Fabric? Fabric!

Yesterday was truely a fun day. I really liked it that I didn't had to go to the fabric market alone. The reason my mum volunteered was that my dad needed the car and I had to go there by public transportation. The tour itself wasn't that complicated rather faster than I thought it would be(45minutes one way), but I am weak. No, not just towards buying too much fabric and given in buying more stuff I don't need, but in the carrying sense of the word. It's a bit embarassing, but my almost 50 year old mother can lift things I can't! In the end it wasn't that heavy, mainly because the fabrics were all rather light, but it helped that she carried half of it.
Seriously, my left shoulder hurt on friday evening after only carrying my messenger bag to and from campus two days in a row! Granted it was indeed heavy since I needed some stuff, water bottle etc., but not that kind of heavy...
Anyway I decided I need to sort through my fabric stash once again and get it organized better. I have one big plastic bag that is either going to be sold on Ebay or just thrown away. Mostly stuff I brought the year I learned to sew or fabric that was gifted to me that I didn't liked in the first place. Then I will need to find a better place for the rest of my stash. At the moment it is stored in big cardboard boxes and plastic bags, but that is so not working. I never know what I have or have not! I was thinking about getting some kind of drawer/shelf thing to put into my closet. It is deep enough that one should fit into. I will probably have access to the car next week and will visit some cheapo furniture shops.
And I finally made the last two items for my SP. There were some minor problems, mostly me forgetting to add X before doing Y, but they look ok. Which means that I will be able to send next week!

P.S.: I colored my hair yesterday too! The package said it's blue-black, but honestly it's more black than blue. It's not permanent since I wouldn't do that myself. I've got quite different hairstructure than the average german woman(now, that's a surprise, right ;-) ) so I don't trust those permanent hair coloring products much. Unfortunately a trip to the hairdresser is out of the question at the moment, but black hair is ok.

my mum saved me...

...from buying too much, but I still came home with this:

-upper left: 4 printed cotton fabrics 1m each

next: starwars knit fabric 1.5m

2 cotton something 1.5m each, my mum picked these, I am to sew her something shirty

-lower left: 2 jersey fabrics 1.5m each

next: jersey fabric 4m

embroidered linnen 2m

and this:

-Various ribbons 2m each

I could have brought much much more but my mum kept reminding me that I don't wear glittery stuff and that I actually despise orange ;-)

I've already done the math and I haven't spend more than 65€, probably less! Oh, I think I didn't mentioned it, there was a fabric market today and I went there together with my mum obviously.

cupcake, sheep and the magic number!

I brought a cute crochet cupcake pattern from purl on saturday and finished my first yummy cupcake yesterday evening. Ok, it took me considerably more time than the 30minutes it takes her to finish one, but then I'm a rather slow crocheter.
I love how it turned out! her instructions are pretty clear and easy to follow. I'm planning on making a bigger cupcake soon.


I also went to a "Kunsthandwerkermarkt"(craft fair) this sunday at an open-air museum(traditional houses etc. like a whole little village). I'm deliberatly not showing any pics of what I brought, but I have to say that I managed not to buy everything I liked...especially this one amazing lapis lazuli brooch...
Anyway, I'm the worst picture taker ever since I always forget to take pictures in the first place, so these are the only two I took: sheep!

And *drumroll* we've passed the magic number of 100000!

Kimo-NO

or March madness second try: the Kimono tunic
Two weeks ago I saw a sewing magazine that I just had to have:

I loved the tunic on the cover though back then I thought it was a dress. In case you didn't noticed yet, but the magazine is dutch! Now, I can make out some words in spoken dutch if the person speaks slowly cause it's a bit similare to german. Just a bit though. I had my mum help me read some of it. She would read it out loud and then we both tried to make sense of it. She was pretty good at it probably because she learned plattdeutsch when she was younger.

Anyway, the tunic is so simple I don't think you really need to understand it all. Surprisingly though the tunic is made out of several pieces, on the pattern sheet it was just 4 pieces, front+back plus pieces that needed to be attached to it to make it longer(wouldn't have fit on the sheet otherwise).
You're supposed to cut the several pieces from these two back and front pieces. For my test piece I decided not to cut the several pieces apart. I just wanted to get a general idea of how it would look like, especially since the smallest size is only a EU38 and I wear a EU36.
Here's the test piece:


Ok...hmm, I don't think so. The patterns asks for popelin fabric which is a bit stretchy, but not that much. I don't think that would look to good, I could however imagine it in something more flowingly. My mum already asked if I couldn't make a tunic like that for her....maybe after I find my perfect dress.

