a clean catch

Oh that little girl of mine. She has not been feeling well all weekend long. I stayed home from work today with her. Even if she had miraculously gotten better by this morning, I was in no state to form sentences, let alone work.

We headed to the GP and it seems that she has some virus that needs to run its course, but he gave me a vessel to collect some urine in... a clean catch. The first time I attempted, she wasn't quite finished with what she was working on at the time. Always a fun thing to discover after you've begun the cleaning process. The other times not even a trickle. We shall try again in the morning.We started solids a week ago and she was really enjoying them until she got sick. Around the same time we got her to sleep through the night. Maybe in a couple of days she'll be back on the food/sleep track. Luckily, she is still as cute as a button and during the day her spirits are high and she gives smiles generously. Makes the sleepless nights bearable. Now if I could just get her to wipe her nose!

Check out what my friend Kellie made me! Cutest little wallet I ever did see!

finally some sleep, with added finished objects

The sleep situation seems to be improving so Hurrah to that. After reading some snippets out of the dreaded Ferber method book, I picked up some tips on how to deal with the little girl's middle of the night wakings and by night 2 I didn't have to comfort feed her at all. So maybe we are back on track now! (It's only been 2 nights, so lets hope I'm not jumping the gun)

I would also like to share some finished objects:

Traveling woman in sundara grass-stain basil over buttercup. I whipped this bad boy (girl?) up in less than a week, that's pretty quick for me to knit an entire skein of sock yarn. I repeated chart A three times and was left with just a few meters of yarn.

I've also been doing some weaving with more sock yarn (madeline tosh- victory garden, i think). I added some blue and white bamboo plaid bits to the warp. I'm really happy how this number (weaving object no. 3!) turned out.

the supplies

warping up (the spinning wheel makes a great warping peg)

weaving

final product

a bit of sewing

With the little girl starting daycare I wanted her to have a designated bag just for those days. My lovely friend Kellie lent me a few sewing books (while she took my loom home and got hooked on weaving!). I found the all day tote pattern in this book. Following some online advise I got some interfacing (iron-on) to stiffen it up. Prior to this project I had no idea such a thing existed, but what a great idea to give it some added strength and structure! The outside fabric is a fine green corduroy, it was a bit stretchy and the interfacing made it a lot easier to sew.

And for the inside I used some skull and crossbones canvas. I wanted her to be able to keep her edge even while at daycare. I added a few extra inside pockets to keep all her little bits organized.
I also tried my hand at making a wet bag and used these instructions. It's big enough to hold a days worth of diapers and soiled clothes. If I made one again, I think I would add a little wrist strap with a snap for easier carrying when it's full. It was my first try at sewing in a zip, now that I know it isn't scary, I may even try one again some day!
I've also recently hit up some op-shops for old fabric. There are some great sheets and table cloths out there oh and aprons... a girl can never have too many aprons (especially in great vintage fabric).

preservation

Last night I headed out to the garden with a colander to pick some beans only to head back inside for a second one. Holy beans! We had already been living off a drawerful in the fridge that blue had picked last week, so I decided it was time to do something with these beans!
I wanted to freeze some, but was also thinking that some pickled beans would be a delightful treat. They are just so tasty (especially in a bloody mary - nom nom). I settled on this recipe, but had to substitute dried dill for fresh dill sprigs. I had to do that last year with the cucumber pickles too - I really need to remember to plant dill in the future! In 2-3 weeks they will be ready, but I don't promise to wait that long.
We also had enough to freeze for future side dishes and stir-fries. Note the straw that was used to 'vacuum pack.'
If that weren't enough in the preservation realm, this morning I got up to take care of the plums our neighbour friends had gifted us. I chose this stewed plum recipe. It turned out pretty well, nice and tart and reminiscent of cranberry sauce. It tasted really good with some yogurt for a morning snack.
I sealed the jars... or attempted to. I'm not sure why, but I can never get them all to seal. I was at 50% for these two canning lots.
Tonight I took a long soak in the bath and read Breakfast at Tiffany's. Back to work tomorrow.

