Pully Woolly

One thing I am loving about having a little person living under our roof is being able to make him clothes knit, sew, doesn't matter and the best part? He LOVES them!!! I kid you not! He gets super excited when I make him something - shorts, t-shirts, anything. Every time I knit something he asks if it is for him (even if it is the same pair of socks I was knitting yesterday for my lovely lady lol). So you can imagine his joy when I cast off this awesome top, named pully woolly by my partner, which is more a test knit for a future project but turned out pretty spunky anyway!

This kid has spunk that's for sure! I dream of the day I can show you the awesome facial expressions that go with these pics. He smiled away and thought he was the bees knees, in what was the 2nd photoshoot I have done with him!

So the knitting details!

Pattern: ♥ zagal by Rosa Pomar

Yarn: 1 ball of Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 4 ply and 1 ball of Moda Vera Noir  (sock wool)

Needles: 6mm and 7mm circular 

Variations: Using the yarn held double I reduced the number of cast on stitches to 84 but kept the neck opening the same leaving 10 stitches for each shoulder. I picked up 36 stitches for each arm hole (including the 1 stitch held).

This was a very quick knit and fits fantastic. The only variation I will make next time is adding 10 stitches to the body purely because I want it to fit longer and hang a bit more.With the variations as is I would say the fit would suit anywhere from 18months to 4 years. The little dude is 3 but on the small size but the top has plenty of stretch.

A 1st birthday

When it comes to kids birthday presents around here my first thought is always what can I make? I will almost always ask the parent if there is anything they need or would like and when the answer is usually "No idea" (I have to admit we are no different with our little man) I start brainstorming what to make. Sometimes I know instantly and other times I will dwell on it (and often too long and it becomes a night before job lol). This time round I decided to go with a full autumn outfit, which all started with wanting to make corduroy shorts for a gorgeous little girl who was turning 1.

Lets start at the top shall we.

Beanie:
Pattern - I heart cables by Justyna Lorkowska.
I cast on the toddler number of stitches but knitted the child size number of rows to give a more slouchy look. It kinda failed a little as the yarn seems to be a bit firm for the idea. It was an easy to follow pattern and though it was originally cast on for my little dude his big head meant it would become the perfect complimentary head topper for this outfit.

Yarn: Tivoli Emerald Aran 100% wool.
This yarn was lovingly purchased as a gift for me in Ireland by the lady's Aunt and Uncle some 3 years ago. I love the natural tweed colour and that they thought of me while travelling around one of my favourite countries in the world but if I was to be honest it was a little course to work with and I wouldn't be keen to purchase more. Oddly though it seems to knit up quite soft which makes it totally wearable.

Cowl:

Pattern: Toddler cowl by Delia Creates

Using the same yarn as the beanie held double and a 10mm hook I whipped this up in the space of about 40mins. I did add an extra 10 chains to the start and only did 5 rounds. It was simple, quick and a satisfying project.

Top:

Pattern - self draft based on pattern C in the Japanese pattern book Happy Homemade vol2.

Fabric - upcycled skirt I had made in Vietnam that I had worn maybe twice but couldn't part with as I loved the fabric!

This was the first time I had ever done a planket and I am pretty proud of my efforts! This top turned out better than I thought it would and I loved that had cute buttons to match already on hand.

Shorts:
Pattern - Self draft based on the Kid Shorts pattern by Dana Willard.
Fabric - Corduroy and floral cotton I've had in my stash forever.
For the shorts I added a cuffed bottom and a separate waistband to the top and to get a gathered look added about 4 inches to the front and back pieces. By using the floral cotton fabric on the inside of the waistband and cuffs it took away the irritation of having corduroy straight on the skin, plus it added an awesome pop of colour.

Tights:
Pattern - Self drafted.
Fabric - Upcycled wool/acrylic cardigan. Soooooo soft.

Last but not least these tights, with just 2 pieces and the rainbow elastic, were an awesome make. Total sewing time about 10mins!

Making a whole outfit is certainly more time consuming than just making a single item (obviously) but the results definitely made it worth it! Cuteness overload that's for sure!

