DIY: Slouchy Winter Hat (very warm)

[NOTE: If you live in Lithuania, and want me to make one like this for you just write a comment under this blog post and we'll make a deal about it. ;} ]

Another DIY blog post for all you crocheting lovers! ヾ(＾∇＾)

After I finished my new not-yet-shown-to-you-all warm cardigan I decided to take a break from crocheting or anything since I'm quite busy nowadays..buuuuuut..my boyfriend gave me an idea to make a winter hat. I, once again, gained inspiration and got so enthusiastic that I started searching for a pattern right away. I actually found a really nice slouchy hat pattern online here: http://www.caron.com/vickiehowell/patterns/urban_jungle/urban_jungle.html 
But once I started crocheting it, I saw that it's really..not winter hat at all. .-. It's full of holes and it's more like an accessory or a spring/autumn hat, not for keeping warmth.. (｡･_･｡)σ

I kept searching and searching but it was so useless that I ran out of patience. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ So I opened my oldie book and searched for a good pattern myself! So this is what I got. You can actually say that it's my first work that I made just from my own head and inspiration! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Slouchy winter hat side view

(oh yeah, you can notice difference in this photo, I'm not blonde anymore, I'm actually a redhead now but flash makes my hair kinda brown. (>ω<＊)ﾉﾉ)

Here's a pattern for this hat:

I also thought about those girls (or maybe boys? haha) who don't understand these kind of patterns so here are some explanations:

For the very start I just knitted a simple stripe about 53cm long and connected it to make it round. After that I started making pattern from above.
I kept repeating everything till the hat were about 28cm long.
For the ending I used advices from Vickie Howell's slouchy hat pattern.
Also, if you aren't sure how to make those puffs, please visit Vickie's pattern too. The only difference is that you need to make puffs from single crochets all around (as it is shown), not just from one single crochet. ☆ﾐ(o*･ω･)ﾉ

Winter Slouchy hat back view

Winter Slouchy hat pattern close up

This hat is soooo warm!! It took me few minutes to take these photos while me wearing it but it made me sweat right away haha. ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)
Well, it took me about 4 days to make it and I'm really happy with my finished work. I think it looks perfect, so my boyfriend does. (ﾉ´∀｀*)ﾉ

Happy and warm winter! (─‿‿─)

~Rinatsu~ My Twitter | My Facebook Page

P.S.: If you are having trouble seeing squares instead of cute emoticons, then please visit my older post and download Japanese fonts. Since most of the symbols I used are supported by them. ^-^

Home made Pocky!

As a non Japanese or non Asian person being crazy about East Asian culture and living in Eastern Europe I have quite a lot of difficulties trying Asian dishes or buying Asian stuff (especially when I don't use online shopping stuff). But I'm really happy that Japanese food is getting more popular in my country so I can eat sushi whenever I want. ^-^

But sadly there aren't many opportunities to get food made not in restaurants but just sold in shops. So one day I tried searching something that I can make myself at home! I'm not really into cooking so I though this will be kind of a challenge to me. :D So I accidentally stumbled into this Lithuanian website. Believe it or not but I tried making Pockies and they went out quite good!! I can't really say if it is a lot different from real Pockies since I only ate them once and I know that there are a lot of different tastes. Buuuut here's a photo of my Pockies! ^^

I also had recipe in my previous blog on WordPress BUT...then I realised that it isn't worth it because I had more and more troubles trying to make it. Dough was really sticky, almost half of it has been thrown away... :/

Anyways, enjoy another photo of my cuties and bye bye to my current pocky recipe. XD 

Actually I have found another recipe for pockies but I'll stay silent for now since I'll have to try them first. I'll inform you as soon as I have cooked something new! ^-^

Have you tried baking pockies or any other Asian goodie? Let me know in the comments, put a link to your creation photo or blog post!~ (^-~)/

Rinatsu~

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4 Day Vacations

Guess who had the most awesome vacations ever? ^^

This week, on Tuesday my boyfriend and I went to the sea. Planned 2 days of vacations became 3 and finally 4... XD

What is the most amazing that I spent all the time with the person I love. Whole 4 days. :3 And I got few awesome photos!~ ^-^

Get ready!

We left city about 8.30am. I was sleepy almost all the way. x.x But managed to catch some nice photos like these cute windmills on the way there. ^^

Road with a good music.~ (>w<)\m/ 

Sea shore with bunch of birds standing there and chilling. XD

Awesome breakfast at amazing restaurant 'de Cuba' with gorgeous exterior and garden on the 3rd day. ^-^ ♥

Spaghetti and Latte Macchiato. :3 ♥ NOMNOMNOM~~

Because I love. ^-^ ♥

Marine Terminal

Dog's statue on the dock with written words: 'Love...Believe..and Wait' :}

Boy's statue. Waving for leaving ships. ^^

Me and my boyfriend. :3 Doing nonsenses. :'D

View from the love's shoulder... ^-^ ♥

After 4 awesome days at the sea we had to leave... T^T It was so sad but it's okay because all memories will stay in my head and in my heart... :3 ♥

You can also find these photos on my deviantART.

