Innocent hats from others

First of all: good news! Innocent have hauled a staggering 400.000+ hats to adorn their bottles of juice for The Big Knit Charity event. Each bottle sold will earn 50p for charity. That means over£200.000 pounds! Well done knitters!!!

Last week I went out to the local Sainsbury's to pick up two small bottles of Innocent. MMMmmmmm... I went out especially to buy the special hat version and picked out two from the whole range available. They where so manny nice knitted hats that it was hard to choose, but I managed. I picked this really nice off white with the cutest little pompom which I found very delicate. It now adorns my Robinson's squash bottle. The second hat I picked it a yellow and lime hat that now is being used as a hat for my water bottle at work.


My new Innocent hats!!

To the persons who knitted these two hats: thank you very much! They are now being used every day to decorate my bottles and they look lovely. :D In short they found a good home... aaaaahhhhh!

Sad news

photo from Riley Photography

Today I had bad news at work. My dear colleague Charlotte and her husband Mohammed lost their baby this morning. Mira was just over a week old. I don't know how it happend but somehow it doesn't really matter just at the moment. This is very sad news and there are no words that express my sorrow. I wish there was something I could do, but I really don't know what, except feel compassion. I'm still a bit at a loss as to what to do or how to act...

Face Training

I'm very much into my DS and I can't wait for Nintendo to release their face training here in Europe. Face Training on a DS? Isn't that a kiddies handheld computer console you ask. Well, yes and no. Nintendo are releasing more and more 'games' that are targeted to the aldult market. Things like Brain Training, Suduko and a new release Sight Training. This last 'game' helps you improve your eyesight (or so I'm told).


Train your face...

And now you can train your face, well if you're Japanese. They get all the super cool new stuff. The idea is that you insert the camera that comes with the 'game' into the DS and switch it on. You can then rest it on it's stand (also in the 'game' pack) and start making funny faces that get displayed on the screen. This should make your face less wrinkly and more fresh looking. I'm all for silly gadgets and crazy new (non operative) beauty tricks, so I can't wait till it's available here. I know, I know... why spend money on such things but I like them and I can't help it. I'm a gadget freak. :D

Have a look at the Japanese Face Training site.

Another Slouchy beret

You may have seen my blog post on Le Slouch, a slouchy beret designed by Wendy Bernard. That one is free and quite simple as it's a moss stitch. The one I'm making at the moment is a £2 ($4) pattern from Ysolda. It's called Gretel and it has absolutly fantastic cabeling in it. I'm making the slouchy version, but the pattern also allows you to make a cap or normal beret version.


a slouchy beret in the making..

I'm using 3 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in creamy white (colour 300001)which I got on discount at John Lewis for £1.95 each. So this beret will cost me £6. Not bad and it's sooo nice and wintery thick. Last week when it was so cold I wished it was already done....

I came across one problem in the pattern so far. There is a round where they say pbf, without it being in the key and as I'm still a novice and not having done that before I didn't realise it was an increase. Two rounds on it didn't make sense the way the pattern worked and I discovered it. Then I went online and realised what pfb was. Purl in front (don't let the original stitch slip off, but hold it on the left needle) and then purl in back. You let the original stitch slip off and you have two stitches on your right needle. An nice increase. Anyway now I know and you might think it stupid I didn't look it up before, but I was on the train and wanted to knit. Now I know as I've learned from it :D hehe.

Am currently making the crown and hope to wear it sometimes next week and will post a nice finished pic then. Then I might do it all over again as it's a great project for a Christmas gift. My friend Marjolein wouldn't mind a beret, but I don't think a slouchy one would look on here, so I might try the normal version then.

Jelly Beanies again

Babies are being born left right and center. So I've been knitting baby hats again.



Jelly Beanie no. 4

This first one is for my boyfriends friend who has just become a daddy of a nice little girl. I don't know her name, but that didn't stop me from picking up the needles and knitting a Jelly Beanie (pattern from Rowan). See Ravelry for details (my Rav-name is Suhail). Be sure to drop me a line or add me to Friends :D.



And Jelly Beanie no5

The second hat is for Charlotte's new baby girl Mira. Mira's daddy is from Egypt and so I knitted 90% of the hat on Holiday. Hopefully it will bless Mira with the love from her father's land :D.

Check out an earlier Jelly Beanie post...

Ben & Jerry's lip balm

Mmmmmmmm...

Hooray! Even though I'm on a diet I can have as much Ben & Jerry's as I could ever wish for. Because.. they now got lip balms!!! Isn't that fantastic. They are four Pounds ($8), so that's not bad either. Bet they last a little bit longer than the ice cream version.

The smell of snow!

What would make my Christmas? Or anyone’s Christmas I hope? That one thing we hardly ever get: Snow! A white Christmas is fantastic!! I love snow and everything about it. The way it looks.. the sound when you walk over it, the feel of it, etc, etc. And also the smell. Although come to think of it I can’t remember what that smell is. So I’m quite intrigued by this little find: A Snow Perfume.


