crafts and japanese inspirations

I've been slowly starting working on my orders again(for those who are waiting, please don't despair, I promise I'll get to them soon), and just finished these off last night

bags #52, #54 and #55 .. one for me (it's about time I had one of these !), one for T., and the other is going to a store that's opening very soon (more details on that when I have them) as well as the rest of the items below



#177, red bookcover with cat


#18 kitty pouch


#53, pink striped handbag


and the order from amazon.co.jp that me, F. and T. made together has arrived, full of gorgeous magazines that are so inspirational I want to make everything on them ...just take a look ..



ISBN: 4529041808




ISBN: 4529041409



ISBN: 4529038777



have a great weekend, for those who enjoy this holiday (not my case, I really hate it) have a great Carnival, and I'll be back in a week after my shiatsu residential ...

 

charlotte

Pattern: charlotte, from rowan #38
Needles: 10 and 8 mm
Yarn: not sure, something I picked up at a local yarn sale ...





 

#51

a long overdue gift ...

 

para retribuir ...

hoje tinha acordado um pouco zombie, mas recebi uma mensagem tão bem disposta pela manhã que tinha de retribuir. Em especial para a F. mas também para todas as outras amigas e amigos, aqui fica um grande abraço só porque sim :-)
(e eu sei que temos andado um pouco lamechas ultimamente, mas uns miminhos a mais nunca fizeram mal a ninguém)



 

a outra face da lua

I was probably the only one who didn't know this store existed, but when I passed by it yesterday evening and saw all this buzz going on inside, I had to take a peek. I love vintage clothing, so it was hard to resist such a blow out sale ... didn't get any clothes because all the sizes were wrong for me, but ended up with a couple of irresistible shawls. And yes, these are second hand clothes .. the lady at the cashier explained to me that they're imported from Holland in bulk, and the best selection is sold at their store.

A outra face da lua
Rua da Assunçao, 22







 

weekend experiments

It was a rainy weekend, and all I felt like doing was staying indoors curled up in the sofa ... in between finishing this book (another amazing Murakami), watching hours and hours of Desperate Housewives (A. and F., I blame you for this recent addiction), working on a few very late orders and going to see this movie (not nominated for a best movie Oscar, how can that be ?), I found the time to work on these ...

felt balls using this technique



another crocheted hat, this time in green for next month's color-iffic swap-o-rama



and this, which I was dying to make for myself


 

orders ....

when I started this blog last year I had no idea that it would become so important to me, or that my crafts would actually become popular and that people would want to buy them ...
176 bookcovers done so far was something I would never imagine could happen, but here I am almost 9 months later and I'm quite happy with how things turned out. I've met wonderful people and exceptional crafsters and would especially like to thank everyone who comes visit me here for all the support they've given me :-)
Due to the crazy amount of orders I've been receiving these last months I'm really sorry to say that I'll have to stop taking custom orders for now, until I can get everything else organized. To everyone who had already placed an order, I will try to fulfill them as soon as possible, but it may take a while, since I've been busy with other projects and ideas. And maybe sooner than later, but I hope to have new items available on the online shop one of these days and who knows in actual stores, but I'l keep you posted here ...

 

scarves

it takes about 12 hours by car from Lisboa to Andorra... so with 24 hours to kill on our last trip while A. was driving, what did you think I did ? Sleep, of course (yes, I'm one of those that can sleep in the car for hours ...), play bejeweled until I cleaned all the high scores .. and knit ;-)
I took about 5 different scarves with me to work on, because I like switching projects every couple of hours, and managed to almost finish all of them ...
Orange has never been a favourite color of mine, but this yarn caught my eye at the store the other day and I couldn't help myself. And the other is for E., a soft curly in beige made of yet another Rosários 4 yarn (Cantábrico).



 

grandvalira 06

never have I ...

... had such a sunny ski vacation before. For the first time in years it didn't snow while we were there
... skied with better skis than these - Dynastar Ome Carve 10
... skied so fast and so fearlessly, probably due to the above mentioned. I'm usually afraid of high speeds but I guess with the right equipment everything changes. Of course, not fast enough to keep up with the guys yet, who were going down the slopes at 88 km/h, but I'm getting there ;-)
... enjoyed going to a spa more. Although I was a bit disappointed that we didn't make it to the new one in Soldeu, but next time we definitely will
... played a board game so many times in a row. Our newly received travel edition of Catan was a success and was out every night
... been so frustrated with a ski class. Our instructor Carmina (who is the best and the nicest and I can't pay her enough compliments) really tried to teach me the basics of carving but somehow I always managed to do something wrong :P Next year I promise I'll try again ...

more photos here










 

kagami biraki 06

Didn't have time to post about this before we went on vacation, so here it goes ... a few photos of the kagami biraki ceremony held in the ten chi dojo in Sintra a couple of weeks ago.

A. participated in one of the performances (sorry, didn't manage to take any decent photos of that ..) and was surprised when he received his official black belt diploma. And afterwards, a nice japanese dinner on the tatamis ...

"Kagami Biraki, which literally means "Mirror Opening" (also known as the "Rice Cutting Ceremony"), is a traditional Japanese celebration that is held in many traditional martial arts schools (dojos) usually on the second Saturday or Sunday of January so all students will be able to attend. It was an old samurai tradition dating back to the 15th century that was adopted into modern martial arts starting in 1884 when Jigora Kano (the founder of judo) instituted the custom at the Kodokan, his organization's headquarters. " ... more about this here, here and here







 

... off again

this time to the usual place




 

mail day

yesterday was a good mail day ...


.... a cute, cute, surprise fabric from W.
.... the travel edition of the most addictive board game
.... a copy of the first edition of a new knitting zine

and my yarn trade, from tsaiware ... recycled silk and ladder yarn, and fun patterns to try them out


 

hats and more hats

one of these, an ultra simple and easy pattern by Susan Lawrence, and was great for using a bunch of leftovers I had



another one of these, in baby blue Rosários 4 Zelândia yarn, an early b-day gift for my friend S. I added a few double crochet rows to the bottom and a rosette, to make it a bit more feminine ...



and one more dc hat, order from A.


 

still on the subject of sleepy cats ...

.. how come they manage to find the strangest places to nap ?

amélie's favourite place now is on top of the stereo


and sushi likes high places ...


... or just the couch ;-)