Sunday

Yesterday was a good day. Buttermilk pancakes for breakfast then a trip to the local nursery for some potting mix followed by a spot of gardening. 

Fish and chips down by the bay and some serious playing.

 A spot of tree-climbing.

 A few lazy rows knitted in the sunshine.

And finally, a relaxing afternoon at home and roast chicken with fennel and garlic for dinner. Yum!

Pink and Purple

Another knitting catch-up. 

Long, long ago, before I had my babies, and soon after I had taken up knitting as an adult, I knitted my very first real garment (that is, not a scarf). It was from this book by Debbie Bliss, which I blame for the knitting bug that bit me all those years ago - so many sweet little baby things and such beautiful yarn to match. It was the jacket with moss-stitch bands and I made it in the suggested Baby Cashmerino in a gorgeous rich grape colour. And on completion, it went into a box for a future baby of mine.

It was worn and hand-washed and worn many times by my little Lola, but she grew so quickly and was soon too big for it. So away it went again in case there were any more girls in our future. Then two new girls arrived, so out it came. But it needed a partner. A few more balls of Baby Cashmerino in a warm dusty pink, and there was the matching pair.

While Lola outgrew her jacket at only a few months old, these two are still going strong at six months plus. Then again, she was 2.5 kilos heavier at this age. The Baby Cashmerino is luxurious and drapey and feels so soft. A normal stocking stitch is beautifully defined and looks like something much fancier. Alas, even with careful hand-washing, it pills and looks worn quite quickly. (You can see it in the picture above).

And out of the archives, here's Miss Lola in the original at about 7 weeks old. Tres cranky!

Puree Day

The food thing seems to have come around so quickly this time. When Lola was this age, I remember feeling like I'd been breastfeeding forever and was beginning to feel a bit desperate to get my body and my boobs back. This time, though, I've only really started to settle into an easy rhythm with the twin feeding in the last couple of months. We started with some solids a few weeks ago, hoping it might encourage our Stella to sleep better. She certainly enjoys the food, and while there has been some improvement, it hasn't been the panacea we were hoping for.

Nonetheless, the Magimix has been getting a workout in recent weeks. Yesterday I endeavoured to fill the freezer with lots of pureed goodness - apples and pears, sweet potato, pumpkin, broccoli (my objective is to get as much of it into them before they learn to say no!), spinach and carrots.

The fun and games have begun. The little baby phase is over. Messy days ahead!

I think it's love...

Lola

My new camera arrived by courier yesterday. And I think it's love. It's been a long-held dream to get my hands on something a bit more serious than a point-and-shoot and learn how to take good photos. I know next to nothing about how to do that, but now at least I have the tool to begin discovering. It's a Canon EOS 500D and I got a EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens to go with it - sounds pretty hi-tech and I'm not sure what all those numbers and letters mean, but a few shots of the girls with the camera set to auto and already I can't believe the quality compared to my old snaps.

Stella

Pearl

Blue T

Aside from kid chaos, there's been a lot of knitting going on around here. Way back when this all began, I knitted a tiny red T-shirt for a hoped-for new baby. When I found out there'd be two, I thought it best to get to work on another T-shirt. Not knowing if these babies would be blue or pink, or one of each, perhaps, I had to stick to unisex colours (which, let's face it, always end up looking boyish). So here's the tiny matching blue T.

In the end, they weren't very well-used garments. They were so tiny the girls outgrew them quickly. The ribbon is totally impractical for a newborn. And I found myself wanting to dress these new baby girls in pretty pinks and purples! So they were only worn a couple of times.

Nonetheless, Pearl and Stella managed to stay awake long enough to model them for the camera one afternoon back in March.

Six Months

A battle-weary mum of twins told me recently that you just have to give up your life for the first six months of their life if you're going to survive it. Or similar words. My girls are six months old today - and I can safely say it's been the hardest six months of my 35 years. I was sure this wouldn't be as hard as everyone said, and maybe it hasn't been. And all in all, I think I've handled it pretty well. But it has been bloody hard! And we've had some mighty big extra stuff to deal with along the way - moving house, as well as one baby having, shall we say, "issues" in the area of sleep.

