Shop till you drop

Frankfurt am Main. Again. Another week at work here. We arrived here on Sunday with the whole gang, but since this morning we are all scattered over the map again, to get together again in Karlsruhe this Saturday. Uku (15 months as of today!) took the train there with his grandma this morning, which means that I have a couple of evenings for myself. However, instead of enjoying the benefits of a good hotel and falling in a coma-like sleep at a decent time, Santa’s little helper needed to make a serious shopping raid in the local stores, (today’s haul shown below). Of course, I visited Idee Kreativmarkt, my favourite crafting store here (yes, that’s painting canvas you see there...), and rediscovered the fabrics department in Karstadt (couldn’t resist buying this magnificent royal blue raw silk for living room cushions). Added by some luxury treats for myself and a desperate hunt for stocking fillers. Looking at this pile of stuff, however, I don’t think I made any stupid buys this time. Which is not always the case, as you can imagine. :)

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Järjekordne Frankfurdi-nädal. Pärast paari üheskoos veedetud õhtut pudenes gäng täna jälle veidikeseks laiali - kes Pariisi kontsedile, kes Karlsruhesse vanavanemate juurde. Mina jään veel paariks päevaks üksi siia, mis tähendab kahte õhtut luksuslikku iseolemise aega. Aga selle asemel, et nautida üle pika aja vaikust ja rahu ning hea hotelli hüvesid ja vajuda varakult koomalaadsesse unne, oli hullunud päkapikul muidugi vaja tormata ummisjalu kohalikke ostukeskusi ründama. Saak on igatahes muljetavaldav ja kaup aus. Mitte et meil kodumaal tänapäeval samuti kaubaküllus ei valitseks, aga siinne valik on lihtsalt veidi teistsugune (ja seetõttu minu jaoks eksootiline). Ja kodumail on viimasel ajal miskipärast mahti õieti ainult Selveris käia. Näiteks kangapoodi pole jõudnud oh-kui-ammu, seetõttu ei tekkinudki mul kahtlust, kas see taevalik kuningsinine toorsiid Karstadti kangaosakonnast kaasa haarata või mitte.

Nii et täna šoppasin endal jalad rakku. Astusin sisse isegi kõige stereotüüpsemasse suveniiripoodi. Yep, I said it!

First 'veggie' hat - done!

Here are a couple of shots of my first 'veggie' hat, fresh off the knitting needles. Three times a charm: on the third go I finally managed to figure out the right number of stitches and the best way of decreasing the cables. All in all, I'm happy with the result. I just took my new hat on a walk in the woods (we are spending a few days in our country home, before flying to Germany for a while again on Sunday). Excellent on this beautiful, crisp day.

Yarns: MeriSeta by B-B-B (double) and King Kid Silk by G.F. Knitting, both purchased at Liann. Needles size 6.
A couple of remarks about the yarns. MeriSeta is a luxurious silky blend of merino wool (70%) and silk (30%). It is fun to knit and crochet, and I love that it's not too wooly, but beware: the finished item will stretch considerably after washing. This happened to my hat too. With this design, however, some added slouchiness is fine. King Kid Silk is a super fine mohair/silk blend I've recently used a lot for my wrist warmers and scarflettes. I added this only to add some fluffiness to the hat, and to slightly darken the shade of the pale gray MeriSeta, to better match it to the faux fur pom-pom.

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Verivärske tuttmüts, esimene kolmest (sest mul läheb kohe hädasti vaja ka valget ja musta samasugust), tuli just metsast jalutamast. Kolmandal katsel õnnestus kindlaks teha ka õige silmuste arv ja palmikute kahandamisvõte, nii et jäin ise tulemusega üsnagi rahule. Lõngaks valitud MeriSeta (kudusin kahekordselt koos King Kid Silk'iga; mõlemad Lianni valikust) on küll udupehme ja luksuslik, aga selle puhul tuleb tähele panna, et pärast läbipesemist (loomulikult käsitsi, leiges vees ja üliõrnalt) venib kudum märksa suuremaks. Antud juhul tulevad lisandunud sentimeetrid pigem kasuks (tahtsingi sellist kohevat ja sügavalt silmile tõmmatavat "suusamütsi"), aga kujutan ette, et mõni kaua tehtud kaunikene kampsun, mis pesus XL-mõõtu veniks, paneks vist küll krokodillipisaraid valama. Valge ja musta mütsi, mis mul juba meeles mõlguvad ja pärast paari kiiremat tellimustööd ka varrastele jõuavad, kavatsen siiski kududa Dropsi Alpaca lõngast, mis kuulub vaieldamatult minu lemmikute esiviisikusse.

Revamped

This black skirt was literally saved from a friend's garbage bag. She was about to throw it away as a failed restyling project, having cut about 15 cm off and basted the hem with white thread to be machine sewn. For some reason, however, the skirt remained unfinished for ages, until my friend finally forgot why she even started it. Just like I have a full box of garments that await repairing or restyling.

To me, the skirt needed something more than just neatly seaming the bottom edge. I imagined a lace trim for it, and I found the perfect one in Karnaluks the other day. (Oh, I love that store, but don't EVER go there with a toddler!). Pleated lace combined with a row of tiny black beads. I love its Gothic look.

What to do with the material leftovers? I still have about a meter of the lace trimming, and I still have those 15 cm of the skirt fabric. Both of them are just too pretty to discard.

