Windstorm, Chocolate and Knitting

While a windstorm is blowing outside, I'll keep things cozy by trying to make our own chocolate (more about it hopefully tomorrow) and cuddling up with some grey monster knitting on the couch (you know, I promised this here for Christmas). After last week's storm of events, a little slowing down of things is quite balancing. And I really need to catch up on that sweater.

Hot Needle

When you say in German, that "something was knitted with a hot needle", you mean that something was hastily cobbled together, be it a text, a law, or in my case -  how I sew lately. With only little sewing time (that I have to make time for by ignoring nearly everything and everyone around me) stitches need do come together fast.

I am a-dress-in-summer-and-a-tunic-and-leggings-in-winter-kind-of-gal. That's what works best for me and it makes transitioning between being a mama and a yoga teacher easy. While I have enough dresses in summer (really?), I found out recently (on my bike on the way to a yoga class) that I was short of tunics. In the search of comfortable and stylish patterns I discovered mamu-design online.

I ordered the pattern for tunic Carmen,  a multi-size paper pattern with basic sewing written instructions in German, English and Dutch.

"a feminine and romantic model, yet very comfortable..." it says on the website, it can be sewn with different neck openings, sleeve lenghts and front and back lengths.

I liked the variation with a shorter front ...

... and a longer back.

 More photos of this fun photo shooting with Hubby:

It was really a fassssssst and easy sew with a result I am proud of. When I wore it at Carolina's birthday party, my mother and a friend-in-sew even thought it was store-bought. The fabric is a pleasant lightweight knit. There is just one thing about the tunic:

Don't look at the stitches to closely - hot needle.

Pink Moment of the Week

You know that your husband is pinkified ...

... when he comes home and says:

"Darling, I bought us some nice towels."

60 cupcakes

... and then I baked 60 cupcakes for Carolina's birthday party.

Recipes from Vegan Cupcakes take over the World

Really 60 cupcakes...

... someone counted them.

PS: Do you want to see my favourite "cupcake"?

Sweet by nature.

Carolina sleeps

For her second birthday I gave my lovely Carolina a birthday present she couldn't care even less about than last year's lovingly handmade (here). It is just for my pleasure. Her own blog. No, not really a blog. A 365-day-project. Inspired by what I had read in Flow magazine, I felt the creative desire to start one, too. But it had to be simple and not tot far to seek. The magazine gave a whole long list of 116 project ideas.

Evaluating my time and possibilities, I wouldn't be able to crochet a granny square (like here) or make a stamp a day (like here). As a yoga teacher, I very much liked the 365-grateful-project (here), but that has been done better before. As a mother, a quick photo project that could be easily fitted into the everyday still appealed to me and an idea, that rang a bell inside me, was:

* a daily photo of your sleeping child *

I can do that. Carolina still takes her afternoon naps. And this will be probably the last year of her taking them. But I also had my doubts - do I want to expose her sweet slumber in the name of creativity? It can be done gently, I hope. Just a daily photo after she has fallen asleep, no staging (that has been done magnificently here), but still enough space to explore the project in a number of ways, in 365 days. This project is mainly for me and the blog helps to stay motivated.

If you want to take a careful glimpse, head over to http://carolinaschlaeft.blogspot.com/

And now, hush, Carolina is sleeping...

2

Happy Birthday, precious little gentle joyful one!

You are so very much loved.

Yoga Stencils

If you come to my Friday night prenatal yoga classes, you know this little pink machine here. As it is only a limited circle of people you does, I'll tell you, this is the CD-player Clara is so generous to lend me for Friday nights. The yoga center where I teach is very beautiful (you can see some photos here) and tranquil place, so I need to bring my own little music maker to shake things up a bit.

The CD-player usually gets wrapped in the first bag I can somehow grab when I leave the house. So what about some yoga style, I thought and remembered those stencils here hibernating in my studio.

For this quick project I got a tote bag from the supermarket for 59 cents (probably produced under very bad conditions in a third world country, so if you can sew your own tote, go ahead) and used textile markers (use textile colours, if you prefer).

A couple of minutes later:

The music machine travels in yoga style from now on.

Flow

A new magazine at the news stand caught my attention last week - Flow magazine, the first German edition, saying: "the magazine for women, who want to see life a different way" (ahem). The magazine started in the Netherlands five years ago and also has an English edition since 2012. Now it was time for the German marget, target group women aged 30-45 (ahem).

