When we were in 'Flance'

I have a few memories from our trip to what TWO refers to as "Flance" to get out here. It comes with pretty pictures, so it won't be entirely boring for people to read/look at.  Or so goes the hope. Most of my experiences in France seem to relate back to food or knitting. I was most pleased that my belly coped so well with being away from the comforts of home and that I was able to enjoy some of the delights that southern France had to offer. 

Here is a pictorial representation of what I got up to, when it comes to food, while there. 

First day we were there we went to a giant supermarket to grab supplies and for a bit of a stickybeak. I think going to a supermarket in a new country is a great way to really get a sense of what the culture is like. What sort of things are commonplace? 

The things I found that I enjoyed, apart from the entire row of alcohol that seemed to never end were the following:

Rainbow pasta: 

I'm sure that this exists elsewhere in the world. But I've yet to see it in Sweden and it was really really pretty. Shame I couldn't eat any of it, what with the whole wheat is the fructan containing devil that wants to destroy me from the inside out. 

And the wall of sausage: 



So much dried sausage. We took home a giant dried duck sausage that was enthusiastically enjoyed by all members of the family. It is a big shame that it is all gone now. It was ever so good. 

The first southern French meal we enjoyed was confit duck with cubed potatoes cooked in duck fat and a salad. Can I just say now *drool*? It was amazing. Crispy duck, crispy spuds and some lovely salad. All washed down with a local red wine. I was in heaven. 


Our adventures continued at the local market on Sunday. The boy, Kristin and I went to get some ribs and vegetables for our evening meal. We found both without difficulty. We also found a ginormous piece of beef that we just had to buy. We cooked it up as it came, on a giant bone. Sealed both sides in the pan and then into the oven to finish up. It was perfection in steak form. You can see just how enormous this steak was. I think it must have been close to 10cm thick. It took up the entire pan!



While at the market, Kristin and I got ourselves an espresso from the only coffee van at the market. The sugar packets were very cute.



And we were given a complimentary biscuit. I ate it, even though it was a wheat laden treat. I survived this small test of the fructan group. It was worth testing too. Delicate and light biscuity goodness. 




I did thoroughly enjoy my long weekend in Toulouse. I think I might find my way back there sometime to visit again and get some more duck! We brought home two tins of confit duck. They are sitting in our pantry now. We are thinking they might make an excellent Christmas dinner this year. Most years we have a roast chicken and watch Kalle Anka. But maybe this year we will eat duck and watch the duck? Could be good. 

My cousin is having a baby, so I got to sew and knit

TWO is very specific about the clothes she likes to wear now. She is particularly enamoured with stripes, blue and black. Which is great in one way because it means that our shopping trip yesterday to pick her up a few things for this autumn went well. There are a lot of stripes at the moment and she found some new bright blue pants that will see her through most of the autumn. 

The downside is that all my patterned fabric that I love is not considered worthy and she outright rejects so much of the cute stuff I have to offer her. 

Here comes the benefit, my cousin is about to have her second baby in a few weeks and I was able to use some of my new favourite elephant print fabric to make a pair of big butt baby pants. But I decided to change things up a bit and added a waistband and cuffs in ribbing. I'm really happy with how they turned out and hopefully they will look fantastic on the small person in the upcoming Australian summer. 

And due to my somewhat immobile status of late I've had a lot of time to knit. I bought some cotton/lyocell mix yarn in France and thought it would be perfect to make a facewasher. I found a gorgeous fish pattern on ravelry and sat and watched some Stephen Fry documentaries on youtube while knitting it up. It took almost no time at all and I'm really happy with how it came out. 

ravelled here

Grateful three : arthritis edition 1

This post comes to you from my armchair. We have become firm friends in the last month as my knee goes through various phases/stages of swelling. Currently it is sitting on big but not uncomfortable. I have an appointment to see a specialist tomorrow and have my fingers crossed for some kind of plan to deal with it. It is getting more than a bit tedious to be sat indoors, unable to enjoy the warmest summer we may ever see in Sweden. 

So I figured it was time to remind myself of the good stuff in life and not just the things I'm missing out on.

1. We got to visit friends in the south of France and I was able to eat without consequences for my gut and TWO had another kid her age to play with.
2. The boy has been working from home a lot to help me out while TWO is on holidays from dagis. 
3. I've got friends I can whinge to about the frustrations of having a dodgy knee.
(4. My plants on the balcony didn't die despite being left alone for 4 days at 30 degrees. This is especially impressive because the balcony is glassed in and warms up a treat on a mildly warm day, let alone a scorcher. And yes, 30 in Sweden is a scorcher.)

Bedtime giggles

My girl is rather enamoured of what she refers to as the fish museum. It is actually the seafarer's museum and has become a go to venue for after dagis excursions. The only problem is that she often wants to go on a Monday and museums are shut on Mondays. It has all too often been my sad duty to inform her that alas the fish museum is shut.

This evening I was putting her to bed and we were chatting about what we enjoyed most today. We went for an adventure with a friend and her two kids to the beach. TWO rather enjoyed seeing crabs in the water, climbing on the high rocks and swinging on the swings. She then asked me very seriously "Is the fish museum open tomorrow?". When I informed her that it would indeed be open tomorrow she bunched up her fists towards her face and did a Muttley-esque laugh (see video below).