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Üle pika aja lõin õmblusmasinale hääled sisse. Sedapuhku selleks, et üles vuntsida sõbranna kaltsukotist päästetud must seelik. Alläärest maha lõigatud 15-sentimeetrise kangajupi krabasin ka igaks juhuks kaasa, aga see ootab veel oma aega. Kergelt küütlev ruudumustriga kangas võlus mind esimesest silmapilgust, aga alläär vajas minu meelest midagi enamat kui puhas ja lihtne palistus. Minu arvates vajas see pitsilaadset toodet. Leidsin selle gootiliku hõrgutise paar päeva tagasi, kui koos sõbranna ja tittedega Karnaluksis käisime (uuh, olgu see viimane kord, kui lapse sinna kaasa vean! Ma arvasin, et meie Quinny Zappiga mahub isegi mägraurgu, aga Karnaluksis tundsime end nagu elevandid portselanipoes.)

Future awesomeness

Thought I'd start sharing with you the cream of my design and fashion finds on the web. I've been thinking a lot about blogging lately, trying to find my path as a blogger, and I've decided that I'd like to expand the scope of the themes I cover here. There's still going to be a lot of writing about my handicrafts, but from now on, I'll try to add bits of other things that make me tick too. I so hope you'll like the new (and hopefully, improved) K-E-R-A blog.

As an opening chord, I'd like to share with you my latest WOW finds in design. First, the Stigo Electric Scooter by an Estonian team of designers and engineers, which is going to be launched in the summer of 2014. Although my current lifestyle doesn't involve a lot of commuting, as I work from a home office, and a wheeled object I use the most these days is a baby stroller (besides that, I'm slowly but steadily taking up driving again), but I'd totally give up using any public transport for this. I can already imagine myself riding it with a vertiginous 25 km an hour. One day (next September) I'm going to continue my law studies, and this would be perfect to get to school. I love the fact that it's foldable, so I can take it with me anywhere. This way I don't have to worry about my bike getting stolen, while I'm sitting in the lecture of, say, penal law.

Oh, I got carried away. But isn't it awesome?! Pre order here.

Safety first, right? The other gem I'd like to share today is a perfect accessory to go with the scooter: Hövding Invisible Bike Helmet by two Swedish designers, Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin. Pure genius! And a very clever choice of product name, adding mystery and attraction (invisibility as a quality we can attain only in our dreams). Take a look at this introductory video clip and shop for Hövding here.

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Olen viimasel ajal palju mõtisklenud siinse blogi peale, ja blogimise peale üleüldse. Minu jaoks on see juba aastaid olnud tõusude ja mõõnadega tegevus. Alustasin blogikirjutamist puhtalt käsitööalaste postitustega, aga nüüdseks olen jõudnud järeldusele, et praeguses eluetapis toimiks minu jaoks kõige paremini profiili laiendamine. Kavatsengi seda edaspidi teha ja kajastada siin veidi rohkem ka oma tööd, põnevaid leide haljastelt internetiaasadelt jne. Loodan, et ma sellega oma käsitööusku lugejaid alt ei vea.

Õnnistan uue (ja loodetavasti parema) K-E-R-A blogi sisse kahe laheda disainileiuga, mis minul küll südame kiiremini tuksuma panid. 

Esiteks, meie oma kodumaise tiimi väljatöötatud Stigo elektriroller, mis tuleb müüki tuleval suvel. Mu praegune elu ei hõlma küll pendeldamist ja põhiline ratastega liikur, mida kasutan, on lapsekäru, aga sellegipoolest - kui ma ühel päeval (ehk tuleval sügisel) oma juuraõpinguid jätkan, siis see siin oleks koolis käimiseks ideaalne alternatiiv ühistranspordile. Kokkupandav ja kaasavõetav, nii ei pea muretsema, et ratas pihta pannakse, kuni sina näiteks karistusõigust tuubid. Praegu võetakse vastu eeltellimusi esimesele 200 rattale.

Ja sellega kaasas võiks käia järjekordne Skandinaavia ime: Hövdingi-nimeline "nähtamatu" jalgrattakiiver (tutvustav videoklipp). Geniaalne. Müügil siin, ja ega ma arvanudki, et see just vähe maksab. Aga turvalisus ennekõike, eks ole?! Jõuluvana, kuuled jah? ;)

The first 'vegan' hat in progress

I have come down with the cold. Again. This is the third time in the past months, which is exceptionally frequent for me. I guess it's time to take a moment and consider what I'm doing wrong. Too much travel stress and too little outdoor (sporting) activities come to mind first. As soon as I'm well again, I'm planning to re-establish my jogging routine that has fallen apart lately. So you might read about my baby steps on this front from this blog too.

Speaking of baby steps - Uku is now up and running, which for me means more chasing after him and less time to just sit back and enjoy the sweet flow life. :)

I have started my first 'vegan' hat project, as the weather is getting really cold and nasty here in Estonia (although it feels kind of hypocritical to write this at the moment, when I'm being half-blinded by the midday sun). It's the second try, and I hope I now have the right number of stitches on the needles and the right design for me. It's so nice to make something this chunky and fast-progressing for a change.

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Sügis oma külmetushaigustega on täies hoos. Tegelikult on see mul viimaste kuude jooksul juba kolmas kord põdeda, mis minu puhul on erandlikult sage. Kasutan seda võimalust, et maha istuda ja järele mõelda, millest see võib tingitud olla. Rohke reisistress ja vähene õues sportimine tulevad esimesena meelde. Jooksurutiin on viimastel aegadel täielikult koost lagunenud, ja ma ei ole selle üle üldsegi uhke. Kohe kui jalad uuesti alla saan, asun asja parandama.

Vahepeal on noormees jalad alla võtnud, mis minu jaoks tähendab tema pidevat tagaajamist ja vähem aega lihtsalt elu magusa voolu nautimiseks. Hetkel aga olesklen kauaoodatud lõunaunevaikuses novembripäikese laigus, nii et tatiste sügisilmade kirumine tundub suisa kohatu.

Esimene "vegaanmüts" on teisel katsel jõudnud poole peale. Nii tore on vahelduseks kududa midagi nr 6 varrastega. :)