Bread making :)

I finally finished the top I showed on mu last post. Took only 2 weeks to make another sleeve :)

But it's not the only thing I've made recently.
I admit- I'm probably the worst cook you've ever seen, but despite of that, I love baking!
Bread making is something I've been experimenting in last two weeks, my goal is to have a delicious home-made bread on our Christmas dinner table.
The bread on the photo is filled with black plums, cranberries and raisins.

And the best part- it's very easy to make! I got some leaven from a friend, mixed it with tepid water and rye flour and left it to a warm place for 24 hours.
Then I added some salt, sugar, plums, raisins, cranberries and more rye flour. It proofed under towel for 2 hours and then I baked it with 200C for an hour.
You can find a lot of videos about bread making on YouTube.

About past and future

Before the end of November we had a big snow storm here. Please, don't get me wrong- snow is very common in Estonia, it isn't surprising anyone.
But still every year the first snow comes unexpectedly. Especially this time- it snowed continuously for 2 days and caused a lot of problems- big areas were without heat, electricity, water and internet. On 21th century!

Now everything is fine again. Snow melted in 2 days, but it took over a week to repair the electricity thing.



At the moment I'm enjoying vacation and knitting a lot. Still have some orders to complete and some new ideas to realize.
One you can see on the photos. I've been experimenting with this blouse for 4 days and I couldn't decide what to do with the sleeves. Now it has puff sleeves, because I fell in love with them when I made the puff sleeve cardigan.
I will finish it tomorrow, today I tried it with live model and I love the result. I'm considering making more for spring/summer 2009 season. Do you think it's a good idea, would you wear a top like this?


Christmas is a hot topic here, like in most homes.
We were talking about presents and I asked what my son would like to get this time. The list was long, of course- an elephant, a giraffe, a car, a bus, new bag and so on, I even don't remember everything.
And then he said something that made me laugh for hours:
"Santa Claus will bring a new baby to mommy this year."

Well, I admit the idea is charming, but thank you, not this time! One is still enough for me!

Us Trendy

I was contacted by Jordan who asked me to be part of the Us Trendy fashion designers, models and artists community. The site is like a virtual runaway and fashion people search for new talents there.
Come and look around :)

Some photos

I have no new knitting to show, so here are some photos of our weekend. We had a storm- after year 2005 when water was more than 2.5 meters above average and houses near the beach were flooded, people call every wind that blows a bit stronger, a storm.
Now the weather is almost fine. Still raining outside, but not so badly.

Real treasures

Etsy has a wonderful feature- treasury. I made one too, dedicated to my European Street Team friends!

First line: fleurfatale, JKphotography, enchantedpond.
Second line: krize, nanouke, AtelierSusan.
Third line: staroftheeast, TheHouseOfMouse, byMarianneS.
Fourth line: Silvia66, P8Accessories, Kreativlink.

A cup of tea?

Friday evening we went to café for a cup of tea.

I: “We would take 2 cups of Gurman’s “Seven samurai's” tea.”
Bartender: “Would you be so nice and tell me how to make it?”
I: “Well, let’s see. The tea jar is on your left shelf and I see a teapot next to it. Just take the tea, put into the teapot and add hot water.”
Bartender did what I suggested. 3 minutes later she’s giving me the teapot. “Would you like to have anything else?”
I: “Yes, cups for drinking would be perfect!”
Bartender: “Is one enough?”
I: “As you see, we’re together and I asked for 2 cups earlier, so I really appreciate if I can have 2 cups.”

Later she apologized and said it’s her first time to serve clients and she’s not even working there. Weird things happen…

Lazy shopper tips

I'm not one of the girls who likes to go shopping once in a week and spend their free time in shops. I hate it.

If I need new clothes, I will go and buy a lot, so I don't have to do it any more in next few months. I even don't like supermarkets, food hunting makes me tired and angry.
Having a personal shopper would be great solution. Someone, who takes your list and enjoys running for one place to another ans searching for red ankle boots or new carpet.

