The lovely Fiona listed 3 things making her happy this week.
It's been a good week so I'm playing too.
1. Mothers Little Helper chocolate is making me happy. I'm normally not a huge dark chocolate fan but this is really good! Best of all dark chocolate is really good for you...what with all those anti-oxidants. They've even got a happy website.
2. Smart guys getting exciting about codes & the future of advertising makes me happy.
3. Lovely welcome home cards from the smalls made me really happy. .
she is enthusiastic, engergetic, contagious, beautiful & just plain good. Best of all she is related to me! Yay!
Just back from Brown Owls - tonight was super good. So much good stitching & chatting & lounging & laughing & tea drinking & socialising & learning & sauso stitching & baby showering & FUN!
If you haven't been to a meeting you should come & see for yourself just how lovely it is. There is a night especially for Tweenies on Tuesday 18 March - so do yourself a favour & book.
Make sure you check our Flickr in the morning - the PIParazzi was in full click, snapping shots of unsuspecting crafters.
Thanks to my twitter mates who suggested I just sew through my headache.
I'm putting the little mini spool holder to good use. I've taken the red out for a spin & now I'm onto black.
The negative spacing is coming along pretty well & should be finished this afternoon.
There are still a few spots available for the HAC workshop to make the little spool holder. We've changed the date too...now to be held on 5 September. Visit this post for all the information. It's going to be fun.
Everyone has a recipe for Spaghetti Bolognaise, sometimes closely guarded secrets. I know it's kind of boring but I promise it's good. I've photographed it in the pot so you can see just how much it makes.
I make a batch of this every few weeks & then freeze in kid size portions for weekday dinners.
Spaghetti Bolognaise 1 Kilo of quality mince 1 large brown onion 2 cloves of garlic 2 stalks of celery 1 large carrot 1 big handful of mushrooms 1 red capsicum 1 large zucchini 1 large tin of crushed tomatoes 1 small tin of tomato puree 1 cup of beef stock 1 Tbs of brown sugar 140gms of tomato paste 1 slurp of worcestershire sauce Herbs dry or fresh (today I used fresh basil & some dried "Italian Herbs") 1 cup of red wine 1/2 cup of milk water to "wash out" all tins & jars added to the pot also
Brown the mince in your biggest saucepan. So you get an idea of volume I make this in an electic frypan.
Using your food processor, process all vegetables & add them to the mince.
Add remaining ingredients. Give it all a good stir & let it simmer for about an hour.
This makes a super rich & lovely sauce which can be easily "stretched" by adding a jar of provisto sugo or more crushed tomatoes.
Especially good for kids who aren't big vegetable eaters.
How It seems that the mulberry granny shrug has inspired a few of you to have a crack yourself. That's super exciting & exactly why this patch of web space exists. Over the weekend Lara & I have worked together to present to you the whole box & dice for the granny shrug enthusiast.
There's something for everyone. This is the master class...for lovely folk who like to follow a pattern, or maybe you need the visual (like me) or perhaps you'd like to watch a dinky video.
If you know how to make a granny square then you know how to make this shrug. Just crochet yourself a couple of lovely granny hexagons.
You can just skip over the "instructions" & make the granny exactly as you always do. Maybe you slip across to the next chain space...ripper knock yourself out. There is no "right" way to make it.
You'll just end up with a lovely curly hexagon...good, that's great...exactly what we want. Just keep checking your sizing after each round to decide when you're done.
Mine have been 9 rounds (in the Wilderness) but depending on your tension & hook size yours might be 8 or 10 or more. Keep folding the curly hex in on itself until you're confident that the fit will be right for you.
the pattern My very favourite crocheter is Lara. She's one of the reasons I picked up the hook in the first place. She likes to be good at stuff & works hard to make sure she gets things right. Well, guess what? She's written a fabulous, fabulous pattern (it might not have posted yet...be patient) for you to print & keep. And spared you all from my effort at a written explanation. Thank you Lara, you're the very best & it was lovely to share the making of the how to with you.
& the video Just so you know it was really hard to crochet standing up stradling a tripod & keeping (or trying) the crochet in the frame.
Australian/UK terminology
Yarn You've got a HUGE amount of flexibility here. You want to achieve a good deal of chunkiness & you'll just adjust your number of rounds accordingly so pick something that suits your style. I did make the suggestion the other day to use stash yarns crocheted together to make up the chunky style yourself.
I used Patons "Wilderness" 14ply. I like it...A LOT. It's a blend so purists might like to check out other options but I think it's just the perfect yarn for the job. Here's why... (& where to buy too).
OR you can have a go with 2 balls of 8 ply held together or whatever else takes your fancy. You'll just adjust your number of rounds according to tension & fit. Go nuts. Lara's using two strands of 12ply & is very happy with the result.
Hook I'd say 15mm. I'm really happy with the result I'm getting with the 15mm hook. You need it to be loose so that you get a nice drape with the finished "fabric". We're not going for sturdy here folks...we want the pretty drape.