Snow in April, Photo from Vanguardist.org

The description on the shops website says: The Library of Fragrance were able to capture the essence of Snow in a scent; chilling, cool, clean and fresh, with a touch of dust (necessary to form flakes) and earth (upon which to rest). Wow that is quite a feat! It’s from a line of perfumes with all sorts of odd scents. From Hot Fudge Sundae, Baby Powder, Clean Windows, Dirt and Earl Grey Tea to Gin & Tonic, Grass, Holy Water, Glue and Play-Doh, they’ve got it. I wouldn't mind trying Rain, Thunderstorm or Wet Garden. Althought the idea of perfume de Lettuce makes me wriggle my nose. Who would like to smell like that?? Dirt I understand if you got a 8 year old. They would love that smell. :D But I can't think of any situation when Lettuce appeals.

And all these weird smells are not that expensive either for 12 Pounds ($24) for 30 ml or 6 Pounds ($12) for 15 ml the smell of Snow can be yours to sniff at whenever you feel like it. I'm tempted to get some just to try. If I do I'll let you know what it's like to sniff snow.


Snow in a bottle... tempting

At the product description they mentioned the different words for snow the Inuit have. Here is the list mentioned:

• Anniu - Falling Snow
• Api - Ground Snow
• Siqoq - Smoky, Drifting Snow
• Upsik - Wind-Beaten Snow
• Kimoaqtruk - Snow Drift
• Salumaroaq - Smooth Snowy Surface of Fine Particles
• Natatgonaq - Rough Snowy Surface of Large Particles

See how inspired you can get from snow. Lets all hope we'll get a nice fair pack around Christmas :D

Russian dolls

Cute Russian make-up dolls from Pupa

I bumped into these super cute make-up kits on the Kiss and Make up Blog. Aren’t they georgeous. They are made by Pupa, a brand known for it’s cute make-up. I would buy them if I wasn’t already feeling bad for the amount of make-up I’ve got. If you want them they are for sale on the Spoiled Brat website. Odd name as it’s not really positive feeling now is it to buy from a store with a name like that.. might be me? Anyway I think they would make great, no lets rephrase, fantastic gifts for Christmas. What girl age 15 and up would like one of these???


Dior Detective Chic Eye Palette

The reason I feel bad about my make-up is that I bought more on holiday. On the way back I was tempted into buying this Dior Detective case. Isn’t it nice. The colours are perfect for autumn and winter. Couldn’t resist.

Innocent hats five and six

I finished these innocent hats at the beginning of October and then send them off to Innocent. Tomorrow I'll have a peek in Sainsbury's to check out if there are any for sale :). Anyway I just wanted to show off my last two hats here:


Hat five and six

And ofcourse a picture of all the little hats. :) I hope that Innocent will have the same Big Knit next year so I can use up some more of my left over yarn.


All the hats together

Lines

Friday Saffy and I where talking about rhymes. Sinterklaas (Dutch Santa Claus) has arrived in The Netherlands and so the whole bloody country is rhyming like mad. Talking absolute nonsense we found ourselves inventing one line poetry we are now calling LINES. So if I come up with one or two I shall post them on my blog from now on. My first was in Dutch so I'll put a translation underneath, although it won't carry the same feeling.



De dag die lacht vrolijk aan het eind van de nacht!

The day who laughs happily at the end of the night!

... And where back!

Did you miss me? I missed you, well a little. I shall be uploading some Egypt pictures later in the week, when I get my routine back a bit. Which after two weeks of doing nothing, and I mean NOTHING (except two dives in the Red Sea) is not easy. More on Egypt later.


Italians got style...

I've got two things on my mind at the moment. The first is Fitness and style. At the hotel where a lot of Italians and my my my did they look stylish. I felt I have forgotten these last few years how fantastic it can be to be stylish. And I want to feel that again. So I'm going to focus on being stylish this winter season. Unfortunately I will not have the budget for any investments in clothes until at least april, but I'm sure I will manage with some improvisation. Also these Italians where very fit and so I've decided to give myself the best present ever for my birthday in September: a fit body and a healthy weight. So from now you will see regular updates about my journey to achieve this. I decided to start now and not tomorrow or next week or even the 1st of January. I want to reach my goal by September 24th and so I better start moving.


Getting ready for the season of lights

Second thing on my mind is Christmas. Being in cosy lovely warm and sunny Egypt it felt more like summer than November. I loved it but thought how awfull it would be to spend Christmas somewhere not cold. The holiday season should be dark with twinkling lights, hot cups of chocolate or spiced tea, people being generous and in good spirits, etc. When we arrived at Gatwick there where two big Christmas trees in the arrivals hall. Granted it was cold enough for it, but personally I think it's a bit early. No decoration for Christmas until December. But as a knitter this is exactly the time I'm thinking of making presents. So again in the next few weeks expect lots about getting ready for Christmas :).

See ya soon!