Who receives a cardi for a birthday present in January?

Our precious friend Millie. That is who.

It does feel strange when it is meltingly hot preparing to gift this, but at least it will be ready for the cooler weather. I have made this one with a machine washable nylon acrylic blend to keep things as simple as possible for Millie's Mum.

Pattern Helena by Alison Green Will

 Ravelry Pattern Page | My project page

Yarn sirdar snuggly DK

Needle 4.5, 4 and 3mm

Making use of odd balls

Like just about every other yarn crafter who has been at it for a while, I have quite a big stash. A sizeable part of my collection is leftovers from larger projects or small amounts bought on sale; not enough to make more than a very small project. Inspired by the blanket from my PJ friends on Ravelry, I have decided to make some more. A local  church collects 20x20cm knitted squares so any that don't fit in can be donated and go to someone in need.

I will make a few different afghans based on colourways and fibre content, starting with wool. I am also aiming to put a photo of each square listing fibre, what else I used it for and the stitch pattern in my projects page on Ravelry. Here's to some lovely blankets and a much leaner yarn kitty.

Flood

I am kind of double posting by putting this photo on both of my blogs, but I am trying to stick to very few words on 2011 in photos and I want to speak more about this image.

Of course everyone already knows about the floods that have rocked the eastern states of Australia including the so called inland tsunami and the devastation of our third biggest city. Now we have reached the time after the immediate threat. People can stop, breathe and assess what the hell just happened as the waters begin to recede and they can go back to what is left of their homes and businesses.

Eleventy billion tonnes of water has spewed out of the Brisbane river into Moreton Bay. So much debris is stretching way up and down the coastline. There is everything from what is left of boats to fruit, trees, wooden pailings, doors, toys and even this water tank which I spotted in Bramble Bay today.

The water tank became such an iconic sign of the severe ten year drought our state has recently climbed out of. Governments were subsidising their purchase in the hope that more households and businesses would take advantage of using their own water for things like garden maintenance, filling pools and the like. 

 

Now here this one sits in the bay. I would assume that it was not in anyone's yard because it would have been full of water so too heavy to move. Still, seeing this item sitting in the bay so far from where it belongs is very sad indeed. 

My blanket

I have something very special to show you today which has been created by twelve women from opposite parts of the globe who are different to each other in many ways. What we have in common is we love to knit and we also share the guilty pleasure of wearing PJs all day when we get the chance. About 18 months ago we took part in a swap where we would send knitted squares 20x20cm so we could each make our very own blanket in a colour scheme of our choice.

This is the photo that I shared with the group to give an idea of the colours I was hoping for was this one, taken near a family member's home.

The squares all arrived in the weeks before H's birth and as I have mentioned, life became rather hectic for a while so they sat in storage waiting. Finally I have made my squares to go with it and sewn them together. I love this blanket so much and feel like I am getting a hug from my PJ soul sisters whenever I snuggle up in it. 

 Project page on Ravelry

A knitty and kitty new year

With the monsoon we have been experiencing and the lack of school run in the day I have been able to make some time for knitting. This is the Helena I mentioned in my last post, just about finished and ready to be gifted to our friend.

For mindless evening knitting, I have completed Baktus though don't have any photos yet as I have not sewn in all the ends. 

Other than that, there really is not much more to report other than the sad news that our very old cat, Venny has gone to kitty heaven where she is no longer annoyed by children, having to wait a whole two minutes for her food and the big cat next door. 

New year, new blog

All of 2010 I visited my friend Jen's 365 One a Day blog and have felt inspired to do one of my own this year. I make no actual promises to post anything of real quality, but I am going to give it a go.

Please if you would like, pop on over from time to time.2011daily.blogspot.com

Craft to brighten a rainy day

I found a great tutorial to make these paper flowers at How About Orange a little while back. Today seemed like a great day to give them a go. We flipped though magazines to choose which pages to use and I pity B's future partner. She was immediately drawn to the Tiffany ad.

The girls have also been working on sewing some gift tags which I can't show here in case any of the recipients read this, and I am knitting another Helena for a little friend's January birthday, because nothing says happy birthday like a cardi in the middle of summer.

