Autumn Flowers

Do you remember this movie 'Edward Scissorshand'? I cried at the end, I really did!

Meet Joanna Needlehand *^v^*

These are my new mittens which I'll be wearing while looking for the yarn to finish my Winter gloves. I called them Autumn Flowers because the colourway reminds me of the Autumn leaves in the park (it's Wendy's Merino Double Knit, colour #1403, I used one skein of 50 g).

I was knitting them both at the same time starting from two sides of one yarn ball, and then I had to stop knitting the palm part and finish the thumb, so I knew how much yarn I have left to finish it. So I broke the yarn, attached it at the thumb and with some more needles I finished the thumb. Pattern is mine, very simple combination of 2kx2p ribbing and stockinette.

I learned a new techniques while finishing these mittens, namely another way to make the elastic bind off. I wouldn't say it's very elastic, but I like the way it defines the edges of the mittens so I may use it on other projects as well.

It goes like this:
K2, * pull first st over second st, but do not drop loop from LH needle. K next st on LH needle, slipping both sts off needle. 2 sts remain on RH needle and 1 st has been bound off. Rep from * until all sts have been bound off. (found here)

I wore them today when we went to plant our Christmas tree at my mother's allotment (we bought it in a pot with the roots and some soil, and I watered it several times when it was in our livingroom). I hope it will last in the ground and grow tall! ^^ The weather is still very warm (as for January, 10 degrees Celsius...), and many plants started to bloom. Something weird is happenning to our climate.

Happy weekend, everyone! ^^

Shoes

[This post is sponsored by the handknit Opal socks and Rylko high-heel shoes, which can also be seen on this Flickr group: Handknit Socks & Shoes=Happiness Forever] *^v^*

I need more shoes.

I mean, frankly speaking I don't need more shoes, but I really realy need more shoes! ^^ If you know what I mean. *^v^*

I never bought many shoes because my legs are not to be shown, really. I like my feet, they are nicely shaped, fingers are fine. But the rest...

You can hide your thighs in trousers or a skirt, but what about big calves? There are longer skirts, I can hear you saying. Yes, but what about thick ankles?...

So, I usually hid my ankles and calves in high military boots and long trousers (or woollen legwarmers if I wore a short skirt). I had a pair or two of black classic high heels, some sneakers, some flat sandals, nothing fancy because I felt no pleasure in wearing fancy shoes contrasted with my ankles.


If I could change one thing in my whole body I would definitely choose ankles (leave these broad hips and glasses on my nose, give my a pair of nice slender ankles!...).


Another problem was that sometimes I couldn't buy the shoes even if I wanted - like for example knee-high winter boots on a high heel, they are always so beautifully narrow at the ankle part so I cannot possibly dream of getting into them (once I even made the seller cry, because he brought all the pairs he had for me to try on and none of them fitted...). I know that in the USA there are shops with shoes for ladies with wider ankles and calves, but here in Poland you have to be a standard size to fit in most clothes and shoes...


But then I thought that if I cannot do anything about my ankles (and I can't because it's not a place where I can loose some weight or something, right?), I would buy and wear the shoes I like anyway! ^^


Of course, I'm going to choose the right models, I know that a very thin short heel makes me look like Piggy for example, and I cannot possibly fit into those narrow boots unless they are elastic. But it leaves me with a whole range of platforms, wide chunky heels, fancy sandals. I want to feel feminine starting this Spring!
(I knew that I should leave my resolutions list open, because I'll be adding new things as they come to my mind during the year... and it's still Januray!... ^^)

Now anxiously waiting for first Spring shoe collections to come to the shops! *^v^*

Theme song for today: 'Summer Sunshine' The Corrs

Things I Love Thursday #1

I've just found a Flickr group, where on Thursdays people send the photos of the things they love, and I thought that I should join because it's corresponding to the idea of The Year of Simple Things I joined lately, and it will help me concentrate on those simple things that bring me joy, warmth to my heart and smiles to my face. ^^

So, today is my first Thing I love:



