floating world

australia day + a quilt

It's Australia Day here, a public holiday I have mixed feelings about. It's always nice to have a day off work. And I can see the benefit in taking time to reflect on and celebrate the country's strengths and acheivements. But the choice of date alienates a fair chunk of the population. And I wish the shops hadn't realised that Australia Day usefully fills the tiny gap between Christmas and Valentines Day, because now they use it to flog poorly made tat with the Australian flag on it, and put other things in "limited edition" Australia Day packaging. Flag desecration is usually controversial, but right now you can buy special limited edition Australia Day nappies so the nation's babies can pee on it. Surely I'm not the only person to find this odd?

Anyway, I'm making the most of the holiday to spent time with the family, listen to the radio, make lamingtons with the boy child and work on a quilt for my new nephew, who is far off in the USA. I hope you're all having a lovely day too, wherever you are.

lazy days

We're coming to the end of the summer holidays. They have gone so fast. We've had lots of playdates, trips to the beach and the zoo and the museum, some cooking & crafting and hanging out at home. And just as we've got in to a routine, they're coming to an end. But I think we're ready for the start of term and some new adventures. I'm excited about having a little bit of regular child-free time, for the first time since Milla was born. Maybe I'll finally get to tackle some of the to-do list.

pyjamas

Why have things been quiet around here?

a) I'm still obsessed with The Killing, and because it's subtitled I can't play on the computer at the same time.
b) When not watching The Killing I'm trying to finish 1Q84, which I'm finding really gripping.
c) The laptop suffered an unfortunate encounter with a cup of coffee and is now sitting in a bag of rice
d) All of the above.

The answer is, of course, D.

If anyone has happy stories about MacBooks that had liquid spilled in them & lived to tell the tale, please share them.

Despite all the above I have done a tiny bit of sewing - some pyjamas from the Oliver + S bedtime story pattern for Ali. I bought the fabric from Spotlight before Christmas - it's a Japanese cotton / linen blend, and I have the pink/yellow/purple colorfast in the same prints. I shortened the arms and legs for summer, but apart from that followed the pattern for a size 5. It came together without any trouble, and the front of the top sits nice and snugly - I wondered if the overlapping bits might flap around but they don't.

I want to make a matching pair for Milla (terrible, I know) but I only have this pattern in 3-6, so I'm going to use the Habitual kimono pattern for the top & improvise some shorts or bloomers. But that will have to wait until the laptop dries out because that's where my copy of the kimono pattern is saved.

recharge, renew (and ramblings about movies and books and food)

We stayed at the beach from Boxing Day to New Years Day, and it was so good to have time to relax together*. I didn't knit, sew or play on the computer. Instead we got up early to paddle in the rockpool, swam in the ocean, saw some movies, watched The Killing on DVD**, I read books and lounged in the hammock. It felt good to have time with family and to think about the past year and plan for the new one. Now we're home, M is back to work and today is the first day of a month of Ali, Milla & I hanging out together before the term starts. Ali has helped me make a big "things to do" list,  a mixture of making things at home, visiting museums & galleries, playdates and activities outdoors (if you are in Sydney this site and this one have lots of good ideas). I think it will be fun. I'm very aware that this is the last year before my baby starts school, so I want to make the most of the time together, and the days seems to go so much smoother for all of us when we have some kind of activity out of the house planned.

*Relaxing actually began on Day 2 of the holiday, after we purchased baby gates. Day 1 was spent chasing Milla up and down stairs.

** The children did not watch The Killing on DVD. Obviously. Or go to the movies.

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The movies I saw were:

Melancholia - thought provoking, beautiful to look at, but profoundly depressing. And it frustrated me that Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Claire (Charlotte Gainsborough) had such wildly different accents even though they were supposed to be sisters. Although perhaps I am petty to be concerned by such things in the face of a rogue planet heading towards the earth.

