Sunday 21 August 2016

Designs, Yarns and Etsy !

Hello my dear friends , 
it's been a busy year again and all I can say ....time flies !!!
Last Year I started spinning and this month I published my first two knitting designs on Ravelry . As you know I love knitting . It helped me through difficult times , it makes me stay calm and it takes away all worries from me . After a busy stressful day at work there is just one thought on my mind ... take a shower and grap your knitting bag . Perfection with a nice cup of tea !!!
My first design is called "Fairy Breeze" ! A one piece cotton tank top with cabled straps . It's airy and knitted in an A-Line . Perfect for any body type . You can knit it shorter or longer , in two , three or uni colours. Let your imagination get wild :)


The Pattern is easy to follow even for those not being familiar with cable . A good opportunity to get started and discover this stitch.
Find this pattern on Ravelry under Julias Blog designs. 
My second design is the “Fall..ish” sweater. Lightweight and roomy, perfect for the first autumn chills. This cozy sweater features two front pockets, ripped neck and hem band and a button closure which can be worn open or closed. The fitted upper body and the flared hemline makes it the perfect sweater for any body type. 
Cabled side bands on back. 
No buttonholes needed as we use the cable holes instead. 
Worked in one piece top to down.



Check it out here !
Both sweaters are knitted with my hand dyed yarns . They will be soon available on the Etsy shop my daughter and I created . It is called "StitchesAndLoopsShop" . 
Here is a sneak peek of my yarns ...
There you can find handmade creations made with loads of passion and love . Mad is sewing beautiful clothes. Here you can see me wearing her Barcelona Top . Isn't it a dream ?

Barcelona top and other goodies on our Etsy shop here !
As you could see , there was a lot going on lately :) Stay tuned of all updates ! 
Have a beautiful day
Love - Hugs 
& XXX
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Monday 21 September 2015

Spin , Spin and dyes ...



Hello my dear friends ,
Summer is coming to an End and Fall is in front of us . I must admit ( I could never imagine to say this ever ) I am so ready for Fall and so happy Summer goes away . This last years I can't deal with the heat we have here in Greece . The only place to stay is a place with a/c . You can't do nothing . No moving , no knitting , no spinning ............  The only time I could stand it at the beach was early in the morning when the sun was kind and people were asleep . 
Conclusion ? Yes I am getting older ! 
But I was able to spin and try some yarn and fiber dyeing . My progress in spinning is ok'ish but far from perfect . At least I found some rhythm in it and the fiber is not breaking this often . But as always there is a BUT . Now that I am more comfy I can not order any fiber . We are still suffering from the Capital Control in our Banks which means : No orders from outside Greece . No money tranfer outside the country . I can't order any fiber , no pattern no nothing and it sucks and I am pissed off big time as I don't know for how long this will last . 
Anyways , I will show you my progress and what I have done. 

My first selfspun 100 g skein . I was so proud of it . Now I think I could really do this thinner . Well ....This is a single ..of course !
And here is my first 2plied yarn ! I love this one . I love the colors and the texture . I had no lazy kate but I did well with a shoe box as you can see . 
100% Merino wool !
2ply yarn but not soft at all . I am looking for a slipper pattern for this one .
Heavenly !!! 75% Xfine Merino , 20% Silk and 5% Stellina . It was a tricky one at first because it was so slippy but once into it I could not stop . Single skein .
And here I tried some dyeing with leftover colors from my Batik painting .
Handspun and dyed yarn . 2 ply 
As you can see I did some progress and hopefully soon I will be able to order some fiber to continue . Right now I am doing some knitting with my yarns . I am saving the silky one for the Askews me Dickey by Stephen West . It's on the top of my wishlist but I have to wait till things work again with the banks here.
I just finished the Herringbone Bandana Cowl by Abhaya Fibers . Lavanya was so nice , I was a testknitter for this cowl ans she offered me her also beautiful pattern , the Cabled Bandana Cowl  for free .
Here are two pictures of my finished Exploration Station and Askews me Shawl by Stephen West . 
All my finished projects on Raverly are listed here

Well , that's for now . Stay tuned on my spinning and dyeing journey .
Have a beautiful day 
Love - Hugs 
& XXX

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Saturday 25 July 2015

It's been a Year ...




Hello my dear friends , 
long time no see ...almost a year now !
 Many times I was thinking in writing to my Blog but I was blank of ideas and also using Instagram of a daily basis . As I was knitting a lot this year , it was so much easier to just upload the fotos of my projects to Instagram . But of course it is not the same . For all of you who want to see what I was up to this past year go over to Instagram and have a look on my knitting adventures and finished projects . My username is the same as here : @juliasblog
But now I decided that it is time to share my journey "from a mess to yarn  spinning" with you . I decided to spin my own yarn and I am so excited . It was for months now on my mind and yesterday I took my first lesson (on my own ) .

 I searched a lot throu the internet , watching videos on Youtube and finally bought a spinning class on Craftsy . But nothing compares to the real thing . Sitting on your wheel , trying to find the motion , getting used to the rotation , learning what "tension" and "ratio" really means . It's fantastic .


 All this mess of too much twist in the yarn but seing the few real nice mm brings joy into my heart :) 





That's the reason I am starting to write on my Blog again . To keep you up to date with my progress , faults , mistakes , questions , answer ....whatever ! 

That's it for now . Stay tuned !