Low Calorie Lasagne

After my last rather depressing post I wanted to do a post that would bring a smile to your face and what better than an awesome spin on the Italian classic – Lasagne! Now I promise it really does taste pretty much as good as a full fat, calorie overload version. I say pretty much because lets face it, nothing really beats full fat mozzarella with its stringyness and a heavy flavoursome béchamel, but this is a definite close second and from my waistline’s perspective a clear winner! I am not kidding we are talking about 300 calories per serve and it tastes so good you won’t even be thinking of the absent mozzarella and béchamel!

There is a couple of secrets to this being so low in calories, besides the obvious low fat cheese, there is the “pasta” – wonton wrappers! Who knew they were so low in calories? They work perfectly for this as they are after all a kinda pasta! The next secret is the ‘béchamel’ – a slight spin on Pinch of Yum’s Creamy Cauliflower Sauce! This stuff is amazing and will change your life, no seriously Lindsay (from Pinch of Yum) is right “it will CHANGE YOUR LIFE!” There is also a few added veggies but that is pretty much the secret to keeping the calories down! Nothing complicated I promise – trust me this is easier than making that béchamel anyway! Lets get to it!

 

First up the ingredients. I have broken this down into the bolognese, the “béchamel” and then the lasagne. There is no reason why you can’t make a double batch of the bolognese and have a delicious spaghetti the night before now is there?

 

1st up get the bolognese started. Heat up 1tbs of olive oil in a large saucepan on medium-high heat and add the carrots, onion and garlic. Sauté till the carrot has softened and the onion is transparent then throw in the mince. Stir till the mince is browned. Add the mushrooms and zucchini and give it a good stir. Next add the beef stock powder and tomato puree and about 1/3 of the empty tomato puree tin of water. Stir. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and leave to simmer for 30mins (shorter or longer won’t hurt it either. 30mins always feels like the right time to me). Stir through parsley.

While the bolognese is simmering away make the “béchamel'” sauce. Combine the vegetable stock powder with 3 cups of water and bring to the boil in a medium sized saucepan. Add the cauliflower and simmer for about 8mins or so, till tender. Melt the butter in a small fry pan over low heat and then sauté the garlic till soft and smelling awesome (don’t let it brown as it will make it bitter. Lindsay offer’s this warning and I second it. Who wants a bitter sauce?) Drain the cauliflower reserving 1/2 a cup of the cooking liquid. In a blender add the cooked cauliflower, reserved liquid, sautéed garlic, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, milk and a good grating a nutmeg (I use fresh nutmeg but if using ground a scant 1/4tsp should suffice) and blitz away till silky smooth. It looks like cheese sauce right?*

Ok, lets assemble this lasagne. First preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F) then in a 20cm square oven proof dish evenly spread 1/4 cup of the “béchamel” on the bottom. Add 4 wonton wrappers in a single layer on top of the “béchamel”. Next evenly spread 1/3 of the bolognese on top of the wonton wrappers. Add another 4 wonton wrappers, then a 1/4 cup of “béchamel” and another 1/3 of the bolongnese on top. Repeat once more. Finally add the final 4 wonton wrappers, 1/4 cup of “béchamel” and sprinkle over the grated cheese. Cover the dish with aluminium foil and bake for 15mins. Remove foil and bake for another 15-20mins or until the cheese is nice and bubbly and golden. (I bet the house smells awesome!) Serve with a side salad of mixed leaves. (4 serves).

 

 

It’s pretty simple huh? And tastes oh so yummy, with 4 perfectly measured out serves for you. No guessing serving sizes the wonton wrappers make that a piece of cake……hmmmm cake……

 

Low Calorie Lasagne (Serves 4)

BOLOGNESE 300g lean beef mince 1 clove of garlic minced 1 brown onion finely diced 1 medium carrot finely diced 200g mushrooms finely sliced 1 medium zucchini grated 1 400g tin tomato puree 1/2 tsp beef stock powder 1 tbs parsley finely chopped

“BECHAMEL”* 300g cauliflower roughly chopped 4 cloves garlic minced 1 tbs butter 1/4 cup milk 1 heaped tsp vegetable stock powder 2 tbs parmesan cheese 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper Nutmeg

LASAGNE 16 Wonton wrappers 1/2 cup 50% reduced fat cheddar cheese

 

Heat up 1tbs of olive oil in a large saucepan on medium-high heat and add the carrots, onion and garlic. Sauté till the carrot has softened and the onion is transparent. Add mince and brown. Add mushrooms and zucchini. Stir. Add beef stock powder, tomato puree and about 1/3 of the empty tomato puree tin of water. Stir. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 30mins. Stir through parsley.