Thank god someone invented Internet!
Online shopping is totally different thing. I buy unique things on Etsy and often shop on Ebay too. And Ebay is something I wanted to talk about.
Most times I always get what I want, but I've still learned some very important things:

* If you're not sure about something, always ASK. Take time for details.
I bought boots 2 weeks ago, there was only one photo about them. Size was right, so I bought them. But turned out they didn't have a zip on the side and boots are too tight for wearing.
* Buy from someone who has return and refund policy.
She was ready to refund the cost of boots, but not the shipping cost. But shipping cost was 2 times higher than the boots.
* Always check feedback!
If someone has a lot of feedback, but in last month more than 15 negatives (true, and more than 100 positives), then it makes me careful.
* Check the shipping costs
Sometimes it can be unreasonable. Again about my boots- she took £5 more for shipping than it actually cost. Not very good customer service, I can see the price on the package.

Please, feel free to ad your own tips. It can help someone :)

Happy weekend!

How all the magic happens

It wasn't very long time ago when I accidentally discovered blog community called SITS. Officially "The Secret Is In The Sauce".
Maybe a week ago or so and I didn't pay too much attention to it- first it seemed like every other community where you can leave your blog link and hope others to find you.

Gosh, I was wrong! I spent hours browsing other's blogs and I was totally speechless. I still don't understand how so many people can handle everything- raise kids, be a fantastic husband, manage the household and blog so sincerely that it's impossible not to read.



I admit- I don't read much blogs, I'm more the photo-watching girl. Now I've found some truly amazing writers and I appreciate how they let strangers to their life. I don't know none of them personally, but I feel like we've been friends for years.

There's time difference between Estonia and US (most SITStas seem to be from US)- when I go to sleep, they have afternoon. When I wake up, they already sleep.

After my first evening, when I read the blogs and left comments, I was surprised next morning finding same amount of comments from my own blog. Even more.
I thought "well, ok, they are just polite. there is no chance they come back again if I won't leave another comment"

I know, I know- I was AGAIN wrong. For example, Tressa from American in Norway commented my blog days later, because I forgot to put my blog links to my Blogger profile. And then she came one day, said something like "Oh, didn't see your blog link before, nice to meet you" and I thought "wow, you did all this for me???"

I felt like a horrible person. If I don't find the link immediately, I usually won't search for it later. Tressa, I admire you!

... and to make long thing short- I'm addicted to SITS. I like every user and I'm happy for Heather and Tiffany who founded such a great place.

I need to share some fantastic blogs I found thanks to SITS. Stop by, comment and say hello, maybe you will find a new friend :)

American in Norway
FL Home Blog
Pennies In My Pocket
Heather's blog, of course!
Saucha

New earrings

When Anna made those earrings some time ago for European Street Team challenge, I knew immideately I need a pair like this!

But unfortunately someone bought them before I had a chance to do it. I was even more happy when I found another pair on her Etsy shop.

I bought them about 2 weeks ago (or maybe less) and the package arrived last week. Today is first time I'm wearing the earrings at work and I already got some compliments.

I love them! They're even more beautiful than on the photo.

I didn't wear earrings for years but start doing it again some months ago. Now I'm addicted- I have around 20 pairs of earrings and I buy new every time I see something fabulous.

Please, check out her shop.

Another puff sleeve cardigan

We had to go to sailing today, but the weather is awful here- windy, dark and rainy. No fun to be outside, especially on the sea...

I used the time- surprise surprise- for knitting. I've finished another puff sleeve cardigan, in gray and green shades.
I've never been a big fan of effect yarns, so I like this one a bit more than the first. Mix of wool and silk is so soft on the skin.

I remember my childhood, mother always knitted us woolly sweaters for winter, but none of us did like them, because wool was itchy. Modern wool is not itchy at all and I've started to wear things made from it again.

