Finished knit #6: Easy stitches for a chic jumper

It's been a long time since I last blogged about my finished knitting and sewing projects. But behold! Here's something that I just finished yesterday (that I've been working on for the past 6 months, heh).

I've actually used this pattern before, but last time it ended up too loose because of a poor yarn choice. This time I made it out of wool, which has more body. I had purchased a pack of this South American wool, Lima, a while back when it was on discount, and it worked for this pattern just fine.

The original pattern is from 1936 and you can get it for free from Zilredloch.

This pattern is easy and fun to work with. The yarn is a little bit thicker so it comes along quite quickly. I especially enjoyed making the yoke, which is knit in one piece after joining the pieces together. 

Unfortunately as I thought I was going to run out of yarn, I ended up ending the sleeves a little bit short. Now I wish I had made them an other inch longer, since I ended up with a little bit of extra yarn. Perhaps I will try stretching them out with water.

The sweater is very closed at the neckline so it needs to have an opening. In this pattern it's made by adding buttons to the back of the neck, which I think gives a lovely and very 30's touch.

For the pictures I accessorized the sweater with a white collared shirt (from a theatre's flea market), gloves and beret (which are both modern) and a 30's pendant which I bought from our trip to Prague.

Insta-January

January was a pretty eventful month for me. I went to Prague with my boyfriend, practised a lot of lindy hop and got to perform as a support for Paladins, which is an American rock'n'roll group, here in Tampere. We kicked butt btw.

1. Our room at the Hotel ú pava in Prague

2. in front of the astronomical clock in Prague

3. The bone church, Ossuary, in Kutna Hora

4. Sporting some flea market finds

5. playing with colours

6. A delicious salad dinner made with my boyfriend

7. Went up north to see my grand parents. The winter up there is magical

8. At a vintage market presenting my products

9. Started making my own almond milk again. It's way better and creamier than store bought

Prague pt. 4: Vintage and fabrics

So, at last, my last post about our trip to Prague. 

When ever I travel I try to find at least a couple of vintage and fabric shops to visit. To me, those are my favourite souvenirs to bring home. 

I'm not much into main street shopping, so I don't have much idea about what Prague has to offer on that. We did pass a couple big shopping streets, but I didn't memorize the streets.

Of course I had to bring a couple of touristy souvenirs as well such as the astronomical clock magnet and some Medovina (honey wine, which was delicious btw)

Vintage shops

I had looked up a couple of vintage shops before hand that I wanted to visit, but we also stumbled upon a few others. The prices, in my opinion, are pretty much on an international level, so you probably won't find a bargain in vintage shops here. There are also second hand and salvage shops, but I didn't visit any of those, because rummaging through a salvage shop in hopes of a vintage treasure is quite time consuming.

I don't really have any pictures of the shops because many places forbid photographing inside.

Art deco galerie 

is located at Michalská 21, Praha 1 near the old town square is a treasure trove for any art deco lover. The shop has an impressive selection of, well, almost everything. From jewelry to haberdashery to accessories to clothes to home decor and dishes, from 20's to 70's.

On the same street just couple shops down was an other fashion outlet/vintage shop, but I couldn't quite figure out the name. The shop had some beautiful mid century party dresses, dress jewelry and hand bags along with more modern fashion pieces. This shop seemed quite high end and most of their items didn't have prices visible.

Bohemian Retro  

on Chvalova 8. Prague 3 is located in the new town. This little shop is owned by a lovely British lady who will offer you some tea while you rummage through her treasures. Bohemian Retro seemed to have more 60's and 70's vintage with a few older pieces here and there.

Just around the corner from Bohemian Retro is 

Studio Vintage

on Kubelíkova 45 Praha 3. The shop is quite small, but their merchandise is well selected and the prices seemed reasonable. There were some nice 40's and 50's dresses and accessories as well as some newer pieces. I tried on a beautiful 50's yellow lace party dress, but unfortunately it was too small beyond repair.

Prague Fashion Museum & Vintage Shop

on  Štupartská 3 110 00 Prague 1 just around the corner from the old town square is a lovely little shop/museum with an exhibition on one wall and long racks of clothes on the other. They mostly had 60's 70's and 80's clothing here with a few nicer 40's and 50's pieces as well as some accessories and jewelry. They had a sale going on at the moment and I was able to snap a gorgeous 20's or 30's necklace for a steal. 

Fabric shops

There seem to be quite a few fabric shops in Prague, but they are scattered around the city so I only was able to visit a few. Also it's impossible to know which ones are worth visiting. The first one we went into was a bit of a disappointment as it had no clothing fabrics what so ever. 

The second one HAIŠMAN ŠICÍ CENTRUM on Na Poříčí 1758/14, 110 00 Praha 1 is a little fabric shop with a small selection of clothing fabrics. I was able to find a cute cotton fabric here, but instead of the 3 meters I wanted I ended up buying 4 as the lady didn't speak a word of English. Fortunately the fabric was cheap so a little extra didn't hurt my wallet too much.

