the moon is shining and I can hear the distant pulse of life coming from the brightly lit streets. We have out window open because summer nights are sweaty and restless. love is sleeping next to me, under the blanket I stitched together years before we've met.
I feel so alive and all my worries are tiny grains of dust in the picture of our universe. I wish I saw them in the same way during the day. so we could finally just start living.

why do we people, complicate our lives so much? unnecessarily.

yarn along, crocheting - my first custom order

between studying for my exam (tomorrow) and sleeping, there isn't much time left for crafts, and when I did sneak few minutes here and there, instead of finishing those countless projects I've started, or knitting up zipper bags for the shop, I've took my crochet hook and made a bunch of carrots, which lead to my first custom order ever - whole set of fruits and veggies - so that's what I'm currently working on, creating my own patterns on the go.

my newest addition to the set, which took long time to figure out and that I'm proud of: green bell pepper! :D

I'll just add few more fruits and veggies to the collection, make a zipper bag for it and it will be ready to go.

yarn along - tons of projects

I ve been knitting and crocheting a lot lately...trying to create a selection of hand-made zipper bags and then add them to my Etsy shop.

btw - FREE sHIPPING for January with coupon code:  JAN15POST

I'm not using any particular pattern, so each of them will be original...
I've started reading The education of the child by Rudolf Steiner - a Christmas gift that I'm enjoying in free time between exams.

I'm also making tons of granny squares for baby blanket - which will eventually also make it's way to the shop.

I have too many projects on the needles - I've finished a short sleeved sweater from delicious yarn (which was another great christmas gift) - I used 10mm needles so it went crazy fast.

I still need to finish the Star Wars cowl for the Star Wars fan I have at home :) thank goodness he is so patient with waiting for it.

My sweater has been hibernating too - one sleeve away from finishing it...and it's so soft and comfy...I'd love to be able to wear it this winter...we'll see...

I've finished the Little Gardener sweater  (my own pattern) and it's already posted in the shop :)

and there's another sweater for little people on my needles - yellow with bobbles, and one orange-purple vest I didn't have time to photograph yet... busy busy life ...

Cloth pads on the way -on the other side of the world with period

I have written about cloth pads in the past, first time after I got my first order of them in the mail, second time - after a year - to provide a honest review about life without disposable period products... but since I love the topic, I've decided to write another post, this time describing my summer travel experience with reusable pads.

But first - quick introduction, few links and my way of dealing with things - to let the people new to this topic see how amazing they are :D

I keep my stash in a cotton bag. I've made it in the beginnings of my sewing career so excuse the raw edges.

it works well, because it's breathable and I can hang it in the closet when not in use, or in the corner of our room during the "shark week" and no one has to know what's inside.

and here they are..most of them (I admit I may have to many :P )

together I own pads from 6 different brands - each one of them different with many positive points - which is great, because it means every girl can find her own favorite shape/size/quality

-minky - flannel - cotton on top 

each pad can be easily folded into a small square "package" = you can discreetly take them out of your bag when needed. After use, they can be folded the same way, only with the dirty side on the inside and they provide "waterproof" envelope .

each brand has it's own way of providing waterproof back of the pad - fleece-wool interlock - nylon - cotton (for liners that don't need so much protection from leaking)

I carry minde in small bags I've made myself. There's a variety of small wet-bags on the market, but so far I didn't need anything else.

Last summer I've spent six amazing weeks traveling around Malaysia with the most amazing man on Earth and since it was such a long trip (I'll write a post about it some time soon with millions of photos) , I had to deal with period -2 times.

We didn't stay in fancy hotels, most of our accommodation were hostels with shared bathroom and just a simple tiny little room. 

Plus, we've decided to move around with only our small backpacks (3 t-shirts, 2-pants kind of travel)

so there wasn't much space for unnecessary items.

I've never even considered using disposable products, and I had absolutely no problems on the way.

We would wash out clothes from the day in hands with bar soap, I would include my pads, and we'd hang everything to dry in our room. 

(having an amazing boyfriend who thinks cloth pads are cool helps a lot when you're sharing a room)

With the crazy heat and humidity of Malaysia in summer, I appreciated cloth pads even more. 

Honestly, having a sticky plastic pad stuck to your butt in that weather is terrible option.