About the project now:
Yarn used: Novita Luxus Wind, 80% wool, 20% silk
Color: Green, gray
How much: about 200 grams
Size made: XS

First I didn't like the mix of gray and green, but more I look it, more I like. Not bad at all.
Oval buttons are more suitable too, they don't stand out as much as roundish.
Pattern with cables...? Well, it's fine. Wanted to make it low-key.

I probably knit one for myself too. And Cammie, who's idea this cardigan was, wants it also.

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I've been tagged: 7 facts about me

Glasfaden tagged me and I need to post 7 facts about myself now. Isn't as easy as it looks, but I'll do my best.

7 facts:

* I don't like to wear socks (more into high heel shoes these days), but if I have to, my socks are always white.
* If I can skip cooking, I always do that. I prefer buying a wine while someone else is preparing the dinner.
* I love swimming, I go to swimming pool usually 5-6 times a week.
* I don't like sweets much, but I can eat Tiramisu all day long.
* I'm engaged to my camera. I go nowhere without my Canon.
* I always drink 3 cups of coffee in the morning.
* I love animals, as long they're not mine.

The rules are:
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving theirnames as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving acomment on their blog.

Here are the ones I’m tagging:
MarianneS
LeinaNeima
Amanda
Meekiyu
Eve
The Ordinary Housewife
Heather Knitz

Etsy artists: Most adorable baby photos

Look at those photos- don't they melt your heart and make you buy? I wish I had a baby...

joliem6201

pickleberrypunch

tiptopapplesauce

Purple for fall

Givenchy Fall 2008 couture

I admit: I'm shopping addict.

Or actually I don’t like to visit shops much, but when I do it, I buy more things I should. Happens usually once in every 2-3 months, because I like to renew my clothing before every new season. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, depends how much I can spend.

However, in last few weeks I’ve been shopping much. All shops are filled with purple items, so I think it should be some kind of fashion color this fall.
I haven’t been a big fan of purple, but more I see it, more I like.

New York’s fashion designers emphasize purple in the top five tones used in their collections. Purple has become staple, but also blue, chocolate brown and steel grey.

Etsy artists: Buttons

It's 6.30 here and I'm drinking coffee. I usually wake up at 8, but today I need to go to see my doctor then.
My son is still sleeping, so I show you some cool buttons and products with buttons I found from Etsy.

First: calloohcallay Second: heatherknitz



First: creativepapertrail Second: miaetgigi



First: Kraplap Second: PattycakesPlunder




First: AmandaSainsbury Second: TheHouseOfMouse

How to make seasonal business year around?

If I knew that, I would be millionaire :)

There are different branches of industries that are seasonal.
Knitting, for example. Everyone likes to wear warm scarves in autumn and winter, wrap themselves to beautiful knitted capelet or put on woolly mittens while it’s freezing outside.

However, summer is not that cheerful, especially if it’s not only your hobby, but business also. Yep, it’s possible to make cotton tops or hats or whatever else, but it has always been, it is and it will be that knitting is more popular during cold seasons.

So what can you- as a business owner or artist- do for making it easier to survive during the low season?

Think about:

1) Marketing
* Do you know who and where are your clients, how to reach them?
* It can be a low season, but dollar spent to marketing is never expense, it’s investment. Sometimes it can be more useful to increase the expenses to marketing while things are not going so well, because it helps you to reach your goals in the future.
* New selling channels and strategies- what are doing now and how you can change things better?
* Do you have enough knowledge for selling your items?

2) Quality and product development
* Do you know your client’s expectations?
* Do you offer what you have promised?
* What kind of product you make? Is it copy-paste from someone else or original idea? Original sells usually better.

Spend the low season for preparing to busier times. Make new designs, think about your market and strategies, how to give a bit more than people expect from you.
Be brave and make decisions. Bad decision is better than no decision.

