Rubber handcarved stamps

After being inspired by the amazing Gennine's Art blog, I tried my hand on handcarving stamps, and I love everything about it! ^^

New books and an extra tool

It's been some months, I have been meaning to write about two wonderful books, Knitter's Almanac and The Opinionated Knitter by Elizabeth Zimmermann which I bought last Autumn, but now I have a great opportunity to write altogether about books with the very recent addition of Íslensk Sjónabók!

New skills

I learned how to double knit! and it's so much fun! much easier than one would expected to be, and I really like the result it produces.

Inspired by Iceland

During my stay in Iceland I got the idea of a new design, that would depict all the colors, landscapes and beauty I experienced there. The idea came early, and I took quite a few inspiration pictures. Truth to be told, I have already created the sample charts! xD

Iceland in film

Of course with such kind of a trip I didn't miss the chance to get some film with me. I took with me two cameras, my Balda, and a newly found vintage Nikon. Why two of them? Just in case something happens to one of them, like last time, and I am left without camera.

Heimilisiðnaðarsafnið Textile Museum

One of the most interesting stops we did in our road trip was the one at the Heimilisiðnaðarsafnið Textile Museum in Blönduós, close to Akureyri.

Baking

I am not much of a cook. In fact I don't know if I even have covered the basics of cooking. But I now one thing for sure, I go crazy for pancakes. The American type.

NextStop: Iceland

So, the big news are: this summer we are going to ICELAND! And by we, I mean myself and some friends from our last trip to Scandinavia.

The Templeton Square Competition Results

A few days ago the results of the competition came out. As much as you might be surprised, you have no idea how much I was, when I heard the news. Especially after seeing all the contestants' pieces!! So amazing and creative!

But I am very happy and grateful to Knitty Magazine and Franklin Habit that organised this inspiring, creative and challenging contest!

I had lot's of fun taking part and I feel that I challenged myself a bit more!

The next challenge would be to make something intricate with the yarn of the prize. I have never worked with Cascade yarns before and I am looking forward to it! ^^

:: The Ballad of Broken Birdie Records by Mum ::

P.S: to all those wondering, I have plans of creating a pattern for the wrap, but I have no idea yet, when will I be able to write it up, because exam season begins shortly and I have limited free time. :\

The Flowerpot coat

Winter is over, and finally the Flowerpot coat is done! But words can't describe how awesome it is - and this comes from a person that doesn't really like knitting the garter stitch.

Knitting at a Patisserie

Yesterday I instructed a whole group for the first time, and although I had been anxious about it, it went pretty well.

My laptop has a story to tell

This is a success story from a year ago, which at the time I was very hyped writing about it, but postponed it until I processed and edited the video I took of the process.

Well, guess what. One year later, the video has not been edited yet.
So, I thought of talking about the story without the video, for now at least.

New finds and ideas!

Recently it happened that an old Nikon film camera fell into my hands. And I had this crazy idea: Why not try to use the old Nikkor lens with my DSLR?

The results were very interesting.

Yarn addiction

I think I am becoming a yarn addict. Apart from knitting all the time, I have developed a serious lust towards woolie things of various types.
 

Inspiration, ideas, tutorials

I haven't posted in some time inspirational pages I have found in the internet and I intend to do so now, even in bulk. :P

First some random stuff, like How to make a Celtic heart knot still have to learn this!, How to make Henna tattoos at home, Making Pom Poms in bulk, a Pixie tutu, Indian Shisha embroidery, and a free pattern for French cuisine embroidery.

I was mesmerised when I found out about arm knitting, which definitely must require strength. But it's totally awesome, yes?

316/365 - 320/365

Stitches and Gems

I received a bag as a present a while ago and after a few days I realised it could work as a stitching canvas! So I thought of different combinations I could try with the holes available, and after some time I ended up with this:

Carl Sagan's Cosmos

Τα Χριστούγεννα κατάφερα να δω μια ολόκληρη σειρά - την οποία ακόμα αναρωτιέμαι πως άργησα τόσο πολύ να ανακαλύψω. Να 'ναι καλά όμως το Internet - χωρίς αυτό μάλλον δεν θα την παρακολουθούσα ούτε στο εγγύς μέλλον.

Περί τίνος ο λόγος λοιπόν; περί μιας φανταστικής/καταπληκτικής/[εισάγετε το θαυμαστικό επίθετο της επιλογής σας] σειράς ντοκιμαντέρ, τον Cosmos του Carl Sagan. Εξαιρετικά πρωτοποριακή για την εποχή της, η σειρά αυτή αποκάλυψε στους θεατές της την ομορφιά και την μαγεία της επιστήμης και της επιστημονικής σκέψης.

Budapest + Veszprem

Μμμμ.. τι να πω για την Βουδαπέστη; ότι είναι από τις ομορφότερες πόλεις στην Ευρώπη; μάλλον θα το έχετε ακούσει ήδη. 

Είναι διάσημη για αρκετά πράγματα, συμπεραλαμβανομένων και των θερμών πηγών της (δυστυχώς δεν προλάβαμε να κολυμπήσουμε :\), έχει καταπληκτικά δείγματα αρχιτεκτονικής διαφόρων εποχών, την διασχίζει ο Δούναβης και έχει συνολικά 6 γέφυρες. Επίσης έχει και αυτή ένα "νησάκι" στο κέντρο του Δούναβη που ονομάζεται το νησί της Μαργαρίτας.

