Commonplace Iris

Kids Clothing Challenge Update

2010-05-13T22:55:00.010-04:00

I'm a little discouraged with my sewing progress. I'm pleased that I've got myself working in my sewing room every day this week so far as challenged. The problem is I'm beginning to feel as though I'm going to end the week with only one outfit made (and I haven't actually finished that one yet). This is the pattern I've been working on and a glimpse at the work in progress:

It's not a particularly complicated garment, I did make it a little trickier for myself by essentially making two dresses though. The floral print I bought is fairly thin so I knew it would need something worn underneath and so actually decided to cut the pattern pieces also in another fabric to line the garment (I'm joining them together where there's binding at the neck and sleeves and at the opening in the back). Still, I'm not sure what's taking me so long!! Hopefully my daughter will like it, now I'm debating whether I should save it to be a birthday dress since if it's taking me this long I don't know whether I'll get round to more before then!

I haven't actually done the best job of getting sewing on clothes done today anyway to be honest. This morning I ended up spending most of my daughter's school time at her school - they have an assembly for the whole school which parents can attend once a week and I thought I'd go and see that but it meant sitting around for quite a while afterwards as the mother I'd got a ride with was in a meeting. I did do some sewing for my child though, here's a peek at what I was working on:
This is as far as I got because it turned out I had brought the wrong green embroidery floss with me so then I started unravelling the knitting project I've been working on (another reason I'm a bit discouraged with my crafting right now) to restart because I just wasn't happy with the way it was fitting. Here's hoping that tomorrow I can actually manage to finish something!

Kids Clothes Week Challenge - Day 2

2010-05-11T21:10:00.000-04:00

Well, I did sew today for more than the one hour, unfortunately I guess I'm not the fastest sewer so I do not have anything ready to show and tell about yet. Fingers crossed for tomorrow. I have most of the sewing done for the outer part of the dress so I need to finish up the lining and put binding around neck and sleeves and then hem. I have matching trousers cut and ready to sew too. Then it'll be time to make something for the baby.

Hopefully I'll build enough sewing momentum this week to carry me through until the new baby comes and will then actually manage to get through the list of things to make I came up with yesterday (and have thought of more things to add to today of course!).

While I work on my sewing I like to catch up with my BBC radio listening (mostly Radio 4 and 7). I forgot yesterday to mention a series that I've been listening to (currently running on BBC Radio 7) which seems particularly appropriate listening for this sewing challenge - it's called The Invention of Childhood looking at what we know about childhood from the middle ages through to the present day. Each episode is available to "listen again" to for 7 days after broadcast, the first couple of episodes are now gone unfortunately but the series has a total of 30 episodes (each 15 minutes long.

Time to Sew!!

2010-05-10T22:43:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone for whom it was Mothers Day yesterday had a good day. Mine was not exactly the day I wished for going into it - my husband and I had talked about me having the afternoon to myself while he took our daughter to see his mother. In the end I went with them which was good but also a little stressful in places and since I napped in the car on the way down I didn't get as much crafting done as I'd thought I would manage.

Maybe I changed my mind because I was feeling a little territorial since the first thing my daughter said upon waking up on Mother's Day was, "I'm so excited because we're going to see Memere today!" Then turned and confided in whispers to my husband that though she'd finished the collage she'd decided to make her Memere the one for me wasn't done so, "maybe I can finish it and give it to her next year" - so nothing for me for Mothers Day morning! She did draw me a picture (of a "rainbow house") while we were in church and then cuddle up in my lap and tell me how much she loves me which is the best gift after all. Plus then the three of us went out for brunch which was very nice. And I suppose there's a teeny tiny chance I'll get another opportunity for a day to myself before I go into labour...

Really though I can't complain because although it can be hard work and exhausting this is where I wanted to be in life - a SAHM with an amazing daughter and a new baby on the way - and there was a time I wondered whether it would happen for me (after several years of trying to get pregnant we lost our first daughter due to a placental abruption about 23 weeks into my pregnancy). And how can I be anything but thankful when there are so many women out there still waiting and hoping, and for some, trying to figure out how to grieve and move on from their dreams of motherhood? When we got home and my daughter was in bed I read a couple of posts that were exactly what I needed to be reading right then, check out this blog post at Uppercase Woman (watch the video too), and the Huffington Post article PBS's 'This Emotional Life': Now Is the Moment to Hold Your Child by Catherine Connors (her brief Mothers Day blogpost is here with a poem by Christina Rossetti). You may well need to get tissues first though.

But wait, this post was supposed to be about sewing wasn't it, whoops! I signed up to join in with elsiemarley's kids clothes week challenge - which is to spend at least one hour a day working on sewing clothes for children for the upcoming season.

I'm hoping I can follow through with it better than I did with eskimimi's knitting and crochet blog week challenge - I started working on the blogposts every day but most of them are currently still in draft form waiting to see if I'll ever finish them. This is largely due to my amazing indecisiveness -- picking just one pattern or designer or knitter is so hard! Just looking at my queue and lists of favourites at ravelry will give you an inkling of how much time I wasted going back and looking through and thinking about and narrowing down what to write about! It did get me knitting again though so that's good -- I'm working on a mini-sweater (aka boobholder) after obsessing over cropped not too warm quick to knit patterns to make and wear at a wedding we have coming up (I have a long black dress and wanted something pretty and colourful which I can wear over my almost ready to pop belly to make me look more wedding like and less funereal).

But to this week's challenge... I did not get quite as far as any actual sewing today but I have been going through my fabric and patterns trying to decide on projects for the week and have cut out fabric for a dress for my daughter, she doesn't really need any more summer dresses but can one have too many? Tomorrow is her long day at preschool so hopefully I'll get some daytime sewing in that might allow for daylight picture taking. I've been looking through pictures people have posted to the flickr group, some really cute stuff already. I'm a little afraid that if I start visiting all the participating blogs I might never actually get any sewing done though so perhaps I'll wait on that until I've posted at least one finished object of my own.

So what I'd like to try and get to this week would be:

a dress or two, and perhaps some twirly skirts for my daughter
also what she actually needs is be some shorts and summery trousers so that's on my list for sure
a sun hat or three would not go amiss since I don't know what happened to the ones we had last summer so right now she just has a purple baseball cap which is really a bit too big for her

I didn't actually go through the baby patterns yet but it's probably what I should really work on - some thoughts for that:

kimono tops
trousers
cloth diapers
cloth baby shoes

Now I kind of wish we'd found out whether the baby will be a girl or a boy 'cause if it's a girl I could safely make some baby clothes to coordinate with the dresses for my daughter which I bet she'd get a kick out of. Well I'll save the offcuts and see what happens, perhaps I can use the more girly fabric for doll clothes if it's a boy.

I have another sewing WIP to share at some point, and it's even for my daughter but it's not clothing so maybe I'll take a break from working on it until next week. I'm hoping to finally make her a quilt to give her a special birthday/big sister gift (baby's due in June, her birthday is in July). I'm excited about it and hope I can get it done - it involves embroidery which I need to do before piecing the quilt so I hope I'm not being ridiculously ambitious.

At some point I should probably really be cleaning the house so we can invite people over to see the new baby when it arrives. Oh yes, and actually get the house ready for having a newborn in it again since we've not had changing stations set up around for a long time. Ugh, I'm tiring myself out just thinking about it, the baby on the other hand is doing a little high kicking!

Location, Location, Location – Knitting and Crochet Blog Week Day 5

2010-04-30T10:27:00.004-04:00

Today's prompt for Knitting and Crochet Blog Week is:

Where do you like to indulge in your craft? Is your favourite arm chair your little knitting cubby area, or do you prefer to ‘knit in public’? Do you liek to crochet in the great outdoors, perhaps, or knit in the bath, or at the pub?

I probably spend the majority of my knitting time on the couch in my front room or in the passenger seat of the car (I don't drive, yet, so try to always bring a project or three in the car for long drives). Not that those are the only places I'll knit by any means, especially since I became a mother and time to knit became a little harder to come by. If my daughter will play by herself for a while at the playground (or if we happen to be there with other children and she's not being too shy), or when she's running to blow off steam after we come out of the local coop, I'll pull out one of the small projects I keep in my bag and fit in a few rows.

Lots of my friends and some of my family knit/crochet so they don't think it strange for me to pull out some knitting if we're sitting talking. When we visit my husband's family and everyone just sits around to chat and visit it saves my sanity to be able to pull something out of my bag to work on so my fingers don't itch!! I think they think it's an exotic curious thing that I'm working in the corner over there from the questions they ask but they don't seem to mind that I'm doing it thankfully.

Starting Out – Knitting and Crochet Blog Week Day 1

2010-04-26T23:41:00.001-04:00

Just as I want to try to get back into the swing of blogging (and generally being creative) again conveniently there's something to join in with that will prompt me to get going each day this week. Courtesy of Eskimimi this week is Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, each day there's a different topic for those taking part to blog about.

I also notice (and I'm afraid I've already forgotten where I saw this) that once I've got a hold of my knitting inspirations "Elsie Marley" is having a kid's clothes week challenge - for the second year she's challenging herself and others who want to join in to "spend an hour each day working on clothes for your kid’s–or kids’–summer wardrobe." Hopefully this will get me motivated to work on some new baby clothes, and make some things for my nearly 4yo too (although I'm afraid she has quite a lot of summer dresses already).

Of course part of the danger of all this will also be discovering more blogs I want to add to my insanely congested feedreeder but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it! I'll have to be firm with myself and get my bloglines subscriptions in better order and then actually get around to making a blogroll here.

And at last on to the blogging topic of the day. This may not be my finest blogging hour since I've left it rather late to sit down and write (and then I may just have fallen asleep on the couch for 3 hours and woken up, ahem, oh and then resettled my daughter who also woke up).

So, Starting Out. How did I come to be a knitter and sometime crocheter? Well it must be initially in large part be due to the fact that my mother is a knitter (not to mention that she's also being doing many other crafts my whole life) so it always seemed like something one would want to do. My grandmothers also both knit, and my mum's mother -aka Nana- at least used to crochet (in fact she crocheted my christening gown which is a lot prettier than that may sound if you're not a crochet fan). I always had some mum-made hand knit sweaters, some of which I've long outgrown but sometimes still squeeze into around the house when visiting my parents!

My mum, Nana and I think even my dad (who I don't think I've ever otherwise seen knit, although he does occasionally hook rugs and has been known to sew on his own buttons if someone threads the needle for him) sat down with me and showed me how to knit, and probably crochet, as a child. However I'm really not the best pupil when it comes to things like that (I always want to be able to just do it NOW and not have someone tell me how, it's the same with me and musical instruments), so I think my progress went in fits and starts. Too bad I didn't have knittinghelp and sites like that to hand back then, but once I was older and motivated I started to fill in my knowledge with help from books with good diagrams and descriptions and have been knitting, and dabbling in crocheting, on and off ever since.

I took textiles as one of my GCSE subjects and did some knitting as part of that (including some brief experimentation with machine knitting). As family and friends had babies I would start and not finish sweaters for gifts, and similarly start but never finish experiments for myself. Then while I was at university I made my first adult size sweater (I still wear it, here's the ravelry project link) for myself (improvising a pattern using some lovely sturdy wool yarn bought from a store in Lancaster which I think might have disappeared by my last year of uni sadly). During my year abroad (I went to Wellesley College in Massachusetts) my mother and I collaborated on a cardigan for me (I knit the easy part and she did the complicated pattern and finishing!). In my final year back in Lancaster I actually finished and presented a baby cardigan in a timely fashion and really felt like I was now a knitter!

All of this was also compounded by the time I spent singing and touring in my late teens and early twenties with a singing group (both in the form of summer camps and semi-professional touring groups) based in Vermont where on some of the tours it seemed as though almost every member of the group was knitting or crocheting (this is also where I met my husband who does neither of those things but does sing, a lot). Someday soon I'm sure I'll sit down and show my daughter how to knit and crochet too, she's already showing an interest if not the staying power to figure it out just yet...

of wool and a pillowcase

2010-04-21T23:34:00.008-04:00

Maybe I'll have to do some posts of the things I've been working on while I wasn't blogging but I think it's a good idea to not try to play catch up so I'm just going to share a couple of recent crafty things today -- first fleece and then a quick sewing project I actually completed thanks to a tutorial at the blog SpiderWomanKnits.

The weekend before last a local farm in conjunction with Post Oil Solutions and some other local organizations/businesses gave away free wool, and also provided information about what to do with wool. I think it's partly to raise awareness of how hard it is for sheep farmers to sell their wool in the USA (and I think the same problems are encountered by shepherds in the UK), and also to engage people who use fleece and wool yarn for crafting and especially those who are thinking about it and just need a little help to join in - (some articles about the event. There were people demonstrating spinning and felting there and also some people from The Green Mountain Spinnery (who do buy the yarn they process from within the USA). And of course the host farm also had their sheep's milk cheeses and other products for sale (you can buy from their website too here). As you can see it was a lovely day, I wished we'd been trying to fit slightly less into the weekend so we could have stayed and let my daughter sit in the sunshine and see all the cute lambs.

And now for an actual finished object that I myself made!! I saw a blogpost in which Abi/SpiderWomanKnits made a grocery tote from vintage pillowcases in 15 minutes then very kindly made a tutorial so I don't have to figure these things out for myself. It took me a bit longer than 15 minutes to make mine, being out of shape sewing-wise and all, but it was certainly quick and very satisfying. I believe I shall make more soon once we move past vacation week and when my husband's work projects settle back down a little (or, you know, tomorrow if I don't nap with my daughter in the afternoon). Here's a photo of the first bag filled with half of my daughter's items to return to the library (she carried the other half in her back pack which was totally her own idea because mummy has a baby in her belly and gets tired <--- love!!). If anyone stopping by here follows the link to make one don't forget to post a photo to the flickr group pool.

It's been so long

2010-04-10T19:11:00.002-04:00

I think about posting here often and it's kind of overwhelming. Not sure why because I don't know that anyone's actually out there waiting for me to post (except my mother perhaps!) so it's just about what I want to put on here. But there we are, there are SO MANY things I want to be doing in my life that I just don't seem to be able to get myself on the right track to do. I thought having my daughter at preschool in the mornings was going to mean I would do so many things I've been wanting to, but instead I spend too much time lying on the couch and reading about what other people are doing. My feed reader is out of control!!

Not that I have been sitting around doing nothing since last I posted, and that's another thing, what FOs should I share, and how can I do that without continuing to be so far behind!! It seems as though I tend to stagnate a bit creatively in the Winter months, and Spring often finds me itching to get further back into the swing of things. And it's been a little more pronounced this year because I'm expecting a baby and as with my previous pregnancies I feel so much of my creative energy is channelled into growing this new person inside me that I have a hard time doing starting projects, and finishing existing ones.

Anyway, since I've just recently started to feel like I'm getting moving again and have started keeping up with twitter and even posting stuff there again I'm hoping to dust off some cobwebs around here too. I thought I'd say something here to break that silence in the hope that it'll be less intimidating to jump in and post again soon. Perhaps I can share a bit about what we did for Easter, or write about some of my attempts to put together some Montessori style materials for my daughter to use when she's home...

Note to Self!

2009-12-09T13:42:00.003-05:00

We're having our first Snow Day. My daughter was sad to miss preschool but is excited about the snow and playing games and waffles for brunch! I added some grated cheese (maple smoked cheddar) and some chopped up ham to the last of the batter as an experiment. I ate the ham and cheese waffles with extra cheese on top and maple onion baked beans. Very tasty (no photo though since by the time I'd finished cooking I was sooo hungry - everyone else had already eaten).

Now I'm planning to cook up a whole batch of cheesy ham/bacon waffles to freeze for quick breakfasts (waffle in toaster and go, or with a few more minutes at hand waffle in toaster, beans in microwave sit and eat). So that's the note to self since that particular project will need to wait for new year since we won't be home much the next several weeks.

Next -- snowtime!

Busy Doing

2009-08-22T23:34:00.007-04:00

Well I keep thinking of posting here but then finding another thing to do instead (not that the thing I find to do isn't often a version of time wasting if I'm completely honest, but I'm starting to feel more productive again which is wonderful).

I've managed some sewing recently which tends to be the most difficult thing to fit in. I made a new skirt for myself from a thrifted sheet which I have not managed to get a good picture of. I used some of the same sheet to make a skirt for my daughter which she picked out to wear the other week to the farmers market so I took a picture of her balancing along the edge of a flower bed to capture it. You can't tell that there's a band of pink at the top of the skirt because on this particular day my girl decided to pair the skirt with a yellow with little black polka dots dress that I made back in March and never blogged about (it's from a nice simple and free pattern at BurdaStyle, can't find it now since they've redesigned but it's called the Vivienne I think if you find a project made from it you might be able to download the pattern there). That's my girl, that outfit made me feel so happy!

The thing that I've been doing a lot in the evenings (which is the time I use for blogging when I manage it) is canning. Mostly I've made several kinds of jams, the most recent being the Apple/Blueberry/Blackcurrant jam last night.

Now that we have a ridiculous amount of jam I thought maybe I should try something else and have made my first attempts at pickles. So far I've made a few jars each of pickled green beans and cucumbers (I added some red onion and carrot to the cucumbers as I didn't have as many as I'd thought I would and needed extra in the jars). I had some cucumbers that weren't going to work for the kind of pickles my husband and daughter usually eat so I looked around at some recipes online (cucumber relishes and some Branston style sandwich pickles) and came up with my own version. (I won't post the recipe until such time as we've found out what it tastes like and determined whether it's edible!)

There has also been some knitting but I don't have photos to share of that, and also I need to be asleep in bed, so goodnight all!

It's good to be home

2009-07-13T22:58:00.005-04:00

Back home after a week of singing, fireflies, new and old friends, dancing, talking... all bookended by lots and lots of time sat in a car. It's good to be home but I'm looking forward to trying this taste of North Carolina given to my husband by a fellow singer just before we headed back to New England.

Scali Bread

2009-06-28T23:45:00.002-04:00

I've been following KingArthurFlour on Twitter for a little while now and noticed a mention of Scali Bread which intrigued me:

Scali bread. This shiny, mahogany-brown loaf, coated with nutty sesame seeds, creates lots of Buzz; it's a beauty, too.

Sounded good, and I'm a big fan of sesame seeds, so I clicked over to this blogpost talking about (among other things) what it is and how to make it (step by step with photos). So I printed off the recipe (find it here) and mixed up the starter and left it overnight. As some people noted in the comments the starter seemed really dry, I did add a tiny bit more water than the recipe gives to wet all the flour and hoped for the best.

Next morning the power went out which made me nervous but the starter was looking just as it should. The power came back and I mixed in the rest of the ingredients and set the dough to rise. I think next time if I add a little extra water to the starter maybe I should correspondingly add less liquid when I add the rest of the ingredients since the dough was more sticky and wet than was easy to handle (and I use the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day recipes usually which are very moist). Still it all came together in the end and before it had cooled all the way my daughter and I had pulled some pieces off from one end and buttered and eaten them.

I did make a few slight modifications -- I subbed in a little whole wheat bread flour (I think 1 cup, I couldn't help myself and it seems to work) and when I went to get the sesame seeds I found I didn't have nearly enough so I added in poppy seeds too which I might just do next time I make this bread too.

bread and jam for me

2009-06-19T13:14:00.005-04:00

When I was trying to decide what kind of bread to make yesterday (my daughter being in a toast phase and there being no bread in the bread bin) I noticed that right above the oatmeal bread recipe in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day it recommends eating it with marmalade. Well, that decided me since it gives me a chance to try some of the rhubarb orange jam I made at the weekend. I can now report that they go together very nicely. Maybe for tomorrow I could make my own butter too?!

wedding quilt

2009-06-17T23:00:00.003-04:00

I've been meaning to share this for a little while now. When my mum came to visit recently she brought with her the wedding present she has been working on for me and my husband (our 10th wedding anniversary is coming up in November). All hand pieced and quilted mind you. A lot of the fabric was bought for the quilt, some was fabric from my mum's fabric stash (and from those categories fabrics which relate to me and/or my husband somehow) but there are also lots of pieces that come from old clothes (mostly clothes my mum originally sewed for me - I tagged a few in this closer photo at flickr)! So it's a wonderful gift which is now on our bed making me happy. Thanks mum.