I believe there will be a visit in the not too distant future. Who wouldn't want to go and visit the gorgeous starfish and coral? 

Grateful three

When I was in the midst of post natal depression after the birth of the wee one, I used to try and get a list of three things I was grateful for together every day. It was a way to help remind myself that there were positive things in the world and that everything wasn't as bad as I imagined.

I'm not depressed anymore, huzzah!, but I am currently suffering from a cold that includes much snot and a sore throat. So I've decided to bring back the grateful three here.

1. The boy is back from four days away in Korea for work and I am no longer solo parenting.

2. My strawberry plants have flowers.

3. I finished a pair of socks that are made from leftover sock yarn that wasn't enough to make a whole pair of socks on their own. They are the kind of socks that just make you happy to look at. 

When clearing out your crap from your parents, you find the darndest things

When we left Australia in 2009, it was only intended to be a 2 year trip. Some five years later, we are still in Sweden. We have even been granted permanent residency and are allowed to stay indefinitely. 

So what do you do when you are only going to be away for two years? You leave some useful stuff behind that doesn't fit in a suitcase. Right? 

Exactly.


So amongst the pots, pans, crockery, cutlery and linen left in boxes in the shed, I found a lot of my old sewn items and sewing supplies. Including a little pin book I made and the pinking shears I used to make it. Score! Both items fit in my luggage on the way back and will get some good use in the coming months I'm sure. 

Here is the pin book:



It features an applique dog made from fabric I used to make a 1939 dress. And inside it uses the same fabric I used to make PJ pants from and then subsequently dribble cloths for TWO when the PJs got a huge hole in them. That fabric has done some amazing things in the last 9 years.


 

It even had needles and pins still inside and they were still sharp and useful. Winner, winner, chicken dinner! 

SPRING

The weather has been so delightful this last week. The wee one and I had a picnic outside dagis on Friday and just soaked up some of the sunshine and ate strawberries. 

Here is the evidence. FLOWERS!

On travel and illness and the small girl with the Darth Vader voice

We are just home after a month in Australia. The trip home was epic. It included the following features to make it as memorable as possible :

• I was travelling solo with the wee one (TWO)
• my period started the afternoon before we flew out
• we were delayed in Abu Dhabi for 18 hours
• TWO vomited on the flight just before we landed in Amsterdam
• the whole thing took 44 hours

The good news is that we are home safe and sound. TWO has unfortunately picked up some kind of respiratory infection and is currently wheezing in her sleep next to me on the couch. She has been sounding like Darth Vader since last night, which also included a fever and very little sleep.

What a delightful welcome home to Sweden. 

Things the boy shared with me

So my Mum was born in Germany. I learned German at school and went on exchange to Germany when I was 15. The boy finds German to be an entertaining language and has a few utility phrases. These include such delights as "Can you show me where the moguls are?" and "I am a giant blue duck."

He came home tonight and told me to look up on youtube the following phrase:

Germans trying to say squirrel

I did. It amused me. Please enjoy.

There are many words in Swedish that I find nigh impossible to say. Most things ending in 'ion' for example drive me insane. 

And one more quick German language delight for you. Barbara and her wonderful rhubarb cake that is ever so popular. This one it is helpful to understand German for. Another thing the boy put me onto 

Belated Swedish word/phrase of the week

A delayed word of the week due to illness. Over the last week I have been struck down with a succession of colds that have been exhausting. I apologise for missing my usual Monday. I do have a bunch of projects to share, but they will come later, when I've slept some more and divested myself of the virus that will seemingly not leave me alone. Please enjoy this word, I know it amused me when I first heard it/understood it. 

Moderkaka


Actual translation : placenta
Literal translation : mother/parent cake/biscuit

Like all wonderful things in Swedish to do with the body, lots of very inviting mental images are formed when you literally translate them. 

I'm reminded with this one of a story to do with the boy and the birth classes we attended before the birth of TWO. We went along to the first one, it was all in Swedish. On our walk to the tram stop together afterwards, he asked me about a word, förlossning. He could gather from context that it was a process, but not exactly what it was. It means birth. I guess he was, strictly speaking, correct. But I still found it amusing to hear him say "I worked out it's a process. But what does it mean?". I'm pleased to say that since then I think both of us have gained in our Swedish vocabulary and would not make the same mistake. A million and one others, but not that same one. 

Bomb marks the spot

So I mentioned a week ago that my wee one told me she loved me for the first time. I thought I should perhaps mark the spot with something. But someone beat me to it! 

The bomb marks the spot where my lovely wee darling told me she loved me for the first time. 

Crocadippo

My sister in law loves the colour purple. So when it was time to work out what to make my niece, her first daughter, something for her first birthday, I knew it had to be purple. 

I found this pattern for a crocodile at a fabric shop here in G-town. It is my go to place for new fabric and very lovely accessories like this, more on those beauties later. 

I also found some lovely corduroy, or what the Swedes refer to as Manchester, in a deep purple colour and set about making my first softy. 