Have a great day and as always 
Love , Hugs 
&XXX

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Wednesday 8 October 2014

Knit a bit !!!

Hello my friends <3 

again it is been far too long since last time . This last month was quiet busy as I also had a small surgery and I am still recovering from it . Good thing : I have had plenty of time to figure out new knit stitches and I managed to knit some pieces . Lace knitting was challenging but the outcome so worth it ! Even thou I saw charts all day long , even in the nights when I closed my eyes . Craftsy classes helped me a lot to improve my skills and they had a full month with 50% sale . Thanx Craftsy !!!! 
Have a look on my projects . Hope you like them as much as I do ! 

This lace wrap is for my mom , before blocking 
Blocking it 
Finished !!!

This will be my favorite shawl ! The pattern is called LuLù by Anthony Casalena
the yarn is super soft , I used DROPS Babyalpaca/Silk 

This wrap is called TRIFECTA and it also from Anthony Casalena 
For this I used DROPS Cotton/Merino 

As you can see I was hard working :) and always in company with my sweetheart <3 who was watching every move 

Another obsession I have this days is eating plenty of pomegranate from my tree ! Eating it plain or in my breakfast ...
so yummy !!!!!!

Well , that's it for now ! I hope you all have productive days as well . Have a beautiful day 
Love , Hugs
& XXX 
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Thursday 14 August 2014

Summertime and the livin is easy ...is it ?


Hello my dear friends ..... 
my vacations are almost over , just a few days left and I am trying to get the best out of these last days . Summer is my favorite time of the year ( excluded heat waves ) . Why ? Well ...:
1. You don't have to wear many clothes 
2. You can go to the beach 
3. Summer nights are the best 
4. You can choose over all the delish summer fuits
5. You have longer holidays.......
and so on but there always be a BUT 

What I love - hate about Summer and vacations ....
LOVE 
waking up in the morning and looking straight to the moon 
 Lying on my hammock enjoying the sweet nothing 
 greek salad with fresh veggies from the garden and kalamata olives 
 picking fresh figs from my tree 
enjoying the sunset while drinking greek coffee 
quiet mornings at the beach 
marco enjoying nature 
 taking naps together 

as you can see , there are many many things I enjoy ...so let's get the the annoying ones 

                                                HATE

Why there are no such signs at the beach ???? WHY ????
 
(google image)
 parents getting mad , you know when they start shouting like :" Janni , Jaaaanniiii , don't go that deep into the sea . " " Marriiaaaaa , put on your hat . Marriiaaaaa " 
                                                (google image)
this little fellows .... spending all my money on anti mosquitos  sprays - creams-roll ons and whatever new magic stuff is on the market ....
(google image)
my favorite ....beach raquetes .... you know how it is when you just chill , dreaming , relaxing and bam there comes this killing ball ???? like you wake up in the middle of a war ? and this clac - clac - clac noice .... HATE big time !!!

BUT  nevertheless summer is and will be my favorite time of the year . And even thou I listed the hate things without them it wouldn't be a proper summer . 
Have a beautiful day eveyone 

Love , Hugs
& XXX 

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Sunday 3 August 2014

Traveling with pets ...


Hello my dear friends ....
August arrived and with it vacations !!! I am back home and just enjoying the easy livin :) 
We finally ( Marco my puppy and me )  survived the long trip . From Thessaloniki to Athens it was fine , as we took our work bus and were traveling together with my colleagues . But from there to Klm we had to take the public one . I don't know if you know how difficult it was to carry a pet with you . Some years ago ( not many ) they just put them into the luggage and they did not care at all . Many of the poor little souls did not survived . So , good thing is that since some time the law changed and the bus company ( which is private ) had to also change the bad habbits . They now have to have specific schedules in which pets are allowed to travel in their box . For Marco it was the first time he ever saw a box . But he was just great . 

So when we arrived at the bus station we saw another box with an puppy in it . I was very lucky as next to me there was a lovely old lady which adored dogs . She did not stop talking to Marco and telling me her story of life , sweet little lady <3 .
In the middle of out trip we picked up the inspecting officer and both puppies barked once . Like wuff and that's it . He started yelling that one dog has to go to the back side .... but we just did not took notice of him . As he finished checking the tickets he sat next to the bus driver and that's were the party begun . The driver started talking to him very loud , telling that when he saw the two dogs he just wanted to shout out and he got just sick from them . That he now has to disinfection the bus and it is all stinky ...... I really had to focus and stay calm cause I wanted to get over there and slap him . I would have loved to tell him that he should be the one to get an disinfection as he was stinky and dirty . A few bus stops before home he started yelling that we had to use a gag and that is were I could not hold myself anymore . No one had a problem with the dogs , all passengers were so friendly but unfortunatelly he was one from the beasts left . How can he be allowed to ride this specific *with pets jorney * ??? The law forces him to take pets but they should really control the drivers . As soon as we arrived I complained about him . They told me that unfortunatelly there are people like him and I just shouldn't pay attention but I do . And I will get things further ..... 
Anyways ... now we are in Paradise City , enjoying our vacations and the beautiful greek Summer with much food and relaxing hours at the beach .

Sadova beach 
Sadova beach 
Greek gemista 
Freshly picked tomatoes from the garden 

Have a beautiful day and for all of you being on vacations ...enjoy it !!!
Love , Hugs
& XXX
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