I love pink and red together, especially when they are on me in the form of some clothing or accessories! *^v^*

(I bought this sweater in the children's section of Kapphal two years ago and the earmuffs were added to some magazine - they are heart-shaped! ^^)

And talking about Thursdays check this out: Inspire Me Thursday ! ^^

Healthy

I decided to pay a visit to a doctor today and ask about my health. I haven't been absolutely well for the last three months or so, no major illnesses like heavy flu, but numerous infections that kept coming back, feeling well in the morning, feeling terrible in the evening. And you know how it is - you cannot concetrate on your work, but you also have no strength and will to practice your crafts!... Blah!...

The doctor turned out to be a very nice old lady (with the Atlantis ring on her finger, if it matters ^^), who examined me and said that my immunity system was in pieces and we were going to start the recovery treatment. She at the start said that she's going to approach my case a bit differently (than the traditional doctors, I presume ^^) and gave me some homeopatic medicine, and told me to come back next week for a check up. For the first time in my life I felt that the doctor really wanted to help me, and not only prescribe me the regular antibiotic-aspirin-vitamin C-cough syrup combination and put down 'check' next to my name on the list.

So, I bought the pills she gave me and took the first dose, and I'll be waiting for the results (which may come not so fast, I am aware of that, because I have to rebuild my immunity system and it's not something you can do in the blink of an eye.) But at least I made the first step! ^^

In addition I bought some food to keep my fit and healthy.
Let's look inside my fridge: these are the joghurts enriched with special bacterias to strengthen body's ability to fight illnesses (natural flavour and the orange ones, although they are not too tasty...).

Here are some fresh salads: mixed beetroot salad, red and white cabbage salad and plain beetroot salad, next to earlier inhabitant of my fridge - horseradish to put on the meat sandwiches (yummy! ^^) and cranberries for the roasted chicken.

And of course some alive fruit and veg: tomatoes, oranges, apples (I haven't eaten them in a while, I don't know why?...), an eggplant for musaka and a kohlrabi (I love this vegetable! I usually slice it and put some salt on it, very tasty and crunchy! ^^)

Knitting
Last night I knitted one wristwarmer of Fetching from knitty.com and... I didn't like it at all! It was the right size, cables twisted properly, but it didn't have that vibe. Maybe it was the yarn - I used Wendy's Merino Double Knit, 100% wool in white, maybe if I used some blend with microfibre or cashmere as recommended in the pattern (or cotton, because there is no way I could buy cashmere or silk yarn in Poland...), it would look and feel differently. Anyway, it's frogged now and I'm back to knitting Emelia and Candle Flame shawl.

Theme song

Thank you very much for your yesterday's comments on my illness, after several doses of a medicine I'm feeling better today and keep staying under the blanket. ^^

I cannot do much physical work so I've been thinking about a lot of stuff and such thing came to my mind:

Do you remember the Ally McBeal Show and the idea of songs that lead its characters throughout their lives? Inspiring songs, cozy songs, energetic songs, songs full of good memories, songs giving strength to live another day.

I decided to choose the theme song for this year and I've already found one that is just perfect for it - the band is called The Eastenders (yes, I know, I love this BBC series, too *^v^*), and the song is 'On the Ride'". It is in Turkish, has a very nice rhytmic tune and here is its description from the editor's site:

The Pan-Arabic North African Groove closes out with the multiculti Eastenders. On their song 'On the Ride' the German and Turkish duo collaborate with singer Shady Sheha, a young Egyptian who lives in Wiesbaden, Germany. The songs says,

'Get up and come with us
Let’s play and see the world
Don’t think about who you are
Or where you come from
We all share the same path
Which doesn’t seem to have an end.'

It can be found on several albums, for example Agent du Monde 'Marrakesh Mission' or Putumayo 'North African Groove'.
Do you have such theme songs in your lives? ^^

Knitting
Let's play a game - look at the picture and find six details that are somehow wrong:

Yes, you're right, six fingers are missing. Why? Because I ran out of yarn...

