Birthday treats

Last week was my 35th birthday - scary stuff! Still I had a lovely day and was thoroughly spoiled by Warren, with gorgeous flowers, dinner and some books from my wish list. The paper cutouts is particularly inspiring, full of wonderful bold folk inspired designs in a single colour which of course are great as papercuts (must get myself a scalpel!) but could also work as screenprints or perhaps jewellery designs. The itty bitty nursery book is also gorgeous, with lots of very cute things to knit.



The Russian textiles book is a gift from my mum, mouthwatering textile designs which are quite unique and combine a kind of folk feel with eastern decoration. So much inspiration in these three books, I am just waiting for some more quiet time to curl up with them.



This beautiful elephant cushion was a gift from a friend, Thomas loves it too.



And finally, arriving amazingly enough on my birthday, beautifully wrapped and with a gorgeous card, were these stunning oven mitts from Lily. They are even more beautiful up close, meticulously sewn, with another lovely matching fabric for the lining. I proudly used them for the roast when Warren's dad came over for lunch yesterday, and they are a lovely addition to our kitchen. Thanks sooo much Lily!



Here is rainbow baby doll no 2. I think I now have these out of my system, but I am working on a little elephant. I do like having knitting to pick up when I collapse in front of the tv at the end of the day.



It has been a busy and sociable week for us, hosting mother's group (here is Thomas looking enchanted by a recent arrival), having friends to stay for a few days, and Warren's dad and his partner visiting. We also have a family wedding next weekend and we are off to the Gold Coast for a few days to thaw out from Canberra's chilly weather. I am so looking forward to a change of scene, I can't wait.

I also have my first meeting with my midwife tomorrow - this time round I'm going through the birth centre rather than the hospital so I think I see one midwife for the rest of the pregnancy and labour (although I still have to deliver in the hospital because I had a caesar last time). I'm hoping this time round that we might have a more natural birth, and that the baby will stay put until the due date, but we will have to wait and see.

Rainbow baby doll 1

Thank you so much for all your very lovely comments on the pregnancy - we are very thrilled, although sometimes I think we must be mad to do it all again!



Here is my first attempt at a rainbow baby doll. Quite addictive to knit something that is so quick to make up - a couple of evenings (for me as a very slow knitter) rather than the usual weeks for a garment. I can definitely feel another one coming on! They would be good for a baby toy, as no small parts to come off and get swallowed - even the pompom is knitted as part of the hat, and the pattern is super easy.



Thomas quite likes it too, not that you could tell from this photo!

I also found out that I am the very, very lucky winner of Lily's blog giveaway, the most beautiful oven mitts made from Denyse Schmidt fabric. I just love them, I can't tell you how thrilled I am!

I must be on a winning streak lately, as I also won Leah's gorgeous knitted washcloth and soap a few weeks ago. Usually I never win anything (really!) so perhaps its time to get a lottery ticket! I must definitely do a giveaway myself soon too, to reciprocate all this kindness, so stay tuned.

Up the duff

You have probably already guessed by now, but the reason I've been so sick for the last couple of months is that we are expecting another baby. Although if you look at the ultrasound photos from my 12 week scan yesterday, it looks more like we will have a little alien, or perhaps a seal pup. These pictures are always hard to decipher, but if you look closely you can see the alien face in frontal view and hands (or are they flippers?) on either side of its head. The little peanut was very unco-operative with the scan, jumping about all over the place and the poor techician was there forever trying to get the right angles, but it seems that everything is developing fine.



Funnily enough, we have been given exactly the same due date as for Thomas, (12 November) two years later, so there must be something special about the date both were concieved!

Anyway, luckily the all day nausea seems to be gradually subsiding, and I am feeling more human again. Thank goodness as I need all my energy to cope with Thomas, who is getting more and more adventurous and mischevious by the day.



