Protest Post: Let Christmas be in December

Christmas related items have already started to pop up here and there, on craft portals and blogs. Pretty, felted Christmas trees and Santa Clauses, embroideries with elves and so on and so forth. Despite the fact, that these creations are often very beautiful and/or interesting, I REFUSE TO GET INTERESTED. It is SEPTEMBER, people! Why ignore September? Why ignore autumn? It is after all, the most beautiful time of the year (at least in some countries)!

I have decided that I will ignore Christmas until December and instead lead "Love Your Autumn" campaign. Send me your beautiful autumn pictures or post them on your blogs and link back here! For starters, here are some warm colors of Polish September.

Reading Meme - Celebrate Books

Today, I read this post by Snowbell and, because I love reading, I decided to do the Reading Meme as well.

Books accompanied me since my first days of life. Before I was old enough to do it myself, my parents took time every evening to read a piece from Tove Jansson's The Exploits of Moominpappa or the fantastic Polish adventure series Pan Samochodzik. My books and reading habits define me as a person and can say a lot about me. So here comes a part of my soul.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
I don't do that. I am usually too absorbed to even change position when my back starts hurting. I can't even count the times I missed the bus stop...

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
I don't have any scruples about marking in books although I mostly only do it to my university texts.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears?
I tried to get into the habit of caring a bookmark with me but it never really worked. I can't remember to put it back in after I'm done reading and certainly I can't remember to move it from book to book. Most of the time I simply remember the page number.

Laying the book flat open?
Yes, I do it. Shame on me, I know.

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
I think the majority of books I read are fiction. But I also enjoy an occasional history book, or psychology and communications related publications. And one cannot forget all my crafts books.

Hard copy or audiobooks?
Hard copy! My partner has an e-book reader (he reads a lot of big, fat programming manuals and it's better for his back to have them on small e-reader) and I tried to get to like it but no such luck. I like to touch and smell an old paper book.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?
It really depends on a book. I remember reading The Horse Whisperer during one night but now, when I am older and have more patience, I take my time savoring books.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?
No, unless a word really buggers me and I cannot understand it from the context.

What are you currently reading?
I'm enjoying the fact that I am back in Poland and have easy access to Polish literature. I'm swallowing book after book from Polish fantasy and classics. At the moment I'm reading Widmokrąg by Wojciech Kuczok and Homo bimbrownikus by Andrzej Pilipiuk. Additionally I have a few non-fiction books started, Online Marketing Inside Out by Brandon Eley and Shayne Tilley and Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson

What is the last book you bought?
Widmokrąg by Wojciech Kuczok

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?
I guess the answer to this question is two questions up!

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?
I always read before falling asleep. Even when I am very tired I like to read at least a few pages (or even sentences). And other than that I love to read during long journeys by train. Nothing better than that!

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
No real preferences here. Although I do tend to buy books of the same authors again and again if I enjoy it.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?
I love the early books of Jonathan Carroll. Especially The Marriage of Sticks


How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)
Hmm...mostly by genre and language (we have books in Polish, English, French, German and Danish) but we have no strict system here.

How-To Tuesdays: Going in Crochet Circles pt. 1

One of the fundamental skills a crocheter should acquire is crocheting circles. This form provides basis for many crochet projects, is effective and, in fact, very simple to create.

Today I will show you the simplest method of starting crochet circle.

1. Crochet 6ch (in case you are using bulkier yarn, less ch may be in order)







2. Join the the last and the first chain loop by slip stitch. This is your foundation circle







3. Put the hook through the whole in the middle of your foundation circle. Pull yarn through so that you have two loops on your hook. Yarn over and pull it through the two loops. Repeat all around the foundation circle. You can make the stitches tighter or less tight depending on how many stitches you need.




4. When you have stitches all around the foundation circle, join loops with slip stitch and start next round. From the second round pull hook through back of first round stitches. You can use single, half-double or double stitches.

DO NOT forget to increase the number of stitches to keep your circle flat.

Stencil Art in Warsaw

This Saturday we had a walk around my favorite nooks of Warsaw. We bought 6 CDs and 4 books, had delicious vegetarian meal, drunk fantastic ice tea and took plenty of photos. So, I decided to divide the photos in several topics and today I will show you the stencil art that we came across.

I simply love this face. I wish I knew the author.


It reads: Steal, Steal, Steal.

And this lovely stencil spells: ASS

Crochet Gloves in Organic Green

So here, I haven't been all that lazy after all. I started the gloves back in London and crocheted them all the way through Europe. I guess, this is the most international project I have worked on so far.

I love the slender look the gloves give my hand. They, well actually so far only one of them, is 20cm long and reaches up to mid of my lower arm. They are made with my favorite organic cotton, so soft and smooth in touch. Still, loving them as much as I do, I have to figure out glove measurements so I can post them online and share them with you! Otherwise they will only fit me. Anyone has any ideas?

And below is a bonus photo of The Glove attacking Local Tiger during her afternoon nap.

(Not so) lazy day

I was going to spend this day relaxing and sipping iced coffee on my parents balcony. I planned to write How-To Tuesday post but not much more. No such luck. I grabbed the brush and painted the fence in my parents' garden. I thought it would take me an hour at the most. Instead, I lost all day.
Then again, the day was nice and sunny and the neighbors very friendly. Have a look at my parents' jungle garden.



Shh...look at the local tiger at the water pond...

On the Move

Ah, finally there is time to sit down and write a little something. The past two weeks were truly chaotic and left me with overwhelming feeling of surreality. The events, although planned and executed in logical order, just don't seem real to me.

So, let's see what has happened so far:
1. Packing boxes in London
2. Shipping boxes to Aarhus
3. Closing bank accounts, paying last bills and getting flat deposit back
4. Getting on a 24h bus ride (London-Brussels-Hamburg-Aarhus)
5. Unpacking some of Peter's boxes to find necessary items (where the hell are plates?!?)
6. Attempting to legitimize my stay in Aarhus (so far I only managed to get a library card)
7. London boxes arrive
8. Unpacking some boxes to find clothes etc.
9. Marveling at the mess created...
10. Getting on a 12h train ride (Aarhus-Berlin-Warsaw)
11. Realizing how many things we forgot to take from Aarhus
12. Making cherries in chocolate for my friends hen night
13. Great hen night party!
14. Sleeping it off

And if we extend this time line to include coming Wednesday, then there is also my friends wedding to attend.

Luckily we are staying in Poland until the end of September. I've got time to relax, write on this blog, tweet and work on more craft projects that I have in mind.