Theme Picnic

It was a great day today! (Although we didn't get much sleep because we went to bed very late last night and got up at 8 o'clock, but still, I really enjoyed the morning. ^^)
We met with some friends and went to the Family Park in Powsin (just outside Warsaw) to have a theme picnic.
What is a theme picnic? Well, we chose some not-everyday outfits for this occasion - Anna was a Pirate Lolita, me and Kate were Sweet Lolitas, Wojtek was an Elegant Arictocrat and my Robert was Jack Sparrow himself! *^v^*
Here are some photos:



We ate some delicious homemade food. ^^




We played a bit of petanque (boys won twice...).


Kate was making soap bubbles! Oh, childhood memories! *^v^*


My Robert. Look at the parrot, I knitted it last night! *^v^*

BTW, I started a new blog - FriendSheep Fragments, where I'm going to show the pieces that constitute my life, day by day. No words, just photos, every day for as long as I'm happy with it. You are welcome to visit and leave the comments! ^^

Wordless Friday

Defeated by lace...

Thank you all for the compliments on my Tomato, it's still too hot to wear it but I'm very proud of my first sweater and looking forward to some cooler weather! *^v^*


Defeated by lace, yeah...

No, I'm not talking about the Mystery Stole 3, which is healthy and wealthy, and waiting for the Friday morning, when clue 4 arrives at my mailbox.

I'm talking about the Emelia choker. I'm sorry, Jen!...
Remember, what I did first time I started it? I knitted half of it, then out it away, then picked it up after some time and made a mistake, knitting the other half somehow mirrored...

Then I started another Emelia and promised myself not to leave it until it's finished. Which I did, of course!... After six months I took it again last night, knitted four of five rows and ... realized that I made a mistake, this time only in one part of the chart (there are three different parts). I wasn't strong enough to frog it back to this point so I just ripped it totally and decided that this pattern doesn't like me.

For Goodness sake, I'm knitting a proper big complicated charted lace shawl right now, so I should be absolutely capable of making a small choker!...
Well, it seems I'm not, and for now I surrender. I will knit Emelia one day.

And because I have no new knitting to show you, here is what I've been working on this week - it's a Sweet Lolita skirt for my friend Kate.
It's a layered white cotton petticoat plus a cotton apron.

She'll be wearing it on Saturday during our picnic, I promise you the photos! *^v^*

One happy tomato plus some lace (and a cat!)

One happy Tomato it is! *^v^*
On Friday I finished my Tomato blouse! I wanted to show it on me on Saturday, but it was washed and blocking on a towel. Throughout the whole day.
Then I wanted to wear it on Sunday, but it was still wet. Hm... Then I put it out on the balcony (away from the direct sunlight) and my cat slept on it for a while!... Then I left it inside the flat overnight, still a bit dump, and I found my cat sleeping on it again this morning!...
Which means, that it's cat approved! *^v^*
It was my very first sweater, I loved the pattern (no seams, yikes! ^^), easy and quick to knit, I even made some modifications myself because I needed a bigger waist fitting than in the pattern.
I already have two blouses and one sweater on my knitting list, but more about them later (I'll start a sweater at the beginning of August, when I buy the yarn).

Pattern: Tomato from Knitting Daily
Yarn: Gloria cotton, 100g = 280 m, I used 200 g, plus a bit of green acrylic
Needles: 4 mm circulars, 3,5 mm circulars for the neckline and sleeves

I still have 800 g of this cotton and I decided to dye it and knit two other tops out of it (I cannot have only orange blouses!) - one will be green (Berocco free pattern)and the other purple/maroon (my own pattern, yikes! ^^), it depends on the fabric dyes I'll be able to buy.

Now, let's see some unfinished knitting:
Revelation number 1 - I think I like knitting lace from a chart!... I don't know what put me off the charts in the past, I would go mad if I had to read all those "k1, psso, yo,...", I just look at the symbols and know what to do, brilliant! ^^

Here is my progress on the Mystery Stole 3 - I'm currently in the middle of the Clue 2. I would be further but while working on it on Saturday evening I slipped a stitch off the needle... I went down two rows before I was able to catch it, so I had to frog it a bit. But then, when I almost finished frogging I again slipped one stitch, which went down a few rows... Yes, I know, you cannot afford being clumsy while knitting lace, but it was late and I was tired! I frogged some more rows, managed not to slip any more stitches and here I am today with my stole.
When I look at it being stretched I can see one mistake on the left edge, but it's in the middle of what I made up till now so I am definitely not going to frog it again!