He is also going through a sudden burst of separation anxiety, so leaving him at childcare three days a week has become an exercise in guilt. His carers reassure me that he stops crying as soon as I leave, but it still feels awful to put him through this. It would be nice to have the option not to work, but as well as preserving some of my sanity, at the moment we would really struggle without my income. I guess it's a very common dilemma, but no easier because of that.

On the creative side, I'm easing myself back into knitting with this rainbow doll pattern (a free pattern from Jean Greenhowe - not the eggs - keep scrolling down to the bottom - but check out those mini knitted cakes and sandwiches too!) which reminds me of some beautiful knitted dolls my mum made for us years ago. I'm not so keen on the super bright colours, but am experimenting with leftover scraps from the knitting I did for Thomas last year.

newborn wrap top

It's the baby shower today, and I got inspired to make a top to match the little booties.

I worked out the pattern from an old top of Thomas' with some modifications, and making it much smaller. The wraps are secured with a press stud on the outside and a button and elastic loop on the inside. I'm pleased with the result and that I used only stuff we already had, some organic cotton I'd bought ages ago, and I made some bias binding from a Japanese chirimen cloth - one of several I'd bought in Tokyo years ago and have been hoarding ever since.

The only downside is my dodgy sewing skills, so that up close the stitching on the slippery bias binding leaves a bit to be desired, especially on the back. Anyway, it definitely has that handmade touch!



Here it is all wrapped up and ready to go.

Bitty booties

These are the bitty booties from Heather Bailey's pattern. They are very quick and straightforward and very tiny! At least the 0-3 month size is.



They aren't lined, so are made with just two pieces each, plus embellishments. It is hard to believe that little feet will really fit into these, but I always forget how tiny newborns are.

I think when I make these again, I might try lining them, and perhaps think about some kind of elastic closure to make sure they stay on.

Still, a good exercise for getting back into making things and turning the sewing machine back on.

Mr Sandman

Just a quick post to thank everyone for your lovely comments, so nice to have all that support out there from you wonderful creative women. I am still under the weather, but I have a good friend who is having a baby very soon, so I am feeling the need to make something quick and fun - Heather Bailey's bitty booties look like they might fit the bill, I'll let you know how I get on.





We finally got around to getting a little sandpit for the backyard for Thomas, just one of those clamshell types. At the moment our sandplay is not very sophisticated, just filling a bucket or flowerpot with the shovel, but it still provides lots of amusement.

Thanks again for all your kind words and thoughts.

Still alive

Sorry to have disappeared for a whole month, I have been here, but a bit unwell for a while, so I've been too tired to do much other than working and looking after Thomas. I've really been missing all my favourite blogs - I haven't forgotten you and will be back soon.

Thomas, on the other hand is bursting with energy, and learning words at a great rate. He has also become very affectionate in the last few weeks and has been showering me with very sweet kisses and cuddles.



We had a nice trip to our friends' farm yesterday afternoon, and Thomas had an up close encounter with cows.



It was great to have a change of scene, and some lovely fresh air - it is a beautiful property near Braidwood. Here is Thomas again in that cable knit I'm still squeezing him into this year.



It was great catching up with friends and sitting around the fire until it was time to take Thomas home again.



We also had a lovely visit from my parents last week. Thomas adores them, and my mum is happy to sing 'bananas in pyjamas' and 'twinkle twinkle' as many times as Thomas can say "More peese." It was so wonderful to have them here, and we miss them already.

Well that's it from me - sadly nothing creative at all to report, but I am getting interested in knitting again, must be the chill in the air.

Hopefully I'll be back again before the end of the month!

Thank you!

Just a quick post to say a big thank you to everyone for your lovely comments on my jewellery experiments. They are really at an early stage, but your feedback has given me the confidence to keep going with it all. I would love to do some more enamelling one day (I put a couple of my pieces in my first blog post here), but at the moment with a toddler, hot kilns and leaded enamels seem like asking for trouble, so for now shrink plastic seems a fun and safe material to try.