Autumn and colors

Autumn is my favorite season because of colors and weather.
We just had a long walk on the beach- sun is shining, it's not very cold and trees are in yellow and orange outfit.


Estonians are lucky, because we really have 4 different seasons: spring with blooming flowers, summer with sun and warmth, autumn with colorful leafs and winter with a lot of snow. Some of my friends from Brazil, Portugal and Spain have asked how our cold (+10C and below that is cold for them, not for us) autumn looks like.
It's hard to put it into words, so just see the photos I made today.


I've been living near the water most of my life and can't imagine having a home somewhere else. We often find ourselves wrapped up to a blanket, sitting on the beach cafe, drinking tea on the terrace and enjoying the silence and sunset.
When I need to think about something or if I want to be alone, I go and sit on the beach, th best therapy ever!

Something cute

I have to thank Cammie for the blouse I just finished.
Cammie is amazing woman from US, who has given me so many new ideas lately. I've knitted 4 different items to her and found a lot of inspiration on her thoughts...

So Cammie wanted a shrug with princess puff sleeves. I haven't done anything like this before, but it sounded like a great challenge. At the same time, ArtMind won the last week's EST challenge and picked "cute" for new topic.


I decided to mix those 2 things- cute and puff sleeves- together and here is the result.

I'm not sure how I should call this knit? Blouse, cardigan, shrug? Any ideas?

Check this out!

Access Fashion is a great blog about knitting, needlework and things handmade.

Lesson learned

If there is no such thing as a fine weather outside, the only possible way for taking photos is building a home studio. Something I was experimenting this morning, please let me know what do you think!

Thank you notes

Using a thank you notes is a bit unfamiliar habit to Estonians. I know it's popular in US and a lot of other countries, but people here usually don't send than you cards.

So when I started on Etsy, I had to learn that sending a card is a good customer service. People expect it and are happy about it.
It took some time, but now I've found a conception to my note and I'm satisfied with it. The paper is fixed with crocheted flower, people can use it as a brooch later. I've got some good feedback about it.

Long time, no see :)

Nice to meet your after a while! I have been very busy with my writing work, but I'll try to be a better girl now and blog more about crafts too.

I found something fantastic this morning. Or should I say someone fantastic?
Please, meet Dikla Fellner! She is amazing artist from Israel who is making hand-painted terracotta pots and magnets. Please see her works and I promise you will fell in love with them :)

(If someone would like to make me a Christmas present, then I would take the quilt style terracotta pot, thanks )

Her blog is also worth to read!

Etsy Buy Handmade DiklaFellner

The winner

I'm terribly sorry for the late post, but I and Papermoth have chosen the winners of his giveaway.

The winners are Kimberly and Sara G. Congrats!

I will send both of you an e-mail for letting you know how you will get your prizes.

David is doing a giveaway for you!

I would like to introduce you David, who creates original paintings and digital works. He also prepared a giveaway to my readers, so be nice to him :)
But let’s hear what he has to say. I asked him to write a few words about himself and here it is:


“My name is David V Moore and I began selling my art online in 2006 working in acrylics on canvas. I sold mainly through Ebay, my blog and a website of like-minded artists called Daily Painters. Once I discovered Etsy in 2007, I opened a shop with a diverse mix of styles ranging from my digital work to large paintings.

I like to experiment with different techniques and styles and soon found my work splintering off into 3 main threads – colorful and whimsical illustrations, abstract paintings, and surreal digital work. To accommodate my different styles, I created two new Etsy shops earlier this year.

I opened Papermoth Illustration about three months ago to offer prints of my drawings and illustrations. This work is inspired by the incredible range of abstraction and individual interpretation to be found in the natural world. I attempt to simplify and refine what I am seeing in a way that focuses on color harmony and contemporary forms.

Abstracted flowers are a big thing for me and I love to create imaginary flora that have familiar shapes and elements re-interpreted into something completely new and fresh. My work is usually created in Photoshop with a combination of hand-drawn elements, painted and scanned textures and digital tools.

