now I can share my knitting wish list

February 18, 2014 By 28 Comments

Well now that the cat is well and truly out of the bag I can share my knitting wishlist. One of the questions I often get asked when pregnant (and I’m sure every other pregnant lady out there too) is are you finding out what you’re having. For me that is a yes and I say because I love to craft for the baby. Now my dad and grandma prefer not to know and have always been that way.

One thing I’d love to make is a baby blanket. Something that is finished oh I don’t know…before the baby actually arrives. This basketweave blanket looks like a great simple pattern. Worked in 10 ply I’ll be able to use some of the Bendigo Luxury I’ve got here to make something sweet and having a winter baby means there will be plenty of trips in the car doing the school run so a blanket will be perfect. My aunty made this gorgeous blanket for Emerson that I’d love to use again as well.

Like sleeves for baby is a cute one I made for elodie and did the test knit for. It is now available to knit in the round and is super quick and super cute. I think this would look fab on a boy or girl just minus the bow.

I will definitely have to make another one of these Easy Baby Cardigans. Super fast and knit from the back bottom edge right over to the front bottom edge in one piece. Sew up the sleeves, pop on a few buttons and you are done. The pattern is from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts and like the title of the book really is a great last minute knit.

 

If it’s a girl then I’ll have to make a kina and I’d love to make this little Debbie Bliss Fair Isle Cardigan.

and I’ll definitely have to make a little puerperium, modelled here by emerson

and you can’t beat a raglan sleeve cardigan that goes with everything and keeps a little bub warm. I am in love with the Debbie Bliss raglan cardigan with fully fashioned shaping that is worth all of those ends and stitches.

Just when I thought I’d finished this post I put it out there on my facebook page – Kate mentioned a few and I realised that I’d left a few baby favourites off. Like the umbilical cord hat pattern which is super fast and easy to knit.

The milo vest by tiKKi which I made for emerson and loved.

milo

and the in threes cardigan is another great one for babies. Nice and easy but I didn’t read the pattern properly so under my sleeves is slightly different to the pattern but let’s just call it a design feature.

When it comes to my favourite books for baby knitting you can’t beat Debbie Bliss Baby Knits for Beginners, More Last Minute Knitted Gifts, and Debbie Bliss Simply Baby and Essential Baby. Another lovely one is Vintage Baby Knits. To tell you the truth, I have loads of baby knitting books but these are the ones that I knit from most. And if you’re a beginning knitter then you just have to get the Baby Knits for Beginners as it really is fab and my copy is back from when I got back into knitting in my 20’s. And at the moment I’m really loving What to Knit When You’re Expecting by Nikki van der Car.

Emma asked for any great crochet baby cardigans? Ravelry has loads here and this cecily baby sweater looks super cute. I also love the Tiramisu blanket if you’re a crocheter. Have you got any suggestions for her because I’m a total knitter when it comes to baby wear and save my crochet for blankets which are easy. Mind you I did knit my first baby blanket last year for my little nephew and loved it. Ravelry details here.

What are your favourite baby knitting patterns? Here are a few that my readers suggested – Gwen suggested this one ‘Mini Lovey Blankie Menagerie’  and Kylie said the Western Hills Blanket and Bloom by tiKKi. I’d love to hear your favourites…………

Filed Under: babies, baby, debbie bliss, knitting

things have been a bit quiet on the blog

February 16, 2014 By 159 Comments

You’ve probably noticed I’ve been a bit slow with the blog posts lately. Life at home has been going so fast with so much on and the last thing on my mind has been my little blog. That’s probably because the first thing on my mind has been making sure I’m up at 5.30 am, that everyone has lunch made and in their bag, a clean uniform, their homework done, is it library, piano, sports or swimming day and just getting out the door on time. Three at school is definitely keeping me on my toes. Some of you are probably laughing because you are getting 5 or 6 out the door but I tell you that 3 is killing me. But we are doing it and we are getting there but man it is taking up all of my time. This is what it looks like at 5.30am when I’m making lunches.

I sit and try to do a bit of knitting in the car line or at home when I can. I’ve managed to finish the body and one sleeve and will aim to power through the second sleeve this weekend motivated by knowing that once I get onto the yoke that I’m in the home stretch. I really love working with Spring Cotton. It can be a bit splitty but has a lovely drape to it and is going to make the sweetest cardigan to donate to Dandelion this winter.

A new camera lens arrived in the mail for my birthday this month and I can’t wait to share a review with you. It is my first pro lens and is so big compared to the little 45mm I’ve been using and has been taking some great photos at home….I’m yet to take it outside as I just haven’t had the time. I’m loving the wide angle on it and the fact that it captures almost all of my whole kitchen in one shot!

After mucking up the days for a meeting I ordered myself an erin condren diary and it arrived this week and I am loving it. I’m so grateful to my readers for letting me know about them because I was like Erin who? But you can personalise it however you like and I kind of like having my diary now with all of my favourite people on the cover.

And another reason why things have been a bit quiet is that behind the scenes we’ve been selling our house and growing a baby. You know just a few little life events that have been going on here. I chose not to share the house because unfortunately someone had an alert set up for my suburb and the night it went on the internet they shared the address on my hate thread for everyone to see. It was very upsetting and you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been sharing less of the personal stuff after that all happened. But I’ve got more important things to worry about. Like finding a new home and maybe building our own, and of course the wonderful excitement of welcoming our 6th baby into our family. We just feel blessed beyond words.

And that my lovely readers is why things have been a bit quiet around here……………………I’m actually a little sad that we’ve sold our house but relieved at the same time. I wanted to stay a lot longer and love the views and space. But we made a decision to change schools for everyone and that is the reason for our move. Our kids love their new school, we have more choices with special schools when the time comes and we’re making some wonderful friends but will be so sad to leave friends here.