Jam and Knitting (sort of)

2009-06-14T20:13:00.006-04:00

Well I completely failed at WWKIP day since I did no knitting on Saturday, nor did I really leave the house. I did, however, make jam and have photos of some recently completed knitted items to share. (And I did knit in public at a contradance this evening!)

First the jam. Last year I had a go at a little jam making with a small batch of strawberry rhubarb jam which got rather over cooked and is tasty but not the most easily spreadable stuff! The lesson I learned from making that was not to rely on my candy thermometer and use the jam on plate in the freezer for a minute method to check for readiness. (That and that if the jam is turning to jam consistency in the hot pan you may have cooked it longer than you needed to already.)

When we went to visit my parents last autumn my mum let me bring my great great grandmother's recipe notebook home with me. I've looked through it (it's full of hand written recipes, some perhaps by one of my great great aunts, along with pasted in cuttings of recipes and housekeeping tips) but still hadn't used any of the recipes until now. There's a recipe in there for rhubarb orange jam which I'd been eyeing and since I had several pounds of rhubarb from the farmers market waiting to be used it seemed as good a time as any.

I followed the recipe mostly as written (supplementing with some other jam making instructions not having done this much before) although I did throw in some strawberries that were past their best. It is pretty sweet, I'd probably reduce the sugar a bit another time, and very orangey.

I'm not a big fan of peel in my jam so I used a vegetable peeler to get strips of orange peel and tried to remove most of it as I was putting the jam into the jars so now I'm wondering whether I'd like the peel dipped in unsweetened chocolate as it is I like the texture but the citrus hit is a little much for me even with the sweetness! A possible experiment for the coming week.

Now for the knitted portion of the post. Two projects, one I have blogged about before and one that I have wip photos for which have been languishing without much explanation in my flickr photostream for months.

Here is my daughter modelling her new knitwear. She selected the yarn (at the yarn store) and the pattern (from a selection of ravelry pages) herself so I hope she's happy with the outcome. I haven't actually found the right buttons for it yet so instead it's held together with a flower badge/pin my dad sent which happens to coordinate beautifully.

Pattern: Cowgirl Butterfly Astronaut Vest by Fawn Pea from f.pea
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Superwash Worsted by Brown Sheep - Blueberry Sorbet and Plum Crazy
Ravelry Project Page

I need to knit this pattern again because I made a mess of the stitch pattern of the upper body. Not sure why exactly I messed up but by the time I'd admitted the problem I was past the point where I was willing to rip it back since I think it still looks nice.

My daughter is almost three so I started out knitting size 4 but took a second look at the measurements and decided the 2 would fit my skinny girl better. I liked the idea of a slightly fuller bottom section though so I carried on with the size 4 until the end of the ribbed section and then decreased down to the size 2 stitch count at that point.

The sleeves keep rolling some even after blocking. Perhaps I went down to many needle sizes for them? I wonder whether some crochet edging would help, or perhaps they're fine as they are.

Lastly, now that it's all warm out I've finally got around to finishing the felting of my fuzzy feet slippers. I knit them ages ago(they knit up really quickly) and felted them by running them once through a full laundry cycle, with bath towels, and also a dryer cycle. They were still ridiculously big though so I haven't really used them. Finally this week I remembered to throw them in with my dark towels again, once more through the wash cycle and I think they're about right. Hooray!
Before photo (see another here of my daughter using one as a pirate hat):

And after:

Pattern: Fuzzy Feet by Theresa Vinson Stenersen from Knitty, Winter 2002
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted - Bing Cherry
Ravelry Project Page

waste less, eat cake

2009-06-11T23:25:00.009-04:00

Today, running more than usual on not enough sleep, I've been spending too much time sitting on the couch wasting time with the computer and tv. I watched some of an Oprah show on recognising waste and challenging oneself to waste less.

I've been trying to push myself a little at a time to waste less and do more. Still a long way to go for my idea of what I could be achieving, but watching Oprah made me feel positively virtuous at times (if the families they were following are representative of average middle class America anyway). Setting the heat to run at 75 on a warm day? Trashing still edible food to make space to go grocery shopping? Why would you do these things?? I also can't imagine sleeping with the tv on all night but then I've never had a tv in the bedroom - I do like falling asleep to an audio book and using the radio to wake myself up but I don't think I'd sleep well with the tv on all night. I am definitely guilty of watching too much tv, spending too much time at the computer and of allowing my daughter to watch way more tv than I ever thought I would (especially at her age). I noticed several people on the show (children in particular) saying without those technologies there's nothing to do. Once again my mind boggles. I kick myself for wasting my time with these things because there are so many other things I want to spend more time doing. I don't want my daughter to develop that attitude (I don't think that's likely to happen any time soon thankfully).

Later in the show I caught some of a woman who had challenged herself to consume more mindfully and was thinking about only consuming her "share"; what she needs rather than over-consuming because there's so much on offer out there. That struck more of a chord with me it is an issue I think about a lot. I've been so happy lately because we finally got a compost bin. I try to always bring containers to our coop for my bulk items, and cloth bags for shopping. But thinking, globally, about what my share of the earth's resources always makes me uncomfortable because even though I don't consume as much as the guests on Oprah's show today I do still waste and I do still consume more than I would if resources were shared more equally across the world (which would mean many of us consuming much less of course since the world resources are limited - check out this "game" where you can see what the world would look like if everyone lived like you).

I don't know how much of that I am willing to change in the near future but I do want to challenge myself more. I'd love to live more of a Slow Life but how much my husband would go along with I'm not sure. Little by little though perhaps we can move in that direction. I'm not going to be Riana any time soon (she's certainly one of my sources of inspiration though).

What I did do was turn away from the computer, switch off the tv and spend time with my daughter. We checked our plants outside (we're growing some peas, beans, tomatoes, greens and herbs in containers this year), read a few stories, talked with my parents (using technology to tune in rather than switch off), did a jigsaw puzzle and prepared food.

I've had some over ripe bananas which I've been meaning to make banana bread with for several days and have not quite got around to the baking. So rather than let them get to the point of no return I decided to bake a cake. My daughter liked this idea but wanted to make a smoothie first (there would have been 3 bananas in the cake). By that time we really needed to get on with dinner so I put softened butter and banana into a bowl and gave that to my daughter to mash up while I cooked adding new ingredients for her to work in at intervals.I was going to make banana bread but in the end made a somewhat lighter textured cake. We ate some for our dessert before bedtime with cocoa (which I also sweeten with molasses) and my daughter announced she's having this cake for her birthday. It's just as well I made notes as I went along so that I can recreate it.

Double Chocolate Banana Cake

2 over-ripe bananas mashed
1 stick/4oz butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
a glug of walnut oil
1/4 milk*

1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup whole wheat cake flour
1/4 cocoa (sieve)
1 rounded tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg (one could also use cinnamon or no spices according to taste)
3/4 cup chocolate chips

mix together wet ingredients in a large bowl and dry ingredients in a smaller bowl

add dry ingredients to wet and mix to combine

pour into prepared 8"x8" square pan

bake in 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes

*I actually added the milk in at the end because I wanted the batter a bit wetter

more sheep and yarn

2009-05-25T21:23:00.008-04:00

Yesterday afternoon we had a fun few hours at the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Festival. Once again my daughter had a wonderful time looking at and petting sheep (plus a few friendly sheepdog puppies).

She really didn't want to leave, and when she woke up from napping in the car on the way home was ready to turn around and drive back. I said maybe one day we'll live somewhere that we can keep sheep to keep our grass down and she can be in charge of taking care of them, she liked this idea very much! Maybe she'll end up on a farm sometime in her future like her uncle and other antecedents.
Once again I was restrained and came away with just one skein of yarn (I almost bought nothing but this caught my eye after my husband encouraged my mother and I to wander the sales tables which was just asking for trouble). It's 8oz of this fingering weight 65% superwash merino, 35% bamboo in Smoky Plum from Sliver Moon Farm. I also mentioned to my husband that at some point in the future a spinning wheel would be a good gift for me and he picked up the card of a man right in Vermont who makes cute little spinning wheels that fold up and fit in a tote bag so one day...

Really I have enough new yarn stash now to keep me busy for a long time because we did also make it to the WEBS tent sale last weekend. Here's a basket with a taste of my purchases; it's nice to shop with another knitter except for the way you end up enabling each other to spend much more than you should or otherwise would (or perhaps that's one of the nice things). I'm working on a post with the details of my yarn purchases and my ideas of what to make with them in an attempt to focus myself and get to knitting.

Before casting on anything new though I've promised myself to finish up a couple of projects I've been working on for my daughter. They've both been mostly done for a while now so it's just a question of sitting down and getting on with it. I used some of Sunday's driving time to work on the borders for the Cowgirl Butterfly Astronaut Vest. I was taking a new wip photo (for the ravelry project page) this afternoon and when my daughter came over to see what I was doing I had her put it on. Clearly it needs some blocking, buttons and ends sewing in; I have knitted the neckline since the photo was taken.

Livestock and Fiber

2009-05-14T11:00:00.005-04:00

So much for back into the blogging thing soon. Ah well, such is life I suppose. Spring, (and also having more of a delve into the Twitter universe perhaps - I added a twitter feed in the sidebar) is making me want to try again again though so I thought I'd try and get a start on that while my daughter is focused on her Grannie (who is visiting from England for a few weeks).

I spotted on ravelry that the NH Sheep and Wool festival happens on Mothers Day weekend so I mentioned it to my husband and he said lets go, so we did! We got our usual ridiculously late start, and had a detour on the way due to a bridge that was closed but not signposted well (we saw the detour signposts AFTER the detour started having driven all the way to the bridge and back...). We got there eventually if only for the last few hours of Saturday afternoon. All my daughter wanted to do was look at animals (and pet them if at all possible) so we spent a lot of time walking around the sheep barns until we could drag her away to get some late lunch! We also watched some of the sheepdog demo (having timed things badly enough to the actual sheepdog trials).

When we left I felt slightly as though I'd just skimmed the tip of the iceberg in terms of looking at the actual fiber offerings. I did manage to come away with a Mother's Day present I appreciate more than flowers or chocolates:

Pretty yarn (from Maple Creek Farm - rav link as their website seems to have gone away) and time with my family doing something fun.

I also bought some roving from Ewe & I Farm. My mum got me a drop spindle a few years back which I never got round to using so I thought it's about time to give it a go. It's so long since I've used one though, need to check out some of the helpful videos online methinks.

Next on my craftiness list is going through my ravelry queue and finding a project for that pretty yarn, and also reordering and making notes of yarn requirements for projects because hopefully we shall enhance my mother's visit by taking in the WEBS tent sale this weekend. We may also try and make a visit to the MA sheep and wool festival the weekend after since my mum will still be here, and my husband and daughter had a good enough time in NH to want to do it again. Budgeting, budgeting, budgeting...

In Progress

2009-03-17T23:28:00.004-04:00

I am knitting and baking and getting excited about the approach of Spring. Perhaps I'll get back into the blogging rhythm again soon. My daughter was "knitting" today - wrapping her yarn round and around some circular needles. I took photos of her so she wanted to take some of me:

Hibernation

2009-02-02T18:00:00.013-05:00

Well it seems to be February already. I believe this happened last year too. Perhaps for me January is a time to regroup before heading into the new year for real? I've been trying to finish up overdue Christmas presents (not with great success I might add) and trying to figure out how I want to prioritise this new year. Not sure I've come to any great conclusions yet, but I'm getting there.

In the meantime there has been snow play with my daughter. She has discovered snow angels, and decided that snow is not barrier to making "sandcastles"!

Indoors we've also been crafting. While at a holiday crafting event at our local library before Christmas my daughter discovered rubber-stamping and was fixated. So I have dug out my own collection of stamps (from when my own obsession began in high school), got some supposedly washable stamp-pads and there have been some fun times stamping and experimenting with mixed media (painting then stamping, stamping and drawing with crayons etc).

I've done some knitting. This photo is of a pair of fingerless mitts that go up to my elbows using leftover yarn from my Gathered Cardi. I love the cardi, and I was glad to have the sleeves not too long for when working but I do find my forearms getting cold when out and about so this fills in the gap. I tried several patterns before spotting the simpler and gratifyingly quick one I used. I should to a proper finished object post when I've got some good finished object photos.

I also managed my first sewing project of the new year -- an addition to my cloth pad stash made with the off cuts from making pyjama trousers. Love these! I notice there's a new free pattern for cloth pads up at the BurdaStyle site, but I know there are lots of others around and about if you search. I made my own pattern based on pads I already had.

Of course all important at this time of year is the comfort of food and drinks. Tea and toast is one of my favourites. I'm loving these mugs bought at the farmers market (unfortunately this one got broken already, I'm seeing it as an opportunity to support a local business!).

In the cold weather soup and bread is a must. This is some soup made from leftover potato and cheese bake with an onion, turkey broth and some corn added in!

One of my goals, that I've really been working toward for a while as you might guess from previous posts, is to make our bread products with occasional supplementation from local bakeries (the toast with the tea is bought I must admit -- multigrain wholewheat sourdough, yum). It's going pretty well (although I did buy some crumpets at the supermarket last week... I have to try making those again and see whether I can master it).

The bread with the soup is made using the naan bread method found in the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book -- it's a great way to make a flat bread quickly on the stove. Cut off a small piece of dough, roll it out and put in a warmed buttered frying pan and cook with a lid on flipping part way through. So good.

Christmas Recap (before I start resolving anything)

2009-01-08T12:31:00.005-05:00

Hmm. Didn't mean to be gone so long. I got overwhelmed by the whole Christmas palaver and am still trying to finish things, regain my composure and make a new start for 2009 (which will hopefully find me more on time than of late).

I've been baking and knitting and sewing a lot. Some gifts have still to be finished and given so maybe will be blogged about later. Some were gifted without me remembering to take photos (a quick quilt made from an old flannel sheet and some Christmas stocking light corduroy for my niece/god-daughter and a Tudora for my sister-in-law). And of course many things I wanted to make never happened, must start now for next Christmas!

My daughter and I made salt-dough ornaments and spice cookies (using all the Christmassy cookie cutters in the kitchen).

For Christmas breakfast I made sticky buns (with chocolate, cinnamon and pecans).

For dinner we ate Roast Beef with a gratifyingly successful Yorkshire Pudding (and gravy and potatoes and veggies of course).

I made a big batch of mincemeat and then failed to actually make mince pies until Old Christmas was here, but when I did they were yummy. I also made dulce de leche (using the method I saw at David Lebowitz's blog) and used it in this yummy decadent dessert.

The Christmas tree is still waiting to be taken down...

Here's hoping that everyone who celebrate it had a wonderful Christmas (and if you celebrate something else I hope that was wonderful too).

Happy 2009!

Show and Tell

2008-12-15T12:22:00.009-05:00

This weekend I finally got my husband to take some pictures of my new cardi in a room with actual light in it and everything. I thought taking photos was going to get easier as the leaves fell off the trees and the light could actually make its way into our house. Unfortunately there's not a lot of sunshine these days.
But, to the finished objects with buttons sewn on and worn by real people!

First here's my daughter in her cardigan which I actually finished knitting many moons ago (umm, May apparently from the photographic evidence). Now it's properly finished with some buttons since the cold weather is here and it really doesn't stay on well without buttons done up.

Pattern: February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman (in the Knitter's Almanac, at ravelry)
Yarn: some I bought in England years and years ago...
Ravelry project page here (not that there's anything new to read there

I like this pattern and will have another go. The fit on this incarnation is kind of weird as you can probably seen in the photo here where my daughter has her arm stretched out. I forget exactly what I did to change the pattern to make it bigger but obviously I didn't do it quite right. So I think next time I'll make a baby one with the pattern as writ and see how that goes before fiddling with things again. Conveniently I have a friend who's due to birth a little girl any day now who (although really she's probably drowning in hand knits already since she and her husband run a knitting website).

Now onto the really exciting part, well for me anyway. It's been quite some time since I made myself anything this big and I've been craving new cardigans since my daughter was born since breastfeeding while wearing a sweater is (I find) a huge pain in the neck and makes discretion challenging. Of course I'm wearing sweaters more again now that my daughter is older and doesn't nurse as much, but I still love cardigans and you know it doesn't hurt to be prepared for the next baby (not that I'm pregnant you understand but we do want to have another baby in the not too distant future if we can).

Pattern: Gathered Cardi from Knit.1 Spring/Summer 2008 (at ravelry)
Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool Solids in Eggplant
Modifications: lengthened a little before gathers; increased just two out of every three stitches at the gathers; sleeves are a little longer here (and also worn unfolded in these pics); oh and 2 buttons rather than one (and I seem to have managed to put the button holes on the wrong side, oh well)
Ravelry project page

I've been wearing this a lot. I like it. I'm glad I didn't increase at the gathers quite as much as the pattern called for as what I did gives quite enough bulk. The problem with this sweater is that I need to remember to remove it when cooking because it is at just the "right" length to drag on the burners of the stove when I reach over then to work the controls... I have managed to avoid singeing or setting it on fire so far. Perhaps this is just a reminder to me that I should put an apron on when I cook anyway.

This was a good knit for me because it's fairly quick and simple (I could knit in front of the tv, or around my daughter, or in the car without worrying about interruptions at critical points). I like the feel of this yarn. It does seem to have started to pill a little already and while I have been wearing it a lot that's only over the course of a week.

banana cake

2008-12-11T23:24:00.008-05:00

My husband got me a standmixer for Christmas - it arrived really quickly and we opened it since this means I can use it to make stuff for Christmas more easily! My husband gave me a rundown of the features (he's compulsive about reading manuals) and my daughter must have been paying attention because the next day she gave me another whole spiel about it and demonstrated the mechanism for moving the bowl up and down. Then she wanted to use it and since we had some over ripe bananas lying around the kitchen we improvised a banana cake. The basis for this cake lies in three banana bread recipes that I like - one from bakingbites, one from orangette and one by Delia Smith (from a recipe book my mum owns, oh but wait it's on her website - I usually omit the walnuts and add chocolate chips and chopped dates).

Banana Cake

5oz butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
4 Tbspns walnut oil
4 bananas
1 egg (I wasn't originally intending to use the egg but my daughter fetched one from the fridge and insisted)
1 1/2 Tbspn rum (optional)
1 cup AP flour
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger (to taste)
3/4 cup coconut
1 cup chocolate chips

cream butter and sugar

add remaining wet ingredients and mix thoroughly

mix dry ingredients in separate bowl

add dry ingredients to wet and mix until combined

pour batter into 9x9 cake pan

sprinkle with demerara/turbinado sugar (or the coarsest grained kind you have)

bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 40 minutes

This is a moist, slightly crumbly cake. We brought half of it to share at breaktime during the evening singing (along with another oaty thing I threw together) and we didn't bring any leftovers home so I'll take that as a positive review.

Unfortunately with the miserable weather we're having at the moment getting a good photo is more difficult than usual. Maybe the sun will come out again before it's all eaten...

cooking and crafting

2008-12-09T17:13:00.002-05:00

After a period where I was feeling undercreative (I don't think that's really a word is it, but you now what I mean right?) things seem to be picking up (as evidenced by actual blogging, new sweaters and so on). This makes me happy and hopeful that I can gain and maintain momentum.

**********

But to get to the point... I made soup. I usually make this quite often around this time of year. It's my Orange Soup (no actual oranges involved, just the colour). I cut a butternut squash in half, scoop out seeds (roast separately for snacking) and roast in the oven until cooked. I like to halve an onion to put in the cavities of the squash, some garlic cloves too, and rub with a bit of olive oil. Meanwhile also cook some red lentils in water or broth. That's basically all the ingredients, sometimes I put in some carrots too. I put the ingredients in the blender with extra broth (this time I had some made from the Thanksgiving turkey which my SIL would otherwise throw out). Heat, add seasonings (I sometimes add cider, this time I tried a glug of cider vinegar) and that's basically it. My husband is not a big fan of squash soup but he'll sometimes eat this -- the lentils make a big difference for him.

I like to eat this soup with a spoonful of salsa stirred in, and maybe a bit of grated cheese (or cheese on toast). Today I added some frozen corn kernals (I like some texture in my soup). It's also lovely with some fried up slab bacon cut into small chunks!