Making Up I switched to a 2.65mm hook & just used double crochet up the centre back seam.
Then I doubled along the top sleeve seams & single crocheted along the back of the neck opening to give extra strength.
Again if you know how to do it your own way...do that. It will be great.
What, haven't had enough? Here's the steak knife! A round by round for the visual learner. How to make a granny shrugView more presentations from kootoyoo.
Other Stuff There's a flickr group. If you make a shrug we'd love to have it added to the group.
HAC class? There have been a couple of requests for a HAC class for the shrug. If you still think you need it or would like to make it up with a bunch of other girls over tea & biscuits, I'd be happy to run it over two evenings. If you're keen please email me kootoyooATgmailDOTcom & if we get enough interest we'll go ahead.
This week is a collaboration between myself & the date.
We usually have pizza on a Sunday night & now that we are using this pizza base recipe it's a quick & easy meal. I know Cam has also had success with it.
Our favourite Sunday night pizza is "Souvlaki Pizza". It's yummy & it forces me to eat red meat - good for the iron levels.
Souvlaki Pizza Topping
2 Tablespoons of good quality pizza sauce or tomato pasta sauce 2 lamb backstraps seasoned with a Greek Spice rub, cooked & finely sliced. 1 good handful of baby spinach 1 Tub of Tzatsiki (or you could make it from scratch). Tasty cheese
After you have made the pizza base spread the sauce on top & cook in a 200 C oven for 5 minutes.
Remove & top with baby spinach, followed by the sliced lamb, then flick a few dollops of tzatsiki around (be generous - it's yum). Finally top with a bit of cheese & return to the oven.
You probably need to cook it for about 10 minutes.
The week out was good for my soul but not so good for the crafting.
& I've got a little confession for you...
The taking of photos has been zapping all my creative energy. I'm trying really hard...failing lots...and maybe getting better at the snapping (but still terrible at chatting to random people & taking photos in the street).
It's good to be back but I expect it'll be sporadic until the kids go back to school.
I made a lemon birthday cake for The Date...for desert at the family(his) lunch.
I'd scoured Delicious and found just the recipe. A nice list of ingredients that made me sure the resulting cake would live up to the "delicious" promise.
I made sure I had the best ingredients, nice olive oil, home grown lemons, quality prosecco, beautiful eggs. I set to work and made the cake. It did all the right things in my new oven (which I'm not great mates with yet) & looked gorgeous when I removed it from the tin.
I tasted the tiny bit that stuck to the side of the tin & my heart sank. It tasted very eggy.
What was I worried about? I'm normally pretty good with this sort of thing. I thought that there'd be plenty said about the egg cake rather than the lemon cake. Then all sorts of crazy food poisoning scenarios were running through my head.
I knew I wasn't going to be serving my cake. We went to Browns on the morning of & picked up a white chocolate & raspberry cheesecake (stunning) & a flourless orange cake (meh).
The cake was duly sampled when we returned home on Monday evening & it was, just as the magazine promised ... absolutely delicious.
There's a lesson here ... if you think it's good - it IS good & who cares what other people think.
Don't give up cos you have friends Don't give up You're not beaten yet Don't give up I know you can make it good (I would have posted all the lyrics but frankly they're too much for me at the moment)
My girls are best friends with two of the most beautiful spirits (sisters) & we found out on Thursday that they'll be leaving our school at the end of the year. The image above is the smalls when they first became friends (2 years old).
The break's been good for me. I've been parenting, crafting, opping, filming & generally just slowing down a bit. I've only got a couple more things to take care of for people on The Nice List & then I'm done.
I’ve become very emotionally attached to him - we’ve been through a lot together.
He began life as left over wool suiting & a remnant from an after 5 number…I’d been patiently waiting for the silver since November last year & I’m pretty sure he’d been waiting for me too.
Together we’ve struggled, fought & made a more than a few mistakes but we’ve dusted ourselves off and made firm friends.
I knew it was all going to work out because he never stopped smiling. Now he’s here and he is going to be hard to say farewell to. I’ve poured my heart & soul into this little fella.
You know…he’s a bit rough around the edges, he’s had his share of knocks & he’s got a few battle scars to prove it. But look at what those tough times have revealed…
a silver lining - it has made him who he is, given him character and fleshed out his personality.
He’s a good sort
He’s off to have his 15 minutes of fame in the Meet Me at Mikes window & then I know he’s going to make some somebody a very good friend.
You can find out more about the Softies for Mirabel appeal here.
I'm normally not that fond of the sewing machine - it's a means to an end in my opinion. But...I've had so much joy in the making of my silver lined cloud!
What I've been doing for the last month (& a bit)!
Thought you guys might like a tour of the old place.
Obviously not our furniture but I did do the bathroom & had to kitchenify the kitchen (nobody I know has three pairs of vases in their kitchen).
Trades I've used (& heartily recommend). This should be the "go to" list for Melbourne folk.