Filed Under: everything else

Special diets for Special kids – a review

February 13, 2014 By 21 Comments

As soon as we decided to give the dairy free a go as well as our gluten free diet I knew I needed a recipe book to keep the variety going……otherwise we’d be eating rice or gluten free pasta every night for dinner and I’d be stuck for lunches. Special Diets for Special Kids had lots of reviews on Amazon and they had combined 2 volumes into 1 with over 200 recipes. And it’s a big book with 375 pages full of information and recipes.

Chapter 1 is devoted to Why Special Diets. A question I often get asked. Chapter 2 is about testing and nutritional supports which is what we’re going through now with our paediatrician and Chapter 3 is How and What to feed your child. For most people getting the gluten and dairy out of our diets is a massive change and we have to rethink how we cook.

The recipes in the book are family friendly and easy to make. You won’t need loads of fancy ingredients but you will need to overhaul your pantry to get the regular flours out and the gluten free ones in as well as dairy substitutes. The baking section of the book is great with bread recipes including yeast free, maple rice bran muffins, blueberry muffins, rolls, a tortilla recipe and cookies. A few recipes that I’ll be making straight away include gluten free spring rolls, honey buckwheat pitas, world’s easiest chicken dumplings, mac and cheese, crispy baked drumsticks, gingerbread people, a jewish cookie recipe (there is a section of the book with several jewish recipes), zebra cake, choc chip cookies and granola. There are also some recipes to make your own dairy free milk, sauces and condiments too.

This really is a book that helps you get started and maintain a gluten free casein free diet in your home and for me helps me feed lots of little people and keep everyone in the family happy with variety and foods that they love. The book also comes with a CD of printable recipes and I found the best price on fishpond in the end. There are fancier books out there which I also have like Cooking for Isaiah, The dairy free and gluten free kitchen and Against All Grain but I just know that this one is going to be my go to book during the week when I need to get dinner on the table or make elodie’s lunchbox as everything is easy and what she will eat.

So keep an eye out for this one if you’re new to special diets and give it a go. I’m really happy with it and about to sit down and do some meal planning and list writing and try out some new recipes on the family tonight.

Filed Under: books, gluten free

how to save to stay home (and make some money too)

February 11, 2014 By 22 Comments

I love it when a lovely reader asks me a question and I say thank you, that’s a blog post sorted. Just take the lovely Kimberley who emailed me last week. Her maternity leave will be coming to an end and she isn’t ready to go back. She wanted to know if I had any tips for making money and saving money so that she can stay home. I’ve written a few blog posts on it and it’s funny how I thought just having one child was expensive or when the twins came along that our expenses went up. Family budgets and our situations are always changing and we all have different financial circumstances. But I’m sure that Kimberley isn’t the first and won’t be the last person who looks for a way to stay home a little longer with a little one…or little ones.

And I stumbled on this post a while ago written by an american blogger about saving to stay at home. And on her facebook post she mentioned this post. I hope you enjoy money saving tip 49 as much as I did. But some great tips in there that some of you will see as obvious but so many of us take things for granted and pay for things that we could easily cut out and not really notice. Except the toilet paper. We are keeping the toilet paper.

My first tip is to look at your spending first. For me I use my credit card for almost everything and then clear it at the end of the month. It’s an easy way to see where you are spending, I reduced my limit significantly after I closed my fabric store and I can’t get into any trouble with a low limit on it. I use it for all of the therapists and medical appointments, swimming lessons and activities, groceries, post office, clothes, you name it if it can go on there it does. It saves in ATM fees because for the life of me I can never find my bank’s own ATM when I am out and about and I don’t really carry a lot of cash on me. Probably because it doesn’t last. And of course the key is to clear it each month if that works and you can be trusted with it and you can see where your money is going. When I was particularly frugal at various times working in the bank and saving hard I would write down my expenses, including all those little things. Amazing how it all adds up.

Now on the making money side of things I’ve written a few posts over the years and my favourite is still Working from home when you have little ones.

Now over to you….what is your advice for my lovely reader or perhaps your experience. I’d love to hear.

Filed Under: family finances

weekend craft

February 9, 2014 By 21 Comments

I love the excitement of picking a new project. On Friday I cast this on, took it out with me on Saturday in the car and kept knitting Saturday night and also Sunday. Thanks to one of the little ones waking me at 4.30am I made some great progress Sunday morning.

I’m using the Maile pattern which you can find on ravelry for free here or in this book. It’s super easy to knit and I’m using Bendigo Spring Cotton in white.

I just love white as a little baby knit and I’m thinking I’ll donate this to Dandelion with the next batch of quilts that we donate. I’m sure it will go to a good home and be treasured and with winter coming up with keep a little baby warm. The inspiration for this pattern is that my lovely aunty debbie made it for elodie when she was a baby and we wore it so often.

And the funny thing is that because this is a fairly quick knit I’m already thinking of my next project. Don’t laugh. I’m thinking a little something for elodie for winter and I’m trying to break away from the Kina and try something new…………I’ve got a skein of madelinetosh next to my yarn swift and think I’ll use that for a little something.

And because I’m always thinking of my next project I cut out this panel and hung it on my sewing room chair. I would absolutely love to get this started this weekend but know that if I can just keep my focus on the cardigan that I can finish that first and then make this panel.