I really suck at blogging these days

Where has the time gone? Honestly this is ridiculous. My last post was in the holidays and now we are right at the end of term 4. We have been enjoying the warm, long days, all the yummy summer fruits and celebrating the lovely flowers in bloom. 

We sadly said goodbye to the jacarandas at the girls' school in preparation for new buildings. Come January the school will have sixty more children than it did 18 months ago when G started. G has the countdown to the holidays, and her birthday which falls in the first week. On the flipside, B has continued her countdown to the first day of prep. I have helped out in the tuckshop a few times his term and G's teacher has been kind enough to have B in class for the day. She had such a ball. 

 

H has a cleft clinic appointment in a couple of weeks. In the meantime we were at the gp this week for a bout of tonsillitis where we discovered that her left grommet is still in. On her right side there is a fluid build up

but no infection right now. That is the ear that tends to play up so we will keep an eye on it. 

Her speech is slowly coming on. We have been working on a few exercises to help get those front of mouth sounds happening. We are still signing with her and find it invaluable.

The GP also wants to keep a bit of an eye on her weight. Like her sisters and me as a toddler, H is a skinny minnie. I know that she is healthy and that this is just the way she is, but because she will need surgery again before her next birthday I will be watching this more closely than I did her sisters.

And me? I have finished breastfeeding now. My body had enough and it was getting to the point where I was just not getting enough each pumping session for the time I was taking to feel worthwhile. This has given me hours every single day and we don't need to rush home all the time for me to pump. 

I have knitted some longies for a little friend and some fingerless mits for a big friend. More about those to come. No promises for when I will actually get around to it though!

Spring shower and the paddle pool

Top notch school holiday fun. These ones have been great so far with trips to the beach, library, art gallery and cafes. In a first since H's birth, no appointments so it has all been about reconnecting and relaxing.

Simple circle skirt

Today was a time warp with a trip back to the fabric store where I spent countless hours against my will as a child. This placed must have been around for about a bazillion years. It was old when I was little and has not changed a bit, right down to the staff, accounting method (scribbling on cardboard), no eftpos or credit card sales and probably some of the stock.

Our mission today was to gather goodies to make some circular skirts. I bought some lovely cotton but decided to see if my abilities are up to par with some fun sparkly fabrics for dress ups. There are plenty of tutorials on the internet so making the pattern was actually quite easy. Both girls were happy and I feel that I am up to the challenge to make some actual clothes for them.

Again my photos are really dodgy, but in 2010 the year of compromise, near enough IS good enough. I will try to dig up some photos of last month's sewing, an Abaya for G to wear to book week.

Belated birthday post.

This is late, but cute nonetheless. She was not well on her birthday so the actual day was a very low key affair. She has taken her first steps but still prefers to crawl, loves to climb the stairs and trying to keep up with sisters.

Speaking of, here are my girls on the day of their 1st birthday parties, all in the same sweet little Esprit outfit. I just wish that I had taken a proper photo of H before she had lasagne all over her face, was overtired and had a bunch of people singing happy birthday. She looks petrified!

Aside from the pale skin and blue eyes, they really don't look that alike. 

Here is a photo of me to add to the mix too. I think that H looks most like me.

Reflecting

I am having so much trouble getting my thoughts into words today so please excuse the fuzz. I have been thinking about the last year and everything that has happened. Now that H has had her palate repair and is getting on with being an almost toddler I have had the chance to think about her babyhood and how it was completely different to what we expected. 

In the minutes before the ultrasound where we found her cleft I was sitting in the waiting room knitting and talking to a lovely old man. His wife was in for a routine scan to check on something or other in an existing condition she had. I have no memory of what it was, but I do remember the love in his words when he talked about her and the adventures they had in their long lives together. I wonder if her news that day was positive. I have only thought about that couple and that moment in time speaking with the man a couple of times since. Once when H was about three months old and I confessed to my homeopath that I had not picked up my knitting needles since that day, and the second time when I finally did pick up my needles to finish the piece I was working on. What a bittersweet feeling that was. 

