zippity doo da

so I sort of disappeared after the craft show. Too busy creating and crafting to blog, you may have thought. not so.  it's just been frantically busy here with all sorts of goings on.  the rainbow child turned four and had the sort of crazy party you only do once with small children if you want to maintain your sanity.  we've been visiting family.  had visitors.  and other random stuff.

excuse the lack of capitals; i feel a little embarrassed about that as an english teacher but I'm currently wrestling with baby Toby who is climbing all over me and making strange baby gutteral throaty sounds in an attempt to get me to laugh.  mr comedy himself. notice I can't not do a capital I though, that's obviously my fine line.  

so blogging every day for a month is rather overrated. i sort of ran out of steam with that one, lasting 13 days was pretty damn good though, I thought.  and I was going to share pics of my stitches and craft show haul. maybe I should just show it as it transforms into something. as megsie alluded to in her blog a week or so ago, we've got a bit of a spesh stocking planned, courtesy of S&C and its enhancement of a certain part of my stash, it's an idea we've had forever and keep meaning to do for australia day, but january is always bedlam as it is.

ok. so first transformation.

S&C purchase from Kelani;

pattern:  Mr Electron from sew your own

been wanting to make this little dude for some time. i knew he would be perfect in the michael miller zips; makes a great visually contrasting little softie for tobs.  immediately named mr zippy.

rainbowchild spotted mr zippy and immediately outlined exactly how I had to make a mrs zippy for her. pink dress (cord selected by lily from the stash), gold hair, zippy legs; all the usual girly requirements. I chanced it with the hearts replacing the lightening bolts.
so did the kiddies approve?
big hits all round :D

ooh, i've changed my header too. do you like it? or did you not even notice?

ok, time for some giggling before bed ... hopefully!

stitch and bitch ... aka Stitches and Craft Show

I've been reminding my Andy every day for weeks that I was going to the Stitches and Craft Show in Melbourne, lest he forget and organise a diving trip. I reminded him endlessly as truth be told he is a little forgetful, and at times is guilty of not actually listening; or so he says.  So of course, in true male fashion which he thought was hilariously funny he nicknamed it the stitch and bitch. I let him go for a while, but in the end I had to tell him someone had already come up with that phrase. He told me he knew, he'd seen the book on my bookshelf. Hmmm, seems he's a little more observant than I thought!

Anyhoo, blog surfing leading up to the show had me uber excited as it seemed every second person was going. Me, I was to be accompanied by Megsie and our two little cherubs.

We arrived a little later than we had anticipated, but hey that's ok. And if you're ever looking for somewhere family friendly to hang out near the Showgrounds, the Essendon Community Playground is awesome, a little princess's dream playground!!!  

We decided to wear the bubs as past experiences with these types of things has seen a fair bit of grey bustling and packed spaces.  Not to be, the venue was spacious and airy ~ fantastic!!  

First stop on the way in was the Incubator with all the indie crafters. One word... awesome!!! This was where we spent the majority of our time, a couple of hours in fact. But there was so much to see here!  Lots of lovely inspiring clever and friendly peeps; I honestly don't know how they did it after being there for four days already! So lovely to meet so many of those whose blogs I read and also discover some new blogs to enjoy!  

The highlight; definitely the fabrics!!! how bloody awesome to see and touch so much  Kristen Doran, Ink and Spindle and Aunty Cookie gorgeousness without the barrier of the computer screen. I confess to coming home with quite a bit of their wares.

The rest of the show's highlights were pretty few and far between. Luckily Amitie and Kelani were sprinkled in amongst all the random stuff to brighten the day and empty the purse.  There were some lovely yarns to be seen as well, but nothing so stunning as to tempt me to break my *ahem* yarn diet.  
The bubs were absolutely perfect :D  Toby happily chewed on the side of the wrap and peeped out at all the goings on around him in between naps. And Sage slept. 
So wanna know want I spent my pennies on?? huh?? Should I confess??

man, I'm on a roll...

with running out of yarn while casting off!!!!!

ARGGHHHH!! two projects in a row, can you believe it. 

I was just casting off a full ruffled hem on this rainbow dress and ran out of yarn half way around.  Yes, I should know better, I should measure my yarn to see how much is left but it's much more fun living dangerously.  It's so exciting when you finish casting off and you have just a skeric of yarn left. Thrilling even.

This one will be ripped back a few rows though and finished off tomorrow night.

