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.

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.

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?

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!

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 :)

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....

Giveaway!

GIVEAWAY IS FINISHED NOW! NO MORE NEW COMMENTS WON'T BE CONSIDERED!
Please give me a bit time for announcing the winner.

Blog giveaways seem to be popular and I decided to do it also!

One of the readers will get this beret, knitted from 100% Shetland wool. Manufacturer is Angels & Elephants, color Holly Berry. Worth $27.

The contest is open until 5th August.

If you want to take part, then leave a comment to this post and write about your favorite travel destination.
Where have you spent your holidays? Why you liked the country? Why you recommend it to other too?
I'm planning my winter holidays at the moment and it can help me to decide where to do- I'm not sure if I prefer a skiing trip or sun and beach. Convince me :)

And please, leave your e-mail address under the post!

I will pick a winner after 5th August and contact her/him personally, but announce the winner in blog also.

See you later!

I've been knitting a bit...

So many people complemented the red top and I decided to knit another. Red is made more than a year ago (I suspect even more than 2 years ago, but I'm not sure) and I wanted to be sure I still remember how it goes.
And guess what... Blue looks even better! Now I have a mannequin for trying things on while knitting and it sure helps a lot. It's much much easier to understand how long the top should be, where to increase and decrease and so on.

Now I would like to write down the pattern for this top, but I'm a bit afraid that it's too much for me. I just finished my first pattern-writing (Holly Berry fingerless gloves, will make a new blog post about it), but the top is more complicated- if I create a pattern, I should do it for different sizes.

At the moment I'm stuck with custom orders and all plans have to wait. I'm knitting some shrugs.

Basque hat finally ready

I have knitted this DROPS Basque hat I showed in last post for 4 times now.

I used different yarn (Hjertegarn Merino Silk) and needles (3.25mm) and when I cast on 120 stitches as pattern said, it came enough big for putting two heads into it.
Second time I tried with 96 stitches and it was still a little bit big.
After that I knitted this red hat with 84 stitches and now it looks perfect.

Hjertegarn Merino Silk is my new favorite yarn. It is a mix of merino (60%), silk (20%) and bamboo (29%). Very soft and easy to knit.
I have wondered for a long time about yarn preferences. When I started knitting, I used mostly acrylic yarns, because they are cheaper. Now I knit more natural yarns and the quality is more important than the price. But I think it's normal, because if you don't have much experience and the knitted things end often in the garbage pin (it happened to me more than once), then it's easier to throw away or ravel when the yarn didn't cost that much.


And some words about Slovenian yarn shops also....
I visited only one in Ljubljana, right next to the Prešeren square. It was small and the assortment was not very impressive. They sold mostly acrylic yarns and the prices were almost double than in Estonia. So I bought nothing.
Unfortunately I didn't have time to search the other 3 shops in the city.

The break is over

Hello!

My 2 months blogging break is hopefully over and I will try to bring this site to life again :)

I will fly to Slovenia, Ljubljana next Tuesday and my yarn addiction wouldn't let me to visit the city without finding the yarn shops.

Thanks to Ravelry I find some tips how to reach the right places.

* Centromekur is in the center of Ljubljana, right next to the Preseren square (on the picture)

* Elna is at Gosposvetska street, next to hotel Lev.

* One shop should be at Rimska street, behind the Faculty of Arts

* and in the Citipark shopping center should be a yarnshop too.

I will try to visit some of those shops, but I'm not sure if I will have time for everyone.

But after the trip I will write what I found and what I can recommend.

Good evening (it's 21.30 pm here and some minutes more)!

You have seen Victoria's Secret and Sonia Rykiel on my blog, but today I would like to prove that I can knit too. At least a little :))))

I finished another children's summer dress and those who have read my Estonian blog, know that it looks almost like the first with pink and green colors.
Well, the result is ok, but I'm not completely satisfied.
The top part could be a little bit shorter and green part longer, but maybe I'm just a stickler? Anyway, I will correct the mistakes. I already started third dress and I won't let it go before I can sleep calmly at night again.

I also plan to write down the pattern someday.
I used 3.5 mm bamboo and circular needles and Steinbach Wolle Capri yarn, about 150 grams.
Capri is great for knitting, but too rough for crocheting.
It took 3 days to finish the dress and I can guarantee that it isn't last one. I'm bull-headed and I won't stop before everything is perfect.

Queen of knits- Sonia Rykiel

Sonia Rykiel (77) is French designer.

Photo: Sonia and her daughter Nathalie.

When Sonia was young, she didn't want to become a designer and she have said that it happened accidentally.

In 1962 when Sonia was pregnant, she couldn't find any comfortable sweaters to wear. So she designer her own (Sonia's husband owned a fashion boutique too)- first maternity dress and then tiny sweater. Sweater became popular and Sonia started to sell it on her husbands shop. Soon it was featured on the cover of Elle fashion magazine.

Thanks to this first creation (Sonia called it the Poor boy Sweater) she was crowned as "Queen of knits" by US press in 1967.

Since then Sonia has done well. In 1968 she opened her boutique in Paris and proved that knitwear can follow the trends.

Today, her label encompasses lingerie, accessories, children's clothing and menswear, and beauty.

It is still a family-owned business, her daughter Nathalie is company's creative director. They have opened the boutiques in US and both mother and daughter have dedicated to bringing Paris to New York.