Tekemällä oppii 2

Patalappuhan siinä. Tai pannunalunen. Pannulappu? Rakkaalla lapsella on monta nimeä. Tämähän on monen elämässä se ensimmäinen käsityötekele. Ei liian iso, eikä vaikea. Persoonallisuutta saa aikaan väreillä, ja onhan sitä monta tapaa ommella näitä käytännöllisiä lappusia, kuten kohta huomaat.

It's a pot holder. Or a kettle holder. Every kitchen has one, and if you do not, you will miss it! For many school kids this is the first attempt in sewing and handicrafts. It is not too big and not difficult. You can show your personality by different materials and colors, and there are surprisingly many ways to sew one, as you will soon see.

Löysin tämän kirjasöpöstyksen Yhdysvalloista, maailman suurimmasta kirjakaupasta (siitä sitten joskus toiste). En ollut yhtään patalappua ommellut (ellen sitten ala-asteella), mutta kirjassa oli niin hauskoja ja kauniita pannunalusohjeita, että päätin ostaa. Koska rakastan kirpputoreilla kiertelyä, ajattelin, että sieltähän löytää monia ihania kankaita/vaatteita, joille voi antaa uuden elämän patalappuna.

I found this cute little book at Powell's Book Store in Portland. I had not sewn potholders before (I might have made one during school time...), but the book has such fun and cute and pretty potholders that I decided to give it a try. I love browsing second hand shops, and knew that you can find materials and clothes that deserve a new life as a pot holder.

Laavailin kirjaa ja yritin päättää mallin. Tässä on kiva idea, mutta ohje ei ollut niin selkeä, että olisin uskaltanut lähteä sitä seuraamaan.

I was looking at different pictures and trying to choose one. This one is a nice idea, but I did not completely understand the instructions, so I skipped it.

Kaunis ja yksinkertainen.

Pretty and simple.

Ihanat värit!

Lovely colors!

Ihastuttava. Olisipa tuollaisia kankaita!

Darling. I wish I had materials like that!

Vanha kunnon hirsimökki-kuvio. Päädyin sitten tähän, koska olen ennenkin käyttänyt tätä tilkkukuviota. Muista, en ole käsityö-opettaja!

Good old log cabin. I have done it before, so it was an easy choice. Remember, I am not an expert!

Sitten kankaiden valintaan.

Choosing the materials.

Pinosin kankaani värien mukaisiin pinoihin. Päädyin valitsemaan mallin mukaiset värimaailmat.

I piled my materials according to color. I ended up choosing the same colors as in the model.

Omistan tilkkutöissä korvaamattoman leikkurin, leikkausmaton ja viivottimen. Leikkasin 4 cm levyisiä suikaleita.

I cut the materials in 4 cm strips.

Valmis etukappale. Minulla ei ole kuvia hirsimökkimallin ompelusta, mutta se aloitetaan pienimmästä keskuspalasta (keltainen pala, jossa vihreä tähti). Siihen ommellan samankokoinen pala (oranssi), sitten ommellaan näiden kahden reunaan seuraava pala ja jatketaan järjestyksessä keskupalan ympäri. Värit pidetään kahdessa osassa niin, että toinen kulma on keltaoranssi ja toinen vihreäsininen.

Kun olet lukenut tämän ohjeen, ymmärrät, miksi en pidä käsityöblogia.

A ready pot holder front. I do not have pictures of the process, but you start with the smallest center piece, and keep on adding pieces around the center piece in orderly way. Keep the colors separate so that one corner will be yellow-orange and the other blue-green.

After reading my instructions here you understand why I do not keep a handicrafts blog.

Numerot apuna. Jatka kunnes patalappu on halutun kokoinen. Älä tee liian pientä, sillä sillä ei voi sitten napata kuumasta kattilan reunasta kiinni (eikö ole kiva laittaa kaksi samaa sanaa peräkkäin, ja silti niillä on ihan eri merkitys!).