I do prefer minky topped pads when traveling - because of the easier washing and no need to scrub. Cotton would be more summer-ish option of course, but even if they have minky on top I still find them breathable enough to survive day-long walking trips around the city.

over all - I treat the pads the same way - when traveling or dreaming about travel at home and they work just as well on this side of the planet as they do on the other :)

any questions are welcome - or you can share your own ideas about the topic in the comments :)

here are few links to the brands I adore:

Mama Kloth

Pink Lemonade

Silver Liner

Yurtcraft

Lady Days

Party In My Pants

Tonight

Lying naked in bed,

darkness so thick

it was keeping my eyes open.

The air was black,

not even the nightmares

could get to me.

I remembered you.

Your body,

your face,

so close to me.

And I would count your eyelashes.

Each of them

a tiny miracle,

reminder of  simple,

daily beauties

we have found together.

I looked at you for long.

Trying to taste

and grasp the heavenly feeling

of pure love.

I adore you.

The night outside gets deeper

but my eyes won’t tire.

Tracing the shape of your lips

desperately trying

to keep you close,

closer.

Afraid of loosing the moment

the essence of life

so clearly visible in you.

Rejoicing in your presence,

terrified you would slip away.

washcloths...

I'm working on a pair of washcloths for this summer.
I'm going to spend a month and a half in Indonesian jungle and as washcloth proved to be very useful for bucket showers in Kenya, I figured I'll make a pair of new ones for our trip.

I used a pattern with Wolf paw print, which I modified a little bit to make if wider and more tiger-like.
The next washcloth will be simple seed stitch one...

I got a new water bottle and a fast drying towel for the journey...

I'm reading through my notes from Parasitology as I'm having my exam in less than two weeks.
hope to pass my exams really soon so I can have some time to prepare properly for the adventure...

yellow cotton and The fault in our stars

I'm still reading the book by John Green "The Fault in our stars" and it s beautiful book so far, really easy to read and catchy...

I have a skein of mustard yellow cotton which I'm going to knit into Textured vest for summer.

and there's the linocut print (in red) that I'm selling in our shop on etsy

linocut and another blanket...

last couple of weeks, all my projects have been about using up all the stash yarn I've had at home - and this is the final project... I'm planning on making it bigger by adding more rows as time passes by, so it will be a long-term one :D

so far, I only have first 14 rows...

I've made some linocut prints recently and I've decided to share them with you - in our little shop...

there are several prints to choose from, and I hope you'll like them.

As any hand-made items, each of them is original and a little bit different...

let me know what you think...

spring

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? ~Ginny

(bad colors, it's impossible to take photos of red things on the sunlight)

I've tried to make a quick crochet project today, just to pass time between school and more school.

I've left my beach-sweater project at home, thinking I won't have time to work on it this week, as well as my book = nothing to share today..but I'm looking forward to my book, when I get home tomorrow - 

"The fault in our stars" by John Green...

...and I need to get better at updating my blog, because lately, all my posts are yarn-along...and there's so much other stuff going on in my life...but life keeps me busy...
I hope spring's here for good, I love sunny days...

I've decided to add another radish and an eggplant...maybe I'll make a basket full of veggies ...

John Green and beach sweater...

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? ~ Ginny

I got a new book today - which often happens when I'm allowed to wonder around the bookstore with dad...I've only heard good things about John Green, but this is my first book from him that I'm reading so I don't know yet...but I like it so far ...

I'm still working on my left-over yarn beach sweater from last week...and I'm almost ready to start sleeves :)

sweater - yarn along

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?~ Ginny

(Jenny, my knitting helper - she' a dog of our flatmate) 

I've been feeling a little bit down lately, so I've tried to get extra cuddles and sneak in few rows of knitting between the classes...it's getting sunny and warm and I hope the sun will bring better mood too...

I really like this project, it's pattern called Driftwood and it has became my "comfort food" these days (well, better than stuffing my face with chocolate - I knit instead ) ...still in the process of using up my stash yarn..

I had this dream of walking on the beach with my toes in the sand wearing jean shorts and red sweater so I'm making the sweater-part of the dream come true...sort of... I think it will have a little bit of green in it too because I'm running out of red yarn and I refuse to get more before I finish up all the stash...

I don't even feel like reading these days so I've been listening to some new music downloaded from NoiseTrade - my favorite right now is Morocco by Moon Taxi ...

yarn-along "pinafore"

 I'm working on another pattern for a vest - this one will be (probably) shaped like a "pinafore" with a button on the back or on shoulders - I didn't decide yet...
I'm knitting the front panel but it's almost done and so far I'm happy with the result.

