Last minute crochet poppy flower

Make your poppy flower in nearly no time!

Skip the inner petals if really pressed.

I used a dk yarn and artificial anthers but feel free to experiment with embroidery, seed beads…

Notions: dk yarn, corresponding crochet hook (I used size 3mm), safety pin, any anthers you can think of.

Instructions:

Wrap the yarn around your little finger tree times to create a base ring.

Sc 14 times, join. Ch 2.

If you make both the outer and the inner petals, work the outer petals into the outer leg of the stitch (they are worked first) and the inner ones – into the inner leg of the stitch.

Outer petals: dc 1, dc 2 into one st, dc 1, dc 2 into one st, dc 1, ch 1, sl st. Repeat for the second petal. Ch 2 (skip and bind off if not making the inner petals.)

Inner petals: dc 2 into one st, dc 1, ch 1, sl st. Ch 2, dc 1, dc 2 into one st, dc 1, dc 2 into one st, dc 1, ch 1, sl st. Ch 2, dc 1, dc 2 into one st, ch 1, sl st. Bind off.

Make the anthers, attach the pin – that’s it!

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Brave new year

Happy New Year, friends! Hope it’s a good one this time!

I’m not going to worsen your headache with my New Year resolutions: nobody ever sticks to them anyway, so why bother? Instead, let us all make a wish!

The only thing I wish for this year is courage.

The courage to think for myself.

The courage to speak up.

The courage to stand out.

The courage to be authentic.

The courage to leave the comfort zone and face the big, scary, wonderful wilderness…

William Wallace Denslow for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Living takes a lot of courage these days: check any news channel if you need a proof. But it’s worth it, as long as you know what you’re doing – or have the nerve to admit that you’ve got absolutely no idea – and do it anyway.

A brave new year to you, my friends!

Merry and bright!

“Ordinary people… They love money, they always did… Humans love money, be it made of leather or paper, bronze or gold. Yes, they are silly… but then… they can be kind as well… just human… On the whole, they haven’t changed that much…” (Satan in The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov)

My dear humans,

It’s Christmas time and I want to thank you for being there, for being you… No, we haven’t changed: the other day I searched the Internet for Christmas issues of the popular magazines… And know what? We’re still the same!

We still like to go buy a tree…

and decorate it…

not without some difficulties…

We do the last-minute shopping…

wrap the presents…

send the greetings…

and wait for the magic…

We get together, for a talk and a laugh, a meal and a dance…

But why? Surely not because of baby Jesus, may he be blessed in spite of all the mess that followed his birth! So why, then? Why flock together and do all the merry-making in the middle of a long, cold winter? Well, I suppose the answer is “to get warm”. And who says “warmth”, says “light”. And who says “light”, says “hope”. You know, it’s no coincidence that the symbolic birth of Jesus falls so close to the winter solstice: in the darkest hour people come together looking for a new hope, and behold! – the light comes back, the days begin to grow longer bringing a promise of spring, of life, of plenty… After all, we are just human. We all need a sparkle of hope when all lights go out.

So here is to you, my dear humans! To you who go on, to you who do their best, to you who keep hoping beyond all hope, let us be merry, let us come together and light up the night! Let us share the warmth, the joy and the promise of better days to come!

Love and peace!

 

 

 

 

August is for finishing

“August” stands for many things:

Authentic / Art

Who made my shoes?

Fashion Revolution Week is coming to its close and there’s no better way to end it in glory than participate in the Who made my clothes? campaign!

I usually cut the tags on my clothes: those on the neck scratch mercilessly and those in the side seam create a funny bulge on one’s hip, so I’m better without!

OK, I cannot show them off. BUT: I’ve got shoes!

Let me introduce you to my collection! These are all the shoes I own, except a pair of winter boots and a pair of flip-flops. I didn’t include the former because I know exactly where they were made and I completely forgot about the latter when I staged the photo shot…

So, can anybody tell me #whomademyshoes?

It’s Fashion Revolution Week!

And I’ll be loading your brain with sustainable fashion facts – bear with me!

Source: fashionrevolution.org

Sooo, what the heck is sustainable fashion?

Back to square One

Hi all!

I thought you might like a sneak peek at my new sweater…

Ta-daam!

The sweater curse

Knitter or non-knitter, you have probably heard about the sweater curse…

Source: Web

If you haven’t, make yourself comfortable and listen. Once upon a time there was a knitter.

December news

So, are your New Year resolutions all written down?

Relax, I’m joking! Who cares about New Year resolutions? Just stay safe and have fun!

Remember my fall knitting challenge? Well, here are my new mittens!

Love, Iryna

Retro love

Hello everyone! Thanks for commenting on the previous post, Cheryl! The mittens keep growing, albeit slowly: unfortunately one cannot knit and learn how to make websites at the same time, so I’m trying to alternate… But I’ll have to knit faster now that the temperatures have fallen below zero. In the meantime, my old mittens will keep me warm as well as they can.

Today I want to tell you about my new passion: retro.