I now need to explain, the instructions were in Swedish, and relatively brief. The tail construction was particularly difficult to follow. As a result, the crocodile didn't quite end up looking as much like a crocodile as it might otherwise have done. It was more of a crocodile/hippo cross breed. Hence the name crocadippo. 

The wee one loved it and was loath to give it away to her cousin. I had intended to make her one, but I haven't quite got onto it yet. One day. I'll add it to my ever extending list of projects. 

Scrap happy baby gifts

I love making gifts for people. It satisfies my creative self and stops my house being filled with things I've made that I can't use. I'm also a big fan of reusing/recycling or using up the last scraps of fabric from other projects. So when I saw that Dana had a tutorial for burp cloths I had a solution to a couple of problems. I have lots of scraps and babies to make gifts for. 

For example, from left to right in the picture below I have some remnant fabric I used to make a wheat bag for my running buddy, lining fabric for a dress I made for a friend, and spotty stuff from a dress I made for a friend's daughter. 
All made up into burp cloths and tied with that ribbon that you get on some ladies garments for hanging. I often cut those off to use for this kind of purpose because they make the cloths stay together and also because they look cute bundled up. 



At the end of last year, some more scraps helped me make a gift for my yet to be born niece in Queensland. My sister in law was expecting her second around Christmas last year so I sent a parcel for her older daughter and the yet to be born baby. My sister in law loves the colour purple, so I used a fair bit in the gifts for the girls. Here you can see the mooshy bunny (with tutorial) that I made from leftovers from other projects, including a bell inserted in that squishy belly.



And here are the cloths themselves with my knitted facewasher that I found the pattern for here. 

From left to right we have, floral fabric that I loved but had no specific project for, leftover dress fabric from a 2nd birthday dress for a friend's daughter, lining fabric as above, another love fabric without specific project and finally the green with the floral is a pair of my PJs that I had worn out the bum on and pulled apart to reuse in projects like these. 



I'm guessing you've worked out the niece's name started with a 'H' right?

I love that I can reuse old clothes and leftovers from other projects to make colourful gifts for friends and babies and friends' babies. I'm feeling the desire to get the rabbit pattern out again and make some more. They are easy to make and super cute.  

Fluffy pants for Bean

As I mentioned in a previous post, I made a number of things for my new niece, who I have referred to here as Bean, when my brother visited in the middle of this year.

Here is another of those things. I made her a pair of velour pants with striped waistband and cuffs. 

I bought the green velour a year or so ago at a craft fair, with the idea of using it for TWO in some capacity. But then never found exactly the right project for it. 

Then when we were looking for fabric for Bean's pants it suddenly seemed appropriate. I love fuzzy pants on babies. When TWO was in cloth nappies my favourites were the fuzzy ones. The fuzz feels fabulous when you spend a lot of time holding onto a small bottom and TWO had many pairs of fuzzy dacks.

I used an Ottobre pattern for these ones, #4, Summer Sea from the 3/2013 edition. My Ottobre enthusiasm is well known. TWO's birthday dress from this year was a mash up of two different Ottobre patterns. But more on that later. The shower calls, I've just finished my first run in a couple of weeks. 

Elmer dress and red puerperium cardi for Bean

My brother and his wife had their first baby in July this year. They had a little girl who I'm going to nickname Bean. My brother was here not too long before Bean was due because he needed to get his visa for Ethiopia renewed. His wife is Ethiopian and they were living there until quite recently. 

I sent him home with a number of different things for her, but these two stood out as my favourites. 

I made a Geranium dress from http://www.made-by-rae.com/, and the fabric I chose reminded me of Elmer the elephant. So I called it the Elmer dress. 

Here it is:



And I used three different buttons from TWO's stash of buttons that she plays with to put on the back. My brother helped me choose which ones to use. 




Added to the 'outfit' for bean I made a puerperium cardigan, which is perfect for newborns and a really fun knit. I have made many many of these as will become evident as I get them all up on the blog. 



And a closeup of the buttons that TWO helped to choose at her favourite shop at the local square, the wool shop with the wall of buttons.



I made it in 100% alpaca yarn from drops design. I love that yarn. It's so soft and warm. I have a pair of socks that sadly got felted in the wash that were made with that yarn and they were incredible to wear. Super soft and super warm. *drool*

I was lucky enough to see photos of Bean wearing said outfit after she was born and I'm so glad it suited her. Now I have to get busy and make her another one for when we visit them all in Australia early next year.

1st Birthday dress for TWO

The wee one (TWO) is two and a half now. But 18 months ago, I started what I hope will be a tradition of making her a dress for her birthday. She was born at the end of winter/start of spring and so I wanted something that can be layered with warmer stuff underneath but still functional later in the year. 

For her first birthday, I made a wrap around dress with a pattern from stoff och stil and fabric from the same place. It was a really fine corduroy with hot pink trees on it. I'm not a massive fan of pink, especially pale pink, on myself or the similarly coloured wee one. But I really liked the pattern on this fabric. 

She got some good wear out of it and I enjoyed having a sewing machine again to make it, rather than sewing by hand.