Crafty? Who? Me? No!

Flickr <3: Turkish Food I LOVE

2008-04-19T12:57:00.004+03:00

1. Gozleme, 2. Simit, 3. turkish_bread.jpg, 4. coffee-and-turkish-delight.jpg, 5. manti, 6. baklava, 7. Lahmacun, 8. Classic Turkish Breakfast, 9. green beans, 10. pilav, 11. RAMAZAN PİDESİ, 12. Çay - Turkish tea, 13. Icli Kofte, 14. dolma, 15. Mercimek Corbasi, 16. safranbolu_turkey_yogurt.jpg, 17. Kofte lunch plate - Star Kebab @ Akihabara, 18. Cig Kofte, 19. Izmir Kofte, 20. beans with pilav

Wisp! Gasp!

2008-03-09T12:44:00.003+02:00

Here is my beautiful wisp (regretfully having no eyelets on the sides. ugh.)! Feza Kid Melange knits up beautifully and feels like a piece of cloud. Hmm well, since I have never touched a cloud before I'd say cotton candy minus the sticky part. Ha!

I don't know if i will have an actual use for it nor I don't want to gift it to someone (yeah I am selfish like that also I have my reasons a) no one I know have uses for this and b) no one can appreciate a knitting gift, been there done that and I say never again). I will use pearl buttons. This migt be a good choice when I want to wear a sleeveles tank. We'll see.

Kid-Mohair Goodness

2008-03-05T08:33:00.004+02:00

When I had my hands on a copy of Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby there was no way I couldn't notice this beautiful hexagon shaped shawl named spider's-web shawls and imagined it as a perfect wedding veil:

Beautiful airy structure lets it to be light while still being georgous and it has a perfect shape for my kind of veil. I never liked the idea of having a tulle veil that is stuck to your up-do. I am more like a mantilla type of girl minus the high comb. This shawl being an hexagon, will let me to put it around my head as a mantilla and later on will rest on my shoulders doubled. Just Perfect!

Since purchasing Rowan Kidsilk was out of question (it would cost me as expensive as a wedding dress), I start to look for perfect local subs while trying to keep the same quality. I realized that there are tons of mohair, mohair blends, angoras (not the bunny the goat) and whatnot, none of them has enough mohair in their blends to make them real mohair despite their names. And I cannot understand why you name a yarn kidmohair and other mohairy names while the mohair percentage is only a mere 20. Ugh.

Fortunately I found just the perfect kidmohair from feza. I introduce you to Feza Kid Melange:

The real life color is not this white. It is more like a dirty white and I guess it is more better for it to be subtle. It is very soft on the skin. I bought only one ball to experiment with it.

However this beauty doesn't lend herself up so very easily. I try to master circle cast on and work with only 6 stitches on 3 needles and ugh it is hard! I decided that I will cast on more stitches and will start it as solid and then i will start lace pattern so to save my brain! I really want to knit this desperately. For real.

You can read a review on Victorian Lace Today and see more previews from the book on grumperina's blog.

Uh-ah, I am back...

2008-03-04T19:47:00.002+02:00

First of all I should appoligize that I neglected this blog on purpose. I was thinking my other lover would be enough to chatter about my yarnly intakes but no, I came to realize that the lover and this blog is two different things. I certainly need to talk about things that belongs to a blog rather than a tiny notes section or a forum topic. Not that I will not contribute there or something, but there is no need to treat two different thing as same while they are obviously not.

And there is one other thing that made me to return my blogging roots. While I enjoy to contribute Ravelry as much as I can in every way, the one thing I worry about is this contributing thing. So many people, like me, are so happy to surrounded by whole world of knitters and we share almost everything on everything you can think of. There are literally hundreds of groups for hundreds different interests and most of them are not even about knitting. This is the part I worry. Now, in beta stage Ravelry seems to handle it and there is no need to fuss about bandwiths and whatnot. However, I do afraid this won't last long once we open to public wide open. I am afraid same thing will happen as craftster.org and we will have to keep it on topic and not allowed to chit chat about other interests and therefor, imho, will lost an important part of being a community. For now, I can only pray that day will never come (because when that kind of "keep it on topic" pressurre begin on craftster.org I felt heartbroken and dismissed).

So stay tuned, I have so many things to tell

A List

2008-02-02T10:33:00.000+02:00

♥ Chocolate - to keep me sane
♥ Cup of good, strong coffee -so i can sooth myself with the delicious smell
♥ Books -to hide myself in
♥ Science-Fiction stories - so i can believe
♥ Sleeping - for its warmness
♥ Dreams -where everything is possible
♥ Pencils - so i dont have to be sure
♥ Papers - a gate to possibilities
♥ Music - to be on the stage for a minute or two
♥ Breathing -so i can be thankful

note: i guess a two week long, tiring exams grants me to be forgiven for my absence..

Wip: Dahlia

2008-01-13T09:12:00.000+02:00

Knitty's Dahlia for my sister as a secret gift.

Through my Window

2008-01-12T08:48:00.000+02:00

Irish Hiking Neckwarmer

2008-01-10T20:21:00.002+02:00

~~Despite the crappy photo~~, this neckwarmers are a hit and looks better in person. I have to tell you neckwarmers are the next best thing. You dont have to deal with extra bulk that comes with a scarf yet you have your neck warm. You can have this neckwarmers out of your favorite but too expensive to make a whole garment kinda one skein yarns and show off proudly!

(i uploaded a new photo)

Gauge:

1.5" = 6 stitches in C6f cable pattern

Yarn:

Any yarn that would give you the gauge above. It will take 100 grams of yarn (or more if your yarn is way thicker and therefore shorter in the yardage).

