Some days start so well ..

Sunday started well.

A beautiful sunny day.

I decided we'd go to the park for a BBQ. 

 The park is about 2kms from our home.

 We ate and we played and we had a lovely time.

When there's 7 kids there's always someone to play with.

We sat, cuddled and crawled.

We had such a lovely time.

When it was time to go home.

Michael didn't want to go!

Now a three year old who doesn't want to do something is not going to co-operate.

He refused to walk home.

I put him in the pram and he kicked and wiggled and tried to climb out.

He was rocking the pram so badly I was worried he'd tip it with Heather in it.

I smacked him hoping it would shock him into stopping but it just made him worse.

I smacked him, because I was angry. 

I wanted control over the situation.

I'm ashamed of myself.

I don't believe in smacking, I know it doesn't work.

It's me venting my frustration.

I had to get him out of the pram.

He kicked and punched at me as I tried to take him from the toddler seat on the pram and I ended up dropping him! Luckily he wasn't hurt.

He still refused to walk.

I had to carry him kicking,  punching and screaming all the way home.

An uncoperative toddler weighs a fair bit.

I tried to put him down and pretend we were going to walk home without him.

He turned and ran back towards the park.

I had to run after him and pick him back up.

The whole time he's screaming. "No, I want park!"

We get home.

I locked the front door.

I grabbed the phone to ring Pete to have a good cry.

I heard the front door open.

Michael had opened the chain, the deadlock and the handle.

I caught him opening the front gate.

I gave him a bath to try and calm him down.

It didn't work.

I put on his favorite cartoon, it didn't work.

He continued to scream, "I want park!"

Afraid I'm going to loose it and smack him again. 

I walked away and fed Heather who was also crying.

Michael followed me and stood beside my chair screaming.

Then he went quiet. He had fallen asleep standing up!

He woke about ten minutes later and was happy to sit and watch his cartoon.

The day started well.

When Michael got up on Monday his first words.."We go park now!"

 I don't think we'll be going for awhile and when we go again I'll take the car.

My shoulders and arms were very sore and I have bruises from the kicks. 

I didn't handle the whole situation very well.

I find parenting hard.

I didn't get a personality transplant when I gave birth.

Placing that wonderful bundle into my arms didn't instantly make me the most patient loving, self sacrificing person in the world.

Giving birth didn't make me a perfect mother who would always know what to do.

And even after the seventh I still have so much to learn.

Every day I wake with the intention of being the best mother I can be.

Sometimes I do well and sometimes I totally fail.

Smacking is being a total failure as a parent to me.

I'm supposed to be the person my child loves and trusts the most in this world.

I wouldn't let a total stranger hit my child but I who is supposed to love them the most did it.

I'm feeling brave writing this. 

A warts and all.

I know my parenting decisions will be judged unacceptable by many.

There will be people who think I'm a terrible person for smacking.

There will be people who think I should smack more.

There will be people who think that if I had taken a deep breath at the beginning and handled Michael better. If I'd distracted him with the ball and had him kick the ball home I may of averted the whole sad saga to start with. (and I agree with you!)

I know many also find parenting hard and hope, that in reading this, they can feel less alone in their journey to being the parent they want to be.

Passing on the passion

Another beautiful spring day.

We've been sitting out the front on the new bench spinning.

Fern wanted to learn to spin.
We brought out the Thumberlina Wheel for her to practice on.

I started her on some commercial Merino top.

Rose took the photo for the blog and wants a lesson too.

I do have another  older Ashford Traditional wheel.
I'll have to get it working so Rose can use it.

I now have 3 wheels and another coming for Christmas.

While I spun up some more fleece in the grease.

This time a Cream Moorit Romney X Corr X Merino from Lucinvale Coated Spinning Fleeces

I'm spinning some very fine and some very thick and plying the two together.

The bobbins fill a lot quicker when you spin the fleece thick.

The way to a boy's heart..

..... is to let him lick the chocolate cake bowl.

Michael:

lick, lick

"I love you mum" 

lick, lick

"I love you mum"

Lick, Lick ...

I had to laugh and grab the camera to record the moment.

Little moments like this are too easily forgotten, when they've grown.

This really is the reason I blog, 

In the years to come

I can look back at the kids growing and remember the special little moments.

This really is a lovely chocolate cake.

The recipe is from HERE

I didn't use the icing in the recipe I made a ganache instead.

It is possible....

For a nine month old and an almost 3 year old to fight!

Heather knows how to hold her own these days.

I don't think Heather was impressed with Michael pushing into her photo shoot.

It was a beautiful spring day today.

Time to strip off the winter wear and take some sun, 

increasing our vitamin D. 

So important for our mental health, growth of bones and immune system.