**********

My favourite thing I made yesterday though is this little book for my daughter.
Now I'm not claiming it's well made, but it's made which is the important thing. If I have a notebook anywhere in sight my daughter wants to draw/"write" in it immediately so I thought it might help keep what's in my notebooks legible if I gave her her very own notebook to draw in. She liked this idea and helped with some of the snipping of threads for sewing the pages together, and also with the gluing. I used some sheets of drawing paper for the pages and card and paper from the recycling to make the cover. I'm going to consult with the book's owner about how to decorate later!

craftiness in the blood

2008-12-06T21:59:00.004-05:00

My daughter has been very interested in my sewing, knitting and crochet for a long time. Now of course she wants to help me constantly. Partly inspired by Soulemama* and partly by memories of my own sewing projects my mum set up for me as a child, I helped my daughter do her first sewing project. I found some cross-stitch fabric (which has holes she can poke the needle through built in) which I put into an embroidery hoop. She chose some embroidery floss (blue first as it seems to be her favourite at the moment) and threaded up a cross-stitch (blunt tipped) needle for her.

She's only two and it was her first try so I mostly held the hoop for her and reminded her which side to work from with each stitch, but she retained creative control so far as where the needle and thread went. It may not actually be complete yet because she wanted to add some pink and more blue. I think she did a pretty good job with her "crochet" as she keeps insisting on identifying it! (I scanned this as an experiment hence the blotchy bits where the canvas isn't quite flat.)

* I'm adding this to the Creative Family Pool at Flickr where you can find lots of photos posted by people inspired by soulemama's book The Creative Family. (I went to one of the book events when the book came out in the spring time. I find Amanda's book and blog constantly inspirational.)

Eat cake

2008-12-05T12:55:00.003-05:00

Yesterday my husband and I had rehearsal with our church choir in the evening. Before singing there was a choir meal. The main course was taken care of but I knew my daughter would enjoy making something so we made Mincemeat Quickbread using the last of the mincemeat I made a few years back (one of the other choir members is also originally from England so I thought he'd appreciate it at least). So now a new batch of mincemeat goes on the to-do list.
This is a super quick and easy recipe to throw together since there's so much in the mincemeat before you start (it does take an hour to bake though). The mixture always seems a bit dry to me when I mix it up (this time I was more anxious about that since there was slightly less mincemeat than the recipe called for so I added a bit of apple butter) but it moistens while in the oven. I timed the baking so that the cake was still warm when we got to church. When I make my way through leftovers (which won't take long this time) I like to put it under the broiler to toast lightly and then spread with some butter.

thrifting thursday plus buttons

2008-12-04T14:50:00.010-05:00

First, look look the knitting is all done on my gathered cardi! A few ends to sew in, some blocking and buttons to be sewn on and then a FO photo op.
Yesterday alongside our excursion to the library my daughter and I stopped and got some buttons. Some for my cardi and some for her february baby sweater that's been sitting around waiting for way too long. Daughter wanted to touch everything in the store but was mostly pretty restrained (thank goodness, this is a fancy fabric store that I don't usually dare to enter). The lady there gave my daughter her own bonus button in an envelope too so now I need to find a cute cardigan pattern requiring just one button to feature it.

On the way home from the library we had a quick thrifting stop. I haven't done much thrifting lately, at least that's the way it feels! My favourite find though was this:
I'm very excited, it was only $3.25 (and from the price sticker I think it had actually sat around for a month waiting for me). I go to lots of potlucks and didn't have anything good for carrying cakes and all I've really seen out there has been plastic. This has a handle and two little catches to keep lid and plate together. So now I can start thinking about all the cakes I've contemplated...

I was also really excited to see a big plastic container of sewing patterns for 50c each and picked up a few of those (baby/small child clothes, aprons etc), also some crochet yarn to try making ornaments (when I find my tiny size crochet hooks) and some tins (for gift giving). Very satisfying.

...and Making

2008-11-24T01:17:00.005-05:00

Two posts in such quick succession after so long. Am I setting myself up to fail I wonder?! Since posting in August I was away for a while (singing in AL & GA over Labor Day weekend and then a trip to England - visiting family and friends plus some more singing - for the bulk of September) and then not feeling creative or productive and being so much out of the habit didn't get back to the blogging.

More recently I've been starting to get back into the swing of things again. Lots going on in the kitchen (examples in my previous post). As for crafts, I haven't been sewing much of anything but there's been quite a bit of knitting lately. Perhaps I can do some something old something new posts!

Here's a picture of one of my current works in progress. This is the Gathered Cardi (ravelry pattern page) from Knit.1 Magazine (Spring/Summer 2008 edition). I went out and bought the magazine after seeing this photo, not sure I would have bought it from the pic in the magazine (especially as I'd not even noticed the existence of that particular publication before). Here's a link to my project page on ravelry.

Also please note that my almost cardigan is being modelled for me by a dress form. It is my somewhat belated excellent birthday present from my husband. Now that I have passed the baby swing chair that was residing in my sewing room (not that my daughter sat in it more than a handful of times) on to some expectant friends there was a space for me to set it up. Now I just need to sort out the rest of the room and perhaps I can manage some sewing in the run up to Christmas. I have The Omnivore's Dilemma on CD from the library to listen to while I work. Wish me luck!

Baking...

2008-11-23T19:25:00.005-05:00

I've been baking with my daughter more recently. She's really liking getting involved especially when she can do stuff herself.

For these cookies I got the ingredients mostly ready to go in advance and she got to put stuff into the bowl and mix until bored and ready for the next addition. I would do some extra stirring as needed.

Then I cut the dough into pieces the right size for one cookie and she rolled pieces and "squished" them onto the baking sheet herself (well about half of the dough and I did the rest, these in the picture are her own work).
I found the recipe at the Baking Bites blog - Spicy, Chewy Molasses Cookies
(note the ones I made were chewier than my daughters, probably because I lightly pressed my balls of dough onto the baking sheet rather than squashing them!)

Then for dinner we made pizza. I used some basic bread dough (using the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book and making a dough somewhere between the basic recipe and the olive oil recipe with some whole wheat bread flour in it) and cut off a 1lb piece for the pizza for me and my husband and about 3 ounces or so I think for my daughter. She loves having some dough to work with. Unfortunately we couldn't find her smaller rolling pin and she was a bit frustrated using mine but it worked out and she did a bit of stretching and pressing it with her fingers too. I helped her spread some tomato sauce on (both of us holding the spoon) and then gave her slices of cheese and pepperoni and some olives to place on the dough as she pleased. Then I put it in the oven and she watched it cook.

Party!

2008-08-19T02:09:00.008-04:00

We had a little birthday party for my daughter at the weekend (at last, only just over a month since her birthday). My organization skills in general leave a lot to be desired, but my drive to provide food at social events is strong so party favors didn't get finished but we had more than enough food to be in danger of spoiling our dinner (it was a late afternoon party).

The picture shows the selection of sweet baked goods I made (with help from my daughter who loves to pour and mix and press the button on the food processor and call for "more choc'ate").

The leftmost cookies are the Honeyed Chocolate Chip Cookies that I spotted on the Baking Bites blog last week. When I noted that honey makes the cookies moist and therefore less prone to going dry and stale I thought that was perfect for my purposes since I could make a batch a day or two ahead to spread the baking out. I used to make a honey and ginger cookie quite often when I was at uni which I'd all but forgotten about, this brought the memory back and I added maybe half a teaspoon of ginger to the dough. I might add more ginger another time for my taste, as it was it gave that slight hint that makes you think "there's something in here I wasn't expecting but I can't put my finger on what it is".

The other cookies are two variations on the Flourless Nut Butter Cookies which I've made several times before. I made a double batch with peanut butter to which I added some cocoa powder and chopped chocolate. Also made a single batch with almond butter which I tried putting a spoonful of jam (some strawberry rhubarb I made a while back) in the middle and a little chocolate on some too. I personally like the almond butter ones much better than peanut, and the jam and chocolate topping was really yummy.

Finally the birthday cake! I took two banana bread recipes I've made and liked in the past and combined elements from both to make a spiced banana coconut cake with molasses then baked it in an 8x8 square baking tin. Should have taken notes, it came out very nice and moist and tasty.

I had intended a flourless chocolate cake too (since some guests don't do flour or dairy). When that didn't happen I thought I'd better put chocolate on top of this cake (after all I had been told there needed to be chocolate by the birthday girl). I had the end of a batch of ganache in the fridge and threw in some extra chocolate and melted them together and spread it on top. Not the most picturesque but it worked for us!

There were some more healthful food options - hummus with carrots and socca for dipping plus lots of fresh fruit.

The party was nice and small and relaxed. We went to the common in town with friends, sat at and around a picnic table, ate and chatted. There was singing to the birthday girl, and she got to open some presents, eat cake, kick a ball around, pet a dog and play with bubbles.

I made her a big footed bunny (using a pattern from WeeWonderfuls) with a pinafore to match the one I made daughter for Easter (which daughter was suitably impressed with when she noticed). Unfortunately I didn't quite manage to finish so we still need to sew on a face, I shall be asking for input from the new owner (there has already been a vote for blue eyes) who is quite appalled at the face with no face. I imagine that once the face is in place the bunny will get her own photo shoot and blog post.

chocolate stickybun

2008-08-14T12:57:00.003-04:00

I made these using the "Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls" recipe from Artisan Breads in 5 Minutes a Day. This is the second batch; I actually remembered to take a picture this time. Admittedly this is not the greatest picture ever but, you know, I wanted to eat!

The first time I used challah dough which was really good. The second time I used just a batch of (more or less) the master recipe which is not as rich and decadent but still really very tasty.

I make 9 rolls in a square pan (8x8 and 9x9 both work). I just like all the rolls being a more consistent shape I guess. And I make mine with chocolate because, well, I love chocolate and too much cinnamon and pecans is not necessarily my favourite.

For the caramel topping I actually melted the butter and sugar most of the way in the microwave rather than creaming because I was in a hurry. It seemed to work just as well that way and I just poured it in and spread it out a bit to evenly distribute the sugar then sprinkled on the pecan pieces.

When I rolled out the dough I spread it with a little softened salted butter and then some ganache (which I made using a mix of semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate so it's not too sweet) and sprinkled on some chocolate chips before rolling up and cutting. The first time I did also sprinkle on a bit of cinnamon which I forgot the second time, I like it both ways.

I almost forgot!

2008-08-13T02:00:00.004-04:00

I edited the photos and then forgot to upload and blog about this dress I made for my daughter back in June (which, incidentally seems to have disappeared of the face of the earth since so perhaps that's why I forgot). I was reminded when I caught sight of this dress made using the same tutorial.
It's made from an old shirt of my husbands using this tutorial.

I made another from a blue checked shirt found at the thriftstore as a gift for a friend of ours who is very into The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy dress!). Forgot to take a photo of that one though.

This was a satisfyingly quick and effective project (since a lot of the fiddly stuff is already done in the shirt, case in point being buttons and button holes).

Another time I will attach the shoulder straps/sleeves closer together (at least in the back) because they slip down a lot as they are in this dress. I think this one runs a bit big on my daughter but that just means space to grow, and/or means she can wear it over warmer clothes in cooler weather, (well, assuming I can find it again anyway).

finally a FO

2008-08-10T17:16:00.004-04:00

I'm so excited to have actually finished sewing something (and something for me too) for the first time in ages! I actually finished a week or so ago when my husband took our daughter off to visit his parents leaving me home alone for hours for probably the first time in 2 years (and this hot on the heels of me getting to go to the cinema by myself to see Mama Mia which felt wonderful).

The pattern is NewLook 6490. The fabric is some I found a while back at the thrift store (and I have quite a bit left over for another garment).

I made the shoulder straps much wider than the pattern (which suggests using 1/4-3/8" ribbon or lace) 'cause I like to wear a bra and not show too much of it off.

I'm not sure whether you can tell from the photo but the top part of the shirt is two overlapping sections, very handy for a nursing mama! The fit is a little weird to me because the top section ends way before my breasts actually do, but actually I think that works!

Porridge Bread

2008-08-07T15:04:00.009-04:00

My daughter's choice for breakfast most often is oats and raisins. Partly this is habit, and I suspect she also likes that she gets to do cooking (I measure the water and oats and she pours them into the pan, puts the lid on and watches for the bubbles).

Sometimes she'll devour her bowl of oats and raisins and sometimes she'll pick for ages and eat very little. I hate to throw out the leftover oatmeal but it's not something I like to eat myself and I've been meaning to experiment with making bread with the leftovers. I came across a recipe online the other day that prompted me to give it a go. So here's what I came up with.

Porridge Bread
(modified from this recipe, and I already forgot where I found the link I'm afraid, and influenced by my ABI5MAD experiences so far)

I had 1/2 cup of leftover oatmeal and raisins (had a little milk mixed in but was made with water)
to that I added 1tbspn walnut oil, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 cup molasses

In the measuring cup I had measured out the molasses in I put 1/4 cup warm water and 1/4 cup milk then sprinkled over 1tspn yeast (if I'd thought about it more I would have used the warm water to dissolve the rest of the molasses and then transfered the liquids to the mixing bowl before adding the yeast)

Mixed wet ingredients in the bottom of a mixing bowl then on top added 1&1/2 cups AP flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat bread flour and 1/4 cup oat flour plus salt

Mixed until flour all wet, I needed to add maybe another 1/8 cup water and also decided to throw in a handful or two of currants (next time I might add even a bit more water as the dough seemed a bit denser than I might have ideally liked). No kneading.

This made about 1 1/2 lbs of bread dough.

Allowed dough to rise in the bowl for about 3 hrs (it was a cool day), shaped quickly and placed into small loaf pan and left the dough to rise maybe another hour until it was poking up above the top of the loaf pan.

Baked at 375 degrees for about 45 mins (this may not be the best temp/time configuration for the crust so I'll have to experiment).

I've been eating it lightly toasted with butter, I'm thinking it would also be good with some of the apple butter I made last year too.

More Bread and some Thrifting

2008-07-25T00:54:00.000-04:00

I've continued trying different things from the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book. The oatmeal bread worked OK although I think I may have given it too long in the initial rise, it tasted good which is the important thing.

For dinner last weekend, on a night when my husband and I would be out in the evening and need to eat dinner soon after getting home, I made pizza. I mixed up half a batch of olive oil dough (I used whole wheat bread dough for one of the cups of flour) right before we went out which meant that when we arrived home it was time to heat the oven and make the pizza. While the oven heated I cooked up some onion to which I added kale, beet greens and scapes (all from our farmers market) and some balsamic vinegar. That mixture went on one of the pizzas along with mushrooms, tomato paste with oregano and basil and then topped with fresh mozzarella. The other pizza (which I thought my daughter was more likely to eat) had tomato paste and pesto, cheddar cheese and pepperoni.

Today I had a go at making bialys with some of my second batch of bagel dough.
My daughter and I shared one still slightly warm from the oven, she declared it good and did eat some of the onion and poppy seed topping even. I really liked the texture of the bread, and love the onion and poppy seeds (I really want there to be more of it than the recipe suggested so might think about that for next time, there will definitely be a next time).

Do you like the plate the bialys are on? It's one of my latest thrift store acquisitions. I've been trying to go less often but on Wednesday my daughter encouraged me in there as we passed by (she knows where to find all the toys and heads straight in that direction). We actually found a couple of things for her, not in the toy department though. Firstly I spotted a couple of ceramic birds which I guessed she would like as she has always enjoyed watching the sparrows when we're in town. She was very happy to see them and got herself a basket to put them in and carry them around until it was time to pay. (The birds are now perching over one of our doorways where she can, and does, spot them and point them out at regular intervals.)
Then while I was looking at fabric she spotted a little tiny "mug" which she got very excited about it has "humpy dumpy with a bue balloon" on it!

In addition to the plates I came away with two interesting looking books, two sheets and a lovely tablecloth (white with pink embroidery and appliqué). The table cloth is a bit stained but it's the kind of stain that I hope might come out, if not I'm sure I can make good use of the unstained parts in some crafting projects.

Birthday Presents

2008-07-14T22:36:00.005-04:00

My birthday was a week or so ago and one of my presents was Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (thanks mum). I'd been hearing of it around the internet. Having had success with the No-Knead Bread recipe, and finding that my daughter always needs my attention just when I'd trying to get something time sensitive, done this method seemed intriguing. So far I haven't been disappointed.

I'm really enjoying looking through the book and giving some of the recipes a try. I started out (as suggested) with the basic recipe (although I did sub a little wholewheat and a little barley flour in there I must admit) and ended up with a very nice loaf of bread. My daughter has been more than usually excited about having toast and marmite for breakfast recently.

I'm liking not worrying about finding something to cover my loaf while it's baking (as in the no-knead method) and the multiple variations. What I will be on the lookout for is some different containers for the dough while it's residing in the fridge since I'm currently using my large (4.5 qt) mixing bowls which aren't quite big enough for the initial rise really, and take up more room in the fridge (widthwise) than is really ideal. I'd love to find something not plastic.

My second batch of dough is from the bagel recipe (here I subbed one cup of wholewheat into the recipe and used malt extract instead of sugar). Despite some slight water logging issues a couple of times while boiling, the results have been very tasty. I may have a go at pretzels with what's left of this dough, but I definitely want to try the Bialys which sound so good (onions and poppyseeds, mmm). Next up is the oatmeal bread (I actually baked some already but haven't tasted it just yet).

Sort of related (and possibly TMI for some so stop now if you'd not into girl talk), for my daughter's second birthday (almost to the hour which I find very interesting) I got my period (as in the first one since my daughter arrived on the scene)! While I'm not so much enjoying the cramping and other less enjoyable aspects of being (presumably somewhat) fertile, I'm excited in so far as we want to have another baby sometime and this would seem to be a step in that general direction. Time to sew some cloth pads, and perhaps invest in a new thermometer I do believe.

Good News Bad News again

2008-05-25T01:41:00.004-04:00

080524 breakfast
Originally uploaded by commonplaceiris.

Here's a picture I took while eating the granola I made on Friday for breakfast with some strawberries and milk. It was "so good" (as my daughter keeps saying about her food at the moment), I will definitely be making my own granola more in the future.

Good News: the washing machine seems to be up and running again which means we may be able to pass it on to our tenants when the new one comes as originally planned (since they don't have one at all).

Bad News: instead of getting up and going to a birthday party this morning my daughter and I turned over and went back to sleep after a restless night. When I went to bed last night she crawled up on top of me, and was tossing and turning for hours which meant I wasn't sleeping much until she finally settled down. We took her temperature when we finally did get up this morning (underarm) and it was 100.4 so we were glad we'd chosen not to push things and go to the party in case she was contagious with something.

Good News: the fever didn't seem to be really bothering her much. It was apparent that she was under the weather but she wasn't really unhappy so we just had a quiet day at home. She spent a lot of time with her daddy today and I got into my sewing room again. Who knows I may even have some finished projects to show off soon (I'm actually wearing a new pair of flannel pj trousers right now).

modern conveniences

2008-05-24T01:16:00.005-04:00

We've been planning to replace some of our old inherited appliances (after finally filing some overdue tax returns and getting refunds). There's good news and bad news...

Bad News: this morning our washing machine was still full of water when it should have drained and spun while we were sleeping. It did not seem at all interested in draining and spinning although it did still agitate so not completely dead. Now when I was in my first year at university I did all my washing by hand in the tiny sink and a big plastic container in my room. With a toddler who wears cloth diapers and a husband who also produce laundry in the house I am not so thrilled with the idea of going back to washing by hand while we wait for a new machine!

Good News: this got my husband to finally order the washing machine he's been talking about us getting for many many moons (unfortunately it will take 3 to 4 weeks to get here)... and after some coaxing and poking the washing machine did finally drain and spin and my husband rinsed the clothes out and put them back in the machine and got them to spin again - hurrah! We shall experiment with it further over the weekend I'm sure but it seems there is hope at least.

More Good News: We had a new stove delivered last Friday, hurrah! The old oven worked just fine but the burners were quite unreliable to say the least so this is very nice for me. I broke it in on Friday evening by making a roast chicken dinner and baking bread. I've also made banana chocolate chip flapjacks (recipe found here, tasty) and had another go at the beef and rhubarb dish (this time I did serve it over rice) for a potluck dinner. Last night I made another version of potato and cheese bake which I served with some pea greens bought at the farmers market (where I also got rhubarb) cooked up with bacon and mushroom. (See the nice shiny stove that the plates are sitting on? It makes me happy.)

