Happy Holidays and Jolly New Year to all of you!
I'm off to Estonia for the holidays. Since there is no Internet at my parents' place, the blog will have a holiday too.
Happy Holidays!
Friday, December 21
Wednesday, December 19
The Little Things
Some things that make me happy, in no particular order.
- Scritching the head of a purring cat as he lays on my lap while I'm knitting.
- Listening to the lastest Nightwish album as loud as I dare.
- Dancing to the same album.
- Catching a glimpse of my fringe in a mirror. (Pretty colour always makes me happy.)
- Inviting friends over for dinner or just for a cuppa.
- Sipping flavoured loose leaf tea.
- Catching a glimpse of that cheery orange orb in my kitchen.
- Listening to Discworld audiobooks while knitting.
- Mao and Ursus greeting me at the door when I come home from work.
- Reading your comments.
- Having lots of counter space in the kitchen — perfect for baking.
- Snow.
- Finding my winter gear. (I have gloves, socks and scarves again! Woo!)
- Knitting with a beautiful yarn that is also a pleasure to touch.
- Putting on a shorter belt because I've run out of holes on the longer one.
- Ursus and Mao sleeping in the chair.
They've begun to sleep close to each other lately and have even tried to be in my lap at the same time. Tried, but not succeeded so far. The one who got there first will not give space to the other. I hope it'll improve or I'll have to start rearranging the cats on my lap so that both will have sufficient space.
Monday, December 17
Non-Christmas Gifts
Ada of Dutch Knitting sent me three lovely soaps that make my bathroom smell all summery.
Tina of Ulltopia came to visit on Friday and brought two gifts. We had fun knitting, catching up, sipping tea, discussing knitting, crafts and SCA.
The tea has cracked rosé pepper that give it a little bite. Yum! I've never had tea with pepper before and I wouldn't have thought of the combination myself, or dared to buy it. Thank you, Tina!
I haven't tried to spin the wool yet, I must finish the Christmas gift knitting first, but it looks scrumptious. I am sure it is as delightful to spin as it looks.
Friday, December 14
Hair After
The hairdresser did a really good dye job. I am happy with my hair now, it has character and reflects my personality.
Hair from the front.
Close up of the fringe.
Hair from the back.
Since it's truly black again, it's hard to photograph from the back. There are layers there, but they don't show up much on the pic either.
I do like the look super long hair and I'm glad I took the pictures of mine before cutting it so I can look at them once in a while. I don't see myself from the back very often, so having hair that looked good from the back only (and only for a few hours) didn't help me recover my self-esteem after the break up.
I've come to the conclusion that my hair feels and looks best when it's moderately long. I'm going to keep it that way for the time being and admire other peoples' uber-long hair.
Wednesday, December 12
Project of the Month - December
I did say that I wasn't going to begin with Project of the Month until January. But what's a girl to do when she spots this?
My old soap pump leaks and I've wanted to replace it, but hadn't seen anything that would fit the planned kitchen colour scheme (dark chocolate, oranges and lemons). Plus the white cupboards, stainless steel and wood surfaces, of course, but they are the background, not the main theme.
It's a small improvement, but it is an improvement and that's what counts.
Monday, December 10
Hair Before
A week ago I went to a hairstylist. I'd been thinking about a new haircut quite a while, but didn't have the time or the energy to get one. She didn't cut it quite how I wanted it, but I'm letting it be until next year before getting it cut again.
I'm going back to her this Thursday to have it dyed and will post the "after" pictures on Friday. Here are the "before" pictures for comparison.
Hair from the front.
Hair from the back
Of course Mao needed to find out what was going on. He sniffed my hair, looked at me, looked at me in the mirror* and was completely baffled 'cause he couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about.
I hadn't seen my hair from the back like that and it does look good but... it only looked good for a few hours after I'd washed it. Furthermore, it wasn't black. I'd dyed it so many times that it didn't retain the colour for more than a week. Also, it was too long to do anything fun with it. I grew tired of ponytails and braids. I couldn't style it because it was so long that I couldn't reach the ends and once I'd managed to put some curl in them, the hair was so heavy the curls were gone in minutes. It was also too long to have braids put in.
So I decided to have it cut shorter and have some layers put in. The hairdresser didn't dare to cut it exactly as I wanted, but I hope she'll dye it like I want it. I just need to convince her that I know what I'm asking for.
* Yes, he knows what a reflection is. I've caught him looking at my reflection in the mirror with the full expectation that I'll look at his, instead of looking directly at him. That was a bit spooky, cats are not supposed to be that smart, are they? On the other hand, I'm not quite sure that Ursus has figured out what mirrors do, I haven't seen him actually focus on any reflection. I think mirror is just another surface for him.
Friday, December 7
Pay It Forward
Saw this on Dutch Knitting blog and decided to share the fun by sending gifts.
I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don't know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.
To the first three people who comment I shall send something handmade by me. It can be knit, crochet, handspun, baked or something entirely different.
You do not need to be in Europe to participate, I can send packages anywhere. Well, almost. Antarctica would be a challenge, I expect. And I'm not sure you can send packages to space stations, but if you have a postal address, it's safe to say that I can send a package to you.
Wednesday, December 5
Up To
On Saturday I was invited to Julpyssel hosted by two friends. It is an annual event and the idea is to craft something Christmas-related. People are divided into teams and there is a competition. The hosts do not reveal the theme beforehand so no-one can get an unfair edge. This years theme was "A paper doll with a Christmas fashion collection". Our team won. Woo!
On Monday I went to a hairdresser to get a new hairstyle. I am not entirely certain how I feel about it, but I'm willing to give it some time to get used to it. I wanted something shorter, more layered and shaggy, but the surrent one is longer with less layers. If my feelings won't change in next couple of months, I'll go back and insist on more layers.
I didn't have the hair dyed this time because first, I couldn't decide on colour and second, the hairdresser didn't have the time. I still haven't quite decided on the colour, other that I want it to be dark, maybe with more than one colour.
On Tuesday I went to Nightwish concert. Wow! let me repeat: WOW! It was awsome! Beautiful music and fabulous lightshow. I'll definitely will go see them again. Thank you, auntie, for this birthday present!
I've booked tickets to Megadeth concert here in Stockholm and have subscribed to Rammstein newsletter to see when their next tour will be. I used to go to concerts quite a bit in Estonia, but couldn't do so the first time I lived in Sweden due to lack of money. I missed the last Rammstein tour that way. *grumble, grumble*
More bands visit Stockholm than Tallinn, so I'm in luck there. I have more concerts to go to. Fantastic!
I've been knitting, but can't show any pictures because the recipients read this blog. All will be revealed in due time.