my little distraction...

i can't beleive it has been almost 3 months since my last post. i have been a little distracted though by moving house 1 week before the arrival of our beautiful little girl...poppy mae...born 26th june. she is trully a wonderful distraction.



the adjustment to motherhood has been somewhat daunting & we're learning every day...which has left little time for anything else.



we have started up the vegie garden & orchard at the new place & i'll post some progress pics soon. the chooks have been relocated to their half complete house & the worm farm is in full swing. we've currently planted an orange, lemon, lime, 2 x apples & 2 x macadamias...we're still planning on squeezing in an avocado, 2 x pears, olive, banana & a passionfruit vine...which we have 3 large rainwater tanks collecting water from the shed, a total of 27000 litres of water which will hopefully be able to drip irrigate all of them with no need for scheme water.

i just can't wait to be out their picking all our own food with my beautiful little poppy.

i've done lots...

so its been a while but that just means i've actually been completing the 'i'm a gonna' tasks that i'm always rabbiting on about.

i've been knitting feverishly, actually got to the point where i had developed rsi but the result is about 8 lovely little sweaters...

i've also been doing the odd bit of sewing, like the cute little flares above (bit big for a newborn, so they'll have to wait) & lots of nappy covers.

there are lots of patterns for nappies & nappy covers on the net. i took a nappy pattern & reversed it to make these trendy little covers (nappies normally have an absorbent fabric on the inside & then a waterproof layer on the outside). mine have pul inside (the new waterproof but breathable fabric, better than the plastic that pilchers of the past used to be made of). i also had to tweak the pattern to make it a little roomier to fit over a traditional terry square nappy but in saying that, nappies would have to be the easiest thing i have ever sewed.

so my non disposable nappy stash now consists of a whole bunch of organic terry cotton squares, which these covers will go over. some hemp & bamboo fitted nappies from baby beehinds (online nappy store). my covers will also have to go over these as they don't have a waterproof layer. plus a bunch of all in ones from peapod. these have a soft absorbent layer on the inside with the pul on the outside, they also have a pocket right down gusset so that you can add in any extra absorbent layer. i'm now experimenting by making my own of these & again, they're really easy.

then i actually finished my little frog...

i broke the number one knitting rule though & started knitting with leftover wool, ran out half way & then the store where i originally got it from decided to sell out. i had to wait forever for them to get some more in & was finally able to finish this up. a very tedious knitting project but very worth it in the end.

then there's been just a little nesting...not long now!

a bit of frogginess...

anyone who knows me, knows that my most favourite animal in the world is the frog & when i stumbled across this free pattern for the cutest knitted frog ever...i almost fell off my chair.

i was trying to slow down on my knitting projects, after making 6 cardigans & a rug already but the sight of this cutey has me itching to cast on straight away...it looks a bit more complicated than my current skill level but i think i'm willing to put in the hard yards for this one.

for those interested i found it on www.livingcreatively.com.au & there are plenty more handcrafted projects here.

seeing the light...

...we're only weeks away from completing our house now & i can finally see the light. watching peter cundall on 60min last night just made me realise how much i have been missing growing my own produce & so i can't wait to get stuck into creating the edible food garden at our new place.

all hasn't been lost where we are renting, with the chooks all set up in their run that incorporates a couple of citrus trees, there are now baby lemons appearing everywhere & the soil actually has worms in it. a little bit late for us to do anything with but it does show that it is possible to get life into dead sand.

with the economic crisis a lot of people are re-evaluating how they live their lives & looking to the past for inspiration to save a few dollars. its all over the media & being highly promoted at the moment & i love it. spend less, make more, grow more...i love it! for those that don't know where to start you have to check these fewblogs that i frequent a little too regularly http://simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com/ , http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/ and http://www.towards-sustainability.com/

hope they inspire you to make something or grow something or even cut back on the 'crap'.

some more inspiration...

i picked up this book last week that is filled with contributions by many of the bloggers i follow...lots of crafty inspiration & gorgeous use of vintage or reclaimed fabrics...definitely my kind of thing. i highly recommend it.

so it got me inspired to get onto the sewing machine again & make the little booties pattern that features in the book. they're made with organic terry as the lining...ultra soft. then i couldn't resist making some matching bibs.

what you been up to lately?

a little bit of this:

making some bibs, got the fantastic little template from http://www.chickpeastudio.typepad.com/ i have heaps more cut out & ready to sew, i figure you can't have too many. these ones were made from an old dressing gown & yes they are pink (the dressing gown wasn't mine) but the others are being made from hemp towelling.

and a little bit of that:

another little knitted creation made form bamboo & cotton yarn...soooo soft. i'll be interested to see how the neckline sits on an actual baby & not my monkey toy.

and a few more of these:

a fabric bucket with handles for all those knitting projects that keep sprawling across the couch & a couple of square & rectanglar buckets for the baby change table. i've previously posted on these & you can find the link to the buckets tutorial on the previous post.

so whats next...i have a recipe tucked away somewhere for some baby wipe solution that i'm going to make. plus i have another cardigan on the needles & about 30 more wipes to overlock....busy, busy!! plus i'm on the hunt for some more fabric for other little projects that keep popping into my head when i'm wrestling all night hunting for a comfortable sleeping position.

nursery colour scheme...

i don't have a nursery to set up yet until our house is finished, so i've been torchering myself looking at images of other peoples nurseries. i decided to compile the colours & patterns together of all the stuff that i've been working on to shed a bit of light on the colour scheme i've adopted & this is what i came up with.

it looks very bright & bold, none of that boring pastel stuff...i can't wait to actually put it all together!!