12wbt with Michelle Bridges

I have a few extra kilos on me since giving birth to a giant. I have 5kg to get to pre-pregnancy weight. And I'd like to lose a further 5kg to get to an ideal weight. So I've joined up with a friend to do Michelle Bridges' 12wbt. In this program she gives you every exercise you need, be it gym equipment, gym classes, at home with DVDs or outside in a park.

She also gives you a complete food menu, sticking within 1200cal limit. So far the meals have been more than delicious! Tonight it's lasagne and it looks like this. Mine has come out exactly the same! One of the excellent things about Michelle's recipes, is that you always use so many fresh fruits and vegetables. It's teaching me so much about food. Which is invaluable. Especially to maintain my goal weight at the end. Oh, and my toddler eats everything aswell!

In 2 days (Monday and Tuesday) I have already lost 1.5kg. Yay me.

My first quiche

DSC_2626, originally uploaded by stitch-by-stitch.

I know that most of you have been making quiches blind since you were about 2, but this is my very first quiche. Yay. I wish I'd made it a lot earlier than now. It was so easy and healthy.

After a false start with the egg leaking through my pastry, success! I didn't know the 'rules' so obviously I didn't make sure the pastry was sealed properly. So we stuck what was left in the oven to slightly firm it up, then added more egg on top.

Notes for next time: line tray with baking paper, make sure the pastry is sealed and add a bit of salt/pepper to the egg.

Hubby's not complaining though, he's eaten about half of it himself!

No recipe, just made it up as I went.

1. line tin with premade short crust pastry (make sure it's all sealed, no cracks)
2. blind bake it for 10mins - 180C
3. sprinkle half a finely chopped onion on the base
4. sprinkle a packet of thawed frozen spinach (all water squeezed out of it first)
5. mix 6 eggs with a cup of soy milk and salt/pepper (hubby's dairy intolerant) pour over
6. add chopped feta cheese
7. bake till almost solid (it will continue to solidify in the tin while cooling down) about 40mins

Dog mat cover

Dog mat cover, originally uploaded by stitch-by-stitch.

Do any of you readers have dogs? Well, if you do, you would understand the frustration of a smelly dirty dog mat. Not to mention the sheer number of them you go through. Puppies like to 'punish' their owners when they are left to their own devices for too long.

Enter the dog mat cover. I came up with this idea when I decided to use my son's very old and cheap fitted cot sheets to cover the dog mat. I kept 3 on rotation so that every couple of days I could change them. Have one in the wash, one on the bed and one spare. Needless to say little teddies and rattles do not a stylish decor make.

I had made a cot sheet for my new baby not long ago, so decided to do the same thing but for the dog mat. Here is one example. I have another one on the sewing table in the reverse colours. The fabric is mid/heavy weight and I think will hold up nicely to doggy wear and tear. It also hides all the dog mat seams which mine love to nip at to release all the stuffing. You like?

1200kms for kids bike ride

Every year my hubby rides the 1200kms for kids charity bike ride from Brisbane to Sydney (alternating directions each year) to raise funds for Children's Hospitals. This year it is the Royal Childrens Hospital in Brisbane and the Humpty Dumpty Foundation. As most of you will know, our first son was born at 28weeks. He needed intensive / special care for the first 2months of his life. As such, this charity is close to our hearts.

If you'd like to donate, please visit my husband's DONATION PAGE. He has committed to personally raise $10,000 so any little bit will help. This is his fourth year doing this ride raising over $50,000 himself.

Family

DSC_2512, originally uploaded by stitch-by-stitch.

I'm not an "I'm in love with being a mum type" but I *love* my family. How could I not. Have a look how cute they are sitting on Kai's foam couch. Please excuse the washing in the background :)

Ryder - 4.5mths

Just some pics of my little bloke. He's 4.5mths now, weighs 7.2kg and is 66cm long in a size 00-0. Where has the time gone?

El Naturalista - the search for the perfect mid calf boot

I have been on the hunt for some time now for the perfect mid calf boot. The aim is to wear them with my handknitted socks which would be poking out the top of them. I would wear them with the darkest opaque stockings that I could find and a short denim or black skirt. I looked all over Chadstone with absolutely no luck. I had heard about El Naturalista before but they are soooo expensive. Not only that but Amazon won't send them to Australia as it would void the warranty (?). Eventually I found the perfect pair from an Australian mob called Yodgee. They retail at $299 and they had them on sale for $145!!!!

Of course I only wanted to buy them online as it's difficult to go shoe shopping with a 3.5yr old and a 2mth old. I am a standard size 9/40 so went with that. Low and behold their sizing is out and they are too small. Try as I might, they weren't going to work...especially with handknitted socks. So I'm hoping they offer refunds...coz I ended up finding another perfect pair (that fit) right around the corner at my local shoe shop!