A bit of back history...I used to work in Property Management so I've dealt with a lot of tradespeople in my time & these guys were all amazingly accommodating & just a pleasure to deal with. I'm sharing them with you because I know how hard it is to find good tradespeople & it's so helpful to have referrals.
Garden Maintenance: LC Mowing Lucas 0409 998 508 This guy is a machine! I have never in my life seen a skip packed so neatly or efficiently. He just goes & goes until the job is done. If you need your lawns done, weeding & general garden tidy up then Lucas is your man.
Builder: Glen Johnston Home Improvements Glen 0414 325 722 Professional, helpful & extremely particular. Just absolutely top quality workmanship. Glen's the man if you're renovating or building in Melbourne's East.
Plumber: Marty 0438 771 007 Just a complete champion. It seems to me that finding a good plumber is like the quest for the holy grail. Marty is it!
Electrician: Armadale Electrical 9509 9133 Gary was "my" electrician when I worked in Armadale & frankly I'd never use another electrician. The guys from Armadale Electrical are all super professional & just lovely blokes.
General Maintenance: Polished Properties Maintenance Group Mark 0438 019 994 Mark was recommended by our Real Estate Agent as the guy "who does it all". He co-ordinated painters & carpenters & general maintenance items. He's professional & a pleasure to deal with.
Concrete: RL Concreting John 1300 790 775 John did the driveway at our new house (which is exposed aggregate) & also helped us out at the old house. He's professional, prompt & a pleasure to deal with. He went above & beyond offering advice & options for us.
Render: Jolley Textures Reegan 0425 773 684 The house was rendered about twelve months ago & it's transformed it! Probably the best thing we did for the place which was previously a hideous orange brick. Reegan was extremely flexible & professional & will be coming back to the new place to render our new fence.
Garden Design: Imperial Gardens Tracey 0419 200 116 Tracey came in & offered practical advice on excellent low maintenance (& not too costly) garden design. The difference the plantings have made to the house is unbelievable. Imperial Gardens have some pretty impressive "cap feathers" in Toorak & Hawthorn & Tracey is offering consultations so that you can DIY. She works with what you have & offers no nonsense solutions to maximise the look of the property.
Further details on the house can be obtained from Tom Ryan (0413 872 550) at Jellis Craig.
Yesterday was wet all day & today is shaping up the same way. It's a good day to stay indoors & make soup.
This soup is dead easy & really yummy too.
Slow Roasted Tomato Soup 15 (about) large ripe tomatoes cut in half 1 head of garlic - separated into cloves (leave skin on) 2 brown onions - sliced slurp of olive oil 1 tsp brown sugar 1 litre stock
Preheat oven to about 150 C. Place chopped tomatoes, onion & cloves of garlic in a good sized oven tray. Mix olive oil & brown sugar in a small bowl. Pour over vegies & toss to coat. Whack the tray of vegies in the oven for about 1 & a half - 2 hours. Once cooked, remove the garlic cloves. Process in batches squeezing the soft roasted garlic from a few cloves & adding it to each batch before processing. Place pureed tomato into a saucepan & add stock. Heat & serve with South Cape crumbled feta, fresh basil, cracked pepper & crusty bread.
This is... hosted by Three Buttons & theme from Flightless Boyds.
He's my brother. He's tech support. He's super smart. He's creative. He's clever. He's encouraging. He's funny. He's about 5 steps ahead. He does good stuff. He works hard. He plays hard. He thinks a LOT.
I try really hard & most of the time I'm pretty good but every now & then I just look at him blankly & shake my head.
When I chop onions I cry, I have tears streaming down my face.
To combat this problem I started wearing goggles. I look an absolute sight (I admit), but I'm much more about function than fashion. There's the added bonus of making the kids & The Date laugh.
At some stage during my goggle wearing & onion chopping I'd made a plan in my head to share my genius. I'd formulated a plan to sell these high fashion items. Of course I was going to muck around with the design & cute them up a bit.
Being the true procrastinator that I am I never did anything about it & continued to wear the goggles, and remain tear free.
A couple of weeks ago the date and I were at Shoppingtown. Walking past Matchbox I caught something pink and sunglassesish out of the corner of my eye. I knew what they were before I did the double take. Sure enough, there they were ... my onion goggles.
For a moment I felt a bit jealous. That coulda shoulda woulda been me.
Then I caught myself. The onion glasses genius actually got off their procrastinating butt and did something about it. Good on her/him.
I'm rather attached to the speedo goggles but I really think that people who make good on dreams and ideas should be rewarded. I'm going to buy a pair.
In preparation for tonight's Brown Owls get together I've been doing some hand piecing.
It's hugely satisfying to examine your perfectly pressed hand pieced work. I think this progress pic looks so pretty. You could never get the back of anything machined to look that good or sit that flat.
Normally I'm all about the speedy quick but I've really been enjoying the handwork I've been doing lately. It keeps me upstairs with the date at night & it's portable. I've been multi-tasking at the kids gym, football, soccer & at family events too. 45