This post by the wonderful retro mummy inspired me to get off my bottom and make the girls some bloomers, something I had been meaning to do for ages as I’m not a big fan of disposable nappies on show! Living in Adelaide it’s really too hot quite often to put babies in clothes (we’ve just had a heatwave, in spring, 43C, 109F, what’s summer going to be like?). I decided to go one step further with my bloomers and add little skirts to them so they are extra girly, LOVE the result, they look a little weird when they aren’t being worn, but I think they look gorgeous when they are on. I also had a little fabric left over so added simple appliqués to some cheap singlets (vests) to complete the look. It’s the first time I have used the machine blanket stitch, in the past I’ve always done satin stitch around my appliqué, but it uses so much thread, takes forever and doesn’t look as nice, I don’t think anyway.

I also made a little pair with cowboys and cowgirls on them from a piece of fabric that was a must have many years ago and has sat and sat waiting for the right project…oh and check out that smile! Lights up my day!

I used a pattern out of an old ‘Australian Smocking and Embroidery’ magazine as I find that their sizing tends to be pretty close to the equivalent in ‘normal’ baby wear unlike commercial patterns which tend to be huge. They quite often have bloomer patterns in this magazine so I should be able to find bloomers to fit them for a few years to come in my collection…well at least until they get out of nappies.
Other than that life goes on, the girls keep growing and I’m always looking for new ways to make things easier and quicker to leave more time to sew…take lunch for example…

I’ll leave you with something that is bound to bring a smile to your face, well it makes me smile!
Miss Louise and her incredible hair…

So what do I have to show for it? Other than two girls who are almost double the size they were when they were born…

Nothing beats sleeping babies!

I feel like I never have time to sew, knit or do anything, but looking back on the last 12 weeks I’ve done a bit and don’t feel so sad about my lack of ‘free’ time. The day I had the girls I was so full of nervous excitement that I had to start a new project to calm my nerves and give my brain something else to think about. So I started a little cardigan ready for next winter for the girls, it’s finished…well I still need to sew the button on, but what’s a button between friends? It’s knitted using the ever faithful Patons Totem and a Sirdar pattern from a book called Seaside Babes (Rav link).

We took the girls on their first long weekend away recently so they could meet their Great great Grandparents, this meant almost 7hours of driving each way, perfect knitting time…so I started a cardigan for me for next year, I think it should be a flattering shape for the post twin body. I’m knitting it using some Bendigo Woollen Mills yarn picked up in the ‘back room’ at the mill on our road trip while I was still pregnant, the yarn is called Cameo and hopefully stops leaving fluff everywhere soon…by the time we got home the dashboard was covered in red fluff just from knitting with this yarn.

Since having the girls I’ve found it easier to sew than knit, I think it’s the fact that in a lot less time I can have something finished than by knitting, it just feels like a more productive use of time. This week I have made 6 baby dresses! Admittedly all but one was a skirt sewn onto a shop bought singlet, but hey who am I to argue, I made it into a dress therefore I made a dress…right? I also made one of these dresses before I had the girls in preparation for my new cousin, then finally this week I made her another dress, it’s a free pattern from ‘made by rae‘ that I added a bit to here and there in the hope of making a 3-6 month size. I love the cherry fabric, I bought it originally to use as part of the bunting for the nursery, then realised it was a one-way design. Talking of bunting I made a short piece for my new cousin. No more bunting for a LONG time if ever!

The singlets for the dresses came from ‘Best and Less’, I just love the colours! That and the price is very reasonable (especially when I find them on the clearance table to $1.49). Such a great way to use up remnants, make something comfortable and avoid the singlet and nappy look when the weather heats up.

One of the pink ones is destined for another little baby girls wardrobe…

The sewing project I am proudest of though is a patchwork quilt, my first in a long time, in fact the first bigger than a bassinet size in over 3 years! I made it for a friends little girl born on the first of this month, I managed to finish it before she was a month old, now the next aim is to finish things before babies arrive! The fabric came from spotlght, I don’t normally like their quilting fabrics all that much, but fell in love with these vintage style treasures, especially the backing fabric.

