Stop Wildfires

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Last June 24th a wildfire started in Doñana, near home. Luckily the weather helped and they could extinguish it.
But the outcome is really sad, thousands of trees burnt and the death of a protected lynx.

El pasado día 24 de Junio se proclamó un incendio en Doñana, cerca de casa. Afortunadamente las condiciones metereológicas ayudaron y pudieron extinguir el incendio. 
Pero las consecuencias son devastadoras, miles de árboles quemados y la muerte de uno de los linces protegidos.

I'm writing this post as a reminder for every of us to take extra care this summer when going outdoors in the forest or wood.

Escribo este post como recordatorio para todos nosotros de que debemos tener especial cuidado este verano cuando estemos fuera en algún bosque o parque.

We just can prevent a lot of fires just following the tips below:

 

Podemos prevenir muchos incendios si tan solo seguimos estos consejos:

Ministerio de Medio Ambiente

Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a great summer!!

Cool Tool: Colour Scheme Generator

I found this cool app that generates colour schemes and I like to tell you how useful can it be. If you want to try new colour palettes in your knitting or if you struggle with colour combination this is a nice website to check: Coolors.com.

It has some interesting features like, if you generate a colour scheme but doesn't like a colour on it, you can block the colours you like and keep generating more colours to combine with the ones you like. Also you can change the to alternative shades of the colour you like or adjust the brightness or saturation.

Some random colour scheme

It's really easy to use (you only need to hit space bar to generate the schemes) and you can save your colour combinations for later when you want to use them.

Did you know this app? How do you come with new colour combinations?

Natural Fibers: Alpaca

3 Reasons to Switch to Natural Fiber Clothing

These reasons made me start looking the tags on the clothes. I'm not perfect and you can still find some synthetic fibers among my clothes but I try to buy only natural fibers and even when that's not possible I read the tags to make sure the most of the garment is made from natural fibers.



So here are my reasons you should also switch to natural fiber clothing:

What Do You Do While Knitting?

I know, you are knitting, so you must concentrate on it. But when you are knitting a simple pattern that doesn't require all your attention what do you do?

I have see on the internet a lot of people reading while they knit. For me that's impossible, when I read I forget about everything around so knitting while reading is out of the question for me if I don't want to end with a messy project. On the other hand, doing nothing while knitting makes me feel a little bit nervous. 

What I like to do is watch movies and series. Lately, I've been watching an online series: "Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street". It's a series oriented for kids but in the same style as the Goonies or E.T. so it's great.

And you, what do you do while knitting?

Decisions and Test Knitting.

I want to add a collection of scarves to the shop and can't decide on the pattern, so for the next days I will be making patterns and samples like a mad woman.

I also started a new pair of socks, this ones for the boyfriend. It's the first time I'm using Drops Fabel yarn and I really like the outcome, it looks like a stranded pattern but without the mess of having to change colours. I'll show you the result when I finish them, until then I'll be knitting!

Have a nice weekend!

Chunky Socks Knitting Pattern - Atlantis Socks

What you'll need:

Yarn: 1 skein of Drops Big Delight Colour 09 (Atlantis) or Colour 16 (Berry)
Needles: Double Point Needles 5mm
Stitch markers
Scissors
A wool sewing needle

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Windy Days are for Knitting

Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you:

But when the leaves hang trembling,

The wind is passing trhough.

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I:

But when the trees bow down their heads,

The wind is passing by.

Christina Rossetti

We're having strong winds for two days in a row so that means I will be at home knitting and reading. Bad weather is never bad news for me, actually, being a homebody it makes me like this kind of weather even more.

About Slow Fashion and Changing Things in the Shop

From some time now I'd been a fan of slow life movement, that includes slow fashion too. I'd been trying to make wiser decisions when buying clothes. Slow fashion is not only buying clothes from eco designers, it's more than that. For me slow fashion also means buying less clothes and taking care of what you already have in your closet, buying quality over quantity, choosing pieces you can mix and match again and again, contrary to fast fashion clothes which, if you're lucky, you can wear them just for a year without looking outdated.

Soy fan del movimiento slow life desde hace tiempo, lo que incluye también el movimiento slow fashion. Durante todo este tiempo he intentado tomar mejores decisiones a la hora de comprar ropa. El slow fashion no es solo comprar ropa de diseñadores ecolóficos, es más que eso. Para mi el slow fashion también significa comprar menos ropa y cuidar la que ya tenemos en nuestro armario, comprar ropa de calidad antes que mucha cantidad, elegir piezas que puedas mezclar con otras prendas de tu armario de mil formas diferentes, al contrario que pasa con la fast fashion que, si tienes suerte, podrás ponerte la misma prenda solo durante un año sin estar pasada de moda.



