won't say I've caught up (that would be a little optimistic), but I'm rather chuffed that I'm currently not *too* far behind!

The next step involves picking up stitches along the outside of the heel to start knitting the gusset (that bit on either side of the back of the heel that has a diagonal line pointing up towards your ankle - have a look at your sock and you might get what I mean?). Picking up stitches is something I've generally made up as I've gone along in the past, with varying success, so instead of making a mess of my otherwise rather lovely socks, last night before (theoretically*) going to bed, I asked for advice on the sock-a-long forum on Ravelry. By the time I woke up this morning, a number of smart knitterly types had responded with much sock-knitting-stitch-picking-up-wisdom! So, while the execution may still leave something to be desired, I have the theory this time which surely must increase the odds of success.

Ravelry is really good. If you're even vaguely interested in yarn craft, you should go there and check it out!

*Last night my 1 month old slept for 40 minutes between 6pm and 1.40am when she finally went to sleep for nearly 6 hours straight. I am simultaneously ecstatic and exhausted. Hoping for more of the long-time-sleeping and less of the long-time-waking in the near night time future!!

sans heel

2010-10-25T20:18:00.003+11:00

There was three quarters of one until I decided that my stuff ups slipping one at the start of the heel flap really needed to be fixed. And I'd nearly caught up!

Even so, I'm still having fun, which bodes well for the potential completion of sock 2.

A tiny glimpse into the workings of my brain...

2010-10-24T20:42:00.002+11:00

I was gifted a very precious 90 minutes this afternoon of Time-To-Myself while my husband took the girls to the park. I decided to use it wisely and make a couple of small drawstring bags for some things in my oldest's special feeding-time bag. Very do-able.

I pulled out my fabric options, and chose a couple that would work nicely. I ironed the first fabric and cut the piece I intended to use.

Speed bump number 1:

How do I thread the bobbin again?

After consulting the manual and still having thread-breaking issues, I re-threaded the top thread after consulting the manual again, and the machine sewed. Success!

Temporary success.

The right side is supposed to face IN when sewing seams.

Bugger.

Now where's my seam ripper?

Sleep

2010-10-23T20:29:00.001+11:00

mail

2010-10-22T14:18:00.004+11:00

Look what arrived this morning!

It *may* contain [cough] 23 200g balls of yarn, BUT 13 of them are for my mother! The remaining balls that will be living at my house will eventually be turned into washcloths and winter knits for the smalls for next year. I hope...

Bendigo Woollen Mills has a sale on at the moment. Who could resist!?!

my creative space

2010-10-21T12:13:00.003+11:00

Running repairs.

It only took about 6 weeks after the button-meets-bottom-of-heel incident to do something that required 5 minutes of my time...

I'm quite impressed that I realised (before tomorrow) that today was Thursday and My Creative Space day. Lately I've been at least a day out one way or the other, but today I'm spot on! [I think.] Thanks Kirsty, for helping keep my week somewhat predictable!!

Tulips

2010-10-19T20:15:00.003+11:00

On their way out, but beautiful all the same.

Please excuse the hideous fire screen in the background - I've been meaning to replace/re-cover it since we've been living here but that's the case for lots of dreamed up projects in this house...

Meal planning?

2010-10-18T17:08:00.003+11:00

Over the last few weeks, meals at our place have been a bit different to usual. Cooking from scratch is not something that we seem to be able to manage for now as we gradually get used to an evening ‘routine’ (ha ha) that involves all of the normal things as well as throwing a newborn into the mix! We figure we’re doing fairly well if the oldest gets a bath, the chooks are put to bed for the night and we sit down to eat sometime near dinnertime.

Fortunately, we are part of a community that has been incredibly generous. At least one meal has arrived at our front door every day for the last week and a half, so the most we’ve had to do is to heat something up and make a salad (often with ingredients provided by the dinner-maker!).

As such, meal planning has involved saying thank you at the door, or making a decision about which meal we eat and which one goes into the freezer! I expect this week to be slightly more complicated as the dinner roster prepared by friends is unlikely to cover every single night, so we might need to make decisions about which meal from the (rather large) freezer stash we will eat!

We are very blessed by the people who are taking care of us, and are extremely grateful for their generosity. Thank you.

Happy day!

2010-10-15T13:33:00.003+11:00

I missed a day. Bother.

As you might remember, *someone* permanently disabled my computer last weekend, and I've been relying on using my husband's computer in the evenings to make blog posts. Rather than making a blog post last night, we were sent out for dinner by my parents who looked after our big girl for the evening. We had a rather lovely dinner at Lulo in Hawthorn, and our littlest girl slept through the whole meal! I think I'm quite OK about missing a Blogtoberfest post when it was due to such a good cause!

And today I collected my replacement computer! Ahhh. It's an exact replacement for my old (spewed on) MacBook which I loved (probably more than I should), so I'm very happy. After much thought and discussion with people who know about these things, I decided that I really needed a laptop rather than an iPad, particularly if I go back to study in the near future. There will just be very strict rules about not combining babies and computer usage from now on!

If I had managed to post yesterday, it would have been to show you my creative space, which is centred around this yarn and this bag for the time being. The bag is a Sunnyboy from Michelle of Buttontree Lane. I discovered that she was not making any more and discontinuing her Etsy shop a few days after she first announced it, and was very relieved to discover there was still a handful of bags still available. As a Buttontree Lane Sunnyboy and/or Box for Socks was already firmly entrenched on my Christmas wish list, I couldn't let them disappear without getting myself one. And I'm very glad I did - I love it.

*******

Sleep update: 7.5 the other night and 8 last night! And last night was only broken twice!! Things are looking up...

filler

2010-10-13T20:02:00.003+11:00

Not so sure about this getting dry thing...

Much prefer the being wet option.

*******
Sleep update: 7 hrs in total last night.

In the garden...

2010-10-12T20:36:00.003+11:00

We did some planting in our vege patch a few weeks ago, and things are starting to appear!

Rainbow carrots

Zucchini. Or cucumber. We planted both and I can't remember which one's which.

Heirloom corn

Purple beans

And finally, our abundant spinach, which was planted a while ago. We're having trouble keeping up with it, eating lots ourselves as well as giving lots away! It's starting to go to seed now, so it probably won't be with us too much longer. We'll enjoy it while it lasts.

After a few gorgeous spring days, the rain has started tonight. It's good, steady rain, so our young plants will enjoy it immensely.

I love having a vege patch!

*******
Sleep update: 5.5 hrs last night, plus a 30 minute nap yesterday afternoon (no opportunity for napping today). For some unknown reason, I've felt more functional today than yesterday even though I had less sleep. Hmmm. Trying for an earlier night tonight...?

It's a good thing I'm so cute...

2010-10-11T20:28:00.002+11:00

*******
Sleep update: 1.5 + 2 + 2 + 1.5 = 7 hours. The total sounds good, if only it was with less breaks in the middle...

Breathe...

2010-10-10T16:00:00.002+11:00

These gorgeous blossoms greet us whenever we go out the front door at the moment. And the beautiful weather over the last couple of days has made them look even prettier! A lovely opportunity to take a moment whenever I walk past.

Which is a good thing. Last night, my smallest projectile vomited all over my MacBook, rendering it kaput, according to my Mac-guru-friend. (Though the hard drive should be salvageable. I hope.) Bugger. Times about 7000.

This afternoon has involved some exploring of replacement options, including the possibility of an iPad. Any thoughts?

Lucky there's a thing called the Baby Bonus.

We're hoping to set up my email to go to my phone, but I may be more non-responsive than usual for a little while...

*******
Sleep update: Two lots of 3 hours each (yay!!), but none before midnight. This parenting of more than one child business has it's challenges!!

A sock cuff - spoiler alert

2010-10-09T19:37:00.002+11:00

I have a sock cuff!

Just in case there's anyone out there who is participating in the sockalong and hasn't finished the cuff (highly unlikely, but stranger things have happened...), a pic of my cuff is below.

It's rather fancy, and involves tiny cables which I managed using a spare dpn because I don't own a cable needle and there's no way I was going to learn how to cable without a cable needle at this point in time!

The clue for the leg came out last night, so hopefully I'll find some time to work on it soon!

*******

Sleep update: About 7 hours, including one 2.5 hour block. More like this, please!

Maisie

2010-10-08T20:08:00.003+11:00

About 6 weeks ago we were given the honour of fostering a friend's chooks for 6 months while they get some serious work done on their backyard. In addition to the eggs they give us every day, we also get to watch them as they potter and scratch around the backyard.

I especially enjoy watching Maisie.

I think Maisie is one of the best looking chooks around! I have no idea what breed she is, but she's lovely. And she's been our best layer! The other two are Isa Browns, which are also rather nice to look at, but Maisie is special.

*******

Sleep update: Apparently 5 hours but it felt like about 2. Being chucked on twice (including a projectile vomit up the sleeve of my polar plus jacket - good aim it seems), which required a complete baby change (waking her up again) and mother change made for a rather challenging night. Hopefully tonight will be better!

My creative space

2010-10-07T16:01:00.005+11:00

A bit hazy and distracted at the moment, I have managed to knit enough of a swatch to be confident that my gauge is about right for the Through the Loops Mystery Sockalong (rav link, blog link here for non-ravelers).

I think I love this yarn.

This is the reason for the hazy distractibility - NOT asleep. Though fortunately very tolerant of my attempts to learn how to wear a Hug-a-Bub baby carrier!

My Creative Space can be found over at Kirsty's place. I suggest you check it out!

*******

Sleep update: About 7 hours in total - a good night!

Rain

2010-10-06T20:02:00.003+11:00

It's been raining on and off here today since lunchtime.

It's lovely.

******

After a couple of hideous sub-four-hour nights of sleep due to a combination of what has turned out to be a toddler ear infection and newborn nighttime feeding, I've decided to keep a 24hr sleep log (from midday to midday) for the next few weeks. Given I'm planning to be in this space every day during October, I figure it's the perfect place to do it.

