Mad Men Musings...

Hold on to your hats, people - I have a big Thursday night planned! That's right, I'll be at my kitchen table, thinking cap firmly on the old scone, trying to figure out which one of these I can make out of 2 metres of fabric for Julia Bobbin's Mad Men Challenge.

I *really* want to make something out of the pink roses fabric in the background - it's so Betty, n'est-ce pas? - but if worst comes to worst then I'll just have to switch my allegiance to Joan and make a va-va-voom number out of 3 metres of red fabric that I have hiding in my stash instead.

Who else is Mad Men-ing? I'd better get my sew on - it's due by the end of the month. Yikes!

Monthly menu plan - March/April

Nom nom nom! I love it when the days begin and end with a cool crispness, but you get that lovely soft warmth in the middle. The last of the summer fruits are just begging to be stewed and baked into cakes, and the quinces are starting to shyly make themselves known to the porridge bowl. Plus there's Easter, and all the chocolate-related excuses it brings!

If anybody wants me, I'll be in ze kitchen!

Week One
Monday - Baked potatoes with red coleslaw, sour cream and cheese
Tuesday  - Spinach and ricotta cannelloni in a chunky lentil and vegetable sauce
Wednesday - Ham, cheese and pea frittata with salad
Thursday - Caprese soup with garlic bread
Friday - Vegie burgers with sweet potato wedges
Saturday - Out for dinner with friends. Yay!
Sunday - Homemade ravioli (made with Tyger, I'll let her pick a recipe on the day)

Week Two
Monday - Tomato, olive, mushroom and bocconcini gnocchi bake with salad
Tuesday  - Pumpkin curry with silverbeet and chickpeas on brown rice
Wednesday - Jamie's spicy pasties with garden salad
Thursday - Silverbeet and potato soup with savoury scones
Friday - Lentil cottage pies with buttery corn cobs
Saturday - Spaghetti and meatballs
Sunday - Roast chicken

Week Three
Monday - Creamy chicken and vegetable pasta (with leftover roasted chicken)
Tuesday  - Chickpea, silverbeet and roasted cauliflower wraps
Wednesday - Ratatouille on cheesy polenta
Thursday - Pea, asparagus and rice soup
Friday - Smoked salmon, almond and broccoli pilaf
Saturday - Homemade burgers
Sunday - Butter chicken with rice and vegetables

Week Four
Monday - Roasted vegetable lasagne
Tuesday  - Sweet potato and coriander falafels
Wednesday - Chicken and lentil soup
Thursday - Roast pumpkin and feta tarts with rocket salad
Friday - Salmon and broad bean pasta bake with salad
Saturday - Tofu burgers with coleslaw plus a tomato salad
Sunday - Homemade pizza

Week Five
Monday - Tortellini with pumpkin, sage and cream sauce plus salad
Tuesday  - Lamb and cashew biryani
Wednesday - Baked potatoes with all the trimmings
Thursday - Hearty lentil and vegetable soup with cheesy toasts
Friday - Tuna pies with potato topping, and salad

More mermaids!

When Tyger was younger one of her favourite books was called More Bears! The tale recounts the efforts of a poor author who is attempting to write a story, but is continually interrupted by a voice from just over the page demanding that the story contain "More bears!" So the author is obliged to quiet the maddening, demanding voice the only way he knows how - by adding more bears to a story that initially he was determined would have no bears at all. Poor old chap.

As you can imagine, Tyger LOVED this story. Especially since I would have do raspy bear-requesting voices plus an increasingly disgruntled author voice. She's pretty big on funny voices, which is quite a relief, as I am pretty big on doing them, and can see myself not growing out of that habit any time soon.

Anyway - to the point of this blog post. As I have measured and cut and stitched and sewn and stuffed this week, and watched a growing pile of softies form on our sad cracked vinyl couch, one little sentence has kept popping in to my head these last few days.

"MORE MERMAIDS!"

The darn school fete sure better appreciate these, that's all I can say!

