bread love.

Many moons ago, when I was an au-pair in NYC for a year, my mother called me to ask if there was anything she could send me from Germany that I missed in the Big Apple. I missed my family terribly, but they were obviously too large to fit in a package, so I opted for the next best thing on my list: bread. German sourdough or wholegrain bread. I never thought I would miss real bread as much as I did that year. My guest family lived on Wonderbread. I named it "I wonder why they call it bread?!", as it was clearly made from rubber foam. Once in a while my host mother bought a loaf of sourdough bread in a swanky bakery on Upper Eastside. For about 8 dollars. ..but only when they were entertaining and had a very, very fancy dinner. I was almost crying with gratitude when I unpacked several boxes of bread mix and real pumpernickel a couple of weeks later that my mother had sent to me. Needless to say I kept it all to myself.
I could never survive on a no-carb diet. My love of bread goes waaaay back. So yesterday I finally made a bread bag (very much inspired by this tutorial, but I used the oilcloth on the outside and lined it with cotton. It is closed with velcro so all the little crumbs stay in the bag - yay!).


We eat a lot of bread, but the last bit always goes stale or dry and using a new plastic bag every time is not good for mother earth.
Are you hungry yet?

While you are having a little snack, I suggest checking out Bjorkes beautiful blog bybjor. She's from the Netherlands, a BoligLiv fan just like me (my master plan is to get you all to subscribe so they will never, ever cancel this fantastic magazine, ha!) and she also has an etsy shop where she sells jewelry made from vintage buttons.

Why, Kirsten, why???

Don't worry, this blog is not going to change into a celebrity bashing site, in fact I've thought long and hard if I should post about this. But sometimes...I just can't help myself - especially if some kind of craft is involved. So look at it from the knitters point of view...if you dare.

Hollywood stars have great bodies, money to burn and often get designer gear for free. So why why why why why in the world, Kirsten Dunst, would you pick a dress that was clearly knitted on chopsticks by a colorblind preschooler with grandmas acrylic yarn leftovers? Why???


(photo: gofugyourself.celebuzz.com)

random acts of beauty.

...stop...wait...


...go!


(Traffic light in our neighbourhood in Berlin.)

this just in.

Remember when a couple of weeks ago I contemplated crocheting a vest for myself? Well - it seems Jennifer Love Hewitt not only beat me to it, she also cured me instantly:


(photo: FlynetOnline.com)

What she's wearing appears to be a crocheted rug with armholes AND a turtleneck. I will call it the "SHrug". - Or maybe it's the hand-made version of the Slanket?
We will probably never know.

Happy Valentines Day!

Wherever you are.

Copenhagen.

Last December I got the best birthday present ever - my husband took me to Copenhagen.

We stayed at Hotel Fox, where every room was created by another designer. Very quirky and right in the city centre. From there walked a lot...Copenhagen is ideal for walking.


...light object in the entrance of the Hotel Fox...so beautiful...


...the lobby...


...loved the carpet...


...door to our room: "Japanese Garden"...


...the room was designed by tokidoki...


...absolutely loved it, but it just had one tiny little lamp and it gets very dark in Copenhagen in December...


...sushi restaurant at Hotel Fox...


...we took a stroll through beautiful Christianshavn...


...so pretty, it's almost unreal...


...and of course we had to visit Hans Christian Andersens little mermaid (what you can't see in the picture are 100 Italian tourists taking turns to get a picture with her)...


...just because it was so pretty...


...Copenhagen city hall - can you see all the woven "jul hjerter"? Apparently they were invented by...Hans Christian Andersen!...


...the old Palads Bios movie theatre...

And now for the shops!
You can shop to your hearts content in Copenhagen. If you are a regular reader of this blog you know how much I heart Danish designers, so this was like letting a child run wild in a candy store. Wow. I saved a little beforehand and I really bought a lot of stuff. And it was my birthday...so I had to... Actually...I might write another post just about the things I just had to have or wanted to have.

First - my absolute favourite...

Creme de la Creme à la Edgar. I was there so many times they probably thought I was a stalker. But it is impossible to take in everything they have in this beautiful shop just by going there once! Clothing for children and women, accessories, christmas decorations, pillows...a lot of handmade, one of a kind things. They are often featured in BolivLiv and other interior magazines.