P.S.: See the counter to the left? Granted, some of these are my own visits, but still...way cool!
This graph probably shows more the true visitor number(click to make bigger):


P.P.S.: Omg, I love all of these here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=91219

busy bee

As you probably already guessed, I was quite busy lately trying to finish all my WIPs. Not only did I finished the cotton candy, but also a scarf/shawl and the camisole.
First the scarf: The pattern is a simplification of eunny's print o'the wave stole. Fewer repeats and a simple garter stitch edge instead of the fancy one. It's knit out of Kauni yarn 100% wool, my mum thinks it's too scratchy for a scarf, I think it's perfect! It even smells a faint bit wooly plus it matches my coat!
Unfortunately the picture is not very good, but I hope you get the idea. There's also my fab shawl pin from scottsmountaincrafts, love it! (Have you seen her new bracelets? Wish my arms weren't that skinny and I could wear bracelets, see pictures below for what I mean)


The camisole has been blocked too. I blocked the hell out of it since it ended up beeing much too wide due to my gauge changing while knitting. Well, it definately isn't too wide anymore, but now it's quite lengthy flowing over my hips. I don't mind though, it's rather hip now, isn't it?

(I really, really need to get my hair cut, but I can't decide how...)

I also dyed some roving for a swap and since I couldn't decide what kind of colors I wanted to send I dyed a bunch more and decided afterwards. The rest is going into my fiber stash.

I already spun up one that isn't in the above picture and plied it with some undyed fiber

I love how it turned out! It's light blue with light blue-green. I'm thinking about knitting socks out of this though I probably have to spin the rest of it for that too.

Well, with almost all my projects finished I felt lost. What to knit next? I opted against another pair of socks(though I just brought some more sock yarn...) and tried out Domino knitting instead. I had brought this book recently and it is really nice. The instructions are pretty clear and take you every step. I'm not so fond of the patterns especially the yarn choices made. I think Domino knitting just screams for multicolored yarn.
Anyway I made this potholder for my mum within two hours.


Ok, there also was a lot of shopping lately, but I will only show you this gigantic fabric stash enhancement. These are over 18m of Ikea fabric! Ikea had a special last Tuesday: 2 for 1! Yes, you got two yards for the price of 1! I went there early in the morning to be there when they open cause I knew the chaos it would be. Of course that was the day a truck lightly hit a car and though nobody seems to have been injured the 15 minutes trip to Ikea took me 1.5 hours!!!
The fabric section had turned into hell by the time I finally arrived! Nevertheless I got everything I had wanted to buy.


You might not believe it, but I'm a pretty stubborn person. Once I set my mind on something there's not much that can distract me from it. I'm very much like my father in that characteristic, though he denies beeing stubborn ;-)
There was a contest on Dawanda , which is kind of like a german etsy. It was a valentines contest where you had to mark your favorits and then you randomly got kissed by valentin, valentina or a frog. For every valentin or valentins you got a point and the three persons with the most points would get something of their favorits list.
That's where my stubbornness set in and I kept on adding to my favorits, must have been hundreds and hundreds of things I marked( you could see the top 8 persons I think). Well, in the end I was indeed number three!
To my surprise I was allowed to make 3 suggestions for the price which I did. And then even more surprising, I did not just get one item, but two!!!
First this really cool felt pillow arrived. It matches my room and is just fab. I'm really thinking about buying a second one. http://dawanda.com/user/berlinerfilz

And today this amazing brooch was in the mail! I'm a sucker for pretty brooches! http://dawanda.com/user/filani

craftster knitting challenge

Yes, the vintage lace camisole is finished, but I decided that I wouldn't enter it into the challenge. Instead my entry will be a vintage inspired knit from a none vintage pattern. I recently found these really cool buttons and had to buy a pack of them(5 for 3€).

I already had matching yarn in my stash, "Soft Hair" from Gedifra in color #4957. I knew I wanted to make somekind of coaty thing, not just a cardigan, but one you could wear in spring without a jacket.
Then I stumbled upon Flair. Just the perfect pattern!

I'm finished with the knitting and it's blocking right now. If all goes well it will be my entry for the knitting challenge, but I want to knit a faux fur collar too(pink and black).