Last night was a very good night. I managed 8.5(!) hours all up, with 2.5 of those between 8 and 10.30am this morning (loving having a husband home on paternity leave!). I also made a concerted effort to have the light out by 10pm last night, which gave me an extra hour at that end, too. Ugh. Not good at this broken sleep thing. It will pass, though, it will pass. Eventually!

Socking along

2010-10-05T20:09:00.004+11:00

Because I'm a few neuronal connections short of sane at the moment, I've decided to join in (late) with the Through the Loops Socktoberfest Mystery Sock-A-Long. I remember this time last year a few bloggers were participating and I was thinking that if I knew how to knit socks that it would heaps of fun! I was reminded in the last few days of the potential adventure by Leonie, and thought it still sounded like fun. Now that I've knitted one and a half socks in my lifetime, I figure I'm qualified to join in...?!

I'm planning on using Fanny's Fingering Yarn* in Chilli Pepper from my stash (above), because it fits with the recommended solid or semi-solid colourway. It's a gorgeous deep rusty red, and I hope it will be lovely!

I figure that if I've finished one sock by early November, I'll be doing exceptionally well, and if I've managed to get anything done on the second sock, it will be a bonus! Now all I need to do is wind my yarn, knit a small swatch and then knit a cuff, which looks like fun. I already know all the stitches involved in this bit, which is a bit of a miracle!

*Does anyone else find themselves needing to stifle a very primary school-esque guffaw at this name? Or have I just spent too much time over the last few years working with primary school aged boys?

A question of gauge and stitch definition...

2010-10-04T15:50:00.003+11:00

The swatch is done.

There's a couple of complications though. Any advice that knitterly types might be able to offer would be greatly appreciated!

The first issue: unfortunately I get 27 stitches in 10cm rather than the required 22. I figure this means increasing my needle size - this swatch is knitted on 3.5mm needles. Do you think increasing to 4mm needles will make a big enough difference? Or will I be likely to need to go up to 4.5mm?

The second issue: I seem to have managed to get an odd stitch definition in the swatch. See those vertical lines running down the swatch? Rather than getting nice uniform v's in my stockinette, each stitch has one side that's vertical and the other side is on an angle. Do I have some kind of weird knitting technique that makes this happen, or is it some weird feature of the yarn (Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino)? I have a little cardi that my MIL knitted out of the same yarn that also has the vertical line thing happening, which isn't particularly obvious in the cardi she knitted for my other daughter out of BWM Luxury. Any ideas?

P.S. Blogtoberfest day 4 meanderings are somewhat affected by severe sleep deprivation due to normal nocturnal infant behaviour combined with a sick toddler who kept all the adults in the house up late then up early (from 4am). Brain blur.

Preparation

2010-10-03T14:46:00.004+11:00

itti bitti d'lish snap-in-one shells (small size). We think they're brilliant!

The weather today was perfect for getting organised for the transition from sanity-saving disposables to sanity-and-conscience-saving cloth nappies. Given the number of nappies we're going through each day at the moment, we probably won't have enough cloth nappies in the stash, but for every one we use, that's one less disposable. We've got to start somewhere!

Purple

2010-10-02T14:59:00.003+10:00

Ahhh.

It's only a swatch, but it's knitting. Good stuff.

Blogtoberfest!?!

2010-10-01T15:24:00.004+10:00

Against my better judgement, I've signed up for Blogtoberfest. This means that I'll be attempting to post daily for the month of October.

The new addition, not yet a week old

You might be wondering why I would do such a thing given our current life circumstances, and part of me is too! However, I'm working on the assumption that it will be a good thing to try to extract my head momentarily each day from the craziness that's involved in adding a new person to the family, even if it's just to take a picture, or to make a (very) short post.

Given that the main focus of this blog is making and not parenting (even though it makes a necessary appearance here occasionally), I'm hoping that you don't get inundated with gratuitous baby shots because I'm besotted (it's true) and can't think of anything else! I'm hoping to snatch a moment here and there to do a row of knitting, or admire the carrots that were planted a couple of weeks ago, or even pull out a dandelion or two! We'll see.

Thanks, Cathy, for hosting Blogtoberfest again this year. I know that through Blogtoberfest last year I connected with a few bloggers who have become firm friends, and hopefully this year there might be a few more!

She's here!

2010-09-30T13:02:00.003+10:00

Welcome home!

3.185kg (7 pounds), born 11 days early on Saturday evening after a labour that was at least as good as we'd dared to dream of!

We feel very blessed to have her.

A slight case of paranoia with a bit of reality thrown in for good measure...

2010-09-24T13:47:00.007+10:00

When my daughter was nearly 6 weeks old, we flew to Sydney so she could meet grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles and family friends. It was a lovely trip. Unfortunately, she was exposed to Pertussis (Whooping Cough), probably at the airport or on the flight on the way home. Two weeks later she developed a cough which steadily got worse over the next couple of weeks.*

A at about 6 weeks old

After several trips to the GP and many phone calls to Nurse-on-Call, we eventually ended up in the Children's Hospital in an isolation ward for a few nights so that her symptoms could be managed. The GP didn't pick it up because the symptoms look so different in an infant compared to an older child or adult. As infants don't have the muscle strength to do the characteristic cough, when it gets severe enough they stop breathing instead. As a parent, it's incredibly distressing to witness, and requires being on high alert ALL the time so that you can sit the baby up during a coughing fit to try to keep their airways clear. The only treatment available for Pertussis is a course of antibiotics, which limits the contagious period to 5 days from the beginning of the course of antibiotics (as opposed to 3 weeks if left untreated). It does nothing to treat the symptoms, which need to be constantly monitored and managed.

In the last couple of weeks, a five week old baby in South Australia died as a result of Pertussis. This was apparently the fourth infant in Australia to die in the last 12 months, when typically in this country, there is only one Pertussis related death each year. The disease is not life threatening for most people over the age of 12 months (though when my sister had it a few years ago, she broke a rib with all the coughing), but in small babies they don't have the strength to cough as effectively, which means their airways can be compromised, and they can end up too exhausted to feed which further reduces their strength, which can spiral down into a very bad place to be. Fortunately, if you make it past the worst of it about 2 weeks after the cough first appears, there are no lasting side effects once the 3 month (very) gradual recovery is complete.

We were lucky. My daughter's case was considered 'moderate', which meant she didn't get to the point of needing to be tube-fed and only had oxygen waved over her face during a coughing fit rather than it being attached permanently. Thankfully she was a great feeder from birth, and consequently a fatty-boom-sticks which I suspect put her in a more resilient position to start with than many babies often are. She is now completely healthy, and amazingly, given the levels of adult anxiety she was exposed to while she was sick, is a joyful, carefree, adventurous little thing. It doesn't seem to have had any long term impact.

A last weekend seesawing enthusiastically at the park...

But now we're about to have another baby. And the rate of Pertussis in the community is again significantly higher than normal. And I'm feeling slightly paranoid. I REALLY don't want this child to get it. I'm not sure I could be as together if it happened again - I know a lot more about it and the potential consequences now than I did last time! Sometimes lack of knowledge is a good thing... We WILL vaccinate this child**, but it will still be completely unprotected for the first 8 weeks of life.

The conversation with my rational brain goes something like this:

My SIL had a baby 2 months ago and when they left the hospital they were advised that, in addition to ensuring that any adults who were likely to have regular contact with her (like parents and grandparents***) were up to date with their vaccinations, to keep her away from public places, especially those with air conditioning (like shopping centres). My advice at the time was to be cautious and sensible but that they couldn't let the unlikely possibility shut them in the house for the first 8 weeks! Obviously that applies to us, too!

Here is a sample of the conversation with my slightly less rational brain:

Our daughter caught it in one of those public place scenarios!! We can't go anywhere public then!! Well at least not to the shops. Or church. Or cafes. And only people who are up to date with their vaccinations can come into our house!! And so on...

There's got to be some kind of middle ground here! Listening too closely to my irrational brain is a recipe for serious mental health issues. However, it's not completely crazy. I suspect that not being cautious enough and getting into the same situation again would result in psychological catastrophe too. Obviously, we won't be going anywhere near airports or public transport for the first few weeks of life (been there, done that, outcome not good). The question is: Where do we draw the line? When does caution become paranoia? What do you think?

*She was vaccinated, but babies don't receive their first lot until they're 8 weeks old, by which stage she'd already picked it up.

**I know there are many people who don't agree with vaccination, but it's something that we're committed to, especially in this situation.

***Babies typically pick it up from parents or grandparents who have not been vaccinated in the last 5 years. Most adults don't realise the vaccinations they received as children or teenagers have well and truly lost their effectiveness! And most adults who have Pertussis often don't get diagnosed until after they're no longer contagious, because it's the fact that it lingers for such a long time that often results in a diagnosis being made.

A lovely package and a return to normality?

2010-09-21T15:39:00.004+10:00

When we arrived home from our (too) brief escape to a rural lifestyle, a lovely package was waiting for me as part of Jellywares' Spring Washcloth Swap.

I REALLY like the washcloth made by Kitty from a lovely cream eco-cotton, and I'm looking forward to using the honey, oatmeal and chamomile soap (which I will be declaring mine, all mine!) as well as planting the Zinnia seeds in a few pots for the front garden. I'm really lucky to have had Kitty as my swap partner. Thank you!

And now that we've returned from our few days away and hubby is now home for several weeks in a row(!), I'm attempting to get back into the vague routine that had been completely tossed out the window over the last few crazy weeks. Step one is to re-establish the meal plan! Admittedly, part of the motivation for planning things at this point in time is to try and convince Peanut that it's inconvenient enough to join us, but even if that doesn't work, at least having dinners organised will mean that dinners actually happen even if I'm cooking in my sleep... and maybe, the freezer might end up with a few extra meals in it. Here's hoping, anyway.