I’ve ordered some lecien fabrics to start my little store again. I’m just keeping it small and things that I love and just waiting a week or so for my shopfront to be finished and I’ll share the link with you all. Lisa my super lovely helper on the admin side of the blog said ‘so are we having an uploading party?’…..I guess we are. Uploading and pre-cutting fabrics but I do love it…………………

hope you are having a great weekend and that there is a bit of craft in it too……

Filed Under: knitting, ravelry

the first hats arrive

February 6, 2014 By 13 Comments

You can tell that I’m settling into the school routine as I’m not so regular with my blog posts lately. Having 3 at school is definitely a big change to 1 but we are adjusting. Everyone is loving school and I’m quickly getting used to our early starts and trying to be organised. The first load of washing for yesterday went on at 6pm last night which is always a sign that I’ve had a busy day coming and going. However I have also been taking advantage of the time in car line in the afternoon to get some knitting done and have almost finished my second hat for Westmead.

I’m using the family ribbed hats pattern from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts and knitting it in Lark by Quince & Co in Carrie’s Yellow. The most stunning colour I’ve used in a long time and it’s lovely to knit with. I had good intentions to finish it last night so I could blog it today but my eyes were getting tired and I fell asleep getting my little miss to sleep.

Also in the mail yesterday I was lucky to receive our first hats in the mail. Thank you so much to everyone who has been knitting and I know some of you are powering through them. Thank you. This one is from Toni and she knit (crocheted……derrrr) 2 slouch hats that are gorgeous, she told me that the pattern is here and it’s a free one. Thanks Toni.

Back to the knitting……… and I hope you’re all adjusting to the school routine too.

 

Filed Under: charity, knitting

chocolate slice (gluten + dairy free)

February 3, 2014 By 32 Comments

We are sweet tooths in this house and trying to make everything gluten and dairy free for my little miss means rethinking some of our sweet treats. My go to chocolate recipe is chocolate brownie so I’ll be working on that one to get the butter out and a gluten free flour in too. I found this recipe in 4 Ingredients, doubled it and realised it wasn’t sweet enough for me. Like I said, sweet tooths. So added some maple syrup and voila  – deliciously sweet chocolately peanut buttery slice that almost got demolished in a whole afternoon! This recipe is gluten and dairy free, great for vegans, not great for lunchboxes so save it for home time because of the nuts and super easy.


chocolate slice (gluten + dairy free)
 
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Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
this recipe is adapted from Energy Bars in 4 Ingredients Gluten free lactose free
Recipe type: gluten free, dairy free
Serves: 12
What you'll need
  • 1 cup crunchy peanut butter or any nut butter would do
  • 250g/2 cups pitted dates
  • 3 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 3-4 Tbs cocoa or cacao powder
Instructions
  1. Place all of the ingredients in your thermomix and process on speed 6 for about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl once in between.
  2. You could also just process in a food processor.
  3. If you don't have one then finely chop the dates and combine with the other ingredients.
  4. Press the mixture into a lined square or lamington tin or a silicone form and refrigerate for at least an hour.
  5. Slice and serve
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

 

Filed Under: dairy free, gluten free, recipe, thermomix

stealth health lunches kids love – a review

February 1, 2014 By 11 Comments

Just 2 days of packing a gluten free lunchbox for elodie and I was needing some inspiration! With an hour or two to kill at the shops while the twins were at school and little miss at preschool I had the chance to go and look for some new books. And I love when you find something a bit different and full of new recipes to try. And I should point out that it’s a rare treat to get an hour or two to kill at the shops….emerson and I had a great time!

Stealth Health Lunches Kids Love is full of gluten free recipes for kids lunches – and I think adults too. Recipes are divided into a few sections. Pita pockets has some great and different pita bread fillings with a recipe at the end of the section to make your own gluten free pita bread. This is great because it also helps me get away from bread with preservatives and if you’ve bought gluten free bread then you know it isn’t cheap so making your own will also be budget friendly too. Some recipes are egg salad pitas, turkey sloppy joes, Hello kitty roll (salmon, cucumber and a green spread), chicki – yaki (chicken teriyaki with cucumber cream cheese).

Chapter 2 is all about tacos and tortillas with a great gluten free tortilla recipe at the end of the section. Recipes include chinese chicken rolls, fish stix tacos with home made fish sticks, crispy chicken fingers with apples, chicken fajitas, vegie and cheese quesadillas with green slime (recipe for a number of spreads and fillings are at the back of the book using avocado and other natural ingredients).

Chapter 3 is about rolls like sweet and sour chicken wraps using sushi wrappers or some wrappers from america made using fruit or vegetable. They are called origami and gem wraps and I can’t see a similar aussie substitute but let me know if you know of one otherwise I”ll just be using nori which my kids love anyway. The cutest is this caterpillar roll which is a cucumber and avocado inside out sushi roll.

Chapter 5 is about onigiris and some rice sandwiches and great pictures for making your own rice balls. Chapter 6 is called sidekicks and snacks and recipes include cucumber boats, crispy rice noodles, sweet potato crisps, tempura seaweed chips and crispy zucchini chips. And Chapter 7 is dips and spreads and some great ones are cauliflower dip with broccoli bites, green cashew aioli, avocado butter, carrot cream cheese and a fresh tomato ketchup just to give you an idea

So as you can see its all about something different and it had to come home with me. I’ve seen it on amazon and I picked up my copy from dymocks for $25. So look out – next week elodie’s lunchboxes are about to get a whole lot more exciting and I’m itching to make my own pita breads for the whole family.

 

Filed Under: books, gluten free, review

baking for lunchboxes

January 27, 2014 By 28 Comments

wow school goes back this week! I can almost feel the tears as I think about waving my little twinnies off to big school. And I’m getting organised with all of the lunchboxes and drink bottles out to make sure I have enough, name tags have been sewn into every item of new school uniform, bags are out and a few last minute supplies to get before I send them off this week.