Today I decided to make granola for the first time (having polished of the last of the bought stuff the previous day). I've always intended to have a go at making my own, but I always wonder whether it's worth it since I don't consistently eat it and somehow it'd be worse to let it go to waste if it's homemade. Well I saw a recipe for cocoa-coconut granola at everybodylikessandwiches, and since I love chocolate and have actually been eating cereal more often recently I thought this would be a good time to finally give granola making a go.

I started while my daughter's breakfast oats were cooking so she insisted on helping with the dry ingredients and I finished putting it all together while she was eating. I didn't actually try eating it in a bowl with milk or yoghurt or anything yet, I've just been snacking on it from the jar, mmmm. I'm thinking it'd be good with raisins, or dried cranberries (as well as the apples, or bananas in the photos posted with the recipe). Maybe tomorrow I'll have some with some of the strawberries I didn't put in our rhubarb and strawberry sponge pudding tonight...

pentecostal mothers day

2008-05-12T03:08:00.004-04:00

My husband took this picture of me with my daughter this morning just about to leave for the Pentecost service at church (hence lots of red clothing). I seem to take almost all the photos around here so it's nice to have a picture of me and my daughter together on Mothers Day.

And this is not all my husband did for me on Mothers Day either! He's going for some kind of prize this year I think. I got a cute card (which he helped our daughter to initial as we'd done for his mother and memere the day before) and a box of truffles. There were going to be flowers as well apparently but they had to be postponed due to our poor daughter throwing up in the car en route (we're hoping it was due to too many snacks at church rather than her inheriting my horrible car sickness). The best thing though was that he spent most of the day with my daughter so that I could have some time for me alone!!

I guess it's a little odd to celebrate being a mother by not mothering for much of the day but it was lovely to be able to listen to my favourite Radio 4 shows uninterrupted, and to get a rare chance to do some sewing (must get a sewing machine I can bring downstairs). Actually I think getting to take that kind of break makes spending time with my daughter afterwards seem all the sweeter. And how joyous when her daddy would bring her up to visit me and I'd hear "hi mummy" and she'd rush over to give me hugs and kisses.

A further bonus was getting take out food for dinner so that I didn't have to worry about cooking (I do enjoy cooking but when I'm sewing it's hard to tear myself away). Just as it was time to go pick up the food the power went out. Thankfully the power wasn't out at the restaurant so the food came home alright and we ate most of the meal by the light of an oil lamp and candles alone which my husband would not normally do voluntarily but I love.

Now I just need to rectify the neglect I've shown my own lovely mother this year (hi mum -- sorry I'm as disorganized as ever but I love and appreciate you very much).

renewal

2008-05-02T02:07:00.004-04:00

spring journal page
Originally uploaded by commonplaceiris.

I've been wanting to try something like this for a long time. The biggest obstacle has been just getting something on a page and getting started.

The arrival of Spring is spurring me on to renew myself, start new things bring back habits I've lost and so on. I want to start posting to this neglected blog again, I want to be more creative and make sure my daughter's creativity is supported. I really want to feel less chaotic! I'm working on it -- here's a beginning in this new journal. Hopefully if I can keep building on these ideas the rest will follow.

The Experience of Motherhood

2008-03-01T00:58:00.001-05:00

I listened to something tonight far enough in advance that I can post about it before the podcast is gone!! And it's Woman's Hour (from BBC Radio 4) so I think it stays available to listen again to(that link will stream the show in whatever media player is default on your machine I think) beyond the 7 days after broadcast.

Tuesday's Woman's Hour was a special devoted to "Experience of Motherhood". It's about our expectations and realities of motherhood, questioning whether it's idealized and whether woman/society downplay how hard it can be. Questioning whether that could be a factor in causing depression, difficulty bonding with baby and/or transitioning to a new identity as a mother. Really interesting to listen to. Of course there's a lot of ground that isn't covered or even touched upon, but it's only a 45 minute show after all. The Wednesday edition was a phone-in follow-up show which I'm looking forward to listening to also (podcast same place as above, listen again here).

Thought I'd mention it in case any of you out there would like to give it a listen too. It's interesting to my how what is difficult for one woman about motherhood is not going to be the hard part for another; how a lot of that seems to have to do with what you know you're letting yourself in for and what you don't; what you can and can't anticipate.

I always knew I wanted to be a mother. By the time my now 19 month old daughter was born I was better prepared than a lot of people I know in terms of understanding what hard work it can be especially at first. (I love the newborn stage so I think the mind numbing parts of the early weeks and months were offset by that along with my mum being around to help out for the first 6 weeks and a husband who adored the baby and helped out a lot.) But still there's a lot that I don't think you can understand until you're actually doing the mothering -- a lot about finding your new identity and finding out whether you're going to be the mother you envisioned or one that's quite different...

I love being a mother, I adore my daughter and she makes me happy every day, but she also drives me nuts at points everyday as she's becoming this wonderful person who we invited to live with us without knowing what her personality would be! The constant need from another person can be draining, it leaves me craving me time to myself that I hadn't recognized the importance of until I couldn't have it anymore. Not to mention all the things I want to do for my daughter, my family and myself that there simply aren't enough hours in the day for and yet I get so stressed that I can't so it all. (By which I mean live up to my personal ideal of the mother - and woman - I want to be not an overarching ideal of Motherhood that I measure all mothers against.) That's all I'm going to say about it here and now, maybe there'll be more when I've had time to digest and think (if the job of motherhood allows such a thing!!).

Pasta Bake

2008-02-29T23:38:00.000-05:00

Here's my meatless dinner for Friday again. I was going to make pizza but completely forgot to make the dough on Thursday night, oops. Instead I made a pasta bake. The first pasta bake I made when I was in high school used a recipe seen on adverts for a UK supermarket. It remains a starting point for most of my pasta bakes today!

For this incarnation I cooked up some puy lentils (far and away my favourite kind of lentil) in some broth with garlic (I cooked extra with extra liquid so that I can make soup with the rest over the weekend).

Meanwhile I made a tomato sauce (well actually I chopped some celery which I fried a little before adding a large can of Muir Glen Organic Tomato Sauce because I was in a hurry and then threw in some black pepper, basil and oregano), and cooked some pasta.

Mixed together pasta, sauce and lentils and placed a layer in a baking dish. Added a thin layer of shredded fresh mozzarella (I've also used the shredded processed type of mozzarella made with skimmed milk which I like too, but fresh is better in my opinion) followed by the rest of the pasta mixture. Finally I grated some Parmesan cheese on top and put in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minute to get the cheese bubbly and a bit of crispness to the edges of the pasta on top.

This is always a popular dinner in our house, I sometimes use cheddar cheese, with or without the other kinds. I also make it with some, or several of the following with or without lentils and celery:
mushrooms
bacon chunks
spinach
kale
minced beef
corn
leeks
quorn chunks (when I lived in the UK)
roasted red pepper
tuna
... the possibilities go on and on it's such a good basic idea that you can use what ever bits and pieces you have in the pantry, fridge or freezer for.

Also this week I have made what I think must be my first loaf of bread this year amazingly enough. It's my "usual" version of the No-Knead Bread recipe (using 1 1/2 cups white bread flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat bread flour, 1/2 cup oat flour, 1/4 cup each barley and rye flour plus handfuls of sesame and poppy seeds).

I want to start making more of our bread again, and supporting local bakeries when I don't get around to baking myself (that part I've been doing, possibly too well, so far this year!). I like using the no-knead type recipes a lot of the time (as in this case) since it seems more possible with a toddler around who is liable to "need" me just as I'm in the middle of kneading or some other important step! Still I resolve to try some more of the recipes in the Bread Bible this year. In the no-knead bread department though I'm determined to make this chocolate bread I saw at flickr very soon!

Soup and Bread

2008-02-24T01:33:00.006-05:00

The Soup

Made this for lunch today with a little help from my daughter.

In a frying pan with some olive oil cooked half an onion (left over from cooking dinner last night), the last of a cabbage and a rib of celery.

Added those to a blender with a can of white beans, a can of crushed tomatoes and some home made chicken broth.

Daughter did the honours blending ingredients 'til mostly smooth.

Returned soup mixture to the pan and added chopped carrot and some brown rice leftover from last night's dinner plus garlic powder, celery salt, black pepper, basil and oregano.

Simmered until the carrots were cooked. Served and ate.

The Bread

I read at slashfood that it was banana bread day and since I had some over ripe bananas I'd been meaning to bake with I took it as a poke with a sharp stick to get on with it!
I looked at my saved up to try recipes (since I didn't have enough bananas for the banana bread recipe I most often use) and found one for banana gingerbread which sounded good for this time of year.
I made it basically as in the recipe although I did use yoghurt instead of buttermilk, and just ginger, cinnamon and allspice for the spices. I was going to add chopped dates but as I was making the cake and cooking dinner simultaneously I ran out of time, but next time I definitely will.
It comes out with a nice gingeriness, not tasting a lot of banana in my first piece though perhaps I need to make banana jam next...

Ganmodoki with Vegetable Stir Fry over Rice

2008-02-23T02:26:00.001-05:00

080222dinner
Originally uploaded by commonplaceiris.

Friday again and another meatless dinner. This time a vegetable stir fry over rice with ganmodoki on the side.

I printed out a recipe from ganmodoki I came across at the mostly vegan blog bunnyfoot a few years back. I made them and enjoyed them back then but had not made them for ages; prompted by the less meat project I dug out the recipe and had another go.

I didn't have green onion so I used half a yellow onion (which I sauteed a bit before adding to the mix). I left out the mushroom because daughter doesn't like them so far. Also had no ginger so put in some five spice mix. I used tamari instead of salt and not quite as much hijike as suggested (not being sure how well it would go down with husband and daughter). They're a little more crumbly to work with than is ideal, maybe next time I'll puree some of the tofu and or add some tahini and see whether that helps. Crumbliness aside, they were very tasty, I've been picking at the leftovers for the last few hours!

Also on the plate a stir fry of broccoli, carrot, shitake mushroom, green beans and garlic. Made a sauce using the water from soaking the mushrooms, a little broth, tamari, rice vinegar, sesame oil, five spice and tahini.

a filling day

2008-02-19T01:23:00.006-05:00

Today the weather was much warmer than it has been in some time. It made for quite the misty, moisty morning! Here's a picture taken from outside the kitchen door. I didn't venture further outside than that however because it was wet and I suspect very slippery as all the compacted snow and ice got melty but didn't have time to actually disappear.

I actually spent the day trying to make some more headway in the house. It's part of my new start resolutions to get a grip on housework and clutter. I tackled the kitchen for a start, clearing things off the floor and vacuuming, I was hoping to wash the floor during naptime but my daughter woke up just as I was about to start. She mostly kept off the wet floor though so it all worked out. She had fun helping me move stuff and working beside me with her very own broom and dustpan and brush (which she got for Christmas). She's in constant motion these days but not totally ready to occupy herself for stretches of time (especially if it looks as though I'm trying to get something in particular done!!).

After the kitchen floor I ended up giving the same treatment to our front room's floor after my daughter threw her bowl down after polishing off a bowl of couscous, egg and peas. It shattered and the pieces covered a lot of ground so she had to wait in her high chair while I made the floor safe for little feet again.

After a long day I figured we needed a treat so I thought I'd try out a recipe that's been calling to me since I came across it a few days back. Checking out recipes at the Boston Globe I noticed molasses brownies and immediately printed out the recipe to try. They seem so appropriate for me since my usual breakfast includes a mug of hot cocoa sweetened with molasses.

I love them (husband and daughter seemed to agree). The molasses taste is strong, I'd say it overwhelms the chocolate -- it was like eating a treacle toffee cake! (NB I didn't add the coffee, I don't know what difference that would make to the taste balance.) I ate mine with some banana, maybe next time I'll try baking some banana into the brownies themselves. It's also quick and easy to throw together so will be going on my list of cooking projects for my daughter to join in with.

Dinner: Cheesy Leek & Potato Bake with Burgers

2008-02-16T02:48:00.007-05:00

I'm trying to do the less meat thing generally, but also want to make at least one meat free dinner each week (certainly during Lent and hopefully beyond).

So this was our Friday night dinner for this week.

The potato cheese and leek bake is a big favourite in our house. We could eat just this really, and I've served this with some baked beans on the side before which goes well but I'm the only one in the house that likes baked beans (maybe that's what I'll have with the leftovers).

The burgers were an experiment based on a couple of recipes I've used in the past -- I prefer nut burgers to bean burgers but had some cooked beans that needed using up so made a compromise batch!

Cheesy Leek & Potato Bake
(based on a recipe from the Sainsbury's Vegetarian Cookbook -- I have two veggie recipe books that Sainsbury's put out back in the early 90s when I was a vegetarian and I still use them often.)

2 leeks thinly sliced and steamed for about 10 minutes
5 small/medium potatoes sliced thinly and par-boiled (could use a few more or less depending on appetite)

Layer the leek and potato in an oiled baking dish and pour over a cheese sauce, sprinkle some reserved cheese (or grate on some parmesan perhaps).
Bake for a bout 30 mins at 375-400 degrees

For the cheese sauce melt a good knob of butter (or warm other fat) in a sauce pan, sprinkle on flour and cook until toasty. Add in some mustard (I used honey mustard but have used other kinds in the past) and pepper. Pour in liquid (I used about a cup of chicken broth so this wasn't actually suitable for a vegetarian but I have also made it with veggie stock in the past, and with milk as per the original recipe). Bring to a gentle boil while stirring. Remove from heat and stir in cheese (I used 4 oz grated cheddar, the recipe calls for 2oz but we love cheese and I wasn't using milk in the sauce).

Burgers
(based on recipes from Mark Bittman in the NYTimes -- two years ago exactly it turns out! -- for bean burgers and nut burgers)

1 cup nuts (I used brazil nuts, almonds plus a handful or two of sunflower seeds)
1 cup beans and lentils
1/2 cup of oats
1 egg
1 shallot
1 clove garlic
some leeks saved from the bake
generous Tbspn of tahini and another of tomato paste
celery salt, paprika, basil
(I think that's everything, I meant to write it down as I went along.)

I put the oats and nuts in the food processor first to get them ground up evenly then gradually added in the other ingredients dryer first and wetter last.
Shape into burgers, I coated them in a little oat flour and fried them up.

They came out pretty tasty if a little bland. In the original recipes there's a lot more spice added but I was hoping my daughter would eat some and didn't want to over spice so erred on the side of caution. I think next time I'd certainly add more tomato paste at the very least. I ate mine with a bit of ketchup, my husband had mustard with his and that was plenty flavourful.

January KAL - first sock finished!

2008-02-12T00:13:00.002-05:00

January KAL - first sock finished!
Originally uploaded by commonplaceiris.

Still working on my January socks for the 2008 sock knitalong group at ravelry. I finished the first one (modeled here with help from my lovely assistant).

I'm close to turning the heel on the second sock, so maybe I'll manage to finish in time to start February socks in February!! Once they're finished I'll try to get a better photo since none of the ones I took today came out particularly well (I'm just pleased they're in focus since my daughter was climbing all over the place while I was trying to take them).

Diagonal Rib Socks by Ann Budd from Interweave Knits, Winter 2004(my project page at ravelry) (download pattern as a pdf file here). The yarn is ONline Supersocke 100.

Less meat and hopefully more blogging.

2008-02-10T01:16:00.001-05:00

One of the things on my list of aims for Lent, and for my Making A New Start objectives, is to eat less meat. It seems to be better both for our health (because it encourages eating more veggies, pulses and such) and for the planet (check out this article) so that should be good incentive. Here's our dinner for the first Friday of Lent a stew of beans, tomatoes and vegetables.

It's not actually vegetarian because I did use some bacon fat and the last of the gallon of duck broth I made after we had roast duck a few weeks back. They add nice flavour (and also mean I'm making better overall use of the meat we do eat). Of course it can easily be vegetarian, and I've made it that way for friends who are veggie and for myself during my 7 years as a vegetarian.

Start by adding a small onion (chopped) into a pan over low heat in the fat of your choice and cook until they start getting clear. Add garlic, then celery and carrot and saute a while adding in some pepper, paprika, a little chili powder, oregano and basil. Then add in tomatoes (I used a large can), and beans. (For the first time in a while I soaked and cooked a mix of dry beans myself - black, pinto and white beans, black eyed and chick peas, but more often of late I've used canned.)

In this case I served the beans over potatoes roasted in a little duck fat and broth but it's good over baked or mashed potatoes, egg noodles, rice and probably any other grain that takes your fancy, or I'm guessing it would work over greens of some kind too. Leftovers with extra liquid (probably stock of some kind and extra canned tomatoes) make a hearty soup too. And of course there's lots of room for playing with this recipe depending on what vegetables/beans/pulses you like/are in season/you happen to have on hand.

To balance the sensible food choices of the main meal I decided to make something more decadent for dessert (to keep the husband on side, or perhaps because I wanted chocolate...). It's Chocolate Pudding Cake, I know it doesn't look that wonderful in the photo, and you can't really see the sliced banana and warmed through raspberries underneath which added a lot to the dish but this is mighty tasty. There are lots of recipes for this kind of chocolate cakey dessert where you mix most of the ingredients in the cake tin (fewer dishes to wash), then sprinkle over more sugar and cocoa and pour over more liquid and it cooks into a cake with a gooey chocolaty sauce on the bottom.

(I don't use the coffee because I don't much care for coffee, and my 18 month old doesn't get coffee yet. Also I think I would add less vanilla next time, I am never quite sure I'm crazy about vanilla essence in things and it struck me while taking a bite of this that it's because it reminds me of play dough... I told my husband about my realization and he complained because it had never occurred to him before but now it was reminding him of play dough too).

Well, I've spent longer talking about the food than I meant to and need to go to bed if I'm going to make it to church in the morning so this will be all for now, but I'm excited to be posting more often again and hope to be back soon with more (including a picture of the first of my diagonal rib socks!).

Apple, Cranberry and Raspberry Crumble, and some other thoughts.

2008-02-03T02:05:00.001-05:00

Apple, Cranberry and Raspberry Crumble
Originally uploaded by commonplaceiris.

Yesterday I was making crumble for our dessert and I decided to experiment with crumbling in some cookie (spice biscuits) dough that's been sitting in the fridge a while. I figure basic crumble is a lot like a biscuit dough in terms of ingredients. Surprisingly it made the crumble sweeter, I always thought I added more sugar than I probably should to the crumble already!

The spices in the dough went very nicely with the fruit combination -- allspice, ginger, cinnamon and cloves with apple, cranberry and raspberries.

(In making this I used up cranberries that have been sitting in the fridge for ages as a change from the blackberries I'm using up by making crumble, they have been sitting in the freezer for ages!)

Made some custard to pour on top, yummy. Well my husband and I thought so. I think my daughter prefers the blackberry and apple combo, or the regular crumble mixture as she didn't gobble it up they way she usually does. She did eat some, and all of the custard I hadn't mixed in already.

Not the most exciting post I'm afraid, but something at least. I've decided that my 2008 is only now officially beginning as January has been a bit of a disaster. A constant rotating succession of illnesses in our household and just chaos generally. By the end of last week I was something of a wailing puddle on the floor and then I got a blocked duct. Blah. Managed to avoid mastitis but did get a low fever and extremely low energy.

Anyhow. I'm now back on form and apart from my daughter's still snotty nose we seem to be in fairly good health so I'm back to thinking about new beginnings and maybe resolutions and the like. It's almost time for Lent so I'm going to try and get my head around a list of goals for Lent and the year beyond Easter. Oh and maybe I'll actually finish my January socks one of these days (I'm almost done the toe of the first sock...).

January Socks Begun

2008-01-08T11:13:00.001-05:00

January sock (wip)
Originally uploaded by commonplaceiris.

This is the beginning of my January project for the 2008 Sock knit a long group at ravelry. It's my first new knitting project of 2008 - I cast on on 6th January for something to do in the car on the way to my in laws for family Christmas..
I'm making Diagonal Rib Socks by Ann Budd (link to project info at ravelry) from Interweave Knits, Winter 2004 (pdf download here).
I love this yarn (I have to go find the info on what it is as the label got separated from the yarn). I'm not sure how well the pattern reads but don't care too much to be honest as I just love looking at the yarn. It actually seems to look better to me the further on I get which is nice, long may it continue. I have been having a slight problem with forgetting which round I'm on half way through and finding I'm off but I'm fudging it and getting back on track!

toasty topper

2008-01-02T21:41:00.001-05:00

toastytopper
Originally uploaded by commonplaceiris.