 

Combine vegetable stock powder with 3 cups of water and bring to the boil in a medium sized saucepan. Add the cauliflower and simmer for about 8mins or so, till tender. Melt the butter in a small fry pan over low heat and sauté the garlic till soft and fragrent (don’t let it brown as it will make it bitter) Drain the cauliflower reserving 1/2 of the cooking liquid. In a blender add the cooked cauliflower, reserved liquid, sautéed garlic, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, milk and a good grating a nutmeg (I use fresh nutmeg but if using ground a scant 1/4tsp should suffice) and blitz till silky smooth.

 

Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F).

 

To assemble lasagne in a 20cm square oven proof dish evenly spread 1/4 cup of the “béchamel” on the bottom. Add 4 wonton wrappers in a single layer. Evenly spread 1/3 of the bolognese on top of the wonton wrappers. Add another 4 wonton wrappers, a 1/4 cup of “béchamel” and another 1/3 of the bolongnese on top. Repeat once more. Finally, add the last 4 wonton wrappers, 1/4 cup of “béchamel” and sprinkle over the grated cheese. Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 15mins. Remove foil and bake for another 15-20mins or until the cheese is bubbly and golden. Serve with a side salad of mixed leaves.

 

Oh I almost forgot, you will have left over “béchamel”, it freezes really, really well to save for next time or head over to Pinch of Yum and test out one of Lindsay’s dishes that use the sauce! (I promise she is not affiliated with this post – the sauce is just that good).

The lasagne reheats really well – in fact I think it tastes even better the next day! It also freezes really well which is always a bonus!

 

 

* The “béchamel” is not my recipe nor do I claim it to be so. All I have done is halve it and added a few things, but the recipe is entirely Lindsay’s at Pinch of Yum – it is just toooooooo good not to use and share!!!!

Playing Tourist

You know how no matter how long you live in a town you never really get to know it? That been you live day to day, the work grind, the groceries and catching up with people but never really stepping out of the home life and onto the tourist trail? Well that was us until we decided to play tourist for a day. Now here in Newcastle there is 1 ferry, it doesn’t go very far literally back and forth across the harbour total trip time would be less than 5 mins. However, the lady had never been on it and nor had I and while I only moved to Newcastle some 2.5 years ago, the lady has lived here pretty much since she was 10 so we decided it was time we caught that darn ferry!!! So we did and played tourist as well. We even walked from home carrying a backpack with snacks, the camera around my neck, hats and sunglasses on and very fashionable runners with 3/4 pants. Yep tourists!

 

     

 

 

 

There was cool 3 story terraces, the Town Hall and Customs house.

There was the ferry and the tug boats – it is a working harbour after all.

There was the awesome view of Newcastle from Stockton – The Brewery, the cathedral, the arts centre, the tower and Nobby’s headland.

There was perfectly flying flags in the afternoon sunlight and my crazy lady.

And last but not least the best find of the day – there was a 4 leaf clover (there is definitely nothing wrong with my lady’s eyes!)

 

Have you done it – played tourist in your home town?

Kids Clothes Week Wrap Up

Another round of KCW has been and gone and I’m yet to do a post – so here it is! This time round I decided to just do one post to sum up the week. It made it easier to manage and took less time out of what was already a very very hectic week!!! Though this was the summer edition of KCW it’s winter here and dead set freezing so winter clothes it was – ok here we go!

 

This time round there was only 1 recipient, Master B, and only one request  from Master B’s mummy – pants, pants and more pants! Master B’s skinny waist and extra long legs make buying pants that fit hard to come by so Aunty Naomi to the rescue! I only used 2 patterns and in some ways this is kinda a review as it was the first time I had used either (sorta – more on that later). First up I used Peek-a-boo pattern shop’s Skinny Jeans pattern, I found this pattern easy enough to follow though not very polished. The picture tutorial shows no consistency with the jeans being made and was a little higgledy piggledy (I asked my partner for the word I was looking for this is what she came up with bahaha) in how it was constructed. I can tell you now I’m not keen on making another pair any time soon, well at least not with the level of detail I put into this pair (I’m thinking a larger size would probably be easier though)! For the fabric I upcycled a pair of old jeans that were in my reuse pile and used the existing hem saving me 2 rows of topstitching!!!!Top stitching ergghhh, what a pain! However, I digress if they fit Master B happy days and they look just like store bought jeans….kinda…. (albeit with a tiny tiny waist!)

