Knitting - Baby Bootees

It seems since being back from Spain I am constantly surrounded by babies or pregnant women - Which by the way I am not complaining about! I love it :) It gives me the opportunity to steal my sisters knitting needles and give this knitting thing a go for myself!

I was first taught knitting by my Dad when I was about 10 years old - Back then I had very little patience so knitting got boring VERY quickly. It is something that runs a bit in my family, my Grandmother at 85 years old still knits every night for her red cross group and my sister also knits the odd baby bootee when someone gets a bun in the oven..

When I was 13 years old this white skinny girl with tattoos and a FOB accent came and lived with us, and since then Ona has been my 'adopted' sister - I love her to bits! I was living in Spain when she had her first child (Matias) but I am so happy that I will be around for her little girl to arrive in March. SO dusting off the knitting needles I have been getting to work and want to share a couple of pairs of bootees I have made for my niece-to-be :)

I have made 2 pairs - Newborn size (light pink with pink ribbon) & 3 months old size (dark pink with blue ribbon).

The smallest ones are a bit of a tricky pattern and took a few un-doing/re-doing moments so I will share with you the easier pattern. ANY stitch you don't know I recommend jumping on Youtube and you can find millions of videos to show you how to do the stitch (that is how I made the bootee!).

Size of needles: 2&3/4 with 3 PLY merino wool

BOOTEE (beg at sole)
1st row  - K1, inc in next st, K20, inc in next st, K1, inc in next st, K20, inc in next st, K1 ... 51 sts.
2nd & alt rows - Knit.
3rd row - K1, inc in next st, K22, inc in next st, K1, inc in next st, K22, inc in next st, L1 ... 55 sts.
5th row - K1, inc in next st, K24, inc in next st, K1, inc in next st, K24, inc in next st, L1 ... 59 sts.
7th row - K1, inc in next st, K26, inc in next st, K1, inc in next st, K26, inc in next st, L1 ... 63 sts.
Knit 9 rows garter st.

BEG INSTEP SHAPING -
1st row - K36, K2tog tbl, turn.
2nd row - Sl 1, P9, P2tog, turn.
3rd row - Sl 1, K9, K2tog tbl, turn.
4th row - Sl 1, P9, P2tog, turn.
Rep last 2 rows until 43 sts rem (16 sts either side of instep shaping).
Next row - Sl 1, knit to end.
Work 3 rows stocking st, beg with purl row.
Ribbonhole row - K1, *yfwd, K2tog, rep from * to end.
Next row - Purl.
Work 14 rows stocking st, beg with knit row.
Work a further 8 rows garter st.
Cast off loosely.

MAKE UP -
Using a flat seam, join sole and back seam. Thread ribbon through ribbonhole and tie a cute bow voila!

P.S The last photo is actually a little matching headband I am making so her tiny ears won't get cold :)

Blogged by: Megan

Lentil & Kumara Pie

 
Happy Friday everyone !! I LOVE Fridays but they are also my cooking night at home.. This is never an easy thing in my house as I currently live with my family who are all on a Palaeo/Primal mix diet. This means they do NOT eat sugar & simple carbohydrates, PLUS on top of this my sister is currently breast feeding my handsome 3 month nephew and she is dairy & gluten free! PLUS just to keep on going we have been eating a LOT of meat all week so I decided to try do something vegetarian...

So I want to share will y'all my Kumara & Lentil pie (Kumara instead of potato because potato is not a primal vegetable, meaning it is not in its original form).

I have a family of 6 and we eat quite big portions so keep that in mind if you are going to try this recipe. Normally I just guess proportions of different ingredients but I tried my best to put them into metric amounts here!

There are really 2 parts to this recipe so I will put them separately...

Serves 6 - 8 Adults
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 30 mins
Photos below to help instruction :)

Ingredients:

Tomato Sauce:
1 Big Onion
6 cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp of Rice Bran Oil (or Grape seed oil)
1 800g Can of crushed tomatoes
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp of Honey
1 tsp Mixed herbs

Method:
1. Dice the onion & crush the garlic - Chuck in a pot with the Oil and saute lightly
2. Add the tomatoes and remaining ingredients and cook on medium temperature till bubbling lightly.
3. Take off heat and blend with a stick blender or whatever you have till it makes a smooth yummy sauce.

Set this aside and start on the pie!

Base:
1 Big Onion
3 x 300g of canned lentils
1 tsp Dried sage
1 tsp Salt
3 cups of the tomato sauce (above)
1/2 bag of baby spinach

Topping:
3-4 Large Kumara
2 Tbsp of sweet chilli sauce
1 Tbsp of whole grain mustard
2 tsp of Tumeric (My fav spice at the mo!)
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup Rice milk (Or any milk if your not dairy free!)

Method:
1. Peel and chop the kumara and put to boil till soft enough to mash
2. While the kumara is boiling, drain & wash the lentils and place into large mixing bowl
3. Dice onion very finely and place in mixing bowl
4. Add all remaining base ingredients to mixing bowl and mix till evenly spread
5. Once kumara is boiled, drain and add all topping ingredients to pot and mash till smooth
6. Add base ingredients in a large oven proof dish and carefully spread the kumara mash on top
7. Put in a pre-heated oven (180 degrees C) for 30 minutes.
8. SERVE!

NB: If you are not dairy free add cheese to the top for a yummy twist! I added some grated cheese on top of just half the pie and grilled it for 5 mins at the end :)

Blogged by: Megan

Tumeric - My new Super Spice!

 So the last few days I have been experiencing dry skin on my upper cheeks and there is nothing that frustrates me more than having issues with my skin. So I did a bit of research on home remedies especially face masks and came across many articles that suggested Tumeric as a cure for not only dry skin but also (apparently) quote 'helps the treatment of acne blemishes, blackheads, dark spots and hyperpigmentation and other skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. It helps heal and prevent dry skin, and to slow the skin aging process, and is used to diminish wrinkles, keep skin supple and improve skin’s elasticity. Tumeric is also being used as an ingredient in sunscreens. It is used daily by East Indian women as a facial cleanser and exfoliant.' http://multiculturalbeauty.about.com.

I am convinced immediately! PLUS my latest fad in cooking is highly South East Asian inspired (my 'boss' is from Pakistan and this influences me everyday more), so I love the fact that I can bring this spice into other areas of my life LOL. Apparently Thandie Newton places a sprinkle of Tumeric in her daily moisturiser and works a treat for her! SO I ignored all the warnings for white woman trying these face masks may cause yellow staining to skin HAHA and produced the following:

Tumeric face mask for dry skin & colour lift:

1 Tbsp of Rice flour (because I have become a normal flour snob as of late)
1/4 tsp of Tumeric powder
2 Tbsp of Coconut Oil

Method:

1. Mix flour and Tumeric together
2. Chuck in the Coconut Oil, which at first is hard so you need to mix this well till it creates a thick paste.
3. Apply to the skin CAREFULLY! The paste may crumble a bit so make sure you are doing it in a suitable place ie. not infront of the mirror in the garage with a white carpet underneath = yellow stains hmm NOT GOOD!
4. Leave on for 15 minutes and then wash off with a DARK coloured hot face cloth.

NB: Excuse the rank photo but this is just after taking the mask off and with no make up ;)

FEELING GOOD?

Blogged by: Megan