Free Pattern - June Bunnies Shawl

June bunnies, angora mix
triangle lace shawl

It started with the yarn... of course. I finally got some of that gorgeous angora/merino/nylon mix that I was thinking of for so long and I could not resist casting on SOMETHING with it, as soon as I opened the package. (hence the bunnies... it's SO soft!) It was a movie night, so it could not be complicated.


I cast on without thinking much, and then picked out a simple lace pattern, that is inserted several times, finishing with a stretchy bind off.  Here is the result:

 This was a very quick and enjoyable knit, so I made another one, with a finer yarn, called Diamante - 70%merino, 20%silk and 10% cashmere - amazing fiber mix and the color.... bright, I mean, REALLY bright cobalt blue! Here are some pics:

Cobalt Blue Diamante lace shawl

The blue shawl is done slightly differently, although it uses the same pattern. If you would like to knit this shawl, you can find the pattern here -download now - it's free! ;) I hope you'll enjoy it.

Happy knitting!

Chocolate ice cream recipe

Home made chocolate ice cream
Slightly melted, but we have
43`C here today...

I just made it and it is one of the best chocolate ice creams I have had... seriously! So I thought I'd share.

* I came up with this as I was reading a collection of ice cream recipes that I have. I wanted a chocolate one, but I wanted it to be really rich and creamy - none of the ones I had seamed to be that way.... so here's what I did...


This is just the perfect amount for Krups ice cream maker - that's the one I have.

What I used:

250 ml full fat milk
250 g sweet cream 35%
100 g sugar
3 egg yolks (keep the whites for macaroons ;))
100g of dark chocolate, in little 'chips' although anything that's in little peaces would work


What I did:

Put the milk to heat slowly (don't boil it!) and beat egg yolks with sugar til they are white and creamy with no more sugar visible. Slowly add hot milk to it while stirring it in continuously. Then put the mixture back into pot and slowly heat to 85`C. (Use kitchen thermometer! If you go past this temperature, the ice cream won't be nice.) Mix in chocolate and stir until it's completely melted. After that, empty the mixture in a container that will be easy to later store in refrigerator and let it cool. Then stir in sweet cream and place it in refrigerator for at least 12 hours. After that, put it in your ice cream maker! It took me about 30-ish minutes to freeze. That's it!

A Cute Dress For A Cute Girl

Adriana in her new sundress

Woosh! I can not believe how long has it been since I last wrote.... The summer is here!

I want to share with you one of the projects I have done in the last few months. It's a small one, but I really love it! The pattern is called Miss Jenkins Dress by Diane Conroy, a lovely designer and a personality I admire. This was a test knit - I saw the prototypes she had done on Ravelry and instantly liked the dress.

So, here is my review.

About the pattern:
I think this is a well written pattern. All instructions are clear, the construction is simple and smart, the lace design is beautiful, nicely integrating increases as the dress gets longer. Super easy to memorize and pleasant to knit, even when watching a movie. I found myself knitting only the odd rows of the pattern a couple of times (I am not used to knitting lace in the round and missed the purl row), but that is just my lack of concentration, since I got to work on it after 22:00 usually.... I would say this is a pattern for an intermediate knitter in general. It's a fairly fast knit and can be done in a couple of evenings. Oh, and more good news: there is also a matching hat to this dress! ;)

About the yarn: 
Diane had used - and recommends - a cashmere/cotton mix (50% - 50%) or a ramie/silk mix (also 50% - 50%) by Colourmart. I have recently purchased cash/cotton yarn and it is really nice, there is just one But - for places like Greece (think 35-39`C) this would make the dress too warm for summer months (but perfect for fall/spring). The ramie/silk option is more summery, but I can't really tell much about it, as I have not done any projects with this one.
I chose 100% cotton for this dress, for two reasons. 1) I wanted to cast on asap and thought ordering from Colourmart and waiting nearly a week for delivery would be too long; 2) the cotton available in our LYS is fairly good quality and has some seriously beautiful shades. I could get it the same day and at a good price, too. (If only I knew I'll run short 4 rows before cast off... and will have to wait 3 weeks for a re-stock!)

I will very likely knit this dress again. I really love the design as is, but I am also thinking that the lace pattern would look very interesting with long variegated yarns. I am thinking of Wolle's yarn collection.... she has some amazing colorways! And I keep wondering, just how difficult would it be to block out the purl rows in the lace pattern in order to make it out of merino wool for winter? With some steam, perhaps? I love layering outfits, especially for kids. Let me know if you have tried it!

We did an amazing photo shoot with Adriana today - here are some of the photos:

Wet felting

pink ruffle scarf

I still haven't conquered silk. In fact, it appears not as easy to find in my nearby stores and I will have to order online from somewhere, so I have put it on hold.