I think it's time I stopped living on the edge and pushing my yarn yardage to the limit LOL

now knitting project that I will have at least 100grams yarn leftover.

milo

Firstly, let me preface this post by saying this has absolutely nothing to do with that tinned drink stuff ( that we don't allow in this house for a few reasons which I won't bore you with); despite the colours in the photo below.  

just a little preview of a pattern I'm working on, something for the kidlets again. Hoping to get it to test knit stage in the next few weeks. If I say that publically it might make me get my arse into gear LOL

And for those who care, I have some more Kauni on the way. I started stalking all those Aussies on Rav who have knit with kauni, carefully checking out the colour of the cast off edge of their piece. One of the first lovely people I came across cast of in the same colour as me!!! And noted in their pattern notes they had 5.5 grams left over... so I begged!!!!

frickety frack

i ran out of yarn!!!!!

I had 680.9 metres of this stuff.

it seems I needed a few metres more.

ARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!

I only have one quarter of the cast off to go and it's done.... so very very very close now

so very close...

to finishing this sucker.

11 rows to go

but

over 300 stitches per row. shesh.

the afternoon project that took two months to complete...

You know how it is, we've all got one of these.

One Sunday early in January Andy was off doing some random blokey stuff, probably involving spearguns, boats and underwater video cameras; I was feeling a little nonplussed so decided on the spur of the moment I was going to make a mei tai. And I was going to make it completely from stash, I probably didn't have any choice truth be known, as Andy would have had the car no doubt. So after rummaging around I came up with two options of fabric heavy enough for the mei tai; black or this really lovely blue. Anyone who knows me well will know the choice was a no brainer; black is so boring!!

The problem was however, finding a coordinating fabric. This blue is quite distinct, and it was quite tricky finding a fabric with exactly the right tone of blue to match. This Cosmos mushroom fabric was pretty much the only one. I have a couple of the mushrooms colourways in my stash, but it was only this pinky one that had the right matching tone of blue.  I was a little hesitant about the mushroom fabric as the lovely Mel from Beetlebums has made a mei tai using the mushroom fabric, but it was the only fabric that was right tonally and I really didn't want to have to wait to get it done, how little did I know at that time. It can't be helped if we both have such good taste in fabrics. This looks quite different from Mel's anyways.... 

So then I preceded to find a pattern and cut all the fabric out.  

I chose the Hood to HeadRest Mei Tai pattern and tute to follow as given Toby was less than 2 months old when I started this I thought the headrest was a good feature for him. After cutting the base fabric, the decorator fabric and the wadding for the padding, I was interrupted by the sweet ones.
Periodically, I have been attempting to get this finished. I seem to be able to steal little snatches of time here and there in the day, but haven't really had the opportunity to sit down for a long stretch and really finish off this baby. Every time I got on a roll with it, one of the bubs would want me. 
After a while, I must admit I just wanted to finish it and I was probably less the perfectionist than I usually would be with sewing, but hey it's finished, it's functional, and it's pretty cool!
and Toby and Lily have both given it the big tick of approval :D
I also managed to finish some other sewing off today, hooray!! Something that is being sent off in the mail this week.  But I'm going to save that for another post, so I have something to talk about for the rest of March LOL  

Now, if only I can get some sewing done for the shop!!!!

fair fun Sunday

The primary schools around here love a good fair. They particularly love a good fair that has some kind of fruity theme to it, strawberries, apples, doesn't matter if there's none of the fruit actually at the fair itself; fruity fairs seem to be all the rage in primary school circles.

Today we had a lovely family fun day and visited the Apple Fair, where incidentally there were bags of apples being sold as well as an odd looking man wandering around dressed as an apple. Why it's the apple fair, I do not know but it was a fun day nonetheless and a big hit with Miss Rainbow.

There were rides to be had (with Daddy of course hehehe);

face painting;
and of course, the obligatory baby animal enclosure, which is always a big hit with the rainbow girl. 
The favourite animal being the pig ;)

favourite chair

Do you have a favourite chair?  

A favourite place to sit and ponder or escape?

I think this chair would have to be mine.  It was my grandmother's and I've spent a good deal of time in it with both my babies; rocking them to sleep, feeding, reading stories, baby gazing, and just generally soaking up their beauty.  Blissful moments.  I've just been sitting there now soothing the little koala baby off to sleep in the peace of a quiet house, everyone else is already snuggled up asleep. I'll have to snuggle in and find a place for myself later in that big bed. 