I know I have said it about a thousand times in my blog since her birth, but H really is such an amazing person. One of the Mums at school described her perfectly last week; a busy little girl. She just has so much that she wants to get on with and do. This now includes opening the dishwasher and standing up to open the tupperware cupboard. She will open things, pull everything out, have a play and then move on to the next place I have left accessible to her and repeat.The girls put her on the hand me down tricycle last weekend. She had a ball and was so cranky when it was time to come inside. So much to do and such a strong personality wanting to do it.

This is a far cry from her early weeks when we were just home from the hospital. There were a few days where she was very sleepy and just did not want to feed. After a fantastic pep talk from my oldest and dearest friend, I used a special squeezy bottle to get more milk in with less effort on her behalf. Following that  there has been no looking back and now our clever poppet is even signing for milk or food when she needs nourishment.

Our girls have all just grown before our very eyes. G who used to be so clingy almost forgets to kiss me goodbye at school and B has had a countdown going on for the last four months to her prep orientation. Both have been through so much and come out strong yet caring.

H has her 12 month check up tomorrow. I am getting in early as we have a busy few weeks ahead. It is with a new doctor as her gp has gone on maternity leave. I am cyber stalking her as we speak and really hope she is nice and caring. I can tell that she is around my age, educated at UQ, has children of her own, prior to starting at the clinic last month was a paed in the public system and likes to shop online at my friend Nikki's favourite shop, Charlipop. Will know more tomorrow.....

Another celebration

We recently went to a wedding at Nooorrsa but did not realise until too late that the sd card for the camera was back in Brisbane. It has been lovely seeing photos taken by friends and family that have captured things we would have missed had we been taking them. I love my girls in this one. H, looking more like a toddler than a baby, as always is watching and learning from her sister and G is so delighted playing in the sand. 

The wedding was just gorgeous and bride and groom seemed to have a blissful day. Tea Tree bay was a wonderful setting followed by a fun reception at Berados. Children were really looked after by the restaurant with a great kids table complete with paper on the table for them to draw on and nice meals instead of the usual nuggets and chip fare. My big girls were seated with a lovely family of four girls and had such a good time. Husband and I were seated next to her parents who were egging us on to got for a forth "to even things up". Yeah, I don't think so!

An old favourite

In keeping with simple delights for these holidays, this morning we made some play dough. As usual I used the trusty recipe from the cream of tartar tub.


2 cups plain flour
4 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cup salt
2 cups water
Food colouring


Place all ingredients into a saucepan and heat at a medium temp until it forms a dough that is not too sticky.
Once it has formed a dough, bring out and knead as it cools.

It is the first time I have made it since we have been back in Australia so has kept their attention all morning. Meanwhile I am being a big sook wrapped in my dressing gown complaining about the cold weather. My trusty smartphone tells me that it is 11 degrees (51F) outside. YUCK.

Debrief

Monday saw our little one's palate repair. She was on morphine afterward so everything was a bit of an effort. Pesky things like breathing and staying awake were all too hard to bother with. 

She had a moderate amount of bleeding too, but nothing too bad. 

All but one of the registrars changed over since her last procedure. One of the new ones is fantastic and from a parent's perspective I see a good future for him. He cuddled H a couple of times and engaged with her. He also did all the right things with me like introducing himself and answering questions thoroughly. The new woman however has a little further to go..

The NUM was fantastic and very available with his office door, which is in the main corridor usually open. As usual the nurses were wonderful. They really are angels. 

Another thing I appreciated about the visit was that the anaesthetist recognised that H was unsettled before her op so asked me to accompany her into theatre. This is not something they routinely do with babies under the age of 1. It was good to see for myself that within seconds of getting into theatre she was asleep and ready to go and the volunteer explained to me that having me there, H took deeper breaths than she would have if she were even more unsettled.

Things were pretty heavy on the ward. Last time she was in there were lots of misadventure by otherwise healthy kids leading to a night's stay and tonsillectomies. This time there were quite a few regulars and new babies with a long road ahead.