Creative space

This is my knitting creative space. I sit here during the day whenever I get the chance, which is not often. And at night once the kidrens are in bed. I have the TV, my footrest, the remotes, my computer, my knitting and the baby in the porta cot to my right (during the day only). I wish I could sit here more often... The only thing that's missing is my cup of tea.

Destash on Ravelry

Hi everyone, I'm having a small destash of my Wollmeise. So if you're interested, head over here to check out what's left :) Here are the pictures. Only one left of each skein below. Price$30.00 + post ($6.00 up to 500g, $10.30 over 500g, add $2.95 for registered)

100% WD Spice Market

100% Kornblume (picture is of 80/20 Twin)

Creative space

Choc cupcakes, originally uploaded by stitch-by-stitch.

My little guy and I are making chocolate cupcakes while the prince sleeps. Just waiting for these to cool before I add the chocolate icing. Mmmm. Not exactly sewing or knitting, but crafty nonetheless.

Voile baby blanket #2

Finally finished - newborn is only 9 days old.

Janome Horizon!!

Looky looky what my husband bought me! I've only just unpacked it and managed to start piecing my Playmat and finish the binding on this blanket while both my newborn and 3yr old are asleep. Yes, they slept at the same time!!! Clearly I haven't mastered the art of machine binding, but it will have to do with the little time and energy I have at the moment.

Ryder Jackson

He's finally here! He was born on Tuesday arvo (hence my online silence) weighing a whopping 4.62kg (10.2lb). He had a massive 39cm head which needed the help of forceps to get out. I can tell you right now that the factory is now well and truly closed. After having an easy delivery the first time followed by months and months of complications (being born at 28wks) and now a very difficult delivery followed by months and months of physio, I can confidently say that that's it for me. If we have another baby, we'll be picking it off a shelf. My body is shattered and being 35 (nearly) it's going to take some time recovering.

I'm finally home as of last night and had a terribly restless night. Still waiting for the milk to come in properly and having a huge demanding baby makes for many wake ups and VERY sore nips. Hubby went out early this morning to buy some emergency formula to keep him satisfied for the time being. I'll pump away (again) until I can establish a good flow and try to give the nips a rest.

When I hear about women who have multiple children and given birth to them all naturally with no pain relief, I bow down. I cannot believe that women would do that to themselves and then go back for more!!!

New machine and new playmat for baby

Guess what my hubby bought me! Yep, a Janome Horizon 7700. How friggin exciting. Not that I'll get to see it anytime very soon as it's coming down from Queensland. By which time I'll hopefully have brought a new human into the world. But what a nice welcome home, hey?



Of course I've already planned the first thing I want to make with it using EQ7. I need a new playmat for the little one when he arrives. I thought the Dr Seuss fabrics would be ideal. Plus I'll have loads left over to make a quilt at a later date. I think I'll try to cut the fabrics prior to going to hospital...maybe tomorrow...so that they are ready to go once the machine arrives.

Pre baby photoshoot

Merry Christmas everyone!

Prebaby photoshoot

On the weekend we had a pre-baby photoshoot. We chose to do it on the beach. We also got married on the beach 5 years ago. Lisa (Lisa Leek Photography) did the photos then too. Unfortunately, both times the wind seemed to follow us. Anyway, we battled through and here is a sneak preview.

Hot days ahead

So summer is finally starting to show itself...right before it hides away for a while again. We've had our air conditioner installed which is very handy since I'm nearly 32 weeks pregnant. But we still need to solve the 'still air' problem in the bedrooms at night. I can't stand the feeling of the oscillating fans on me and they're quite dangerous for little fingers/hands. So we thought we'd get a few of these:



Have any of you tried this one before? If so, what's your feedback?

Baby clothes

As you may know, my first born son was born 12weeks premature. Well, he's now 3yrs old and I'm pregnant now with my 2nd son so I had to dig out all the old baby stuff. All of this on the line fit into 1 x 50lt tub. To give you an idea, this suit is a size 00000 (premature). Next to it is a size 0-3mth track pants. It was nearly 2 months before he even fit into a size 00000!

I am 27 weeks pregnant at the moment. Last time I was admitted into hospital with broken waters at 27.5 weeks. Kai was born 4 days later. Let's hope I get through this, and the next 14 weeks without incident.

I'd forgotten how small a newborn babies clothes are. One 50lt tub down. Two more to go to wash and put away.

I am in LOVE with this Amy Butler rug. If only they sold them here in Australia...and they didn't cost US$1,700. Drooool!