And a few of you asked for lunchbox ideas. I’m afraid I’m not that exciting with lunchboxes here. I try to pack healthy lunchboxes with lots of fruit that the kids love, they are pretty easy going with their sandwich requests – ham, cheese, vegemite. We don’t do a lot of prepackaged things but I do keep a box of muesli bars or le snaks up the top of the pantry for the end of the week when things are usually running out.

so if you like baking I’ve put together a list of some of my favourite recipes that work great in lunchboxes and I’m making a list of gluten free treats that can go in lunchboxes as I send my littlest miss off to preschool for the first time with a gluten free lunchbox every day.

Melt and mix banana bread

Quick banana bread in the thermomix

CWA Banana Cake 

This is an oldie but a goodie, it never lets me down. For the gluten free version I’ve just been using the white wings gf flour or macro and it tastes great. You can even leave out the butter and just add a dash more milk if you want to

One Cup cookies

all that is left!

another oldie but always a winner. I find if you use butter that you need to add more so use 200g butter or 125g margarine in this recipe. Always goes down a treat

Banana choc chip bites

You can leave out the choc chips to make these a dairy free treat, this recipe goes a long way.

Jam Drops

Need no explanation, absolutely delicious and a great little treat.

Guilt free oat bites

Leave out the nuts please! Super healthy and delicious.

Guilt free baking! Taste so good!

Simple party cakes

great to send in to class when it’s your little one’s birthday. Always be sure to ask if anyone has an allergy so that you could send something for them in – I like to do a few freddos or simple lollipops.

HIP_328075938.732350

Cinnamon Tea Cake

this is a little treat but has to be one of my favourite recipes and is also great for afternoon tea as a treat. It never lasts long and retro daddy is lucky to get a slice when he comes home at night.

super easy sultana scones

120 cookies in the thermomix

perfect for big families or bulk baking!

I just pressed down with my finger

Apricot cake for a crowd

apricots are on

Choc chip, coconut and raisin cookies

Leave out the choc chips and double the raisins for a healthier cookie

honey fruit and muesli balls

Make sure you use a nut free muesli for these babies

fruit + muesli balls

Pioneer Woman’s Oatmeal Crispies in the thermomix

PW oatmeal crispies in the thermomix

Cheese Corn & Bacon Muffins

These would be great for lunch or morning tea and especially for those non sandwich eaters in the family or for something a little different

cheese, corn and bacon muffins

apple maple syrup flapjacks

ready for the oven!

cheesey pizza scrolls

cheesey pizza scrolls

Best ever cold frittata

bacon frittata

buttermilk scones

You could throw in some chopped dates or another dried fruit for something different

buttermilk scones

gluten free apricot cake

gingerbread cupcakes (vegan)

so light inside

easiest frittata for kids

easiest frittata

sushi

not baking but a great treat for lunchboxes and picky eaters

Now that looks like a whole lot of sweet treats. I try to bake at least once or twice a week for lunchboxes and sweet treats aren’t in there every day. Other favourites are cheese and rice crackers, corn thins, cheese sticks, yoghurt, muesli bars, lots of fruit and I buy fruit that the kids love and doesn’t come back in the lunchboxes. Got a favourite baking recipe you’d like to share with my readers, just let me know about it…………..

Filed Under: baking, recipe

first hat off the needles

January 26, 2014 By 12 Comments

Well thank you for your support and excitement over knitting hats (you can find out more here). I’ve done my first hat and a few rows onto my second as I type this. I found a fabulous pattern in one of my fave knitting books, more last minute knitted gifts by Joelle Hoverson (bargain price on amazon at the moment here for $11 if you can grab it). It’s a great book of patterns for the family, gifts and more. I love the original too here.

And of course every girl in the house wanted to model it and we have very big heads in this family so think it will suit a girl/teen girl. Luckily I’m washing the hats before I send them off but elodie has taken a real liking to this one. In fact a little warning that once you start knitting hats you better be ready to take some orders too. Daddy wants one in navy blue, finn also wants one in navy, keira wants one in a girly colour and I’m sure the rest will want one.

This was 2 days on the needles and according to the book is categorised in the 2-4 hour project section. But everything takes me longer. It was knit on 4 needles (aka double pointed needles) and was a very simple knit 2 purl 2 rib. The pattern comes in 3 sizes (child, womens and mens) and was so quick and easy. Ravelry details for my project are here and I used Bendigo Woollen Mills 12 ply Stellar which is super soft and a bamboo/wool mix and perfect for hats. This hat didn’t even make a dent in the 200g ball.

I wound a new ball of wool and loving this one and thinking would be a great colour for winter and for teens. This is Osprey by Quince & Co (purchased here) and the colour is Carrie’s Yellow…..mind you when I look at the label from a distance it looks like Corrie’s yellow to me.

If you have any easy patterns you’d like to share with my readers let me know. I think I might whip up a few of this pattern as I’m on such a roll. You can find similar free ribbed hat patterns on ravelry here and here and just by putting ribbed hat into your search for patterns on ravelry.

Filed Under: bendigo woollen mills, charity, knitting, ravelry

making hats for teenagers at westmead

January 24, 2014 By 21 Comments

I love the emails and messages I receive from readers. Last night I received one from a lovely lady Lisa and I got straight back to her. Her 8 year old son has just been given the all clear after liver cancer. As she was leaving Westmead she discovered that they need hats for teenagers battling cancer and going through chemo. She wants to help and she messaged me. I knew it was something that we could easily come together and do.

So I’ll be collecting crocheted and knitted hats to send to Lisa and I’m inviting you to join in with me and get making. And I had a wonderful response last night on Facebook. You asked what patterns? I’ve found some great ones. First up you can go to ravelry and pop chemo caps/hats into pattern search. A few patterns I found that looked good : man hat, barley, hurricane hat, super soft merino hat by purl bee, race for life , lace trim chemo cap and a simple slouch hat. For the crocheters I found crochet hat, chemo or rainbow hat (perhaps in a solid colour), chemo cap by bernat, lattice hat, diamond ridges and there are so many more to suit your crocheting abilities. Another reader Bree has this great pattern she’s worked on here.