Cable Pattern:

C6F: Sl 3sts to cn and hold in FRONT, k3, then k3 from cn

Pattern:

CO 72 stitches, join work

R1 (WS) : * K2, P2, K2,P6 repeat from * to end
R2 (RS) : K4, P2 *K6, P2, K2, P2 repeat from * until 12 stitches left, K6, P2, K4
R3 (WS) : repeat R1
R4 (RS) :repeat R2
R5 (WS) : repeat R1
R6 (RS) :repeat R2
R7 (WS) : repeat R1
R8 (RS) : K4, P2 *C6F, P2, K2, P2 repeat from * until 12 stitches left, C6F, P2, K4

Repeat this 8 rows until desired length.

Note: This pattern is a heavily modified version of Irish Hiking Scarf that copyrighted to Adrian Bizilia of Helloyarn.com.

This is a free pattern for personal use only. Please do not sell and/or redistribute the pattern.

ETA: You can find the free .pdf file on ravelery.
***

Well this is the first hole in my 365 days of blogging carreer, isn't it? I supposed to post this pattern yesterday but was having horrible headaches..

Google Monster

2008-01-09T13:59:00.000+02:00

I am one big researcher. I alwaysend up reading tons of stuff about the things i plan to do in the future. Just like the way i do with knitting. Or with my travels. I like to get informed. I like to lay out my options and find solutions to the possible future problems. I do google every little detail. Now i got bitten by the farm living bug. I search for the perfect locations on real-estate listings. I try to find the perfect most modest house plans. I even joined homesteaders group on ravelry. I read the topics to absorb the information. I am like this. I hate to be left uninformed. While i was browsing through, i noticed that this farm/village living is never a one side thing. It is not a daisy patch. If i want to be able to self-sufficient one day, I have to prepare myself with the very idea. However i know my limits, i know what i am capable to and i know some things cannot be changed no matter how hard i try. There are some things that are not in my "dough". I raised in the city, I never hand washed big pile of lundries. I hate doing the dishes. I cant imagine myself without a vacuum cleaner. I can't handle matches and lighters (unless they are those long kitchen lighters). I don't even think dealing with mouse traps and whatnot is in my personal skills. Seems like a bit too ironic? But i do not think that we have to give up on every little luxury modern ages gave us. We can have a modest life with those privilages too, no?

stash

2008-01-08T12:27:00.000+02:00

Remember the very crappy photo taken by me to show off my much more crappy yarn stash? Well, after a nerveous break down i got rid off every little annoying fiber (acrylic as it is) and now have much more managable stash. Yes you heard it true, i throw away yarn. I have to admit sometimes they are chasing me in my dreams and i deep down wish that i didnt do it. But harm is done already. Now my stash holds 5 sweaters (well 2 sweaters are in the workings for my mom and sis) worth of yarns along with dishcloth cottons and some sock yarns and other pretty yarn to pet. I joined one too many stash down groups on ravelry to control my stash and i made a deal with myself: no more buying yarn dang it! (i might have to bend this rule a bit in next month but we all see if it will happen... another country i say and shut up there.. dont want to jinx it!). Hmm no money in the pockets helps this resolution too.

i am really getting into this little mosaic maker.. what a lovely toy and what a huge ass saver when i need to post 365 days a year...

Knitting Report Card

2008-01-07T19:42:00.000+02:00

I have two big projects on my needles now. Knitty's Dahlia for my sister and Berroco's Caroline for my mom. Dahlia was somewhat easy to work with and i am at the skirt part now. The only down part with it was the increase method the designer chose, i couldnt wrap my head around it so i ended up with our beloved kfb instead which thankfully came out cute so no stress over it. However Berroco's caroline tank was a pain to begin with. The piece should be work in pieces but i didnt like it. So i changed it to work in the round and i doubled the yarn to cut back the knitting time (thicker the yarn smaller the numbers to cast on..). I have to finish these two projects by february so this means no more ufos aside. Ugh..

Dream on...

2008-01-06T09:42:00.000+02:00

I always want to live in a rural area where i have a little house of my own and a garden i can grow my own veggies... And maybe i will feed a cow and a couple of sheep, the former for the milk and cheese and the latter for the meat and you know their fleece (so i can take on spinning).. A place, i eventually become self-sufficient and maybe i will sell some home made cheese or raw milk to others, or my handspun yarn or veggies even better! A place i will live enough far away from the city but i will not be detached completely (i am afraid to live in a place far away from the other people, i should be in a village). I feel like i will feel content in a place like that doing the simple things over and over again. And i wouldn't ask for more except the internet connection, that is a must!

can you see the potential?

Through my window

2008-01-05T17:53:00.000+02:00

Nice little break from the snow and freezing cold. Taken last summer (i guess).

Snow is in.

2008-01-04T09:06:00.000+02:00

Public transport in Istanbul is somewhat touchy issue. There are loads of choices to choose from but it all depends on the money on your pocket. If you are to buy on-board tickets everytime you get on the bus and say you are not lucky to live in an area close (read: takes only 1 bus) to your school/job then you are doomed as the price can go overboard. I live very far away from my school (I live very far away from everywhere but thats not the point). If i would to buy on board tickets everytime, in the end it would've cost me around 8 bucks a day, more than 100 bucks a month (and my student loan ashamedly low at 150 bucks a month) . Pricey. Very. But thanks goodness we have a clever tool to reduce this kind of stress, named akbil (akıllı bilet-smart tickets for long). If you have an akbil you can buy monthly passes which costs 50 bucks a month for a student. See an akbil is the cleverest thing on earth, and looks like this;

And has readers which looks different depending on the transport type;