Yellow stripes and black buttons

Tyger loved the other version of this dress that I made so much that I thought I'd best make her another one before she grew too tall for it. Why oh why can they not make children's dress patterns in a size larger than 8 year old? Big Four, I'm looking at squarely at you.

This version has sleeves, and I will say this: although I generally love this pattern, the sleeves were a pain in the behind to put in, and really don't warrant the effort involved. Bias binding and an elastic casing that doesn't even go all the way along the sleeve edge? What were they thinking?

Niggling sleeve issues aside, Tyger is very happy with this version, and I am happy that I have done some (trumpets please) STAAAASH BUUUUUSTING! I'm sure there is some law of fabric buying out there that states that if a sewist uses fabric from stash, they are then eligible to purchase more fabric to the power of 5 to replace said fabric. Use a metre? Congrats - now go get 5 metres to replace it. Lucky you!

What's that you say? There's no such law? There totally should be. I'm happy for it to be called Jorth's Law of Stash Vs Fabric Purchasing. There, look - it's all official now! Y'all can thank me later when you are quoting it to exasperated cohabiters who are concerned about the stash slowly but surely taking over the entire house.

Project DetailsPattern: New Look 6884, view B (minus the side ties), size 8
Fabric: 1.8m cotton quilting from stash
Notions: Iron-on interfacing, 6 buttons

Mermaid

It's that time of year again. The time that sends a shudder down any crafter's spine. That's right - it's time for the school fete. Yikes! And since softies always sell like hot cakes (much to the chagrin of the people of the cake stall), it was time to arm myself with some drafting paper, some felt and enough stuffing to fill an elephant. Or a mermaid, in this case.

Considering it took only 2 hours from idea on paper to actual mermaid toy, I'm pretty darn pleased with her. Yes, the arms could be lengthened, and she is a bit on the slim side but it could have been worse - I could have given her a beer belly. That's what usually happens with my softies!

I'm well pleased with her. In fact, I think it all went swimmingly. HAR! That's right, folks, I'll be here all week. Hold the rotten tomatoes, please!

Better than pancakes

Can you believe it? For once we didn't forget that it was Shrove Tuesday, and busted out the pancakes for breakfast. Yay us!

"Coughcough" interrupts Galumph.

Ok, ok. So we made waffles instead. Close enough, and totally within the celebratory Lenten boundaries. Seriously, no need to be picky!

"CoughcoughWHOmade'em?" interrupts Galumph (again).

Geez! Who are you, the blog honesty police? Alright already, so Galumph made the waffles. I didn't even think of doing them, as I was too busy doing my zombie walk into the shower. I am no good to anybody until I've had at least 3 minutes under the water to wake up in. Plus 2 cups of tea.

"CoughcoughWHOmakesthetea?" interrupts you know who.

Good grief man! Ok, you're my hero! Breakfast and life in general would be far more miserable without you around. Happy now?

Strange lack of coughing. But there is the sound of waffles being demolished. I'll take that as yes, he is happy now. Enjoy your Lent, peoples and remember, it's not too late to make some pancakes (or waffles, even!) for dinner tonight if you are as hopeless as I am in the mornings. Especially drenched in maple syrup and topped with sliced banana. Yummo!

Striped Christmas Dress

Ach! This is a lesson in the art of prompt photography. For if you don't take a picture of your girl wearing the dress you finished for her in December, by the time you do it at the end of February she will have (a) grown another 4 inches and (b) be covered in bather tan marks!

Ok, so maybe not quite 4 inches, but she sure has shot up this summer! She better get as much wear as she can out of this frock during the last of the heat, because by the time next summer rolls around it will be a tunic on her, rather than a dress!

Ok, so to the pattern review. I wasn't a big fan of this dress. Mostly because I really wanted the petals to sit right up on the bodice line, just like on the pattern photo, but since the petals are one-size-fits-all, if you are making it up in a size 8 like I did, then they just sit weirdly halfway along the bodice length. Bah humbug! So to remedy this I ended up redrafting the entire bodice piece, then altering the waistband to make it all fit. That's a lot of faffing around just to get some petals looking nice.