Midnight in Paris - pure escapism, and wonderful to look at. I loved it, and it's made me want to read "A Moveable Feast" again, since so many of the characters from it were featured. The costumes in the 1920s scenes were beautiful to look at, but I couldn't work out why Inez kept wearing horribly unflattering shirt dresses in the contemporary scenes. But perhaps this was meant to contribute to her unsympathetic demeanour.

And I read:

Design*Sponge at Home - a birthday present from my mother-in-law, this is lovely to flick through. Just like a print version of the site, really.

Homer & Langley - my brother gave me this for my birthday and it is great, although again hardly a feel-good novel. It is so beautifully written though, and its brevity stops the subject matter from being overwhelming. Definitely one to read again.

Seam magazine - another present from my brother, this is the start-up issue. Lots of good stuff inside, and beautifully photographed.

Monocle magazine - my brother, who is obviously the source of all good reading material, gave this to my dad for Christmas and I borrowed it. It is interesting & beautiful to look at & full of inspiration. I am tempted to buy myself a copy of the same issue just to keep for reference. Or subscribe, but it's quite expensive.

1Q84 - I was forced to buy this for myself when I ordered some Christmas presents from Amazon UK and needed an extra item to qualify for free postage. So far it is fantastic. I know Murakami isn't everyone's cup of tea (a friend complained that he read The Wind Up Bird Chronicle when home with the flu, assumed that the strangeness was due to his high fever, and was shocked when he re-read it sans fever and found it equally hallucinogenic) but I love his style and am really enjoying this one.

Homemade and Food Safari - I don't spend much time looking through cookbooks these days, which is a shame because trying new recipes makes the grocery shopping and cooking much less of a chore. I found Homemade at the library, and it has lots of tasty and not-too-fiddly recipes. Last night we made lamb burgers with blue cheese from it, which werea nice change to the regular homemade beefburgers I make. Food Safari is based on the TV show and each chapters features a different national or regional cuisine, including lots that I enjoy in restaurants but have never tried cooking at home. This year I want to get out of my cooking rut; we eat way too much pasta. A few years ago I got in the habit of menu planning at the start of each week, pulling out a cookbook, picking 5 things and then putting the ingredients down on the shopping list. Since Milla's been eating solids I've been doing much more basic cooking, to try and make one dinner that we can all eat (hence the pasta) but I'm lucky to have children who are fairly adventurous eaters and it isn't the end of the world if I have to make a separate meal for Mark and I a couple of times a week. If anyone has suggestions for good weeknight cookbooks please let me know.

And up next on the bookshelf, for when I finish 1Q84, are The Marriage Plot and Autumn Laing, which I'm looking forward to. And I'm really really tempted to order the Colette Sewing Book and A Moveable Feast, but will wait until I've sewn from some of my unused patterns and finished the books I have on the go now.

goodbye 2011

Goodbye 2011. You were good fun. Thank you for introducing me to Amsterdam, and for turning Milla from a squarky newborn to a hilarious bundle of mischief. And Ali from a quiet almost-toddler to a lanky, noisy almost-schoolboy.

I always do this thing at the end of December when I think "I hardly made anything this year" and then I look through flickr and realise that actually I did. I'm excited about having some more time in 2012 for creating and other adventures.

2012 is already off to a good start, with a swim in the ocean and time pottering at the beach with the family. Wishing you all, wherever you are, a very happy start to the new year.

felt ball wreath

I finally finished the felt ball wreath. I love it, although I might change the bow. Ali's campaigning for gold, and I think he's right. I am very happy that I made this, even though it drove me crazy at times. I used balls from an eBay seller, and the Pickles tutorial, and a foam wreath from Spotlight wrapped in strips of burlap-type fabric. I used thread to attach the balls, as per the tutorial, but then everyone who saw me work on it said, in bafflement, "Why aren't you using a hot glue gun?" The answer is that I haven't got a hot glue gun and I'd never used one, but it would have been a good investment. Although I do like the slight wonkiness that the threading gives it - the ones made using glue guns (like this and this) are lovely but much more regular. I think I'll use a glue gun to secure some of the balls before I put it away after Christmas, which will hopefully keep it looking beautiful for next year.