Long before the quilt was finished I was wondering through town one day and came across a new paper shop! I used to love a little paper/stationary place in Melbourne when we lived there but have been ‘making do’ with normal newsagent wrapping paper and cards for the last few years…until now! Check out this gorgeous card and wrap…it suited the quilt so well!

I’ll leave you with a picture of Louise wearing something I didn’t blog while I was pregnant…just a little gender specific.

She’s my chubba bubba….check out that chin!

A couple years ago (I didn’t realise it was that long ago until I went searching for the post!) I did the Knitter’s Tea Swap 4 and had the lovely knitterbunny as my swap partner, we’ve kept in sporadic contact over the last couple years, mainly because I am crap at keeping in contact! Knitterbunny is lovely, we’ve had many exchanges across the world of emails and later Ravelry messages, that always put a smile on my face, many times saying that we should do another little swap, so I have collected, and really must send the parcel in the morning, see I’ve said it online so I better get off my butt. Anyway several weeks ago…maybe months…time flies around here…I got a lovely parcel in the post from knitterbunny with some yummy yarn, a kit, some biscuits (which I ate before I finally got off my butt and took a photo of the parcel) and some beautiful hand knits for the girls, one of which I had fallen quietly in love with when she blogged it. The yarn makes me want to get back to lace knitting after months of baby knitting!

So once again, thanks knitterbunny, you rock! Your parcel will be in the post, no really it will!

Somewhere in our now hectic life we’ve managed to take a little time out to get the nursery organised. Most of the sewing work was done while I was on leave before the girls’ were born. So here’s the run-down of the sewing I did…

-11 metres of bunting, enough to go round the entire room.
-Curtains and tie-backs
-Patchwork quilt, made many years ago entirely hand sewn.

A few detail shots around the nursery…

The photo’s of the girls’ are by Dan, I think he did a wonderful job!

Our twin girls have arrived, right now they are fast asleep and I’m having a morning of catch-up on the things I like to do for me…bliss!

Towards the end of being pregnant I just couldn’t sit down for long enough to write a blog post, I had incredible rib pain and just generally felt uncomfortable…hardly surprising really.

Anyway, our girls were born on the 5th and are Evelyn Mae, 6lb (2.73kg), 49cm (19″) born at 15:32 and Louise Claire, 5lb 15oz (2.69kg), 52.5cm (21.5″) born at 15:33. It’s been a bit of a learning curve, not helped by a total lack of assistance in hospital even when I asked for help…but thats a whole other story. We’re all settling in now and try things from time to time to see what will work. The girls have changed so much already, gaining some weight and starting to not look quite so much like we don’t feed them.

Louise in her coming home outfit, jacket and hat knitted by me of course, and bodysuit embroidered by me, it’s been ages since I did anything like this and I really enjoyed a bit of hand stitching.

In the week or so leading up to the girls arrival I got a lovely parcel in the post from Peaceful Knitter, thanks to the wonderful little knitting world that is Ravelry we have gotten to know each other quite well over the last nearly 2 years. I had sent her a parcel when I found out she was pregnant, I was just so excited (and still am). I was so excited when I got a parcel in the post myself! Most of the food came to hospital with me and it was lovely to have some treats tucked away in my bag to share with Dan in the evening when the visitors had all left. I also got a sewing pattern for a bag that I had been looking at for ages, but not been able to justify buying, it’s funny how people can ‘know’ just what to get you without ever meeting you. The girls got hats, which they have already worn when we went out on Friday night for a beer with my parents, I got some yarn, cotton ease which I have been wanting to try but when I find it here from time to time the colours really don’t inspire me, I’m planning on some skirts for the girls. There are also some lovely baby note cards which I plan to use for thank yous for a few special people. It was lovely to get a parcel towards the end when I was feeling a little over it and huge.

Before the girls were born I knitted a few girly things for them, but of course could not share these things, but here is one, a little 5 ply dress, can’t wait to see one of them wearing it! I love the buttons.

I also finished a very bright little newborn cardigan, I’m a little unsure about this one, but it’s warm and they vomit on most thing anyway…

So that’s me, a mother of two little girls, something I never expected to be able to say about myself….