Numbers might help. Continue until the pot holder is desired size. Do not stop too early, small pot holder is useless when you try to carry a hot pot! Unless you have really small hands.

Sitten lisätään kuumuutta eristävä täyte. Laitoin itse asiassa sekä palan vanhaa pyyheliinaa että kuumuutta eristävän kankaan. Takakappaleeksi laitoin väreihin sopivaa kangasta.

Tikkaus aloitetaan keskeltä. Tässä tulee nyt yksi suuri vaikeus, joka minulla oli tilkkutöiden kanssa. Laitoin ensimmäisessä patalapussa etukappaleen, täytteet ja takakappaleen yhteen muutamalla nuppineulalla. Tikkauksen jälkeen kankaat olivat pyörineet sen verran, että jouduin saksimaan reunoja saadakseni ne taas samankokoisiksi. Lopuissa patalapuissa käytin kaikki nuppineulani ja ne joutuiva uhraamaan elämänsä kovassa käsittelyssä (kts. teemakuva sivupalkissa). Silti kangas pääsi pyörimään vähän. Teenkö jotain väärin?

For padding I put a piece of a towel and insulating material. For the back piece I cut one piece of a matching color. Start stitching in the middle. Here is one big difficulty I have with quilting. After I finished stitching the first pot holder, I noticed that the back piece had turned. I had only used few needles to secure them together. I had to cut all the pieces to match the edges again. For the next ones I used all my needles, and many sacrificed their lives for this work (see the theme picture on the side of my blog). Even so, the materials had moved again. Am I doing something wrong?

Sain valmiiksi neljä patalappusta. Kokeilin muutamaa eri kangasta ja vaihtelin kankaiden järjestystä.

I finished four pot holders. I tried different materials and changed the order a bit.

Tykkään valkoisesta kankaasta, mutta se ei ehkä ole käytännöllisin patalappuväri.

I like the white material, but it might not be the most useful color for a pot holder.

Nämä pääsivät naapureille asumaan. Vein lähinaapureille Uuden Vuoden tervehdykset (täällä ei juhlita Joulua, mutta Uutta Vuotta kylläkin).

These pot holder found new homes at our neighbors. This was our New Year greeting for the closest neighbors (people do not celebrate Christmas in Central Asia, but they do celebrate New Year).

Hyvää Uutta Vuotta!

Happy New Year!

Beautiful cradles

I want to be able to present some parts of Central Asian life to you who do not live in Central Asia. There are things that are very different but still fairly easy to explain and understand. Foods, for example. I do not find it difficult to realize that people have very different taste in foods around the world, and I am actually interested to try new tastes and ways of cooking.

Today we were in a wedding, and I was thinking how Westerners and Easterners might never be able to fully understand each other in this matter. The way you and an Asian looks at a marriage is as far as...well, east from the west.

So I want to show you something that is different, but not too complicated. I want to stretch you out of your comfort zone, but not to confuse you too much!

Here we are window shopping. There are no windows in the bazaar, but we were happily strolling in there and looking at all the colorful things they have. I really like the look of the Central Asian baby beds. Oh, you did not recognize these as baby beds? Well, they are, and most of Central Asian babies are kept in these beds for the first months of their lives. They are made of beautifully carved wood, covered in beautifully embroidered or otherwise decorated curtains.

The cradle has very low sides, but no worries; babies are wrapped with long pieces of soft cotton cloth into the cradle, and can barely move.

Notice the round hole on the bed? That is where you put a little pot to collect the sewage.

You can choose from different kinds of colors and carvings.

Babies spent a lot of time in their beds. Often they are nursed while laying on their backs. I once asked a mother that isn't it difficult to nurse your baby when he is in the crib. Her answer was: 'If it's long its easy, if it's small it is difficult.' Other mothers in the room laughed knowingly.

I let your imagination run free for a while now.

Ok, stop, please.

Oh, look at these pretty curtains! Often the maternal grandma of the baby sews and prepares the cradle with its equipments for the new baby. I wrote about the party the family has when the baby receives the cradle in here.