I thought I had enough but it turned out that I was mistaken. Yesterday when I went out to get my medicine I checked my LYS and found out that they don't have neither this red yarn nor the black one anymore. I have at home the same yarn in light blue and ecru, but none of them seem to fit here (maybe the ecru one would be okay but I don't want to have three white fingers, I'd have to wash my gloves very often).
It looks like next week I'll be hunting down for the same/similar yarn all over the town. Not to mention that I'll be doing this with my hands unprotected from the cold! Well...

What the heck?...

OMGs... I woke up this morning and immediately knew something was not okay with me... Then all was clear - my Cystitis came back again!... Yes, I know I should wear warm underwear and longer jacket, the weather is not summery at all, but I totally ignored this fact and went out on Friday evening and Sunday evening wearing skirts and waistline jacket (also thicker tights, if you may ask). But I thought it would be okay because I travelled by car, no long waiting for a bus or walking - but it came to me anyway. Also I think, going out onto the balcony "just to take a photo", in a blouse, short skirt and socks helped here a bit... (In fact, the bacterias just activated, they are always there but most of the time they are dormant, it's just my fault that I created the environment for them to act...).

So I had to cancel my beautician's appointment and went to get some medicine. And now I'm sitting at the computer, my hips wrapped in a warm shawl, drinking a lot of different fluids to wash the bacterias away.

Fortunately I acted quickly and it was the mild beginning of the infection so it's not that bad right now. But it gave me a food for thought - I should have some petticoats or a pair of bloomers to wear underneath my skirts in Winter! ^^ It would be very Victorian, and I rarely wear skirts that are fitted around my hips and legs, usually they are the A-line ones, so I could tuck something underneath to keep me warm. *^v^* Some time ago I bought a set of patterns from Laughing Moon Mercantiles, namely the following pieces: two corsets, a chemise and a pair of open drawers, that can be adjusted to a pair of bloomers I hope.

Anyway, I started knitting gloves last night. I'm using a combination of several patterns, just to fit my yarn stash and my size, here are the first results.

(Sorry for the dark dull photo but that's the weather's been like all the time lately and I couldn't find a better spot in my flat to take this photo.)

I stopped with the first glove at the line of fingers and started the second one because I'm running out of red yarn so I had to knit the second glove's cuff and see how much yarn I have left potentially for the fingers. It looks that I will knit one finger with red on the right glove and maybe one finger on the left glove if I have enough.

Happy Monday, everyone! *^v^*

What's wrong with the weather?...

I checked the weather forecast for the next week and I'm stunned...
There still will be no snow at all, but a lot of raining, and the temperatures are going to rise from 6 degrees Celsius as it is today up to 11-12 degrees Celsius. Where is Winter, I'd like to ask? (whoever I may ask about that...) Days are dull and grey and wet, very depressing... I decided to compensate this with colourful clothing, we'll see how it works! *^v^*
(these socks are not knitted by me, but I liked them anyway!)



This morning Robert got up early and went for a training meeting of our medieval group and I stayed at home because I didn't feel fine (some cold and cough doesn't want to leave me for some time now). So, I decided to start my day with some nice breakfast and reading. ^^

So, there is a bowl of the wholewheat cereal with candied fruit and a cup of Twinnings Mango&Passionfruit tea, and my Haruki Murakami, of course, which I finished this morning. (Some people say that it's rude to read while eating but what do they know?... *^v^* It's something I've been doing my whole life and I'm not going to stop never ever!)

This is Murakami's "South of the Border, West of the Sun" - the simple story that could happen to me and you - there is a boy and his childhood beloved, then a teenager and his lover, then a man and his wife and children, and suddenly his past comes back to him in an unexpected way, very true and well written.

I was also surprised to find out that Polish translations of Murakami's books are being done from the English versions, not from the Japanese ones... Which makes me wander about the 'lost in translation' flavours of the stories, that are filtered not only once (JP-PL) but twice (JP-ENG-PL). I still love these books, though.