Textil Forum 

on Uruguayská 416/11 Praha 2- Vinohrady alredy had a much nicer selection on clothing fabrics. I especially enjoyed their laces, which were ah-mazing. Unfortunately they were way out of my budget.

LÁTKY ČERVENÝ a spol

on Budečská 1026/14, 120 00 Praha 2 was perhaps my favourite shop and they also had the biggest selection of the shops that I visited. In here they had a great selection of embroidered laces in all the colours of the rainbow for very reasonable prices. I even ended up buying couple meters of this gorgeous gold coloured embroidered lace. I can't wait to make something out of it!

Lace from Látky Červený, cotton from Šicí Centrum Haišman, buttons and buckle from Bohemian Retro

Vapriikki Vintage Tampereella 24.-25.1.

Tampereella taphtuu jälleen, kun Vapriikki Vintage järjestetään jo neljännen kerran Museokeskus Vapriikissa. Kattavan vintagetorin lisäksi luvassa paljon muutakin hauskaa kuten Ateliri O- Haapalan neoviktoriaaninen valokuvaamo, muotinäytös, museokierroksia, maskeerauksia, musiikkia ja tanssia.

Tapahtuman Facebook -sivuille pääset tästä

Myös allekirjoittanut on paikalla uuden talvimalliston kanssa. Nähdään Vapriikissa! :)

Prague pt. 3: History and architecture

Prague is a very old city founded in the 9th century. It's full of amazing architecture with some of the original structures still remaining. Our trip was a good mixture of history, architecture and culture. We did a lot of sight seeing by just wandering around the city, but also some of the "must see" sights. A lot still remains to be see.

The astronomical clock at the old city hall at the old town square

The oldest part of the Orloj, the mechanical clock and astronomical dial, dates back to 1410 when it was made by clockmaker Mikuláš of Kadaň and Jan Šindel.

The clock mechanism itself is composed of three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon, moving sculptures striking the time and a calendar dial representing the months.

You can also climb up to the clock tower to take a look at the old town of Prague. But if you're on a budget and want the best view, why don't you check out the St. Vitus Cathedral.

Prague castle ad St. Vitus cathedral in Malá Strana

We especially wanted to see the Gothic style cathedral that was originally founded in 930 and reached it's current state in 1344. That's more than 400 years of constructing.

The interior of the cathedral is very lavish. It's amazing how much money was put in to it, which only goes to show what a huge influence the church was back then.

Just the walk up to the castle quarter through Malá Strana was very beautiful. One of my favourite things inside was the art nouveau style glass painting designed by Alfons Mucha, added to the church in the 1920's as it underwent a series of renovations.

We also climbed up to the south tower which is 96 meters tall and you have to climb 287 steps in a claustrophobically narrow corridor. But it's all worth it once you get to the top and get to enjoy the view. 

Old Jewish cemetery in Josefov

In the morning we got a bit of a snow fall which gave the cemetery quite the eerie feeling. The cemetery was in use from the 15th century and and the number of grave stones and people buried there is uncertain. it has been estimated that there are approximately 12,000 tombstones presently visible, and there may be as many as 100,000 burials.

Right next to the cemetery lies the Pinkas Synagogue. On it's walls are encrypted the names of the 77 297 Czechoslovak Jews who died in the German occupation. You weren't allowed to take pictures in the synagogue, but it was a pretty powerful sight.

After visiting the Jewish quarter, we headed over to the Veletržní Palace in Holešovice, where the Slav Epic is presented. It's consists of 20 large canvases painted by Alfons Mucha between 1910 and 1928. The paintings depict the mythology and history of Czechs and other Slavic people. 

1. The Slavs in their original homeland, 1912.

The exhibition was a good history lesson and the paintings themselves are very impressing, some of them standing over 6 meters tall. It is said that Mucha rented a castle to work on these giant painting, because that was the only place where he could fit them.

14. The defence of Szigetvár by Nikola Zribski, 1914

We also visited the Mucha Museum at Kaunický palác, Panská 7, 110 00 Prague 1

At the museum are presented some of Mucha's original works, photographs and personal posessions. While the exhibiton was interesting, it was quite small. If you're on a limited schedule, I would recommend seeing the Slav Epic instead.

On our last day we decided to go on a tour to Kutná Hora to see the Bone church, Ossuary. We saw it on a tour brochure and thought it looked cool. The tour included transportation from Prague to Kutná Hora, which is about 70km, lunch and entrance to the Ossuary and St. Barbara's Cathedral.

While the ossuary was interesting, in a macabre way, this isn't necessarily something I would say is a must see. But if you have an extra day to spend, then go for it. Kutná Hora was a lovely little town and you'll get to see some Czech Republic outside of Prague.

The tour wasn't expensive, less than 50 Euros per person, but it felt a bit hurried with only 20-25 minutes in each location. I feel like we might have gotten more out of it had we taken the time to get there on our own, or if we had the chance to wander around the town without hurry.

Also check out
Prague pt.1 : Getting to and around
Prague pt. 2: Music and theatre