six and a half stitches

WE NEED SOME GREY NOW. PLEASE.

I have become increasingly anxious that this baby is not a girl, and will in fact turn out to be a boy. Which is fine. We are a household well equiped for boys. However it means my decisions to make a few 'very pretty things' are not sitting well with me. It doesn't, however, stop me from continuing to make 'very pretty things'. Like smock tops, and hand made muslin wraps using Nani Iro muslin fabric.

Oooh, and I've finally seen one of the baby outfits I've made actually on a baby - Alice looks gorgeous in this one which I didn't photograph or blog about because I really needed to turn it around quickly.

JUST. GIVE. ME. THE. CAKE. NOW.

Cake. Just give me cake. I'm not all that fussy. Just something moist and flavoursome. Ideally a nice rich coffee cake with lashings of cream and coffee flavoured cream and icing. But the legs can't hold much more saturated fat right now, so we've held off on that craving. But any other cake, baked good morsel, pie or biscuitey concoction will do nicely. I eye off cooking blogs, devouring new cake and baking offerings. And those enjoying summer have been teasing me the last few months with your tales of berry picking and pie making. My adventures with the oven recently have been well documented here - mainly the fact I keep burning myself, and as such have been rather reluctant to put myself forward for further burnt offerings. It only seems to occur when baking cakes too....(Alex, I am forever grateful for your oven mitt) And then there's the fact the oven seems to have developed a life of it's own, and will cook the outside to a crisp while the insides languish in gooey mush. It may have something to do with the door dropping slightly and heat not circulating properly. Or something. So to pick up a recipe and decide, yes, I will make this, and actually waddle to various delis across neighbouring areas to find specific ingredients for said cake (the chestnut flour), is a bit of a milestone. And despite the oven being temperamental, the cake turned out beautifully. It's a Chestnut Flour, Raisin and Rosemary Cake, and although the ingredients aren't typical cake ingredients, they really pull it off together. The cake is moist and flavoursome, and sugary in that molten brown sugar kind of way. And it tastes excellent with thick, fresh King Island Cream. Stephanie gives a brilliant run down on the cakes' origins, and the rest of her blog is worth reading for the wonderful food insights she has (she speaks from immense experience).

Now I'm thinking of pancakes............

A LITTLE MORE COORDINATED

I think it's time to return to some normal posting, and to post about something nice, and maybe even a little bit cute. This week I have 2 WIP on the go. I'm not counting Petite 6.5st quilt, because we're not on speaking terms. We're having a break. So I have turned my attention to other areas and am concentrating on two small projects. They may be small, but they're occupying my time - which is greatly diminished at the moment as severe tiredness sets in, and I think the baby has done renovations overnight resulting in a deck, pool, and jacuzzi lounge being added to the front. This little pile says so much right now: It welcomes spring with it's blossom prints, floral prints, and warm inviting colours. It beholds girliness without being overly girly. It shows off one of my new stools - a Kaishu Stool which uses sustainable eco ply to make stools and then various artists from all over the world screen print onto the panels. Each month there's a different selection of prints, and recently they've been doing Florence Broadhurst prints. This is a little teeny one. I also have a larger one in another print way, waiting to be made up.

On top of the stool are:: a little smock top (which I will make properly this time) in Liberty print. Yes. There is pink in there. But it's a nice pink. Almost purple pink. So not really pink at all. Really. It's still attached to the pattern. It was quite an achievement to get it cut out the other day :: then a very cute little project which deserves it's own post because I am so in love with this concept, but for a sneek peek - look here. It would have been finished about a week ago if I had used the thickness wool the pattern asked for, but I didn't have enough wool in the right colour or fibre, so I did a really lightweight one. The next one will be quicker.

More WIP's here.

KEEPIN' IT REAL

LESSONS IN MOTHERHOOD - PART 1

Pay attention, I have valuable information to impart.

I have no more dignity left. Absolutely....none. Usually, dignity is left behind when you arrive at the hospital and don a hospital issue gown or when your waters break in the middle of a shopping centre. Well. Mine left me with the trash about 4 months ago. I held tightly to a little tiny shred of it though. But even now, that has been cruelly taken away from me.