When I am not working (which is rare), I like to spend time with my cats and watch good cult films from the 70’s. I am also a choco-holic and sometimes eat cookies until I get sick or become very sleepy.”

When David is not working on new things to Papermoth Illustration, he spends time creating original contemporary paintings for his DVM Studios shop. He will soon list some new hand-painted pieces for the Fall, so check back often!

And that's not all! David has one more shop, http://www.davidvmoore.etsy.com/ ,and he post his surreal photo-montage style of work there.
Also check his website http://www.davidvmoore.com/ !
Man with many faces, isn't he?

But now the best part... David is so sweet that he prepared a giveaway to all my readers!

The rules:
1) The giveaway starts today and lasts until the end of August.
2) Visit Papermoth shop and pick one print you like the most.
3) Comment this blog post and state which print is your favorite. Please don't forget to leave your e-mail under your comment!
4) After the giveaway is ended, we will pick 2 winners who will receive 8X10 print from Papermoth. You will get the print you stated in the comment.
5) I contact the winners (that's why I need e-mail address) and post their names to my blog too.
6) Papermoth will ship the prints and we're all happy :)

Hope has a voice

I'm writing this post with tears in my eyes. But those are tears of pride and happiness.

Thousands of Estonians came together to Tallinn today and at those late evening hours they're singing on Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. Did I say thousands? I think there are tens of thousands Estonians. Even more than a hundred thousand. I'm sad you can't see the picture from my TV at this moment.

I've never felt more Estonian than today and I'm sad I can't be there and sing with other people. But workday tomorrow, can't help it.
But it is amazing feeling. When things are getting hard, we sing. Together, like one man. Here's a little trailer of Estonian movie "Singing revolution", maybe you will understand a bit what's going on now.



About the history of "Singing revolution":
On 11 September 1988, a massive song festival, called "Song of Estonia", was held at the Tallinn Song Festival Arena. This time nearly 300,000 people came together, more than a quarter of all Estonians. On that day political leaders were participating actively, and were for the first time insisting on the restoration of independence.

From 1987, a cycle of mass demonstrations featuring spontaneous singing eventually collected 300,000 Estonians in Tallinn to sing national songs and hymns that were strictly forbidden during the years of the Soviet occupation, as Estonian rock musicians played.

And today the history recurs again. With today's "Night Song Festival" we remind the hard times when we were fighting for our independence and when we sang us to be free.

One more video. 20 000 singers, 100 000 listeners

What fashion has to say part 3

First: Isaac Mizrahi, Second: Betsey Johnson

What fashion has to say part 2

First: Alexander McQueen, Second: ADAM

What fashion has to say

Fall is almost here (don't argue, it is!). World greatest fashion designers showed their fall 2008 ready-to-wear collections months ago, but now it's starting to get more up-to-date.
Some knits can be found from the collections. Photos from Style.com:


First: Doo.Ri , second: Carlos Miele


BUT... That's not all! To be continued...

Happy birthday to me!

I had a birthday yesterday. The party was real headache for my friends and family, because this time I had a special request to get yarn only, if someone wants to bring a present.

I even made a list of yarns which I would like to get. And shop addresses where to find it.
But still, can you imagine my 33-year-old brother buying yarn for her sister? I understand it was bit much to him, so we agreed I can choose them myself. Some other people used this policy also and I don't mind.

So today is the big day! When I finish my work, I will be off for the yarn shop and have 2 hours for shopping there :) I hope it won't take that much, but you never know.

In Pärnu, where I live, is a lack of yarn shops. We have one small shop with two wonderful owners. Really fantastic ladies and even if I don't know what I want, I always leave with a purchase. They have rather good assortment, although the shop itself is really tiny.
And we have some fabric shops who sell yarns also. Nothing fancy or interesting there, so I rarely go there.
I prefer to buy online from Ebay and have found some nice sellers there from all over the world.