There was a time that monthly paid akbils were making horrible sounds to tell you and all the other 100 people around you that you are a poor monthly akbil bearer and therefore "you shall not pass" when you try to get on the city ferry (vapur as we call it.. gee how i am great to give out useless info). So as a poor poor student with a monthly akbil, i used to take busses and it meant to bear with hectic bridge traffic and whatnot. I even get accustomed to sleep in the busses and not skip my bus stop, hell yeah! In 2003, in the very first year of my school, one day it started to snow lightly but it was enough for all the traffic to go nuts and i started to wait for the bus.. and wait.. and wait... finally when it was arrived, i was extremely cold and wet and the damn bus was this old kind with no ac and it was all the same experience being inside or sticking your head out of the window for all the ride. It took hours to arrive and there i was making the wrong choice by getting off the buss to take another bus to home instead of get off one bus stop away and sleep over in my grandma's. I made that stupid mistake. By the time we spent hours inside the bus trying to move inside the crazy traffic, the snow outside was now a storm. As i was walking through snow, the wind was so strong that i couldnt even move. When i finally reach the traffic lights, i realized that i wasnt feeling my hands. Oh panick! Thankfully, there was a coffee shop i can drag myself into.. I asked for help. Ashamedly out loud. Ashamedly, crying.. Two guy helped me to wash my hands and offer me some hot tea and one of them, the younger one rubbed my hands while we sat down.. Oh, god! It was another challange to go to my grandma's but i was not alone this time. A girl asked me to walk together as the wind is too strong to walk through.. We managed to not become a Marry Poppins. Later on, in the news they talked about how people spent their night in the busses and cars inside the traffic. I was lucky.

Why all this story you ask? Yesterday, it started to snow in Istanbul. It is the first time since 2006. My akbil needs to be renewed and refilled which means i have to go out and it snows. Nooooooooo!

2008-01-03T09:49:00.000+02:00

Imagine that this is the view you can enjoy every day. I can

Everything About Portugal

2008-01-02T10:42:00.000+02:00

1.2.
3.4.
5.6.

When i was in Portugal back in 2005, the very first thing that draw my attention was this old fashion antennas striping the sky and laundry lines welcomes you from every corner of the city. Laundries that line up in a very busy night-life street and that are mostly underwears which makes you not believe the fact that they are real and not belong to some kind of installation (1). Laundries that suprises you when the bus jsut turn a corner almost brushing against eachother (2). Laundries that lined up beautifully in the narrow streets of Alfama strict (3). Laundries that hangs from the balconies (4 & 6). Laundries that salutes you whenever you least expected (5).

And it reminds me that in Istanbul instead of cherrishing this kind of nice details we try to polish them off to turn this city into something that tourists will find joy in its hallowness.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T10:21:00.000+02:00

New year's eve was a happy and tiring (at least for me) day. It was tiring for me because of the enormous cooking that took hours from 11.00 am to 7.00 pm and end with a kitchen accident (not so much of a big deal but could turn into a disaster; i guess i will not fry chicken for a bit while.. it is not fun to have hot oil blow up all over your face.. i supposed to oven bag those suckers..) . In the end we were together around table to eat great food (yeah yeah i am not modest with my cooking, if i do it correct i am the best cook ever. but this does not mean i never criticize my work. i do that and i do it harsh). Lots of food eaten, lots of warm smile exchanged, lots of good laugh shared. I hope each one of you have this kind of moments very often in new year. Happy new year. A blessed one.

*

Hmmm, okay i have to admit i am the lousier blogger you have ever seen but to change this fact a little bit and motivate myself to turn this blog into something i was planning for a long time, i decided to challenge myself with blog365. I will write a blog entry for everyday of 2008 excluding 29th feb. Pheww..

Dinner Parties

2007-12-30T17:43:00.000+02:00

I dont enjoy cooking. But i do enjoy having family and/or friends to gather around dinner table.
I do like to have little family traditions which bonds us. I guess this joy is something i inherited from my late granfather. He used to cherish family get-togethers so much. Thanks to him, new year's eve has a special meaning for us. That day , we gather around a big table to eat and enjoy together like the way we do in eids and ramadan. This year is two time special as we will have my fiance as the new member of our family.

As always i sat down weeks before to collect recipes and make shopping lists to finalize the menu and other details. (Yes cooking is not something i enjoy as a chore but it is something i cherish for this kind of gatherings). This is not an easy job and needs good organization skills so i designed a very simple sheet to help you organize your special dinner party. You can write down the menu, shopping list, drinks and guest list. It is not perfect but it sure will make your planning easier...

You can download the file here.

12 projects for 12 months

2007-12-30T12:33:00.000+02:00

1. irish hiking neckwarmer, 2. nakniswemo sweater, 3. afghan, 4. Dishcloth of the week #1, 5. Cherry Garcia, 6. Clapotis, 7. thermal, 8. Fishie Purse, 9. Very Modified Boobholder Sweater, 10. calorimetry, 11. ripple kitchen towels, 12. lace project

i feel quite content to see that i accomplished 12 projects within the 2007. Some of them are big while some of them are just small stash busting projects.. I am happy with each one of them no matter what and in 2008 i plan to accomplish more big projects along with other bunch of stash busting small ones..

Note: links lead to my ravelry project page.. nad if you are a beta raveler check out these great groups ...

Knitting Journal

2007-11-03T22:03:00.000+02:00

I designed a knitting journal (well, only cover design in this case) for all your knitterly needs. You can keep track of the modifications for the pattern you are working on or keep it as your design pad.

You can get yours at fiberartslove .

Visit fiberartslove.com and archaeoknits for more knit/crochet merchandise. Or contact me for special inquiries.

Can you see the difference?

2007-10-25T15:04:00.001+03:00

You can't see it either, eh? Hmmm, how strange...

Nako (the leading yarn manufacturer in Turkey) also manufactures for Lion Brand and it seems like is under the influence of the big brother lately. Taking the long way on my way home just to "enjoy" some yarny landscapes, I once again came across with lion brand "leftovers", i get used to see wool-ease and jiffy lately but when i see Vanna's Choice, it clicked. I don't know about Vanna White but i did a google search and it revealed that she is one of the tv stars, just like Derya Baykal of Turkey, how bizarre.