Bev’s Country Cottage is another treasure trove of free patterns for charity knitting and has a section devoted to knitting and crocheting for cancer patients here. She also some great tips – use soft yarns like cotton, baby yarn and soft worsted, wash and dry your hat to make it even softer. Some other great tips that I’ve found in my internet travels and I’d love to hear any other tips – avoid big gaps/lacy patterns as people don’t want to show their head, long enough to cover the back of the head, softer the yarn the better, seam free is best as the seam can be uncomfortable on the head especially when sleeping.

Another great resource I found was knots of love. They have a great range of free patterns in pdf format here. And allfreeknitting.com had a list of 20 free knitting patterns here for charity.

I’d love to hear from you! Tips, patterns, advice, you want to help – just leave a comment. To get the address to send your hats to please email retromummy@hotmail.com and my lovely assistant also called Lisa will give you the address. Thank you for helping my reader Lisa in her quest to give something back to the hospital and for brightening some lives this year.

p.s if hats aren’t your thing and you are interested in knitting/crocheting blankets then another wonderful reader (I have so many!) Michelle was inspired to set up a facebook group called 67 Blankets for Mandiba and they are making blankets for Dandelion Support Network. You can join those lovely ladies here.

p.p.s another lovely reader Maria (aka Aussie Maria) sent me a gorgeous baby pattern yesterday and let me know about Knit 4 Charities which is an australian group who knit for charities and you can find out about them here. Great if you knit baby items or have a few at home you’d like to donate.

Filed Under: cancer, charity, crochet, knitting

in the mix 2 – a giveaway

January 22, 2014 By 89 Comments

I have a love affair with cookbooks. I’ve had to cull the collection a few times but there is something so lovely about cookbooks and getting inspired to get into the kitchen. Now I’ve reviewed a few of the thermomix cookbooks in the past (you can read them here, here and here) and it’s great to see some really fancy ones coming out. I’d say Tenina and Dani Valent have the fancy thermomix cookbook department covered.

Dani is a food writer turned thermomix cookbook writer/recipe creator and her first book has been in my collection since it was released. I have to admit that I’ve only made the okonomiyaki with homemade tonkatsu sauce but it is one of the kids favourite dinners and I love to make it for them.

In the mix 2 is similar to ‘in the mix’ in that it has recipes with fancy ingredients and steps. But there are more recipes than the first book….in fact the back of the book tells me that there are over 100 new recipes from 74 contributors in 20 countries. There you go. And so I sat down and looked at the recipes that I would easily make on a weekday – can do muesli, hedgehog rice balls, tomato soup with egg noodles, jerusalem artichoke risotto, fish cakes in lettuce cups, lamb cutlets with freekeh, bagels (hanging out to make these), granola bars, double chocolate pretzel cookies (made them here).

for weekends I’m already planning the oat and pear pancakes,  ziao long bao, tunisian fish stew, mussels madalfini, ricotta gnocchi, chocolate almond tart and carrot layer cake.

and for special occasions I’ve got my eye on the ocean trout blini, sardine rillettes, stilton bacon beignets, vodka prosecco sorbet, roasted capsicum tart, quinoa salad with pear, dried cherries and walnuts, piccalilli (great for presents!) and the flavoured butters.

And I love to share the love and have one copy of this fabulous book to giveaway. Just let me know why YOU need this book to add to your Thermomix cookbook library. Entries close 5pm Monday 27th January 2014. Full terms of my giveaways can be found here and I will post to Australian/New Zealand addresses just so my kiwi readers out there can enter this one. Good luck.

Filed Under: review, thermomix

a few more tips about the granny stripe blanket

January 21, 2014 By 24 Comments

I’ve received a few questions about the granny stripe blanket and thought I’d answer them all here as well as replying to each one.

What cotton am I using? 

I’m using Bendigo Woollen Mill’s cotton in 8 ply. You can buy it online here and there are a great range of colours.

What hook are you using?

I’m using a 3.75mm hook. The cotton has a tendency to stretch and be a bit loose (the Bendigo cotton) so using a bit smaller helps keep it in shape. If was using a wool then sometimes I go up a size to make it a bit looser. Doesn’t that just confuse you all. A great tip is to get onto ravelry, look at the yarn that you are using and see what people have used in crochet or knitting projects. Sometimes you can find the exact pattern and what people have used. For example go into ravelry, go to patterns, put granny stripe blanket into your search (here), click on the specific pattern you are following (say Attic 24 which will come up first), then in search over on the right hand side or yarn ideas put in Bendigo or the brand yarn you are using. It will bring up all of the projects made by people using the yarn you have and is a great way to see how it turned out and any tips. Honestly ravelry saves me some time……………well that might not be true since I can spend time on the forums or searching for new patterns to add to my favourites. But you know what I mean……..

What brand hook are you using? 

I invested in a set of hamanaka hooks many years ago. And because I spent quite a bit of money on them I really do look after them. They have a hook at each end and it’s nice knowing that I have all of the hooks at home and don’t need to duck up to the shops to get a new size just for a project. The cushioned grip makes them very comfy to use and you don’t get a sore finger like you sometimes do with hard hooks that you might use a lot. You can find a local supplier just by googling them or find some on ebay and etsy too. Another brand that looks lovely are Tulip who do some pink ones in a cute little pink case….I found them here at tangled yarns.

How much yarn would I need?

Because I just grabbed everything from my stash some balls had been used and are running very low and I had to buy some more. But if you started with brand new balls/unused 200g balls in a variety of colours you would get a lap sized blanket out of it. From memory I had a foundation chain of about 150/160 and am going to a large rectangle and making it as long as I can. If you are using 50g balls then get 3 or 4 of each colour to keep you going.

