Akcija za decu - Charity donationation for kids

„Neka vam bude pravilo... nikada nemojte uveče leći, a da niste u stanju da kažete: „Danas sam jedno ljudsko biće učinio mudrijim, srećnijim ili malo boljim.” - Čarls Kingsli



Bilo bi zaista lepo kada bih to mogla reći svako veče. Ali, kako bih bila makar malo bliža tom cilju, priključila sam se akciji pletačke grupa Serbia, koja je putem sajta Ravelry organizovala akciju prikupljanja ručno rađenih odevnih predmeta za decu koja se nalaze na Institutu za majku i dete u Beogradu. Odziv je bio velik i prikupljeno je preko 55 artikala (od patikica i patofni, čarapa, portikli, do haljinica, prsluka i zvečki) iz cele Srbije, Vojvodine, pa i sveta. Ovaj prsluk je moj doprinos. Rađen je od pamuka (St. George Tango i St. George Golf), a mustra je „iz glave”, što bi se reklo. Nadam se da će nekome doneti radost.

Akcija je završena 20. maja i kada artikli budu predati Institutu, javiću vam utiske.

"Make it a rule…never to lie down at night without being able to say, "I have made one human being at least a little wiser, a little happier or a little better
this day." - Charles Kingsley

I wish I could say that every evening. So, in order to be a bit closer to that goal, I joined the charitiy donation organized by the knitting group Serbia, through the Ravelry site, collecting hand made clothes items for children who are patients of the Institute for the protection of health of mothers and children in Belgrade. The response was excellent and over 55 articles were collected (socks, knitted shoes, dresses, vests, sweaters, even rattles) from all over Serbia, Vojvodina, and different parts of the world. This vest was my contribution. I used cotton by St. George (Tango and Golf), and the pattern is my own. I hope it will make somebody happy.

The collection of items finished on May 20th, and as soon as the gifts are handed over to the Institute, I will let you know.

Pokloni za bebe

Ovu vrstu ručnog rada sam naučila pre pletenja i heklanja, takođe od svoje mame. Ona je nekada jako volela da veze ovu vrstu veza, pa sam uz nju i ja malo po malo bockala. Mama je uglavnom vezla mađarske motive - divne cvetove i crvene paprike. Platna sa iscrtanim motivima smo kupovali kada smo išli na izlete u Baju (nama najbliži mađarski grad) - još uvek se sećam pijačnih tezgi prekrivenih platnima koja prosto mame da ih uzmete u ruke i ukrasite šarenim koncem. A onda su došle čuvene devedesete, u inostranstvo se nije išlo (osim po gorivo), pa smo platna iscrtavali sami. U tome je moj tata bio majstor :)

Ove portikle sam radila sa velikom nostalgijom za tim prošlim danima. Nastale su u periodu od više od dve godine, kao pokloni za drage nam bebe.

Čestitke za Uskrs - Easter cards

Evo jedne jednostavne ideje za izradu čestitki. Nije isključivo vezana za Uskršnje praznike, pa je možete primeniti za bilo koju drugu priliku.
Potreban materijal možete pronaći na slici:

Pošto Ema još nije dovoljno vešta sa lepkom, ja sam joj iscrtala oblike, a ona je posipala griz. Ukoliko je vaše dete starije ili veštije, možete olovkom iscrtati oblike koje želite da napravite, pa da zatim ono prati te linije lepkom.

Mi smo se odlučile za kukuruzni griz jer je dosta jarke boje pa ga nije potrebno dodatno bojiti, ali možete koristiti i običan griz ili čak i pirinač. Švrljajući Internetom našla sam uputstvo za bojenje pirinča - potrebno je da rastopite prehrambenu boju u malo alkohola, stavite boju i pirinač u kesu za zamrzivač, dobro je vežete i promućkate. Potom prospete pirinač na tacnu i ostavite da osuši. To ćemo isprobati neki drugi put.



Kada smo završile sa čestitkama, nastavile smo da se igramo i dalje, pa smo lepkom iscrtavale razne oblike po papiru i posipale grizom. Ti radovi sada ponosno stoje izloženi na frižideru.