The last little while at work was exhausting and now that I have been on leave for a few weeks I finally feel like getting back into the blog…at least until I have 2 small babies to take care of anyway! I’m doing quite well still, but am starting to slow down, hence sitting in front of the computer and writing a blog post! I only have a few things to show you all at the moment and all of them are old…the reason for all that I will show you being old? Well I’m not showing you anything gender specific, thats our little secret, besides this way you get to see these items on babies as they grow into them, much cuter that way!

I made myself another Calorimetry a few months back and have worn it loads! I have enough yarn to make another as a gift, but I don’t know who to give it too! I can think of two people who might like one and wear one, but I just can’t choose between them. Can I blame pregnant brain? Probably not. Anyway the yarn is Freedom Spirit By Twilleys of Stafford (Ravelry link). I love this yarn, the colours are great and work with most of my clothes and it has a lovely fuzz without being furry! Please excuse the photo, I tend not to be the most alert and smiling camper by the end of the day!

I’ve also done some baby knitting that I can show you. I made a baby surprise jacket out of some yarn I dyed and spun a while back, I’m really happy with this yarn and even after knitting two baby jackets with it I still have some left over for something else! The other one was a february baby sweater for a friend many months ago now. I did an applied i-cord edge which I had only done once before a long time ago. It really is a lovely way to finish some garments, especially garter stitch as I am not always happy with the edge that I get just by leaving garter stitch…probably why when I knit scarves they are ribbed. I should really do the same to the sleeves, but I figure knowing bubba’s they are only going to get sucked at anyway!

Still sticking to the baby thing…leggings! These were knitted from an old paton’s book and should fit next winter. I used Baby Zarina Print (Ravelry link) that was given to me as a Birthday gift. It’s such a soft yarn, I do love Zara and Zarina…oneday when money is no object I would love a plain basic black cardigan for myself knitted out of Zara, but for now I will settle for other slightly less pricey yarn options.

After many, many months I finally finished my Aunties Hi-visibility jumper. It was wonderful to get this one out of the WIP stage and even more wonderful how well it fitted my Auntie! But yes, you wouldn’t miss her in a crowd in this one, except maybe when she’s at the mines with everyone else in Hi-vis gear of course!

Thats about it for me at the moment photo wise. I need to get an up-to-date belly shot on here, I’m 32 weeks, at my last scan (on Monday) the babies were both around 4 pounds each so I am officially carrying more baby than my Mum did when she had me. Other than that I am knitting some gorgeous little jacket, hat and mitt sets for the babies to come home in, I just don’t want to show a half finished, un-blocked photo of them, they are too special to me to been seen half made.

Hope your all keeping well, I’ll endeavour to come back again soon!….promise.

All the knitting I can get done! I can only share one thing at the moment…the other two things are either not quite finished or will give away too much about what might be growing in my belly, a much guarded secret for the time being! So I’ll share the little jitterbug cardigan I made. I’m really happy with this one and am planning on knitting some little navy blue pants to match, I should even have enough jitterbug left to make the hems out of jitterbug. The colour I used was Tapis (the colour at the store that was the most unisex). Doesn’t it go well with the bodysuit? It was given to me by a lady from work in a bag of extremely good condition secondhand clothing from her little boy. People are so generous! I love the buttons as well, I bought them several years ago to put on a shirt but it never happened and now I am glad, they really bring out the lighter colours in this one.

Well thats it for me, back to sitting on the lounge knitting and trying not to feel too miserable…I’m almost better so thats gotta help!

I’ve really hit my stride with knitting again after several months of basically living in a knitting desert. It helps to have two little people on the way into our lives. Over the weekend I finished the set I showed you last time and I love it. It took me about a week and a half to make the set from start to finish which I was pretty happy with.

That was until I made baby pants in just in 3 days. I am loving these too, I made them in the newborn size and they took under 50g, with some plain aqua blue for the reverse side of the hems and the drawstring. They have elastic at the waist as well but I figured if the twins are tiny then I can tie the drawstring to hold them on. While I was making them the girls at work fell in love too and told me that when I bring the babies in for a visit one of them has to wear the rainbow pants. Oh and I still have a ball left which might become a little jumper (sweater) or maybe even a second pair of pants.