Monday: Spinach, Feta & Olive tart (making it up, using spinach from our garden and eggs from our chooks!)

Tuesday: Beef Stroganoff (Masterchef mag #3, p. 98, hopefully with leftovers for freezer)

Wednesday: Pasta Bake (making it up, but including Istra bacon bought on our way home from Daylesford at Istra's farm shop)

Thursday: Moroccan Chicken Stew (delicious Aug 08, p. 94, with leftovers for freezer)

Friday: Fish

Saturday: Lamb & Chickpea Pizza (Masterchef mag #4, p. 42)

Sunday: Cannelini Bean & Couscous Patties (delicious Sept 10, p. 114)

What are you hoping to eat this week?

Refreshed

2010-09-18T14:30:00.006+10:00

Yesterday afternoon we returned from a few short days away staying at a friend's farm* cottage about 15 minutes drive from Daylesford. Looking out from the living area, we were lucky enough to be treated to views of rolling green hills and paddocks full of cows. It was wonderful! And so peaceful (if you discount the exuberance of our 21 month old daughter...!).

The view from the cottage

We managed to do some exploring of a few local attractions, including cafes, the Chocolate Mill, Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm and the Digger's St Erth garden at Blackwood (below). My daughter also honed her skills in animal identification and noise making! I think she'd love to be a country kid... Sigh. Dreaming is good.

The Garden of St Erth - a view from within the food forest being established, across the kitchen garden and espaliered fruit trees to the drought-friendly garden, with a few daffodils in bloom thrown in for good measure!

I also managed to fit in a fair bit of crafting while we were away. Two washcloths** were crocheted for my secret swap partner in Jellywares' Spring Washcloth Swap...

...several ends were sewn in on my epic granny blanket (over half way now!), and I started work on an Eden's Adam vest (Ravelry link) for my daughter...

Beginning the vest was almost a non-event though. I discovered, after running around the morning of the day we left getting the right sized needles, that when I pulled all the bits out to get started, that I needed to do a long tail cast on. Which was a slight issue as I'd never done one before. To my great surprise, I had no internet access on my iPhone, and while this was a blessing (lots of craft done rather than wasting time online...), it meant that I had to be a tad resourceful in my efforts to find out about long tail cast ons. Mum tried to help (we had phone coverage), but it was too complicated to explain without pictures. Eventually I found my way to Daylesford Library where the extremely helpful librarian set me up with 30 minutes internet access which sorted me out fantastically! In the end, I found the Knitty instructions with still shots most useful. What a saga! But it was begun, and I'm really enjoying the process of knitting it!

Tonight, we had roasted free range organic Wessex Saddleback pork belly for dinner, bought direct from the grower at Fernleigh Farm. It was absolutely delicious! It's great being able to buy meat by breed, as well as direct from the producer. We're fortunate enough to be able to do this occasionally at Farmers Markets, but it's a special treat getting it from the place where the animals actually live.

*Farm is probably an overstatement given the size of the property is 1.5 acres, but it's surrounded by farmland, so you can pretend!

**Tulip stitch washcloth (pattern here) using Bendigo Woollen Mills cotton in 8 ply and a 4mm hook.

Ends

2010-09-09T13:11:00.004+10:00

The edge is complete, and now all I have to do is sew in the ends.

Ahem. Yes. Those ends. I naively thought that it would take me a couple of evenings worth of work. I think I'll be doing well if they're all woven in within a couple of weeks!

Some pointers:

1) It doesn't matter how frugal you think you're being, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT think it's a good idea to leave a tail behind a joining knot* of less than 5cm (and especially as small as 1cm!?!). It's not. It will not weave in and it will look horrid, aside from driving you completely barmy when trying to work out how to hide it.

2) If at all possible, weave as many ends as you can in as you go. You will thank yourself later, rather than cursing yourself over and over (as I'm doing right now!).

3) If it's too late and you've already done what I did, keep persisting and weave them all in! I'm working on the theory that this blanket will be much better on the couch than hidden away in the WIP basket. I hope so, anyway...

Kirsty has some long term/slow burn projects on the go at the moment too. Hopefully she's finding them a little less frustrating than I am! Pay her a visit and while you're there, check out the other creative spaces around the traps this week.

*I find the whole idea of joining with a knot slightly disturbing these days, but this was a 'learn to crochet' project. I have learnt much along the way, including that some strategies are not ideal. Like joining knots. A slip stitch, on the other hand, seems to have potential?

My Creative Space

2010-09-02T07:58:00.006+10:00

The obsession continues....

And it seems to be a genuine obsession - I knitted this hat in record time! The pattern is courtesy of Leonie from Dr Bones Knits, and I must say that I think it's great! It's a very flexible pattern that can be modified to fit your yarn, needles and size required, which is perfect when you need to go stash diving because you absolutely MUST make something NOW! (Ahem.)

Details:

Pattern: Leonie's Basic Hat Recipe

Yarn: BWM Luxury 8ply in Ruby (I think - it's been in my stash for years but it seems to match the current colour card sample of that colourway!)

Sticks: 5mm dpns (I have discovered that having less than 3 stitches on a dpn can result in some novel twisty stitches...not an issue in this case as my perfectionist streak seems to have taken a holiday - the need to make fast is obviously the priority right now!)

Size: Newborn (I think. We'll find out, I guess!)

And continuing on with the obsessive theme, apparently now I MUST finish this granny blanket that's been languishing in my WIP pile for at least 4 years without being touched.

I have one more row of squares to stitch on (whip stitch - I really wish I'd known about joining with slip stitch when I started this!!) before doing the edging and then weaving in about 70 gazillion ends. This was my 'learn to crochet' project, and I've learnt an awful lot since then. Like weaving in ends as you go. Arrrgh! Even so, I MUST. FINISH. BLANKET. Weird obsession central in this house right now...

To check out some slightly less weirdly obsessive creating, visit My Creative Space at Kootoyoo!

Ishbel Beret

2010-08-29T14:14:00.003+10:00

It is finished. Finally!

I started this beret (the first time) in June last year. That's rather a long time ago! However, while this is (at least) the fourth time it was started, it's the first time it's been finished! It's definitely not perfect, but it's lovely and soft and I think the pattern nearly looks right. There's something slightly odd going on with the crown, and a few holes that look a bit bigger than others, but on the whole, I'm really happy with it.

Knitting this beret involved a lot of firsts for me. It was the first time I'd attempted a provisional cast on (I'm much better at it now than I was!) and the first time I'd done a folded knitted band (and used three needles at once). It was the first time I'd attempted lace knitting, and I now feel much more confident 'reading' my knitting to work out where mistakes are, and also at unknitting lace! It was also the first item I'd knitted in the round. So for a project that involved so many 'learning opportunities', I think I'll declare it a raving success! I love how logical the pattern was - my struggles were I suspect primarily a result of a slightly dysfunctional brain rather than an overly convoluted pattern - so I think I'll be trying another Ysolda pattern before too long.

Details:

Pattern: Ishbel Beret by Ysolda Teague

Yarn: Eki Riva Supreme

Duration: Far longer than possibly anyone else who might ever knit this pattern!! Possibly a couple of weeks of decent knitting time if you take out all the time I spent studiously ignoring it...

Ravelled here.

At last!

2010-08-28T19:35:00.003+10:00

Shoes for peanut finished! Phew. Another thing crossed off the list. Now I just need to work out what to knit next...

On a slightly different note, I have worked out how to facilitate the fast knitting of things that would take me forever. Like this adorable little cardigan. I found the pattern and bought the yarn, and put both in the post to my mother-in-law. Hey presto, less than two weeks later, the finished product arrived on our doorstep!

I eventually found the perfect buttons at the Be Be Bold stand at the Quilt and Craft Fair, so now it's being worn with much joy and enthusiasm!

Pattern: Tiny Tea Leaves Cardi

Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 10 ply in Lake

Size: 2 years

Mods: full rather than 3/4 length sleeves

A series of minimally related thoughts...

2010-08-23T15:43:00.007+10:00

Last week, I managed to pick up some cardoons from the Farmers Market, and found a couple of different ways to use them over the course of the week. They were yummy as part of a pasta sauce, but they were magnificent like this!

These were simmered in lemon juicy, salty, floury water for about 40 minutes, before being crumbed with parmesan and breadcrumbs and shallow fried. Sprinkled with a little salt, they were fantabulous, and even met the 'more?' request from my daughter! If you ever find cardoons (most likely direct from the grower or in your own garden), I suggest you try them, especially if you like artichokes. Yum.

I've spent the last 48 hours or so going from being utterly disgusted with the election result, to thinking that it's probably a very good representation of the way most Australians currently feel toward either of our major parties (they're both a bit of a joke). I've decided to attempt to remove myself emotionally from the whole debacle and watch with interest what happens next (though if Tony Abbott becomes PM, I'll have a fair bit of trouble coming to terms with that, I'm afraid! Even if my husband has promised to take me out for a fancy commiseration dinner if that appalling possibility actually comes to fruition. And yes, I'm nailing my political tendencies to the mast. Why not?). I think that next time we move I'd like to move into a swinging electorate, because so far we've managed to live in safe seats held by one party or another, and it gets a bit frustrating knowing that my vote is effectively irrelevant. Political rant over. Grrr.

And returning to normal everyday life, I'm intentionally not planning a menu for this week. Both my husband and I are involved with an event that is running every evening this week, and one of us is likely to be in there most nights. BUT, we're not sure which ones yet, so rather than attempt to plan the unplannable, I'll attempt to do some seat-pants-flying. It could get messy!

However, if you're in or near Melbourne this week, and are interested in learning a bit about what Christians actually believe, you might like to come along to some or all of the sessions that are on this week in the city as part of Christ Expo. Here are the details:

What? How can we believe?