And for the cute ending of the post - one very hot cat... It's been a real Summer again since yesterday and Barbi is trying to find a cool spot on the balcony. ^^

Zucchinis, broad beans and one happy tomato! ^^

We had another great weekend (it's the third one in a row)!

On Friday I've been at my parents' allotment and I brought some vegetables with me. ^^
Zucchinis, squashes, 5 small cucumbers and 4 tomatoes out of which 3 are still not ripe (these are not the happy tomatoes from the title! *^v^*).
I made squashes for lunch on Sunday, cut into halves, topped with meat, cheese and tomato sauce and cooked in the oven. ^^

Broad beans still in the pods. They were delicious, cooked and served with some butter melted over them! ^^

On Sunday we went with Anna to the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle and saw the works of Darren Almond - his beautiful Fullmoon series photographies and the film trilogy exploring trains.
Another exhibition was Concrete Heritage. From Corbusier to blocks of flats, works of Polish young artists exploring many forms of human habitat in the Polish cities. I got especially enchanted with the projects by Julita Wojcik - she crocheted the whole big apartment blocks! ^^

After the cultural part we went to the swimming pool, had lunch at our place and finished the day with some ice-cream, coffee prepared by Robert and some drinks.

I hope you all had a great weekend! *^v^*

And tomorrow I'll show you some knitting (finished and in progress), and a happy Tomato will be revealed. ^^

Mid year resolutions revision

First, let me give you the results of the Big Polish-Norwegian Jelly Tasting! *^v^*
These are the jellies I received from Helene and just for the record I'd like to present my views on each of them (it may be useful for another jelly lover like me, travelling to Scandinavia! ^^)

These are my favourites of the lot - key-shaped ones.
They are not too soft, but not too hard, quite sour but also very sweet underneath, The size also matters - they are quite big so they last longer, yikes! ^^


The purple and yellow feet - very tough (you can practice your teeth on them), very sour with a hint of sweetness, very nice ones. Only right feet available. ^^


Green and yellow pears - tough and sour with a strong pear taste.


The Peace wheels - mildly sour and be warned these are liquorice flavoured! It doesn't bother me because I like liquorice, but some people can't stand it. (And even I rather prefer liquorice in its natural taste, not sour or salted.)


Green frogs (and there were also other colours, but I ate them! ^^) - not very sour but with a great texture, something like a marshmallow, sweet too.

The last ones came in a packet. These are a real surprise! They are not jellies but something like tough candies, which are very sour at the beginning (my ideal!), but then when they melt in your mouth there is a very salty core inside... I'm not sure yet whether I like them or not, there is something interesting in the salty-sour taste combination, but I haven't decided yet if that's my cup of tea.


Since it's past the middle of this year, I decided to have a look at the January post and see what resolutions I had for this year and what I managed to achieve at this point:

* set up the loom and start weaving - yes, I did that! I even bought a second loom for different purposes,
* knit a shawl for each sabbat of the year - this didn't go so well, I made shawls for Imbolc (Candle Flame shawl) and Ostara (Morning Surf shawl), but then I got very busy and missed Beltaine shawl, which I must go back to. I finished my Midsummer scarf (Scarf for Ally) just in time! ^^
* as for holidays - make my own festive routines to make new happy memories, e.g.: expel the 'evil Christmas' spirit from my life - we will see at Christmas time...
* learn how to spin - I have tried it once, difficult... But now as I have my own drop spindle I'm going to practice a lot, because when I read different blogs I'm so jealous of your own hand spun yarn, guys! *^v^* There is even a possibility that I'm going to have a spinning wheel in August! ^^
* be happy and positive! - I'm trying!
* go out more (I can spend a whole day at home, doing different things and not even looking outside the window, I just have to socialize more!...) - not bad, although I'm still happier on my sofa with knitting and a glass of wine...
* finally knit a whole sweater - not yet, but my Tomato is growing every day!
* learn how to do a funky full make up - I've tried some colours, still to practice
* spend less, save more - I introduced a proper budgeting each month and it seems to work! ^^
* declutter and redecorate our flat - I decluttered a bit, I'm starting a balcony project soon! ^^

Generally, I'm on the right course. *^v^*

A piece of Norway in my flat!

But first - what we did on Sunday. *^v^*

It was another lovely day we spent with my friend Anna - she had some boyfriend problems lately and we wanted to spend some quality time with her and cheer her up. ^^

We went to the Warsaw Rising Museumm, dedicated to the events from the World War II and the Rising against the Germans that Polish people started in Warsaw in 1944. The museum is really great - with reconstructed fragments of the streets, many photos, documents, letters, uniforms, guns and even a real plane. There were films about the rising shown in different rooms, speeches of the people who survived the war, lots of war memorabilia and all of this was both educational and shocking...