Here is a very simple idea for making cards. The design is not exclusively linked to Easter, so you can use the idea for any other occasion, or just for fun.
What you will need:

• thicker paper for the cards
• glue (ours is white, but turns transparent when dry)
• corn semolina
• a tray so that the semolina doesn't end up all around your flat

Since my daughter is not crafty enought when handling glue, I drew out the shapes and she was in charge of pouring the semolina. If your child is older or better at working with glue, you can use a pencil to draw the shapes you want and then he/she can trace them with glue.

We decided to use corn semolina since it has quite a vivid colour and it doesn't need additional colouring. However, you can use wheat semolina or even rice. Surfing the Internet I found some tips on how to dye rice - dissolve some food dye in rubbing alcohol, pour the dye and the rice in a freezer bag, close it tightly and shake it. Then pour the rice onto a tray and leave to dry. We'll try out this idea some other time.

After we had finished with making the cards, we continued to play around, so I used to glue to draw different shapes on regular paper, which my daughter covered with semolina. These works of art are now proudly pasted to our refridgerator.

Pokloni za male princeze - Gifts for little princesses

Juče je Ema išla na rođendan kod svoje drugarice iz vrtića, koja je uz to nedavno dobila i mlađu sestru. Kako bi pokloni malo ličniji pečat, pretražila sam „knjigu sa receptima” i pronašla ovu kapicu. Zove se Poppy, a autor je Justine Turner.
Mustra se veoma lako plete, mada sadrži i neke naprednije tehnike. Savladala sam „kratke redove” i tehniku „obmotaj i okreni” (u slobodnom prevodu), čemu se jako radujem.
Uputstvo za te tehnike sam pronašla na internetu (a gde drugde u današnje vreme, zar ne?), tj. na YouTube-u, pa ću i da ih podelim sa vama.

• Provisional cast-on (odnosno namicanje očica sa pomoćnom niti)
• Kratki redovi i obmotaj i okreni
• Podizanje obmotanih očica

Cvetovi koji krase ove kapice su iz već puno puta pominjane i moje omiljene knjige „Knitting Over the Edge”, autorke Nicky Epstein. (Oko žutog cvetića sam imala pomoć, usled nedostatka vremena - hvala, Heklice)

Yesterday we took Ema to a birthday party hosted by her friend from daycare, who has recently become a big sister. In order to make the presents for these little princesses a bit more personal, I turned to my "recipe book" and found this pattern. It's called Poppy and the author is Justine Turner. It's fairly simple to knit, but it does contain some more advanced techniques such as "short rows" and "wrap and turn" (W&T), which I successfully mastered :)

I have found instructions for these techniques on the Internet (where else nowadays, right?), i.e. on YouTube, and I'll share the links with you:

Provisional cast on

Wrap and turn

Picking up wraps

The flowers were made according to the patterns from my favourite book "Knitting Over the Edge" by Nicky Epstein. I've had some help with the yellow flower, due to the lack of time - thanks, Heklica!

Krompir - drugi deo *** Potatoes - revisited

Opet smo se igrali sa pečatima od krompira i ovaj put napravili čestitke za 8. mart. Poslali smo ih dvema bakama, dvema prabakama, jednoj tetki i trima vaspitačicama. Puno ljubavi :)



We played with potatoe stamps and made Mother's Day cards. We sent them to two grandmas, two great grandmas, one aunt and three daycare teachers. Lots of love sent around :)

Kapa glavu čuva - You should leave your hat on

Ovo je malo zakasneli post, iz više razloga. Prvo, proleće nam se smeši, pa nam kape još neće dugo biti potrebne, a drugo - ove dve kape su već odavne saštrikane i uveliko nošene, a nikako da budu fotografisane i objavljene.
Prva je rađena po ovoj mustri. Jako se lako plete (kad naučite da čitate Dropsove mustre) i veoma mi se dopalo da pletem „pirinač” bod - to se sad ređe sreće. Predivo sam dobila za rođendan, od moje drage prijateljice Tijane, koja je savršeno odabrala boje :) Pošto mi je preteklo prediva, saštrikala sam i ovaj grejač vrata, tako da sad imam komplet.