Sleep... or lack there of

I've been back to work now for a couple of weeks. It has been going pretty well. Although I wouldn't have chosen to be back at work yet I recognize its many benefits, the driving one being of the financial variety (and yes I'm well aware that most moms in the states don't have the luxury to even have as much time as I've had, doesn't make it any easier though).

So yeah it has been going well, the set up is really great. Little girl is just across the street from my building and I go to visit/feed her 3 times a day. If she is sleeping at the scheduled time they give me a call and if she gets hungry before the scheduled time they give me a call too. Also, I'm only back 1/2 time so she is only at daycare 2 full days and then blue watches her for 1 afternoon.
The first week I wound up with a cold (of course!), but little girl seemed to only be mildly affected. I also noticed that all the little kids had crusty snot noses, which finally today she has wound up with. I hope it doesn't last too long and that the snot nose kid thing isn't a permanent fixture at the daycare. Blue and I are still battling the tail end of this cold (well I hope it's the tail end... it has to be!). And lately little girl hasn't been sleeping too well. I guess it's due to her learning new skills and also she's been having a bit of a growth spurt. She keeps waking up and wanting to play at like 3 or 4 am and then getting stuck in the bars of her crib. It's really exhausting.

She seems to know when I have to go to work and chooses those nights to be up for hours on end...

I've been battling with trying to decide if we should do the 'family bed' thing which seems to keep her happy as long as I don't try to move her back to her own bed, or if I should just get some bumpers on her crib and let her resettle herself in the night (leaving feeding as a last resort). From what I can tell this could just be a phase. I'll leave it at least another week I guess and see if things calm down.Look at how sweet and peaceful she is when she's sleeping! (in our bed...)

yet another textile hobby

Hmm, it must have been a bit over a year ago now... I purchased an old Spear's loom on trademe. It was $10 and I couldn't resist. But it sat and sat and sat until last December when I got a bee in my bonnet and decided it would be useful to help me bust my stash, especially those odds and ends. After a trip to the hardware store for some replacement bolts and some youtube instruction videos on how to warp, I was off.

This is my first creation. The warp is some touch yarns fingering weight merino that I had left over from a lace scarf and the weft is a worsted/aran weight handspun I bought before I started spinning. I had also knit a few little things with this yarn and even now I still have some of each left. Guess I should have made the scarf a little bigger.Since this little number went so quickly I warped up for another project, this one a xmas present for blue. I used touch possum merino for the warp and weft with some little stripes of noro silk garden in both (to use up some bits left in my stash). I also double threaded a few of the slots for added texture. But because this project was wider, longer and with thinner yarn, it wasn't as quick and I just finished it the other day.I fulled it a bit to finish, but the noro didn't full at the same rate as the other stuff so it's a bit puckery. Other than that it turned out pretty well and is a good size. I don't really remember what the specs are, you know the kind that I appreciate when other weavers provide, maybe I'll have to start writing them down in the future.The $10 loom is alright and does the trick if you're willing, but since I enjoyed the weaving process/results I bought another old used loom. Only slightly more expensive and not just intended for a child's toy. It also needs a little love and attention which will hopefully happen soon so I can keep busting my stash!

(first) road trip! (with baby)

We took our first road trip with baby, it was a whole new way to travel!

Packed up the car with baby and all her gear and headed down to Dunedin.
Had a bit of a walk around the city in the evening. The next morning packed up again and headed to the Catlin Coast via Milton. Stopped by the illustrious Mill, but...
so i fed my baby on the front steps instead of shopping... almost the same thing :(The Catlin Coast was beautiful. We spent a few nights there, saw lots of pretty sights and tried to stay dry - it rained off and on for 3 days (and we forgot an umbrella).

Here are just a few of the things we saw.

a sea lion resting in Surat Bay:
the southern most sheep on the south island (slope point):
southern most sleeping baby on the south island:
some pretty little nuggets at nugget point:

(photos 2,4,5 &8 were taken by blue. you're my boy blue, you're my boy)

2010!