(Oh - and if you like the look of a felt ball wreath but are not insane enough to glue 150 felt balls on yourself, you can buy a very nice one from here, for only slightly more than the cost of the felt balls. I didn't see this until after I had made my own, obviously).

my new baby

There are pros and cons to a birthday that's close to Christmas. But one of the advantages is being able to claim an extra generous gift as a "Joint Christmas and Birthday Present", which is how I came to unwrap an overlocker on Sunday morning. I've been coveting one for years, and the clincher was using Kirsten's in Lancefield - so fast, and such a nice finish. It came with white thread, and I haven't attempted changing yet, so all sewing for the next little while will be in pale colours. I have already finished two t-shirts, which I will photograph if it ever stops raining, and am a total convert. I know lots of people manage to sew knits successfully on a conventional machine, but I am not one of them, and I wear t-shirts and thin woollen knits almost every day so I am very happy to finally be able to make my own.

christmas books

The tub of Christmas books has been out for a few weeks.

My favourites are the Dick Bruna Christmas Book and Another Night Before Christmas with Rob Ryan illustrations.

Ali's favourite is The Grinch and the Dear Santa book with the letters and postcards inside.

Milla likes this one because it plays Jingle Bells (over and over again), and My First Christmas because it has textured glittery stars and a pop up nativity at the end.

We've been watching a few Christmas movies and shows too. I got The Grinch DVD but it wasn't very good - much less charming than the book. Just more evidence for my theory that there are no good movies with Jim Carey in them. The Mr. Bean Christmas special has been a big hit though. And I loved watching Love Actually when it was on TV this week - it's a bit cheesy, but that's okay at this time of year.

christmas is coming

Christmas is creeping up quickly, and I'm feeling surprisingly relaxed and well organised*. Ali and I collaborated on the cards this year - I printed the trees with the gocco, and then he decorated them with glitter glue and stickers.

Quick, easy and fun. And now in the post.

The wreath is on the door - the one I made two years ago is still looking pretty good (tutorial here).

The tree is up, and it smells amazing. I was worried that Milla would knock it over but she has been really good - she takes off the decorations she can reach and moves them around, but the bottom of the tree has all the felt and fabric ones so that is fine. It looks so pretty with all the lights on, and we've been playing carols so it all feels very festive.

And we spent a rainy afternoon this weekend decorating gingerbread houses with friends. I did the same thing last year, but this year Ali stayed to help which he absolutely loved.

Now I just need to finish a tiny bit of Christmas shopping, wrap presents and pick up a ham. And spend some time relaxing, catching up with friends and family, and enjoying these last few weeks of the year.

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* I think this is because I have decided to cut myself some slack this year - no homemade presents, apart from some jam, and deliberately not planning to do too much. Instead I'm trying to buy handmade things or support small local businesses with the Christmas shopping. Much less stressful.

weekend sewing

Here's what I made last weekend:

A dress for Milla from a Clothkit (I know I just said she doesn't need any more dresses, but I made it big so it will fit next winter)

A Tova top for me, in a Japanese cotton from Tessuti.

(I loved the Tova pattern, and already have plans for a dress version)

...and another Wiksten pattern, the Tulip skirt, in a cotton/linen blend from Spotlight:

I also made a muslin for the Lisette Passport dress - the first time I've ever made a muslin for anything. I'm not game to show it here, because the fabric was truly horrendous, but I'm really glad I made it because I'll need to adjust the waist fit a little, and it also made me realise that the fabric I planned to make it in won't really work - my favourite part of the pattern is the waist pleat, and in a busy pattern it's hidden, so I'll use that fabric (a pretty floral from Tessuti) for a different dress and choose something plainer for the Passport.

And the reason for this amazing burst of productivity? I was on Craft Camp in Lancefield, freed from the shackles of domestic responsibility for two days and able to sew and chat and eat to my heart's content. There was lots of making, but also time to sit, drink tea, look at books and magazines, and let ideas percolate. And to be inspired and learn from watching others create.

Thank you so much ladies, for a wonderful weekend.