On my mind

...are still magnificent colors of nomad Asia... less word, more show! ;)

Yesterday I was searching my yarn sources for color charts to use for things I want to make, based on my inspiration by these costumes. Lopi - the classic water repellent yarn from Island is one of my first considerations, because it felts very well, protects from wetness, is lightweight, durable and the color, of course, the color selection is broad, in the chart below I can find almost every color I need. Lopi would be most suitable for over-the-shoulder one strap bags, that you would want to take everywhere, and that would fit all of your favorite/necessary on the go stuff. I can't wait to start working on this project! ;) But first, I need to finish my Tribal Market knitting, and participate there, and report back to you how it all went.. :)

It's very cold in our apartment, and when I dress in the morning, I feel like I need to put lots of warm layers, eventually, I end up looking like a skinny cabbage, and when I finally go outside all prepared for the cold to attack me, it's not that bad at all! The temperature outside is almost the same as in the room haha! :) 

V for Vibrant, V for Viet Nam

 My dear friend Moshe came back from his trip to Asia and shared many many pictures of the beauty of that region. And look just how very vibrant are the clothes of Viet Nam nomads! Dreamy colors, bursting at you splashing all around the reflections of rainbow ;) I feel so inspired, thanks to him, truly grateful for capturing such beauty. Immediately in my mind are.... felted brightly striped woolen yumminess for gloomy winter weather!

After the Tribal Market I am to pick and order yarn, yay!

Labeling

Hectic, yet delightful preparation for the market next Saturday! My proposition (to myself) of the label, I approve :)

I used paper and the hanging string (organic cotton yarn) aged by me... I love the result.

Tomorrow I'm going to post some of the items I have made. There are not as many as there are ideas that fill my head, I wish there were more days, but in any case, it is only a beginning, and what a plan for the beginning I should say! 

till next post ;)

Weekly inspirations

I am watching National Geographic six-episode documentary about Africa. Everything about shown culture fascinates me.. it is so pure, bodies and emotions uncovered by shame we impose on ourselves in the west... so beautiful! 

Needless to say I am feeling tribal ;)

p.s. I don't usually give credits for using images found on a random blog, tumblr or some other place I don't have a connection with simply because I find it more than unnecessary. So, unless you are the person who owns the photograph, please, don't be upset about you ego not letting an issue like this one go ;)

"Ben! I have one word for you: PLASTIC!"

I not always have a grocery bag with me. In such a case I ask a cashier to fit everything in as few bags as possible (it's always no more than two) and to not double bag it. I get all kinds of puzzled looks (human nature is incredibly vast in it's beauty of expression), lost looks, and even comments like "she's crazy". Sometimes, a kind clueless soul warns me, that my shopping bags are going to be to heavy, if not doubled. And then I say: "You know what's heavy? The build up of plastic on the Earth." A response, as a rule, is the look, that's even more lost. There are places, like Whole Foods, where not only customers, but all the staff is aware more or less, but not in the area of Brooklyn, where I live... I keep hoping that one day I'll see understanding and approving smile from a sales person. This is why, I collected as many bags as I did, with the help of my food-shopping loving family, and made my first shopping bags, which I'm intending to take every time I go grocery shopping. 

It is so darn easy and rewarding to make a bag like this, that I am to share a pictorial process, in hopes that it can be handy for some, if not all :)

Fold a bag lengthwise, cut off the bottom and the handles (those parts can go to recycle bin for plastic at your local supermarket).

Cut the folded bag across into several pieces, approximately 1 inch wide.

Unfolded, each piece will have a circular seamless shape.

Here's a seemingly tricky (but it's not) part. Take two "rings" of plastic that you unfolded, and interlace them, like shown in the picture. You sort of wrap one circle around another, making a loop, through which you pull out the whole thing eventually. 

Here it's more visible.

Dozens of bags are made into yards and yards of plastic yarn, which is then rolled into a ball.

I hope you can crochet. If you can't, you're missing out on a rather pleasurable pastime making many beautiful things for yourself and your friends and family. 

Here's my grocery bag. I like how there is a blue and red stripe going around - it happened totally by accident, a nice little gift from my own effort ;) 

p.s. oh, and the rug is the one I made out of old t-shirts, i blogged about it earlier ;) It feels soooo nice to step on it in the morning, a sudden splash of color... boom! makes me happy!