How are you tying in your ends?

Now some people like to weave in their ends at the end of the project. I carry mine at the back of the work for 2 sets of 3 x double crochet and will weave in the ends or trim them when I’ve finished. So rather than having all of my ends hanging at the end I’ve carried them behind and then work over them as you work the first stitches of the new row with the new colour. This is what the back looks like

What pattern are you using?

I’m using attic24’s pattern here but using US terminology as she uses UK/ Australian terminology so what I call a double crochet she calls a treble. I started using US terminology because I was following american youtube videos so just be careful when you buy a magazine or pattern to what terminology you are using. My mum always used aussie terminology as she learnt before youtube and all the US patterns coming out here.

Filed Under: bendigo, bendigo woollen mills, craft, crochet

weekend in wycheproof

January 20, 2014 By 81 Comments

Wycheproof, Victoria. A town I’d never heard of until I heard that my brother in law’s birthday party was going to be held there. I figured that with all of retro daddy’s brothers and sisters going and some of the cousins that it would be a fun road trip. It turned out to be a whirlwind trip but a great one. But the heat, oh the heat. No one saw that extreme heat coming when we were planning the trip. But let’s start at the beginning. Wycheproof. The smallest country town I’ve ever stayed in. Population just under 800. There are 2 pubs that you can stay at and one motel, a few shops, a hill, a public pool, church, school and I think that’s just about it. And the town’s claim to fame is being the only town in australia where the train runs through the main street. There you go, you learnt something new today.

We decided to break up our trip with a stop in bendigo. I may have influenced that overnight stay by adding a stop at bendigo woollen mills to the itinary. Slight change of plans when we discovered that the mills aren’t open on saturdays in january. We left home at 6am on friday and retro daddy was determined to get me there. After 5 stops before holbrook it was looking like I was just going to miss the 5pm closing time. Retro daddy suggested I ring and ask them to see if they could stay open a little longer. Um I don’t think that is how they work. So we got in the car at holbrook and focused on getting there in the 3 1/2 hours that it was supposed to take.

And we did. We pulled in to to the mills at 4.30pm, retro daddy went to put petrol in the car and came back and I was paying at the counter at 4.45. Is that woman on a mission or what. The car was telling us that the outside temperature was 48.5 and that back room was a little warm but there was some air con going. I was restrained filling a bag and conscious of what I already had at home and not being that lady that has a room full of wool that she will never get through. The find of the day was the Harmony in pale pink which I’ve been a bit jealous of other knitters having on ravelry. Feeling very happy with my 400g of it there in the bag. Now the back room is bigger than last time and had another section to the left of me as I was taking the photo and then had 2 more walls of wool behind me and to the right of me. So if you’re into knitting or crochet then this is your place. You need to go. You can read about the last time I went there here.

We picked a great hotel for kids in Bendigo, Quality Inn All Seasons (not the 4 seasons, don’t get too excited). The kids gave it 5 stars as it had a big pool, playground and loads of beds in our family room. There was also an xbox in the room and 2 big tvs. You walked in and had a double bed and a sofa bed then walked through to the 2nd room and there were 2 singles, another sofa bed and another double. Plenty of room for us. Room service was very reasonably priced with the kids meals at $9 including lemonade and ice cream. We weren’t leaving the room in 40 degrees heat so room service it was. You can also have a hot buffet breakfast for $17 a person and under 4’s are free. We chose the pool over breakfast and spent some time in there before checking out. What I want to know is how can you only be in one place for one night and still take an hour to pack up and find things under beds, under desks. It was like the kids had spread everything out all over the room!!!

A trip to Bendigo for me always involves Beechworth Bakery. I’ve always had a great visit there and was so excited to have a vanilla slice, unfortunately it was a bit disappointing with an overcooked base that we couldn’t eat, rock solid from being in the fridge too long and a dirty cup for my peppermint tea with the chocolate left on from someone else’s cappuccino. We had to take it back and get a new cup. Thankfully the other country bakeries that we visited on our trip did not disappoint – especially Holbrook Bakery. Yummo to their pasties, sausage rolls, huge salad sandwiches and range of slices. We had a great visit there and also in Charlton too. Oh and there was another small town that we visited for a bit of country bakery goodness too. It beats McDonalds but I did come home wanting a bit of fruit and salad for a few days. I might be all pastried out if that is possible…..this was one of the good vanilla slices from our trip. Mmmmmm.

Bendigo to Wycheproof is about 1 1/2 hours and took us 2 hours. We were there at 2pm and it was hot. Man was it hot. The party wasn’t starting till 7.30 so we figured we’d take all the kids to the pool. But everyone was tired and cranky and it was just so hot. So we sweated it out in the motel………the next morning we were freezing cold as the temperature drops over night. Someone put this face on for the camera to sum up the mood of the room and I think they need to rough it a bit more.

The party was just a great big old country party at the back of the pub. Kids running around, adults talking, a few babies, bar, big hot roast for dinner, country music blaring from the speakers (think Johnny Cash, Slim Dusty and so on), mozzies, speeches, grandma jill wrote a song for the birthday boy and sang it and then we did the family tradition of holding hands and getting in a big circle to sing happy birthday. Retro daddy grew up with that tradition and we still keep it alive in our little family at every birthday too.

I left the party at about 10.30 with all the kids and fell asleep in between these two. When I had to get up to get ready in the morning I let them snuggle. So cute. I had to take a pic didn’t I. Retro daddy went back to the party for a bit of heel and toe polka and to enjoy the party. And I hear there were still some partygoers when we were leaving town at 6am the next morning.

