Disco Knitter

Late Thursday afternoon I got the email I’ve been waiting for – I have been accepted as a volunteer Breastfeeding Counsellor for the Australian Breastfeeding Association. I spoke to the roster co-ordinator last night, and have been assigned my first helpline shift (2nd Friday of the month, starting in April). And this morning I logged in successfully – and logged out again quickly before I had to take a call. There is not enough caffeine in the world to make that first call easy.

So wish me luck, between now and the 9th of April I have to take lots of calls to get myself ready and comfortable enough to tackle an entire 4 hour shift on my own.

There is other (huge) news around the corner too, but I don’t want to say anything until it has been confirmed and I have more information. But needless to say, there are exciting times ahead!

I took some pics for a newborn baby and her family a few months ago, and word got around, and now I have my first paid gig.

Check out the rest of the shoot here.

You know how it goes, you’re chatting with an old friend, and they say something like, “I’ve just enrolled in *circus school”, or some such, and you think, “I’ve always wanted to learn highwire acrobatics”, and so you ask them for the flyer, and then you sit on it until ten minutes after applications close, and then you say, “bugger, I really wanted to do that”.

So, when Miriam mentioned a textile printing course, I naturally thought I’d never get around to it. But somethings got into the water around here, and I seem to be in the mood to get shit done.

I’m enrolled.

In semi related news, Inigo harvested the first strawberry from my his garden today.

Apparently, the Government White Paper on airline safety has been released, and apparently they have listened to the radical crazies like me that sent submissions supporting allowing knitting needles on planes.

What’s next? Making beating children illegal?

Inigo’s little party went really well. It was just grandparents, godparents, and aunts, uncles and cousins – 17 people, but it still seemed like a lovely intimate gathering.

We met at Putney Park (Inigo’s favourite park), and silly me forgot to factor in all the other people who would be having parties at the same time, so we couldn’t get a picnic table. Thanks to Bev amp; Ted, and Mum and Dad, who brought tables, we were able to set up in a lovely shady spot, and Inigo had the time of his life.

As well as being surrounded by his favourite people and being allowed to eat cake (and icing for the first time ever!), he got presents!

Bev and Ted got him some lovely clothes, and Ted made the best play kitchen! Inigo has been loving helping me in the kitchen, so the play kitchen is going to get a lot of use in the next few years – and it’s so much nicer than the horrible plastic ones that you pay hundreds of dollars for.

He also got a treasury of Winnie the Pooh stories from Aunty Jane, a book that he will be able to treasure for a lifetime, and a couple of fabulous shirts. And accessories for his new kitchen – a proper Italian pasta cooking set, and a beautiful tea set. A very lucky boy indeed.

And a lovely time was had by all.

I’m anaemic.

Which accounts for my extremely low energy and lethargy. Doc has given me a referral to see a gastroenterologist and a different (chelated) iron supplement.

I cant get in to see the specialist until January, but if I’m not feeling significantly better in a month, well do some further investigations.

I am also going to do spirometry next week and do a proper asthma plan, and possibly see a specialist for that too. Possibly we’ll be able to manage my asthma without daily steroids. And I think that is worth looking in to.

So thanks everyone for your gp suggestions – I now feel like I am on the right track!

4 Cups chickpeas
3 tblsp vegetable oil (I use peanut)
2 tblsp Cumin Powder
2 tblsp Tumeric Powder
2 tblsp Coriander Powder
1 tblsp Cinnamon Powder
1 tblsp Garam Masala
1 tblsp Cardamom Powder
1 teaspoon Chilli Powder – to taste. Mine is really hot!
Salt to taste – I used almost 2 tablespoons.

Boil chickpeas until al dente. Be careful nit to overcook, as the skins will come off and look horrible.

Add oil to a large wok, heat, then add spices and salt. Fry until spices become fragrant and are well mixed.

Add drained chickpeas, and mix thoroughly. Make sure each one has a good coating of the spice mixture.

Line a couple of baking trays with baking paper, and spread the chickpeas on the trays. Its ok if they touch, but make sure they are in a single layer.