Edit: Oh, here's a blocking pic. Yes, it's blocking on a hanger since all I want to achieve is more length ;-)

Excuses

or another post without real pics.
I've finished a few projects, but they either haven't been blocked yet or are in the washer. Also I've been rather busy with secret pal or swapping projects I can't blog about. That's part of the reason the blog was so quite lately. I actually started writing two posts, but never completed them. I was just not in a blogging mood lately and would rather knit or sew than sit in front of the computer. This mood has changed, but now I have nothing to really blog about...typical!
It's just like shopping for clothes, if you are broke there are a thousand pieces you would buy if you could and then if you have the money you can find nothing that you like or that fits you. This is more or less what clothing shopping is like for me at the moment. I'm searching for a black skirt and where there were plenty of them before I can find none...atleast not in my size. Which is a whole complain in itself. How is it that what ever size I have the clothes I like always have a different one? I've been looking for some great vintage dresses lately, found a few really nice dresses at a fleamarket last sunday and they all were too big! Like two clothing sizes two big...
Though I ended up buying a few patterns at the fleamarket to sew my own dresses and a vintage knitting mag:

continously added

I don't have much time to blog, but a lot to blog about, so I thought I would just start a post and add to it whenever I have the time. Starting this now on sunday, we will see when it's really published. Edit: published on monday, so not too long, though no photos, sorry!

1. The Sesam sweater
It's almost finished! I really love the color combo and the pattern is a rather quick knit despise the needle size(3mm). I made a mistake in the sleeve cap where I forgot to change color once and will have to rip back. Of course I noticed this after I already bound off... one should probably not knit after 23.00 after a long learning day.
Even if I manage to reknit the cap the next week, I won't be able to complete the sweater since I have no buttons for it, so I can't knit the button band yet. I want some contrasting buttons in the burgund/red that the yarn is which will probably be a little problem. I'll have to compare buttons and probably visit many stores to find some which is not going to happen before the exam.

2. dyeing yarn+socks
I got my order of Ashford dyes this week and have been dyeing quite a lot even before it arrived. I dyed some beautifull yarn, if I might say so. Already knit a pair of socks out of the first yarn I dyed and they are nice to wear. A bit softer than regular sock yarn.
The second batch of dyeing didn't come out that great and the two different colorways came out quite alike. I might offer one of them up for swap, though I'm not sure yet.

3. Knitty SP
Yes, I'm participating again. I just love the Knitty SP and the nice folks I've met through it. The last one was real fun and I hope this one will be too.
I thought about it for a longer time whether or not to join, because of my exams(of which there will be a number shall I pass the next one, otherwise I'm stuck...), but figured there's always enough time for shopping and sending emails. Might not be able to knit much for my downstream SP as I did for my last, but then that's not really a requirement.

4. exams
I'm worried to say the least. I really have to pass this next one. Granted everyone thinks it's the hardest to pass for your "Vordiplom", but that's not what I'm really worried about. I'm worried that I'll mess up, because I'm too nervous during the exam and will have a black-out again. Or that I don't understand the questions right etc.

5. wanted list
There's a couple of things I really would like to buy including yarns to test. I don't have a strict new years resolution, but I want to knit from my stash for awhile, so I'm not going to buy any of these just now. Still thought it would be a good idea to write them down so I don't forget about it.

• SWTC Karaoke
• Noro Kureyon
• a messenger bag big enough to hold my university folder; I could sew one myself, but I'm not in the mood. On the other hand I can't spend a fortune on it either.
• hand carders
• SWTC Tofutsies
• more spinning fiber
• Hello Kitty cotton fabric

6. needle felting
When I ordered the ashford dyes I got some needles for felting and a foam pad too. I've been wanting to try needle felting for awhile. Well, it takes a lot of time and you have to concentrate on it or you will hurt yourself, but it's fun too!

7. sewing
Awhile ago I brought a bedsheat and pillow case for cheap at ikea. It's all black and white ith swirly motives on it. Back then I had the idea to color it and sew it up into a skirt. Well, it had been laying around since then, but when I saw blog post(can't remember which one) about coloring ikea fabric(though a different one) with fabric markers, I remembered it. Coloring it was a lot of mindless fun, felt like beeing a little kid with a coloring book again! The skirt is almost finished now.

8. podcasts
Ever since I got my Ipod nano for birthday, I've been a podcast addict! They are a lot of fun and it's nice to have something to listen to besides music when knitting or having to clean up etc. My fav knitting podcast are CastOn, limeandviolet and Sticks&Strings(mainly because of his voice ;-) ).