I'm thinking about a New Year post with some thoughts and goals for myself for the coming year. However since I've been getting ready for a long long day of travelling tomorrow that will have to wait for a while. Instead I bring you more finished knitting!

The Toasty Topper was in the Winter 2007 edition of Knitty that came out in December. I was looking to make a thicker hat than the top down bonnet I had already made, and had been thinking that she could do with some kind of neckwarmer so this looked like a perfect pattern to have a go at.

I pulled two balls of yarn (purple and dark pink) out that I bought in England, (possibly even while I was still living there) and cast on. This knit up really quickly and pretty easily. I made the scarf quite a bit longer than the pattern suggests (I cast on almost twice the number of stitches on each side). I noticed a few people who already made it wished the scarf pieces were longer when I checked ravelry -- I'm loving the ravelry! It fits pretty well (with room to grow, or grow more hair at least) and covers the ears very effectively.

I have also added a row of holes because I may experiment with adding a button to keep the scarf in place. It's not really necessary for this hat since the scarf can wrap around and tuck in at the back but it means I can see if buttoning would work with other options to fall back on if it doesn't. Although I finished the hat in mid December I haven't got around to testing this idea yet, but soon...

Tomorrow on the first car ride I must try to finish some belated Christmas gift items for delivery, I'll try to remember to get some pictures to share so may be able to bring more finished objects soon!

Christmas Outfit

2007-12-26T06:16:00.001-05:00

Christmas Outfit
Originally uploaded by commonplaceiris.

I hope all who observe it had a wonderful Christmas Day yesterday (well I hope everybody had a wonderful Day regardless too).

I finally got an outfit made for my daughter for a special occasion again, yay! I missed for last Christmas, her birthday (and the Easter dresses were supposed to be for earlier in the year...). I'm especially pleased because at the moment she didn't have another new dress to wear as she has all the other times.

The pattern is Simplicity 4304. I used some green fabric that's been sitting in my stash for years (used some of it for a Christmas dress for our niece about 3 years back!) and a thrifted pillowcase for the pinafore. Since I did all the sewing Christmas Eve and morning it's not the best job ever but I think it looks good once the pinafore's on. (I actually still have to add buttonholes and buttons to the pinafore, it's done up with safety pins here...).

Now off to have a fun time on Boxing Day with the dancing and the mumming and the caroling and the socializing.

Warm Finished Objects!

2007-11-29T14:52:00.001-05:00

Pink Mittens
Originally uploaded by commonplaceiris.

With the weather getting colder and owning nothing to keep my daughter's hands warm I decided to grab some bulky yarn and knit up some mittens. (Not that she is really willing to keep anything on her hands you understand but it's time for that battle to commence, especially as she seems to be being won over to hats at last.)

I took a look at some mitten patterns and using suggested number of stitches and such from Kate Gilbert's Gifted pattern (which happened to be the right gauge for the yarn and needles I was using) I got going.

I decided I wanted to knit in the round (actually I used my Denise interchangeable circulars -- think that's magic loop method, right?) and fiddled around with where the increases and decrease went, and kitchenered at the end. Also I added a row of holes so that I can thread ribbon or i-cord or something through to tie them on (although her jacket coat does a pretty good job it turns out).

The first one was a little small so I sized up for the second and then knit a third (perhaps I'll get around to knitting another to match the first and gift it). Of course the bigger pair are a little too big but they stay on quite well and will do for now (and then get grown into).

I've also managed to make my daughter a new hat/bonnet that covers her ears and because it ties on (hadn't added the ties yet when I took the picture)cannot be pulled off easily when she tires of it. (Although today we went out of the house and I asked her if she needed a hat and she said yes and wore it the entire time we were out, even while we were in the store which is pretty impressive based on her track record.)

The hat is from helloyarn's top down bonnet pattern which I like a lot and will use again, am tempted to make one for myself but not sure whether I'd actually wear it... Perhaps next time I make one for my daughter I will actually add ears (and maybe even embroidered face) as per the original pattern.

For my own head covering purposes I finally had a go at calorimetry. I wasn't sure when I first saw the pattern that it was really my kind of thing. But then I saw so many versions of it appearing on the Internet I got interested, and I realised that it'd be a useful thing for those days when I want to go outside with my hair up (especially when it's up because I've washed my hair). It's a nice quick and easy knit and I've been wearing it a lot. I'm not sure whether I'll wear at as much when it gets really wintery, or perhaps I'll wear it under my actual hats to ensure ear coverage!! We'll see. I think I will probably make this again, if not for me then as gifts for friends (and possibly family).

Remembering

2007-10-15T23:29:00.000-04:00

It's too late to ask anyone who might be visiting this blog to join in the Wave of Light this year, but I still wanted to post something today.

October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day (in America) or National Baby Loss Awareness Day (in the UK). The idea of the wave of light is that people light a candle at 7pm in their time zone on the day and let it burn for an hour in order to create a wave of light across the world.

There was going to be more to this post, hopefully there will be later when I can get back to the computer to write more. However, tonight my very much alive and kicking and screaming daughter needs me as sleeping is not going so well for her tonight. This (to the right) is a picture of my first little girl.

Thrift Thursday

2007-10-05T00:28:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted any of my thrifting finds for ages. I don't have photos of most of them. I've been mostly getting old bedsheets, some plain to use to try out patterns I'm not sure about and some more interesting ones to sew with too. Also scraps of fabric, books and even a few items of clothing for me and the rest of my household. Here's a picture of some thrift-store finds from mid-July that I didn't manage to actually blog about back then:
Some clothes for my daughter, and some fabric. The books were my favourite part -- I'm sure there's lots of useful info to be found in "How to Make Clothes Fit and Flatter", and "Fun with Scraps" looks as though it could really live up to its name. Hopefully I'll manage to spend some more time looking through them before too much longer.

And now to this week's finds. I went into the thrift store with my mum along which meant she could watch my daughter if I wanted to try on clothes. Consequently I came out with two pairs of trousers, very exciting! Also I've been wanting some shoes for a while: I need some to fill that period between sandal and snow boot weather; something to cover my feet and preferably that I can slip off and on easily for getting down on the floor with my daughter to play (and 'cause I prefer to go unshod whenever I can). I've been looking at Earth shoes online, and in the local shoe store but can't really afford to buy any just at the moment. However, I found these two pairs for just over ten dollars at the thrift store this week. Yay! They both seem barely worn, and seem to fit me nicely. Definitely belong on my 10Things list as the brown pair in particular are making me very happy (and unexpectedly so as I don't like not having a back to my shoes usually, and haven't worn much of any heel in ages).

in the dark

2007-10-03T23:46:00.000-04:00

This is why I should not attempt anything patterned when knitting in the dark.
I was knitting the first cuff for the longies I'm making my daughter. Obviously they are supposed to be moss stitch and while knitting in the car without bothering to get my little light out I managed to get off and start ribbing. At least it was only a few rows, it's fixed now and I'm on to the second leg. My mum's going to finish her pair first though I think. Not that she has to finish as soon as we thought -- my parents just changed their tickets to stay another week!

Visiting and Ravelry

2007-10-01T17:58:00.000-04:00

My parents are visiting. They've been here for three weeks already and go home on Thursday. As usual I anticipated all I was going to get done with my mum around to help out and as usual I've done hardly any of it. There's the time spent visiting, the time wasted procrastinating when I finally do get me time that I don't use for housework, and the extra stuff that has to be done because we have people staying with us. Also my parents always time their trips to do singing stuff which means the weekends tend to be full of events rather than relaxing, not to mention the potluck cooking that is usually involved too. This trip we did actually have one weekend mostly free which was nice, we made it to the Saturday farmers market for the first time in ages. We (my husband and I) were going to go on a date to see a movie by ourselves for the first time since my daughter was born, but then there was nothing on that we were excited to see. Disappointing.

Anyway, I'd been thinking I'd get back to this blog in September and clearly didn't. I haven't even managed to keep up with the year of color posts (though I have been taking pictures and putting them up in my flickr account).

I managed to get into my sewing room a couple of times in the last few weeks which felt good. I made myself a new tank top based on drawing around an old tank top. It came out pretty well I think. I know the weather's getting colder here new, but as a nursing mother that means I need layers so that I can have some pulled down over my midriff and some pulled up to allow access when nursing so I don't get chilly! I'm also working on a pair of trousers for my daughter -- I'm always sad about the lack of warm trousers on offer for little ones and last year I made some reversible elasticated waist trousers for my daughter that worked great. They actually still fit, sort of -- they're too short but they still go over the bulky cloth diapers unlike a lot of store bought pants.

Not sure whether I'll manage to blog more when my parents leave. This is especially true because today I got my invite to Ravelry so I may get sucked in there adding stash and projects and the like. I'm going to try and go slow and steady with adding my stuff because we have managed to make the house a bit more presentable while my parents have been here, and have found a fairly good rhythm for the day which we should maintain. (I'm commonplaceiris at Ravelry)

Here's one of my current knitting projects which I did just add, a new pair of Aubrey Doodlepants for my daughter since she's growing out of her old ones (they're too short but just about squeeze over the diapers still) and we need some warm things for the cold weather that's coming.

My mum and I each cast on a pair a few weeks back ready for some long car trips and look how far we've come (she's about the same amount through as me). The gusset is a bit wider than I meant, but then the space between the leg holes on the short soakers is often wider than that so hopefully it'll be a good thing. I have almost enough yarn in one ball to get to the end of the first leg so I'm not sure what I'll knit with the rest of the yarn. Maybe a short soaker, or perhaps I could make a hat and mittens and lanolize them for my daughter to wear when playing in the snow.

2007-09-05T06:26:00.001-04:00

Links for 2007-09-01 to 04 [del.icio.us]

If you can handle the mess: fun things to do with toddlers - ParentDish
A few fun ideas in the post. I was hoping there'd be more comments too, oh well.
angry chicken: not made in china.
great blog post about toys for children in light of all the recalls recently of toys made in China includes ideas for making toys, where to buy safe toys and how to talk to family and friends about the kinds of things to get your children for gifts
Results of the cold brew coffee experiment - Slashfood
Cold Coffee Drinks Without Special Equipment - Instructables
I am intrigued by this cold brew coffee idea. Not that I'm a coffee drinker myself, but my husband is and I've thought of trying to figure out making him iced coffee in the summertime so this is on my list of things to try.
How to construct a slash pocket - Instructables

Simply Recipes: Perfect Popcorn Recipe

Tutowlrial
A picture tutorial for sewing a cute little owl found via Domesticali
BBC NEWS World Asia-Pacific Miscarriage prompts Japan pledge
"Japan's health minister has pledged to address the shortage of doctors in the country after a woman in labour was turned away by eight hospitals."
BBC NEWS Health Ovary removal 'raises brain risk'
"Women who have ovaries removed before the menopause could be increasing their risk of both Parkinson's Disease and memory problems, research suggests.
"Removing one or both ovaries at a young age doubled the risk.
"Sex hormones made by the ovary may be protecting the brain, said experts from the US Mayo Clinic."
What do you think of Attachment Parenting? - ParentDish
"These days, I don't hear much about AP v. traditional parenting. Is it just because I'm out of the baby loop, or is it because like me with the twins, parents have decided to take and use the best of both worlds?"
BBC NEWS Health Junk sleep 'damaging teen health'
"Too many teenagers are damaging their health by not getting enough sleep and by falling asleep with electrical gadgets on, researchers say.
"A third of 12 to 16-year-olds asked slept for between four to seven hours a night. Experts recommend eight hours."
25 Worlds Weirdest Animals
Found via parentdish definitely worth a look!
BBC NEWS In Pictures Beards and Moustaches: Your photos

BBC NEWS Health Confusion over diabetes testing

"Diabetics could be giving up vital home blood sugar checks because they believe they are of no use, says a researcher.
"Psychologist Dr Elizabeth Peel interviewed type 2 diabetes patients, and found that many were confused over what to do with the results.
"Writing in the British Medical Journal, she said that some doctors simply ignored detailed records kept by diabetics, compounding the problem."

Top 50 Sites for Kids - The Amusement Park of the Web : All My Faves Blog
AllMyFaves blog has "rounded up 150+ sites that will provide the children with hours of endless entertainment." (via http://www.parentdish.com/ )
knittywhipped: Monkey Hooters!
this blogger found someone's purl free monkey variation and made a pair. I'd been wondering how a purl free pair would look, and suspecting I might prefer them that way and I think I was right! So, next pair of monkeys I make I plan to do this way.
Lamaze International: The Lamaze Institute for Normal Birth
Simply Recipes: Tomatoes!A granola recipe from my mom's hippie youth - Slashfood
This looks like a good ratio of stuff to oil and sweetener and I've been meaning to try my hand at making my own granola.
The explosion of vileness that followed her death Libby Purves - Times Online
A reflection on the media reaction after the death of Princess Diana -- I really appreciated reading this article. I was remembering that time and how it seemed to me as though people were rather missing what was important in all the hysteria.

Year of Color Update

2007-09-02T02:08:00.000-04:00

There are lots of things I think of to do and blog about but things often don't work out the way I plan. The challenge of the Year of Color group at flickr is helping to keep me feeling as though I'm paying attention to the world and being somewhat creative. Certainly I'm walking around with my eyes more open to my surroundings a lot of the time which is uplifting and inspiring for me. It also reminds me to talk to my daughter about what we're looking at as we walk around the house, the town, and the world at large which can only be a good thing. So I want to keep sharing my pictures here from time to time to show that I'm doing something with my life other than accumulating links!

Week 5: Red + White (I'm linking to the discussions for each week which have mosaics of favourite pictures of the week and late entries, other photos for all weeks can be found in the group photo pool)

I found this one challenging, not that there isn't plenty of red and white out there but I found picking something interesting and different was hard.

My first picture I took to document my current obsession with making cobbler for dessert. This is my favourite combination -- peach and raspberry. I noticed that the red raspberries and the white spatula were quite dominant in this photo.

Walking around town during week 5 made me notice that there are a lot of buildings around with red and white dominating. Here's just one that I got a picture of for the challenge.

Lastly, and I think the picture I'd choose if I were giving you just one for the week, is of a red reflector in our driveway (in theory to help the guy who ploughs our driveway in the winter although he doesn't always follow the handy helpful hint) and in the background the white of the porch and the screen door.

Week 6: Pink + Orange

When I checked on Sunday to see what the new colours for the week were I noticed I was even wearing them (see second photo on the bottom row)! Then walking through town that afternoon I saw so many places where there were pink and orange flowers together (you can see examples of some of those in the mosaic).
I also found quite a few examples of the colours in my own home: The peach and raspberry cobbler baked and served up in a bowl becomes a pink and orange dish; One of my daughter's cloth books with an orange and a pink pig on opposite pages lying open where she left it; popsicle (ice lolly) sticks; a straw in the dish drainer; a pitcher and boxes on top of the fridge; yarn waiting for me to knit something new.

(You can see all the photos here.)

Week 7: Yellow + Black

Another week that seemed tricky. There's a lot of yellow and black around -- lines painted on the roads, street signs and so on. So I was looking out for things that were not quite so everywhere. There were actually a lot of things I looked at and never actually photographed, and then I did take a (somewhat blurry) picture of traffic lights which are among the everywhere things!
Also somewhat among the everywhere things are the black eyed susans, quite a few pictures of these in the flickr pool in fact. I wasn't going to take more flower pictures this week until I passed this big blooming bush of flowers (with some other yellow flowers right next to them) while walking to the park. And then more of the examples of yellow and black around the house: utensils in a can; a push pin my husband found somewhere and put on a black canister in the kitchen; an old poster kept for scrap paper; the most yellow of the granny squares in a blanket made by my grandmother; tool bits and pieces lying around while my husband and his father are doing some work on our house; marmite jars (I am English after all -- not that everyone English likes marmite -- I bring big jars over with me and the one in the top right is currently in use for toast and stock while the other ones have been cleaned out and now hold loose tea and dried mushrooms from the bulk section of our co-op).
You can find all of these pictures individually here.

2007-08-28T06:20:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-08-27 [del.icio.us]

Monkeys Use Baby Talk With Infants
via ParentDish
"Humans aren't the only animals to use baby talk when speaking to offspring—rhesus monkeys also go "gaga" over babies, new research says.
"Puerto Rico's female rhesus monkeys make unique vocalizations to interact with infants to get their attention, the study finds."
Outrageous Oreo Crunch Brownies Recipe - Culinary in the Desert: How much for that brownie in the window?
These look intense (brownies with oreos baked in), and the recipe makes a big batch of brownies. I think I need to wait for a big event with potluck to try this recipe out.
Dreena's Vegan Recipes: Banana Oat Bundles
"A cross between a cookie and a mini-muffin, these bundles are a tasty, wholesome treat that are fast to prepare and can be enjoyed hot from the oven, or cooled to pack in lunches!"
These are wheat free too. They sound a little like a more grown up version of the cookies I made for my daughter when she was just starting to eat and banana and oats where two of her few foods.
Wheat Free Chocolate Chip Cookies :: Vegan Recipe Database
I like to have some wheat and dairy free recipes around so that I can make treats for all my friends so I plan to give these a try. I like that the recipe doesn't require lots of obscure ingredients in place of wheat flour (just oat flour, and there's also a little flax meal).
Study Shows Infant Intuitive "Mind Reading" | Scientific Blogging
"The findings indicate that the mental structures and the psychological reasoning skills allowing us predict other’s behavior are in place at a very young age and their development does not entirely rely upon the environment or associative learning mechanisms."
Why Is Heart Disease Prevalent In Diabetics? Maybe Abnormal Fat Metabolism | Scientific Blogging
Why We Have Trouble Distinguishing Faces Of Other Races | Scientific Blogging
Organic veggies: are they really better than conventionally grown? | Scientific Blogging
Well, yes. That's basically the answer, although some are more better than others!
Domesticating Biotechnology in the 21st Century | Scientific Blogging
The Fenton Reaction, Bad Iron And Alzheimer's | Scientific Blogging
Does a Summertime Baby Mean a Myopic Child? | Scientific Blogging
"If your child is born in the winter or fall, it will have better long-range eyesight throughout its lifetime and less chance of requiring thick corrective glasses, predicts a Tel Aviv University investigation led by Dr. Yossi Mandel, a senior ophthalmologist in the Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps."