Exhibit 1:: When your belly sticks out like a torpedo, any slight morsel or dribble of anything remotely near your mouth falls directly onto your belly. What would have gone on the floor, or in the sink - say for example toothpaste, now just goes in a big gloop on your clothes. Usually a top you have just put on. Toothpaste is particularly enjoying it's time on the belly now. I keep forgetting to lean so far over I can almost see my toes again when I brush my teeth. And I keep wearing black tops. Not good.

Exhibit 2:: It's amazing the power of friends. Especially good friends. And good friends are very hard to come by. You know the ones - those people who think like you, understand you, inspire you, can anticipate your needs without you saying anything, the ones you don't have to give instructions to for buying presents for you etc etc. I have some great friends. Nic and Jo - you guys, you just know intuitively what I want (read the comments). And your inner sense of what a mother needs for her upcoming birth is, well, it's left me speechless. Tears are welling in my eyes as I think of the complete and utter kindness you have shown me - the thought, the process, the coordination. A matching mother and baby tack hat, and possible matching birthing mat. Brilliant. You guys - you complete me.

How could I possibly thank these two? How could I somehow rise to the Tack Challenge after Nic's bold statement?

It seems fitting to make a babies bib. That way, when the baby gets the shock of it's life upon arriving to find it's mother looking like a christmas tree and that it too will be wearing it's very own matching christmas tree within minutes, this is after being dragged out of me to the sight of a rag knit birthing mat with Jesus Christ and the Last Supper on it, it can throw up all over a nice tackeeeeeee bib as a gesture of it's adoration for the things it's new life has presented it. Now no-one dare say I don't think through the actual process of raising a baby. And if all else fails, it will catch the toothpaste dribbles quite nicely.

PILISTIC RITUALS

Her Piles::

His Pile::

Little His Piles::

Click to enlarge each photo. I trust, Bugheart, that this satisfies your curiosity! My study is a chaotic mess at the moment till I have the energy and bending down capacity to clear it all up. Piles of fabric and wool stored in boxes, piles of books, and piles of everything else in between. A pile of rubble in a cardboard box, of which there are many, lined up in the garage as we demolish the garage floor to make way for the laundry to move in there so I get a bathroom with a bath. And piles of toys randomly shot today. I think the timber blocks on the tracks are snow. Assorted lane way finds all lined up underneath a bench seat in the garden. And daddy's little helper in one of the trenches in the garage.

Despite the apparent state of clutter around me both at work and at home, I am actually an ordered, controlled, organised person. I just don't get retentive about it. Amongst the piles and clutter and seemingly random bits and pieces, are little rituals. I like my rituals. I like my little offerings to inner peace, and a sense of rightness and balance. Here's 5 random rituals::

• I have to have a morning coffee. When I was working (do you know how good and naughty it feels to say that!! When - past tense) it would be a coffee from Eddie on the corner on the way into the office. When playground attending, a coffee from my favourite place, and then the playground.
• If Max is away, I have to shut his door at night. I cannot stand the thought of walking past his room and feeling the cold emptiness of him not in there.
• Before I start a new project, I make a little pile. All the fabric, trims, thread. I arrange and rearrange, forming the visual proportions ion my mind. I like to look, absorb, deliberate, love it.
• Gmail. Bloglines. Hotmail. Statcounter. Flickr. Checked each morning in that order.
• I cannot go to bed without kissing Max, or touching his skin - his hand, his foot, his head. I love my sleeping peaceful child.

JUGGLING

:: deadlines and last minute rushes, late emails to answer, final construction drawing sets to issue, desk to tidy, work to handover, filing :: final coffee made by Eddie. I just nod. He knows my order and how I like it. I will miss Eddie's coffees :: lists :: which wool goes better with the new project :: finding wool I forgot I had which would be perfect for the next, next project :: blogging :: emailing :: cleaning the house :: sorting through toys and clothes :: sorting through paperwork :: which project needs most attention right now :: or should I just start a new one :: organising appointments :: packages needing posting :: scanning new books :: getting comfortable :: a rather eclectic selection of music from Matisyahu (which is brilliant), to Robbie Williams, to Inxs (ok they’re not Inxs, but they are Inxs), to Neko Case (better late than never) – from one extreme to the other they’re my current anthems :: packing as many toy cars as you can into a pencil case repeatedly :: I have no idea why, ask Max :: taking Max to the Dr’s v’s working v’s sending him to daycare v’s what the hell is that rash all over his body :: learning Max is a little sensitive to soap and that rash would be full body eczema :: paying for parking and parking just around the corner, or free parking a 20 minute waddle away :: pretending to like train sets :: sleep :: finding new choices for birth I didn't think were open to me :: new collaborative ventures :: renewed interest in old discourses :: 2 new stools.