It's amazing how something as simple as changing a doona cover can change the whole feel of a bed. We usually have a bright red dominated stripey Sheridan cover or a blue fishy one on our bed, but this week I decided to swap it for a cream and blue chambray pinstriped one I found in the back of the linen press I'd forgotten we'd even had.  It seems so much cosier and welcoming I think I'll stick with it for a while.  It has a real snuggle factor; even with losing two of the many  pillows that used to grace our bed. Now I'm imagining some extra special cushion and pillow covers to finish it all off.

Share your favourite chair too :)  

growing up with allergies and catching on too quick

Lily's been aware of allergies from a fairly young age. Her father has several allergies as do many members of his family. During pregnancy and from birth we followed what was considered best practice at the time in terms of allergy prevention. We delayed introduction to the major food allergens and minimised contact with chemicals.  The only food allergen she is yet to encounter is nuts, and so far she has been all clear.  Those familiar with allergy research will know that there is currently changing thoughts and debate with regard to the best approach in attempting to prevent allergies, but that's a whole other post ;)

The good thing about this awareness is that firstly, she understands about the very real prospect of allergies and doesn't see it as unusual or an issue; she just accepts that's the way it is.  I like that when she goes off to kindy and school (god forbid!) that she will understand about other kids in her class if they have allergies and hopefully be supportive of them. It won't be a weird or foreign concept to her.  She's very considerate of her father's eating habits and has been heard to tell him not to touch the eggs as he's allergic to them.

The downside to this awareness is that she's caught on a little too young as to how she can use this to her advantage.  Lily has a dislike for avocado, which is odd as she adored it as a baby.  We certainly don't force it on her, infact, we don't even offer it to her anymore. The other day however, she tells me, "Mum, I can't eat avocado."

"Why not, Lily?"

"I'm allergic to it," she tells me.

"No you're not," I reply, "You just don't like it."

"No Mum, I'm allergic. It makes my throat sore."

hmmm, think she's been taking in a little bit too much. 

A sore throat is exactly what Andy told her his reaction to eggs is.  

You can see exactly where this is heading... 

Yep, I've been told she's allergic to tidying up her toys, it makes her cough!!!!

And because a post this long needs a picture, here's a photo from last August of Lily getting ready to go to her music class. And yes, she is the only kid in her class who wears a Nirvana tshirt, or as she calls it; her 'Happy and You Know it' tshirt.  How ironic!

where's the sewing gone?

If you've been thinking there's not a great deal of sewing going on here you'd be right. It's not for a want of trying; it seems somewhat fateful that as soon as I escape to my sewing room, drag out some fabric and sit down to indulge myself and breathe that familiar sigh of contentment, I'm needed. Insert other familiar sigh here.  It's much much easier to grab a few minutes here and there to pick up my knitting needles.  

 I'm no longer in the frame where I can do late night sewing, not when I have interrupted sleep at night. Toby is a great sleeper, and goes straight back to sleep after a feed but the mindset of an interrupted night is still there. Lily still wanders in each night too, and it's very cosy with the four of us by morning time.

So if you visit my craft room, this is more than likely what you'll find.

there have been a few small projects that have managed to eek their way out;

a crayon/pencil roll for a little friend's second birthday
and a much needed new pin cushion in some lovely Sis Boom fabric scraps.

And I must admit I do have another project to send off to someone this week, and a larger more self indulgent project on the go. 

But this awaits and calls me, all new additions, all prewashed and ready to be sewn. *sigh* 

I told Andy I was going to have a cut out day one day this week, he laughed at me and reminded me what cut out day is in a shearing shed; the end of shearing that particular shed and time to get on the turps.   That would be even more unproductive I think!!!

moods...

I love these photos of Lily, they really capture the changing moods of a three year old.

I love the crisp greenness of the grass and the contrast of the red and blues.

I love how you can see how long and beautiful her eyelashes are  here. 

I love the blissfully happy look on her face here.

And the contrast in moods here, this pic just makes me go, "awww" Poor little poppet having some quiet time on her own.

and a quick progress shot of the rainbow yarn metamorphosing.

Today is a day of Total Fire Ban in Victoria

It's over three weeks since Black Saturday and still there are four major fires in Victoria. Today was forecast to be another extreme fire danger day; we've had quite a few of these lately. This one came complete with an SMS from the Victorian Police warning of the dangers the weather posed today.  