Put the trays in a slow oven for a few hours, until chickpeas are crunchy and toothsome. I put mine on about 150 degrees for about 2 hours. Be aware that they get more crunchy after you take them out of the oven, so wait until they are cool to make a determination about crunch factor!

Enjoy with beer or a dry white wine. Or a martini. Or whatever!

It’s obviously been tested in the factory, and it works perfectly. Any problems will be my fault!

Colour coded tension dials. Each thread has a colour assigned, and there is a threading diagram inside the front cover.

The little box of bits

Sorry about the fuzzy pic – but you can see on the left, my first attempt. On the right, my second attempt. Much better. 11.09am

Attempt number 2 – an almost perfect cuff. 11.12am

Completed hat and pants. 1.19pm

Pfaff Hobbylock 2.0 Review

Since I’d never touched an overlocker before I went to the shop to try threading it. And today was the first time I’ve ever used one. So I’m pretty impressed that I was able complete two items (including unboxing, reading the manual, making a pattern for the pants and cutting all the pieces), in just over two and a half hours.

I’ve been told that overlockers can be fiddly, hard to get the tensions right, impossible to thread, etc. So many people told me that they have an overlocker that they never use because it is so cantankerous, I am thrilled with this one – it couldn’t have been easier. Of course, I am still crap at driving it, but I haven’t broken anything yet, or needed to take myself to hospital, so I’m impressed, and given my limited experience, I would recommend this model to anyone.

There are some recipes that are too good not to share. I believe this is one of them. Mum put me on to it years ago, and I’ve since done many, many variations on the basic theme. It’s one of my favourite go-to recipes when I can’t be bothered cooking, and want something yummy and warm. It is also really healthy (depending on toppings), and can be mostly made with cupboard and freezer items.

Soup

5 cups water
4 slices ginger
5 teaspoons Massel vegetarian chicken stock

Simmer while noodles are cooking.

Topping Suggestions

Chinese sliced dried mushrooms, reconstituted in boiling water
Gai Lan (steamed/microwaved)
Frozen Spinach (microwaved, excess water squeezed out)
Vegetarian Chinese Sausage (from your local large asian grocer)
Field Mushrooms sautéed in butter
Frozen Peas

Basically anything you have in the house, I like to use at least 2 different colours. And I usually use field mushrooms because I am a philistine and don’t really like Chinese Mushrooms in this dish.

Noodles

Drop noodles into a large pot of boiling water. Drain as soon as the water comes back to the boil, or within about 4 minutes, whichever is sooner. They really don’t need much cooking.

Run under cold water.

To Serve

Place noodles in bowl, ladle soup over.

Add toppings, and a splash of sesame oil.

Serve with chilli paste and light soy to taste.

I think I can get this model for $399, which sounds a bit too good to be true. Anyone used this machine? Heard horrible things about it?

I finally got around to cutting and hemming my new wrap

A marker for the middle of the wrap.

Although my knitting has slowed to about a row every week, I still have the compulsion to check out what’s new…

And today, I was rewarded with the worst crime against yarn I’ve ever seen.

A conglomeration of abominations.

But to balance that, I found this -

For $5 a meter!

I’m going to make a new baby carrier, the colours are perfect.

Through a friend at playgroup, we found out about the local bush regen project. Mark went along last month with Inigo, this month he talked me into dropping in at the half way mark.

I’m really glad I went. I popped Inigo into the new carrier, and he slept for a while, and I wandered around plucking weeds and photographing stuff…

Tea break

Peter demonstrates the “Peter Tool”, a mattock for enclosed spaces

Weeds must die!

The gall!

Cicada shell

Wish the focus was better on this shot!

Small weed, HUGE root system. Kill with extreme prejudice

Inigo had a close encounter with another cicada shell, I unearthed about half a dozen in a patch of weeds

Not sure what this weed is called, but as well as a tuberous root system, it has these little bulbs which fall off if the plant is handled too roughly. Each one can make a new plant if they break off.

Not only was the killing of weeds extremely satisfying, it was lovely to spend some time in the great outdoors, fabulous to meet some caring volunteers, and all so close to home!