And then, of course, the darn petals just flopped everywhere after the first wear, so now I need to hand sew them flat to the bodice. STUPID PETALS!

I also ran out of fabric to make the skirt band. Not sure if this was my fault for reading the pattern requirements wrong (is it just me, or is figuring out your fabric requirements super tricky for the Project Runway patterns, what with all their options and choices? I thought I'd erred on the side of caution, but apparently not!) or if the pattern itself was at fault, but I ended up with a skirt not quite as long as I would have liked, event though I did lengthen the skirt to make up for the bodice alteration shortfall. I could always go back to the fabric store and buy some more fabric, but I feel the moment has well and truly passed, people.

The dress has buttons on the back (I went for cute red and white polka dot ones, to contrast against the stripes), but I feel a zip would have done the job more easily and neatly.

Anyway, despite the faffing around, it ended up a very sweet dress to wear to Christmas mass, and for our Christmas day family picnic. And having a happy girl at Christmas is what it's really all about.

Project Details
Pattern - Simplicity 2265
Fabric - 3m of 115cm wide cotton quilting
Notions - Lining for bodice, interfacing, 3 buttons

Creative Frenzy

Boy oh boy, it sure is busy around these parts. My days are filled with freelance content writing, knitting up samples for my own range of knitting patterns, sewing dolls for the school fete, finishing off some clothes for Tyger, and scratching my head and wondering why oh why did I rashly promise to make jam for the aforementioned fundraiser. I don't even do jam for us!

So if you pass by my house and notice smoke issuing from a window, fear not - that's just me burning rubber with my sewing frenzy. And if you see sparks coming from an open door, don't call the fire brigade - that's just me knitting so hard I could start a fire with my needles. And if you smell burnt marmalade then... well, maybe go for the raspberry at the fete jam stall instead.

Monthly Menu Plan - February/March

I am so glad that it is beginning to cool down around these parts. Hot weather knocks me for a six, and I don't even want to think about food, and am happy to just eat the same salad day after day - anything, as long as I don't have to turn on the oven!

So bring on the cooler weather, I say, and I'll bring my cooking mojo back! Starting, naturally, with this meal plan.

Week One
Monday - Cucumber and lettuce vichyssoise (from River Cottage Veg Everyday! by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)
Tuesday - Sausages with potato salad and coleslaw at the park
Wednesday - Roasted pumpkin soup with garlic bread
Thursday - Macaroni and cheese with rocket salad
Friday - Chard and new potato curry on brown rice (from River Cottage Veg Everyday! by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)
Saturday - Attending a wedding, so no cooking for me!
Sunday - Tofu burgers


Week Two
Monday - Frittata with summer vegetables and garden salad (from River Cottage Veg Everyday! by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)
Tuesday - Summer soup au pistou
Wednesday - North African squash stew (from River Cottage Veg Everyday! by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)
Thursday - Lamb and burghul pilaf
Friday - Bruschetta with asparagus, French beans and feta, plus a tomato salad
Saturday - Asparagus and zucchini green curry
Sunday - Roast chicken


Week Three
Monday - Chicken pasta with rocket
Tuesday - Tomato, thyme and feta tart with a gardens salad (River Cottage Veg Everyday! by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)
Wednesday - Smoked trout baguettes with chilled pea soup
Thursday - Lemon pepper pilaf
Friday - Ravioli with tomato and basil sauce
Saturday - Hamburgers with apple coleslaw
Sunday - Home made tacos with roasted vegetables and spicy tomato sauce


Week Four
Monday - Jambalaya
Tuesday - Rocket pesto pasta with roast pumpkin, cherry tomatoes and feta
Wednesday - Cauliflower curry with quinoa
Thursday - Jacket potatoes topped with fresh vegetables and roasted tomato sauce
Friday - Home made pizza (mushroom + cheese, plus roasted veg)

New yarn!

Oh my goodness! I seriously think that this might be one of the most exciting days of my life, for the yarn for one of my designs is now in my hot little hands!