9. blogs
I am subsribed to way too many blogs on bloglines! I found that I'm not really reading every post but mostly just look at pictures... Once I find the time I'm going to seperate the list into blogs I really want to read + follow and other blogs.

10. oh boy, this is really getting long! Anybody still reading?

11. youtube
In the past I sometimes wrote down at the end of a post what music I currently listened to. I don't always do that cause I'm not always listening to music.
Anyway, thought I would share some videos, especially of bands/musicians you probably don't know.
Gentleman-Superior
Farin Urlaub-Zehn
The Staggers-Wild Teen
Bela B. feat. Charlotte Roche-1. 2. 3....
Seeed-Ding
Jan Delay-Klar

gifts, gifts and spinning

The christmas presents have been a success apart from one. Yes, you might have guessed it, the sweater for my older cousin is too small!(and she said it's scratchy, really kids these days etc...) But since she loved the scarf I'm not going to knit another scratchy sweater for her. But next time I decide to knit her something I'm going to measure her up. Kids are just too different to just pick a size according to age. She's not that tall, but rather roundish. Not fat at all, just the kind of roundishness common for kids.
What did I get for my brother in the end? A sweater. It was just too claustrophobic shopping a day before christmas eve that I decided against searching every shop for something.

I did get spoiled quite much this year too. Take a look:

There's:

~ 1kg of beautifull I guess you call it pencil roving(???)
~four Terry Pratchett books

~Spin to knit; which is a great book, but more later

~a wool winder; actually got that before christmas

~a cigarette etui from my mum cause it's pink, has bling-bling and "you have a very special place in my heart" written on it

~a brooch for the brooch-obsessed

~tons of choclate and other sweets; only one pictured here as example

mising in the pic:

~a little calendar from my brother which is pink too

~Gilmore Girls DVD second season

~an itunes card

I began flipping through the "Spin to knit" book on christmas eve before leaving for the concert and it's really well written. The first part tells you a lot about spinning, fiber etc and the second part are patterns. I haven't really read through the patterns yet, but the first part is nice.

Since I've been spinning quite much these past days I also had to ply some again. I had spun all of the blue-purple roving and after plying it had a bunch left over on one bobbin, so I spun up the red roving I brought from a fellow knit blogger and plyed them together. I rather like the effect.

And again I had left-overs, now from the red wool. I tried to Navajo ply it and it's ok, though not perfect either. It took some time to get a feeling about what exactly I should do in what order to get it to neatly ply and not produce wobbly yarn-though that would have made some nice designer yarn, if I were into that kind of yarn.

And this is the christmas roving spun. I like it, but it looks a lot different then the roving. The colors are less saturated and a bit greyish.

I guess this post is long enough already, so projects will be posted another time.

darn, it's raining

I'm ok now. It shouldn't be too hard to find a present for my brother and really I wanted to go to town anyway, but now I will just have to buy something. My last resort will be something wearable, a sweater perhaps. Cause my brother's closet is almost empty and he made a comment about it last week. It's not that my parents wouldn't give him money so that he can buy himself some clothes, it's that he never asks and doesn't like to go shopping much(typical, right?).
If I had some funky fabric, I would make him a mouse mat, but I only have girly or boring fabrics...

Anyway, here's a pic of the two Drive-thru sweaters for my cousins. They are washed and a bit blocked and I really hope they will fit. They look so tiny, but then my cousins are still little.



P.S.: If you mailed me lately but didn't get a reply, let me say that I'm sorry and that I will reply, but it's all a bit hectic over here at the moment.

teaser post

I finally found some time to blog, in the wee hours of the morning! But I only have a few minutes and just two photos :-( So this is more of a teaser post than a real one. I may have some time later or tomorrow to show some knitting content etc.

I have brought a lot of stuff recently and most of it is indeed craft related. The teaser for that is this:

It's "the Crafter's Companion" and I brought it during the Hipknits sale. I've been wanting to order it for some time, but resisted the temptation...untill the sale. I didn't brought anything else there though as I was too later for the silk and really, I don't need more yarn...
The second pic is a craft teaser:

Yes, that's Fira from Ikea! To the right you can see some Ikea boxes I brought and painted years ago and during my last trip to Ikea I thought I could use another one. I should have gotten suspicious when the package was so flat...
...you now have to assemble it yourself! That includes hammering nails into the wood, preferably straight and not bend. I've got no problem at all with drilling holes, using screwdrivers etc, but my weak point always have been nails. Let's just say it took me quite some time to put this one together though only two nails were waisted during the process.
Painting was so much easier and fun! I also painted the picture frame and inserted a postcard I brought along many other things at a dissolving of a household(that was 2 weeks ago in Cuxhaven...I really have a lot to blog about!).