Christ Expo

Talks by Don Carson (different talk each night)

Where? Storey Hall RMIT

342 Swanston St (diagonally opposite Melbourne Central)

When? Monday to Friday this week

7 for 7.30pm

There will be people available to talk to at the end of each evening, but there's no obligation to talk to anyone if you don't want to!

And here ends a rather disjointed post. Possibly representative of present state of brain function.

My creative space

2010-08-19T12:18:00.003+10:00

Apparently, when you have 7 weeks to go before a baby is supposed to be born, the most important thing to do is to make baby shoes. Far more important than going through baby clothes to check if you need anything else, and exceedingly more important than sweeping the kitchen floor.

I'm not sure I can explain the logic behind it (if indeed there is any), but the need is pressing. Insistent, even.

This pair in purple and orange.*

One down, one to go.

Anyone got any good, super-fast baby hat patterns? (Pressing need #2, just slightly less desperate than shoes. Apparently.)

Check out Kirsty's place to visit a whole load of creative places!

*I had a giggle to myself when I read the first paragraph of Cath's recent thought provoking post on crafty inspiration. Purple and orange, huh? I'd started these before I read that, but who knows where the original inspiration came from!?!

Cardoons

2010-08-17T20:36:00.003+10:00

We managed to make it to the farmers markets at the Collingwood Children's Farm this weekend. I love the farmers market, partly because I can buy potatoes by variety from the lady who grows them and knows lots about them, and partly because I can also find the occasional weird thing that I would never see in a greengrocer (even a good one!). Like these.

These odd stalky-looking things are cardoons. Cardoons are similar to artichokes in flavour, and they're also both thistles, but cardoons are the stem rather than the flower. A chat with the grower gave me an idea of what was involved in their preparation, and a flick through a few recipe books when I got home found a helpful section in Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book. Basically, you peel off the outside stringy bits and simmer them in acidulated (lemon juicy) water until tender. You can then do whatever you like with them, like fry them in olive oil and garlic, crumb them and turn them into cardoon chips, roast them in the oven sprinkled with parmesan... In my daughter's words: Um-num-num-num...

This week's menu plan:

Monday: Roasted fennel, cardoon and olive pasta (and it was good, too! Cardoons really are rather yummy)

Tuesday: Pumpkin & feta fritters (a sleep-deprived parent and child meant this one didn't happen. Pizza anyone?)

Wednesday: Coq au vin (Masterchef mag #4, p. 118, hoping the leftovers will kick-start the freezer stocking process that might get us through the first few weeks of dual parenthood...)

Thursday: Out

Friday: Salmon, chickpea and lemon frittata (Masterchef #4, p. 48)

Saturday: Beef bourguignon (from freezer)

Sunday: Soup (from freezer)

Hopefully the menu plan will be more indicative of what we're actually eating for the rest of this week...

A swift?

2010-08-14T20:25:00.003+10:00

One of the nice things about hand-dyed yarn is that it comes in skeins that allow you to see the colour variation along the strands. An unfortunate side of this though, is that you need to wind it into balls before you knit or crochet with it. To avoid making knots, you need to somehow stretch the big loop of yarn so that it's tight while you wind it. If you're someone who knits fairly fast and often finishes things (neither of which are true about me), you can probably justify owning a special contraption called a swift, specifically designed to do this.

In our house, my husband is the poor sucker who usually gets the job of holding his arms out for ages while I try to negotiate the ball winding business. But I think he's out of a job. (I'm sure he's very disappointed. Not.) Enter two child-sized Ikea chairs, the perfect size for stretching out the big loop of yarn, and small enough that I can wind from above which seems to help it unravel easily. I'm feeling rather clever!

So now I have two more balls of lovely hand-dyed yarn ready to be made into shoes for peanut (who is expected to arrive in less than 8 weeks...I need to get making! Fast!). And I've started.

Which is rather exciting, because due to a self-imposed rule requiring one thing to be completed before the next one is started, it means that the knitty bit of the Ishbel hat that I've been knitting forever is FINISHED!! It's currently blocking, but once that's done I'll show you some proper pictures.

My creative space

2010-08-12T09:44:00.003+10:00

My creative space over the last few weeks has been mostly about the sticks. Especially sticks with points at both ends!

I'm finally beginning to make what feels like progress again on my Ishbel hat (this attempt has been a WIP since February !!), but I'm very slow to learn that trying to knit a lacy pattern after 9.30 at night is a recipe for disaster... Three rows forward, two rows back, argh! Moving from circs to dpns should help progress a bit I think. It was taking almost as long to move the next group of stitches into knitting position as it was to knit them!

I suspect that all of you proper knitters out there are truly amazed at the speed that I'm knitting this (very small) object, but I'm working towards winning the award for the slowest knitter ever. Just in case you were wondering!

If you'd like to see some genuinely productive creative spaces, head over to Kirsty's for a visit.

Porridge

2010-08-09T14:31:00.004+10:00

Gina recently wrote a great post on slowing things down. And in recognition of slow, I'd like to have a chat about porridge. Right now, in the middle of winter, I think porridge is great. And porridge made the slow way, with real oats, on the stovetop. Don't get me wrong, my bed in the morning is nearly my favourite place in the whole world, but I've discovered that the process of turning oats into porridge is a very pleasant way to start the day. You can't rush porridge, which means my day begins slowly, which seems to result in a much calmer, relaxed approach to life compared to my rush-rush-toast-in-the-car-on-my-way-somewhere day beginnings. Porridge is good.

And after a week of excessive activity - no evening meal was normal last week: we either had people over, or were traveling to or from Sydney, or were in Sydney - I'm looking forward to a slower, more typical week regaining some rhythm. Rhythm involving eggs laid in our backyard!

On the menu this week:

Monday: Pasta bake (making it up)

Tuesday: Chicken noodle stirfry (Masterchef mag #1, p. 38)

Wednesday: Fish with ginger & spring onions (making it up)

Thursday: Spanish Eggs (recipe here)

Friday: Out

Saturday: Beef Stroganoff (Masterchef Mag #3, p. 98)

Sunday: Welsh Rarebit with Leeks

What are your plans for this week? Are you up for a busy one, or are you hoping to slow things down a bit?

Making...

2010-08-04T10:00:00.003+10:00

My sister in law gave birth to a baby girl a bit over a week ago, and we're heading off to meet her tonight. She's our first niece, and we're rather excited! I decided to make her something on Friday, so it needed to be something achievable by today for my snails paced crafting!

I decided to make some baby shoes after reading about these on Briney Deep Designs. And she was right: they really are fast to make, even for someone who still feels like working with dpn's seems like holding a few too many chopsticks! The ends were woven in on the last one this morning.

Details:

Pattern: Magic Slippers

Yarn: Knitted Wit hand-dyed sock yarn won in a giveaway a few months ago - it was perfect!

Sticks: 2.25mm dpns

To be ravelled when I get the chance!!

New tenants

2010-08-01T16:54:00.002+10:00

We have chooks!

Friends of ours are doing a major renovation of their backyard, so we're looking after their four chooks for six months. They arrived at lunchtime yesterday, and seem to have settled in very well, already giving us two eggs!

I'm not sure what breeds they are, but three are what I think might be Isa Browns, and the other is a lovely speckled dark brown one. While it will take a bit of time to get used to including the minimal chook-care tasks into our day, it seems we will very quickly benefit from the eggs, reduced food waste and toddler entertainment value!

Dinner? What's that?

2010-07-28T15:37:00.003+10:00

Wearing oneself out completely does not lead to effective meal planning. That's my piece of wisdom for the day.

Oh, and my other thought for the day is this: low iron leads to embarrassingly feral mood. I don't think I realised how unpleasant I was being and feeling until the iron supplements I started taking mid last week began to kick in. My apologies to anyone who was inadvertently on the receiving end!

Anyway, we have been eating the past couple of nights, just fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-dig-something-out-of-the-freezer-or-husband-stop-off-at-the-shops-on-the-way-home-from-work kind of meals. Not ideal but when your brain and body are as exhausted as mine have been after the last weekend, it's the best I can hope for! It doesn't bode well for the post-birth-breastfeeding-sleep-deprivation zone, but we'll think about that later...

This weeks' menu:

Monday: Pasta Bake

Tuesday: Beef Bourguignon (from freezer)

Wednesday: Fennel Soup (delicious Aug 10, p. 51)

Thursday: Polenta crusted chicken (FODMAP friendly, still working out the finer details!)

Friday: Homemade fish & chips

Saturday: Gary's Ribs (T cooking, recipe here)

Sunday: Cheese on toast (out for lunch)

P.S. If you're wondering how last week went, I can't remember. Brain got fried over weekend.

Adventuring

2010-07-25T16:29:00.004+10:00

This past week has been crazy busy for me, resulting in the contemplation of a second afternoon nap for the day given that I won't get to bed tonight until after the MasterChef final is all finished! The highlight of the week though was definitely a trip to the Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair on Friday. While I was completely exhausted by the time I hit the wall at 2pm (ahem), it was a fantastic day because it was a) CHILD FREE, b) good company, and c) some new (to me) discoveries that I'm particularly excited about!

We started the day by attending a hands on workshop making Lucky Owls. It was immensely satisfying completing a project in 30 minutes, and the end result is lovely! The session was run by Be Be Bold, a seller of Japanese Fabrics and other particularly nice things. I was very restrained at their stand and only bought a bag kit (the bundle with the green leaves on top), and some lovely buttons that will be used to finish a cardi for the little one that I outsourced to my mother-in-law*. Sadly (for me) the shop is based in Lismore, northern NSW (though only about 3 hours drive from my parents' place...Mum? It's OK, I'm kidding!) but they do mail order so all is not lost (though it could be dangerous for our bank balance). Sigh.