I'm going to finish reading On the road - I still have few pages left and the book reads easily for me - just as if I was on the road, moving along the pages ...

weather has been crazy these days which I guess contributes to all the mood swings I had recently... it's grey and rainy today and it's been a slow couple of days...I'm ready to be done with this week.
A good cuddle in bed with knitting and hot tea would be perfect or maybe a movie night, or a couple of Doctor who episodes... we'll see what week-end brings.

what have you been crafting and reading?

yarn along - post-traveling chaos

 quick post today...as I´m running to catch train back home...

I´m back from our little adventure (more about it later) and I´ve been organizing all the tickets and pictures into my junk-journal (so no book to show you this week) ...there´s a lot of photos I want to print and a lot of memories to write down. I loved the trip and I´m currently pouting over how unfair it is that our school started a week earlier.

I´m in the "zipper-bag" phase and I´ve made another little one - this time it´s simple dark-rey granny square with green cotton fabric lining...just a simple small project, before I start something bigger.
I´ve added small fabric pocket on the inside to keep things organized.

the problem is that all the bags I´ve made so far are not big enough to fit a tooth-brush inside ...this one does, but only diagonally and I can´t stand that...so none of them will become a cosmetic bag, which means you´ll see me making another bag in the future :D

what are you reading and crafting this week?

packing for a trip

I m going on a week-long trip around Czech Republic - well, we'll only get to see a small bit of the country, but it's gonna be super awesome!!!! - can you tell how excited I am????? CAN YOU???

and since we'll have to carry all our stuff with us, I've decided to make a list of things I'm taking and hopefully, update it after the trip and tell you I didn't use half of the crap I packed ....oh well...
here goes my "minimalist packing list" which still makes my backpack weight a ton.

I have my junk-travel-journal and a book (enough to make a cat laugh) wrapped in paper so it won't get ruined in the backpack.

these are packed on top + small zipper pocket of my backpack filled with small rolls of washi tape and pens for journaling ... plus cell phone and camera chargers.

In the main compartment of the backpack I have 4 t-shirts (probably overpacking here - I may leave some at home) , long thermal underwear and unmentionables packed in a separate drawstring bag 

(photo lost in translation) 

there's also my water-bottle,  body spray and I'll add my camera on top. 

I packed my cosmetics in a transparent bag so I can see what's inside

(toothbrush + toothpaste, soap, my ruby-cup and  painkillers, q-tips, hairbands etc. 

I packed my spare pants, socks, together with my face and body towels (only taking small ones)  and a sweater in another cotton drawstring bag - it's easier to find stuff in your backpack if it's organized in smaller bags ...

my cosmetic pouch, together with the jeans n'towels n'socks bag (the green flowerish one) and a small zipper pouch with my cloth-pads (just in case) fit nicely in the "shoe" compartment at the bottom of the backpack ...

I put it all there, so it will be easier to find my camera, journal and book in the top compartment - during the day - when I won't need change of clothes...

I'm only taking small handbag because I'll have to carry my backpack everywhere and I don't want to drag along another big shoulder-bag...so just the bare necessities:

mirror, hairbands and PIMP's luxe-liner (cloth panty-liner) fit nicely into the square green tin box and I can tuck them into the smaller zipper pocket inside my handbag, together with chapstick - so they won't get in the way when I don't need them.

I have my wallet with ID card and money + last couple of Life with Greyson and Parker stickers 

I'll add train and bus tickets here - and keep the used ones in my junk journal

and of course cellphone

I've also added pen, which fits nicely inside the metal loop of the paper-clip that I have clipped on the side of my handbag 

-I like to have small things like paper clips, tissues etc. with me, just in case I need them.

I'll have my mp3 player in my coat pocket together with gloves (in case it gets super cold)

that's it... all packed and ready for the adventure... I'll post an update when I get back - and you can expect a post loaded with photos after the trip as well...

yay! feels nice to be so organized... you all know I'm only doing this because I love making lists of things I packed...or any lists in general...so...yeah...

oh and a sleeping- bag which I'll strap to the top of my backpack...

any ideas about what I could leave home? - preferably something from my list that's as heavy  as overweight labrador and that I won't need, but I just didn't notice it yet... 

leek and zucchini quiche

...also known as "whatever we have at home" quiche...

this creation was loosely based on this recipe and by loosely I mean...no.
why not?