I was especially interested in the printing room with working printing machines, the radio station room (on the right) and the reconstructed cafe (on the left), where you could sit and have a coffee and a cake. Both those rooms were furnished with a typical Polish 30's and 40's furniture I remember from my Grandmother's place, I love this style! (Look at the crocheted doilies! *^v^*)

Then we went to the swimming pool, like last Sunday and for a Chinese meal. (Me wearing my KSH scarf, because it was a bit chilly.. ^^)
We are already looking for an interesting place to visit next Sunday! ^^

Now, let's look at the piece of Norway in my flat! ^^

This morning I received a packet from Helene from Norway and she sent me all those goodies: a heart-shaped letter (have you ever got a heart-shaped letter?! ^^), lots of sour jellies I love (I'm testing them now as I write this! testing, testing...), a drop spindle ( I can finally practice spinning on my own spindle!) and a skein of Norwegian wool for a pair of naalbinded socks.Thank you very much, I'm in a sour jellies heaven! *^v^*

Off to knitting:
I still haven't finished my Norwegian Gloves (this is the second one, all knitting presented by my faithful sheep assistants ^^, with a thumb ready, still awaiting the rest of the fingers).


Because of this:
Tomato! I started to knit on Friday evening and got to this point late night Sunday - I put it on and it seems to fit me, yikes! ^^ I wasn't sure about that because I'm knitting it one size bigger than I should because I have a thinner yarn which gives more stitches in a gauge than expected. But it seems my math skills hasn't disappeared yet!

And because of this:
Mystery Stole 3. After swatching I changed the yarn to a bit thicker one (Turkish Yarn Art Violet 10 cotton) and I'm glad I did. It's the middle of the first clue, I'll be working on it during the week and I hope to finish the second clue before next Friday. In addition to the two markers on the edges I added two more markers in the very centre of the stole, which I highly recommend, because in this way it's easier for me to keep track of where I am on the chart and on the shawl itself.

Happy Monday, everyone! *^v^*

Why do we knit?

After all that whining about the multiple fingers on a glove I have almost finished the palm of the second Norwegian glove last night! ^^ All what's left are the fingers, which I'm planning on knitting tonight and move on to other projects. Thank you for the compliments! *^v^*

I was inspired to ask myself this question by the post by Grumperina, where she talked about the lacy socks she finished knitting and answered the reader's question about the comfort of wearing them.

Why do we knit?
Not for money, that's for sure, because no money can buy the hours spent on concentrating on some intricate lace pattern, counting rows and stitches, operating several colours at a time, paying attention to decreases and increases, ect. (yes, we sometimes sell what we knit, but we rarely knit for sale)
We sometimes knit gifts for our friends and families.
We don't knit because we really really need the sixth sweater, the fifth pair of gloves, the ninth scarf, another pair of socks (wait, there is always a need for another pair of socks, isn't it? *^v^*). We want those items but we don't really need them, it's not the life or death situation (especially if we can buy them ready-made for the low prices).
It's not even the case of comfort, because sometimes projects are so weird in their form that wearing them wouldn't be very comfortable, but we knit them anyway just to see the final result.

We knit for pleasure.
For the pure fun and joy of operating with two metal or wooden sticks and a thread.
For the curiosity whether we are going to get the item as presented in the pattern or how would it differ.
For the process of clickety-click that gives a result - a shaped fabric.
For the sheer bliss of making something with our own hands.
To test our manual and math skills.
To be praised. (Yes! We all like to be noticed and praised for a good job done! ^^)

Or am I talking about my reasons for knitting? *^v^*

So, just for the pleasure of knitting I joined Mystery Stole 3 last night. This time the quest is a stole with or without beads and call me a chicken but I'm doing mine without them. I decided that it's too early for me to try beaded knitting, a complicated stole pattern knit from a chart is enough at this stage. ^^
I'll be knitting my version in black, using the yarn in the picture (covered in cat hair, sorry...). Two clues has been already posted so I am a bit behind the schedule, but I hope to catch up quickly.

I'll be also starting my very first sweater - or a prelude to a proper sweater, because this one has short sleeves. ^^ Yes, together with millions of other knitters around the world I'll be knitting Tomato from Knitting Daily. The pattern is free you only need to register to be able to download it.

I chose orange cotton for the body and green acrylic for the stripe, because every tomato needs a stem and green leaves, right? *^v^* Keep your fingers crossed, because I'm scared of sweaters...