P.S: my battery charger is down and my crappy camera with a broken battery lid refuses to open up with other batteries. I am finished with the Thermal but i have to sew up the sleeves and weave in the ends and it seems like it cannot do it itself so it sits there lonely.

I finally reach an agreement myself that i will not buy anymore yarn until i knit up all i have.

wips: time for an update

2007-09-01T08:18:00.000+03:00

i cant believe how ravelery takes my whole time and left very small to update this wee blog..

thermal right now is hibernating but it came out nicely so
far. i love how the deep red looks and feels great.

i knitted a set of towel for myself. the yarn is cotton and
the pattern is good ol feather and fan.

nowadays i mostly work on rectangle granny. i had to buy new yarn for the brown parts. in the end this gonna be one pricey item but you know.. i love it.

Note: We got engaged! Photos to follow!

Ravelry!

2007-08-09T15:49:00.000+03:00

Oh I got my invitation from Ravelry few days back and boy i love it! it is my new toy after craftster :) if you are on ravelry stop by.

wip: giant rectangle granny afghan

2007-06-17T22:13:00.000+03:00

I dont know why i choose to make a rectangle granny instead of a square but it is for sure very quick to work with and i just love it. I hold 2 strands together (from the both ends of each skein) so it is 4 ply. i have 2 skeins of each color so the idea is to finish each skein and then to add the other color to make it easier (i hate knots as much as i hate seams on a knitting).

The yarn is acrylic, no need to fuss over a luxury yarn for this project. I might hate the idea of yarn industry being acrylic crazy but i do love acrylic yarns when they have cute colors and of course when they are cheap :) I learnt my lesson that you cannot make sweaters out of acrylic yarns (and it is just because of i sweat alot.. gross i know) but all the other things can be made with acrylic.

I signed up for a crochet/knit afghan blocks over craftster, no details yet but there will be more grannies soon.

wip: knitty's thermal

2007-06-10T13:22:00.000+03:00

i really love this pattern! It is great for mindless tv watching not that i am not afraid of the more complicated parts but lets not talking about it yet.. also i dont want to talk about constant fear of yarn would not be enough until i reach that point. thank you very much.. until then, oohhh don't you love the color and all those soft, silky texture? yeah i do!

Oh, It is so soft!

2007-06-01T12:03:00.000+03:00

Finally, after a long time to figure out the gauge and needle size needed, I casted on for knitty's thermal. I have this cashmere/bamboo blend yarn as a hand me down and thermal is the perfect pattern for it. I casted on for size D because I am hoping to lose weight and i thought it could motivate me.

I really loved the twisted rib. It makes the stitches look better than normal way. I kinda don't like how i end up loose stitches with ribbing part but this is just perfect.

And yeah the knitted piece above is the hand me down non-finished sweater. one of the arms to be more precise. yeah i am that lazy to wound it to a skein before i start.

On Monday, we took a long day to join 29. International Symposium of Excavations, Surveys and Archaeometry in Kocaeli. This is the first year I ever joined one of these symposiums just because only this year they held it in a near town with relatively cheaper train tickets.

Train station, road above the station and public buses were looking so different to me. The weather, the light, the streets and people were also different. I have this strange feeling of seeing the new places through a dusty, yellow lens so it feels untrue at the end.

There was alot of new building construction sites everywhere and this one seemed to be the most ironic one. Flats with a cemetery view!!

Note: Clapotis finished long time ago, but i have no idea about how to capture it. Any ideas?

FREE PATTERN : Fishie The Purse

2007-05-19T11:09:00.000+03:00

I am a shove all the things inside one bag kinda girl and as usual things can end up pretty messy after a long journey inside the bag. Like the very private girly things with shiny little packages that comes off and expose the pad inside with all that nasty leftovers of a then tasty biscuits and whatnots. That, i am telling you, is no good. So i come up with this purse to carry around all the itty bitty things. At this part you might ask why this is have to be in a fish shape? I do not know. Or maybe it is because i started it as something for little girls and then change my goal to a more fitting one since i don't have a little girl around. So still this purse can be used for lady like keepsakes or can be a good gift to a little girl.

Note: updated on 08.14.07 and should be error-free, do let me know if you find any though :)

Materials
any kind of yarn in any weight but worsted or thicker weights would be more suitable for size issues.
any needle size to go with your yarn.

Pattern (make 2)

CO 20 sts.
R1-R5: Knit
R6: K2tog, knit to last 2 sts, K2tog
R7:Knit to end
R8:-R14: repeat R& and R7 (10 sts left)
R15-19: Knit
R20: Kfb, knit to last st, kfb
R219: Knit
R21-32: Repeat R18-R-19 (22 sts)
R33-53: Knit
R54: K2tog, knit to last 2 sts, k2tog
R55: Knit
R56-66: repeat R54-55 (4 sts)
R67: Bind off

With CC single chain two pieaces together, leaving and opening for zipper or button closure. Make button loop at one side and sew a cute button to front side. If you want you can sew a button as an eye in to front side.

Do let me know if you make this pattern. And remember personal use only © nihal g.

Ummm... Yeah...

2007-05-05T14:32:00.000+03:00

This is not one of the proudest crafty moments but, I am not that ashamed of either. I hand stitched this t-shirt in 2 hours. I don't like the arms (it could've been longer but i cut too much) and neckline that much. But this will definetely get some exposure around home:

Self note: go to the gym! now!

WIP: Clapotis, there was no need to afraid of you babe!

2007-04-28T18:45:00.000+03:00

I can't believe how fast this pattern is going! I have to admit, no matter how many people would knit clapotis and it was on every blog page, it was kinda intimidating for me. Sometimes I forget that how easy to let a pattern to drag you along. Mindless knitting is the best for this kind of patterns. Now I am well past section 2 and driving along section 3. And is this fast baby! Oh yeah!

