Too busy being busy?

I like this article:

Just too busy being busy?

and this one to!

Before Our Time

I'm a mum of six, with another on the way.
I do all those tasks involved in raising a family.
I work part time as a relief teacher.

I find the time to spend with my children.
I find the time to play and learn with them.
I find the time to go to work.
I find the time to craft.
I find the time to have a coffee with a friend.
I find the time to chat on the net.
I find the time to blog.
I find the time to do the things that are important to me and my family.

The house is not spick and span.
The washing isn't always up to date.
The kids baby albums were never finished.


And that article really made me think.
For some reason when I tell others I have the time to do what is important to me,
I have a guilty feeling.
Am I doing something wrong to have time ?

Is it because I'm just too lazy to fill my time?
Or does everyone else really have busier lives than me?

I"M ANGRY!!!

Here in Australia our children are expected to complete the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy in years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

Why am I angry?

James said, "Mum ..I didn't do so well, am I dumb?"

My heart is breaking! I feel so sad for my little man. He has been judged a failure. He has been used to set the bell curve of results so that other children can be average or above average compared to him.

"But, mum I like writing, why have I done so bad."

Do the powers that be really think they are going to make schools better by demolishing my son's love of writing and self esteem?

Oh, you may say, you didn't have to show him the results.
He asked for them, he was handed them in an envelope from school. He did the test, which was a emotional nightmare for him in the first place. How could I hide his result from him! Or maybe I should of lied?

Now what you may not know is James has sever Dyslexia and an Expressive language disorder. What you also may not know is that there is NO funding in schools to provide extra programmes or help for children with this learning disorder. James does get some extra help due to his Expressive language disorder, which is a funded disorder.

To have James assessed for Dyslexia we had to find an Educational Psychologist and go on a 6 month waiting list to have him assessed. We had to pay to have this done.

Dyslexia is a well know, well researched learning disorder and still there is NO funding or programmes in our schools here to support children with this disorder. I find this disgusting! Don't you?

If this government is really serious about improving "standards" in our schools wouldn't you think they would do something about helping children like James? Or reducing class sizes? or better equipping schools? or putting in more school support officers?

I must admit when another parent raves about how well their child did on this test I'm ready to scream, "they only did well, because my child didn't. They were compared to my son!"

Ok I'm off to have my cry. I'm angry mostly at myself for letting my son be humiliated and next time he WILL NOT be sitting this disgusting test. I don't need a test to tell me how well my child is doing. I know he is a wonderful unique, bright, intelligent sweet loving person.

Soap Making

No, not snowballs, they're soap balls!

The girls and I made soap balls.
We bought a kit, which involved mixing the soap base with oils and boiling water and molding the mix into shapes.
We then left the soap to dry for a couple of days.
The kids are enjoying their soapballs in the bath, I don't have to tell them to use soap.
You don't need to buy a kit to make this type of soap.

Links to easy mix and mold soap tutorials:

How to make sweet smelling soap balls
Uses a microwave and grated soap.

Tea soap balls
These sound nice!

More soap Balls
Using Lux soap

Oatmeal Soap Balls
Another grate, melt, mix and mold

Soap Making recipes -
if you scroll down you can see a recipe for just mixing the soap with water to make a mix you can mold like play dough.

Crafty Bits

How To

I'm sure you can find more links around the net!

Sleepy Sarah

10ply wool yarn
4mm crochet hook
Pattern: Sleepy Sarah a free Ravelry download


Sometimes you need a quick project to give you that "I finished something today" feeling.

Being a mum is a job never done and I never get that 'I've finished' feeling.
My craft gives me that.
As soon as I clean the loo, someone uses it.
When I've cooked a meal, it's eaten and there are dishes to do.
When the clothes are washed they are worn again and back in the washing basket.
I don't feel satisfied completing these tasks over and over again.
I know some people get great satisfaction and pride from such tasks, but not me.
I'm bored doing the same thing day in and day out.
I need the challenge of doing different things.
I need to be creative.

Creating with my hands makes me feel happy.
When I see my children wearing or playing with something I've made I feel satisfied.

