a wonderful gift!

In September the BBEST team organized a gift swap with theme the butterflies, to honor Pat, who was stepping down from her admin duties. We made a small gift and uploaded to the group pool in flickr. When the swap ended, everyone of us sent her creation to the person left to her photo on the pool. Today I receiver mine with the post!!! A very beautiful bookmark made by Sharon! The flat part is made with fabulous viscose felt from Myfanwy, and each side has totally different colors. Pewter butterflies are braided into a funky tassel made from some crazy yarn. It arrived beautifully packaged and it had also a very cute little card, made by ClaudiasCreations.etsy.com and is made from handmade paper that has flower seeds in and can be planted! Isn't it great to start your week so beautifully? Thanks Sharon!!!

Two weeks of challenges from our European Street Team have gone by. Last week we had to make something "that men appreciate" and I knit a chunky green cowl that can be worn either by man or woman:

Winner of the challenge was matchstikgirl and she cose the next theme, which is "things that go bump in the night, loosely translated as what scares you the most". I made a necklace with beads from felt and silk fabric scraps with black-white designs. One of the designs of the fabrics is skulls:

Knit One, Save One: Big Stars Make Little Caps to Save Newborns

Hollywood's leading ladies such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Save the Children’s Artist Ambassador, Julia Roberts, Rebecca Romijn, Debra Messing, Lisa Edelstein, Patricia Arquette, Misha Burton, are picking up their favorite knitting needles and crochet hooks to spread some warmth to newborns in developing nations.


Watch the message from Lisa Edelstein on youtube:





“Knit One, Save One” is a grassroots initiative of the global humanitarian organization Save the Children and the Warm Up America Foundation. The project seeks to engage knitters and crocheters to take action for the 4 million babies who die each year within the first month of life in poor countries.

Research shows that 50 percent of the 4 million newborn deaths that occur each year could be prevented if mothers and children in poor countries had access to a simple package of health measures. This package includes antibiotics to fight infections, immunizations, training for skilled birth attendants, education on breastfeeding and hygiene, and basic care such as keeping a baby warm by covering the head and carrying the baby skin-to-skin. America’s leaders could save millions of newborns by increasing international assistance for programs that offer these inexpensive life-saving tools.





"Survive to 5" is "Save the Children's" campaign to make survival a reality for more children who lack basic health care. Now there are five new ways you can help save newborn lives in the poorest countries around the world. Every day, nearly 27,000 children under the age of 5 die from preventable or treatable illnesses like pneumonia, diarrhea, and newborn complications. We can save about 60% of these children with simple, proven solutions provided by skilled community health care workers. 10 million children die needlessly every year. Be 1 of the 10 million people who take action to stop it.


Help prevent four million newborn deaths each year. Find more information about getting involved here!

Browse here for free baby hat patterns.

Apple pie with grated crust

Ingredients for 6-8 pieces

For the dough

400 gr. all-purpose flour

200 gr. Butter

1/2-3/4 cup sugar

4 egg yolks

I teaspoon baking powder

For the filling

4 large apples

2-3 tablespoons sugar

• freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 1/2 cup cold water

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2-3 tablespoons raisins

3-4 tablespoons walnut

1/2 tablespoon Cinnamon

Prepare the dough. Put the flour and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine, add all the ingredients and pulse a few times until the mixture begins to become mealy.

If it appears dry and is not holding together, add a few tablespoons of cold water.

Form the dough into two balls (one bigger than the other), wrap the small ball in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to use. Tamp the second ball of dough onto your pie pan with your hands, taking care that it is spread evenly and cover also the sides of the pan. Put the pan in the fridge while you are preparing the filling.

Prepare the filling.Peel and slice your apples. Put the apple slices in a pan, add the lemon juice, the water and the sugar and cook them for 10-15 minutes in low temperature until they become soft. Mix the cornstarch with some water and add to the apples. Remove the pan from the heat when it has absorbed it's juices. Add the raisins, walnuts and cinnamon. Let cool for some minutes.

Fill the unbaked bottom crust with apple filling.

Grate the second ball of dough over the filling. Place in preheated oven.

Bake pie for 45-50 minutes in 180 degrees until the grated crust is golden brown. Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting. You can serve it with caramel syrup or vanilla ice.

Τip: Leave the eggs and the butter for some hours in a room temperature before mixing.

Switch off the lights!

I forward the message from pouanteri!

10 minutes of breath for EARTH!
Darkness on the world
on the 20th October 2008 from 21:50 to 22:00 let us all switch of all the lights, all the electric devices, let us give the chance to the planet to breath. If the contribution will be massive, the saving of energy will be huge. Only 10 minutes, to see what could happen! Yes, we will be in darkness for some minutes, with the light of a candle to lighten us and only with our breath to give to the planet. Remember, that the power is in unity. Tell your friends in whatever company they are living!
Forward this message!

Ι’m a yarnaholic, I admit it!

Last Saturday I participated to a workshop at Kangaroo, "the netting fork (hairpin lace loom) technique" this time. Our good teacher Angeliki taught us the basics, and next week we will learn the bindings. He must do some homework too!! It was a very pleasant morning, creative and fun! And I had the chance to meet Maria in person, who I have met through blogging and we were talking to meet each other some time. Maria is a wonderful openhearted person, and of course very crafty. She knits, sews and creates fantastic things, and is a fabulous cook as well. From the first minute we met, I felt that I found a new friend and am very happy about it and I can't wait for the next Saturday to meet again!! After the workshop I couldn't resist to the temptation I bought new yarns and start knitting them the same evening ;) That's why I didn't sit in front of my p/c so many days!



Mania working with the fork.

My first attempts. With Maria.

In the meanwhile, the challenges continue in our group (EST). Two weeks ago we had to make something "cute" and I knit a cute bobbles bag:


The winner of the challenge was Arctida, who chose the next theme: science fiction". I made this necklace with black felt beads:



This week the winner is a guy, Daniel from SwedishJewels, and he chose "boys/men" for theme, that means we have to create something that men appreciate.
I also made a scarfelette for the monthly challenge of EtsyFast team:
Do you remember the black-white-grey scarf I started some time ago? It's finished at last!

My first creation with the fork:

Today I went to the center for some business and passed by Kangaroo again, and guess what? I bought more yarn!!!!

Let's play tagging!

Ann tagged me and I need to post 7 facts about myself now. Isn't as easy as it looks, but I'll do my best.

7 facts:

I love travels, everywhere in the word, I love to know new places, their people, their culture, their food ;)
I hate lies and hypocrisy, and I'm a terrible lire
I like thrillers
I don't love sweets much, but I can't resist to a pie
I'm very good with numbers, but terrible with names
I first talked in German and then in Greek, but I don’t remember it so good now
I drink too much coffee


The rules are:
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving theirnames as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are the ones I’m tagging:
Antigoni
Tina
Dina
Blossomingtree
Pouanteri
Atwinklestar
Mirthquake

Fairies

I went yesterday to a seminar held by my good friend Sofie Vamvaka at Kangaroo, for fairy making. I had attented this seminar again in the past, but I didn't take notes and I forgot how we make them, hense "the epanalipsis mother of all knowledge"! We made lovely fairies and enjoyed it very much (I took notes this time ;)



These are Ioulia's creations





The two last ones are my creations. I have not finished the black-white one yet, I want to stitch stars on her dress.