Quick post, more yarn

I received the Yarn Forward magazin and it's fabulous! Though I wouldn't knit everything out of it, there's surely more than one nice project in it. I especially liked the articles!
I think I will subscribe to it though that has to wait untill next month(still haven't been to the bank to take a look at my account...chicken-me).
I also got two skeins of sock yarn, one with cashmere, one lambs wool. I love both!

And here's the yarn I dyed. I really have to search for another kind of sock yarn to dye. This one doesn't take the color too well as you can see in comparison to the skein on the far left which was dyed with exactly the same colors!
Well, atleast it was cheap :-)
But the Reggae yarn looks more autumnal than real red-yellow-green... It's just that I don't really want to buy regular undyed/white sock yarn for the same price I pay for colored yarn. Yes, I'm cheap.


P.S.: I'm pretty busy at the moment and unfortunately don't have the time for a real blog post including current projects(sweater, two sock pairs), funny colored toes(mum's+blue->yuck!), daily alarm-clock etc. More about these probably next weekend.

Relapse(extremely picture heavy!)

Remember just a few days ago I said my yarn addiction has been past me? That was before Hipknits had a sale and I finally was fast enough to buy some here(she also has a blog). The "Handgefärbt" yarn sells out faster than you can see! She's been updating her shop on wednesdays evenings for some weeks now, but I've always been too late and everything was already gone.
Waiting for both now.
I think I forgot to show what I brought at the sale of the Hamburger Wollfabrik. These here and 200g sockyarn that I dyed this morning:

And I never showed a pic of the sock yarn I brought from Wollsucht and a local store:

I also brought this at Butlers:

It's a simple pink grocery bag, an applique and a ribbon. All to be destinated to become one gorgeous bag!
I found this box there too, couldn't pass it:

It now is the home of my first quilt/patchwork pieces. All I need is a bit more black fabric.

and this at the japanese bookstore(30% off for woman on thursdays!)+the subway kiosk(sometimes it's good to miss a train):

and this too complete the sweater; it will be added on the top and bottom:


and yarn to knit myself this scarf; the color is more like dark wine and it's alpaca!:

I also finally found affordable boots that I liked and could wear longer than 30minutes(I'll never understand women who prefer to torture themselve with these ugly, foot-breaking things).

They are brown and not too cowgirly and not pointy either! They also suit my new tights, atleast I think so, my mum doesn't.

Last, but certainly not least, the wonderfull postcards I brought from Splink!. OMG, they are sooooo beautifull and glossy! You can't see it in the pics, but they are kind of coated and really good quality! She also sells her creative, funny dolls. If I had the money, atleast one of them would find a new home at my place! Oh come on, check out the link and see for yourself!


Though I haven't bought everything this week, I've been quite on a shopping hunt lately. I've lost track of my account and how much money I still have. I don't think there's enough left for BESTÅ, though my parents agreed to pay half(actually my dad's first offer was 20% to which I replied: "Ok, 20% of 200€ is 100€, right?" ;-)).

I'm back

My hand feels a lot better, though of course I didn't managed not to knit the whole weekend. I tried, actually I tried really hard! No, really I tried, I swear I tried! And failed...let's face it, knitting is an addiction for me. I don't know what to do if I can't knit. It isn't so much a problem of not knitting for a few days-have done that before e.g. when learning-, but of not beeing allowed to knit and not having much else to do. I tried to distract myself by making study plans, surfing the net(mouse in left hand), tidy my room,..., and in the end making a list of next-to-knit things. After 24+hours without knitting I made a little swatch(sweater for me) and then rested some more. 2 hours later I had already casted on and knit the first few rows...

Oh well, atleast a knitting addiction is not as fatal as some others are! But I'm happy to report that another addiction seems to have been mastered. My yarn addiction! No, it's not completely gone, but while browsing the net for some time(read a few hours) I did not buy one skein! Yes, I saw some pretty stuff and I could even afford new yarn now, but somehow I realized I don't need to! The only thing on my what-to-buy-next list is the yarnforward mag, but it seems a waste to only order the mag.

I also made a trip to Ikea yesterday with my mum and brought a happy-colored rug for my room. It really brightens everything and suits my pink room much better than that old indefinable-grey-bluish carpet. I'm thinking about buying a big shelf with doors from Ikea(BESTÅ) to get some more storage room. My chest of drawers(wonder if that really is the right translation for the german "Kommode"), shelves and cd tower have to go then. Not sure yet, it also depends on how much my parents throw in.