If you’re ever in wycheproof the motel is super clean and right next to the pub where I had the best roast pork I’ve had in a long time. I think the motel had better accommodation than the hotel but it’s been a long time between budget motels for me and the kids. It’s not noosa. Get that air con going as soon as you get there and try to go on a weekday when things are open. There was nothing but a small shop where we could buy ice blocks open on saturday afternoon but I’m sure there is more action during the week. 

We drove home again in one day, in the car at 6am, 50 million stops for toilets, snacks and stretching legs and got home just after 6.30pm. The car looked light someone had thrown fries, biscuits, crackers and grapes around in there and had a party. So one of our first jobs was emptying the car and giving it a good vac so we could use it this week. It was bad. Oh and all those bugs stuck to the windscreen. But we did it. Almost 2000kms in 3 days, saw all the family, visited the woollen mills, got the kids out of the house and a mini holiday and are now safely back home enjoying the cooler temperatures and our own home. The end.

Ever been to wycheproof or stayed in a small country town? It was an eye opener for me, it certainly wasn’t out of the pages of Country Style but as we were driving back into big old dirty sydney I was missing the country already.

Filed Under: everything else

how to grow your blog and earn some money too

January 17, 2014 By 36 Comments

Here I was thinking to myself what am I going to write about this weekend? Then a lovely reader Shari emailed me with a question and I was like, that would make a great blog post! Shari runs a great blog Good Food Week and loves it. She’s on maternity leave and loves being at home and wants to know my great tips for growing your blog and making some money on the side.

I’ve written a few blog posts on this. For me I started blogging 7 years ago just to share life as a new mum and my craft which at the time was just knitting. Imagine that, me with just one craft under my belt. Didn’t even have a craft room back in those days. About a year later I started selling japanese fabrics online and my store name retro mummy and the blog came along. And the store kept me busy and I loved it and that provided some income on the side. I’d always been doing something on the side to make a few dollars since keira was born because we needed it and I liked having some money for craft and clothes.

Now this was before I was on facebook and the only things I had to worry about were my blog, my store and flickr. This was before pinterest and having to be across all social media. So I was busy but I was loving it and it was my store that was bringing in my money. And it was hard work. Ordering fabric, photographing it, uploading it to the store, cutting it, packing it, posting it, answering questions, queries and complaints. It was hard work. I’d take a break when a baby was born and then back to it.

After a few years (so we’re talking over 3 years ago now) I joined an agency for sidebar ads (Nuffnang). After a little while they rang me out of the blue and asked would I review a Panasonic camera and I could keep it. Wow. And that was my very first sponsored post. The first of many. Doing sponsored posts is how I started making money from the blog alongside the store and it became easier than the store. So I closed the store and stuck with the posts, joined The Remarkables in 2012 just after Emerson was born and haven’t looked back. Sponsored posts are my bread and butter. It’s not for everyone but it works for me. I get to choose who I want to work with and I get paid for the time I put into the blog. It’s not about just the time of writing that sponsored post but for maintaining this blog and keeping it all running smoothly.

I also do sidebar ads which is a great little way to sell space on your blog to small business.

So that’s how I make my money. My best advice if you’re into making money from your blog or website or online business is get yourself onto problogger and get yourself to his conferences. Even if making money isn’t your goal that is the one conference of the year I tell people to go to. It covers all levels of blogging and is a great way to meet people, learn something new and think about your blog or website in a new way. For me last year it was Amy Porterfield who really changed how I use facebook and helped me focus on growing that page not just being on facebook.

There are other ways to make money online which might suit you- selling a product (either something you’ve bought wholesale or made), e-books, mentoring and coaching, affiliate programs (so you have ads on your sidebar that are through affiliate networks when someone makes a purchase coming from your website), writing for other websites/publications and speaking at events.

OK so growing your blog takes a few things. Time, dedication and love are top of my list. Some bloggers get burnt out because they go all out and then they wonder where the rewards are or why their goals haven’t been met. They need a break or hate it or wonder why they started in the first place. If you love it and keep loving it and pace yourself and set realistic goals then it can happen. I’ve never really set goals for my blog as I’m very much slow and steady but the reason that I am still here blogging is the time, dedication and love. I’ve done it for the love, the readership and because I love to share. I’m a talker and I spend most of my days at home inside the house with lots of little people so my blog is my pretty place that I get to make look all pretty and lovely and I get to share life with everyone. If I stop loving it then I’ll stop blogging.

You need to find your niche. When I think of some of my favourite blogs I can quickly describe them in a few words and there is no one like them. They have their own niche and that is why others read them too. OK here we go – Beach Cottage – white furniture, beach photos, english girl living by the beach. Styling you – photos of outfits, model and me, fashion. Woogsworld – funny stories, loves to talk, BabyMac – lives in the country, food and a clean house, Soulemama – homeschooling, knitting, farm life. So I like all of these blogs for different reasons and very quickly I’ve shared a few things about the blogs and what makes them different. You are different from the next person and you need to work out how your blog or website will be different from the next one. And it can apply to your online fabric store or craft business. What is it about your business that is different. And you stay true to your niche and it’s easy if you’re just being yourself and love what you do. There is always room for a new website or business or blog and you just have to make sure you find your niche and set yourself apart.

Have a great blog or website name and own your own domain and your facebook, twitter, pinterest, flickr, etc. You want the same name (for me it’s retro mummy) across it all. Just keeping it simple and making it easier for people to find you. Someone might mention your blog or website to a friend and you never know how they are going to find you so having the same name and keeping it simple enough to remember will help people find you on the internet. It also helps google find you and you it could be that video on youtube that people find first rather than your website.

Have a tag line that sums up who you are and what your blog and website is about. Thanks to my readers who helped me with my baking and making with my family of 7. I did a little question on facebook and then put a few of the responses into a little poll on facebook and worked on a favourite and voila I had a tag line.

