at home

1.  I've been making crumpets again. Two days in a row. A favourite breakfast treat around here smothered in butter and jam.  Sometimes topped with whipped cream or ricotta. I even sneak a few in the lunch boxes.
2.  Necklaces, bangles  and rings are not safe in this house. The funny thing is she knows exactly how to wear each one.
3. My mother in law brought me some lemons from her tree and the prettiest empty jars. She knows me well.
4. Happy that bulk bin buying has finally arrived in town. Those lentils and chestnuts were pretty good.
5. Julia's dress ups.
6. More River Cottage bread. The basic loaves.
7. Taproot arrived in the mail yesterday. I'm looking forward to grabbing 15 minutes here and there to have a good read today. The illustrations are just so beautiful.

Wishing you all a pleasant ending to the week.

Violet's Kina

It has been one long work in progress this one. Close to six months of sporadic knitting in fact.

Which it really shouldn't have been. The rather long time it took is far more reflective on my knitting skill (or rather lack of) than on this fairly simple pattern.

The pattern is Kina. I knitted up a size 2 but added a little extra length. Debbie Bliss' baby cashmerino was very easy to work with. I've heard it washes up very well, but I'm yet to test it out.

I started Violet's Kina way back in January. When I got to the sleeves I realized I'd made a rather big mistake in the increases and this little cardi was more likely to fit Violet when she was ten.
So I unravelled. And the unwound wool sat gathering dust until I had the heart to come back and start all over again.

But this time around it knitted up surely and quickly. In about a fortnight it was completed. I will admit there are a few imperfections in it. I'm not sure where that loose tension came from in the increases around the neck or a few other dodgy bits. No worry about it being mistaken for any mass produced item.

It is a little big but that's fine because it will mean a few extra seasons.

Violet, who is already displaying a preference for pretty things (did you see her hair elastic bangle?) protested when her Kina was taken off her this morning to change her top underneath. So I'm thinking I  must make the most of this love of hand knits while it lasts.

So of course casting off one project leaves room to start another. Any suggestions? What's on your needles right now?


Ravelry details here

bye bye long weekend

 When I downloaded my camera after the long weekend, there wasn't a lot there, and they were certainly a mixed bag.

I baked bread from the River Cottage bread handbook. Slowly working my way through that one. This one was a monastery loaf, which sounds incredibly wholesome, and I suppose it was with it's 100% wholemeal and added oats. Not terribly popular with the kids though. But I quite liked it very thinly sliced and buttered.

I knitted at night time and even managed to complete a long overdue project. But more on that later. It's sitting, damp and blocked on a towel right now, waiting for some buttons. Decisions, decisions...

On Friday I came home from the op shop with a basket, cake tin, scone cutters, Norwegian jumper and a bottle from the op shop. Because you can never have too many baskets can you? I'm quite happy with that large cake tin, which has a perfectly functional lid (some tend to get stuck) and a good interior.

On Monday we ate scrambled eggs for breakfast. I made Mexican style patties for lunch with rice salad on the side and a little sour cream and grated cheese. Not a bad alternative to the packet style Mexican food I used to buy.

We skimmed rocks at the river. Daniel, a champion skimmer, laughed at my attempts at said "just don't hit the car", which somehow must have caused me to do just that. Luckily no damage.

We discovered a dam and the kids didn't want to leave.


But back to reality today. Back to school and back to work.


Bye bye long weekend.

not that into it

I emptied my iphone photos the other day. I realized it hadn't been emptied in over a month. But there weren't very many photos. I obviously haven't been using it that much at all. Or instagramming either for that matter. I guess I kind of hopped off that instagram bandwagon some time back. Though it was fun it was distracting.

It's funny the things that pop up on your phone. Photos that kids have taken when you might be in your dressing gown. When the house is a mess. And yes, that is a wool blanket on the bench. I must have been making yoghurt. I must have just taken this picture.

The lack of photos tell me that perhaps I'm just not that into my iphone anymore. I guess I kind of got sick of playing around on my phone while real life was going on around me. Or of trying to pry it out of kid's hands.