P.S: I am really considering to take the next pledge on wardrobe refashion. I have so many ideas for my poor wardrobe. And I am also planning to take the 30 day organizational challenge on organizing junkie. I thought my over stuffed, nearly exploding room can use this in a good way. Stay tuned for the horrible before shots.

FO: Very Modified Boobholder Sweater

2007-04-27T09:40:00.000+03:00

Pattern: Very Modified Boobholder Sweater inspired from craftster user who is inspried from the original boobholder sweater
Yarn: Sunny Ram 100% cotton
Mods: Seed stitch borders instead of garter and all knitted on the round. Actually original pattern calls flat knitted arms, i found it easier to knit on the round.
Star and Finish Date: I knitted this on and off since November. Seems like I am a procrastinator. Hmm..

Now, if you excuse me I have to weave in ends so I can wear this beauty to the marriage preparations show we are planning to see.

P.S : I know those pink pyjamas look great. duh.

A Good Cause

2007-04-19T19:05:00.000+03:00

AfricanKelli is organizing a give away for the children of Mozambique. All she asks for is to fill a bag with soap, chapsticks, art supplies, washcloths, stickers, etc.. Everything you can think of to make a child to smile. She needs to receive the bags before May 18th. This challanges me but I will try my best and hopefully it will be there on time.. you can read the details here.

Finally it became a FO!

2007-04-02T07:59:00.000+03:00

Slap me very hard the next time i start to talk about lace projects which requests fine threads and itty bitty hooks!

Pattern: Pineapples, strawberries, pine cones what ever you call this.
Thread: 100% mercerized egyptian cotton no. 50
Hook size: 0.95 mm
Mods: Lots of. Crochetting it on and off during more than 10 years (oh no not that slow, i didn't touch it for 7 years or so) changed my gauge, my hook size ( i lost the one i start with), dye lot and what not. I loath it too much but i had to finish it because there is a "curse", one should never let her projects remain as wips or she could never get marry. i can't help to believe it along with sweater curse..

I feel like breeze. Finally it is done!

yet another calorimetry...

2007-01-21T12:32:00.000+02:00

Pattern: Knitty's Calorimetry
Needles: 4 mm
Yarn: Market Twito (60% wool, 28% Acrylic, 12% Alpaca)
Mods: None

I love the pattern. It is very easy to follow and it is a pretty quick knit (it took me 5 hours to complete it but i am a slow knitter). Definetely I will knit more of this.

2007-01-17T13:34:00.000+02:00

How many pictures do you need to take to capture a hat?

2006-12-07T10:34:00.000+02:00

Deliciously looking handspun yarn turned into this delicous ear flapped hat in almost no time. Plus there are still leftovers barely enough to turn it into something small. Yummy.

Too many things too little time

2006-11-18T21:03:00.000+02:00

Oh i have a very big pressure on me now as the mid-term exams are creeping in and i have to study rather than jump around idlely and i have so many things to finish like raglan sweater, this disgusting lace project i have lying around like forever, i casted on wrist warmers for my dad and i promised a winter set for my boyfriend (a scarf, a hat and mittens) like i need another more pressure on me .. but the good thing is the weather is so nice lately that i have time to finish up everything on time. hopefully.

for the eye candy, i have one of the 12" squares i made. i am making this with other gals over on craftster and i choose the colors to stushbust rather than to moneybust... i kinda like how it turns out.. since i snapped the size 6mm hook on three pieces ( first i snapped it two and the while i was trying to crochet with the left overs of the hook i snapped the hook part. how sad is it. obviously the plastics are not our best friends. damn the rain and my rush to buy it, i should've keep looking for the aluminium ones), i kept crochetting with size 5mm hook and it comes out as a thick fabric. i can imagine that it will be very cuddly and warm afghan once it finished...

finally.. an update with some cotton goodness

2006-11-09T10:16:00.000+02:00

i have been busy with some swap crafting and completely had no clues about what to knit next. The swap package sent out already (i forgot to take pictures can you believe it? ) and i have an idea. Actually i looked for that idea for too hard. I have to tell you, my closet suffers and needs new garnments right away. ASAP.

I took the idea from a craftster member who took the idea from the boobholder pattern (gee, i wouldn't think i would ever try to follow that pattern) . It was a bit pain in the ass since the pattern calls for worsted weight and my yarn being fingering weight. i had to to a lot of math calculations but thanks to this top-down guide , it went like breeze. Instead of having short sleeves( who needs short sleeves anyway?) i will making them longer. Oh, i can imagine how the poffy sleeves will look cute. This, i am telling you, will be the bravest fashion statement i did since I was 15 or something. I like the yarn, it is pure cotton (do not look at me that way, me likes light sweaters ) and has a boucle like texture with some color bumps. I bought it as a full 5 balls in a package and i think i will have some (ok, lots) leftovers which will be knitted into a summer tank or something like wendy's mentionable (with a higher neckline) or something like that...

Oh, i wish it would be possible to knit pants or skirts to wear in public (halloween parties does not count as casual public appearence you know) without getting weird looks and would be possible to hip with.. I would oh so knit myself a pair of jeans out of denim like yarn...

"My" Neighborhood

2006-10-30T20:44:00.000+02:00

Let's take a little walk through "my" very hip (there is nothing hip about it but people DO flinch when they hear that you are living there, and yes this is definetely a plus. a big one), quiet and nice neighborhood, shall we?

Our little walk starts right in front of my boyfriend's house. It's a wet, rainy day and the garden holds a lot of hopes for summer...

The next thing we will notice on our way is the spectacular view of The Bosphorus from the garden.