And I've just went to my on-line bookstore to check something and found out that at the end of January another Murakami's novel will be available - "Kafka on the Shore"! Ureshiiiii! ~\*^O^*/~

Knitting

My Candle Flame shawl is growning everyday and I started to wander how will I know whether it's time to stop knitting. I know it will grow after washing and blocking, but I'm not sure how much bigger it will get. Well, I think I'll just work till the end of the skein (I had a 100g skein and I used a little more than half of it up till now) and then I'll try to imagine if that's the right size. ^^

I haven't been knitting Emelia because I could not find the proper environment to concentrate on the charts and that's obligatory for this pattern, but I'll finish it this week. I also decided that I desperately need a pair of mittens - since I can knit them myself I don't want to buy some ready-made acrylic ones, but on the other hand I postponed making them for so long that Winter came and even without a frost it's quite cold outside, so expect me to whip up some simple mittens soon, before I'll knit the beautiful Norwegian gloves I had planned last year from the famous Japanese pattern book many bloggers bought (I may have money for the yarn in the second half of January).

Still no yukata to show you, becauase Robert was making a pair of Japanese hakama pants yesterday for a friend and spent the whole day on it. (It's rather easy to make it patternwise but there is a lot of fabric handling and pleating, 5 metres of fabric, to be exact. ^^) And he broke all the machine needles except for the last one nr 100, which is very thick. Must go needle shopping tomorrow!

And this morning the stray cat came again to my balcony, Barbi of course went mad and I had to expel the kitty immediately, so she went on neighbours' balcony and tried to get inside through their glass doors, no result, I'm afraid. I wish the owner wouldn't let her go around the blocks so much.

Books

Yesterday we were to some fabric'n'stuff shopping today and Robert bought me a beautiful fabric to sew me a yukata - a kind of a Japanese gown worn maily during the Summer Festival. We don't have Summer Festivals here in Poland the way they celebrate it in Japan, but I'm sure I'll find some suitable occasions for wearing my yukata ^^. He's making it probably tomorrow, after the fabric gets dry (we always prewash all the fabrics and in this way we let them shrink before we sew someting out of them). I also eyed the yarn shelf carefully, but didn't buy anything this time (although there were some gorgeous colours!...) Well, my stash is huge so I'll be using it up for some time.

I've just been to Yummy Yarn blog and seen the girl's 2006 book list - 109!!! Wow! I thought I managed to read quite a lot last year - 33, but now it seems like it was just a prelude.
I found some really good books last year - most of what I read by Haruki Murakami were very good contemporary fiction novels (I still have two of his books to read this year, waiting on my "to-read" bookshelf ^^). I love the way he builds up the world around the character, maybe because all the descriptions of the food, places, travels show me the modern Japan as it is, and it's even better than looking at the photographs. *^v^*

I loved to pieces "Out" by Natsuo Kirino and "Tsugumi" by Y. Banana - I know there are only Japanese names by now, but it seems that this literary poetics suits me very much. I loved also a book by Polish author Wit Szostak, the fantasy novel based on the Polish mountain folklore, very unusal combination and it really worked in this case (and my biggest disappointment - another Polish fantasy author Anna Brzezinska and her latest short stories collection... I love her novels but this book is just boring and feels like an early work, rejected by the editor before she set up her own editor's house and found this collection in a drawer and decided to give it to her readers, if this was the case - big mistake.

I also got dissappointed with the latest detectives stories of my favourite Polish author Joanna Chmielewska. I have ALL her books - about 40 - and I must say she ran out of good ideas and repeates herself in her latests novels, great pity but fortunately I can go back to her old books over and over again and laugh everytime I read them (although I already know "who the killer is", but that's okay *^v^*).

I would also like to recommend the book by Lisa See "Snow Flower and the secret fan" - fiction based on the original life of a Chinese woman, from early childhood to the old age, including the shocking tradition of breaking up the little girls' feet bones in order to achieve the smallest feet possible which was regarded as an ultimate beauty, and the role of a woman and a man in Chinese society of the XIX century (they practically lead two separate lives in separate parts of the household that intermingled on some occasions). A real food for thought for the Western man.