From zdm812 I have purchased for 3 times. Shipping is fast, yarn is very soft, only thing I don't like is multicolored yarns. If they would sell white, brown or some other great colors, I would buy more!

Angels&Elephants from UK is my new favorite. They sell hand dyed wools and although also multicolored, they look really lovely. Gloves in my previous post are knitted from theyr Holly Berry yarn.

Another seller I like is jennisam05. They sell alpaca yarn and have a fantastic color chart. I haven't purchased from them, but I will do it in the future!

And last but not least- taj1066. I found the shop only few days ago, but they have some quality yarns with very reasonable price.

For me it's important that the shop ships internatinally and it's not very easy to find from Ebay. Less drouble with UK site, but possible to find some great shops from US also.

First pattern

Some weeks ago I wrote my first fingerless glove pattern. In English. Wasn't as hard as I expected.

I've been dreaming of this for a long time. But I was always afraid it is too hard, because I'm not native in English. And I've never understand Americans habit to write down the patterns by lines and not drawing only schemes. That's what we do here in Estonia usually.

But it took only 2 hours to write it. After that I found a test knitter- big thanks to sillylittlelady- who helped to correct the mistakes and write some paragraphs in easier language than I did :)

I also added it to Ravely, you can find the details there.

I used Angels & Elephants yarn from Ebay. The name is Holly Berry and even I usually don't like multicolored yarns, this one is nice! Red, brown and olive match perfectly and the result is not too outstanding.

Now I'm planning next pattern. Also fingerless gloves, because I'm not ready for different sizes and other more difficult things.

A bit about other things too:
My vacation is over and I'm back in the office. I'm not used to get up 8 in the morning and work all day, so at the moment it's really painful. But I know it is getting better day after day :)

Winner!

The winner of beret's giveaway is Swtlilchick who wrote:

"My best trip was traveling to Italy.The people were friendly,
vineyards are beautiful along with the country side.We saw the roman ruins which was amazing.The food is excellent.The Alps are so
breathtaking,there is alot to see
and do.We rode in a gondilier.
This place is a must see.Thanks for the giveaway"

Please send your address to anniki.leppik@gmail.com

I will write some more about the challenge later, at the moment I need to run out, but wanted to announce the winner first :)

Etsy fashion photos

I grabbed a treasury on Etsy.
Idea to make this hit me yesterday. I was visiting Yokoo's shop and her photos were breath-taking. I was searching for hours and found some other great shoots that are suitable for making treasury.
Here it is, with alternates:



hollystalder, BoudoirQueen, oyku, momshandmade, thimblescratch, Makool, poshpanache, Ojepizi, idea2lifestyle, SCHiZO, HealingHeart and Yokoo.
Alternates: bettieB, shezzy, PINKSTARswimwear and Venomiss.

Chocolate bar with vanilla ice cream

I'm not very innovative knitter. I'm engaged to my favorite yarns and I do not experiment with new things often.
Despite of that I still make some impulsive purchases, like this Ornaghi Filati Merino Kind wool I bought for the neck warmer on the photo. And I fell in love. So soft and so comfy to knit. 2 colors- chocolate brown and white look good together, great combination in my opinion.

When I first saw that kind of neck warmers- I think it was about 1.5 years ago- I thought they're a bit odd. I couldn't imagine people wearing neck warmers, because I've always been a big fan of long scarfs.
Now I have to admit I plan to knit one for myself too, for the winter. It is much more suitable an comfortable for wearing with coat.

Funny that every year before the winter I always wonder what kind of shawls, hats and gloves I would like to wear this year, I can't imagine going out without them, when there is -10 and more degrees.
But when I was a school kid, I always hide hats and shawls to the bag after leaving home, because I couldn't stand them. Maybe because it was always my mother's choice and we didn't have exactly same taste.... I admit I'm a bit picky....