This is the road we are gonna take to go make some shopping,

then we will walk a little bit down,

and a bit more down,

then we will take the stairs: a killing short cut...

finally, we can walk a bit even without climbing up or down... there, we will see a pomagranate tree with its delicious looking fruits which are out of reach, and we will talk about the ways to take one down to eat but we will know it very deeply that it is actually impossible they meant to rotten on the tree and we will feel sorry about it yet we will never buy some..

we will pass the tree and keep walking,

then we will feel relief when we reach the end of the road: we arrived.

we will choose if we want to shop in here, in our very-loved discount market BIM,

or there, in the local super market just because they carry all kind of imported salad dressings, soy sauces and instant noodles...

or we will discuss if we should just buy fish instead but we will skip the idea when you discover that i am not that much a fan of fish,

then maybe we will walk ahead to check another discount chain market DIA where they also carry veggies unlike BIM. this one also will remind me my Portugal and Spain memories but i will be too shy to tell you these.

or maybe we will want to buy some real fresh fruits or some veggies. i will promise to make you a big healthy salad when we go back to home.

if we are not tired yet, we will take a walk along the Bosphorus. Yes, it is raining but we have our rain coats and umbrellas so we are set...

I took the idea from Anne's blog. Thank you for joining me up for a walk through my neighborhood. if it is not you i couldnt be able to carry all the things we bought together :)

Parade... I have some lousy photos to show off.

2006-10-22T20:49:00.000+03:00

Pattern: Fetching from Knitty
Yarn: Kartopu (100% acrylic)
Needles: 3 mm dpns
Mods: No modifications.

When the extremities issue of Knitty was up, i clicked through the pages and didn't like the outcome that much. But i saw how everyone's Fetching turned out very nice and i was in need of a pair of wristwarmers, I gave it a try and noticed that it is indeed a good pattern. I used acrylic yarn and follow the pattern down to the bits and the result was so lovely. I love the color and i love how it clings to my hand in a fashionably way. And oh it is warm...

Pattern: Skull Socks from Helloyarn
Yarn: Kartopu Leylak (100% acrylic)
Needles: 3mm dpns
Mods: I changed the fair isle design into smaller one. The original one has big gaps between two colors. So i took this smaller skulls from helloyarn's we call them pirates chart and added some inbetween design to be able to carry the yarn without huge gaps.

I finally finished a pair of socks for myself and now I have to knit up two more pairs for my father and my boyfriend. I was a bit skeptical about knitting socks. I always assumed it is a bit waste of time on that tiny needles and thinking it could take ages to just to knit up a pair or so. And i was thinking that turning a heel is the hardest thing on earth. But i was so wrong that i knit up mine in almost no time and i turned the heel with no problem. I gotta tell you, there is nothing better than to sit down in front of t.v on saturdays and watch back to back episodes of lovely t.v shows. Thanks to them I knit fast. Well, kinda...

2006-10-19T21:37:00.000+03:00

Oh, i am super duper lazy about taking pictures so some (ok only one) F.O's and some W.I.P's don't get the attention they used to get by me and the crappiness of my digi cam adds up to it. More. I am in love with every other bloggers sharp and non blurry, almost pro quality photos they add to jazz up their blog entries and i hate the fact that i bought my cam just because they offer it along with a 250 mb of additional memory card so being a lousy (i mean LOUSY) maven i am, i bought it just to be regret very deeply. With my digi cam, life is very hard since he is very picky about the time, the sun, the angle etc, yet he doesn't have any fancy features to make him happy but he sure does love to complain and blur all my photos. Until today. Today I discover that even with Microsoft Photo Editor i can edit the photos beyond their sizes. I can sharpen or soften them or play with their contrast. Holy cow!

So I give you this lovely photo of myself to admire my new fall jacket and my oh so lady like outlooking (really, my 15 years old myself would kill herself if she foresee this kind of outfits i happen to like more and more. heh, so be it, i say, she was just a whining 90's teenager who doesnt know how to pamper herself and thinks it is grunge (oh cool!) to dress up tasteless) (so tasteless that it wasnt even cool by its own rules).

also a little meme, stolen from crazy aunt purl to jazz up a bit more (and of course to help you to break free from all jelousy you got after seeing my bee-aa-uu-ti-full jacket. muwahhahaa) :

Four jobs I’ve had:

waitress #1 a.k.a being almost victimized in a cafe located in a small island where men known as beasts who never encounter species called woman before and being a young (so young only 19), independent (read: alone and vulnerable) woman meant that i was in a wrong place in the wrong time and they didn't know who they were mess with.
interviewer where i had to walk around a given neighborhood to knock every single door to talk with the women about their sex life and convince them about contraceptions. In a way it was satisfactory to be able to help women to stand up for their own body and show them the way to seek help when they need it but it turned out (at least as i see it more clearly) that all the project was nothing but a pre-research and convincement for the upcoming medicines and methods such as the day after pills (if you think that we all had to teach every women how to use regular birth control pills when there is an emergency contraception situtation and after a short while we taught almost every other women this and the only complain was about to have to take all those pills altogether and caboom, the day after pills hit the market. what coincidence.)
translator
waitress #2 this one took place in a very hip homemade food restaurant but only after it was not hip anymore.

Four movies I can watch over and over:

Gegen Die Wand
Bin-jip
Angela
Frida

~~Four~~ Two places I have lived:

Istanbul
Tomar, Portugal (only for 3 months)

Four television shows I love to watch:

CSI
The King Of Queens
Without A Trace
Las Vegas
The Sopranos

(the gilmore girls, according to jim, senfield, scrubs, prison break, spongebob squarepants... etc)

Four places I have been on vacation:

Lisbon
Barcelona
Malta
Many different places in Turkey

Four of my favorite dishes:

Ramen noodles (yum!)
Rice
Green beans (with tomato and olive oil)
lentil soup (with a bit rice and carrots)

~~Four~~ Two websites I visit daily:

bloglines.com
craftster.org

Four places I would rather be right now:

Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona

Four bloggers I am tagging:

you
you
you
you

Uber-Productive

2006-10-08T15:14:00.000+03:00

Today, the first thing in the morning I did was to cast on for my first ever real pair of socks in honor of socktoberfest. The pattern is helloyarn's skull socks . They are red, they are acrylic (yucky! you said?), they are soft and bright and i love them.

oh, please ignore my stupid digital camera. it is the cheapest one I regret too often to bought it. what was i thinking?