I also picked up a couple of crochet scarf patterns from Sackville & Lane, a crafty shop in country Victoria which had some really impressive items on display at their stand. One pattern uses Perle 8 cotton and a 1.5mm hook, and the other a single ply wool thread usually used for crewel embroidery and a 2.5mm hook. Possibly an indicator of my questionable sanity, but hopefully fun!

There were so many stalls at the show that I walked past many without stopping, mostly because many stalls looked just the same as one a couple of stalls back. I think that the stalls that stopped me were less cluttered or fussy in their displays, used different colours to many of the other stalls, and had really fabulous samples of finished products. I also went to the show knowing I didn't want to buy much fabric, but I also wanted to be able to buy things that really stood out. Which I did. Except for the doll kit at AK Traditions. I spent about 15 minutes at their stall gazing at their wares, eventually realising that if I spent the money and time making one for my daughter, she'd never be allowed to have it just in case she ruined it. Defeats the purpose, sadly. But, my goodness, they were lovely!

Hopefully I get a chance over the next few months to have a good play with the things I picked up this year, so that I can justify another fun-filled adventure next year!

*I know my limitations: if I'd decided to knit it myself, she may have been able to wear it next winter, but she needed it now!! It's rather nice, and I'll show you once the buttons are attached!

A chocolate croissant pudding and a meal plan

2010-07-19T19:36:00.004+10:00

Last week, we did some experimenting with the idea of a chocolaty, croissanty, custardy pudding. And we came up with this.

Sliced croissants sprinkled with Grand Marnier and smothered in a rich chocolate custard. Made by my husband, who I think is particularly tolerant of me making statements like "You could try this...", and "What about this..." halfway through making it! So that you can enjoy it yourself, here's the recipe.

Chocolate Croissant Pudding

(Serves 4-6)

3-4 croissants, sliced into 1cm slices

1-2 tbsp Grand Marnier or other liqueur of your choice

200g dark chocolate

500ml milk

3 eggs, whisked

1 tsp vanilla

Lightly grease a baking dish that will fit your croissant slices nicely. Layer the croissants on a slight angle in the dish, and sprinkle with Grand Marnier.

Melt the chocolate (we use the microwave), and add the milk bit by bit, very gradually to start with, until you have some serious chocolate milk. Mix in the eggs and vanilla, and pour over croissants ensuring that there's no chocolate-free bits of croissant sticking up. Leave to stand for 15 minutes, then bake in a moderate (180ºC) oven for 40-45 minutes. Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving, and enjoy!

Now onto other matters. The meal plan for last week again had a serious success (all because of Stephanie Alexander), and a hiccup, because I had a stubborn moment and refused to spend my 'me time' trekking to the fish shop and chose to craft instead (hello fish & chip shop).

This coming week presents a few challenges, namely a couple of single parenting days, a dessert that meets the requirements of the low FODMAP diet (fructose & lactose malabsorption friendly), and a couple of busy days for me which will probably mean T cooking! I just hope he's happy to cook the things I've planned...

Monday: Tomato pasta

Tuesday: Chocolate & almond cake with raspberries and soy ice cream* (The Cook's Companion, p. 227)

Wednesday: Tuna mornay (my version)

Thursday: Sweet potato and broccolini galette (MasterChef #3, p. 40)

Friday: Beef curry (from freezer)

Saturday: Sausages with roast veges & mash

Sunday: Chicken kebabs with vege cous cous (MasterChef #3, p. 70)

*If anyone has any wisdom to impart on the world of soy ice cream, it would be much appreciated! I know there's some decent stuff out there (I've enjoyed it myself!), but I can't remember which one it was. Help?

A cow

2010-07-17T15:48:00.005+10:00

This afternoon I finished what appears to be my 5th finished project in the last 3 weeks. Something quite miraculous must be going on in this crafty space at the moment!

This little cow has been on the WIP list since January. My trusty iPhone camera seems unable to capture the teeny weeny stitches, but it's petit point over one strand of evenweave, and the whole piece is less than 7cm square. I think it was put aside originally because I needed to do something that didn't require going cross-eyed! But it's done now, and I'm rather pleased with it. All I need to do now is find a suitably teeny weeny frame and it can be put in it's rightful spot in my cow-loving husband's study!

my creative space

2010-07-15T08:29:00.002+10:00

Another dish cloth. A fast and satisfying hook, adding another item to the (currently very small) dish cloth stash!

Details:

Pattern: Sylvan Star Washcloth from Lion Brand Yarn (free)

Yarn: Sugar & Spice worsted weight cotton in green

Hook: 5.5mm

Ravelled here.

Slightly disconcertingly I have a slightly sore wrist after hooking a couple of projects in the last few weeks. It may be completely unrelated, but I'm taking it as a suggestion to get on with some other things, like knitting, or embroidery, or, shock horror, using the sewing machine! I have several partly finished projects in each of those categories, so you never know, I might finish something else...maybe!

Visit My Creative Space here to see and be inspired by a huge range of creative happenings.

Spanish Chicken Rice

2010-07-13T20:27:00.006+10:00

This dish was originally inspired by a recipe that appeared in delicious a few months ago. The flavours are similar, but the approach is a little different. In this version, the rice is cooked in the pan with all of the bits, which means it soaks up lots of yumminess while it cooks. And that's a good thing! But lets be honest, this is just a really good excuse to use chorizo and smoked paprika again, two ingredients that I think are delicious!

While this picture looks like it's been lifted from a 70's cookbook, it's just a night-time iphone pic. I really need a proper camera...

Spanish Chicken Rice

(Serves 3ish - maybe a family of four if the smalls are still little)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 chicken breast, cut into 2cm pieces

1 chorizo, halved lengthways and sliced

1 onion, diced

1 red capsicum, diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 cup long grain rice (I used basmati this time)

2 cups chicken stock

400g tin tomatoes, diced

In a large frying pan with a lid, quickly brown chicken pieces in oil over high heat, remove from pan. Reduce heat slightly, and fry chorizo until browned and starting to go crispy, remove.

Fry onion over medium heat for 2 minutes or until translucent. Add capsicum, cook for 1 minute and add garlic and smoked paprika. Cook, stirring for 30 seconds, then add the rice. Cook until the rice starts to crackle gently, add chorizo, stock and tomatoes. Stir to combine and bring to the boil. Add chicken and simmer until rice is cooked (about 15 mins). Check seasoning and serve.

what's for dinner?

2010-07-12T19:16:00.005+10:00

This past week has been another mix of cooking successes and discoveries that I hope I remember the next time the same scenarios present themselves. Case in point: when baking biscuits remember to press START when setting the timer. I somehow managed to catch these moments before they progressed from very well done to charcoal!

These pecan, oat and honey biscuits are normally very good, so I'll try them again before too long and if they work properly, I'll post the recipe.

The second lesson for the week was one that I seem to need to learn at least once a fortnight. Don't cook anything with more than two steps when my husband is coming home late! Freezer meals are good, as is basic pasta. Think very carefully about the sanity of anything else!!

The pumpkin and feta fritters were an easy peasy roaring success, and once I make them again, I'll let you know what I did. And even though there was a bit of musical meals and slight variations, there was no resorting to takeaway, which quite frankly, seems like a bit of a miracle.

This week, we visited the Collingwood Children's Farm Farmers Market, so the things we picked up there have shaped what we're eating. We've been going to the markets as often as possible this year, and it's great! Our regular stops include the potato lady, the mushroom man, the Mount Zero olive man and the gozleme stall (for a snack!). And I've even managed to say hello to Kate a couple of times! And there's ducks and chooks and lots of dogs for small people to get excited about! All good.

Monday: Fancy Pasta (goats cheese and sundried tomato ravioli from the farmers market!)

Tuesday: Spanish Chicken Rice (making it up)

Wednesday: Polenta with Tomato and Olive Sauce (Marie Claire Comfort, p. 137)

Thursday: Date Night!!

Friday: Beef Bourguignon (The Cook's Companion, p. 106) (with lots of leftovers for the freezer)

Saturday: Ginger & Shallot Steamed Fish (making it up)

Sunday: Vegetable & Barley Soup (from the freezer)

What are you eating this week?

Two more...

2010-07-11T21:47:00.002+10:00

These hats are for Gina's two boys. I can't really claim the green one, as Mum knitted it. I did the other bits (the provisional cast on, grafting and seaming), but the bulk of the work really is the knitting. Still, two hats! They're the same style as the one I made for my daughter a couple of weeks ago, though made to fit slightly larger heads.

And on a slightly relevant note, how do you hold bits of knitting together when sewing seams? I've discovered that hair clips are rather useful fasteners, and they don't get lost like pins often do!

my creative space

2010-07-08T10:26:00.008+10:00

Thank you for all the great suggestions after the toddler + eggs incident! It eventually occurred to me, though, that given I needed to use otherwise wasted eggs, I could easily justify an experiment.

The last (and only) time I tried to make a sponge cake ended in disaster when I tried to remove it from the tin (visualise a large, deep handprint right in the middle of the cake and you get the idea...). So when this attempt made it successfully from the tin to the plate, we were already ahead!

The slicing and filling of the cake also worked!

While the tasting suggested that it might not win anything at the next Melbourne Show (a tad chewy - maybe left in the oven a minute too long?), it seemed to soften up over a few hours after being filled. I now think sponge cakes are not as scary as I thought, and I might start experimenting with some other recipes* and see how things progress!

Much creative excellence can be found at Kirsty's place, including some very cool giraffes from Pippiwillow, number 3 on the list!

* This one is Allan's Easy Sponge Cake from Everyday Cooking, the sequel to Everyday in the Kitchen, and very nearly as brilliant!

Hmmm....

2010-07-06T13:23:00.004+10:00

There are some distinct disadvantages when your 18 month old likes to 'help' unpack the groceries.

4 survived. One is unsalvageable. Now I need to come up with ways to use 7 eggs. Fast!

What's for dinner?