But the biggest thank you goes to the wonderfully talented Leah for the beautiful hand knitted washcloth and handmade soap which arrived at my place yesterday. The washcloth is so beautiful and intricate, it would have taken me months to knit. I'm not sure I can bring myself to use it as a washcloth, I think I will just admire it for a bit longer first!

Back soon.

Experiments with shrinky dinks

I have been experimenting with shrink plastic for a while, using the plastic which you can ink-jet print on, and also screen printing with gocco screens on the plain plastic and colouring in with prisma colour pencils. The pendant on the bottom left has a polymer clay frame which worked ok, but still looks a bit chunky.



My latest experiment is screenprinting on the underside of clear shrink plastic, so that the design shows through the base. I quite like this effect, like looking through glass. It seems a bit less 'plasticky'. One day I hope I might get myself organised to make some jewellery in quantities I can sell at the markets, but things have been a bit too busy here lately. I'd be very keen to get any honest feedback anyway! The next step is to get working on some screen designs.



We went to the Canberra show with Thomas last weekend, but the only photos I managed to get were of some lovely dahlias in the flower exhibition.



Poor Thomas is recovering from an ear infection which I thought was just grumpiness for a few days. He is still a bit grumpy but getting back to normal now he's on anti-biotics.



And my last exciting news is I discovered that I'd won Leah's bloggiversary competition and will be the very proud and lucky owner of one of her beautiful knitted washcloths. I'm so thrilled - I love this blogging world.

Favourite things

I was browsing in Flickr when I came across some amazing themed mosaics (here).

I was so delighted that I had to have a try putting together my own simpler collages of favourite Flickr photos using mosaic maker. I think they'll be a great source of inspiration for other creative projects.



1. Vintage Kimono Fabric, 2. vintage kimono fabrics, 3. kimono fabric, 4. Japanese Antique Pattern Fabric, 5. kimono fabric, 6. vintage kimono fabric, 7. TIRIMEN Fabric, 8. fan kimono embroidery, 9. Japanese AIZOME Fabric, 10. Embroidered iris on a silk kimono, 11. kc_blackorange1, 12. kimono5, 13. Old kimono's strings, 14. Kimono pattern 1., 15. New Fabrics Arrived Today!, 16. kimono fabric



1. Frost patterns #3, 2. Frost pattern, 3. Frost on the window of my grandparents house, 4. window frost pattern, 5. Frost patterns on the car, 6. Frost patterns, 7. frost patterns, 8. window frost, 9. frost pattern in blue, 10. Frost patterns on our kitchen window., 11. Frost Patterns, 12. frost pattern, 13. Frost Patterns, 14. January afternoon frost pattern, 15. Frost on the Windshield, 16. frost pattern day


1. Opium poppy, 2. 05.06.2004 #2, 3. Opium poppy, 4. Opium, 5. Opium Poppy, 6. Addicted to Beauty of Opium Poppy, 7. Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum), 8. Opium Poppy, 9. poppy_2, 10. The Opium Poppy -, 11. 2004 Opium Poppy Square Crop 004, 12. poppy_3, 13. Red-opium-flower-bud, 14. Papaver Somniferum (opium poppy), 15. Opium poppy, 16. Poppy


There are a few more mosaics on my flickr page

Otherwise, we have been having a busy time. Thomas has become very interested in animals, and loves to tell us what sounds animals make. Sheep say Ba, Ducks say ah ah ah, and Cows say Boo! We took him to the Australia day concert in Commonwealth park, and he was mildly amused by the Bananas in Pyjamas, but was very fascinated by some animals they had there for the kids to pat. I guess it is an amazing thing to be seeing for the first time animals you've only read about in books - and to realise that sheep really do say Ba!





This weekend we continued the animal theme and went to the zoo, which was fun but very hot, and I gave up taking photos as most of the animals were too far away. Except for the scary emus of course.

Well that's it from me for now - off to read my favourite blogs while Thomas is napping.