Happy New Year! Yesterday we went out to visit our friend Nicola who lives by the beach and took a nice stroll and checked out the local flavors. We got to talking about the last decade and we all concluded that 10 years ago we weren't even thinking about 2010 and where we were going to be, but that most of us wouldn't have imagined it how it turned out. I would have never guessed that I would be living in New Zealand. Married with a child, yeah I think that would have been imaginable, but it still seems a bit surreal to me now. We also pondered "should we be thinking about where we will be in 2020?" I've got no idea where I'll be living a year from now so 10 years is a bit far off.

santa's little helper

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. We spent the christmas day with friends and their family. It was close to the beach and after dinner and relaxing conversation we went for a stroll in the sand and took a few turns on the flying fox (both of which should be christmas traditions if you ask me). Then on boxing day we video chatted to the families back home that were gathered for xmas.

I wanted to get little girl handmade gifts this year (you know before she starts wanting all the mass produced crap from china that her friends have). So just before xmas I did a swap with miss millie. I made her some handspun yarn and she sent me one of her cute monkeys. She wanted something green so I dyed up some merino and it looked like this:

As I was spinning it, it looked so pretty and striped on the bobbin just for a little bit.

I really liked the final product, a nice light semi-felted single. I named it Usnea because it looks like lichen.

And here are the handmade gifts: Millie the monkey (blue named her...), Nicola the handmade doll (because she is a ginger, like our friend Nicola), and some soft cotton grapes for chewing (okay these are mass produced, but still handmade by some co-operative thingy). I got the doll on felt from poppetto.

Here is little girl opening her first present on christmas morning! What a sweet little elf!

ornament swap

This year I took part in a 'kiwi only' handmade ornament swap organized by twenty cent mixture. I made some felt fabric out of merino and silk and cut some sweet and not quite symmetrical stars (that's just how I like my stars ;-) They are pictured in the middle. The rest of the ornaments are from my swap partners. Thanks very much ladies!!!It was quite a handy swap as this is my first year having a tree and I didn't have too many ornaments otherwise. I was going for an all handmade ornament tree, but ended up splashing out for an elaborate and sweet hummingbird ornament at ballantynes and a rubber ducky dressed as santa (it was cheap and I couldn't resist). I have a thing for bird ornaments. There are 5 on the tree... out of about 16 ornaments.

My friend Simone also did the ornament swap and since we were in different groups we decided to exchange too. She made me this sweet e....which inspired me to make some more felt cutouts for my niece and nephew. I used some felt 'samplers' that I made at the felting workshop I took last fall. I knew I wanted to do something with the felt and I think I found just the right thing.

super simple little legwarmers

After making my other legwarmer pattern for my own babe, I thought it would be nice if they could be slightly more versatile and stretch and grow with the little one. So I have super duper simplified the pattern and this version goes a little something like this...Materials

Yarn: Needlefood sock yarn - color is red hot chocolate (other finger weight yarn will work, but might not be as cute ;-)

1 hank is enough to make a few pairs

Needles: 3.25 mm circular (I've also used a 2.75 mm and 3 mm to make these with the same success)

Size: This pattern is a stretchy rib and will grow with the little one. Designed to fit a newborn (the whole length of the leg) and then as the baby grows they eventually will fit more like legwarmers (knee to ankle).

Pattern notes: I prefer to work the magic loop method when knitting in the round (on small items like this), but if you would rather work with double points or the 2 circular needle method, it is easily transferable.

I learned how to use the magic loop method from here, but knitting help has a video too.

Pattern

Cast on 40 stitches
Knit 2x2 rib for 10 inches
Cast off loosely

Make second exactly the same

Yup that's it! Little embarrassing to call it a pattern, but it's so sweet and effective I thought I would share. Add stripes for a cute variation. Makes a great gift too!

This pattern is also available as a free ravelry download.

Look at those little legs wiggle!

Off to see the wizard

Here she is in her recently revised neck. Ah much better she says! This week (like all of them) has flown by. Munchichi is 11 weeks now! In no time I'll have to take her to get her 3 month jabs, I am not looking forward to that at all!

Today is Canterbury Anniversary Day and we had toyed with the idea of checking out the A&P show, but the weather has suddenly turned and it even looks mean on the radar. It's actually a little bit Wizard of Oz at the moment with trash blowing past on the street. I wonder if the neighbour's flag will get blown away.