The rhythm of knitting, crochet and stitching sooth and calm me.
I think, pray and meditate as my hands move.
I loose track of time and distance myself from the noise and busyness of a home with six happy, active, healthy, growing, robust, noisy, curiosity driven and boundary pushing children.

Learning new skills keeps my brain active and challenged.
And it's cheaper than therapy! ( ok maybe not cheaper but a lot more fun!)

Swap Angel

In May I took part in a swap.
Unfortunately my original partner decided to not honor her commitment
And to the rescue came a wonderful lady - Sandy!

Thank you so much Sandy, this really was a generous thing to do, Sandy did this with no reward. Some people just really make your heart sing.

From fibre to yarn to garment

This is the Merino tops I dyed with Fern a couple of weeks ago.

This is the yarn I spun and plied from the tops.
I didn't over spin the yarn this time! It was so soft and squishy.
I probably under plied it this time but it still knitted up nice.

I'm knitting a soaker for the new baby.

And it's done!

The yarn worked up very soft, beautiful next to the skin.

Stick Weaving - School Holiday fun

Peter used his wood working skills to make some weaving sticks for Fern and Rose.
Made from 6mm dowel with a 2.5 mm hole drilled at one end and a point on the other made with a pencil sharpener. these are very simple to make.

Thread some long lengths of yarn through the sticks and you're ready to go.

Now take a ball of yarn and start to weave around the sticks.

And you're doing it!


You can vary the number of sticks you use.
Sew strips of weaving together to make scarfs, bags, mats, blankets and many other items.

More links on stick weaving:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Stick_Weaving_For_a_Quick_Homemade_Gift
http://rachelspinning.blogspot.com/2006/11/stick-weaving-mat.html
A video - http://www.graspr.com/videos/Stick-Weaving-101
http://ncag.blogspot.com/2009/01/another-stick-weaving-project.html

All spun and knitted up and reflections on learning.

This is how it all started out!
500gms of sliver from Bendigo Woolen mills back room


I then spun it into yarn.

And then knitted it into.......


Pattern: Anthropologie - inspired Caplet
Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills sliver handspun by me!

I modified the patterns and casted on 85 sts after getting a gauge of 14 st to 4 inches. I measured 24 inches around the collar.

The pattern was great.

My yarn not so great, very over twisted and hard in places. This is my first sweater knitted with my handspun yarn. A real learning curve!

I’ve learned that:

• if you over spin the yarn it feels hard and harsh.
• You really need to spin all the fiber at one time so it ends up the same weight!
• I have a lot to learn!

Despite all the mistakes I'm rather proud of this. I love learning new skills and every mistake I make is one step closer to getting it right!

Learning something new is really exciting and makes you really reflect on how we learn. Watching the process myself and my children go through to learn things is a learning process in itself. That beginning frustration, then you start to get it and suddenly the Eureka moment! And it all seems so easy and you can't understand why others find it hard!

Many people find it so hard just to get started, many give up at the first frustration but once you get to the Eureka moment the satisfaction you get is well worth the effort!

It's all about the way you think. Instead of the negative self talk, reminding yourself that everyone has to start at the beginning and for some of us it is hard at the start. It's so important not to let ourselves give up, to let the self doubt and negative talk to start. Reminding your children when they say, "I can't." that negative self talk will make learning even harder. I tell my kids it turns their brains off! Instead try saying something positive like, "This is hard and I'm learning and soon it will be easy!"

If every toddler gave up trying to make that first step because it was too hard we'd all be crawling! As parents it's really important we make sure our kids stay positive to learning new things and become people who love to learn. How we speak to our kids as they learn is so important, we need to teach them to learn, not to give up at the first step, to encourage them with positive comments and praise. They need to learn how to deal with the frustration of learning something new.

Baby Blanket

I can't resist a special!
I bought the yarn for $1 a ball at Kmart.
It's an acrylic with a beautiful luster.
I used a simple diagonal dishcloth pattern to create this blanket.