-because I don't like mushrooms
-because we only had one egg and no cream at home
-because I have terrible time keeping up with any recipe, knitting pattern or basically any list of instructions containing more than two steps.

My improvised (yet dangerously delicious) leek and zucchini quiche

-   1 and  1/4 cups wholewheat flour ( + spoon of regular flour after things got uncontrollably sticky =      may not be needed)
- 110 grams of butter/baking margarine (or whatever fatty concoction you usually use in your baked creations)
- 2 tablespoons of cold water
-pinch of salt and smaller pinch of sugar

mix together...the recipe tells you to wrap it in foil and let chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour - LOL
ain't nobody got time for that!

-I cut up one leek (that's all we had) - put it in pan and let them cook with a bit of water and butter until tender (which means, until I lost my patience and turned off the stove - they don't change much over time so you should be good, just let them cook while you prepare the pastry )
- oh I also chopped in a bit of green pepper - because  I could!

-I sliced one zucchini ...chop chop chop (because we had it in the fridge....feel free to use whatever veggie stuff you find lying around) and set it aside

-roll out the dough - I rolled it out directly on a circle of baking paper because
 a) I didn't feel like sprinkling flour all around the kitchen
 b) using baking paper means easier clean-up afterwards
 c) I saw instantly how big the rolled-out dough needs to be to fit in the baking form

-put it in the oven (175°C ) to "pre-bake" - whatever that means...

-mix one (and only) egg with half cup of plain natural yogurt (because who on Earth keeps cream in the fridge? right? right? ...anyway, saying you used natural greek yogurt sounds fancier )

-put leeks in there with a bit of grated cheese and mix it all together - it looks funny

-plop it in the pre-baked pastry and cover with slices of zucchini

-bake...

-panic because you realize you didn't use any salt or pepper or anything that would give it a bit of taste...

-sprinkle salt and pepper on and shake out the last bits of cheese from the grater on top.

-bake until done... 20 minutes I guess?

enjoy...

bags

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?~ Ginny


I've decided to leave the books I got for christmas on the shelf for now and I'm getting a break from heavy reading.
Deric Longden's "Enough to make a cat laugh" is one of my favorite easy reads - guaranteed to make me laugh every time I read it.
I used to have three books from the series but borrowed the other two and they never made it back home...

I've been crocheting a bit this week - made one small bag and started a hat which I promised my grandma...but I lost the hook and until I find it... I'm knitting another little bag - still in the process of using up most of my stash yarn so I have lots of small projects planned.

UPDATE: I've finished the small knitted bag (bad light as it's already dark outside, but here it is...

mom's blanket + vest pattern

in hopes to reduce my stash of unused yarn and clean some space in my room at home (I still have a basket full of yarn in my school place) ...I've decided to knit a blanket.
crazy I know.
I never thought I'd be a girl who would knit a blanket. never ever ever.
a blanket in one piece, I mean...come on... that's just plain crazy.

but I did it.
behold, my fellow crafters....

had to get a pair of 10mm needles (ahem...sent my dad to the yarn store and he bought them for me - thanks dad! :)  ...and then cleaned my stash and sorted through all the odd colors and left overs from projects.

here's the link to the original pattern by Stephen West

and here's my Ravelry project page

it took 5 days to finish and if was super easy and quick and I might knit another one someday...

I'm reading a book that dad got me at the library-books sale for 50 cents ...and it's a first book in a long time , which kept me up until 2:30 in the morning...I'm not ever half way through, but it gives me chills and it's definitive page-turner -LOVE IT!

........
I've finished my vest from last week and I wrote down the pattern - just in case someone liked it and would like to make one.. here it is

yarn-along, another vest

 after looong time I'm joining yarn along again...oh my, it feels good to be back....

I've started another vest - this time it'll be short and simple, and I might actually write down the pattern...maybe.

I'm using up all the single skeins of odd yarn I have in my stash...

(I've finished the bird-watcher's vest some time ago but it still needs buttons and blocking so you won't see it until it's finished)

I'm starting to read one of the books I got for christmas, I choose this one myself, and it sounds interesting (I've only read the description on back cover so far)...

And I'm working on my travel junk journal - it still needs binding and a couple more pages...

I'm sick - spending most of the day in bed, drinking tons of tea and orange juice...this is the second time this winter when I'm sick- it sucks - bad year for me  :P

but it's perfectly good excuse to read and knit all day...yay!