In the meanwhile, I have been obsessed with wet felting. I mean, really obsessed. I absolutely love the fabric you can get with cobweb felt! It's amazingly soft and drapes well.

And, I have discovered ruffles! This is a really impressive scarf, and I am going to send this one for my cousin, hopefully she will love it :) The colors I used are fluro pink, rose and magenta. Different fiber layout and a slightly more aggressive felting in the middle part of the scarf result in beautiful ruffly edges.

fluro pink, rose and magenta wet felt ruffle scarf

I have tries a few fiber combinations over the past week or so with cobweb wet felting technique. Merino silk mix produces the most luxurious ones, with a fascinating drape. Here are a few pics:

cobweb felt scarf black white red merino silk

This is one of my favorites - very elegant look

cobweb felt scarf merino silk earth tones

cobweb felt scarf "rose garden" shades of red beige and white

Pure merino wool can produce very nice results, too, but I discovered I had to be extra careful when fulling them, so that they would preserve all the softness and drape nicely. Here are some of my favorites:

cobweb felt scarf silver grey storm blue and  just a shadow of lilac to bring in extra light

cobweb felt merino scarf shades of purples and blue

cobweb felt merino scarf hot pink magenta fuchsia plum and bamboo staple 

And, I also tried a mix of 95% merino wool and 5% mohair, which produced a very airy and lightweight scarf with a bit of an earthy feel to it due to mohair.

cobweb felt scarf merino mohair mix purple and green

I absolutely love wet felting, the possibilities of fibers and colors are endless and results are gorgeous!

Nuno felting

That's the new thing I am going to learn this year. I've been admiring nuno felt scarves for a while, and it would not be me, if I at least would not try this craft... The supplies seam to be easy to find - I got some beautiful merino tops from Sara's Texture Crafts on etsy - lovely wool, very bright colors and super friendly customer service! And I still had some fine silk from long ago when I wanted to try silk painting.

But... there is always a but. I studied all the nice tutorials I could find on YouTube and read about nuno felting quite a bit throughout last few weeks, still I am not happy with my first results. I tried two projects today, and both times felt/shrank them waaaay too much. Really, whatever artists are charging for nuno felts - it is definitely worth every penny! I am not giving up yet though. I have some business in the city to do, so I will be passing by the fabric store to get some more silk - I WILL make a scarf in the end! If so many people can get so beautiful results, I can definitely make it, too, although I really wish there was a class for nuno felting somewhere close...

No photos this time, as I am feeling a little down with the end result.

On the positive note - I have restarted pilates as of yesterday. It feels fantastic! I wish I had done so sooner. The plan is to have a 45 minutes training every day Monday to Friday. The only problem was Adriana, who is 14 months now and was trying to climb on me every chance she got, and my cat, who surprisingly was doing the same thing... It must have to do with the positive energy that these exercises give.

New Year, New goals

Happy New Year! :)
A little late for the greetings I guess, since January is already in the middle, but I really wish everyone to have an amazing year!
I've been thinking about my life as the years were changing and for the first time in last few years I actually had the feeling that something will change in our lives, that something good will happen this year, something big. I haven't felt this kind of anxiety for a long time now, as my life has been pretty steady and planned so far, but a lot of things are changing lately. Work, finances, politics, nature... nothing seams to be for sure anymore. So I welcome the new year will all the changes it will bring, hoping that they will be good. The most important thing - my family and all loved ones are all in good health, and I wish You, my dear reader, the same!

This year I actually made a list of personal goals I would like to achieve, things I'd like to do. I plan to come back to this list later on to see how well it turned out. So, here they are:

• I want to design and publish at least 10 new patterns throughout the year, and at least one of them should be a sweater. 
• I want to try a new craft, or a new technique. 
• I want to eat more healthy. October to December my family did not really have anything close to a healthy diet, so that should change.
• I want to loose the last 4 kilos that I have left from the pregnancy, so I can fit in my tight jeans again...
• I want to have an amazing summer with my kids
• I want to take a lot of photos

My biggest wish is to be able to balance my time so that everything is covered, my kids, my house, my husband and me. And to have enough time for knitting... :) We shall see how it works out.

What plans do You have for the New Year?

Little bits of Christmas feeling

It's been so busy lately, I barely have had any free time at all. But, besides renovating our house and taking care of my kids and all everyday stuff, I have managed to capture a few bits of Christmas spirit, too. There are quite a few bazaars going on lately, and I have taken part at two of them already, both for charity. Both got a few hats for kids to sell and for the preschool bazaar I also made these delicious, delicious cookies..... :)

Yes, the whole house smelled like Christmas :) And, I have not decorated anything yet - waiting for the workers to finish. My son has driven me crazy about it, but I think it will be worth waiting. :) So this was a nice prelude.

I will be doing these again at least twice this year, so I might as well share the recipe next time I bake them. This is also the first year I tried the icing and it was perfect!