When I opened my shop some months ago I only focused in the prices. I tried to find yarns which doesn't cost too much so the price wouldn't be too high but it left me with an unhappy feeling.  I thought it  better and just bought the good stuff, now I can make what I really like.
So, from now on I will be knitting with natural materials (100% wool yarns, wool blends and cotton).

Cuando abrí mi tienda hace algunos meses solo me centré en los precios. Intenté encontrar lanas que no costaran mucho para que el precio del producto no fuese muy caro pero no me terminaba de convencer el producto final. Lo pensé mejor y simplemente compré la lana que me gustaba, así que ahora puedo tejer con materiales naturales (hilos 100% lana, mezclas de lana y algodón).

Have a nice day!

Books - Barbara Pym

This month I had the opportunity to buy a new Barbara Pym book (it seems that I begun a collection without realizing).

(Este mes tuve la oportunidad de comprarme un nuevo libro de Barbara Pym -parece que he empezado a coleccionarlos sin darme cuenta-).



What can I say about her? She's an excellent writer, her books feel familiar and comfortable to read, they never disappoint. Once you start reading you will find yourself in a world of tea parties, clergymen and british customs.

( ¿Qué puedo decir de ella? Es una excelente escritora, sus libros son lecturas reconfortantes que te hacen sentir como en casa, nunca te defraudan. Una vez que empieces a leerla te encontrarás en un mundo de fiestas de té, clérigos y costumbres británicas).

I love the covers, they are so colourful and looks great on my shelf. 

For me, this books are the perfect reading when I need a break from an all day knitting.

(Para mi, estos libros son la lectura perfecta cuando necesito descansar después de todo el día tejiendo).

Have a great day!

How to Make a Fluffy Pompom - Step by Step with Gifs

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 This is a short tutorial to show you how I made fluffy pompoms for beanies. 

(En este pequeño tutorial os enseño cómo hacer pompones esponjosos para vuestros gorros de lana).

My Week in Pictures: Spring is Near!

I made a green version of my ZigZag Fair-Isle Beanie, this will be availabe tomorrow in my shop.

(Podéis encontrar una nueva versión de mi gorro ZigZag Fair-Isle en verde, estará disponible en mi tienda mañana)

Spring is coming! We can already see the first blooms... 

(¡La primavera se acerca! Ya podemos ver las primeras flores...)

Our hens and rooster enjoying the beautiful weather.

(Nuestras gallinas y gallo disfrutando del espléndido día)

At this time of the year you can find life everywhere...

(Durante esta época del año se puede encontrar vida en cualquier parte...)

This week I had planned a new beanie but I didn't like it while I was still knitting so I changed my mind and made a green version of my fair isle beanie.

(Esta semana había planeado tejer un nuevo gorro pero mientras lo tejía no me terminaba de convencer así que cambié de parecer e hice una versión en verde de mi gorrito fair isle)







Happy Sunday!

New in the Shop!

Tweed Braided Beanie

Fair Isle Beanie with Pompom

Eco-Friendly Choices

I'm always trying to minimize waste, I want to be coherent and show my lifestyle in the things I do. This apply to my shop too.


Everything I have bought was chosen carefully so, as far as possible, I don't contaminate (more).
Saddly, sometimes you just don't have other options and have to buy what's available, like it or not.

 (Water-based ink stickers and cards from sustainable sources)

 (Envelopes and paper from sustainable sources)

Little details are what make the difference so don't worry if you think you are making very little to change things; small things are what change the world!

About Hard Begginings

If you see my Instagram it may looks like everything is very relaxed, knitting and tea and all that kind of things. But in reality it seems like days hasn't enough hours. I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong, I'm happy doing this because is what I like but that doesn't mean it isn't really hard. 

It's not only knitting all day long, you have to take care about technical aspects that are as important as the products. I'm enjoying learning new things along the way and this is making me rethink about what I really want to transmit through my brand.

Although hard as it may be right now, I'm having fun with all the aspects of the shop: designing,  marketing, social networks... After all, that's what really counts, loving what you do.

So by the meantime I will be here designing new patterns and thinking how to improve my brand. 

Happy weekend!

New year new life!

Well, maybe not a new life but a new chance to make dreams possible!

Last year was a little bit scary for me, opening an online shop and making things that I've never done before. Actually, if I think about it, it still being somehow scary. 

Every year I make resolutions and every year I can't keep it up with them so this year I have only one resolution: keep the hard work.

I like doing what I do right now: designing, knitting and sharing it online. It makes me happy so I want to work hard this year too so I can make a living out of it someday.

What are your resolutions for this year?

Don't forget to visit my shop this year too!