Μείναμε συνολικά 3 μέρες, οπότε δεν προλάβαμε να δούμε τα πάντα, αλλά πιστεύω είδαμε αρκετά. Είναι πολύ μεγάλη σαν πόλη και παρόλο που είναι εντελώς ευθεία, είναι σχετικά χρονοβόρο να μετακινηθείς από το ένα σημείο στο άλλο. Διαθέτει όλα τα μέσα μαζικής μεταφοράς, και μετρό, αλλά είναι λίγο περίπλοκο το σύστημα, και σχεδόν πάντα χρειάζεσαι πάνω από 1 με 2 διαφορετικά μέσα μαζικής μεταφοράς για να φτάσεις σε ένα μονάχα προορισμό. Μάλιστα όσο ήμασταν εκεί, είχε και καύσωνα, που έκανε τα πράγματα ακόμη πιο δύσκολα. :\

Μετά πήγαμε στο Veszprem, στο οποίο και περάσαμε συνολικά 10 μέρες. Είναι μια αρκετά μικρότερη πόλη νοτιοδυτικά της Βουδαπέστης. Είναι χτισμένη πάνω σε 7 λόφους, και ονομάζεται και η πόλη των Βασιλισσών, αφού για πολλά χρόνια ήταν το μέρος στέψης τους. Αποτελεί βέβαια και φοιτητούπολη, με πολύ καλά ανεπτυγμένο Πανεπιστήμιο, στο οποίο διαγωνιστήκαμε κιόλας σε διαγωνισμό ρομποτικής. 

Δυστυχώς δεν τράβηξα φωτογραφίες εκεί, αλλά πέρασα πολύ καλά. Ήταν μακράν το πιο αστείο και διασκεδαστικό BEST course που έχω ζήσει. ^^  

Έμαθα και μερικά ουγγρικά, τι άλλο να ζητήσει κανείς; ;)

:: Alala by CSS ::

Belgrade ♡

Just two days ago, I returned from an amazing trip to Serbia. It was long, and a bit tiring in the beginning (almost 19 hours by bus to reach Belgrade) but it was totally worth it!

 I went for holidays and stayed at a very good friend of mine for 8 days. Yeah, it's more than enough to see a city, but my goal was to relax also, not just sightseeing. And hopefully I succeeded in doing so. ^^ I left Patras in an extremely bad mood and too tired to have any energy for anything.

I met a lot of friends, both from Serbia and foreigners (there was a BEST event going on in the first days), learned a bit of Serbian! and practiced my German a bit.. though gtalk. :p

As for my impressions of Belgrade, what can I say, I fell in love from the first day! And I didn't expect to like it so much, I mean, I have been to cities such as Paris, and I was not that amazed!

During the time I was there, I was trying to find the reason why I liked it so much, and I think I have an answer for it... Belgrade has for me the perfect combination, it's neither too cold or harsh as northern European cities, nor soft and 'halara' as southern cities. (Take for example Greek ones)

Of course I loved their parks! They have almost in every corner about one, and I didn't miss the chance to exploit them... reading books in benches in the middle of a green paradise. :p

Almost every day I was outdoors walking, walking, walking and walking so much, that I lost weight! (I still wonder how that happened, I ate at least an ice cream and a chocolate per day...) So, I had the chance to see many parts of the city! I stayed in the old part, but visited New Belgrade also (or Novi Belgrade, better!) and Zemun, a district in New Belgrade near the river. 

As for sightseeing, my favorites were the Ethnological museum, the Nikola Tesla Museum, the Kalemegdan Fortress and the Zoo (spent something like 3 hours in there :p).

In the Ethnological M.  I found this cape:

with which I simply fell in love..

The Nikola Tesla M. was one of my must-visits anyway, since Nikola Tesla may be my favorite scientist ever.. so as you can imagine I enjoyed there the tour too. ^^ I also bought a book, containing a philosophical essay written by Tesla something like 100 years ago. I have read one chapter, and I can say it's interesting enough! 

Ahhh the Fortress... I honestly don't know how many times I went there! almost everyday, and sometimes twice a day! (I am crazy, I know, but I really liked it..) It is also very big, so there are many places to sit around, enjoy the sun and relax...

And last but not least, the nightlife! I had heard that nightlife in Belgrade rocks, and hell it does! There are many clubs/bars/after-party places/after-after-party places/anything-that-can-exist-or-you-can-think-of  that you can choose based on your tastes, eg. in music, and which of course don't close at 1.am. They can keep going until the first morning hours. For me that's the 'right' way of going out at night. :p

But apart from Belgrade and it's greatness, I also planned to visit Novi Sad, another city, which I eventually didn't, and I hope I will have the chance next time I visit Serbia! ^^

Some interesting and random facts about Belgrade:

• Serbian people love Greece! Most of them visit Greece for summer holidays and a great deal of them also speak Greek!
• I could hear Greek music from any kind of cafeteria/bar/fast food restaurant
• There was actually a place with Greek pita gyros, which I tried, and have to admit, a lot better than any pita gyros I have tasted in Greece!
• Drivers in the streets actually pay attention to passengers
• They say 'ciao' even to passing strangers!

:: Liar Game by 中田ヤスタカ ::