2007-08-27T06:12:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-08-24 to 26 [del.icio.us]

The Meal Assembly Network
I've heard of this meal assembly thing before:
"A meal assembly kitchen is the ultimate partner in helping busy families get healthy, tasty dinners prepared. The typical kitchen has 12 to 16 stations that look like salad bars. Each station includes all of the ingredients necessary to put together a main entrée that serves 4 to 6. The ingredients are already chopped, sliced, and/or cut. Customers follow detailed instructions at each station and assemble the ingredients into freezer-ready bags. Buying and preparing the ingredients, as well as cleaning up the mess, is the responsibility of the meal assembly kitchen. The customer typically assembles 12 meals, and takes them home in a cooler or a laundry basket for storage in the freezer. Actual cooking happens at home."
I like the idea but I don't think I'd actually do it -- but if I had more freezer space and could clear the time it'd be good to try and put stuff together like this at home sometimes for those nights when I don't want to cook but I don't want to eat take-out.
He has your... fear of veggies | Health & Fitness | Reuters
"In a large study of identical and fraternal twins, researchers from University College London found that nearly 80 percent of children's tendency to avoid unfamiliar foods was inherited."
I was interested to hear the part about fear of new foods, and the idea of just keeping giving children a new food until it's a familiar food and then they may find it's ok, or even that they like it! I know that for me (somewhat picky eater that I am) I've gotten more able to stomach foods through forcing myself to take a few bites. My mum always used to do this with vegetables we didn't like. We had one bites worth on our plate that we had to try then we could have more if we liked, or not. It hasn't got me to like swede but I could eat it if needed!
Breakthrough in obesity battle - 25 Jul 2007 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news
"The scientists have shown that if a mother is undernourished, her children's bodies are set up to cope with a life of scarcity.
"But the energy-dense "hamburger and milkshake" diet of modern Western society is likely to result in children who are likely to become fat - unlike those from mothers who eat a balanced diet during pregnancy."
Neonatal Doc: Loss
A wonderful post from a neonatologist - a quote:
"After years of seeing various types of pregnancy and newborn loss, I have decided that there are really no good words of comfort at such a time. The loss is so final, so absolute, so irrevocable, that only time can lessen the wound and even then often not completely heal it. We can express our condolences to the family and offer to do anything we can for them, but beyond that we seem relatively powerless."
Some great comments too. Made me cry, but in a good way. I'm so glad we also had wonderful staff at the hospital where our first daughter was born, and died.
Craving for junk food ‘begins in the womb’ - Times Online
not martha - more tiny kitchen storage
a neat idea for storing utensils -- a good way to keep them out of reach from little hands!
Pattern for “Chunky Braided Scarf” « Butterfly Morning
Bust Alteration
A handy how-to on altering sewing patterns to fit your bust size.
SO busy sewing › Red Instead BLOG
Found the link for bust alteration at this blog post, there are some other handy links there too.
Six weeks without a wash: The soapless experiment | the Daily Mail
An article about a woman who decided to try an experiment which I think was recorded for a tv show:
"for 40 days and 40 nights, there has been no showering, no hair washing, no teeth cleaning and no deodorant.
"She has ditched her make-up and hair styling products, and allowed herself access to just three outfits (her running kit, a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and one summer dress)."
I found this interesting; I think she went a little overboard, but still. It's good to hear what was good and what was bad about cutting all that stuff out. Clearly she felt all the chemicals she'd been putting on and in her body as part of her daily routine were not doing her a lot of favours (her IBS symptoms improved during the experiment, and her skin seemed much healthier), but at the same time). It was interesting to hear that as long as she was away from other people (and societal expectations) she felt " felt really healthy and good about [her]self" and that when she was tested at the end of the experiment she didn't show a great increase in bacteria and suchlike which confirms we probably don't need to be sanitizing our hands every five seconds!
The article ends with her summing up:
"the experiment worked in that I proved to myself there is no need for all these beauty products on which I've been frittering away so much money. My desire for them was all in my mind, not an actual physical need.
"It showed me that for years I've been using excessive amounts, and, at the same time, potentially putting my health at risk because of all the chemicals they contain.
"I was amazed to find that the point when my skin looked its best was after a month of not using anything at all. As a result, I've become far more moderate in what products I use and what I am prepared to spend money on.
"A bar of soap, organic shampoo and conditioner, and a basic moisturiser are all I need now. I no longer wash my hair every day and I no longer feel self-conscious if I'm not done up to the nines.
"If people didn't notice when they had me standing next to them during the experiment, I'm sure they won't be aware of small things that would once have got me down, such as a bad hair day or a minor skin outbreak."
Knitty: Fall 2006 - red herring
Another CookieA sock pattern for my to-do list -- I've been wanting to try colour work again. I'm intimidated by it because of the tension issue but love all the possibilities that would open up if I could master it.
Choc Fudge Shortbread on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
This sounds tasty, need to make fudge first though!
eat me, delicious: Chocolate Orbit Cake
This looks so incredibly chocolaty and rich, mmmm.
Vanana Cookies (Vegan Banana Peanut Butter Cocoa Cookies) » vanesscipes
These look yummy. [I made some - posted on flickr]

Sausage-stuffed portobello mushrooms - The Boston Globe
Creamy corn chowder with very little cream - The Boston Globe

Alphabetty

2007-08-25T00:29:00.000-04:00

I saw a couple of bloggers who I follow decide to attempt Bella Dia's Encyclopedia of Me meme this month. Each day in August a new letter of the alphabet and a word (relating to the writer's life) beginning with that letter as the subject/prompt for a new blog post. A way for readers to get to know more random info about the blogger, a way for the blogger to think of new things to write about. Good idea I thought, I should do that. Not so much thus far obviously. I have been working on an alphabet/encyclopedia of me though as I started to think about what words were candidates for each letter of the alphabet. Perhaps I'll post that and add to it as things come to me, and then at some point actually do the whole posting project.

Coincidentally Secret Agent Josephine (whose blog I know I've visited in the past but in this case I came back to via Parentdish) has her own current alphabet project which is most excellent and I think my daughter will enjoy if I can get my act together with the printing and pasting and so on.

2007-08-24T15:57:00.000-04:00

I ordered pattern cards from weewonderfuls before going to bed on Monday night and they arrived in the mail today. (What service, I don't know how she does it with two small children and all.) They're so cute! I wasn't sure whether to get them or not, after all I can't keep up with all the things I want to/need to do these days as it is. However, one of the things I have been doing recently is knitting and that's partly because it's something I can put in my handbag and pull out when I'm in the car, or we're out and the girl is otherwise engaged. These pattern cards are for little soft toys that are hand stitched so I can hopefully do the same with them. Also, as I mentioned, they're cute so how could I resist?

2007-08-24T06:17:00.001-04:00

Links for 2007-08-23 [del.icio.us]

Design*Sponge: bloggers' guide to online shopping: part one
Design*Sponge: bloggers' guide to online shopping: part two
BBC NEWS | Magazine | Is stealing wireless wrong?
Peace+love+pants= my fav bolero!*TUTE!!! lotsofpics!*
via Craftzine
TUTORIAL: Singlet Style Shopping Bag (like the plastic shopping bag)
button shirt to toddler dress recon *NEW MINTY FRESH TUTORIAL*
via Craftzine
Radical Cross Stitch » Blog Archive » Easiest Baby Hat Ever - Tutorial
found Craftzine
My Weblog: Mousey and his bed
found via Craftzine, a cute little toy idea to make
Craftzine.com blog: Brother CS-6000: Good Beginner Sewing Machine
A very timely post for me, with a link to a roundup of sewing machine recommendations/reviews from last year. Been thinking for a while of buying myself a new sewing machine but deciding which to buy is keeping me stalled and procrastinating.
How to Make Freezer Jam - Instructables
I'd never heard of freezer jam before, intriguing!
Make/recycle your own paper! - Instructables
Make your own onestringbag - Instructables
Lazy Line Dry - Instructables
Recycled Mini Dry Erase Board - Instructables
Secret Agent Josephine » Baby Bug Flash Cards
Secret Agent Josephine has been inspired to make alphabet flashcards, inspired by/for her daughter and very generously she is currently sharing them with people who visit her blog (though eventually they should be available for purchase). Wonderful artwork (she does this professionally as well as out of love after all).

2007-08-23T06:22:00.001-04:00

Links for 2007-08-22 [del.icio.us]

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | The secret history of the Nazi mascot
Fascinating story of a Jewish boy who escaped into the forest when the rest of his town was massacred by the Nazis. After he was handed over to police a soldier helped him by introducing him to the other soldiers as a Russian orphan and he was adopted as a kind of mascot:
"To this day, Alex Kurzem has no idea why Sergeant Jekabs Kulis took pity on him. Whatever his motives, it certainly helped that Alex had Aryan looks. And together, they kept the secret.
"'Every moment I had to remind myself not to let my guard down, because if ever anyone found out, I was dead. I was scared of the Russians shooting me and the Germans discovering I was Jewish. I had no-one to turn to.'
"Young Alex saw action on the Russian front, and was even used by the SS to lure Jewish people to their deaths."
Neither Hip Nor Funky » Freezer Paper T-shirt Tutorial
I've seen so many great freezer paper stenciled projects at flickr, and on various blogs, and would love to have a go myself sometime. This isn't the only tutorial out there, but it looks like a good one so keeping it handy for later.
Simple and Elegant dress
A tutorial for making one of those dresses that's got lines of elastic running around the chest/bust, but using lengths of elastic rather than elastic thread which somehow seems more do-able.
Techniques with Theresa - Seaming knitting - knitty.com
Seaming is not my strong suit so I figure I can never have enough resources handy when I need them.
Toddlers are capable of introspection :: UC Davis News & Information ::
Scientists have demonstrated that dolphins, monkeys and even rats can engage in some form of "metacognition," or an awareness of their own thought processes. But developmental psychologists have assumed that human children do not develop this capability before about age 5. Lyons and Ghetti have toppled that assumption by teaching 3- and 4-year-olds to communicate their awareness of their thought processes using pictures rather than words. "We've shown that even very young children can think about their thinking," Ghetti said. "The reason we haven't appreciated it before now is that the studies that have been used to test for it have been too verbally demanding."
This reminds me of reading (and listening to a show on Radio 4) about early childhood memories a while back -- experts say lasting memories aren't formed until a child is verbal and can describe them. However in a survey of people in the UK a huge number of people reported pre-verbal memories. I know people who have really early memories - strong visual images in particular. I suspect the experts don't know everything!

All the following links I found via CRAFT:

» Blog Archive » Winding a skein into a centre-pull ball
Bella Dia: Doodling with Embroidery
I so need to give this a try. Seems as though I could make something pretty a bit at a time without thinking too much -- exactly the kind of crafty project I crave these days!
Naptime Knits: froggy
cute knit and felted frog pattern
SockPixie: Jewel (Free Baby Hat Knitting Pattern)
cute little hat with a border of mitred squares
DIY Shrinky Dinks. » Curbly | DIY Design Community
Bella Knitting: Duplicate Stitch Tutorial
How to Make a Gathered Skirt with Knit Waistband
U-handblog: Pricing your bags or other crafts to sell.
I don't know that I'm likely to be in a place to try and make stuff to sell any time soon (or ever) but this seems like a useful reference point if you or I ever are contemplating such a thing.
The Knitting Zone - Easy Sock Blockers / Stretchers

2007-08-22T06:20:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-08-21 [del.icio.us]

2007-08-21T06:19:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-08-20 [del.icio.us]

Woolgathering: Mad Color Weave pattern now available
sock pattern found via Needle Exchange's Saturday Pattern Day #9 post
domesticrafts - Get your Drunken Bees here
another sock pattern found via Needle Exchange's Saturday Pattern Day #10
domesticrafts - Zephyr Socks
and once I was at domesticrafts I saw this sock pattern that I like even more!
Stitch Catalog - Stitch Count Listing
Stashmina - knittywhipped: Wrap it up
Idea for a wrap, love the fir cone pattern.
Clapotis pattern at knitty.com
Another wrap/shawl/scarf pattern I want to make. I've seen so many pictures of this pattern at flickr and it sounds simple and looks great.
1x umrühren bitte: Ein Brot macht die Runde: Hokkaido Milchbrot
this bread looks very tasty (I especially like the idea of the variation with Nutella, and guess I could alternatively use some kind of ganache and chopped nuts perhaps). Just need to brush up on my German so that I can understand more of the recipe!
Culinary in the Desert: Mocha Mudslides
Saw a picture of these cookies at flickr. I'm not a fan of the flavour of coffee (love the smell though) but I can think of a few people I know who would like these a lot.
Swirl socks for Mom and MIL…and you? « Sulala
Another aesthetically pleasing sock pattern (yet more socks for my to-do list). These socks have a swirl that spirals around the leg and foot. I suspect it would be look very interesting to babies exploring feet! Found via Needle Exchange's Saturday Pattern Day #10

2007-08-19T06:20:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-08-13 to 18 [del.icio.us]

Study:Early diet advice for kids sticks - USATODAY.com
"Teaching children from a young age to eat a low-fat diet can be effective — even as they reach their teens and begin eating more meals away from home, according to a new study.
"The study of children in Finland found that those who were taught to focus on healthy fats — those found in fish, nuts, seeds and oils from plants — had slightly lower cholesterol levels compared to those who ate an unrestricted diet."
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Huge payout in US stuttering case
"In 1939, the plaintiffs - all orphans in state care - were tormented for six months by Iowa University researchers. "The study was testing the theory that children develop speech impediments because of psychological pressure."
BBC NEWS | Health | Depression is 'over-diagnosed'
"Too many people are being diagnosed with depression when all they are is unhappy, a leading psychiatrist says.
"...
"But another psychiatrist writing in the journal contradicts his views, praising the increased diagnosis of depression."
BBC NEWS | Health | Early cord clamping may harm baby
"Clamping the umbilical cord straight after birth does not benefit mother or baby and may actually be harmful, a UK expert has warned. "Instead, leaving the cord for around three minutes can boost the baby's iron stores, cutting the risk of anaemia."
BBC NEWS | Health | Fat 'crucial' in children's diet
"Concerns about their child becoming overweight means some parents put them on low-fat diets, but the Nutrition Journal study said this was misguided.
"Researchers found children burned substantially more fat than adults relative to their calorie intake.
"Youngsters needed that fat to grow and thrive, they argued.
"Over a third of a child's energy intake should be made up of fat, the researchers at Pennsylvania State University said, a recommendation in line with UK requirements."
Aubrey DoodlePants Knitting Pattern
A good (and free) knitting pattern for longies (to go over cloth diapers). I've made this pattern several times (with some modifications of my own) but thought I'd save the link here since I'm always having to search for it when I want to make more.
hardrockzombie: Rescued from the Ravages of Time
"I dug these patterns with considerable difficulty from the belly of the New York Public Library. I'm quite sure they sat untouched for years on their shelves, and would have quietly crumbled to fragments and dust with no one the wiser had I not intervened. As it was, in handling and photocopying them I'm pretty sure I fast-forwarded that destruction by 10 years."
Instructables Make a diamond-paged book
Farewell French and Saunders - Times Online
"After 20 years, French and Saunders are still our most successful, and funniest, female duo. So why are they calling time on their partnership — and coming over all serious about matters of life and death?"
Pollution Causes 40 Percent Of Deaths Worldwide, Study Finds | Scientific Blogging
"...environmental degradation, coupled with the growth in world population, are major causes behind the rapid increase in human diseases, which the World Health Organization has recently reported. Both factors contribute to the malnourishment and disease susceptibility of 3.7 billion people..."
BBC NEWS | Health | Baby growth chart switch closer
"New child growth charts which reflect the slower weight gain associated with breastfeeding could be soon be adopted in England.
"Current UK growth charts are based on predominantly formula-fed babies, which tend to grow more quickly.
"The new charts have been drawn up by the World Health Organization.
"They have been backed in a report by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
"It is hoped that adopting the new standards could stop breastfeeding mothers being worried about their babies apparently failing to put on weight fast enough."
Identification card for children - ParentDish
"Ident-a Kid cards are like a driver's license for babies and children. One sturdy, plastic laminated card stores their eye color, height, weight, parents name and address, as well as a thumbprint and recent photograph."

2007-08-13T06:10:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-08-11 & 12 [del.icio.us]

BBC NEWS | UK | Double-nosed dog not to be sniffed at
2007: Accio Quote!, the Largest Archive of J.K. Rowling quotes on the web
I hear I should read this, but not until I get around to reading the last book so I figure I'll save the link here for now.
Mabel's Labels: Personalized dishwasher safe kids labels Stickers Iron on Shoe Bag tag Camp Clothing Skinny-minis Stickies Allergy Tag-mates Fundraising School Daycare Pre-school
More Zing, Less Sodium
A list of suggestions of which herbs and spices work well with different kinds of foods/dishes.
Banana Jam on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Go over to flickr for the link to the recipe
Confabulation in the Kitchen: Homemade Take-Out
Sesame Chicken recipe
Soft Pretzels (w/recipe) on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
BBC NEWS | Scotland | Scots 'mither tongue' goes online
"An archive of the Scots language is now available all over the world thanks to a comprehensive new website.
"Researchers at Glasgow University have completed work on the online resource, which contains more than four million words in Scots and Scottish English.
"As well as meaning and usage, the project also has audio links, allowing people to hear words being spoken."
Instructables Paper ball ornaments for your Christmas tree
"Recycling paper is one of the many things we can do to protect environment, so instead of dispose our old magazines and the tons of catalogs and paper junk we receive, why don't use it to make some nice ornaments for Christmas? They are original, cheap and safer for your children than the traditional glass balls."

2007-08-11T06:15:00.001-04:00

Links for 2007-08-10 [del.icio.us]

BBC NEWS | Health | Bones offer new hope for diabetes
"An international team found the molecule osteocalcin, produced by bone cells, is active in helping to regulate blood sugar levels in mice."
the barmy baker: Because Some Days You Just Need A Lot of Chocolate
Saw a picture of these Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies cookies at flickr and thought I needed to add them to my to make list immediately (although I don't like the taste of coffee so may need to modify a bit)!
14 Numbers Your Cell Phone Can't Live Without · The Cranking Widgets Blog
"if your cell phone has no other numbers stored in its memory, make sure it has these numbers." I haven't actually had a cell phone until just now but I was thinking this would also be useful as a starting point for a phone list to go on the wall by the phone (or on the fridge perhaps) at home so you don't need to go looking for numbers in an emergency (especially if the person needing the number is an out of town visitor or baby sitter).
the knitted blog: Make your own envelopes.
seen at :Craft
Nearly half of early breast cancers missed by mammograms, research suggests |Guardian
London looks at bike hire scheme | Guardian
"Ken Livingstone yesterday confirmed he wants a network of hire pushbikes for London. The capital's mayor ordered officials to investigate a scheme to mirror the one introduced in Paris, where the provision of 10,000 bicycles at 750 dedicated hire points has been hugely successful. The study will also look at other cycle-friendly cities such as Barcelona, Lyon, Brussels, Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Oslo and Copenhagen."
BakeSpace.com - Recipe Swap and Food Social Network
tumbling blocks: oilcloth lunch bag
seen via flickr, this is a blog post with a tutorial for making your own lunch bag with oilcloth.
The Link Between Estrogen And Pain | Scientific Blogging
"Estrogen plays an important role in determining how sensitive a person is to pain, and the estrogen receptor known as ER-beta is particularly significant in this context. These are the conclusions of a study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet."
baby led weaning :: The NHS agrees with us that finger food is A-Okay from 6 months.
"some links from the NHS Breastfeeding People and NHS Healthy Start that say finger food is fine from 6 months"

Colourful posting

2007-08-11T00:43:00.000-04:00

I've been enjoying keeping my eyes open and taking in my surroundings as I look for photo opportunities for the Year of Color 2 flickr group I mentioned. I haven't done such a great job keeping up with posting the pictures, but I'm going to take a few minutes to get up to date right now!
Week 2: BROWN+BLUE

This is a picture of the wall in my kitchen. This is how it was decorated when we moved in, we have lived in this house for 5 years now and not redecorated anywhere, sigh.

I don't mind the wall paper (though I doubt I'd have chosen it) but I hate the varnish of the wood, and although I quite like that colour of blue at the bottom I wish it was represented in something more pleasant than plastic paneling. Ah well, at least I won't be heartbroken if (when) my daughter starts colouring on the walls!

Mostly I've been finding pictures for the project when I'm out and about walking through town with my daughter. Perhaps this is because she's so busy watching everything around us that I have space to look around me for more then a few seconds at a time!

This next picture is of the multi-story car park. I put it in with the week 3 pictures but I guess it could also qualify under brown+blue as the darker bricks are more brown?

Week 3: ORANGE+BLUE

I noticed the blue mail box behind the orange bollard as we crossed the street and stopped to get a quick snapshot.

The flickr group pool has some wonderful shots with these colours. I notice some people make mosaics of their favourite shots of the week, if I can keep track of my favourites and find a few extra minutes I might have a go at that -- it's interesting how images strike people so differently sometimes.