I ABSOLVE ALL RESPONSIBILITY (AGAIN)

ISBN 4072501395 Swedish Children's Rooms

ISBN 4072449202 Artists Studios in Paris. I want to be bohemian and an artist. And I'd like to know how they afford the rent on the huge spaces they have.

ISBN 4579109708 Well, I had to, didn't I. Thanks to a comment ages ago, this book is now mine, and I think I might just make everything in it.

There are additional photos up at flickr from inside the books - link in my sidebar.

And just a housekeeping note, because I'm getting asked this a lot:: The links are all to amazon.co.jp, and it's all in japanese. They are japanese books and not available in english. There is no english author or title. Basically they're picture books, but the ones with patterns in them are usually incredibly well instructed in visual diagrams, and the patterns are typically well put together. To order off amazon.co.jp is exactly like ordering from amazon.com - same buttons in the same locations, and I usually have both browsers up at once to navigate through. Another great source for these books is Yesasia.com who offer free shipping if you spend over a certain amount/accrue shipping points - usually 2-3 books gets you free shipping. Both online stores are easy to use and have always been reliable with excellent order tracking systems. There are many many other places to get the books : Ebay, kitty-craft, Kinokuniya if you have a store in your city, japanese book stores.....

Once again, I take no responsability for anyone who just has to go out and buy any of these books....

A LITTLE BIT OF FLOUNCE

This is kind of a frivolous departure for me. I normally do calculated, studied pieces - you may have noticed there isn't much flounce on this site. But you know what - sometimes a bit of flounce and gathering is nice. As is a little bit of bold floral print and a bold graphic print. Put the two together in a simple reversible bag, and you have something lightweight and nifty for baby stuff to be carried around in. Or equally nifty for a box of snacks, sunglasses, wallet, water, bucket and spade for trips to the beach. It's another pattern from this japanese craft book, and is really very simple, quick and easy to make. Essentially it's a rectangle which has ribbon ties on all 4 sides, and I made it reversible - the orange pink and red dotted fabric lines the bag. Neat!! Minimal sewing!!

In writing this post, and doing the links, I saw the entire range from the Colour Beat collection by Jennifer Sampou for Robert Kaufman (link above). Now here's some coincidences:: The gorgeous circle material used in the prototype baby smock is from this collection - I've only just realised now:: I had wanted to make this bag to vaguely coordinate with a fabulous sling (colour #317)I bought on Cari's recommendation, and there is the lining material of the sling as well!! Some things are just meant to be.

(And this has to be my favourite photo recently)

WHEN IS A STITCH NOT A STITCH

One of the patterns I altered and rescaled last weekend to wee size, has been made up. It started out well. I had checked my measurements against real live babies, adjusted, and come up with some snazzy ways of dealing with a problem area. And I sat down last Monday, calmly, and started sewing. My sewing machine had other ideas about how we might spend my Monday. We had words. We had a difference of opinion about what defines a ‘stitch’. Please confer with my opinion, that these:

Do not constitute stitches. And that jumping all over the place and going in whatever direction you please, dear sewing machine, does not please me. And deciding to use a thread on the bobbin that is nowhere near the surface? Did you think I would not notice? Nor does altering the tension, stitch length, stitch gather, and complete nature of a stitch please me. In fact, it makes me quite upset. Particularly when you worked fine the other day. Oh, wait, did you not like having copious amounts of quilt and fleece shoved through you? You’ve been telling me for 18 months to get you serviced? Really? Has it been that long that you’ve been limping along. Oh dear. So last Monday turned into a day of taking said machine in to get serviced and whipped into shape.