2010-07-05T16:27:00.002+10:00

While last week certainly presented some different challenges in the form of single parenting, I think I coped better than I often do. It might sound convenient, but I really think that having a decent meal plan in place definitely helped. A couple of meals got swapped around, but having scrambled eggs for lunch on the day I'd planned frittata (oops) wasn't the takeaway inducing debacle it might have been, as it was very simple to come up with an alternative because I'd already thought of one! I'm glad I did, because the frittata was really yummy a couple of nights later.

I also managed to make the chocolate croissant bread & butter pudding I'd hoped to fit in somewhere! I used plain croissants and stuck spoonfuls of King Island Chocolate Creme between the layers. I used the bread-&-butter-custard from Everyday in the kitchen. I think it would work quite nicely spiking it with pieces of dark chocolate rather than the chocolate creme. And the custard could definitely be spiked with something orangey and/or alcoholic, too. Mmmm. Maybe this week?

This week, life returns to some semblance of normality. Ahhh...

This is what I've planned:

Monday: Puttanesca Pasta

Tuesday: Chicken with roasted veges and hummus & tzatziki (fructose & lactose free*!)

Wednesday: Pumpkin & feta fritters (inspired by Sally's fritters)

Thursday: Hoisin pork & noodle stir fry (delicious July 10, p. 110)

Friday: Salmon with lentils (my recipe, here)

Saturday: Corned beef

Sunday: Vegetable & barley soup (from freezer)

I'm also hoping to make some oat and pecan biscuits. Once I get some more butter.

*Hummus will be home made, tzatziki will be optional, and the veges will be on the OK list. Apparently, onions are REALLY bad, and wheat is full of fructose as well!

A wrap vest

2010-07-04T15:08:00.004+10:00

I'm having a bit of a run of finished projects at the moment. Novel, but exciting!

I finished this one last night. All I need to do now is find something more appropriate than a crochet hook to use as a fastener.

It's lovely and cozy, and I can't wait to try it out properly. It should see me well through this winter as the bump (aka peanut) expands, and should transfer nicely to normal wear ready for next winter.

Details:

Pattern: Michelle's version of Leonie's wrap vest

Yarn: Patons Wilderness (colourway 503), 5.1 balls

Hook: 7mm

Ravelled here.

my creative space

2010-07-01T13:46:00.003+10:00

It's growing! Pathetically slowly, given how much progress I make when I manage to find half an hour to hook, but it's growing all the same.

My dear friend who taught me to crochet is visiting us from Perth this week, which is wonderful for a number of reasons, not least of which is an increase in my motivation to have this finished by the end of the weekend!

If you'd like to wile away an hour or two, go on a creative adventure and visit the host of My Creative Space...

what's for dinner?

2010-06-28T13:55:00.004+10:00

I discovered this morning just how mischievous my precious little poppet can be. 'We' made Anzac biscuits this morning. I'd just put them on the cooling rack and turned my back, then turned around again to discover a little person scurrying off and an empty spot where a warm, soft biscuit had been just moments earlier. Hmmm. At least I know she'll eat them!

I've decided to try to bake at least once a week so we have some homemade snack options for when the sweet craving kicks in. Today was my first attempt in a while at Anzacs, and I think I'll be trying a few more recipes before I find one I'm happy with. This one has too much flour and not enough oats. But they're still yummy!

Last week was not quite, but close to, a dismal failure in terms of sticking to the menu plan. I need to remember that I'm sick of bacon and leek pilaf (takeaway was a far more attractive option on the night, especially when I realised the pizza shop I've been hanging out for is now open!), and when I go on a crazy fast trip to Adelaide for 36 hours, I really don't have the energy to cook the next night, let alone source the missing vegetables. (Fish & chips was the fallback. Yummy, but not really part of the plan.) We're trying to stick to a Takeaway-once-a-month rule which survived the pizza but got trashed at the fish & chips. Hopefully we'll do better next month!

This week, I get to play single parent for four nights (fun, not), and a very good friend who taught me to crochet is coming from Perth to stay with us for a week on Wednesday. While the single parenting thing is something I'm not overly good at (cough), I'm really looking forward to seeing my friend! This is what (I hope) we'll be eating...

Monday: Vegetable & barley soup, take 2 (Everyday in the Kitchen, p. 35)

Tuesday: Frittata (my recipe, here)

Wednesday: Chicken with mustard sauce

Thursday: Pasta bake

Friday: Pot-roasted pork (delicious, July '10, p. 53)

Saturday: Madras Beef Curry (The Essential Asian Cookbook, p. 226)

Sunday: Welsh Rarebit

I also hope to make a Callum-from-MasterChef-inspired Chocolate and Croissant Bread and Butter Pudding for dessert sometime this week (as done so here)!

What are you making this week?

A dishcloth

2010-06-27T14:50:00.006+10:00

During a flying 36 hour visit to Adelaide (with 18 month old in tow - will rethink timeframes next time...), I managed to find time to crochet most of a dishcloth. It was the perfect project for the trip: nice and small with a simple, easy to memorise pattern.

I finished it this afternoon, so it can go into circulation straight away!

Details:

Pattern: Tulip Stitch dishcloth, here.

Yarn: approx 40g Mission Falls worsted weight cotton

Hook size: 3.5mm

Ravelled here.

I've recently decided I need several more dishcloths, so there may be a few more made here over the next few months!

what's for dinner?

2010-06-21T14:15:00.003+10:00

Dinners last week were a combination of brilliant successes and slight disappointments. The moroccan-style seafood stew was magic, and if it works again next time I'll post the recipe! On the other hand, the chicken & peanut stir fry was not up to the same standard as the first time we had it. Still nice, but just nice, not amazing. And I managed to steam up the cups and glasses cupboard with red curry paste fumes, so that every cuppa I made for the next few days tasted disconcertingly of red curry paste. Hmmm.

On my top 10 list of brilliant recipe books. I love it.

This week, pancetta pasta is making a repeat appearance due to morphing into puttanesca pasta instead last week. The planned visit to the deli didn't happen (it's hard to make pancetta pasta if you don't have any pancetta), but hopefully it will happen today! At least having had a plan last week (and a growing awareness of what's in my fridge and pantry) meant that it wasn't too complicated to come up with an alternative on the spot. Normally we probably would have ended up with takeaway!

This week in our house:

Monday: Pancetta pasta (my recipe, here)

Tuesday: Hmmm*

Wednesday: Leek & bacon pilaf (delicious Feb '05, p. 78)

Thursday: Moroccan beef stew (Marie Clare Cooking, p. 98) Hopefully with leftovers for the freezer

Friday: Out

Saturday: Out

Sunday: Vegetable & barley soup (Every Day in the Kitchen, p. 35) Hopefully with leftovers for the freezer

What's being eaten in your house this week?

*This Tuesday is our regular fortnightly dinner with friends, and we're on dessert. Unfortunately, last week one of them discovered he was lactose and fructose intolerant, and he loves good food, so it really is quite distressing for him! Obviously, now dessert needs to be lactose and fructose free. Any ideas??

two things

2010-06-20T16:01:00.003+10:00

Flowers for me, from me.

After a brainless mummy moment that involved leaving my favourite necklace within reach of inquisitive little fingers, I needed a bit of cheering up. Today the house is filled with the perfume of jonquils. Nice.

And something I've been meaning to show you for a while:

These lovely hand-dyed yarns are from Knitted Wit. I was fortunate enough to win these in a giveaway recently. Each skein is 25g of fingering weight yarn, just waiting to be made into something special. What would you make?

LoraJean has very recently had a baby so things are a bit quiet in her corner of blogland at the moment, but she has gorgeous yarn that she sells in her Etsy shop!

My creative space

2010-06-17T09:14:00.004+10:00

This was last night.*

This is today.*

I really hate frogging things, but it was too long (due to me not following instructions properly... how unusual!). So rather than stick my head in the sand and pretending it will be fine (it won't), it's been pulled out and restarted.

It WILL be a Michelle version of the Leonie shrug, which I think will be perfect for keeping me warm this winter while making way for my ever expanding belly.

Gah! At least having started it once already, I know that it will come together really quickly! I'm giving myself 2 weeks, with not too many opportunities for crafty distractibility....

Lots of craftiness can be found over at Kootoyoo today. Go and check it out!

*Same yarn, different light. The true colour is somewhere in between.

What's for dinner?

2010-06-14T15:01:00.006+10:00

Last week's menu didn't go quite according to plan. Minestrone was substituted by pumpkin soup from the freezer after a seriously sleep deprived night of single parenting that made wielding a knife somewhat dangerous, and Saturday's meatloaf was so good that the leftovers were eaten on Sunday! (See that sticky glaze on the bottom of the pan? It was like a homemade barbeque sauce. Yum, yum, yum. Meatloaf will definitely be back on the menu before too long.)

Nothing festered in the bottom of the fridge, though. The veges for the soup were to be bought on Wednesday (so I didn't), and the chicken for Sunday night stayed in the freezer. Freezers are a wonderful invention!

The soft pork tacos were surprisingly good, especially when I was generous with the lime dressing, and my vegetarian variation of my frittata recipe was yummy (left out the bacon, added chopped kalamata olives and topped it with roasted cherry tomatoes). So all in all, a sucessful, flexible menu with no additional trips to the supermarket.

This week, we managed to get to the farmer's market on Saturday, so we've got lots of yummy veges to munch through. We will also have my Mum staying with us for the second half of the week. Here's what I expect we'll be eating.

Monday: Pea and Ham Soup (from freezer)

Tuesday: Chicken & Peanut Noodle Stir Fry (MasterChef mag, p.38) Yes, again. It's really yummy!

Wednesday: Pancetta pasta (my recipe, here)

Thursday: Spinach, Brie & Mushroom Freeform Pie (Delicious July 2010, p. 108)

Friday: Beef stew (from freezer)

Saturday: Fish stew (based on Moroccan Fish Stew in Everyday in the Kitchen, p. 178)

Sunday: Scrambled Eggs

Next week, I need to plan a couple of meals to restock the freezer...