As for the simple pleasures in my life tonight we've been to our friends', Agata and Daniel. They have two daughters, 6 year old Dorothy and 1 year old Sophie, and I really enjoyed the time spent with Dorothy - she's such a well-behaved, smart girl! Whenever I come to their house she occupies me completely but it doesn't bother me at all, because I like talking to her and playing with her toys (today we constructed a tower out of Geomag magnetic blocks). She told me about her painting and dancing classes, about the activities in her kindergarten, showed me her room and her toys (she is becoming a little lady already, with small make-up palette ^^), and she even gave me a present - a blue cut-out paper star! And I gave her a small clay hedgehog charm and a pair of red wristwarmers and a clay rocking horse charm to Sophie. She almost makes me think about having my own children one day. Well...

*^v^*

In with the new

Let's start with something yummy and cozy - this is a candle I bought at IKEA last week, it smells like a real apple pie! *^o^*

I changed my blog template - I think it's clearer now and somehow better organised and I like the softness of the background. (Robert said it's grey, but I perceive this rather like a mild military green. ^^)
I also feel that I want to introduce more glimspes of my personal life into my crafts blog - this is my almost-everyday-diary after all. Following Amber I joined the Year of Simple Things ring (hello, Maryellen! ^^), because I think I need to learn how to admire simple things day by day - I often wait for something grand to come and tend to ommit the tiny joys that happen in our lives unexpectedly (like my lottery winning, ha! *^v^* And we enjoyed part of it already, because we had friends over this evening and ordered couple of XXL pizzas for all of us, it's fun to share your luck with others! ^^)
New year had to bring some changes, what do you think? ^^

Remember when I talked about doing something about my UFOs?
Of course I didn't manage to finish them all, but I gathered them in one huge plastic bag (all apart from knitting UFOs - my sewing, embroidery, medieval costumes, ect), so now I know what I have to finish. Any new started projects will go into that bag, too, and I'm going to have only as many of them as the size of my bag, so if it's full it'll mean it's time to finish something BEFORE starting something new.
As far as knitting UFOs, I have only one left from last year - the Checkered Scarf, but I want now officially declare this one my Next Winter project! (and it's off my head at least for now ^^)

I started two new shawls (sorry for the flash photos) - one is my shawl for the first sabbat this year - Imbolc on 1st February, and it is a Candle Flame shawl in red. The beginning went pretty fast but I add stitches with every several rows so it will slow down soon unfortunately (which reminds me I need to buy 4 mm cable needles tomorrow, because I've already "outgrown" the straight needles with this shawl).

The second one is just the very beginning of the Morning Surf scarf in green, this will probably go to my mother as a birthday present at the end of March, or it'll stay with me, if I like it too much ^^ (and will be my next sabbat shawl for Ostara).

And this weekend I intend to finish Emelia II for Anna and finally give it to her! ^^

And because it's always good to end the post with a cat, here is the stray kitty that came this morning to our balcony - isn't she the beauty? ^^

Our Barbi went totally crazy at her sight, banging her paws against the window, hissing and meowing like a real cat from hell, so the visitor didn't stay for long. Fortunately she doesn't look like a real stray cat - she's fat and clean, so she definitely belongs to somebody and just went for a walk in the neighbourhood, and we don't have to worry about her.

I won!

I won, I won!!! ^^

I won 60 USD at the National Lottery! *^v^*

And it came as a total surprise, because when I checked the numbers I thought I got three correct ones out of six, so I counted for about a dollar (price for a single bet), but when I went to cash my ticket the guy at the lottery booth told me that there were four numbers correct and handed me the money. Whoa, I was soooo happy! It's the biggest sum of money I've ever won!

I have a cunning plan to spend some of it on new knitting needles (half of the money is Robert's).

>^v^<

I don't want to leave you with the post without a photo, so here we go: I finished the first Regia sock.

Me knitting the regia sock (gosh, I'm so pale during winter time...).

First sock finished!