 

 

Next up I made 5 pairs of pants using the one pattern – Dana of MADE’s KID shorts pattern. Hang on I said I made pants didn’t I? Sure did I just added length to the bottom of the shorts and narrowed the inseam slightly and voila an excellent pants pattern! Now I had not specifically used Dana’s pattern before, however I did previously (HERE) resize her 1 size only pants pattern so I was familiar with their construction. Now this pattern I LOVE LOVE LOVE! It is so easy to follow, has excellent sizing and is just down right perfect. Of course when summer comes around Master B will get a wardrobe full of shorts! So here we go 4 pairs of tracksuit pants and 1 pair of kermit pants (you’ll see) coming up!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

With this last pair I tried to get a bit fancy – I lopped off the top 8cm or so of the pattern and used ribbing and tried to make cuffed bottoms. It didn’t really work exactly as planned but hey they still kind look cute!

 

All up this was a solid 7 days of sewing (those pesky jeans took 2 days) for KCW and can’t wait till tomorrow to hand them over to Master B’s mummy. I have to say Master B is going to look pretty fetching in his new pants!

A Lazy Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some day are just meant to be slow and lazy and today seems to be one of them. While I was up 7am for a blood test I was home and back in bed within the hour to sleep the morning away finally rising at 1035am. Why 1035am? You see, I have wanted a knitting machine for awhile now and was bidding on one on ebay that ended at 11am so I wanted, for once, to watch the auction to the end. It wasn’t meant to be however so the search continues but I digress, a slow and lazy day was clear from the outset. When the girl woke up at 1130am she was not well and rolled back over and went back to sleep while I ventured to the couch where I turned the tv on and kicked back with my latest crochet project.

 

After awhile the girl joined me and it was obvious she was not going to make it to work for her afternoon shift. As we ventured into the kitchen to make my lunch and her breakfast it made me smile as I love sharing the kitchen. Most of the time it is just me in there cooking or baking away, but occasionally she joins me to help with dinner prep or just absent mindedly stir a pot on the stove and it makes my day. Today as sick as she was she made her breakfast and watched my toast (it was a simple lunch) as I explained to her what my plans were for the day. It was simple, after my lunch I was going to go to Spotlight to get some fabric and elastic giving her sometime at home on her own. With me home all the time she rarely gets the “me time” she often craves, so I like to get out and let her have time. It got a smile from her.

 

Spotlight was disappointing as usual but the sun was shining, the birds were tweeting and the air was warm so returning home I grabbed my camera, the last 2 banana, blueberry & oat muffins from Wednesday’s baking and took the girl outside to enjoy the last few moments of the afternoon. I honestly believe the sun and fresh air can do wondrous things when one feels poorly and if nothing else it makes the day seem a little brighter. As she sat on the steps I captured the moments (as did she) and looked at my garden. Try as I might mine never seems to grow to much, seeds sprout and die and weeds move back in. But I had to smile for there was a tiny capsicum hanging on for dear life on the long abandoned capsicum vines. Nothing grew on these vines all summer (or on my tomato, zucchini or eggplant vines either for that matter) but there it was one tiny capsicum. Funny how now in the middle of winter it was there. It will see out its days on the vine but maybe, just maybe there could be home for the gardener in me yet. Mind you my garlic I planted at the beginning of May appears to have started to die off and I picked one that had completely died back just to  have a look what was going on. It was cute and appears to be in perfect condition, so I don’t know. I really really wish I was better in the garden as I dream one day of eating what we grow, for now it looks like parsley and perhaps some rocket are it.

 

As the sun dipped behind the building across the road our day moved back inside where I through dinner into the slow cooker, the girl napped on the couch and I typed up this post before I move to the couch to finish my crochet project. Dinner will be ready without effort and the clean up will wait till tomorrow, the heaters are on warming the house and day 6 of Le Tour De France will grace our tv screen till the early hours of the morning. It has been slow and lazy, perhaps there should be more days like this?? (but with a healthy girl.)