New research is showing that babies born with low levels of Vitamin D are more at risk of mental health problems in their adult life.

Link HERE

The research is also showing that wearing sunscreen every time you go in the sun may not be the best for our health.

Link HERE

It's all a balance you don't want sunburn as it increases the risk of cancer but you still need unportected sun exposure to allow your body to produce that amazing Vitamin D.

Low Vitamin D is also linked to depression.

Have you had your dose of sunlight today?

I was trying to weave and Heather wanted to help.

I did try to play with my ipad and Michael wanted to steal that.

So I got out the camera instead.

Heather was taste testing the grass.

She doesn't stay on the quilt.

She does a full crawl now and is getting quick!

She's wearing the bow Bloomers and the Pop Top still fits!

Both are free patterns on my free pattern page.

End of term means lots of assignments are due.

Rose and James are in the same class and had a large project this term.

Both had to make a model related to their project.

Rose's project choice was cats.

And James chose to study Andy Griffiths for his project.

James' model is of the Eel on the cover of Just Shocking.

1kg of English Leicester X Merino fleece

It took forever.

I spun it very fine.

After watching:

The Gentle Art Of Plying with Judith MacKenzie 

I decided to 3 ply most of my singles.

I learned that I have a tendency to underply and underspin. 

I learned that was ok too, if that was the type of yarn I wanted to make!

I learned that 3ply is rounder and better for knitting as it will bloom in the stitch.

I learned that it was better to have a little more twist in a yarn that is to be knitted as it will loss twist  as you knit.

I also learned that by plying a yarn you don't double it's thickness. 

That as the singles twist together they interlock.

singles

I left some as singles, just to admire how fine I spun it!

I learned that the direction of the spin isn't set in stone, just a tradition.

And spinning to left can be better for some uses of the yarn like certain weave structures and crochet.

I loved this video I learned so much.

It was like having my own personal workshop I could stop when I'd had enough and come back to it when I was ready to take more in.

I uploaded it to my ipad so could watch it in bed or while outside with the kids.

I initially tried washing a small amount of the fleece and then spinning. 

I found this to be harder to draft. 

Then I tried spinning in the grease just using a comb to open the ends and it drafted beautiful with the grease still in to lubricate the draft.

I  had to make an effort to spin it thicker as it wanted to spin so fine I thought it was a cobweb!

11 WPI as a 3py

15 WPI as a 2ply

28WPI as a single (because there is no such thing as a 1ply ;))

 2ply

I'm not even going to attempt to measure the yardage.

Lets just say there's a lot there!

Playing with my knitter's loom

Warp and weft: my handspun Romney X Corr

Warp: 6 of each colour

Weft: 2 pics of each colour

Nice site with the Terminology used in weaving.

 I wove this on my Ashford Knitter's loom

Using the 10 DPI reed.

I'm playing making swatches of different patterns.

I want to try weaving with a pick up stick on my Knitter's loom next.

I did say I was obsessed...

The postman just knocked on my door!

Five little looms have come to stay.

Two 5 inch looms, one for 8ply yarns and the other for 12 ply.

One 7 inch triangle,

One 7 inch 12ply loom,

and one 31/2 by 7 1/2 rectangle.

I bought them from Bella in Adelaide. 

She does mail order!

The looms are marked down as they are the last of her stock.

So if you want one be quick as there aren't many left. 

I beat you to them!

Woven table mat

Yarn: Handspun Romneyx Corr

Woven on 7 inch square hand loom

Fly stitch, buttonhole and Lazy Daisy

My first finished project using my 7 inch square loom.

My hand spun is a little heavier than an 8ply and the last couple of rows of the squares were a little tight to weave.

I love the feel of the fabric, it's not as harsh as it looks.

I'm building up a pile of weavies. 

17 in the box at the moment. 

Most in a commercial 8ply yarn.

I was going to make a throw with them but I could be tempted to make a garment.

A throw made from weavies made with my handspun would be very nice.

Childhood memories

My mum taught me to knit when I was 5. 

I was given this little Lady Bird book for Christmas. 

I remember my sister got a similar Ladbird book on gardening. 

I remember my Nan always had knitting needles in her hand.

My aunt sent me my Nan's needles and they are treasured.

My Nan was a very gifted knitter and crocheter.

The publish Date is 1972 so I must of been 6 or 7 when I got this book.

I remember I had started school.

And I remember trying to knit this tie for my Dad.

I didn't have a lot of patience.

I only knitted a few inches and put elastic in the stitches so Dad could wear it around his neck.

I remember him wearing it out of the house.

He probably took it off as soon as he was out of sight.

It's one of my precious memories of my dad and childhood.

