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. 

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!

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.....

An antisocial month

I have been in quite an antisocial place over the last month or so. It began when the girls all got sick right round the school holidays. I had it too but have not quite found my groove again. Computer time seems to have vanished all together and I am falling asleep early in the evening, setting my alarm for my 10pm pump. On top of that, H is getting to the age where people are beginning to ask when I am going to stop expressing milk for her. I am not ready to stop yet and only want to hear encouraging words. Finally, even if I wanted to get out and about more I have to plan things around my pumping schedule.

H is crawling all over the place and eating everything in sight. Some of my younger sibs were little vacuums like her, scouring the floor and putting each little thing in their mouths so her ways are not a complete shock to me, but still very different from big sisters. 

Speaking of, G is going very well and enjoying school and guitar. Her swimming really came along before the break started too. Poor B is still working on getting over the bug she had. She is not quite 100% yet, but we are working on it.

I have been doing a little knitting. Mainly drink cosies for the school fete which is coming up in July. I am going to market them toward both coffee and smoothie cups. It has been a good way of reducing my scrap yarn and I can donate the ones that don't sell for next years Mother's Day stall. 

Then there is Lacy Baktus for my gorgeous Homeopath. I don't know how I would have made it through the last 12 months without her. 

The photo is really dodgy because I was in a rush to get it to her.

Pattern Lacy Baktus by Strikkelise

 Ravelry Pattern Page | My project page

Yarn Moda Vera Baci

Needle 7mm

The girls have been asking me to teach them knitting again. I really struggle each time I try to show them because I knit left handed (mirror to the English method). When I try to show them right handed  knitting it almost blows my mind. I just can't do it very well.

Yesterday I had a go at Continental with the Norwegian Purl and I may well be a total convert. Time will tell. As for the teaching, B said that I can finish the doll blanket for her, so it looks like class is dismissed until next time one of them ask to learn.

Cupcake dream

At the ripe old age of four, B has nightmares sorted. Yesterday she told me that when she has scary dreams that she whispers "change to the cupcake dream please". She says it works every time, but you have to say please.

So what happens in the cupcake dream? "Well there's fairies on them and sprinkles. They are on a plate and everyone gets to eat them."

Love it.

Monday morning

A rainy commute today. It feels so cleansing for the start of a new week, month and season. Autumn is my very favourite time of the year so the girls and I celebrated it's arrival yesterday by cooking up a big pot of vegetable soup. It is G's and my favourite but surprisingly DH and B enjoyed some too. Usually he likes a ton of commercial chicken stock in his soup, but I refuse to use it.

The other new thing that we are celebrating is no more arm splints and pipette teat for sweet H. She is so happy to have her fingers back to suck on.

Cutbacks

This week my husband and I have been talking about our financial goals and the way the cost of living in Dubai is way higher than we had anticipated despite our research before moving over here. Just as an example, our rent, which must be paid in advance annually works out to be approx $1100 per week for a 3 bedroom townhouse. The books and real estate websites we looked at before moving here suggested at least half that. We soon learned that real estate websites were at the time not kept up to date. It was during the boom and villas were being snapped up at a very fast rate.

We have decided to make some serious cutbacks in order to actually move forward and hopefully return to Australia next year. Our financial situation and the current world economic climate has me thinking about the way previous generations got on during the tough times.

The blanket pictured above is a beautiful example of stretching something and making use of every last scrap. The image is not as clear as I would have hoped, but this knitted baby blanket was passed on to me when my paternal Grandmother died 22 years ago. It measures about 50x30cm as must have over 100 knots from where the small lengths of cotton were joined. I treasure this blanket for the love and beauty that went onto such a frugal piece that has lasted over time.

A BOY

Well my nephew, born in the wee small hours of this morning, USA central time is. Congratulations to my gorgeous sister, her husband and daughter. It was very exciting to be receiving updates from my mother and youngest sister on my blackberry from the time she reached transition until Peter was blissfully enjoying his first drink of breastmilk.

Our darling's secret is safe for another few months, but I really miss knitting longies so I have decided to make several different pair of whatever takes my fancy. I can either gift or sell those that we decide we will not need.

I love the colourway, but am not happy with the pooling both on the body and leg of the longies. I recently made a hat from the same wool that came out in beautiful stripes.

The ruffled cuff is from my Field Guide To Knitting stitch dictionary.

Happy Birthday to my darling Charlotte back in Australia, and in the USA my sweet little nephew Peter and Happy Birthing Day to my wish come true, Rhianon.

Small knits for a small person

*~ OUR SMALL PERSON ~*

We are thrilled to bits with the news that we will be welcoming baby number 3 later this year. As soon as my stomach started churning and I gained my superpower sense of smell I decided to cast on these yummys knit in BFL in a colourway that I am calling Very Hungry Caterpillar. Though it looks more blue than green in my photo.

So we have some newborn sized longies in the Baa Bum pattern that my gorgeous friend and owner of the Small Things blog created. My go to infant hat, Umbilical Cord from Stitch n Bitch and a teeny tiny pair of Simply Sweet Socks.

A morning at the park

In the last couple of weeks there seems to have been more rain than we have seen the rest of the year combined. Here are some shots from a regular sunny day at our local.

Five

when I have said my evening prayer

and my clothes are folded on the chair
and mother switches off the light
i'll still be four years old tonight

but from the very break of day
before the children rise and play
before the darkness turns to gold
tomorrow i'll be five years old

five kisses when i wake
five candles on my cake
(M. Meyer Kort)

That gorgeous verse is a family tradition for each birthday eve and here is another special thing that adds to our celebration. Each family member has their own candle, today it was a cupcake with a candle. We each hold our lit candle and take it in turns sharing a wish for the birthday person before blowing our candles out. Ultra warm and fuzzy.