Since we are moving soon, I thought I would show you a few pictures of the area we are living in at the moment. It is called Velibaba, on the Asian side of Istanbul.

Some parts of it are gorgeous. Lots of houses, especially the older ones, are often painted gorgeous vibrant colours (although sometimes not so gorgeous!).

A lot of the neighbours have been here for a long time and know each other well. This is both good and bad! It is very safe, with kids out playing in the streets all the time. On the other hand it means neighbours are always dropping in! Now personally I don't mind the occasional unannounced drop in at all (although I know some people hate it!) but sometimes it can really get to be too much!

Some parts of the area are modern, some have a village atmosphere. You can see a shepherd herding goats right next to large modern apartment buildings.

A lot of the buildings are old and ramshackle, built and extended bit by bit as families grew. Lots of new apartment buildings are being built. Health and safety standards are a little different here! You might not be able to tell from the photo but these guys are six stories up!

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People are always out walking around here, which I love. In the mornings there are so many groups of women out walking together. You can see in the photo my mother in law and Aunty taking baby Yashar for a stroll. One of the great things about living here is that when Yashar wakes up early my mother in law takes him for a walk while I have a sleep in. How good is that!

It is my duty to shop!

Great news! Senol (my husband) accepted a job offer and that meant we got to sign up to rent the apartment we wanted! I am both excited and relieved! The apartment is a bit old but has gorgeous views of the Bosphorus. It is in an area called Yenikoy, a beautiful green part of Istanbul that I am looking forward to getting to know better. We had a good chat with the owners of the building. When they first moved there, about 40 years ago, the whole area was just full of quince trees. Now the area is part of busy Istanbul, but it still has a little village atmosphere I think.

So, since we have just moved to Istanbul from Australia we will need to get everything for the apartment - woohoo - it is now my duty to shop! So I scoured the internet for some inspiration. I was thinking Danish design, some cool second hand/collected things, timber, handmade, not too over done and not like a store catalogue -and I couldn't find anything like that -until I found Emma's Blogg. It is fantastic! So much inspiration in the one spot! All of the photos in the post were found on her blog (wish they were mine!)
Now I just have to find stuff even half as cool! Tried to find some second hand/collected type things today, but no luck so far. It seems that buying second hand just isn't the thing to do here. Usually when I ask someone if they know a good flea market in Istanbul (in Turkish 'Bit Pazar') they look slightly incredulous and don't really understand why I would be interested when I could buy new things. I think there must be good stuff somewhere in Istanbul, I just have to find it! I will find super cool second hand goods even if it kills me!

April 23rd = Children's Day!

Today is Children's day in Turkey - what a great idea! The kids stomped through the streets, bashing their drums, blowing their trumpets and wearing some very cute little outfits. Here are a few pics.

Emily & Leo

I am so exciiiiited about this! (note: read in squealy girl voice!) A very talented young designer (who just happens to be my sister) used a beret I made in her photo shoot! This is for her brand spanking new label Emily & Leo. I knitted the beret using a bamboo cotton mix yarn that was gorgeous - so silky and soft.


I am so proud of my sister and her new label. The clothes have a feel that is classic but with a modern urban edge. I love them!...and have already put huge orders in to be sent over to Istanbul. She is doing such an amazing job - I don't know how she finds the time to do it all! One thing that I think helps a lot is how decisive she is. Something I could definitely work on!

I can't wait to get this pure Australian wool dress and this crop trench I ordered! The range has such gorgeous, high quality fabrics - apart from the Australian wool, she has also used silks, bamboo and organic cotton. Yay for organic cotton!

Crazy Crochet Cool!

Did you know that people are crazy crochet cool around here?! These are just a few of hundreds!! Here a bride might take around 50 crocheted creations with her to her new home!

So I decided to get in on the act and made this little singlet with a little square of crochet on it - it was so easy and it is so cute!...ahhh except I have no idea how to crochet so I actually just sewed the crochet square on the singlet...

But I really want to learn how to crochet (for those of you that don't already know, crochet is like so hot right now - all the cool crafters are doing it!)

So I bought this book and it was pretty cool but it didn't satisfy my crochet cravings and then I remembered that Alicia Paulson mentioned the book

Vintage Crochetby Susan Cropper (owner of Loop -a totally cool store in London that is on my wish list of places to visit).

