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.

New creations with felt

It is still the beginning of autumn, but the European group of Etsy has already began the preparations for Christmas promotion,since people abroad prepare and plan their Christmas shopping on time. I desided to make fill my shop with gift items. Starting yesterday, I made these necklaces with felt:

This week’s creations

The cool and rainy weather of the last days inspired me to knit and craft a lot. I starting a capelet for the weekly challenge "minimalism", but didn't finish it on time, so I made these simple felt bangles.

And since I started working with felt, I made these cute pins.

The winner of the challenge was Matilou, and she chose the next theme, which is : "revival"
I searched my stash and found a piece of lovely multicolor yarn, that was a leftover from a scarf and I gave it life, making a pair or cabled gauntlets J

In the meantime, I finished the capelet with the chunky Colinette yarn:

And now I'm knitting a scarf with several grey, white and black yarns J

Grab you needles!

The weather has cooled, and it's ideal for knitting! This season the designers have played with knitwear, creating awesome designs, other chunky and oversized, with volume, huge collars and sleeves and other with more feminine style. Take a look and get inspired!

Waiting for the rain

Now that the weather is changing slowly and it;s getting cooler, I start to long for autumnal dishes.The fisrt thing that came to my mind, while I was looking at the grapes at the super market, was stuffed vine leaves, which I adore!

Here are two recipes:

Stuffed vine leaves with rice (Dolmadakia yialantzi)

1 lb fresh or preserved vine leaves
1 lb short grain rice
3 cups finely chopped spring onions
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped parsley
1 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
Salt & pepper for seasoning

Wash the vine leaves and trim off the stems. Blanch them, a few at a time, in boiling water. Drain and let them cool. Mix the rice with the onions, the herbs, half of the oil, and the seasoning. Lay the vine leaves one by one on your left hand, put a tablespoon of the rice mixture in the middle of the leaf, fold the sides over and roll it up into a neat parcel. Continue stuffing the vine leaves, until all the filling is used. Cover the base of a large pan with plain vine leaves. Arrange the stuffed vine leaves on top packing them in, with the folded side down, in more than one layer if necessary. Pour on the remaining oil, boiling water to cover the layers and the lemon juice. Put a heave plate upside down on the top of the stuffed vine leaves, to keep them in shape while cooking. Cover the pan and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until all the water is absorbed (30-40 min). Let them cool and serve them. They are delicious with yogurt and can be served warm or cold.
Alternative: You can add ¼ cup pine nuts to the mixture if you like.

Stuffed vine leaves with meat (Dolmadakia me kima)

1 lb fresh or preserved vine leaves
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 large onion finely chopped
½ cup finely chopped parsley
½ cup finely chopped fresh dill
½ cup short grain rice
1 cup olive oil
1 cup boiling water
2 eggs
Salt & pepper for seasoning
1/3 cup lemon juice

Wash the vine leaves and trim off the stems. Blanch them, a few at a time, in boiling water. Drain and let them cool. Mix the meat with the rice, the onions, the herbs, half of the oil, and the seasoning. Lay the vine leaves one by one on your left hand, put a tablespoon of the rice mixture in the middle of the leaf, fold the sides over and roll it up into a neat parcel. Continue stuffing the vine leaves, until all the filling is used. Cover the base of a large pan with plain vine leaves. Arrange the stuffed vine leaves on top packing them in, with the folded side down, in more than one layer if necessary. Pour on the remaining oil, boiling water to cover the layers and the lemon juice. Put a heave plate upside down on the top of the stuffed vine leaves, to keep them in shape while cooking. Cover the pan and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the water is reduced by one third and the meat is cooked (30-40 min). Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl, add the lemon juice gradually and continue beating. Drain a cup of hot liquid from the vine leaves and slowly pour the egg-lemon sauce over the stuffed vine leaves, shaking the pan gently to spread all over. Remove from the heat. Allow to stand for 15 minutes before serving.