Have an About Me page on your blog. Tell your story and let people know who you are, what you look like and what your website is about.

Get out there and comment on blogs and facebook pages, make friends on twitter, go to meet ups, network and just put your blog name and yourself out there. Be brave (for some of us it’s a hard thing to do but gets easier) and go to conferences with your big brave face and meet people and ask questions. Join Digital Parents if blogging is all new to you and you’ll find so many new and experienced bloggers who are willing to answer your questions, help you with your facebook page, share your blog and help you. That’s one of my number 1 tips to lovely ladies who email me about where to start with a blog. If you have a business that sells products then do markets and meet your customers and new ones.

Manage your time. Just because you’re on facebook or pinterest all day doesn’t mean you’re actually working to grow those pages for yourself. That’s something I’ve learnt. If growing your facebook page is a goal for yourself then start following Amy Porterfield who has lots of practical and easy advice to get your page growing and in a meaningful way. There are lots of top pinners on pinterest and ways to grow your pinterest page (great list of tips here) so start learning them and following the principles. Read other bloggers tips like Styling you, ProBlogger, Fat Mum Slim and I love Tsh Oxenreider who I met at problogger last year and has a huge following but down to earth advice and tips. Is there someone you like for blogging advice, let me know so I can add them here for my readers. You need to work out what times work for you to be online and manage your time so that you aren’t online 24/7 and missing out on life. For me having someone help me with my emails has freed up some of my time and someone else doing my bookkeeping has also helped.

Make family your priority. This is for the stay at home mums and something that I’ve always followed even when I was running a fabric store. The family and home life has to come first. Now of course that doesn’t mean that you’re chained to your house 24/7 or you never go to events. But for me the invitations come in so fast and I am a stay at home mum with a busy schedule and I chose to be home to be with my little ones. So there is no point in me attending lots of events and not being at home. Defeats the purpose of being at home. If your kids are at school then it’s different and lunch time events probably suit you. But for me, I generally don’t do weekday events unless they are paid events. Set your own boundaries and what will work and won’t work for your home life. I do make it a priority to attend a conference or two each year. So going away to ProBlogger last year was a big deal and wasn’t something that I could do when I had baby twins or 3 under 3 but now that the bigger kids are bigger and we have some help it’s something that I can do. If I have to meet a client for a big blog post coming up then that is important.

Work out your goals. Now for me this is a bit funny because blogging was never about growing the blog or making more money. I didn’t set out with those goals. I had to join google analytics when I joined The Remarkables but never really paid attention to my traffic and only check it once a month to update my Work with me page. If you go to any conference or you are serious about your blog becoming your business then just like a business plan you need some goals. What is the purpose of your blog or your website. What do you want to achieve. How much time are you going to put in each day/week. What kind of work do you want to do? Do you want to mentor other bloggers, do you have business skills that you want to share online, do you have a hobby that people want to learn. If this is too hard for you to do or work out there are now other bloggers and people who can help you do this.

Staying true to yourself is also very important. How many times have we visited a blog and it just seems like they are trying to copy someone else. I’ve seen that in other blogs before and it’s a real turn off. There is something not real about them and it’s going to be a hard act to keep up. People warm to the real you and honesty. I try to keep it real, the good and the bad. You want people to like you for you and it comes back to finding your niche and being yourself. What I love about blogging and the internet is that I can connect with other gorgeous people who love craft and home life as much as I do and also large families. Because in my own circle of friends most people do not love craft or baking or having lots of babies. So use the internet and your website to build your little community and by staying true to who you are you will find your own success. Don’t copy. It’s easy to spot and not how you are going to find your own success.

Don’t be so focused on growing your blog and making money. What? Isn’t that what this blog post is all about? I’m confused. Well the thing is that for all of the bloggers that I know their goal in starting their blog was not to take over the world and make lots of money. And especially for me. My blog was just my way to share and my little online store was my way to do what I loved (which was buying and selling fabric and having it at my house) and making a bit of money on the side. The income from this blog has been a total surprise to me and never something that I went after. If and when my income dries up I will probably still run this blog because it’s part of who I am and I love it so much. I can’t go back to the 9 to 5 or work for someone else. I would probably set up another home business and use what I know to work from home and use my skills for something different. I do think that people have the blogger burnout which I mentioned before because the focus is all about growing and having x amount of traffic or earning x amount of dollars each month and you can lose the love. Finding what you love and doing it because you love it and it interests you will probably be the best way that you will find your growth. And you might need to step away from the computer to find your real focus and that’s ok.

I wasn’t raised in a family where people worked for themselves or made money from home but I do think that it’s a great way to be home with your family or to do something you are passionate about and be happy with your life. I also think that it’s the way forward as more people become disillusioned with big jobs and what they were taught was success. For me it’s about living a good life (because we’re not going to be here forever) and about being happy. But it involves a lot of hard work and everyone I know with a successful blog or home business works very hard at it and puts in a lot of hours that aren’t seen just by looking at the website. So be prepared for hard work, sit down and work out what it is you want to do and how you are going to get there, find a mentor who can help you, find your inspiration, set some goals and also rewards for yourself, be realistic, keep home and family your priority, step away from the computer and your phone whenever you can, be yourself and don’t copy others, take some risks and get outside your comfort zone every now and then, be brave and share your goals with someone else.

And that my friends is a bit of wisdom from yours truly. I’m not the expert on html codes or how to send newsletters or stay on top of your email inbox but I do still love what I do, I love the readers I have and the beautiful community here and I feel lucky and privileged to be bringing in money that makes a real difference in our home and rewards the work I have put in over the years.

Over to you…….questions, tips for readers, want me to elaborate on something? Fire away…………………………

Filed Under: blogging
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