I reckon 50% of the challenge is just the second baby thing - that is, managing the needs of a newborn with those of a toddler. The other 50% is the fact that this newborn turned out to be two.

But we've reached the six month milestone now and I'm ready for things to turn a corner - sleep-wise, energy-wise, productivity-wise, creativity-wise. And thus the return to this blog.

It's been hard, but incredible too! They are amazing little people and I'm so proud to have them in my life.

Excuse...

This is my excuse for the false start, the almost full year between posts - two new babies. I'll be back soon...

Winter Soup #1

I came across a second-hand copy of Mollie Katzen's The Enchanted Broccoli Forest at lovely Berkelouw Books in Leichhardt the other day, and was inspired by the soup chapter to start a little weekly soup project. I kicked it off with the first soup in the book - a plain vegetable soup that was surprisingly good for such a simple, stock-less recipe.

I've adapted it slightly - you could probably throw in anything, to be honest. It was a lovely Sunday-afternoon-in-winter exercise - a walk to the local vegie shop for the ingredients, back for a session of chopping, slicing and dicing, then to the couch with some knitting while the soup simmered away on the stovetop.

Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Soup

Combine in a big pot 1 diced potato, 2 diced onions, half a chopped cabbage, 200g sliced mushrooms, 1 stalk of celery finely diced, 1 carrot diced, enough water to cover, 2 teaspoons of salt and 2 bay leaves. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

Core three tomatoes and drop them into the simmering soup until their skins loosen. Fish them out, peel, remove seeds and chop flesh. Return to soup with 1.5 cups of tomato juice. Simmer for another 20 minutes.

Add 6 cloves garlic, chopped, 5 shallots (scallions) sliced, and a medium zucchini, diced. Simmer for 10 more minutes. Season to taste. 

Serve topped with fresh chopped herbs (whatever you like) and some grated parmesan cheese, with good sourdough buttered toast on the side.

Note: I threw some leftovers in the blender a few days later and it was delicious as a pureed soup too.

Red T

This will no doubt be the first of many knitting posts as I've been knitting like a crazy woman this winter, inspired by new babies, cold weather and the words of other bloggers who find ways of knitting a row here and a row there in an otherwise busy day. This particular pattern is from Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Cherished Babies , which I was pleased to find at my local library one day recently.  It's the Ribbon-Tied Wool Vest and I used Cleckheaton Merino Bambino 4ply in this beautiful rich red, as you can see in the photo above. It's a tiny little T-shirt and a little bit vintage, which is very appealing to me at the moment. I didn't knit it for anyone in particular so I'll put it away for a rainy day and see what happens.

I have a little project in the kitchen planned to see out the rest of this grey, wet winter. More on that soon...

Two

The very recent birthday of the now two-year-old deserves a mention. Little Soss and her ladybird cake, surrounded by friends and family on a weekend full of parties and presents. I was determined to make it a plastic-free birthday, after two years of watching her play space fill with mass-produced toys that make loud noises and break easily. I was successful to a point - buying books and crayons and other art supplies to try and encourage the budding creative within. But wouldn't you know, at an earlier party with her other two-year-old cohorts, we drew presents out of a hat, and she ended up with a big plastic contraption with a zillion little pieces of plastic to accompany it - a cash register with plastic money, a plastic credit card, and a plastic shopping basket full of plastic fruit and groceries. And she LOVES it...which is the only reason I've resisted packing it up in a bag and dropping  it in the Vinnie's bin.

I've found a bunch of patterns for knitted fruit and vegies, and when I get around to making them, I'll dispose of the plastic stuff. Wood and wool are the objectives. In amidst this, the natural and handmade are becoming important to me.

Happy Two, my little one xx