The book arrived today and it is soooooo good! It definitely satisfied my crochet cravings. There are so many things I want to make from it, including Alicia's 'Maisie Cardigan' and Bee Clinch's 'Chevron Blanket'. You can read about the book and see some more pictures over at Alicia Paulson's blog (Alicia contributed two gorgeous items to the book and is the queen of crochet!). Alicia's blog and website are must sees! I have been reading the blog for almost a year now (although I am guilty :( of never leaving a comment -but have resolved to do so right now!) and it is full of inspiration and gorgeous goodies.

Here comes the sun...

Today the sun was finally shining through again - it was gorgeous! So what did I finally get around to doing? Knitting something warm and wintery!

I started this cute little cardigan just after I finished up at work before my little baby boy Yashar was born. I never got to finish it because he arrived a couple of weeks earlier than expected! Then there were the sleepless nights (still happening), packing up our apartment, moving to Turkey etc etc that took up my time! So I am finally getting it done just as the weather warms up! The pattern is from this very cute little pattern book from Cleckheaton (book no 951).

The picture to the right shows how it will look when it's finished (I hope! - this is a picture from the book) It is so cute!! All of the patterns in this book are beautiful.

I also knitted this little beenie from the book and we love it! You can also see the gorgeous little jacket my Mum knitted for Yashar (thank you!)

Smooooth Operator

We went over to the European side today (we are living on the Asian side of Istanbul at the moment) to Taksim and I checked out some of my favourite shops on Istikal Caddesi (Independence Avenue). Shopping! Yay!

Istikal Avenue is dripping with history and has some gorgeous architecture. During the time of the Ottoman Empire it was the place for Ottoman intellectuals to hang out and was called Grande Rue de Pera. Today it's a place for protests, shopping and eating! This is the heart of Istanbul and is definitely part of the Istanbul I love!

I also managed to get a half decent coffee (well it wasn't instant) and a Kiwi smoothie which looked delicious but was super sweet. It wasn't actually what I think of when I think of smoothies - I think real fruit, this was soft serve ice cream with artificial flavouring. So I'm thinking...juice bars...that's an idea that could work...maybe.

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

I thought Spring had arrived, but that was just a cruel trick the weather played on me. The wind here is icy! :( This cold weather does have one redeeming feature though...it is perfect weather for drinking salep, a deliciously sweet hot drink that tastes a little bit like rice pudding.

It is made from salep flour which gives it a rich, velvety texture. I like it best sprinkled with cinnamon which gives it a gorgeous wintery flavour.

I was surprised to find out that, traditionally, salep flour is made by grinding dried orchid tubers (although there are plenty of artificial versions available). Unfortunately, the use of these orchid tubers to make salep and also the Turkish icecream (maras dondurma) has led to dramtically decreased numbers of wild orchids in Turkey. So I am sticking to the artifcial powder which you should be able to buy from Turkish grocery stores. I used Binnur's recipe from turkishcookbook.com and it was delicious!

Treasure found!

You know those days...when you wake up early, the sun is shining and you are ready to get things happening. Today was like that.

I started to unpick some of the stitches (oops!) from the toy bag that I have been making for my little baby boy. I love these fabrics! I will show you more once the bag is finished. I have been sewing interfacing between the two pieces of fabric for this bag to make it a little sturdier -is that what you do?

We even got into some spring cleaning today. At the moment we are living at my mother in law's house (gasp! I know! But she has been great and it is very handy until we get ourselves set up here in Istanbul). Anyway we were cleaning out this little shed type thing when I heard the question "shall we throw this old sewing machine in the rubbish?" My ears pricked up! I quickly ran over to have a look...

and it was gorgeous! And definitely in need of some tender loving care. A project! I love it! And it would be perfect for my dream studio... hmm any ideas about how to get rid of the rust?

My mother in law remembers buying this around the time that my husband was born. Sewing clothes for him when he was little. So I asked her ever so sweetly, well as sweetly as I could in broken Turkish, "instead of throwing it in the rubbish, would it be ok if I had it?" "Yes?" Yay!

Let's get started!

Spring is here…time for spring cleaning, getting organised and change (crazy style) …like moving to Turkey with my husband and 4 month old baby! It also means I am going to start sharing a few things with you ... like things that I make (crafty stuff mostly), yummy food, great books and a bit of my life here in Turkey. I have enjoyed reading my favourite blogs for a while now and they have been such an inspiration. I hope you enjoy mine!