Week 4: BLUE+GREEN

Here I am back up to date (just!). This is a colour combination that I see everywhere (especially at this time of year), so I've got quite a few shots this week. Now I just need to pick which ones to send to the group pool. Here's a mosaic (put together here) of all of my flickr photos tagged blue+green (so far):

1. blue sky + green trees, 2. blue jeans + green grass, playing at the park, 3. blue sky + green mountain, 4. blue + green in the stroller, 5. blue can + green grass, 6. blue + green paint job, 7. blue clothed baby + green cart handle, 8. blue trash can + green surroundings

2007-08-10T06:19:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-08-06 thorough 09 [del.icio.us]

Birth The Play :: Bold
"Birth is a play based on over one hundred interviews Karen Brody conducted with mothers across America who gave birth between 2000-2004. It tells the true stories of 8 women painting a portrait of how low-risk, educated women are giving birth in America today."
I don't know whether I'm likely to be able to see this play, or go to a Red Tent event, this year but it sounds really interesting to me (I read more birth stories than I have time for). During September there are groups all over the USA (and further afield) putting on the play, and/or organizing events in order to raise awareness about labor/birth and to make birthing more mother friendly -- look for an event near you.
A pause before parenting -- PJStar.com - Journal Star Features
"Women who began their families later in life share the rewards - and regrets - of delayed motherhood"
August '07 edition of MagKnits, your friendly online knitting magazine
I like the look of Lemonade (a fitted cotton cardi), Jenora (a cardigan that makes me think of the Bloomsbury group) and Summer Sky (a nice shrug/cardigan) Also there's a sock pattern, and a slinky knit dress pattern.
A pioneer in an experiment called open adoption - Los Angeles Times
The second part of the story is here. Interesting look at one story of an open adoption, you should really read both parts of the story. I've been reading several blogs where adoption is an important part of the bloggers life - as a first parent, an adoptive parent or a person who was adopted - and it's really expanded my understanding of adoption enormously. It's given me far more insight than I've got from people I know personally who've placed a child, adopted a child or been adopted (probably in part because I've never really talked about adoption in any depth with those people). I'm really grateful for the people who have shared their stories and helped me understand more about the long term implications of adoption for all involved.
How Much Salt Is Safe? | Scientific Blogging
Latent Memory Means Genetic Learning | Scientific Blogging
Freebirthing: Should women give birth alone? -- Daily Mail
Freebirthing scares me personally, I had drug-free easy deliveries but I really valued having the nurses, midwives and my doula around (and I know my husband would have been terrified without them). Of course we were at a hospital that knows how to support "normal birth". Hearing stories of being in labor at hospitals that have epidural rates so high that the nurses don't know what to do with a naturally laboring woman, and hearing of the rising and rising c-section rates around the country (US and UK), (not to mention how hard it can be to find midwives and doctors to attend a homebirth what with malpractice insurance and not enough OBs and midwives around) I can see where freebirthing becomes a more attractive option for many women.
MAGPIE » “Bread and Puppet continues, more than 40 years on, to live an ideal of art as collective enterprise, a free or low-cost alternative voice outside the profit system.” - Arthur Magazine blogs for you...
Baby Videos May Hinder Infants' Language Development | Scientific Blogging
"Rather than helping babies, the over-use of such productions actually may slow down infants eight to 16 months of age when it comes to acquiring vocabulary, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute.
"The scientists found that for every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and videos, infants understood an average of six to eight fewer words than infants who did not watch them. Baby DVDs and videos had no positive or negative effect on the vocabularies on toddlers 17 to 24 months of age."
Online movie guides for parents - ParentDish
BBC NEWS | Health | Diabetes problems 'vitamin link'
"A simple vitamin deficiency may be the cause of many of the side effects of diabetes, a study suggests.
"Researchers found people with the disease expelled thiamine - vitamin B1 - from their bodies at 15 times the normal rate in a study of 94 people.
"The Warwick University team said thiamine helped ward off complications such as heart disease and eye problems, the Diabetologia journal said."
The Phrontistery: Obscure Words and Vocabulary Resources
Owl Hat Pattern
Seen in a flickr photo
BBC NEWS | Health | Diet food 'may fuel obesity risk'
"researchers believe low-calorie versions of usually high-calorie foods disrupt the body's ability to use taste to regulate calorific intake."
Monkeys, Humans Learn The Same Way | Scientific Blogging
“'Like humans, monkeys benefit enormously from being actively involved in learning instead of having information presented to them passively,' said Nate Kornell, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar in psychology and lead author of the study. 'The advantage of active learning appears to be a fundamental property of memory in humans and nonhumans alike.'”
BBC NEWS | Education | Academic study 'not always best'
"Parents should encourage teenagers to pursue a wider range of courses, not just academic ones, campaigners say.
"Educational foundation Edge warns of 'academic snobbery' against vocational courses. It says a fifth of pupils think they are on the wrong path.
"Going on to study for a degree for its own sake is not always suitable for the careers they really want, Edge says."

2007-08-06T06:11:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-07-31 through 2007-08-05 [del.icio.us]

Burma: A plight we can ignore no longer - Independent Online Edition > Asia
Burma: Forgotten and locked in the shadow of the past - Independent
Pregnancy Depression May Affect Baby
'"Anxiety and depression don't predict [a baby's] total sleep, but do predict sleep problems and disruptive sleep," says researcher Thomas O'Connor, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. "The babies may sleep just as long, but they wake up more often and they have trouble falling asleep."'
Sew,Mama,Sew! Blog » » Interfacing Guide from Amy Butler
Wheat-Free Baking Recipes
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Orangutans use 'charades' to talk
"Researchers from St Andrews University have shown that the animals intentionally modify or repeat their signals to get their messages across.
"The scientists said they believed all great apes could have this capability, suggesting that the skill may have evolved millions of years ago."
Soft Drinks Linked To Increase In Heart Disease | Scientific Blogging
"Drinking more than one soft drink daily — whether it's regular or diet — may be associated with an increase in the risk factors for heart disease."
Magnetic Capsules Protect Insulin Cell Transplants in Type I Diabetes | Scientific Blogging
Green Toys Brand Toys - Platsic Toys Made From Corn!!
Soaker pattern - Just Jussi: New free pattern
Scientists issue warning about chemical in plastic - Los Angeles Times
"In an unusual effort targeting a single chemical, several dozen scientists on Thursday issued a strongly worded consensus statement warning that an estrogen-like compound in plastic is likely causing an array of serious reproductive disorders in people.
"The compound, bisphenol A or BPA, is one of the highest-volume chemicals in the world and has found its way into the bodies of most human beings."
CorePsychBlog: Who Cares about Estrogen Dominance?

2007-07-31T06:07:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-07-27 to 30 [del.icio.us]

Corrections: The Bread Bible - Real Baking with Rose Levy BeranbaumA handy link for me. I've had this book for a year or two now (having got it out of the library and baking lots of bread during my first pregnancy). I've made some of my most succesful sliceable loaves from this book. I'm feeling like baking more bread again (perhaps because I've been eating more bread because of frequenting our local bakery) so the book is coming out again.
BBC NEWS | Health | Sunshine 'protective' against MS
BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | When suffering gets personal
"On his return from Afghanistan, BBC world affairs editor John Simpson reveals how his attitude to covering stories about violence and suffering has changed."
BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Veteran, 109, revisits WWI trench
"The last known surviving British soldier to have fought in the trenches of World War I has revisited the site where he fought 90 years ago."
Vinnland socks -- ¡The AntiCraft!
I saw a pair of these in some striking yarn at flickr. Nice cable pattern for warm socks.
David Lebovitz: Making Ice Cream Without A Machine
Definitely want to have a go at doing this sometime. I think maybe we tried something similar once when I was a child. Anyway, ice cream is very popular in this house so it seems as though it would be a fin thing to try.

2007-07-27T06:17:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-07-25 & 26 [del.icio.us]

BBC NEWS | Health | Many 'believe myths' on epilepsy
101 Child Safety and Childproofing Tips for Parents - ParentWonder.com -
Gene Discovered For Type 1 Diabetes In Children | Scientific Blogging
Pediatric Ritalin Use May Affect Developing Brain | Scientific Blogging
A new study says Ritalin use by young children may cause long-term changes in the developing brain. The study is among the first to probe the effects of Ritalin (methylphenidate) on the neurochemistry of the developing brain.
Young Children's Defiance Toward Mothers Part Of Healthy Development
At very young ages, children's defiant behavior toward their mothers may not be a bad thing. This defiance may in fact reflect children's emerging autonomy and a confidence that they can control events that are important to them.
Happy Being Unhappy: Why We Like Negative Feelings | Scientific Blogging
Renewable Energy Wrecks The Environment | Scientific Blogging
Ausubel has analyzed the amount of energy that each renewable source can produce in terms of Watts of power output per square meter of land disturbed. He also compares the destruction of nature by renewables with the demand for space of nuclear power. "Nuclear energy is green," he claims, "Considered in Watts per square meter, nuclear has astronomical advantages over its competitors."
Study Links Manic Depression With Brain Tissue Loss | Scientific Blogging
Sex discrimination rife and equality will take generations, says axed commission | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited
Sex equality will take generations to achieve at the current "painfully slow" rate of progress, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) said today in a final report before being wound up by the government after more than 30 years fighting gender bias across British society.
It found discrimination is still rife in politics, employment and public services, and stark gender gaps at work and at home.
Bedtime stories a problem for many parents | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited
Lucy Atkins on the NHS's most talked about midwives | Health and wellbeing | Life and Health
Redcurrant muffin recipe -- Horticultural: Your redcurrant recipes, please
Diabetic and Determined - New York Times
BBC NEWS | Americas | US cat 'predicts patient deaths'
BBC NEWS | Health | Diesel pollution 'clogs arteries'

2007-07-27T00:47:00.000-04:00

I've been slowly catching up with my backlog of links (they're showing up in the past here because they're automatically generated posts that I edit a bit so they're all backdated). Meanwhile a new backlog is building and I haven't been good about blogging about what I'm actually doing.

This has not a little to do with the death of a friend which I mentioned in a previous post. I feel as though I'm doing so little to help, but even what I am doing (mostly relaying email messages) seems to be taking up most of the writing time that I have at the moment. As usual I am very behind on household tasks. (Sigh.)

Tomorrow I'm going to be cooking lots of food for the potluck lunch at the memorial celebration. (Well, I will assuming my delightful daughter co-operates. It seems she's often happy to amuse herself in the corner of the room until I'm actually trying to get stuff done and then she NEEDS me. Oh well, that's the way it goes! Hopefully my husband will be able to look after her for a lot of the day.)

I'm actually in a bit of a cooking phase at the moment. Have been for a while actually, I think it's partly where my need to be creative finds an outlet in these days when I have no opportunities to get into my sewing room (I have been knitting too, even have some finished objects I should blog about sometime). Now with grief and the desire to do something to help (even if that's only providing comfort food for us) on top of general frustrated creativity the cooking's necessary. The other day I made a cake even though we still had leftover birthday cake to finish and at the best of times cakes tend to end up moldy in our house (we enjoy them and then forget about them before they're gone, I don't know how we manage this). It came out very nicely.

It's a banana bread recipe I hadn't tried before, I came across it drifting around the internet (as I do in all the spare time I don't have) at Orangette, it's got coconut and rum in it plus I added chocolate chips because I can't let well enough alone! It's very tasty.

Also I'm entering a bread making phase I think. I have them now and then. Someone got me The Bread Bible a while back and I haven't used it much since for various reasons. I've been starting to itch to make bread again so for one of the parties we had for my daughter's birthday I made the cheddar loaf (very tasty) and some crumpets (slightly disappointing but I have some ideas about how to do better next time). I also made a sandwich loaf a few days ago which came out so-so, it tastes yeasty and I'm thinking I let it go too much in at least one of the risings. It's good toasted with butter and marmite though.

2007-07-25T06:15:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-07-24 [del.icio.us]

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Nerve gas antidote made by goats

Multi Grain Rolls Recipe at Mothering.com

Wendy Cooling: I want to get every child in the country reading for pleasure - Independent

Identity theft: parents who steal from their kids - ParentDish
Well this is horrible to contemplate; sabotaging your own child's life.

The peace of paper » Little Boxes
A tutorial for making a cute little gift box.

Medical Imaging News Articles | Cholesterol-lowering diet can modify fetal Doppler velocimetry in mid-pregnancy | Radiology News

2007-07-24T06:12:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-07-23 [del.icio.us]

Everlasting Bagstopper - Knitty: Spring 2007

Baklava Loaf | Baking Bites

Parent's survival guide: How to entertain a brood of bored kids during the summer holidays - Independent

Jemima Lewis: You can't beat a traditional liberal education - Independent
"I am seized with jealousy of my husband, who had the closest thing to an old- fashioned liberal education that money can buy. He learnt Latin and Greek at eight, speaks fluent French, knows the Old Testament backwards and can still recite the Periodic Table. Life skills come easily to him because the basics are already there: if you can do Latin grammar, you can learn new languages in a jiffy; if you understand physics, you can (and will) wire up a digital surround-sound home entertainment system."

Andrew Franklin: The real reason why publishers miss good books - Independent

Jemima Lewis: We've created a genealogical nightmare - Independent

MOO | Stickers - Print stickers using your images
seen at howaboutorange

Sock it to me!
"[Mezzodiva] decided to self-publish [her] Campanula sock pattern (...) and offer it here for a nominal charge: To get the pattern, all you have to do is CLICK HERE and SPONSOR [HER] for the 2007 Weekend to End Breast Cancer."

nonaKnits: Sidewinders: The Prologue
links at end of each post to the next until you've knit yourself a sock, sideways!

Apron/Sunbonnet Combination - April 2001 Free Monthly Project
Saw an example of this pattern made up at flickr it's an intriguing idea; a garment that can be worn as an apron or a bonnet!

2007-07-22T06:12:00.001-04:00

Links for 2007-07-20 & 21[del.icio.us]

joybucket: Peek-a-Boo Bunting Tutorial
found via Craftzine, a tutorial for a baby quilt that attaches to a stroller so the baby can't kick it off. Excellent idea!

Mandela turns 89 and launches 'a robust force for good' | Guardian Unlimited
Nelson Mandela marked his 89th birthday today with the launch of a group of world-renowned leaders who plan to use several Nobel peace prizes and "almost 1,000 years of collective experience" to tackle global crises that governments are unable or unwilling to confront."
Using their collective experience, their moral courage and their ability to rise above nation, race and creed, they can make our planet a more peaceful and equitable place to live," said the former South African president.

perfect pikelets ~ My Way or the Highway » Wear it. Eat it. Deny you are responsible.
Mmmm, pikelets.

By request. on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
A great knitted top (cardigan/jacket) seen at flickr. I think this would make a great garment for a nursing mother -- may need to make myself one!

Your Gamete, Myself - Egg Donation - Reproduction - In Vitro Fertilization - Infertility - Women - Peggy Orenstein - New York Times
An interesting look at the implications of egg donation.

Magazine Box Tutorial - a photoset on Flickr
found via Craft

Snicket Socks - MagKnits, your friendly online knitting magazine
"These socks were inspired by the dress Violet Baudelaire (Emily Browning) wears in the movie Lemony Snicket – A Series of Unfortunate Events. I wanted to translate the net-like sleeves into knitting.

BBC NEWS | From Our Own Correspondent | Losing the taste for China's delicacies

BBC NEWS | Health | Healthy weight link to longevity
"Keeping a healthy weight may help people live longer by limiting brain exposure to insulin, say US scientists."

Celtic Braid Socks: Tuulian omia juttuja:
Another sock pattern, this one with a nice celtic looking cable pattern

Black Dog Designs
A collection of knitting patterns from the blogger of the blog Black Dog Knits
. Quite a few I would like to try sometime, probably going to stick with the socks for now (and there are several sock patterns that caught my fancy there.

Shetland Lace Rib Sock Pattern: Stitches of Violet
And, yes, another knitting pattern for socks!

What's New

2007-07-22T01:31:00.000-04:00

I've not even been manage to keep up with editing and posting my links this last week or so. Firstly there was my daughter's first birthday so I was baking cakes and preparing other party food (for two parties no less, one with friends near home and one with my husband's family at his parents' house).

Then last Sunday we got a call to tell us that a dear, wonderful friend had died that morning. It was such a shock to us, we knew she had had some health problems but had no idea that this was coming. Although I can't jump in the car and go help out with her little ones or do errands I have been spending more time than usual on the phone (I hate the phone) and emailing people announcements and updates and so on in an effort to do something helpful. My daughter has started having play phone conversations, and is more than ever determined to help me type and steal my mouse (I have one with a tracking ball thing, she likes to take the ball out and roll it along the floor, then pull down the mouse and stand on the buttons). I think she's looking forward to things settling down a bit.

I have been keeping up with writing my 10 things (as I talked about a couple of weeks ago now) most nights before heading for bed. Sometimes when something so sad happens finding those 10 things can actually be easier. Certainly it has brought home once again how lucky my husband and I are to be part of a wonderful community of singers. They sent cards and email and sang and brought food to our first daughter's memorial service just over two years ago and sustained us through those hard times. Now we can be part of the community helping our friends husband and two small children as best we can.

Amidst all of this I have another thing to add to my things to do. Another thing I came across at happythings blog in fact, her Year of Color group. I noticed it a little while ago, but the year was almost up. However she's just launched A Year of Color 2 (a flickr group) so I decided to join in. It's about time I remember to take pictures of things other than my daughter a little more often!

The first week just ended, and being rather preoccupied this week I just snuck my pictures in rather late in the day. Technically it's Sunday, but I still think of it as being Saturday still because I haven't gone to bed yet, and she didn't post colours for week 2 yet so hopefully I'm alright. For A Year of Color 2 "we will enjoy photos focusing on a DIFFERENT COLOR COMBINATION every week for a year." The colours for Week 1 are pink+green. Here are my pictures:

The first is a lone flower fallen on the side of the path which I noticed when walking home from the store the other day. I don't know where it came from, somebody carrying flowers home perhaps since there were none growing anywhere near that I could see.

The second picture I took the other evening sitting on the couch knitting. I'd pulled up a prayer shawl I'm knitting for our church's prayer shawl ministry. I haven't worked on it in ages but have felt drawn to this week. Caught on it somewhere was this yarn end from knitting soakers for my daughter. There it was on my green stripey pajama trousers.

I think I'm going to enjoy this project!

2007-07-20T06:16:00.001-04:00

Links for 2007-07-19 [del.icio.us]

No-Knead Bread - OregonLive.com
I made some of the no-knead bread after it was in the NYTimes a while back and the second batch came out really nicely and I've been meaning to make more. It's a great way to make bread for someone like me who doesn't have much time to bake, but plenty of time to let things hang around to mature for a day! And I'm entering a bread baking phase at the moment.
BBC NEWS | UK | Education | The dead parrot curriculum
Guardian Unlimited | A precious provision
"We were unlucky in the tragic hand dealt to our son, but blessed to have had British healthcare "
This article resonated with me. It made me remember after my first daughter died at birth (I had a 40% placental abruption at 23 weeks) getting the hospital bill for the delivery and the autopsy and everything: Obviously those people who took care of us and our baby and were doing there jobs so well deserve to be paid, but (especially as someone who grew up in the UK and still hasn't got used to the way it works in the USA) it seems unthinkable that I should have to look at a bill for that when my baby just died. And thankfully we have good health insurance, but what if we didn't? In the midst of that experience or some other unexpected turn your life upside-down event I think people should be able to focus on the very real things happening in their lives and not have to worry about what their insurance will cover, and how to afford the rest. The money wasn't really a headache for us in our situation, but it could have been, and it certainly made me think.
Knitty: Spring 2007 - Clessidra Stockings
I think my mum would love these, she likes nice long socks. The question is should I just send her the link to the pattern or should I attempt to make her some for Christmas?
Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less - New York Times
Warming Report Warns of Increased Flooding - New York Times
Dewey? At This Library With a Very Different Outlook, They Don’t - New York Times
V-Neck Hippie Dress w/ 6 Strips - theElektron
found via :Craft
Top 7 Tutorials for Making Your Own Shopping Tote
found via :Craft
Tickle Turdle Wool Wrap Pattern
I've been knitting wool soakers for my daughter since before she was actually here to wear them but I've never tried to crochet one. I'm definitely much more of a knitter, but I do crochet sometimes and I hear the crochet soakers make up faster and may be a bit denser too. (Of course I should also work on my ripple blanket again one of these days.)

2007-07-19T06:16:00.001-04:00

Links for 2007-07-18 [del.icio.us]

Sew,Mama,Sew! Blog » Tutorial ~ Zippered and Slip Pocket Tutorial
Sew,Mama,Sew! Blog » Tutorial ~ Lining Tutorials
BBC NEWS | Health | Breech birth women 'choice call'
BBC NEWS | Health | Right foods 'may help drugs work'
"Combining medicines with the right food could improve the effectiveness of drugs and reduce the costs of treating patients, experts say."

2007-07-18T06:14:00.001-04:00

Links for 2007-07-17 [del.icio.us]

The authors every teenager should read - Independent
I'm not sure I agree with how they've classified some of the authors. Still, lots of people I haven't read (or even heard of) so lots of ideas for my overflowing booklist!