And last, but not least, (in fact it should be the first topic of my post because this was the first thing I saw in the post box when I left my apartment this morning), I got a parcel from Ambermoggie with three British knitting magazines, yikes! *^v^* Thank you very much, your pack with something special is on the way!
I had a chance to look through them on the subway when I was going to a yarn wholesaler (was there a better destination? ^^) and I have some favourites. Who knows, if I succeed in Tomato I may like knitting blouses and I may choose something from one of those magazine as my next project! *^v^*

Oh, boy... And yarns shops in Warsaw

... knitting gloves is so complicated, so many separate fingers!...
Five, to be exact. ^^ But it's still a lot and the next Fair Isle I'm knitting is a pair of socks! One tube and not a one separate toe! *^v^*
I've been also considering Fair Isle gloves as Christmas gifts for my family, but I think I'll stick with mittens, one finger I can cope with.

Here is the first of the two Norwegian gloves (not that easy to photograph your right hand with a camera in your left hand...) - it's soft and very warm, I almost dream about Winter weather wearing it! It fits like a glove ^^, and there is the other one to knit (Although it's not as complicated as I thought last year, when I bought the book. But after the Mamluke socks nothing in two colours would be complicated for me! *^v^*).


As I've been asked a couple of times recently about yarn shops in Warsaw I decided to make a list for you, foreign visitors, with some other tips as well and some language instructions.

First of all, when you shop in small LYS placed in the bazaars you probably won't meet an English speaking seller, but they will be helpful and yarn often speaks for itself. ^^ You will find a good selection of Polish and Turkish yarns, also some Italian yarns in bigger shops and sometimes (but rarely) sock yarn - I found Regia in my LYS, but no Opal of Trekking. It will be also difficult to find more luxuries yarns like silk, but there is a wide variety of wool, cotton, viscose, acrylics and remixes of them all.

Shops:
- I usually buy yarn at my LYS, which is in Mokotow district, this is the bazaar shop and I'm not sure they speak English there but they are very friendly and helpful! You can touch every skein of yarn and you will get a discount if you buy several skeins. It's at the big bazaar on the corner of Puławska street and Aleja Lotników.
- there are two shops in the big shopping malls, one in Galeria Mokotów
(http://www.galeriamokotow.pl/, Mokotów district, Wołoska street, 1st floor), the other in Blue City (http://www.bluecity.pl/en/, Ochota district, Jerozolimskie Alley, ground floor, mainly Italian yarns)
- there is a good shop at Świętokrzyska street, just next to the Świętokrzyska subway (city centre)
- there are two wholesalers I know of, one in Praga district at Mińska street - it's called Pasgala, the other one in Żoliborz district at Włościańska street called Agmako. I haven't been to the second one yet, I hope to visit this place next week.

Now, a short knitter's English - Polish dictionary:
(I'm adding the pronunciation rules, thank you, Lobstah ^^)
yarn - włóczka [v'woochka - -woo- like in "woods"]
yarn ball, skein - motek ['motek]
wool - wełna ['veuna]
cotton - bawełna [,ba'veuna]
linen - len [len]
silk - jedwab ['yedvab]
viscose - wiskoza ['viskoza]
acrylic - akryl ['akryl]
needles (pl.) - druty [druty]
circular needles - druty na żyłce [druty na zyuce]
dpns - druty pończosznicze [druty 'ponchoshneeche], druty do skarpetek [druty do skarpetek]
marker - znacznik [znachnik]


BTW, I changed the template of my blog, I like the way the photos are presented in this one. ^^

Red beauties!

Here they are:

Both were already worn - the polka dot ones on Saturday to dinner with my parents (they are quite comfortable) and the peep-toe ones on Sunday to National Museum (they are, well... not so comfortable, but they are very new and rather high, so I must get used to them and they must get used to my feet, I hope for a satisfying agreement soon! ^^).

Oh, it was a delightful Sunday! And I really mean what I'm saying! *^v^*
We started with a pancake breakfast at our place with my best friend Anna, then we went to the National Museum to visit the Alfonse Mucha exhibition, which we left very inspired (Anna is also an artist, she draws, paints and creates costumes). I especially liked his jewelery, very unusual and richly decorated with art nouveau motives, I love this style in art!
In front of the National Museum, me wearing the red&white peep-toes! (and with my Hello Kitty red tiny bag. ^^)

Just before going for a swim, I changed the shoes, peep-toes were killing my feet!... But I will make them cooperate one day! *^v^*

Then we went to the swimming pool (mainly for some nice time in a sauna! ^^) and then we had dinner at our favourite Turkish restaurant, followed by some ice-cream at a famous Grycan cafe. ^^

We finished the day relaxing with some drinks at our place again and the three of us agreed that we must repeat such Sundays more often!