Socktoberfest 2006

2006-10-07T12:06:00.000+03:00

I am really excited about socktoberfest since this will be my first "real" socks. I got two untouched balls of red yarn which my aunt gave me and i was thinking that it is a great oppurtunity to knit up this socks which i printed months ago but never refer to. I might go black for the skull intarsia instead of white. Ok, you read the questionare and I will go knit some in front of T.V...

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?

ok, i have to tell you that i am kinda sock virgin. i did never deal with sock patterns before other than that tubesk socks i knit for my boyfriend. however i learned a lot from that pattern and dealing with DPNs' was one of them.

What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?

My first pair was a gift for my boyfriend which is made from a tubesk sock pattern. They held up fairly good and he is still fan of them.

What would you have done differently?

i would go for a heel instead of tubesks, though it was fun.

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

i don't have any fancy socks yarns i indulge myself. my budget is tight.

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?

even though i can crochet i dislike the way they are looking like. i don't think i would feel comfy and i think they are too holey for a snuggley pair of socks. i time to time use magic loop method but my favorite is DPNs.

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)

I never work with heels so i prefer learn both.

How many pairs have you made?

only two pair of tubesks (one of them never get worn due to size issues, i should gift it to someone with small feet)

Fetching... Hmmm...

2006-10-05T10:47:00.000+03:00

Yes, we have a very cold school building in the winter time and you cannot sit there only with your lovely sweater and bare hands. You must have something to protect your back and your poor hands and at this point wirstwarmers or hobo gloves comes very handy and very fashion. I got some leftover icey pale navy blue acrylic (but the softest) yarn which my aunt gave me. And I decided that they shall serve best as some fetching goodness. I didnt get the exact gauge (i am using 3 mm dpns and i might have to use 3.5 mm or 4 mm) and yet i made a mistake with the last cable's direction so a rip off is in the near future but i love just to look at it and admire as it is..

2006-09-21T13:36:00.000+03:00

It is raining like crazy outside and the day washed out with gray. I am bored at home so here you go some photos to show off...
The first one is a picture of me while I am crocheting, well pretending as it is :) This is where I knit/crochet all the time. Right in front of tv. I look cute though :) the second one is some variageted (sp?) yarn I am hoping to turn it into some tubey socks. I am not sure if it will be enough but we'll see. the third one is my sweet, delicous pure wool I just bought. I will definetely try to buy more (ok, lots) and it makes me drooling all over when i think about the possibilities. I think I hit the point where every knitter at some point bumped into and then became yarn snob after all those crappy acrylics they had had in their stash and then try to get rid of the crap quickly to fill the gaps with some luxury yarn and wish they have more money to spare, much more money... finally the lattest one is the yarn I got through freecycle. Rainbow colored one was so soft that I decided to make a pillow but it was not enough for all. I think I will find some perfect matching fabric to complete my pillow..

I joined the socktoberfest. I never do that before and I feel really excited. The winter is creeping in and I have cold feets to take care of! I don't have power to learn how to turn a heel though so I will knit tubesk socks with some alterations. Yay!

Arghh... Patterns are Attacking Me!

2006-09-18T20:15:00.000+03:00

How hard can it be to choose a pattern for a throw which is relatively cheap (the yarn cost me only 4 bucks in total) and supposed to a quick fix? I decided that yo-yo's aren't my thing. I designed a pattern for double knitting but it seems like I have a problem with how I carry the yarn so I have to learn the correct way and so it is out of option now. I tried to knit up knitpicks retro throw but the yarn is way off gauge so it means the blocks will be teeny tiny and i hate seams. So now, either i can cast on more stitches and alter the pattern for bigger blocks, i can try to make it a very big one block or i can find some other cutie pattern.

I really hate this when undecision rules me. I cannot start a project without having to rip it off several times and changing the design more than once. I love some patterns and try to knit them but until the time I finished them off, the love turns into some kind of disapproval.

In the other hand, I went to big yarn market and stunned with all the new season's yarns they stocked. I even found some real unbleached wool skeins for 1,5 bucks/a skein. I bought two skeins and perhaps I will dye it (with food colorings since we don't have kool aid over here and I don't want to risk it with the self-claimed "no-sugar" powder drink which has sweetener inside) and knit a bag to felt. Also I bought cotton thread for my lace project, finalmente! Unfortunately its price went skyrocket (4 bucks/ 100gr) so I bought only one for now. I checked out this yarn in person and fell in love with it but much for my dissappointment, it was 2,5 bucks/50gr which is ok but too much when you think that I will need for about 10 skeins to make a cardigan and it is way pricey (at least for now... while I am broke) .

Oh, by the way, we rented the house. ..

w.i.p show off

2006-09-06T20:57:00.000+03:00

ok this is my color combo which i think it is the coolest.. but in the other hand i do have a problem with the hook size (.95 mm was what i had lying around other than some thick ones i don't want to use) which creates very thick fabric and i assume this is no good for an afghan to be. i suppose tonight later on when i get off myself of computer i will give it a try with size 3.00 mm. also i am not sure about the size of the yo-yo's (i mean after all googling around i couldnt encounter with bigger yo-yo's so this is the first ever big yo-yo afghan of the net i suppose...) but it sure is great to not to break the yarn every few dc's..

oh i still did not wash out the buttons.. i dont have any idea how to take out all those tiny little bits of nylon bags :/ i gotto find a solution for that. ASAP.