It was so very very still when I went to bed last night. We were expecting to awake to ferocious winds, instead the unfamiliar sound of rain tinkling on the roof greeted us.  Relief!  But the winds did kick in and we experienced some of the weirdest wild weather here today. Winds of 50kmh with stronger gusts interspersed with showers sprinkling; it truly felt like we were on the edge of a tropical cyclone.  1oo new fires started today but luckily they were all quickly contained. There have been over 4000 new fires in Victoria since Black Saturday; that figure just blows me away.  

Here's hoping that these horrible winds don't cause too much grief for the CFA firefighters. Here's hoping this really is the last of this weather.

There was a great outpouring of support immediately after Black Saturday, but as time moves on I think we sometimes forget that there are still people here who are still daily facing the very real prospect of bushfires and have done so for weeks.  They can't just turn off the tv to escape it. They can't move on from it just yet. And neither should we.

We've got some new auctions up on the Bushfire Relief  ozebaby store with more to come.  Please continue your support for those who have lost so much.

ok. so now it's monday....

WARNING:  gushing mummy post to follow...

but isn't he just cute cute cute!!!

well, I think so and he adores me so that's pretty spesh!!!

Anyhoo, apart from an overload of some rather cute pics of my little fellow and some randomgushiness about him growing up sooo very quickly, there is some crafty goodness to be had here. 

Firstly, I've probably oohed this before but check out this gorgeous shawl Tobias is on.  It's my mum's handiwork, and it is a very loved piece here.  It's the Heirloom Shawl, although I'm sure I've heard Mum refer to it as the Lady Di shawl.  Mum has knitted beautiful white shawls for each of her grandkiddy families; five in total. 
Those Ravellers out there may have noticed this cute little derriere popping up in their friends' page; I certainly hope so. The reason for that is that this pic of Toby graces a wonderful new soaker pattern; the Vanilla Soaker by Kelly Brooker. (rav link) I was lucky enough to test knit for Kelly and took these photos about a month ago when we still counted Toby's age in weeks; I think he was about 12 weeks there.  Kelly has just released this pattern so now I can share these cute pics.

It's a terrific little pattern, and one I'll be recommending for all beginners, as well as those seasoned knitters.  It has a wonderful ribbed crotch, but is without the one thing that sends many knitters batty when facing a ribbed crotch ~ there is no grafting!!!  It's also completely seamless; noice!!

It makes my day to see Toby's butt popping up all over Rav; so go on, go and queue the vanilla soaker now.

In case you're wondering; pattern specs:

Yarn: WOOLganic 8 ply merino in 'Gondwana'

Needles: 4mm and 2.75mm

Size: newborn

OK, so now here comes the ramblings of a mummy, look away if you need to.

For fear of jinxing myself, I haven't really said it before, but Tobias is an awesome bub. He's so settled, happy and content. He loves nothing more than to giggle or grin at you. Lately, his giggle is becoming a bit of a raucous almost shout as he discovers the power of vocalising LOUD!! It really does get every one's attention!!!

I remember when he was a little one, well littler than now, and I would get asked how he was going, and was I getting any sleep. There were people that seem almost annoyed or put out, when I said he was fabulous and very settled and yes, getting plenty of sleep. They'd almost huff and say, "that'll change at about 6 weeks".  What's with that?

Well, it did change. He just got more settled and content after six weeks!!

Anyway, my darling little Toby keep sleeping beautifully, smiling that sunshine smile, and laughing joy into my day. I love you.

Man, I can't believe how much he's grown in the month since these photos were taken, he has loads of new tricks now. But I think I'll save that for another post.... it's nearly Tuesday and I need to work on some of that Kauni yarn before sleeping.

awwww, he's cute!!

Stash Sunday

The more observant readers may notice that this post appears not on a Sunday. I had intended to post yesterday. While drooling over the Beetlebum carriers yesterday I stumbled across a Nappy Hunt icon by pure chance and it dawned on me that it was the first of March.  given the neglect this blog has felt of late, I promised myself to overload it with love and wit and generous dollops of crafty goodness. Alas, I failed on the first day... doesn't auger well really does it?  Oh well, we'll see how I go.

And for now, let's just pretend this was posted yesterday.

This gorgeous yarn is Kauni Effektgarn 8/2.  I love the beautiful rainbow gradient but being a shetland-type wool it is a little rough.  This 180grams is slowly being transformed into something very colourful, and dare I say it, gorgeous!
Progress pics to come soonish.

I'll be back later today with Monday's post ;)