I miss my Dad. 

Knitting and crafting have always been magic to me.

The ability to make something with my own hands that didn't exist before.

The magic of turning yarn into something still fascinates and satisfies me.

And now I've added fiber to the obsession.

E-loom-in-ating

I'm in love with little looms and weaving

I bought a little loom from Bella last year and have had fun weaving up squares.

I have a 7 inch loom that is designed to weave 8ply yarns.

I now want to invest in more of these little looms and play with them.

Pete is being romanced into making me more looms using the instructions from This site.

Eloomanation.com is a fabulous site full of PDF booklets for making all sorts of things with these little woven squares.

Pin Weaving 

requires no loom and is very creative and fun. 

A lot like riding a bike without holding the handle bars.

All you need is some pin tacks. a board and some yarn.

And a child like attitude to play and experimenting.

 I warped this piece in cotton and wove with some interesting yarns

Then added a little pin woven flower.

What am I going to do with it?

I have no idea, but it was fun to create.

Freeform weaving must be popular, as there are now a couple of books on the subject.

I've fround a couple of differenet types of weaving looms at the local op shops.

This set I estimate to be 1970's .

I do have the four looms but the large circle one is missing a pin.

This Magic Loom fascinates me. 

It was manufactured here in South Australia.

I'm estimating 80's on this one.

It's woven in the same way as the current butterfly looms. 

But it retracts the pins you wind around to make it easy to get the woven piece off the loom.

 I bought the little set a few years ago and the book I found only about a month ago at another op-shop.

More information on weaving with little looms and pin weaving can be found:

Spinning Down Under

Tenar

Weavies

Knitting-And.com

If you've found any really good sites, please let me know I'd love to visit them.

Wirrabara Craft House

 

Nothing like a quick trip up to Wirrabara Craft House

They have the nicest handmade pieces.

All locally made.

I've had one of these benches on my want list for a long time.

And curtesy of the Australian Government and a tax return.

We now have one.

I can see myself sitting out the front a lot this Spring spinning at my Wheel,

while Heather and Michael play on the front weed patch lawn.

The Fleeces followed me home........

Hand spun and knitted Scarf

From Art Batt to scarf.

If you missed the post on me spinning this, HERE it is.

I knitted until I ran out of yarn and made a scarf 180cm long.

Pattern: Go diagonal Scarf by Sophia Kessinger

Needles 10mm Denise interchangeables 

I found the pattern through Ravelry. You do need to be a member to access the link to the PDF download of this pattern but it's all free.

Cabbage for dinner

And the kids loved it.

I made Chow Mein, one of the kids favorites. 

With our home grown cabbage.

Lilly helped me pick the cabbage and carry it to the house.

Now my kids will normally turn their nose up to cabbage,

but this is Dadddy's cabbage, 

the one he grew in the garden. 

They all tried a little of the raw cabbage and declared it sweet and yummy.

It's great weather for ducks around here. 

Sadly we've lost our ducks and only have the drake left. 

A feral cat, we think has decided we are a larder, 

The trap is set so hopefully we will find the culprit, 

who has now had 3 ducks and 2 chickens.

The cherry Plum is in full bloom. 

This is a lovely old tree. 

The fruit has a tart, tangy taste which is really nice.

It's a very old tree. 

We think around 50 years.

These chickens are still around and safe, 

being smart enough to go into the chook house at night,

so we can lock them up.

Little Sister Sweater

Heather is growing up quickly.

Sitting unsupported and crawling around the house.

My baby is mobile!

She even bit me for the first time today.

The jumper is another free net pattern.

I love free patterns, especially when they have been tested by lots of other people all over the world and the results shared as they are on Ravelry.

This was a very quick knit.

I casted on, on Friday and was finished on Sunday night

I embellished with a simple crochet butterfly.

And a little stitching.

Pattern : Little Sister Sweater by Amy King

Needles: 5mm 30cm and 40cm Circulars

Yarn: Jet by patons, Alpaca and Wool

OOh Awww pretty glittery yarn

Packages that come in the mail.

Tied up in pretty ribbon are some of my favorite things.

 Art Batts were the first installment in the Moseley Park No.3 Dyed Fiber Club for 2010

Carded up by the talented Jane they contained Mohair locks, Merino, Suri locks and Angelina for sparkle. 

All spun up onto a single bobbin. 

I was determined to get it to all fit on one bobbin as my other bobbins are currently filled with EL X Merino. I was going to finish spinning that but couldn't resist shiny fiber.

It's so pretty.

I'm plying with more glitter. 

I've had this embroidery thread in my stash for awhile.

 All plied up.
Now what to knit, crochet or weave with it?
Any suggestions?

It's worth an extra photo.