It is a magazine for paper lovers - up to last week I didn't know I was one... (ahem), the magazine is printed on different kinds of paper and comes with free paper goodies, e.g. this time: wrapping paper, gift tags and a specially designed notebook by artist Natascha Boels (who is also featured in the magazine).

Other main topics are positive psychology, creativity and the ever-popular mindfulness (see also the last magazine I bought here), the different sections are titled: "feel connected", "live mindfully", "spoil yourself" and "simplify for life".

Craft-wise,

I found an article about granny-square-mania all around the globe ...

... and another inspiring article about 365-day-projects 

to boost your creativity. 

You can also learn how to make your own stamps, 

glimpse into the lives of creative women,

read about the 5 favourite books of a bookseller 

or just look at clouds to practice awareness.

I will watch out for more.

Cut the Hat!

Remember Hubby's beanie? Truth be told, he hardly wore it. He just looked like the "Last of the Dwarfs" with it on top. But it is cold outside. We talked the hat situation and made a cut:

cutting into your work-scary!

One quick round of simple crochet later:

Hubbys ears are still warmly covered, 

but the dwarf is gone...

Pink Moment of the Week

... a "textile painting" - 

seen at a charity X-mas bazaar.

And believe it or not, 

it was made by girl scouts.

These Pants are made for Playing 2.0

If you are a fairly regular reader of this little blog, these pants might seem familiar to you, remember these from last year? The fabrics are the same, I only changed the colour of the ribbing to wine-coloured instead of pink. The pattern is my favourite pants pattern of the moment (this here, by klimperklein).

I added a pink lining inside for the colder days - that doesn't look as elegant as the reversible pants last year, this time I just used a zig-zag stitch to finish the raw edges. But who cares?

Definitely not this little girl.

The pants are still a bit too long and to wide (German kids size 92)...

... but perfect for playing in them.

And growing in them...

...while playing.

But to be honest with you,

if I could bottle her right now,

at almost two...

I would.

Pink Moment of the Week

Emil - the bottle has entered my yoga bag.

Instead of plastic bottles, I use this glass bottle now, secured and stabilized with padding and fabric. 

Kale Chips

While traveling around California I got introduced to a so-called superfood - kale. Especially in its raw form I saw it in salads or green smoothies. I had known kale before, it is called "Grünkohl" in German - green cabbage. But it is served cooked with lots of meat around here. Especially around here, in North-West Germany. When some nice American person asked me: "Do you have in kale in Germany?", I could only answer: "We live in the kale-capital of Germany." We really do. They even do "kale-tours" here. But let me explain. Or better, let somebody else explain, who explained it totally right here. (Read it? Guess, who is the "Kale King" of his company? Hubby).

For vegan reasons, you might understand, that kale in its north-western traditional form never appealed to me. But understand my excitement, when I found out about (raw) vegan kale chips! My joy had to wait on hold until now, because kale is only harvested after the first frosty nights, in summer I got strange looks at the farmer's market when I asked about kale and told them they are American superfood.

There are lots of recipes out there for Kale chips, flavours ranging from Pizza to white chocolate strawberry (!). I tried the "naked version" (from Amber Shea's Practically Raw):

- Take a bunch of kale, wash it, remove the bigger stems and chop it
- Dress it with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt (use your hands to massage the kale...)
- Arrange the kale on a baking tray

Since I don't have a dehydrator and 8 hours dehydration time to make the chips "raw", I bake them in the oven: 150°C (300°F) for about 15 minutes, then carefully flip them over and bake for another 5-10 minutes (watch carefully not to burn them). They will be crispy.

Hubby might be Kale King, but I am the Vegan Queen of Kale.

Repeater

Yes, I confess myself guilty of sewing another hat. Quick gratification, even despite the fiddly edge. Same klimperklein pattern like here. Habitual sewing criminal. But I have an apology (actually two...). It got colder again, too cold for a simple jersey hat. 

This hat needed warming fleece inside.

The shape of the hat is just perfectly designed to warm 

some beloved little ears.

You just never know what kind of adventures await you outside 

this late fall.

PS: Justification number 2: Trying out a newly-discovered fabric store.