Right downstairs from Creme de la Creme à la Edgar is Kaiku, they have a huge selection of Marimekko (fabrics!!!), even so it's not a very big shop.

When you follow Kompagnistraede (where Creme de la Creme à la Edgar is) in the direction of the city center (I hope that's right) it turns into Læderstræde. Here you will find Stilleben (beautiful ceramics) and Gronlykke (colorful goods from all over the world).

At the end of Læderstræde you'll get to a square were Illums Bolighus is located. It's a temple to all things design...especially Scandinavian design. More or less right next to it is "The Royal Café". It's the café of the Royal Copenhagen, the Royal Porcelain Factory (Danish: Den kongelige Porcenlæfabrik). Beautiful. When we were there it was so packed we couldn't get a table, but it's well worth a visit.

I can also highly recommend Notre Dame (everything you could possibly need to spurce up your home) and Superlove (clothing and accessories), both on Nörregade.
One thing that surprised me - almost all the shops close at 6 pm.
So if you just go to Copenhagen for one day - go shopping first. ;)

This is just a small selection of what we did and definitely just a small selection of the unique shops in Copenhagen. It's worth a couple of visits, I think and I really would love to go again in summer.

Raggamuffin.

(celebrity-babies.com)

I'm not really a fan of Gwen Stefani (but I don't have anything against her either) and I'm not sure if a kid named Zuma Nesta Rock will have a lot of fun in school...but hey...that crochet baby hat the little guy is wearing in almost every picture is absolutely adorable! It's almost as famous as this hat. :)

I did a little research - they are made by Li'l Sprout. Crocheted by hand (yay!) they come in a large variety of colors and styles (my favourite is the multicolored one with the little brim). Almost makes you want to start reproducing instantly, doesn't it?

Daisy.

I've discovered a new Danish (what else?) brand I really like. Daisy.
Their pretty website looks just like a moodboard:



They have a small range of different products and use Liberty fabrics in their designs, which are my current favourites as well. Everything is very quirky and colorful. Behold...

...a patchwork quilt I absolutely adore, made from Liberty fabrics...


...lovely yoga (?) pants - also made from Liberty fabrics...


...vintage wallpaper storage boxes...


...and I bought some of their christmas tree ornaments when we were in Copenhagen last December, just like these...




(photos: ankerliving.dk, YouHeShe.com)

Introducing: Nelly, the sock giraffe.

For years now I've been planning to stock my much neglected etsy shop. Currently I'm working on sock monkeys and other sock critters which will be available soon.

So this is Nelly, the first sock giraffe I made. The idea just appeared in my head and I had to try if it would work. The Argyle pattern was pefect, it looks a bit like a modern take on giraffe spots.

magic.

New shops just keep popping up in Berlin...it seems you turn your back and "bang!" - there's another one! While strolling in Mitte a couple of days ago, I came across a brand spanking new iittala shop. I repeat: Berlin now has its very own iittala shop! Yay! They even carry the famous Moomin mugs that I started to collect a while back.
Another design that caught my eye is Taika, which is Finnish for "magic".
I really like the black and white version, it looks like a paper cut illustration.




(iittala.com)

I also love iittalas motto: "Against throwawayism." Brilliant.

more crafting, less writing.

It seems I'm always apologizing for the lack of updates...so here it goes: I'm sorry. Again. Truth is, time just seems to fly by and there are so many things I want to blog about but totally forget to do so in the everyday swing of things. Pictures from our trip to Copenhagen. Pictures of sock critters. New products or designers I'm coveting. But there are also so many things I want to make and sometimes blogging just seems to distract me from playing with ideas and materials. Like these french press cozies - the large one is made from thick felt with a velcro closure, the other is practically the same but with granny squares thrown in for good meassure.
I just love granny squares.
Years back I had an old history teacher who owned a granny square vest...back then I thought it was the most hideous piece of clothing I had ever seen...these days I'm contemplating to make my own...I need help. Clearly.

Hopefully I'll adapt to the new year soon.