This post is a bit belated, for more than one reason. Firstly, spring is upon us, so I won't be needing caps for long, and secondly - these caps have been finished long ago, and already worn a lot, but I never got round to taking photos of them and publishing them.
The first  one was knitted according to this pattern. It's very easy to knit (once you get used to reading patterns written by Drops) and I very much enjoyed knitting moss stitch - you don't get to do that much these days. The yarn was a birthday present from a dear friend Tijana, who picked the colours perfectly. Since I had some yarn left, I knitted this neck warmer as well, so now I have a set.

A ova „marsovka” je saštrikana za Eminog najboljeg druga iz vrtića - Dimitrija. Sećate li se ovakvih kapa? Jeste li ih i vi nosili kao klinci?

Mustra je ovde, ali je zahtevala mnogo prepravljanja, pošto je ovo predivo daleko deblje od onog navedenog u „receptu”.

This balaclava was made for Ema's best friend from daycare - Dimitrije. Do you remeber these caps? Did you wear them as kids?

The pattern is here, but it required a lot of tweaking, because the yarn I used is much thicker than the one called for in the „recipe”.

Ideje za dan kada veje - What to do when you're snowed in

Pečati od krompira

Ovu ideju sam pronašla na nekoliko blogova. Veoma je jednostavna i vrlo je verovatno da u kući imate sve sastojke potrebne da je sprovedete u delo.
Potrebni su vam krompiri (manji), modle za kolače (mogu biti i plastične i metalne), nekoliko sunđera za pranje sudova i tempere.

Potatoe stamps

I've found this idea on several blogs. It is very simple and you probably have at home all the things you need for it.
You need some potatoes (smaller ones), cookie cutters (you can use both plastic and metal ones), a few sponges for washing dishes and tempera paint.

Utisnite modlicu u krompir do dubine 6-7 mm.
Press the cookie cutter into the potatoe 6-7 mm deep.

Dok se modla nalazi u krompiru, nožem odsescite okolni krompir i izvucite modlicu.
With the cookie cutter still inside the potatoe, use the knife to cut out the extra potatoe around the cutter, then remove the cutter.

Izlijte malo tempere na pokvašen sunđer, razmažite prstom i spremni ste za pečatiranje.
Pour some tempera paint onto a damp sponge, use your finger to spread it around the sponge evenly,
and you're ready to go!

Uživajte :)
Have fun!

Piši-briši vežbanke

Ova ideja potiče sa bloga Škrabalice i Mame koje ne radi na repeat. Ema i ja često radimo vežbice spajanja, rešavanja lavirinta, zaokruživanja i slično, a na ovaj način možemo iznova raditi vežbe koje su nam se dopale.
Potrebne su vam fascikle od providne folije (poznate pod nazivom „gaće”), flomaster za belu tablu, sunđer za brisanje (mada se taj flomaster uredno briše i ubrusima, toalet papirom i sličnim), odštampane vežbe i fascikla u koju ćete ih odložiti. Vežbe možete naći na Internetu, ima ih u izobilju. Samo ukucajte u Google „(free) printables for three/four/five year olds” i pojaviće se puno toga. Ima ih i na sajtovima koji su vezani za određene likove iz crtanih filmova, pa možete naći Pepu, Doru, Bena i Holi, itd., što ovakve vežbe čini mnogo zanimljivijim.

Reusable printables

I've found this idea on Škrabalica and Mame koje ne rade na repeat's blogs. Ema and I often do exercises that involve linking, circling, doing mazes and similar activities, and this way we can do those that we like over and over again.
All you need are transparent folders, whiteboard markers, sponge for erasing them (although all kinds of soft paper, such as tissues, can do the work), printed exercises and a file where you'll store them. Exercises can be found on the Internet, in abundance. Just google "printables for three/four/five year olds" and you'll have plenty to choose from. There are printable activities on sites devoted to cartoon characters, so you can find Peppa, Dora the Explorer, Ben and Holly and many others, which makes these tasks much more fun.