Beths Bob

Beth has been asking for a hair cut - she has gone from a girl who refused a cut to one begging for one, lol. Her hair had gotten quiet long and it was getting so knotty all the time and she hated having it brushed.

So......I cut it! She asked for hair like Nate's......yep he has a shaved head, lol, but we compromised on a bob.




What do you think? Beth loves it thank goodness *phew*.

Catch Up

I have been doing a few little projects lately.

I made a little bag for a 2 year olds birthday and forgot to take a photo *doh*.

It was reversible, black one side and red the other (cotton drill) and it had pockets in a black cotton with red strawberries. I loved it, not sure if the little pink and purple Dora fan liked it much though *ooops*. I also made a matching scrunchie.

I am going to make another for Beth I think. It was the same type of bag as I made for myself but smaller, lol.

I also knitted a basket weave headband. I found the pattern on Sues blog, the direct link is here. I don't think its as big (wide) as it was supposed to be but it looks OK and does a job.


Please excuse my ugly mug

I am now knitting another from some hand dyed wool that I frogged from a soaker I knitted ages ago (when I first learned to knit).....it had really dodgy increasing/decreasing, lol, so I had never really used it.

What else???? I have lots of things on my need "to do" and want "to do" lists.

I am currently cleaning out my baby stuff to pass on to a friend...*sob*...bye bye to little, squishy, sweet smelling, snuggly, suckling newborns....thankfully Ari is only 4mths or I might break down at the thought.

I really think its time to move on. I love my kiddies and 5 (6. 7. 8...) would be lovely (I imagine) but a bit to much for me to cope with....that and DH would leave me, lol.

I have moved to thoughts now of what I will do when my kids get older and what I want to do now. Its hard to think of time when they will be grown up.

Thankfully I have many more years (at least 3-4) of staying at home full time and then at least 2 more where I would not want to work more then 2-3 days a week.

So what to do....

Nanna Knits for Ari

I love this outfit my nanna knitted for Ari, it is so soft and squishy I can't help but cuddle him in it.

I have no idea what kind of wool it is, she got it from a garage sale, lol, I will have to ask her. Her arthritis is bothering her so she is struggling to knit as much now but I am so thankful for this.

Here is my 4mth old baby (can you believe he is four months already!), the pants stretch up almost to his nipples, lol, and keep him fabulously warm.

Mucking around with layout......again

Glutton for punishment, I have been at it again.....new background, slightly wider area for text, new header. I am not 100% happy with the header yet so will be changing that as soon as I get the chance.

So, what do you think???

Mei Tai - tried, tested now time to design V2.0

Heres some on going action shots of my new favorite baby carrier...my home made mei tai.

I find it conveinient, comfortable and it looks fabulous ;). As you can see from the pictures Ari loves it...sleeps well in it although he likes being on my tummy when really unsettled.

Now for the improvements......

As you can see from the first pic, his head is unsupported so when sleeping it rolls about a bit - I can ease it back into position but when walking around etc it naturally flops, lol. I do have something here to sew on as a hood (and I will do so) but next time I plan on making the body taller with a flip up/fold down head support.

I think the body width is fine for us till Ari is about 18-24mths.

I will also make the straps longer - these are a little short so will maybe add another 20-30cms.

I am also thinking on angled waist straps - I am a little confused as to HOW angled they would need to be???

I have bought some more Drill from spotlight (25% off :)) and have some other fabrics here to use as a panel. I am not sure if I will do another 3 layer one or rather just 2 with the cross over for support.

Cloth in the Sunday Telegraph 13/7/08

*does a little dance*

"Cloth nappies are making a comeback thanks to environmentally aware, health-conscious and environmentally savvy parents....."

Ari rolled from back to tummy...twice!!!!

My baby is growing up so fast, last night while enjoying floor time without a nappy he rolled to his side multiple times and then...rolled onto his tummy......twice!!! He is 17 weeks (almost 4mths) and I can't believe how fast it is all happening.

.......He is full of smiles...



.........Loves Tummy time....



......and we are enjoying our baby wearing time together....



He tries my patience some days with not sleeping ;) but in all honestly he is pretty lovely to be around. He has a chesty cough and runny nose atm but isn't too demanding with it.

I really am a lucky mum.

My Kids - Smile

After my regular 2 minute splash and dash this morning........ok, ok maybe it was a little longer, but it is freezing here today and I needed to wash my hair, lol....I returned to my bedroom to find Beth cuddling a bleary eyed Ari. It seems he "waked up mum and wanted cuddles" ;).



And of course when the kids saw the camera they all wanted a pic:)



Awwwwwww ;)

Home Made Bag to match Mei Tai

I followed a tute on Make Baby Stuff for this one. Its a great site recently found when looking at Tracy's wonderfully crafty blog.

I altered the strap width/length and choose to have all open pockets but the size of the body is the same. I also made things hard for myself by having a layer of polar fleece in the body and strap. I used the left over cotton drill and some more quilters cotton from the Surf and Sand collection.

I think I will add a snap or 2 just to keep the top closed a bit more. and if I make another (for a friend) I will maybe try a tab across the top with a snap iykwim, or maybe a satchel type flap......maybe, lol.

Home Made Mei Tai

I sewed this last night/this morning - overall I am pretty happy with my first effort. I made it using cotton drill for the inner and straps and quilting cotton for the panels (Marcus Brothers Surf and Sand). I padded the waist strap with a piece of polar fleece. The aesthetics are not perfect but it is structurally sound :) which is most important.

I didn't follow any particular pattern although I have looked at many online....just kinda did what I thought I wanted, lol. I think I will try turning and top stitching next time as this time the panels were ironed and then sewn together iykwim so they are a little askew ;). I just couldnt get my brain to figure it all out.

Dimensions are -

Panel width - 4ocms
Panel Height - 51cms
Panel Height from waist strap - 40cms
Waist Strap Width- 11cms
Waist Strap Length either side - 59cms
Shoulder Strap Width- 14cms
Shoulder Strap Length - 155cms
(all straps could of been a little longer maybe??)

It has 3 body panels - the inner is drill that has the shoulder straps sewn in an X the whole way through....



Here are some shots of it in action - my first goes at using a MT...

First off - Ari (3.5mths - 65cms - 7ish kgs)



Then Nate (2), Beth (almost 4) and Liam (almost 6)..

I have made a hood but am unsure how I should join it - snaps?, sewn?....and then how to attach to straps...