I wonder if I can reach a balance instead of tending toward the all or nothing? Can I rekindle my iphone love?


Do you have an iphone? Are you still as into it as the day you brought it home?

little pyjamas

I can never seem to walk past the fabric pile at an op shop, without a good rummage through it. Not one to pass up a good fabric bargain when I see it, I've often come home with a small collection of unused good quality fabrics. But those small collections do add up to a slightly overweight stash.

So it's always a good feeling to complete a project that has come from this stash. To turn something that was once unwanted into something practical and useful. And good to get that pile down just a little. Because cupboards overspilling with fabric does not a happy marriage make.

Take these few pieces of unused cotton flannel for instance. Perfect for a few pairs of pyjamas for Violet. Have you ever shopped for pants for a cloth nappied toddler? You will find that most pants are just too teeny tiny. The good news is I quite like toddler sewing, and pants are very easy to whip up.

So I sewed these up over a few days, using the Quick Change Trousers pattern from Handmade Beginnings as a rough guide. I traced the 24 months size, but added an extra inch around the nappy area. Good for those bulky night time nappies.

I then found a few tops in the drawer that weren't being used all that often, and cut out a few pieces for applique, which were then zig zagged onto the front.

So we now have some (kind of) matching little pyjamas that cost next to nothing. Warm but not too warm for this little co-sleeper.

I can't help but smile when I see them.

 

Do you find it hard to resist fabric too?  Do you sew or have plans to? What are you working on or planning right now?

cooking up

As we've just wrapped up Autumn and are welcoming the Winter in (and what a blustery wet one it is so far!) it's been mainly about wintery green salads and hearty soups around here. With lots of homemade bread to fill up on.

Rocket, kale, tatsoi and other mixed leaves are growing pretty well in the garden right now.

Rolls spread with ricotta and topped with some homemade Italian style preserves. Not made by me, but given to Daniel by a customer. I must learn how to make these.

This was the last glut of Autumn tomatoes that were ripened indoors. Roasted with herbs, they made a delicious pasta sauce.  That yellow liquid is whey, which I was using for bread dough.

More salad greens topped with feta, roasted Jerusalum artichokes and toasted nuts. Dressed with a vinaigrette of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, mustard, maple syrup and sea salt.

Would you believe I've survived the past few weeks with no pasta pot? (I'd been using my Staub which was really made for better things than boiling water). After years of saucepans that didn't seem to last the distance, I am really hoping that the extra spent on these two American made saucepans was worth it. So far I am very impressed.

Silverbeet for pie.

Making easy vegetable stock out of scraps and then adding pearl barley or lentils has made a well received after school snack. Easier than baking.

Pumpkin scones from my Country Show cookbook. A great way of using up the pumpkin I was given by a neighbour.

Now that I've got my head around the whole soaking beans overnight thing, soups are coming together far more easily these days. This one had an added ham hock and simmered gently all day. At the very end I added a few handfuls of risoni. Just the thing for a cold winters night. 

What have you been cooking up/eating in your kitchen?

cooking reading knitting

After the morning soccer. After her new little sewing class. After the lunch out. It rained. And continued to all weekend. While the time spent indoors was not all the peaceful calm sort, there was still a lot of time for some cooking and eating.

Julia made a lemon slice. Each time she cooks I see her learning just a little bit more. I try to let her figure out things before I interfere. That slice tasted pretty good.

I made a risotto with pumpkin, marsala and greens and herbs from the garden. Sometimes those recipes heavy on the improvising turn out the tastiest.

Even a little reading and knitting was managed. Despite the distraction of the noise of three children cooped indoors. I have been reading this book, in hopes to one day progress to that holy grail of the bread making world, a sourdough loaf.

Here is my attempt at an Elizabeth Zimmerman seamless sweater (though we call them jumpers here) for Luca. I'm using a Bendigo wool (doubled up) in denim. If you never hear of this project again, know that I must have failed at it. But at this point in time know that all is going smoothly. Hopefully the wise directions of EZ will guide me through any stormy knitting seas.


I hope you all had a rather pleasant weekend yourselves.