Feeding has been an absolute bitch. Usually H feeds herself and takes her own bottle. Maybe once a day I can give her a cuddle while she drinks her milk. As you can imagine, going from being able to feed yourself to wearing arm splints and not being able to suck or eat is no fun.  I had a big teary one day after she vomited a whole feed when I gave her panadol. I got the head tilt and "would you like a break" from the nurse.  I chose to grab a blanket and cuddle up for a nap with my sweety which was a much better choice for us.

The speech therapist from the hospital and our CleftPALS contact have both given me many, many suggestions. Something that works for one feed often does not follow on to the next. Our biggest success has been mashed potato and pumpkin with her milk poured down the side. Each mouthful is mainly milk and a bit of mash. So 2.5ml at a time we are slowly, messily getting the food in.

She has found a new passion this week, drawing. Big sisters use whiteboard markers on the fridge and she has a go at every chance she can get.

So now we are on to the school holidays. All three girls have colds so we are keeping close to home while they get well. Stopping and appreciating simple things like a cubby in the backyard is probably just what they need right now. A nice way to finish a big week.

One last thing on an already long (for me) post, where were we when we heard about our first woman PM? Awaiting discharge from the hospy sitting at her bed. Everyone else in the room had their TV on and another family had to tell me what was going on. That explained why I could not find ABC kids earlier while flipping through the channels.

Sign baby

H's Speech Therapist suggested introducing some signs to help her on the way to speaking. I think even after palate repair it will be good while she works out what to do with all the new sounds she will (hopefully!!) be able to make. I have been making the sign for milk with her over the last couple of weeks as well as singing songs with gestures like Twinkle Twinkle and Open Shut Them.

I found little gem at the ABC shop yesterday and have already mentioned it to a couple of Mums who have children with delayed speech or hearing issues so I thought I might as well post about it here. Gorgeous Sofya from Play School teaches AUSLAN with interviews from parents and great tips to help making signing with babies / toddlers a success. On top of that, there are some nursery rhymes to sign and sing along to.

Just a few days till her op now. Last time around it consumed almost all my thoughts, but this time it is not quite as intense. I have dropped trying to get her to practice with her post op teats as it was just leading to tears- hers as well as mine!! We WILL get there.

Sign Baby

Rated: E (exempt from classification)
Released: 2009 
ISBN / Catalogue Number: 0760680

Then and now

Four years ago we had a ballet obsessed little girl. Each day she would wear dress ups or at the very least a twirly dress. 

She spent hours reading her book Tina Ballerina's Ballet Class by Christian Posey and dancing along following the directions.

Now the twirly dresses are a thing of the past but she is now taking ballet class and looks very elegant in her uniform.

Nine months

Nine months ago the sweet girl beside me was a tiny little baby less than 24 hours old. She was drinking mls of colostrum through a syringe while sucking on a finger. Now she wants to hold her very own bottle. (still my

milk- Hooray!!)

Less than two weeks until her palate repair and I am feeling those same things again. Some of the unknown has been removed and I know full well that her recovery will be horrible and sad and overwhelming for both her and me. She is still refusing to use appropriate teats for post op and I fear that things are going to be even worse in the feeding department than after her lip repair.

For now though, here's to a my sweet, tenacious, funny, joyous 9 month old.

New cardi

She just keeps on growing! All the other cardigans I have made for her have already been passed on to little friends so it was time I make another one. 

Pattern Helena by Alison Green Will

 Ravelry Pattern Page | My project page

Yarn Yarnbee

Needle 4 mm and 3mm

Also it is very hard to get a shot of her sitting still. As soon as I snapped this she was back to her usual antics. 

Teething sucks

She is not doing too badly, but it would have been nice with all the challenges she faces with her mouth to have this as painless as possible. 

In the past week, at eight months of age we have had

• first teeth. yes plural, she really does refuse to do things in halves
• pulling herself up to standing only to fall right back on her bum. This does not stop her trying again minutes later.
• clapping hands
• climbing one step
• she pretends to read books and play with the doll house dolls too. It is the cutest thing. She will pick up a book or doll and make talking sounds. Her babbling is very limited due to her cleft but it is so lovely to see her having a go.

She really is my sunshine.