Instructables The Book Apron
"Keeps your cookbooks or other how-tos clean! Clear plastic, polyester ribbon and rickrack can be wiped clean of batter with a damp sponge."
I definitely need one of these for cooking (also a good book stand) since I'm plenty messy in the kitchen.

Instructables : Green" Re-usable Grocery Bags
"These re-usable grocery bags will help you answer the question "Paper or plastic?" from your grocer, and help save waste and those landfill stuffers you're accumulating. The bags have handles to allow them to be placed on a grocer's plastic bag holder, i
I like the idea of being able to slip them onto the bag holders in the grocery store (although I don't think that the place I shop at most often has bag holders... maybe I just never used them because I always have my own bags there).

morsbags sociable guerilla bagging
I love the idea of guerrilla bagging as a means to reduce the use of plastic bags, not sure I have the right personality for it though. I'm loving all these tutorials and patterns for making bags I've been coming across though because more bags are always useful in my opinion!

Instructables Sewing Organizer
"This is a great organizer for any tailor/seamstress and also it's kind of an art on the wall."
I've seen something like this on a blog somewhere before (blanking on where right now), a wall mounted spool holder. This one's extra fancy with places to store other bits and bobs. too.

2007-07-17T06:16:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-07-16 [del.icio.us]

Suburban CEO - Think outside the cubicle.
linked to in this post at ParentDish
Apparently "[t]his site is for every woman who wants to stay at home with her children but has had to reluctantly admit that she often feels frazzled, overwhelmed and not totally fulfilled. This site will help you identify the five missing pieces from modern life as an at-home mom and become CEO of your own life." That sounds interesting to me (although I'm not sure I'm going to agree with everything there) so I'm planning to go back and read more.
Effect of spearmint (Mentha spicata Labiatae) teas on androgen levels in women with hirsutism. Herbal Science Research
Instructables Toasty slippers"These slippers are made from recycled woolen blanket, recycled fleece fabric and scraps of brightly coloured fabric from my stash! I have a pair with red polka dot binding, they are so comfortable and keep my feet nice and warm."

2007-07-16T06:11:00.001-04:00

Links for 2007-07-15 &14 [del.icio.us]

camera case interior on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
A sewn padded digital camera case with zippered interior pocket for batteries! I need one of these (been using my old 35mm film camera case with batteries loose in the bottom for oh two and a half years now, ho hum...)
Sew,Mama,Sew! Blog » Tutorial ~ Bag Straps
Sew,Mama,Sew! Blog » Tutorial ~ Bag Straps, A Variation
ColorBlender.com Your free online color matching toolbox

2007-07-14T06:13:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-07-13 [del.icio.us]

Psychology Today: Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature
I saw the link at the new mom blog
"Human behavior is a product both of our innate human nature and of our individual experience and environment. In this article, however, we emphasize biological influences on human behavior, because most social scientists explain human behavior as if evolution stops at the neck and as if our behavior is a product almost entirely of environment and socialization. In contrast, evolutionary psychologists see human nature as a collection of psychological adaptations that often operate beneath conscious thinking to solve problems of survival and reproduction by predisposing us to think or feel in certain ways."
Blossom dress on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
While looking at knitting pictures on Flickr I saw this incarnation of a Magknits pattern I'd thought of knitting in the past and forgotten all about. It's a cute wrap dress/top for infants. The sizes only go up to 6-9 months and my daughter's one now but perhaps if I fiddle with the gauge or something I can make one that would still fit her.
Humpty Dumpty falls from favour - Times Online
"now the traditional nursery rhyme, in all its gruesome, bloody detail, is in danger of dropping out of modern culture. A survey suggests that 40 per cent of parents with young children cannot recite a single popular rhyme all the way through."
While I'm not always reciting or singing nursery rhymes to my daughter my husband and I can certainly remember plenty. Actually, when reading through Mother Goose we found we knew extra bits for some I seem to remember! I know my mum sings nursery rhymes to my little girl while she's here too. Of course we're fans of traditional music, crafts etc. around here so that's not entirely surprising.
Raspberry chocolate verrine - vegalicious -delicious vegan food and more
Chocolate and Raspberry, how can you go wrong?
How Prevalent Are Antibiotics In Organic Foods? Scientific Blogging

"Plant uptake was evaluated in a greenhouse study involving three food crops: corn, lettuce, and potato. Plants were grown on soil modified with liquid hog manure containing Sulfamethazine, a commonly used veterinary antibiotic. This antibiotic was taken up by all three crops. Concentrations of antibiotics were found in the plant leaves. Concentrations in plant tissue also increased as the amount of antibiotics present in the manure increased. It also diffused into potato tubers, which suggests that root crops, such as potatoes, carrots, and radishes, that directly come in contact with soil may be particularly vulnerable to antibiotic contamination."

2007-07-13T06:14:00.001-04:00

Links for 2007-07-12 [del.icio.us]

Dominic Lawson: From Pentecost island to modern Britain, the futility of trying to measure happiness - Independent
"Nobody has yet come up with an entirely satisfactory definition of what constitutes happiness - although I think that Sydney Smith's "To love and to be loved is the greatest happiness of existence" will do to be getting along with. A state of unhappiness could be described as the opposite of that, but we might also define it as a life whose reality falls far short of its owner's expectations.
That is perhaps at the heart of the modern malaise, which has resulted in an unprecedented growth in clinical depression in countries such as the USA and the UK. We have increasingly allowed ourselves to think that happiness is ours by right - it's written into the American constitution - whereas in fact we can't find it: it finds us."
Knitting Pattern Central - Free Pattern - Amy Doll
Cute pattern I saw in a post on knitting dolls at V's blog, (you have to go look at the knees!).
Dismay and anger as Pope declares Protestants cannot have churches | Guardian
"Protestant churches yesterday reacted with dismay to a new declaration approved by Pope Benedict XVI insisting they were mere "ecclesial communities" and their ministers effectively phonies with no right to give communion.
"Coming just four days after the reinstatement of the Latin mass, yesterday's document left no doubt about the Pope's eagerness to back traditional Roman Catholic practices and attitudes, even at the expense of causing offence."
Mom Puts Family on Her Meal Plan - New York Times
"The pitfalls of the modern family meal are well chronicled: the varying schedules, the demanding diets (low carb, no wheat, no meat) and the fact that all too often the dinner so proudly displayed is greeted by a cheerful “Oh, that looks disgusting.” For most working parents, even a 30-minute meal seems like a June Cleaver-era indulgence. By the time I walk in the door at 7:30 my children are off-the-wall hungry, even having had snacks. Ideally, dinner will take 15 minutes or less to put on the table.

"But despite the challenges, I tell you it can be done. I committed to cooking a family meal when my first son was born, in 1997, not because of any psychology study about the well-being of children, but because it gave me comfort.

"Every working mother has to draw the line somewhere. Maybe my children would take their first steps with a babysitter, or perform in school plays with only their grandparents in attendance. But mom would cook their dinners."
I stay home with one child and still have trouble getting dinner "on the table" (dining room table is currently inaccessible) at a reasonable hour, so glad a I don't have to work full time outside the home, commute and then make dinner.
Sarah Churchwell: Why can't British students write like Americans? - Independent
"An impoverished understanding of their own language combined with an inflated sense of their own talents doesn't merely result in smug graduates with a beggared ability to express ideas. Sophisticated ideas cannot flourish in a linguistic vacuum. Expression and thought are inextricably linked: crude language permits only crude thinking. It's bad enough that these university students can't communicate their thoughts intelligibly; but those thoughts are themselves constrained by embryonic language skills."
This is a great article. I still feel as though I really need to go back to school and take English Language classes. We did have some grammar "lessons" at middle school (we had a text book there was time set aside to work through). I would say my vocabulary is not too shabby, but my grasp of how the language works is not so good. And I have a degree in Women's Studies and English Literature! When I spent a year at college in the US one of my professors took me aside and asked if I thought I might be dyslexic because of my bad use of punctuation, I said no I just never really learned how a semi colon is supposed to work (and I am queen of the run-on sentence). I am better than I used to be, but have a long way to go and (besides blogging) not much space for working on my writing skills. I really wish we had been taught more at school. At least my primary schools taught handwriting, I think it's so sad that that doesn't happen so much any more.
The Knitting Circle Shows Its Chic - New York Times
"Formerly neglected domestic arts like knitting, quilting, sewing and embroidery are being eagerly embraced, especially by the young. Their passion kindled by the abundance of handcrafted looks on the runways, they are blowing the dust off these folksy skills and lending them the bright sheen of style.
"“It wasn’t that long ago that people would cringe at the word ‘craft,’ ” said Melanie Falick, who developed a crafts imprint at Stewart, Tabori & Chang. “Ten or 20 years ago, there were far fewer crafters and knitters, certainly fewer who ‘outed’ themselves. Now it has become a badge of honor.”
"And an insignia of chic. The new generation of needle hobbyists, nimble-fingered women in their 20s and 30s, is growing ever more sophisticated, seeking out novel yarns imbued with bamboo or fur, working confidently with elaborate patterns, swapping tips online and emulating styles by fashion designers like Marc Jacobs, Nicolas Ghesquiere of Balenciaga and Michael Kors."
The World’s Best Candy Bars? English, of Course - New York Times
"it would be easy to take a long, clichéd side trip into a discussion of the relative inferiority of British food. But for the rarefied palate that can appreciate the soft, immediate pleasure of an inexpensive candy bar, it's not difficult to give the edge to sweets from the realm of the queen."
I'm totally biased on this subject of course, growing up with the sweets in England and then moving to the USA where I can be very dissatisfied with the candy on offer over here and wallow in nostalgia thinking about my favourite sweet things that I can't get here. Of course I can find good dark chocolate here (organic and fair trade and mighty tasty) so that keeps me happy mostly. When we visit England I come back with Cadbury's milk chocolate and licorice allsorts for me, and sherbert lemons and kendal mint cake for my husband. My husband is very distressed at the change to natural flavourings and no longer hoards fruit pastilles. The thing I miss most even when I'm back in the UK is the sweet shops with shelves of sweets in jars that were weighed and put into paper bags (cinder toffee, rhubarb&custard, cough candy, bon bons), and the case of penny sweets where I spent my pocket money as a small child (shrimps, bananas, flying saucers, the cigarette and pipe sweets that I loved but which never made me remotely interested in smoking). Sigh.
Digital Cameras: The Top 10 Things You Need to Know - Unbiased reviews, prices, and advice from DigitalCamera-HQ
Seen in a list of links at Not Martha, looks like a useful list to hold onto. Also love the link to the discussion how many is a few? as my husband holds very strong opinions on this subject.
Organic Farming Can Feed The World, Says Study | Scientific Blogging
"Organic farming can yield up to three times as much food as conventional farming on the same amount of land---according to new findings which refute the long-standing assumption that organic farming methods cannot produce enough food to feed the global population."

2007-07-12T06:15:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-07-11 [del.icio.us]

Easy Grocery Bag Shopping Tote From 2 Pillowcases - Instructables
I wonder whether these would be sturdy enough in the long term for heavy groceries. Fun tutorial, and of course you could use the tote for lighter groceries, or other stuff!
Easy as ABC: Asian-style Baby Carrier or Mei Tai - Instructables
There are quite a few good online tutorials for making an ABC which I've read and taken direction from already. However, since I like to read as many as possible and then use all I learn to figure out how to make mine I'm adding this to my collection of bookmarks!
The healthy heart guide - Independent
" Heart attacks are our biggest killer – yet many are preventable. Julia Stuart on the simple changes that could save your life"
Move to cut methane emissions by changing cows' diet | Climate change | Guardian
"Experts at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research in Aberystwyth say the diet of farmed animals can be changed to make them produce less methane, a more potent global warming gas than carbon dioxide. Farmed ruminant animals are thought to
UK needs a two-child limit, says population report | SocietyGuardian.co.uk
"While most of Britain's annual population rise of nearly 300,000 people is from immigration, only 21.9% of new births were last year to non-UK born mothers, says Prof Guillebaud. Each woman in England and Wales, he says, can now be expected to have 1.87 children, the highest total fertility rate for 26 years."
Not sure I entirely agree with the logic of this article. I'm not sure it's getting to the root of the problem it brings up of the level of consumption of the earth's resources (really we need to work on that as much as human population). (Not to mention addressing the need to care for the older generation that would presumably become more of a problem than the baby boomers.)
Top 10 eccentric British days out | Guardian
"Is the weather raining on your holiday parade? The Far from the Sodding Crowd team come to the rescue with their pick of humorous, curious and downright ludicrous British tourist attractions"
The yuck factor: How scientific research into revulsion is shaping our supermarkets - Independent
"Rozin's research says that if something we perceive to be dirty or disgusting (such as a cockroach) touches something harmless (such as orange juice), in our minds the latter becomes "contaminated", even if the rational side of our brain knows there is n
The Health Benefits of Journaling - Psych Central
"There is increasing evidence to support the notion that journaling has a positive impact on physical well-being. University of Texas at Austin psychologist and researcher James Pennebaker contends that regular journaling strengthens immune cells, called T-lymphocytes. Other research indicates that journaling decreases the symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. Pennebaker believes that writing about stressful events helps you come to terms with them, thus reducing the impact of these stressors on your physical health."
Wake up. Feminism is more than just capitalism with tits | Guardian
"Enough of the numbers game. The issue is not how many women are in power, but how many fight for collective rights "

2007-07-11T06:12:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-07-10 [del.icio.us]

Fish oil may save preemies' vision
After a study in mice discovered that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and other oils may protect against blindness in premature babies, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston are ready to test the results in a clinical trial.

Do Sunscreens Have You Covered? - New York Times
'"Most sunscreens are deceptively and misleadingly labeled, most perniciously to give consumers a false sense of security," Mr. Blumenthal said last week. "In my view, the F.D.A.'s failure to act is unconscionable and unjustifiable in any public sense.”

Williams syndrome - Social Inhibition - Personality - Developmental Disorders - Brain Disorders - David Dobbs - New York Times
"If a person suffers the small genetic accident that creates Williams syndrome, he'll live with not only some fairly conventional cognitive deficits, like trouble with space and numbers, but also a strange set of traits that researchers call the Williams social phenotype or, less formally, the “Williams personality”: a love of company and conversation combined, often awkwardly, with a poor understanding of social dynamics and a lack of social inhibition. The combination creates some memorable encounters."

Crazy Kiwis « BitterSweet
Fun blog post with a pattern for a knitted kiwi bird!

DollQuiltFront on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Cute little quilt with appliqué.

Björk interview: 'I didn't like being a celebrity. It's a service job. Like washing toilets' | Woman | The Observer

Johann Hari: Free speech must apply even to the odious - Independent

BBC NEWS | Health | Sausage additive linked to cancer

BBC NEWS | Europe | Vatican text angers Protestants
"Pope Benedict has approved a new text asserting that Christian denominations outside Roman Catholicism are not true Churches in the full sense of the word."

2007-07-10T06:11:00.000-04:00

Links for 2007-07-09 [del.icio.us]

vegalicious » Banana walnut pancakes with maple syrup - delicious vegan food and more
Could Pumpkins Mean The End Of Insulin Injections? | Scientific Blogging
"Recent research reveals that pumpkin extract promotes regeneration of damaged pancreatic cells in diabetic rats, boosting levels of insulin-producing beta cells and insulin in the blood, reports Lisa Richards in Chemistry & Industry."
'Mouth' Bacteria Found In Amniotic Fluid | Scientific Blogging
BBC NEWS | Americas | Woman jailed for 'neglected' lawn
This must be especially bizarre to read in the UK where people are often not able to water their lawns because of hosepipe bans!
Instructables Cashmere Patchwork Quilt
This is a tutorial for making a quilt/blanket from old wool sweaters. I have a bunch that I thrifted to make soakers for my daughter. Haven't had much time for sewing up things like that lately though. Perhaps as a first attempt at this I'll make one of these to lanolise and use for my daughter to sleep on in case of accidents when she's potty training.
BBC NEWS | UK | Librarians 'suffer most stress'
"Fighting fires may sound taxing, chasing criminals demanding, but a new study says that working in a library is the most stressful job of all." Interesting. I've thought that being a librarian might suit me, being a book lover who enjoys filing things!
Why the World Service still matters - Independent
"It was a lifeline to Alan Johnston, and it's a trusted friend to millions of other people around the globe. Robert Hanks on the enduring importance of the World Service."

2007-07-08T06:09:00.001-04:00

Links for 2007-07-07 [del.icio.us]

The Big Question: As Bush spares Libby, what is the history of presidential pardons? - Independent Online
BBC NEWS | Technology | Warning of data ticking time bomb
"Unless more work is done to ensure legacy file formats can be read and edited in the future, we face a digital dark hole."
Unpartisan campaigner: Alan Bennett, the rebel with a lot of causes - Independent Online
In his own words: Alan Johnston on his release - Independent Online
'You have to have been a prisoner to know how good freedom is'
Robert Fisk: The forgotten art of handwriting - Independent Online
"I find something painfully human about reading the letters of long-dead heroes"
Piece of cake | Food and drink | Life and Health
"British summer fruit is so damned tasty, it's easy to end up buying far more than you can ever hope to eat fresh. But there's no need to turn all those berries, cherries and currants into jam or, worse, let them go to waste..."
Get a cutting edge | Homes and gardens | Life and Health
"Many gardeners, even experienced ones, are intimidated by the idea of taking cuttings. Yet it's such fun, as well as a great way to save money."
A shocking act of disrespect - Independent Online
Another article about Bush pardoning Libby -- this one is (angry) opinion on this case rather than looking at presidential pardons in general like the first link in this post.
Baking Dish and Pan Size Conversion
Vegan Low-Fat Chocolate Applesauce Cake Recipe - Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe
I'm making this for my daughters first birthday party.
Jemima Lewis: The lessons of George Melly's final years - Independent Online
Wonderful thought provoking, challenging article about ageing, caring, family, duty and death.
"At the age of 80, and despite creeping deafness and dementia, [George Melly] had not succumbed to the clichés of old age: he was sociable, funny, energetic and still much in demand. ...
It takes luck and a certain kind of temperament to navigate your way through old age so successfully. You need to be open-minded enough to keep enjoying the world without resenting the young who have inherited it; physically mobile (and fearless) enough to keep going out into that world; financially secure enough to live at home, or at least in a comfortable spot of your own choosing; and sufficiently lovable that your friends and family want to keep you company."

Accentuate the positive

2007-07-07T12:56:00.000-04:00

In my Thursday links post I mentioned :10 Things (there's a blog and a flickr group too) which I found via a post at happythings. I seem to often finish the day grumpy and stressed. There's never enough time in the day to do all that I want, and feel I need to do. Not enough time to finish the laundry and leave the kitchen clean. Not enough time to be alone with my thoughts, to write about my day (especially all those things my daughter has done that seem so novel and precious right now but will get lost in the fog of memory if I don't record them), to work on my craft projects, to read, to sleep...

So I think that this would be a good way to end my day as often as I can. I can record snatches of my day, and go to bed with positive things on my mind: happy thoughts, things accomplished, moments enjoyed.

Here comes my first list (for yesterday). (I don't think I'll be posting them all here, although they may give me jumping off points for posts I guess.)

Fresh Pineapple and Chocolate Bread (these first two things I got as treats for my birthday but didn't actually get to eat any of until today)
My daughter giggling (lots of sustained giggles and laughs today!)
Being at home (it feels restful rather than confining after a few days away with lots of bustle and noise among my husband's family)
Getting to take a relatively unhurried shower without worrying about the baby.
Hugs from my daughter (along with some of the laughing she was snuggling up backwards, sideways, high and low today at times -- often she would be jumping around, exploring, playing and turn to give a hug and then go back to what she was doing)
The Hogfather on DVD (my mum sent for my husband's birthday -- we watched the first of the two parts)
Not having to cook dinner (we got pizza, not the best pizza unfortunately)
Knitting some more on my Monkey socks (just a few more pattern repeats and the toe to go before I have this pair finished)
Blood Orange sorbetto (my husband got this to try when he went to pick up milk at the co-op, very tasty. Our daughter insisted she should be allowed to try some too so we gave her some little tastes. She would make a face that looked quite displeased and then immediately start to insist she have some more)
Our little girl sleeping in the co-sleeper (rather than between us in the bed) for some of the night (just a few hours, but that's more than she's done in a long time).