A happy little boy sleeping in his crib.

Sweet dreams!

Lists

list ¹ (lst)

n.

1. A series of names, words, or other items written, printed, or imagined one after the other: a shopping list; a guest list; a list of things to do.

I love lists! If I have something bigger happening in my life, like planning a party, going for a weekend trip with the family or moving between countries, I start by writing a list.

It calms me down. And helps me to see what to do. And fifteen minutes later, when my brain comes up with something critical to remember for that event, I just add it to the list. And when I get things done, and this is a very big part of my list-liking, I get to check things off my list!

I love creating lists, I love finishing off my lists!

Last night I sat down at the computer and started writing. This was going to be a list! I wrote our family master shopping list. I have been thinking about writing it for some time now, but have not found time, energy nor inspiration for it. But now I had it all. A master shopping list is a shopping list (obviously) that has everything you ever need from a grocery store. E.ve.ry.thing. That is why it took me so long to start writing it. Then when you need to buy food, you can just quickly mark the items you need, and do not have to try to remember everything you want to have in your cupboards. But being the tricksy thing I am, I Googled before writing the list, and of course found lots of ideas. But some people's lists were just too...short. The spice section was endless, but then it did not have that many food items on it. Huh? Some fancy new diet? Or some lists had all kinds of deli produce and pre-prepared items...Which of course are very nice and helpful in everyday life, but not available here in Central Asia.

Then I stumbled upon on this site: grocerylists.org. It is a funny and entertaining site. Now after you visit it and do not find it funny and entertaining, just remember that it is part of my weirdness. I like lists, after all! This page collects used shopping lists, and publishes them. They even published a book about the lists. Wouldn't you want to know what our neighbors buy from the grocery shop every week? No? Am I all alone here? Anyone?

***

Baaaack to the master shopping list. So, among these random lists by real people, the site owner has created a master shopping list for you to download for free! That was a kind and human thing to do. Quickly as a fox I took the list, printed it out and based my own shopping list on that one.

I enjoyed looking at a normal American shopping list. I did not recognize some things like fake eggs (beats me? are they plastic?) or Provolone cheese. But it brought me many warm memories of my times in huge American grocery stores and just looking at all that stuff! Sad part of the list was that I actually had to cut it down with a heavy hand. For example, the only frozen food item we buy here is either chicken legs and files or ice cream. No frozen pizzas, no breakfast burritos. No fish sticks, no tater tots. No juice concentrate, no TV dinners. And naturally we cannot just go and get a bottle of vanilla extract or peanut butter either. But one learns to live without Worcestershire sauce and canned chili, and find joy in little things in life, like when you actually find a bottle of soy sauce or lemon juice (in the capital!).

So now I have our family's Central Asian master shopping list.

Some fun items on our list:

Kefir: it is like a really liquid and sour tasting yogurt.

Jakka: it is like a really solid and sour tasting yogurt. Paste.

Liver: So good for you, full of iron!

Oil: Not these cute little half a liter bottles, but real ones. My husband actually bought a five liter bottle for me once, but it is too heavy to lift easily with one hand while cooking!

Smoked Russian cheese: I like this one. Nice smokey flavor. Note: Does not melt well. Do not use for pizza.

Moloko: sweet concentrated milk, my husband uses it for his coffee.

All kinds of nuts: An important part of the table when you have guests. And so much cheaper than back home!

Brooms: We need to keep that yard clean!

Seasonal fruit: This part of the list is colorful, beautiful and endless when the season is right ( late summer). This part of the list is very short, sad and depressing when the season is NOT right (February-March).

So now that I have all this food in my house I need to start planning menus. THAT is not a list I enjoy writing. I sat down for a good 15 minutes and wrote down every dinner I can or could make here. The list was 15 things. Then I removed the hot dogs, and I have 14 dinners, enough for two weeks. I thought I have more meals in my life! What happened? I am asking for help...again! What is your favorite dinner to make from scratch? Please share with me, or I will turn into a raisin!