I'd chat more, peoples, but I've got swatching to do with this pure unadulterated lusciousness!

Kimono Jacket

What's there not to like about a baby knit, eh? They are pretty quick to knit up, look super cute and are a great way to teach yourself some new skills without having a major yarn investment involved. Likey like!

I only wish that I was a better knitter when Tyger was born. She would have looked pretty darn sweet in a ballerina wrap top like this! I am loving that moss stitch border. If only it wasn't going to be 40 C tomorrow, I would sit and moss stitch all the day long.

Project Details
Pattern: Kimono Jacket from Noro Collection #1 by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: 4 balls Filatura Di Crosa Zara in yellow
Needles: 3.25mm and 4mm

Find it on Ravelry here.

A big yellow hug

I have been working like fury on launching my own range of knitting patterns later this year, and while I await delivery of the first batch of yarn destined to be knit up for pattern #1 (exciting!) I'm taking the time to finish up all the half-finished knitting projects lying around.

That included this soft and cuddly hot water bottle cover. I have wanted to make this ever since I saw it in Rowan Knitting Magazine #28 over 10 years ago, and finally got around to knitting one up. Once it was all finished, and we gave it a trial run, Tyger took hold of it and exclaimed that it was like "having a big yellow hug!"

Well, who can say no to a big yellow hug? Not me!

Speaking of all things huggable and knitting, if you fancy a big yellow hug of your very own but lack the knitting skills, come along to one of the hand knitting classes I teach at Handmaker's Factory. Next one is Feb 15th. I'll have you knitting like a pro in no time!

Project Details
Pattern: Hottie by Kim Hargreaves, from Rowan Knitting Magazine #28
Yarn: 2 balls Rowan Kid Classic
Needles: 4mm and 5mm

Ravelried here.

The Cats Pyjamas

Galumph is a man who really likes lounging around on lazy weekend afternoons, totally comfortably in his pyjamas. He would also, given the choice, have a fat purring cat nearby but alas! allergies have put the kibosh on the cat dream.

So Tyger and I put our heads together when making his Christmas present this year. He might not be able to have a cat, but there's nothing stopping us from making him some cat pyjamas!

Using an ancient Simplicity pattern that I will probably be using when I'm 98 to make myself some jimmyjams, I set Tyger loose with the good scissors and the pins, and lo and behold she pretty much made the pjs all by herself! I helped out with some topstitching and inserting the elastic, but apart from that they are almost 100% child labour. Er, that's a good thing in this instance, right?

Tyger was chuffed with her efforts, and as you can from the pictures the pyjamas have slotted in nicely to the Sunday afternoon lounging sessions.

Project Details
Pattern: Simplicity 5338 (out of print)
Fabric: Japanese cotton/polyester cat print from GJ's Discount Fabrics
Notions: Elastic for waistband

Edda - cable knit cardigan

Do you know, I have only just realised this very minute that despite the fact that Edda has been finished for two months that I haven't blogged about it at all? Shame on me!

I actually purchased the yarn to make this up about 3 years ago, and when I found it in my stash around September last year I decided it was exactly the kind of knit I felt like doing. It would be fairly quick, had some cables and the yarn was a merino/silk/cashmere blend. What more could a girl ask for? Plus, since the yarn had been languishing in my stash, it almost felt like I was getting a cardigan for free!

This was a pretty fun knit. It had enough going on to make it interesting, without being overwhelming. I did have one hiccup halfway through, when I realised that I had twisted one of my cables the wrong way, but I just grit my teeth, frogged, and started over again.

I'm quite liking how it turned out. It's perfect for wearing over a summer dress to protect you from the harsh UV rays, but airy enough to not feel hot. Plus it goes with all the red and pink in my wardrobe. Winner!

Project Details
Pattern: Edda, from Whisper by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: 6 balls of Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk Aran in shade 0167
Needles: 4mm, 4.5mm, cable needle

Green drop stitch scarf

Since it's so hot that there's nothing to do but stay hunkered down inside with the blinds drawn, one may as well get some knitting projects/gifts finished!