The gathered smock top has turned into a prototype. Despite the stitching having a mind of it’s own, I kept going (why? So the machine would blow up entirely? I have no idea why). And I also learnt that French seams are not always the best seam ever. They only really work on fine cotton and delicate materials. Not quilting cotton. And especially cotton’s which fray. A little trimming and this will be ok, and a small baby is not going to know her mother sewed something with a dodgy sewing machine and which has the frayed inner edge of a French seam showing. I know the sleeves are too long on this pattern, so I wanted to use a contrast material as a turn over. And I shouldn’t have French seamed that part – should have just done a normal seam throughout so it would sit flatter. I think we can safely say we overdid the french seaming part. I have learnt my lesson.

You know, I could have just posted the finished piece and told you how lovely and wonderful it was. But I wanted to really show sometimes we all mess up. And sometimes we can use the blog to ‘hide’ things. Or to portray things differently. I’m not afraid to say something didn’t work out. I’m still learning too. Just next time I should learn on really cheap material. And the next one will be very cute. For sure.

And there have been no more tears over the weekend. I laughed the whole way through writing the last post. All of that happened and more, and when it gets written down it sounds slightly Monty Pythonesque... The rain cleared to some patches of sunshine. I wrapped little presents for people, finished sewing some things, finished the fairaisle jumper, and had someone else cook for me last night. Hopefully this Monday the sewing machine will behave and allow me a chance to whip up something quick, I can get to the post office, and I can have lunch with my husband. Sounds pretty good to me!

FRIDAY (A LITTLE LATE)

Woke up late.

Screamed at Max because he didn't know we had to be somewhere for an appointment.

Dragged him off the couch to the car.

Made him walk down the street without an umbrella because I couldn't find one.

Swore under my breathe because husband surely hid the umbrella from me.

Got soaking wet.

Made Max cry, again.

Saw the osteopath.

Made Max cry again.

Promised to buy him a toy.

Or 2.

And a cake.

Got a shit cup of coffee, which I continued to drink, even though I should have returned it.

Picked up the sewing machine. There's a story behind that - it's coming later.

Got wet again.

Looked completely bedraggled in the shopping centre amongst all the latest Bugaboo strollers, and why did every single rich slim stick thin woman have to be there today with the same Prada bags????? Did I miss some mummy newsletter about this?

A 5 year old girl in a shop made Max cry. She was horrid.

I attempted to rationalise why we could not crash Connor's birthday party in the Teddy Bear Making Shop. I have no idea who Connor is. Possibly the brother of the girl above.

Made Max cry.

Attempted to find a way to not buy a teddy bear from the Teddy Bear Making Shop.

Bought Max chocolate.

And a warm chocolate milk.

Ate myself. Well, not myself, but ate too much food.

Walked out of the Parents Room without Max because he wouldn't come with me when I asked him to.

Attempted to rationalise why we couldn't play with the nice timber ride on cars (they are terribly gorgeous, and terribly expensive, and Max loves them) displayed artfully outside Top3ByDesign.

Attempted to rationalise why Max couldn't have a donut.

And lollies.

And that car.

And that one.

And that one.

And that one.

Spent a fortune on clothes for Max and Petite 6.5st.

Realised I bought 3 pieces of pink clothing, but decided I could edit that out of the blog so you all think I'm perfect and have high moral values and stick to my philosophies.

Made Max and me wet again coming home.

Had a slight panic while looking at my belly and seeing red spots all over it that were definately not there this morning.

Collapsed on the couch.

Shouted at Max because I wanted some peace and a little rest.

Shouted at Max.

Shouted at Max.

Shouted at Max while on the phone to a friend.

Screamed at Max.

Made Max cry.

Cried when Albert got home because he hadn't bought dinner home with him and that meant I had to cook.

Ate chocolate.

And Cheese and Bacon Balls (they were going stale).

And Tiny Teddies (they were going stale).

Fed Max half a block of parmesan cheese for dinner, with a few ravioli thrown in for nutrition.

Scowled all night.

Saturday was a new day.

And Sunday is an even newer day.

But both just as wet.