Hand-made Bread

We've been eating homemade bread for years, bread machine bread. On Friday I set the machine up to cook bread, and came back to check on it to find a strange noise. The machine was broken, an essential part, made of plastic had snapped into 4 pieces, so no more bread from the machine, unless we can get a replacement part. I had a bit of a quandary, the ingredients were in and there was no way to separate them, so it was either throw out he flour or made the bread by hand. I had a go at hand made bread, and it wasn't bad, didn't raise very much though. So I got my cook book down and had another try from scratch. its not that hard, and its quite fun, but it does take time.

It only takes about 20 minutes of hands on work, but it takes at least 5 hours from start to finish. First you spend about one minute setting the yeast for activation, come back in 30 minutes and its ready to use. Then 10 minutes kneading the dough, set it to rest for 1 1/2 - 2 hours depending on the room temp. Then 5 minutes to shape the loaf, and set it to rise for 3 or more hours. Then 30 minutes to bake, so a minute to put it in the oven an a minute to take it out. Not much actual work, but you do need to be there. Still I can have a shower while the yeast activates, and I can take Possum to the park, shops or to visit friends while the dough raises, and again while the bread rises, so I don't have to be at home while the bread is getting ready to cook. I do however, need to pop home at intervals, so going to work wouldn't fit.

However, I'm enjoying it, an its the only way we can have home made bread for a while, as I can't afford to replace the machine for a while.

Smaller bear

I made bears for the smaller kids, and Amber wanted one too. However, she didn't want a great big bear to hug, just a smaller one to know that I love her. So here it is, standing on Possum's bear, just to sow the size difference. I used exactly the same pattern as the other bears, just much smaller yarn and a correspondingly smaller hook. It worked out really well, and she is very happy. Now all I have to do is make an orange one for Techno Boy and they'll all have lovely bears.

Little Moon

I have always used cloth nappies on my kids. It never occurred to me to use disposables, I just couldn't see the sense of it, so much money down the drain and so much in landfill.

With Possum, I just didn't have time for all that washing and folding, so I started looking for modern cloth nappies, these don't need folding, they just come as you wear them. While looking for these, I discovered reusable menstrual products. It had never occurred to me that disposable pads were also a waste of money and filling up landfill. I just accepted that that was how I did it.

However, the discovery that lovely pads could be bought online, just like lovely nappies, changed my thinking. So I purchased a heap and love them, they are very comfortable, and so easy to wash. However, while looking into reusable pads, I also found the concept of the menstrual cup. It took me a bit longer to come round to these, however, I bought one recently, and it is the best purchase I have made in years. I love my lunette, it is so comfortable, and I can do anything while wearing it (well almost) and don't have to worry about leakage. I am looking forward to swimming all summer, without having to take a few days off every month.

Life is looking up.

Felted bag

I have just completed my very first completely invented by me project. I have never designed anything before, but while knitting socks (which I don't really enjoy) I was struck by an idea for knitting a felted bag with a mobius loop for a handle. It worked out really well, and I've enjoyed using it over the past few days.

Here is the pattern

Jenny’s felted, mobius, seamless bag

Patons Jet 2 doubled up

3 balls colour 1, 3 balls colour 2 (always knit with both colours)

9mm circular needles on long cable or long DPNs

Cast on 60 stitches using Judy Becker’s magic sock cast on http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/FEATmagiccaston.html. You will have 30 stitches on each needle. (or as many as you need for your bag)

Increase ever second row until you have 72 stitches (or as many as you need for your bag) Then work in a round until bag is a little longer than you need (remember it will shrink when felted)

3rd last row: knit 69 cast off last 3 (now is a good time to work out how you are gong to do the mobius loop handle, I used interchangeable cable needles and a joiner, so I simply knitted each half of my last row on a different cable and then joined them as a loop.)

2nd last row: cast off 3, knit 30, cast off 6, knit 30, cast on 3.

Last row: cast on 3, knit 30 cast on 3 on one loop, and 3 on the next loop, knit 33.

Sort out your cable needles so you can use Cat Bordhi’s mobius cast on for the handles. Cast on extra stitches using Cat Bordhi’s mobius cast on (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVnTda7F2V4) until you have a loop big enough for your handle.

I did 140 stitches (or 280 depending how you choose to count them)

Knit 2 rows

Purl 1 row

Knit 2 rows

Cast off in knit

Neaten ends (only two ends to neaten yay)

Felt bag.

Dry flat

Enjoy

Bears with heart

Two of my friends are going through a hard time at the moment. One just lost her husband after a two year battle with cancer, and the other has just found out that her cancer is back after a two year reprieve. I think they need a boost, so I made them Bears with Heart. It is the same bear that I posted about earlier and I found a pattern for the heart on the web. I hope my friends love the bears, and feel a little better for receiving them.

It's not them, it's me

I just realised: it's not them, it's me. When we visit them I fit all my plans around the way they live. When they come to visit us, we sort things to suit them. I tend to feel put upon when we part "why are they so selfish?" "why is it all about them?"

Well it just clicked, it isn't. Its just the way I am, I tend to do this all the time. I always fit in with what others want, so it's not them it's me. They are't selfish, I'm a pushover. Very frustrating, but it does make it easier to realise. Turning things around, they aren't at fault, I just need to become a bit more assertive. Easier said than done, but I can do it.

Total Loss

Yes, that’s what the assessor called it, a total loss. Our car that was crashed into three weeks ago, is a total loss, we are not getting it back. It served us well, was great to drive, maybe not so comfortable for the kids. After all it was designed to seat five and we are a family of six, the third row seat is designed for 4 – 8 year olds, so it was great at the beginning. This year we Lily turns 9 and Possum is only 3, so we don’t have any 4-8 year olds any more. We were going to be stuck at home between Lily and Possum’s birthdays, looks like the restrictions have set in early. We are back to being a one car family, and nothing we can do will fit all six of us in our Corolla sedan.

So we are looking to purchase a new family car. The emphasis here is on car, and that is the problem. We have 4 kids, so need a seven seater. I’ve been searching for a good seven seater car, and I can’t find one. I can find heaps of 4WD, or people movers, but we don’t want a 4WD or a mini bus, we want a car. The first week after our car was crashed we hired a Kia Carnival, but we didn’t really like it. It is a mini bus, not a car, it isn’t enjoyable to drive. Have we done ourselves in, will we never enjoy our driving again, just because we had a fourth child. We also spoke to our mechanic, apparently it costs around $1000 to service a Carnival, it used to cost us $150 for the Commodore.

So we need a new car, and we need one that is easy to service and good to drive. We don’t ask for much do we. If anyone who reads this blog, knows about a good 7 seater car (and I mean car, not 4WD or mini bus) please let me know, I’m getting desperate, they don’t seem to exist. Of course we aren’t desperate to buy one, we haven’t got the money from insurance yet, and it’s going to cost way more than we get from them. Oh the other difficulty is we really don’t want to spend more than $40,000. I don’t ask for much do I?