Over the last several months I have been sewing on and off for my sister in laws wedding, in the last month or so it’s been non-stop getting the dress ready as well as my mother in laws dress and of course a dress for me! Which has left me with very little knitting time and no blogging time at all, it was worth it in the end though, I hope you all agree, the bride looked stunning even if I am a little biased. Here are some photo’s, my sister in law, my mother in law and myself all wearing my sewing. Then a few pics of various views of the bride.

I finally finished the brides beaded purse late on the evening before the wedding, it turned out really well and matched the dress perfectly.

It was a beautiful day, cold and grey but everything was so clean from the rain Melbourne had been experiencing on and off for several days. It was wonderful to watch Leah and Brendan get married having known Leah for over 10 years and Brendan nearly as long. You could see how much they love and adore each other. I watched Brendan as Leah walked down the aisle and I am so glad I did, the look on his face and eyes said it all.
Can’t wait to see the new house guys!

After the wedding Dan and I took a weeks road trip, well and truely taking the long way home from Melbourne to Adelaide with many littles and big towns along the way. First we stayed at the Holgate Brewhouse, gotta keep the brewer in the family happy. Then we drove through to Daylesford where I went to Purls Palace and brought a hank of Colinette Jitterbug in the colourway tapis which I will use to knit a baby cardigan (I’m not really into baby-ish pastels). I love Daylesford and having been visiting since I was a child, it’s changed a lot over the years but never loses it’s charm for me.

Then we drove onto Bendigo and of course went to the Woollen Mills and the famous bargain room, I was fairly restrained as we had a very tightly packed car thanks to having to take lots of sewing stuff along with us including my very large machine and overlocker everywhere we went. I did get 5 balls of Bendigo Cameo for $10 a ball to knit the Central Park Hoodie (Ravelry link) and 3 balls of 8ply cotton to knit some face washers for the babies, at $2 a 50g ball it was too good to leave!

From their we headed to Echuca for the night, then onto Swan Hill, Mildura (staying in Wentworth just over the NSW border), finally a small town a little way out of Berri in South Australia, we stopped at some many towns, lookouts etc along the road that I cannot even begin to list them! What I can do though is show off my country op-shop bargains!
A Vintage glove book for…5c!!! What can you get for 5c these days?

Then some vintage baby and toddler sewing patterns and a brand new baby hat (not pictured) for $1…and no I am don’t know what I am having, don’t ghet excited about the girls dress pattern, the round yoke was just too good not to buy, I love round yoke dresses on little girls.

Oh and along the way, both while away and a little before we left I have started to knit a little for the twins, booties from sock yarn scraps and a cardigan from some yarn given to me by Knitter Bunny way back when we did the tea swap. The contrast edges are some very old patonyle my Grandma gave me a while ago. I’m now working on a matching hat for the cardigan and hopefully some booties as well, this yarn just seems to go on forever, which is great cause I love it!

I’ll leave you with some pics of my ever growing belly, somedays I am amazed to think that compared to where I will be in a few months I am still small. I’m 18 weeks today and planning on leaving work in about 10 weeks, the start of June, I just don’t need to keep working full-time much longer, we won’t die without my wage and I think that by then I will be fairly uncomfortable and ready for a rest (and some knitting).
The first two I was 16 weeks and 6 days, the third photo was just yesterday at 17 weeks and 6 days…

After a couple months of being exhausted and barely touching my knitting I am finally starting to hit the second trimester energy boost. Now all I need to do is take some photo’s of the small amount of knitting I have been doing in the last week or so after totally ignoring all knitting for months.

I’m 13 weeks today and we had our 12 week scan on Friday. The twins are growing well and as far as can be told at a 12 week scan all the organs etc are in the right place. It was incredible to see our little babies looking so much more baby-like than the last time we saw them. The photo’s below are the ultrasound shots and the other is my belly about a week ago, not bad for 11weeks and 6 days!

Next post I promise some knitting…