What will be on your dinner table this week?

Please sit down...

2010-06-13T20:33:00.004+10:00

...I don't want you to fall over.

I finished something! And not only did I finish something, I finished something knitterly! Does that mean I can legitimately start calling myself a knitter rather than just someone who plays at being a knitter?

Started Friday afternoon and finished today, this is a super-easy toddler beanie from Michelle at twoandsix.

It's knitted in a provisionally cast on long rectangle and joined using kitchener stitch. I've found this explanation very helpful for getting my head around this grafting technique.

It has an i-cord type of trim around the brim, and has a single seam along the top.

I like it a lot. It was quite popular with the recipient, too, who refused to take it off after I put it on her in an attempt to take some pictures. If only she would keep still!

Details:

Pattern: Pea-green Beanie by twoandsix

Yarn: Patons Wilderness in blue (about half a ball)

Time to knit: 2 days, on and off, which is considerably longer than the 2 hours it took Michelle to knit the prototype, but unbelievably fast for me!!

Ravelled here.

my creative space

2010-06-10T08:29:00.003+10:00

We're in the midst of a crisis*. Sometime over the last week, my husband discovered that his favourite slippers ever...

...had developed a rather large hole!!

The question is: Can it be fixed? They're felted slippers from somewhere (can't quite remember where) that are really cozy and warm. The hole seems to have developed in the fabric near the join to the sole (but not in the seam) along the toe line. I'm stumped. I'd love to fix them but don't know where to start!

What do you suggest? Can they be saved, or should we just decommission them and relegate them to the dress-up box?

Find lots of creating going on over at Kootoyoo!

*In the loosest sense of the word. Possibly a mild (cough) overstatement.

Self sowing?

2010-06-08T15:15:00.004+10:00

My post-exam celebrations were supposed to involve lots of knitting, but someone of the small variety has had other ideas. And the list of cleaning jobs is getting so long it can no longer be ignored! I have managed a few rows, but maybe tonight's the night!

We're in the process of getting our winter vege patch going, and added a whole lot of our own compost to the garden bed a few weeks ago. Along with several varieties of weed, there seem to have been several seeds waiting in the compost for just this moment, and we've got things springing up everywhere! But apart from the tomatoes, we don't really know what the other things are. Can you help?

I think this (above) is probably some kind of broccoli/cauliflower/cabbage thing. Do you have any other ideas? (The thing up the top on the left is spinach that I planted on purpose. And it came up! Woo hoo!!)

I'm wondering whether this one's a pumpkin or zucchini or something. Do you know?

The other question is about what to do with them. Knowing our luck, they'll all be summer veges, so I'm assuming that means pull them out (like I plan to do with the 57 tomato seedlings that have come up). BUT, if they're winter veges, is it silly or prudent to transplant them into a more appropriate place (than in the middle of the spinach)? Or are self-sown veges just a disappointment waiting to happen?

What's for dinner?

2010-06-07T14:42:00.004+10:00

Things have been a bit quiet here over the last week or so, but as of this afternoon, things are looking up. I sat a church history exam this morning, and any available time has been taken up either by study or by doing all those 'necessary' things that suddenly become essential when you have something like an exam to study for! Needless to say, this week's meal plan has only just been done.

Before I get onto that, a quick update on last week. No extra visits to the supermarket required! Yippee! Cathy wisely suggested keeping a running shopping list on the fridge, which we already do, but often things aren't added until they're all gone, which is often a bit late! Something else to work on...

A couple of recommendations from last week: Firstly, if you can get hold of the first MasterChef magazine, the Chicken & Peanut Noodle Stir-fry is simply magnificent. So much so that I nearly cooked it again the next night! Even my 18 month old thought it was great. The recipe also has possible modifications if you want to make a vegetarian version involving tofu. I think I'll try that option sometime, too!

Secondly, T, who is a bit addicted to american style ribs, thought that Gary's Ribs (which T cooked, very well) were the best he's ever had. Which says a lot. So if you're even vaguely inclined, give them a go! Just one note: we used about 1/4 of the chilli powder the recipe called for, used regular rather than hot mustard powder in the sauce AND left out the jalapeno, and it was still bordering on a little too spicy for my very spice tolerant toddler (and me if I'm being honest), but, Oh. My. Goodness. They were REALLY good.

So what's the plan this week?

Monday: Roasted eggplant pasta (my basic tomato sauce with roasted eggplant added)

Tuesday: Chinese Chicken Wings (based on a Charmaine Solomon recipe)

Wednesday: Minestrone (my version)

Thursday: Soft Pork Tacos (MasterChef mag, p. 104)

Friday: Vege Frittata (my recipe with mods)

Saturday: Meatloaf (The Thrifty Kitchen, p. 129)

Sunday: Chicken Pilau (delicious June 10, p. 114)

What are you eating this week?

What's for dinner?

2010-05-30T19:51:00.009+10:00

Last week I published my first proper meal plan for a while. So how did it go? Well, I think it was overall a success! We stuck to the plan, more or less. (The baked eggs got cooked in the pan rather than baked, and I didn't entirely stick to recipes as written, but the concepts and ingredients were essentially the same!)

My ornamental cherry tree, which has finally decided it's time to change colour as we close in on the last days of Autumn!

However, while I'm happy to visit the fruit & veg shop a couple of times a week, and pick up fish and meat as required, I'm aiming to limit my supermarket visits to once a week (at the most). Unfortunately this week we've visited the supermarket (at least) three times between us! The second time was because the fruit shop didn't have any corriander, and so I took the chance to pick up a couple of other non-dinner related items that I'd overlooked the first time, and the third trip was due to running out of uber goober's yoghurt (again, an oversight when writing the original shopping list). So, neither extra trips were related to dinner issues, but still very annoying. I clearly need to get better at writing the WHOLE shopping list.

Still, overall, the menu plan was a success. The amount of time I spent thinking about dinners was less than usual, and I felt considerably more organised. So I had more headspace for other things, which was very nice! And I'll be repeating the process, hopefully every week!

This week brings the official start of winter here in Melbourne, which means taking lots of opportunities to cook in the oven and eat comfort food! This menu includes a whole lot of inspiration from Cathy of TinnieGirl and MasterChef. Here is what we'll be eating.

Monday: Filled pasta with tomato, mushroom & olive sauce (bought spinach & ricotta pasta & made up sauce)

Tuesday: Chicken & peanut noodle stirfry (MasterChef mag, p 38)

Wednesday: Homemade pizza (including dough)

Thursday: Eggplant parmagiana (my recipe)

Friday: Out!!

Saturday: Gary's ribs (MasterChef website, here)

Sunday: Welsh rarebit (out for lunch so we won't need much dinner!)

If you'd like to join me this week, just leave a comment below with either your meal plan or a link to a meal plan post on your blog!

Spanish-ish eggs

2010-05-28T20:26:00.006+10:00

When we first moved to Melbourne over 6 years ago, we discovered a cafe on Brunswick St, Fitzroy, called Bakers. Bakers was (yes, was. Sniff. It's now a Thai place, which I'm sure is quite good, but it's not Bakers. Anyway...) Bakers was a claypot and tapas place, with lots of big, bold flavours that I love. But the star of the menu (according to me) was a brekky claypot that involved a fried egg on top of tomatoey chorizo yumminess all drizzled with garlic aioli. (Sigh. No way to fix that craving properly these days...)

Anyway, while attempting to recreate such a dish for breakfast is well and truly beyond me (not a morning person), dinner inspired by it was worth a try. And it was yummy. Different, but still yummy. So I thought I should write it down before I forget what I did!

A couple of notes. I like to boost the chorizo flavour in things like this with smokey paprika, but you could use regular paprika if you needed to. Also, I love roasted potato bits and look for any excuse to use them. I think roasting them adds another dimension to this dish, but you could steam them if you really needed to!

Spanish-ish Eggs

2 tbsp olive oil

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into rough cubes

1 onion, diced

1 celery stalk, finely sliced

1 Chorizo, diced

1 red capsicum, cut into large dice

1 large clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp smokey paprika

a generous strip of orange peel, pith removed

1 400g tin tomatoes, chopped

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 tbsp chopped corriander, plus extra to serve

4 (or more) eggs

Preheat oven to 190ºC. Toss potatoes with 1 tbsp oil and a little salt & pepper. Roast in the oven for 20-25mins, until nicely cooked.

Meanwhile, in a large deep frypan with a lid, cook onion, celery and chorizo for 3-4 minutes over medium heat. Add capsicum, cook for a further 3 mins then add garlic and paprika and cook for another couple of minutes. Add tomatoes and stock and orange peel, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Check seasoning, then stir through roasted potatoes and corriander.

Make 4 indents in the mixture and crack the eggs into them. Cover the pan and cook until the eggs are done to your liking (this took about 10-12 minutes for me, but I need my eggs properly cooked at the moment). Sprinkle with extra corriander and serve with tortillas if you like.

My creative space

2010-05-27T11:44:00.006+10:00

Déjà vu? Almost! Except that this is sock #2. Which means....

sock #1 is finished!! I'm particularly excited about this, because now I know I can knit a sock, and I also learnt how to do kitchener stitch to finish the toe. So two new skills have been added to my kit bag!

Even the heel flap went relatively well, considering that this is my first ever sock. The right side seems, well, right, except for a loose-ish connection where I picked up stitches for the gusset (the bottom of the bit that looks kind of like a triangle above). On the other hand, the left hand side?

A less successful effort. The picked up stitches are quite loose, and my decreases down the gusset have resulted in a big line of loose stitches next to the decrease line. (At this point I need to apologise for my shocking photos - I'm reliant on my iphone for the foreseeable future as my camera has decided to refuse to speak to my computer. Hurrumph.) So I'd be interested in any tips you might have to avoid the same issues on sock #2!