Winter is coming. Kid won’t tolerate blankets when sleeping. Sleepsacks too small, too expensive to replace.

Solution.

1. Fix sewing machine. Check (with caveat – still no working zig zag stitch…)

2. Visit Spotlight. Check

3. Trace existing sleepsack, embiggen.

Check

4. Copy neckline from groovy new jammies.

Check

5. Cut out basic pattern for Sleepsack V1.0

Check

6. Search internets for bias tape destructions Check

7. Confirm status as “Legend in One’s Own Lunchbox”

Check

Apparently, there is another craft show on in Sydney, starting tomorrow.

I went to Janome today to get a new bobbin case for my MemoryCraft 4000, in the hope that it might start acting like a sewing machine, and they told me about it. Stay tuned for further sewing adventures…

Google has done a special banner just for today!

P.S. I wrote “our story” for Whiteknot.org last night, and this morning it’s on their site!

Today I went to an ABA meeting to learn about how to become a breastfeeding counsellor or community educator (the people that give talks at Child Health Centres, ante natal classes, etc.).

During the early days of my breastfeeding journey, the support of the ABA was invaluable. Firstly, having done the course that they run for expectant parents gave me the confidence to know that I was doing my best, and that I would be able to succeed if I persevered. Secondly, when things were still not going well after 6 weeks of struggling, I knew there was backup available when I needed it. And when I did contact them, the support and information I got was exactly what I needed to hear at the time, and I will appreciate the time the counsellor took to help me out ’till the end of my days.

I’ve been thinking about furthering my education for a long while now, but wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I have an interest in far too many things to be able to narrow it down to a particular field of interest, and I’d need to be passionate about whatever I study to make sure that I actually do the homework! The course is structured so that all study is self directed, there are no exams, only assignments, and there are training sessions run once or twice a month where modules are examined in detail. Kids are welcome at the training sessions, and you can do the training at your own pace. And when you finish, you have a government recognised Certificate IV, the same as if you had studied at TAFE, and useful as “Prior learning” if you decide to do further studies in a related field.

So this opportunity is a bit of a no-brainer. I get to give back to an organisation that has given so much to me and my little family, and I get to ease myself gently back in to the rigours of formal education.

Mark registered to give blood recently (my brave, darling husband), and was unable to get an appointment over the phone, so I suggested her register online. He received a response, thanking him for registering, and asking him to be patient, and to please donate in a few weeks time.

The blood banks are full right now, but the patients who have burns from the fires will still be needing blood and blood products in the weeks and months to come. So don’t be put off by stories of the blood bank having all the donations they need – in the weeks to come when the fires are no longer front page news, you’ll still be needed.

P.S. Since I married him, I haven’t doubted for one second that he was the one for me. I may rant about finding his dirty socks on my pillow, or cereal bowls under the couch, but I am still convinced that he is the love of my life. Tonight, he proved it once again, and I will reveal why tomorrow…

Another thing to take our minds off the devastation in Victoria.

Last week, Kerry’s partner Adam met her in Darwin, and they travelled together back to Timor for a weekend break. Adam was able to take our old baby scales (now that we no longer have to worry about Inigo’s weight, I thought these could be used by the child health nurses in Timor), exercise books, textas, pens and crayons for the kids at the pre-school, and some much needed money.

We ended up with $70 US, and another $50 AU that Adam was able to change at the airport. Kerry tells me that this money will be spent on food for the kids, Mana Kassian feeds the kids every day. I imagine that for some of these kids, that meal is vital.

Care package for Timor Preschool

Of course everyone is thinking about what we can do to help Aussies in need, but it’s also nice to see direct action. Kerry is going to let me know how much it costs to feed these kids each week, and we are going to try to work out some form of ongoing support.

It’s simple. Make a donation here.

Email your receipt here.

Go into the draw to win stuff!

I’ve sent in the receipt from my (small) donation already. I’ve also sent it to Mark, his company is matching donations! They are also paying an employee who is a RFS volunteer while he is in Victoria fighting fires.

I promise, sometime soon, I will post about something other than the fires. As soon as I can stop crying every time I hear/see/read news…