New Toys

Amongst all the birthday party preps and chaos we have had lately I have got a new toy to play with.  Actually it has been a case of out with the old and in with the new and Mum and I swapped sewing machines.
For many years now this trusty Globe, which Mum bought when I was a baby, has been my workhorse sewing machine.  While it has had a few quirks in it's time I have loved this machine and it certainly did everything I ever needed it to do.

A while ago Mum decided that since she isn't doing anywhere near as much sewing now we should swap machines, she gets back her Globe and I get her flash bang Bernina.  Although I was sad to see this old faithful machine go I can't deny that I have been very excited about getting my hands on this baby.

I did have a few teething problems and I am still getting used to it but I am rapidly falling in love with this new toy and I'm hoping I can find the time to really get the best use out of it.  It almost seems a bit wasted on me really since I don't quilt and it comes with a walking foot and stitch regulator and everything.  I have also seen that you can get an embroidery attachment for it which sounds pretty tempting depending on the price :-)  For now though I am loving it for sewing things for the kids, more on that soon.

FO: Birthday shirt

Mr A was a bit distraught when he found out that his favorite shirt I had made him was too small and he couldn't wear it for his birthday.  So this meant a trip for the two of us to Spotlight for some fabric (with cars please Mummy) to make a new one.  After much searching Mr A spied some fabric and home we came.
As usual I resorted to my ottobre books for a pattern (03/09 design 21, Little Fella Shirt) and I cut his one to a size 98cm with 110 length.  I found that the pattern went together well, the only issue I had was with the instructions for the collar binding but I think that was probably more due to my brain being half as keep than anything else.  Because it was only finished the night before the party I didn't get any pics before it was worn but here are a few photos of Mr A wearing it.

He seems very pleased with it anyway and that's the main thing.

A big 5 year old!

At the end of April Mr A turned 5 which meant saying goodbye to daycare and all his fabulous friends and teachers there and moving on to the big new world of school.  

The process all started with a birthday cake on his last day of daycare.  Mr A seemed pretty excited about the cake and not too worried about the finality of the whole affair but I must admit I was very sad to see the end of this chapter for him.  Mr A has attended the most wonderful daycare centre 3 days a week since he turned one and his friends and the teachers there really are like a second family to him.  They have done so much for him and helped him to turn into the caring and confident wee boy that he is today. A huge thanks to the staff there.
I did a bit of a cheat for the birthday cake for daycare and bought one of those edible icing images of his favorite character, Lightening McQueen.  He loved it and it went down well with the kids as well.

The birthday boy.

Miss M not missing out on the celebrations.

All of this was followed by party preparations and then the big birthday itself which was also party day.

Opening presses

Quite a good haul, check out all that lego!

Time for a party!

Mars Bar teddy cars

Windmill party favors

Every good party has lots of food...

...and lots of dancing.

Then of course there is the birthday cake.

The monster truck cake.

Blowing out the candles.

Then a couple of days later was the first day of school :-)

Mr A and Miss M all ready to head to school and daycare

The pair of them being daft.

So it was all quite some 5 days or so but loads of fun and Mr A is loving being a big school boy.

Grissini

Both my kids seem to love all things Italian when it comes to food.  They are more pleased with a lunch of salami, cheeses, olives and dips than anything else, and why not, it is all pretty yummy.
Faced with a rainy saturday with no fixed plans DP decided to have a go at making Grissini (breadsticks), or greasy knees as the kids call them.  Out came the tried and true italian cook book and several hours of rising and kneading later we had yummy breadsticks for afternoon tea.

They had a certain rustic look about them and someone couldn't wait to get their fingers on them....

I must admit dipped in olive oil they were very scrummy.  It is still quicker and easier to buy them from the shop but not as much fun :-)

Breakfast Time

Usually we have breakfast at the table or else we would never get out the door to work/school/daycare in the morning.  On the weekends though sometimes we let Mr A watch some tele while having breakfast and it seems someone else didn't want to miss out ;-)

FO Lavender Honey

The most recent thing off my needles here was a gorgeous wee cardy for Miss M which I completed as part of a mystery KAL (knit-a-long).  So what is a mystery KAL?  Well you sign up to get sent a portion of the pattern at regular intervals and complete the project having no real idea what you are going to end up with.  Okay so that is a little overdramatic since I knew I would end up with a cardy for Miss M but other than that it is a bit of a blank slate.  I guess this kind of knitting is a bit risky, I mean what if you hate the end result.  Well actually in this case it wasn't really risky at all as the KAL was being run by Elena Nodel and I don't think there is a single design of hers that I don't either love or adore.  I have no idea how Elena does it but all her designs are very unique and truly adorable as well as functional.
The patterns this time around is called My Honey and is designed for DK weight yarn.  Once again I wanted to knit from stash and I also wanted to be sure I had plenty of yarn so I didn't run the risk of running out before the end, so I chose to knit this in Bella Baby Layette which is a bamboo wool mix and has a fantastic sheen, drape and stitch definition.
To give you an idea of how the mystery KAL works here is my project after clue 1.

And here it is finished.

And a close up of some of the details.  I love the lace yoke.....

...and the delicate puffed sleeves make this so girly.

And to finish some (not particularly good) modeled pics.  I really need to get better photos of Miss M wearing this as the weather was rubbish when I tried to take these so could only get inside shots.

I finished this off with some gorgeous hand crafted buttons I had in stash from Buttons by Benji.  Very pleased with the overall result.

FO By The Sea

This wee cardigan was a gift for a friend who had her second gorgeous wee boy in March.  Once again I decided to knit the fabulous Baby Vertebrae cardy by Kelly Brooker.  This is the third one of these I have knitted now and honestly I think that is the most times I have ever knitted a single pattern.  Usually once I have knitted something once I don't have any desire to make another but this is so practical for wee babies and quick to knit that it is my fav baby gift knit at the moment.
This time around I chose some Cleckheaton Merino Bambino yarn that I had in stash and although initially I wasn't too sure about the color I was really pleased with the end result.

To knit the 0-3m size took only approx 70g of 4ply yarn as well so this wee project is not only quick but economical on yarn.

And to complete the gift nicely I managed to find a wee onesie locally that matched perfectly, yay!