 

Project Details
Pattern: Drop Stitch Scarf from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2012 (I made another version last year)
Yarn: Two hanks of Shibui Cima (70% superbaby alpaca, 30% fine merino wool) in lime, purchased from Woolarium.
Needles: 3.25mm

Apart from a baby cardigan that is also languishing in the 'to be finished' pile, that's it for knitted gifts from me this year. I've got too much pattern drafting and test knitting to do, so I shall have to be strong and stop offering to knit things for other people. That's easier said than done for me, as I have a tendency to always offer, especially if somebody is having a bub. But I must be strong, like a focussed knitting Jedi, whose mission is to provide awesome patterns to the world!!!

Good grief, I think I've been stuck inside too long. Knitting Jedi indeed. It's the heat... it's melting my brain!

Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

What's better than sitting down to a big fat slice of cheesecake? Slurping it up as an ice cream instead! I'm not even an ice cream kinda girl, but this is so darn good I'm going to have to padlock the freezer to stop myself guzzling it up in one go.

Best of all, this was so incredibly simple to make that I can see it becoming summer's default dessert. Instead of making a custard from scratch, and then freezing it, à la traditional ice cream, this was just mixed together in the mix master. No oven involved! Which, frankly, is a blessing for a week that is forecast to contain 3 days over 40 C. If anybody wants me, I'll be slumped next to the freezer, wondering out aloud if it's time for ice cream yet. Probably joined by Tyger and Galumph, if last night's devouring of this ice cream was any indication of appreciation.

Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

250g Philadelphia cheese, softened
1/2 cup raw caster sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries, partially thawed.

1 - Place the cream cheese in the large bowl of a mix master along with the sugar, and beat together until smooth.

2 - Add the milk and cream, and mix until combined, with no lumps remaining.

3 - Churn the mixture in an ice cream machine, following the manufacturers instructions. With 5 minutes of churning remaining, add the raspberries through the slot.

4 - Pour into a container, and freeze until required. To serve, take out 5 minutes beforehand to thaw.

All white, all night

The Tyger has been asking me for quite some time to make her a nightie, and has been very particular about the details. It had to be white. Preferable old-fashioned ("Like something Lizzie or Jane would wear!"), and if could incorporate some lace or embroidery, then so much the better.

Oh, and if I could get that whipped up before a big sleepover party scheduled for (gulp!) tomorrow that would be just terrific!

So today was spent fabric shopping, quickly fabric washing (thank goodness for supersunny days), fabric cutting, fabric overlocking, and finally some fabric sewing. I think Miss Elizabeth Bennet herself would be very well pleased indeed with the results. I myself am very pleased with our fabric find. The cotton features embroidered flowers plus a gorgeous long lace edging, and was an absolute bargain at only $5.95 a metre!

Since we were going for a slight old-style look, we decided to have some fun with the camera, and do some spooky shots. Check out Tyger doing her very best ghost catwalking!

Project Details
Pattern - Pattern #12 from Ottobre Design Magazine 2/2005 (same pattern used for this dress)
Fabric - 2m of cotton with embroidery and lace edging from Rathdowne Fabrics
Notions - Elastic for sleeve edges and neckline

Wrist warmers

What do you get when you combine some spare green yarn, a pair of 4.5mm needles, a very determined young lady and copious school holiday free time? A pair of wrist warmers, solely designed and knit by Tyger herself!

I used to laugh when she told me that when she grew up she'd like to own a yarn store. I'm laughing no more, and beginning to scope out capital investors!

Monthly menu plan - December/January + shortbread!

Monthly menu for you, and some shortbread for my dad, who is coming to visit. Yay!