All about socks

This month, with Socktoberfest and the Sam2 it will be all about socks. Not that I have any drive to knit something else at the moment. It's horrible if you don't know what to knit next, atleast for me, but socks always fit ;-)
At the moment I'm knitting my first real pair of Jaywalkers. I made an attempt before but when I had finished the first sock I realized it was much too tight to wear comfortable~if there's anyone out there who wants the one sock(I'm a Eu size 40 and it's a 38/39 I would guess) and the remaining sock yarn, just wave my way. But I would only encourage other smokers to do so since it both has been laying around my room in the open. ~
This time I made the smaller size from the pattern and though it's a bit loose, it's ok. Next socks will be the snowflake one.


Lolly asked a few questions to help beginner sock knitters and to fill this post up a bit, I thought I answer them:
When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?
-Hmmm...wait, I'll check the blog archive...ah, I finished my first pair of socks at the end of september 2005. I taught myself with the help of this wonderfull tutorial.
What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?
You can see my first pair here. As you probably can see they were a bit fuzzy to begin with and since then the heel has felted ever so slightly. They also were a bit too big and don't get worn so often anymore.
What would you have done differently?
I should have used better sock yarn, a nicer color and less stitches(a gauge check too).
What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?
Lorna's Lace's!!! It's so much softer than regular sock yarn. Though I can't say how well they hold up since I hadn't had the time/weather to wear them much yet.
Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?
I knit them on DPNs, really once you get the hang of it, it's not that hard. I must say though that socks weren't my first DPNs projects. I made some hats with thicker yarn before.
Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)
I mostly do short-row heels now, but for some patterned socks I prefer the flap heel.
How many pairs have you made?
I have no idea, honestly. More than 15 I think, but how many more I can't tell.

Yesterday my aunt visited and I got a bunch more presents:

There's 1kg of pure undyed lambs wool, that is sooo soft. Unfortunately it's divided in 50g hanks, I thought it would be 100g hanks.
There's also a test package of silk hankies! I got quite intrigued by them from the Knitty article and a blog(can't remember which one it was, but she dyed and spined them). When I read that there's a german store selling them, they went directly on the birthday wishlist.
You can also see the most beautifull bag handle I've ever seen, this is the third present from my parents. Now I only have to come up with a suitable bag pattern!
Also in the package from my aunt was something that made me wear this on today's morning(blue touch added to mask the fact that I hadn't showered yet ;-)) :

Yes, I got some Ashford dyes which I had to test this morning. I'll post the result later, it's still drying. And thanks to my dad for storing(aka hoarding) everything you will ever need to build your own house(current number drill machines: 4; nails: uncountable!).

Also yesterday I found a surprise package in the mail, I opened it and discovered these beads:

I LOVE them! I guess it's about time I make my own necklace! Who was the generous donor? Phizzichicks from craftster, who also send me the wonderfull hairpins and brooches earlier!

Therefore after dyeing the yarn, I headed into town to the craft store to buy some jewelry thread stuff. In the end I came out of the store with this:

What is missing? Yes, the jewelry thread thing(that probably even has a real name...). I should NOT enter this store anymore. I always buy something...

And when I came back home, I found a big letter. It included this:

Thank you very much J.S!!! Sorry, if this is a dumb question and I'm missing something, but who are you? With all those forum/blog names I mostly don't really notice people's real names much(for those scratching their heads for what mine is: Janin:-)).
EDIT: Duh, am I slow sometimes! Can it be that it was jesintexas from craftster, who was organizing the birthday swap?

I don't know if you've seen it, but lately there has been much talk about copyrights etc. in various blogs. I'm not a lawer, so maybe some of my views are totally wrong, but I find most of these discussions just hilarious/absurd. Why? Because in some cases it's about designs that probably have been floating around for quite some time and the one screaming "you copied me" was not the first one to design XYZ. Even funnier(and kind of ironically sad) was the one who made some indie designer very unhappy because she claimed said designer copied her(which she didn't!) and a couple of weeks later seems to be copying the designer herself(quite clearly on that one)! Don't get me wrong, I don't think that someone in general should break copyrights, that's really not acceptable(for that reason I will never ever buy something from NOANOA, not that I could afford that anyway at the moment). But there are things out there, that I think are hard to copyright especially if they are really basic!