♥ my boyfriend whom i am grateful to have
♥ crossing the Bosphorus with boat
♥ banana-chocolate ice cream

yo-yo afghan and some button love

2006-09-03T08:48:00.000+03:00

Yesterday after I looked through all the LYS's in my mom's neighborhood (gee they have tons of.. i think some people are lucky), i finally happened to find the exact fine weight double ply cyristal acrylic brown yarn to contrast with my beautiful turquoise one. As soon as I got home I started crochet but I was not happy with the outcome of the granny square which seems too holey to me. Then I search the web some and encountered with yo-yo afghan patterns and decided to give it a try. Instead of doing the yo-yo's only one row I make them several rows and even I am planning to make them several different sizes. I will crochet the yo-yo's with turquoise and then put them together with brown. Sure it will look cool.

While we were wandering around this very dusty looking LYS where they also serve as a real estate agency (go figure), I noticed a box of vintage looking buttons. I was so excited with the fact that they are not so much popular and made my offer to her to buy all. I think she was quite happy with the idea cuz that way it could took her sell them 100 years and I don't think those people who are actually live there would love to dig a dusty pile of buttons. Anyways, she said 10 bucks and we lowered the price to 7 bucks and got all of them. But i still wonder what if I said 5 instead of 7. When I got home I dumped them into a big plastic bowl. Most of the little bags was already teared apart to little bits and rest got too crunchy so it was very easy to tear them apart. I put some soap and left them in the water. They are all very nice looking buttons, i mean no dull looking. As soon as I figure out a way to get rid of this nylon bag bits (you can see it on the pic : they are piled together as white clouds), i will sort them out. I might think about to trade some for some books and what not or even I can sell some! Oh they really make me happy.

Finally I gave the food mat to my mom and she liked the idea very much. But now i have to make another one for the other cat too.

She moved in to this flat recently and I really like the way it is. It has a fresh feeling and I really love this vintage looking tiles in the kitchen. She has a big balcony in the front and it is really lovely to eat there or just chill out...

And this is the action photo of one of the cats (most naughty and the younger one) playing with the yarn mom was knitting, it was very hard to get the yarn out of her hands :) :

Note: She is knitting a rug for the kitchen, it will form a circle when she finish it up.

long time no see

2006-09-01T15:28:00.000+03:00

recently, i was avoiding everything which might give pleasure while i was determined to get over a huge road bump i thought we were about to crashing into. now, finally everything got back into track even more better and promising than it used to be.

as for the knitting news, i knit up the capelet and now only i have to weave the ends. i think i complete it just in right time since the weather is get a bit stingy and it is nice to have some shrugs to avoid end summer breezes. i will post pictures once i have done with all finishings and give it to my aunt. it is too bad that i missed the deadline for my sister's birthday and i ended up empty handed without a gift. it is a horrible feeling so i want to knit her a something nice in a week or two so she might be able to wear it before the harsh weather comes in (or i should knit her a nice warm sweater). my hands itching for the color bar blanket. it will be great since it will use up half of my acrylic stash. and i also have a nice afghan idea to use up turquoise yarn left overs but this requires more yarn shopping since i love this brown-turquoise contrast thing going on. ..

lots of things to do and a F.O

2006-08-11T10:29:00.000+03:00

My yarn and fabric stash and other itty bitty's got my room so badly that I need to find a storage solution right away. Everywhere is full with textbooks, magazines, cd's, yarn, more yarn, sewing supplies and such. Today I am planning to pay a visit to Ikea hopefully to buy some things but before I have to wash the dishes which conquered the kitchen since the damn dish washer quit without any further notice. But before I start to keep myself busy, I introduce you to my version of saturday market bag. Ta da!!

Pattern: Saturday Market Bag by Jodie
Yarn: 100 gr mercerized cotton in lime green
Mods: Cast on 55 instead of 45, made more pattern repeats, lined the bag, installed a zipper..

This was a real fun to knit. The pattern is very simple, nice looking and fast. I lined the bag to be able to use it daily. I was planning to make the lining a bit bigger to let it strech out for roominess but my stupid-self couldn't calculate the seam allowances and such so lining came out a bit short just like it supposed to be on a knit bag if you dont want any strech. Duh! However, it is big enough to hold the daily stuff. Also i am a bit worried about the straps that it might get too long once i fill the bag but there is nothing a good knot could not solve... oh well.

Gotta run. damn dish washer.

First Post.. Kinda Hard...

2006-08-04T18:37:00.000+03:00

My hands itching to get this blog work but it was very hard to sit down for a first post. I thought without an introduction it would look a bit sad.

I am a 25 years old, college student, living in the busiest, crowdest and the most beautiful city of the world, in Istanbul with my dad and my brother. I have also a sister who lives with my grandma.

I took knitting and crochet while i was a kid. I started with crochet and since then I can figure out the crochet patterns once I see the item itself. Knitting, in the other hand was always on the side and I never tried to figure it out completely. I did know basic stitchs, how to garter and how to stockinette but that was it. Still today I am not able to figure out the complex stitches in the first sight. For many years I rejected knitting and crochet due to their anti-femminist images. I remember that for all that years it was a real torture for me to knit/crochet. But then I discover craftster.org and I became a member and all of a sudden I re-discover of my old hobbies and see their bright sides as an anti-mass production and self-manifesting. Now I mostly knit and sometimes crochet (actually I am mostly a lace crocheter) and try to improve my skills. Even I become a public knitter despite of all the horrible image of a knitter.

I don't have so much yarn stash and the stash I own is mostly crap. I have to teach myself to buy yarns project wisely rather than to colors/texture. But it is not easy to do especially when you have a big big big yarn market in town ( where every LYS in town buy the yarn they sell) :

I set up this blog to keep tracks of my life in a crafty aspect and to be able to plan ahead to prevent laziness which happens very often. Also I am hoping that I will complete more projects.

Oh. Well.

Welcome.