Back in the saddle

After 11 months, I pulled on my cycling gear (it was a bit tight!) and got back on my bike. The main hurdle was psychological and although it was only a short ride, hopefully now it will be easier to do on a regular basis. And if that happens... maybe the cycling gear (and the rest of my clothes) will get easier to pull on!

(The bottom one is mine, the top one is blue's fixie)

Earlier today I had a difficult time getting the munchkin into the little blue sky alpacas sweater I knit well before she was even a twinkle. And then later when I took it off she was pretty upset at how difficult it was to get over her ever growing head! (I think it grew over the few hours she was wearing the sweater) When I got back from my ride I sat down and took out the bind-off and the last row and cast-off again with larger needles, hoping it was large enough to get over said head. Then I remembered a surprisingly stretchy bind-off I heard about on the new New Zealand knitting postcast with grannyg. So of course while I had the gumption I took out the bind-off again and tried the new stretchy version. And it worked (not surprisingly ;-) I tried it on her head and there was loads of room! Now she can get more than two wears out of it. Hoo-rah!

(this is the original neck... couldn't be bothered to try to get a photo of the new one without daylight)

Not one trick-or-treater!

We haven't had one trick-or-treater the whole time we've lived in New Zealand. It's a bit sad really. I love seeing the kids dressed up, even the ones that are too big and just want some free candy - that's cool with me. I pushed it as far as I could too when I was a kid.

Here's the full view of my little punkin.

Puttin' the hurt on

Nothing like a sleeping baby to put the hurt on gettin' stuff done! Without a baby in the house you can always put off chores/things you want done until you feel like doing them. But with the bebes around it's important to do those things while she sleeps. And you never can tell just how long those naps are going to be. When you think it's going to be a long one it's not and when you think it will just be a little one... she sleeps for 4 hours!!! That was impressive. I did so many little jobs today that I had been putting off, then I'd check on her... another job and check, you get the idea. I eventually just sat down, relaxed and did some knitting. Gotta love naps that are long enough to accomplish household tasks and sit down and knit!

This morning we had a plunket class and the little munch wore her halloween costume that grandma sent over. Sadly she was the only baby in costume. Kiwis really need to get into the spirit of halloween because babies in costumes are so darn cute! This is what she looked like before the 4 hour nap.

passport pics

my accomplishment for the morning :D

Naps and knits

The little one is taking her morning nap so I thought I'd do some catching up and read some blogs and then I remembered that I have a blog that I should update too! I have started knitting again which is a nice and relaxing activity to do while she sleeps (instead of running around trying to pick-up and clean the house). I have to keep it simple for the obvious reason of possibly frequent interruptions. I've made the cutest little legwarmers which she is wearing now but I just finished them so no photo yet. There are a few babies back home that could probably use some legwarmers too so I may just stick to knitting legwarmers for a little while :)

The legwarmers featured below are the ones I made in the handspun set. They still fit great and look so cute under or over her clothes and on just bare legs with a onesie too. The hat was knit/lent by my friend Carol who made it for her wee man when he was born. She has long since grown out of that as her brain is rapidly expanding ;-)
I thought I'd throw in another photo of some knitting that I completed but didn't report on before the birth. They are the Norwegian mittens by Elizabeth Zimmerman. It was a great pattern to knit and went really quickly. I enjoyed knitting with the Noro silk garden but was disappointed that the 2 balls looked like completely different colourways. I guess it pays to go and pick out your own yarn when possible! Nonetheless they have a quirky mismatchedness that I can get into. Originally I thought I would gift these come xmas time... but they are so my colours! We'll see how I feel as xmas draws nearer (it will be summer here then so maybe I won't have a problem parting with them).

Can't believe it

Wow, my little girl is 4 weeks today. Time has gone by so fast! It seems like she just popped out, but she is growing and maturing each day. It's so amazing to see her daily changes. And she has left me no time to get my craft on. Which at this point I really don't mind :D. Funnily enough the last bit of knitting I did was while I was in labour! Tee hee hee, that amused all the hospital staff that came in. But I figured I was going to be there for a while, I may as well get a little knitting in (and yes that is a sure sign that I had an epidural).

And here she is getting ready for nap time ;-)