Spring Tee

The Yarn Along has me in its grip. I awoke was awoken early this morning, and had a busy day ahead, but most of the morning's energies were directed towards getting this little top off the needles, the ends woven in, buttons added, and the washing and blocking done, all so I could meet the Wednesday deadline.

It happened, miracle of miracles. A second version, slightly adapted, of this other little tee. I cast on fewer stitches to make the neckline less gapey, and played around with the increases because I felt the other one was a bit puffy on the yoke. The yarn is Jo Sharp 8ply wool. My Pearl thought it was itchy today, but that's because I made her wear it with nothing under it for the photos. It will no doubt spend most of its time over a long-sleeve top because, as much as I want to declare winter over after this run of glorious sunny days, I suspect it would be a bit foolish of me.

I'm still working my way through The White Tiger and, despite my incremental progress, it has become a book I want to retire early for each night. A good thing, given the early starts these days.

Ravelry notes here.

Beautiful wooden buttons from here.

Yarn Along here.

And the pattern for this t-shirt coming soon.

Rhubarb

Rhubarb and I are having a bit of a renaissance. There was a time when I ate it, stewed, on anything - porridge, Weet-Bix, yoghurt, ice-cream. If I walk into a patisserie and there's a rhubarb tart or pastry, that's what I'll choose. A bunch fell into my basket a couple of weeks ago, so I brought it home and stewed it up, then served it to my girls with the vaguest hint of scepticism that they'd eat it. Surprise, surprise, Lola finished her bowl and asked for more, as did Stella. Pearl, my eat-anything girl, she wasn't much up for it.

Today I whipped up another batch. It doesn't take much effort. Remove the leaves (they're toxic - don't eat them) and wash the stalks, then chop roughly. Place in a saucepan with a scant teaspoon of sugar and a splash of water. Cover with a lid, then cook over a gentle heat for about 5 minutes, until the rhubarb has broken down and is nice and sloppy. Cool. Eat.

It's tart and earthy and, not being overly sugary itself, goes perfectly with sweet things. Today I ate it with some of this. Tonight I'll probably have a bit more with ice-cream. And I'll be keeping my eye out for a friendly neighbour who was sensible enough to plant rhubarb crowns last winter and has some excess harvest to get rid of. Me! Me!

Sunday Lovelies

A sampling of lovely from a busy week:

1) Purple dinosaur trumps green

2) Spinning twins

3) Organic garlic = Sunday roast

4) The relentless kitchenhand

5) Our early riser, mid-afternoon

6) Spring, spring, spring.

Hoping for a restful, productive week x

this moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

Via Soulemama.

Sew Vintage

The vintage sewing pattern collection is growing. And the first little dress made has been well-worn and well-loved. Here is number two - Style pattern 3821, size 2, copyright 1972. Otherwise known as a little red dress, as requested by my littlest girl.

The instructions were a little light on detail, but that's OK - I find it easier to wing it with these older patterns. Something about something written recently makes me stand up and follow orders. But 1972, with all its talk of basting and seam binding and double-fold trims. Meh! Just sew already.

I love the shirred cuffs and gathered skirt, and though the buttonholes and collar were a bit of a fumble, I quite like those too. And it has to be said, my very special new machine has made the inside of the dress so professional and tidy, not to mention how easy it makes turning and sewing the hems.

I'm joining in with Creative Spaces for the first time in a long time.

High

A bunch of knitted hats, stacked high for the photo.

About as high as the stress levels here today, despite our efforts to get out and enjoy the sunshine.

Not nearly as high as the high-pitched screams every few minutes from any/all of my girls fighting over this or that or nothing really at all.

Substantially higher than the amount of hours sleep I'm getting each night lately.

Far, far, far higher than my patience levels as a result of said sleep deprivation and said relentless bickering.

Overwhelmingly higher than the number of pages I'm managing to read each evening of White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.

And roughly as high as the glass of wine I'm about to pour myself right now.

Summoning one last burst of energy for the Yarn Along before collapsing for the night.

A Little Sewing

My new overlocker has been thrown into action. It calls to me when I walk past its room. "Turn on ABC Kids and come to me," it beckons. I try to resist. It's hard. 

Together we've created another of those sweet, and easy, little dresses, and a pair of pocket pants from this beautiful book. There'll be more of these in our near future. It would seem pockets are quite popular with at least one little girl in the house. 

The cuff and binding on the pants were the last scraps of a pillowcase I loved, so how fortuitous to come across a big double sheet in a similar print. The red chambray was a lucky op shop find as well.

I've since been busy with some of my growing collection of vintage patterns. Hopefully there'll be something to show for my work later in the week.

In the Garden: Tomatoes

So many of the delights of parenthood come from watching your little ones master new skills. Rolling over, sitting up, those first beautiful, tentative steps. As much as you may want to hang onto that squishy little possum they handed you on day one, seeing them mould and shape into real live humans with real live human superpowers, well, that's the stuff of life, yes?

Except when the newly acquired skill is the ability to hoist and shimmy out of one's cot, accompanied by growing - a) tall enough to reach the door handle or b) smart enough to find a piece of furniture to stand on to reach the door handle.

And all of a sudden, what was once a family who slept in till a reasonable hour, usually 7:30, often later, is now a family rising, en masse, when there's a 6 on the clock. And we are a grumpy bunch. 

So what to do with revolting children, and a revolting mother, when the afternoon slump hits with full force? Gardening. We tried this little trick a couple of years ago, and while our seedlings were a great success, we were a bit lax on the follow-through and none of them made it into the garden. This year will be different.

To make the seedling pots, take a square of newspaper a bit wider than a plastic cup and roll it over the cup, tucking it up against the base firmly. Tie with a piece of string or kitchen twine (or cheat like I did last time and use sticky tape). Remove the plastic cup and repeat until you have as many as you need. Nestle them all together in a tray or box, then half fill with seed raising mix. Sprinkle in a seed or two (or 17), top up with a bit more soil, then water well.

If all goes to plan, once the seedlings are established, you can pop them, newspaper pot and all, straight into the garden. I'll keep you posted on our progress. We chose cherry tomato seeds because I have it on good authority that there isn't enough sun in an average summer around these parts for the bigger varieties. We planted some basil seeds as well. I'm dreaming of summer pesto. Tomato salad. Homemade mozzarella. Some sleep. And the sometimes delightful, almost always well-rested children who used to live here.

To the Bloke They Call 'Dadda'

Happy Father's Day, old man. You know it's love xx

Photo A Day August

After the fun I had in July, I decided to join in with Fat Mum Slim's Photo A Day challenge again for August, over on Catch Photography's Facebook group. I missed a few this time, but here are some nifty collage thingos (via Picmonkey) of the ones I managed.

1. outside

2. one

3. coin  5. logo

6. writing  7. 8 o'clock

 8. glasses

9. messy  10. ring

11. purple  12. spoon

 13. simple

14. arrow  15. ready

16. food

 17. faces

18. inside  19. hole

21. cool  22. home

23. pair

24. path  25. fresh

26. dream

27. tap

29. down  30. card

31. hidden