Remember to eat well, and remember those who do not eat well tonight.

Hiking

Here I am, in a middle of our hike. When I say "hike", remember that we have three kids with us, all under school age, so it was not very impressive climbing. But fun, nevertheless! The weather was really nice too. I found my sports pants a bit too snug, and I imagined how they would get looser during the hike. They did not. Hmmmm... too many muffins for breakfast, perhaps?

You cannot find a place with absolutely no people in Central Asia. If nothing else, there are the shepherds. I do not know if they go home for the night, but I think they do. I cannot imagine what the animals are eating....there are only thorny bushes and dust, as far as I can see.

Here is my attempt to do macro photography. A rock with dry, black moss on it. Pretty, huh? Improving my skills in photography is in my unwritten list of New Year Resolutions, definitely! I read a quote in one photographing site that said "Your first 10, 000 photos are your worst".

I went through my folders of photos and cried.

And then I was grumpy for the rest of the day and decided to stop trying.

And then I decided to read the manual of my camera again, and take notes.

And I will take more and more photos...watch out!

And I should just start saving money for a new camera with couple of nice lenses.

I have so much to learn!

Our family towards the end of the hike. It is interesting to see the different temperatures that run in the family. No, I do not mean to say 'temperaments', but as I wrote 'temperatures'. As usual, I am afraid of freezing to solid ice. I have taken off one fleece, but the fleece vest and the scarf are still on. My oldest daughter loves to be warm as well, and is happy carrying all the beautiful rocks she found in her purse. My husband and my son have thrown away their sweat shirts miles ago.

Exploring the ground. She found out that the dry, thorny bushes hurt if you squeeze them in your fingers...

..but the rocks are fun to pick and carry for a while. It was great to see her toddling on the steep mountain side. Our yard is so flat. Here you actually need to use the sense of balance!

Just before we were leaving, we saw a herd of horses far away. Horses are so graceful.

Christmas Party Decorations

I love having friends over for Christmas Party! We have done it for three years now, and it is a highlight of the season for us.

Because I am me, I would happily decorate for a whole day or three, but could leave cooking for someone else. We are such a large crowd, with children, that everyone contributes with food and desserts. I baked Cinnamon Rolls last week and froze most of it...so it was really easy to just do my part of the cooking. Of course we had no electricity for most of the day, but I cooked on bottled gas anyway...

It have bought these icicles in Finland...I guess. They were very carefully wrapped and hidden from children for years! I would find them every now and then, but not in the right time! I found them in December this year, and wanted to use them. We had some spray paint and I knew exactly what to do. Some persimmon trees had broken branches and I wanted them sprayed with white paint. So easy and quick, and such a cute winter look! Welcome to the winter wonderland (it still looks like September outside).

I got this glass angel from my Mom last summer. So cute and tiny, and perfect with the icicles.

I have several angel decorations so they were on the shelf together with star lights and glass vases with the branches in them.

Beautiful cross stitching on a linen bag and one of my crocheted angels.

On a different shelf I had the Finnish Advent candle holder with the song we usually sing when lighting the candles. Perfectly equipped with the match box...

Because we were spray painting already, we just got wild and pulled some branches off of the bushes in the yard...they got to be silver and gold. I am not very experienced with creating center pieces with plants and flowers, though I love them very much, so I just stuck them in a bowl with apples and mandarins.

Here you have a very hazy table top view. I did not set the plates on the table as we had a buffet table for food...With a big crowd the easy takes over the proper :)

I was very pleased to find this blue material with golden starts on it in the bazaar. Usually there are no Christmas materials, so I bought 6 meters as soon as I saw this! And it was at least $4.50 for all of it!

Did you notice that I have two different kinds of glasses on the table...Again, lots of guests...I really should go and buy enough glasses for the next year!

Christmas is a wonderful time.

And we are very blessed to have wonderful friends here!