Even still, I'm rather chuffed that I knitted a sock. The flaws don't make it unwearable, so I'm still doing happy dances in my head every time I see it ;-)

If you're looking for some inspiration, or just like checking out what other people are making, visit the home of My Creative Space!

What we're eating!

2010-05-24T15:59:00.008+10:00

It's planned!

This week, dinners should be relatively stress free, as long as I remember to check what we're having with enough time to prepare what I need to (not always the case...). But at least with a plan in place, the first step is done!

This week, planning took me nearly 2 hours. Goodness! However, on reflection, if I've already done my thinking, I don't need to do it every day, and sometimes I can spend several hours in a day trying to work out what we're having for dinner. So I'm probably still well ahead on the time thing. Especially if I remember to shop efficiently!

Over the next few months, I'm hoping to gather a collection of bloggers who meal plan to link to in my sidebar, so if you know of anyone who regularly posts a meal plan, let me know! That way, I'll have a great source of inspiration that's easily accessible. So far, I know that Meagan regularly posts meal plans. Check her plan out in her sidebar!

A couple of notes. We're not vegetarian, but try to include one or two vegetarian meals a week, and also include at least one 'almost vegetarian'* meal each week. I try to cook most meals from scratch, but do use bought stock and occasionally use convenient options, particularly when sanity is the preferable option! I also often try to make extra so we can freeze the leftovers for another meal.

If you'd like to join me, even if it's only occasionally, please leave a link to your plan post in the comments. That way we can all get some inspiration from your plans!

Without further ado:

Monday: Fennel & lemon pasta Delicious June '10 p53

Tuesday: Poached pear with chocolate sauce & ice cream Making it up! (Dinner with wheat-free friends - we're on dessert)

Wednesday: Jamie's Meatballs The Naked Chef (This batch from the freezer)

Thursday: Coconut prawn curry Del June '10 p96

Friday: Spanish style baked eggs Making it up

Saturday: Roast Chicken with Alan's Gravy Every Day in the Kitchen (The best gravy recipe ever, quite seriously!!)

Sunday: Pumpkin soup Making it up (with extra for the freezer)

So there it is. I'll let you know how we went next week!

* 'Almost vegetarian' refers to a dish that has no fresh meat component but includes something yummy like bacon, pancetta or chorizo!

The elusive menu plan

2010-05-20T20:20:00.005+10:00

When it comes to dinner, I'm a planner. Growing up, we used to sit down as a family and plan the menu for a month at a time. Up until recently, we've menu-planned weekly since we got married over 12 years ago. I think the system fully broke down not long after we discovered we had a solids-eating child in the house! At that point, it all just got too hard.

We've muddled through the last several months with me half planning and shopping as needed, which often means a last minute call to T to get him to pick up something essential on his way home from work. Obviously not a particularly satisfactory solution!

Tonight, after thinking I'd done a reasonable job of planning this week, I realised that not checking the ingredients needed for a recipe, and then not checking if I actually had them (before doing the shopping), leads to a red lentil stew with a few less red lentils than ideal.* Hmmm. Or takeaway, which we can't really afford very often at the moment.

So here's my solution. If I post my menu plans for each week or so in the sidebar**, then I'll have to be organised enough to do the shopping properly! Maybe I'll even let you know how successful we've been at sticking to it.

Maybe you'd like to join me? There are no rules - there's no shame in being flexible, or just changing your mind from time to time! Or even missing some weeks! I'm just hoping that it keeps me a bit more accountable.

For me, menu planning means spending less, wasting less, and not having to make decisions about dinner at 4pm (probably my biggest driver). If you'd like to join in, leave a comment letting me know, and tell me what drives you to try menu planning!

My first proper menu plan will start next Monday.

*It was still yummy, even if a bit light on in the lentil department!

**Getting a bit full, especially once I update my reading list - any ideas how I can get a sidebar on both sides??

A turned heel!

2010-05-18T10:41:00.002+10:00

How cool is that!?!

This is going way faster than I had imagined. So much so, that, unless I run into unforeseen difficulty from here, this may be a new addiction. Hmmm.

Socking along

2010-05-17T13:07:00.003+10:00

I'm making progress, far more quickly than I'd anticipated! I've finished the cuff and nearly finished the heel flap. Apparently the next bit is where it gets scary, but it's been a rather satisfyingly quick process until now!

I'm using Marie Greene's Beginner Sock-a-long instructions, which so far have been really simple to understand. My only modification has been to do the majority of the cuff in stockinette rather than rib (mainly to facilitate sensible conversations while still managing to knit in my currently limited multi-tasking capacity!).

There are a couple of things I'm a bit confused about though. All the pictures of other people's socks in progress have the right side out, but when I'm knitting mine, the wrong side is out. Is this just because people turn them out so pictures look nicer? Or am I knitting inside out?

I'm also very interested in any tips for dealing with dpns so that I don't feel like I'm knitting with pick-up-sticks! I keep having to adjust the needles so that the one I'm knitting from is on top. Is this odd?

My creative space

2010-05-13T14:24:00.003+10:00

My first ever sock!

Well, the beginnings of it, at least. I think I just solved my first challenge, which was working out how I managed to end up with an extra stitch already. I think I'd gotten the yarn twisted when changing to the next needle in this needle chopsticks game that is knitting on dpns. I will get better at it, I'm sure!

How's your creative space fairing this week? To visit many more, check out the linky list at Kootoyoo!

Feta, spinach and olive tart

2010-05-10T16:27:00.003+10:00

After a crazy busy week and a half, I managed to find the time for a nap this afternoon! There were several other things on my list of things to do while uber goober was asleep, but a catch up mummy nap won out. I'm feeling rather refreshed for it, so it was definitely worth it! This week has involved handing in an essay, working my first full day of paid employment since going on maternity leave, somehow squeezing in a visit to the Stitches and Craft Show, and a cold. Just to top it all off.

In all of that, I did manage to make a really yummy tart for dinner one night. I think just about anything with feta and olives in it is yummy, so this tart meets that requirement! I used puff pastry with no pre-cooking, but if you have the energy and inclination to blind bake shortcrust pastry (or even make it yourself!), it would definitely further improve the final product. Serving the tart with a green salad and bread would stretch it far enough to feed four.

Feta, spinach and olive tart

Serves 4

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

100g baby spinach, washed

180g persian feta (or normal is fine!)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup cream

6 kalamata olives, halved and pitted

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Place the pastry into a greased flan tin or quiche dish, pressing it into the corners and filling in any gaps with any bits that overhang the edges.

Cook the red onion with the oil over gentle heat for about 5-10 mins until starting to soften. Add the garlic and continue to cook for another 5 minutes or until the onion is completely soft but not coloured. Set aside to cool slightly.

Wilt the spinach, either in the onion pan or by placing in a colander and pouring a kettle-full of hot water over it. Press out excess moisture.

Spread the onion and garlic evenly over the bottom of the pastry. Spread the spinach evenly over the onion, and crumble the feta over the spinach. Mix the eggs and cream, season lightly with salt and pepper, and pour over the feta. Sprinkle the olives over the tart and place on a tray in the oven for 20-30 minutes until cooked through and lightly coloured on top. Let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

my creative space

2010-04-29T09:00:00.002+10:00

Pants, pants, pants, pants....

That's the plan, anyway. I suspect that if I manage to trace the pattern today, I'll be doing well! But there will be some little pants sewing coming up very soon...especially if the little one's winter wardrobe is going to have enough pants in it!

To check out some lovely creative spaces, visit Kirsty.

Preserved Lemons

2010-04-27T13:52:00.002+10:00

Yesterday our household took another step toward normality when I (finally) got around to making some preserved lemons. Preserved lemons have been a nearly permanent fixture here since I first discovered them about 10 years ago. Frustratingly, they need to sit for a month to do their thing, so it's another lesson in patience. But it's definitely worth it!

My method is based on Stephanie's from The Cook's Companion, but I tend to opt for the lemon and salt only, mainly because I'm lazy. Stephanie adds bits of bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cloves to hers which are delicious, but these are pretty good, too!

Preserved Lemons

1kg lemons, scrubbed and quartered longways

250g salt

Add 1 tbsp salt to the bottom of a sterilised 1L jar (or 2 smaller ones). Place the lemons and the rest of the salt in a large bowl. Massage the salt into the fleshy part of the lemons, extracting most of the juice. Pack the lemon quarters into the jar with the skin side out, as tightly as you can. Cover with as much of the remaining juice and salt as possible then put the lid on. Wipe any salty juice off the outside of the jar and leave in a cool spot (not the fridge) for at least one month before using.

And on an unrelated note, apparently green crayons taste delicious....?

A pin cushion and other goodies

2010-04-25T13:23:00.003+10:00

We returned home from holidays recently to find a rather large pile of mail waiting for us, a significant part of which was a very interesting envelope about the right size for a pin cushion! I was rather delighted to discover a lovely specimen inside, handstitched very impressively by Michelle. Thank you, Michelle, and thank you Kate for organising a great swap!

This very cool pattern by Jodie of Ric-Rac also appeared in my letterbox recently, from Justine of MixTape. I won it simply because I read this great crafty zine! How lucky am I!? It really is a very good magazine, you should read it, too!

And last but not least, this lovely necklace was a gift from my husband for our wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago. It was made by Olivia of un jardin de hilo, who does some really amazing crochet, and makes some lovely jewelry, too! I possibly dropped a very big hint by emailing him the link to the item in her Etsy shop, but I'm very, very chuffed with it!

my creative space

2010-04-22T13:25:00.002+10:00

Now that I've stopped feeling seedy all the time and started feeling normal again, I've picked up a few projects that were started at the beginning of the year. One of them is this send-you-blind embroidery (kind of like cross-stitch for crazy people) that I've discovered is perfect for keeping my hands busy during MasterChef!

To see (a whole lot) more creative spaces, visit Kirsty.