Enjoy, favourite and comment!~ I would really appreciate that. ^^

Stay happy guys.

~Rinatsu~ | My Twitter | My deviantART | My Facebook Page

How more beautiful can you be?

Recent days gave me a lot of excitement but they also were REALLY tiring haha. So I was really glad I could stay at home after 4 days going here and there. Tired, with muscles aching I felt no inspiration at all but when I looked outside the window I saw beautiful scenery that camera would never show it's beautifulness the way I see.

What can be more beautiful than flowers...

...and than all the soft grass brushed by rain and wind like the most precious hair...

Mesmerized by the beautifulness of nature I kept looking through the window and breathing fresh air coming from the forest. ^-^

And yes, I'm wearing no make up here. Natural, like I came to this world. ^^

Love. See. Smell. Feel.

~Rinatsu~ | Twitter | Facebook Page

DIY: Fancy Scarf

***SPANISH, FRENCH, ENGLISH, GERMAN AND DUTCH INSTRUCTIONS BELOW!!!***

After an accident with my dress (I gave it to needlewoman to fix it and she damaged my dress), I received 2 balls of a very interesting yarn (as an apology, oh and she also fixed my dress again, for free). The thread looked a little bit like net when I unfold it. And it was this brand:

I was kinda confused since I saw these kind of threads for the first time. :) But that needlewoman said that you can make a very beautiful scarf from it. I got interested and went to a specialized shop. All about handmade stuff. And then I saw a little example of scarf knitted laying here and also a paper with instructions for this scarf.

Here was the example photo on the paper:

And here were the instructions in...Spanish:

...French: 

...English:

...German:

...Dutch:

Step ONE:

Step TWO:

Step THREE:

Step FOUR and FIVE:

And here's the finished result that I made!!~

I really enjoyed making this. :3 ♥ And I hope that you will enjoy it too and be happy with amazing result!~

[EDIT: 2011.11.19]

After wearing this scarf for whole autumn I noticed that it became more narrow and longer due to often usage. But I also bought new yarn of this kind called Katia Ondas (click to visit their website) and knitted a scarf for mom:

We both love long scarfs so I made it using 2 balls. I compared those two brands and can recommend to use Katia brand for this scarf. ALWAYS. It has a lot more ruffles and it is way more warmer than the first one. Well, at least that first brand I got was for free so I don't regret making it... :D But always take your time to get to know yarn you will be using, guys. Quality is the most important! :3

Good luck~

~Rinatsu~
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Llama is My New Friend

Heyia all!~

Few days ago I went to arboretum with my family. Parents wanted to check the price of 'Emerald Green' thuja (it was fuckin' expensive if you ask me). But at the same time we had a great time visiting a small garden full of beautiful statues like these:

(it's my sister standing there but let her stay private)

Or some funnier statues like these:

Poodle attack!!~ LOL

I also saw behemoth rubbish bins where you put your head...I mean rubbish in there. ^-^" But I didn't take my camera with me (I didn't know it's so beautiful there, besides I was almost sure that it's prohibited to take photos) so everything is taken with my phone camera (5 mega pixel phone camera is quite good when taking scenery photos).

Besides all beautiful nature there were a mini zoo!~ OvO I saw a lot of beautiful and rare swans, gooses, raccoons, owls, parrots... And even beautiful peacock!!~

I wasn't as attractive to him as my mom (he spread his tail in front of my mom with all it's beautifulness) so he left me standing there and looking at his butt...

But it isn't everything I saw. I found a new friend!! And it's name is...LLAMA!!!

He (or she, I don't know...) likes to pose...

Not really... He started acting really weird looking straight to me and chewing (?) something... O_o No, I can't say he was looking at me since I couldn't see his eyes. XDD He has damn huge bangs! Hahaha! But as far as I know he likes to spit and kick when he's angry so...we moved fast from him when he started acting weird like..trampling and munching something... O_o So yeah...

I left my friend there alone... T^T Naaah he wasn't alone, there were like..5-6 llamas so I know he's living happily right now... :') Lolwut? XD

Anyways..my journey didn't end so simple. The top was when we went to some countryside shop with EVERYTHING. I mean really EVERYTHING. They were selling clothes, shoes, constructional stuff, cookware, interior decorations, accessories and so on and so on... But I almost started LOLing when I saw vacuum-flask with....Jacob from New Moon!!! XDDDDDD

Team Jacob!!!!~ Hahahahahhahahahha

No guys, I'm not a fan of Twilight saga, I'm actually anti fan. :'D It's just that it was so funny, I just couldn't let myself not take a photo and not laugh at it...

Anyways, I'm not trying to insult anyone, it's my own opinion and I respect all fans. :}

Cheers!~

~Rinatsu~My Twitter | My Facebook Page