Pattern : Diagonal Dishcloth
Yarn: Palette collection #38

It was knitted on 6.5mm needles and knitted up quickly.
It's lovely and soft.

I spun the yarn and knitted it too...

This is Alpaca that I bought from Moseley Park.
It was the first installment of the Natural Fiber club.
This is the first time I had spun Alpaca.
If learning is measured by the number of mistakes we make, I learned a lot!


Pattern : Snuggle Cowl
Yarn : My handspun Alpaca
I knitted it up into a cowl. A cowl is used like a scarf to keep your neck warm.
If I'd made it longer I could of pulled it up to cover my head too.
I've really enjoyed wearing a cowl I find scarfs too 'dangly'.
Alpaca is incredible warm, particularly useful right now.

Wool dyeing

Fern had her first lesson in dying wool.
She chose her colours, I mixed them up for her and she applied them.

Her wool came up beautiful.

It's a 50gm skein.
Next I'll have to show her how to ball it up ready to knit with.

I used up the remaining dye to dye up some merino roving.
I'm planning on spinning this soon.

My win!

I won this bag in a competition on the Crafty mamas Blog.
It will make a perfect nappy bag, it has 6 internal pockets.

Or I can reverse it and have the pockets on the outside!
Gill made the bag and donated it for the competition.
Thank you Gill!

Thank you Lissylou!!

Oh my she is so beautiful!
A breastfeeding doll.
Handmade by Lissylou!

She is so beautifully and carefully made.
I feel inspired to have a go at making dolls now.

Lissylou made me this doll in a swap we did.
I love swaps!

Shower cap

Take one old pillowcase,one old shower curtain, a little bias tape, some elastic and a free tutorial and pattern from Hoppo Bumpo and you get one shower cap!

Now my hair is getting longer I find it takes forever to dry if I get it wet in the shower. I've been using some disposable plastic shower caps which I got from hotel rooms From when I was single and could afford to stay in nice hotels!

A model shot! He's growing into a little boy too quickly!

And another one because he is so cute!

Easiest Crochet Soaker Ever

This is a free Crochet Soaker Pattern
It's very simply crocheted as a flat rectangle, folded and seamed.
I picked up stitches around the leg openings and knitted a rib cuff.

The rise of the soaker can be folded down to fit a smaller baby.

Crochet creates a denser fabric which is great for night nappies.
The yarn is Knittery Merino and I hand dyed it.
The soaker took just under 100gms.
It worked up very quickly, I finished this in a day!

New Conceptions Baby Essentials - boy set

I love this pattern. I made a girl set a little while ago.
These fabrics also came from the Crafty mamas Store.

the booties were easier to make the second time around.

Gotta Love a free Pattern - Kimono shoes

I love this pattern and it's free!
From Homespun Threads

Precious Patterns Pillowcase Dress

A plain one with no applique.
The fabrics came from the quilt shop.
I bought the pattern from You Can Make This
It was pretty cheap and you can make them for sale in limited numbers too!

And a Ladybug applique one.
I love the pattern so easy to follow.

Baby Nightgowns

I bought this pattern from the op-shop only paid $1, bargain!

A very simple easy pattern
Quick to sew up on the overlocker.
I used my sewing machine to hems.
The fabric for this one came from the op-shop too.

TraceyH of Craftymamas gave me the fabric for this one.
I really like this simple type of baby gown.
Makes for easy nappy changes and should be light enough for summer nights.

Finger Knitting

The current issue of Yarn Magazine has a great kids section.
It contains the instructions for finger knitting on four fingers.
And a kids competition, Fern wants to enter.

Fern taught herself from the directions in the magazine.
I was pretty impressed with that!

Now I need to pinch my magazine back off her so I can read the great articles on spinning, weaving, knitting, felting, crochet, yarn and all those great Aussie yarn store ads!
I'd buy the magazine just for the ads, a great way to find all those yummy Aussie yarn stores.

I Won, I won I won!!!

The August give away on the Carfty mama's blog!

I think I'll use it as a nappy bag for the new baby :)

Thank you Crafty mama's and Gill