Week 1
Monday - Apricot chicken with sweet potato
Tuesday - New Year's Eve. We had roasted pumpkin and carrot soup with yoghurt, roast chicken, heirloom tomato salad, asparagus + pea + snowpea + lemony feta salad, potato salad, and finished with lemon curd cheesecake. Burp!
Wednesday - Feta, vegetable and rice bake
Thursday - Frittata with peas, mint and ricotta, plus green salad
Friday - Paneer with peas and beans, on brown rice
Saturday - Cauliflower felafels with carrot yoghurt salad
Sunday - Beef and bean mix on homemade masa harina burritos with cheesy chilli and lime corn cobs

Week 2
Monday - Thai green chicken curry on brown basmati rice
Tuesday - Chana dhal with chickpea flour pancakes, and mango lassi
Wednesday - Indian pilaf with eggs
Thursday - Tofu and vegetable rice paper rolls, with coconut sago pudding with passionfruit
Friday - Baked maple glazed salmon with wilted spinach
Saturday - Spring minestrone with brown rice
Sunday - Roasted sumac pumpkin and feta soft homemade tacos

Week 3
Monday - Lentil tabouleh with haloumi
Tuesday - Asparagus risotto with garden salad
Wednesday - Spicy potato cakes with tomato and bocconcini salad
Thursday - Butter chicken rice pie
Friday - Miso glazed fish with sesame brown rice salad

Resolutions

Hello friends! Here we are on the other side of the great Christmas/New Year divide, and I for one am feeling fine! I have so many amazing things that I want to achieve in 2014, so I thought that I would post them here, not only so I can refer back to them when they are not so fresh in my mind, but also so I can give myself a quick, swift kick up the ass if I'm not getting them done! So without any further fanfare, here are the things I want to do in twenty-fourteen:

- Read more books. I finished the year on a reading high, having thoroughly enjoyed The Rosie Project, Oil and Honey, Miss Hargreaves and The Two Mrs Abbots. If you've read something fabulous lately, I'd love to hear your recommendations!

- Make a cherry pie. I even bought myself a cherry stoner in the sales. That's a job for next week, I reckon!

- Eat more grains. We've figured out that the Galumph is mildly gluten-intolerant. He can handle a wee bit of gluten (like in his porridge oats) but not much, so we have made a deal: generally no gluten at home, except for the odd homemade baked treat or pasta dish. Having trialled this over the last couple of weeks, it's gone well, so I'm excited to be incorporating more gluten-free grains into our lives. We've been having the most marvellous blueberry quinoa porridge as a change in the mornings - loving the long, slow energy from that tasty dish!

- Eat more fruit. I know, I know - I say this one every year, but I've made a huge effort to eat my two pieces every day of late, and I am feeling so good for it. More fruit!

- Sayonara booze. Remember a couple of years ago I decided that coffee and I were no longer friends, and I kicked it to the curb? Well, it seems alcohol and I have had a similar falling out. I feel so sluggish and crap the day after even one glass, so I'm going to make 2014 alcohol free as I just don't think it agrees with me anymore. I'm going to miss it, but I have a feeling that better energy levels and awesome sleep will more than make up for it.

- Bring back the plastic free. Unfortunately plastic has slowly but surely crept back into our lives since we went plastic free for a month in 2007 (can you believe I've been blogging that long? Cripes!), so I am going to try and eliminate as much plastic from our day-to-day lives as I can throughout 2014. In a similar vein, I'm also going to try and reduce the amount of waste we create in general, such as food waste.

- Blog more. Cos it's fun around here!

- Be a lean, mean, budget queen. I want to use what I have rather than fork out for something new, and if I do have to buy something I'd like it to be recycled and/or ethically made.

- Get out those vintage patterns. I think 2014 should be the year of sewing vintage! Each month I'd like to sew or knit a vintage pattern, and bring a little old school elegance into my life. Should we do a vintage-a-long? That could be wicked fun!

- Do more bike rides. Preferably whilst wearing a vintage dress. Cos that's how I wanna roll! (Get it? Roll? My word, I'm even funnier this year than last!)

- Launch my knitting pattern collection. Wrists, I'm warning you now: I'm going to be doing a LOT of knitting in preparation for my launch later this year. But any wrist ache will totally be worth it. I am SO SUPER EXCITED about this!

Wow. I sure have a busy year lined up! I hope that 2014 brings you much happiness and joy, and if you are in need of a daft joke, don't forget to stop by here!