Country life

Hello you beautiful person,
I hope you are doing well.

This dress makes me think of country life, of vast wheat fields that are begging to be frolicked in, of the sun softly burning your skin and the scent in the air that is unmistakably 'summer'.

Instead I settled for a huge and lush tree as my backdrop whilst out playing Pokémon Go. It wasn't too bad either.

This dress is one of my favourites from Miss Patina. I adore the sweet collar and the soft pale pink is wonderful against the vivid colours of summer. It is also one comfortable and breezy dress to be worn when the weather is just too hot.

Dress: Miss Patina (here)

Hat: ModCloth (here)

Flats: Daisy Street via Asos (old)

I was thrilled when I found that the lace around my new hat matches the dress exactly. This hat keeps my dark head of hair cool in the warmth of this season. And the dainty roses add the right touch of femininity to the look.

Summer is coming to a sharp end here. In fact I could almost claim that the seasons have changed and my favourite time of year has begun. But I have lots more summer outfits I want to share with you, so I am going to pretend that it is still summer!

Have a beautiful and sunny day.
Much love,
Mona

Fiery Red

Hello there,
Hope you are doing great. My blog has taken a backseat, and it's not because I'm busy or anything (I'm still in my holidays). No, not busy at all...

Pokémon Go has entered my life.

I recently bought a smart phone and Pokémon Go got available in Sweden just a week ago. So I am spending my time catching Pokémons. I started out with a Charmander, which for those who may not know is a lizardy/dinosaury creature with a fiery tail. It's really cute.

Are you playing Pokémon Go? Are you also stuck in that world? And which Pokémon did you start with?

When playing Pokémon Go you walk a lot, so you need wear comfortable clothes and shoes, but this outfit that I'm sharing today, even though it may not be the optimal outfit for Pokémon Go represented the Charmander quite a bit in my opinion. The vivid red skirt reminds me of Charmander's blazing tail.

Beret: ModCloth (old)

Top: Vivien of Holloway (here)

Skirt: Vivien of Holloway (here)

Petticoat: ModCloth (here)

Flats: Asos (here)

Have a lovely day!
Much love,

Le Meow

Hello everyone! I'm back!!
I haven't been very good at updating the blog recently, but that will change starting... Now!

I had a (big-ish) presentation at my department about my research project, and I had been preparing for it forever! I felt like I learned how to breathe again after I finished the presentation. My nerves were all over the place, and for months I had it at the back of my mind, so it is definitely a load off my shoulders!

Do you guys get nervous when having a big presentation? How do you "attack" it?

I personally had to almost pretend another persona for myself. I'm not the kind of person that want attention, and I don't take much space. I'm a fairly small person by personality, not physically (although I'm only 1,57m so I'm not very big...) and I think I'm rather mellow.

So when all eyes are on me, I feel like I'm not loud and big enough to carry it. It is definitely something I have to work on though, because in my field we have to present our research and results regularly.

Beret: Larmoni (here)

Dress: Larmoni (old)

Cardigan: ModCloth (old)

Flats: ModCloth (old)

A word about my outfit. I decided to call it "Le Meow" because I always feel like a beret gives an outfit a French feel. And the meow is obvious. This lovely dress from Larmoni was an instant buy for me. I just had to have it when I saw the cute print!

Much love,

Cat hat by PattyMac Knits

Hello all you lovely people!

Today I want to share a special feature on an amazing person that is the creator behind the hat I'm wearing in these photos. I want to introduce you to PattyMac Knits, which is run by the talented, innovative and super kind lady Patty McGuire.

Patty is one of the nicest people I have gotten to know through instagram (@pattymacknits, @pattymac100) and I'm constantly grateful for IG for connecting me with people like Patty. It happens to be that Patty lives across the world from where I live, in Virginia Beach (which makes me imagine that it must be very different from northern Sweden as it's got the word "beach" in its name!). She's a photographer since 25 years, which is so evident from the artistic and beautiful photos she takes, often of her twelve year old Golden retriever, Willie, modelling her luxurious knits.

Patty describes herself as a Creative Entrepreneur, and I can but agree. She loves to encourage people to try something new, and she inspires people to craft and knit. Patty thinks that it is important to create things with our own hands and she loves to knit because it makes her feel happy, hopeful, alive and connected. Being the wonderful person that she is, she wants to help people experience these same fulfilling things, so she designs fun knitting patterns, and then show people how to make the projects!

Patty also wants to start getting into selling online classes in knitting and crafting, and I for one am looking forward to that, since my knitting knowledge spans only so far. So keep a sharp eye out! But for now, Patty's etsy shop, PattyMac Knits, is filled with her unique knitting patterns, and a limited quantity of finished knits. Everything you can find in her shop is handmade by herself.

I am lucky enough to have gotten a handmade hat from Patty. It is one of her so called "cat hats", which are ridiculously cute. It is quite a special one as it is made with Wool and the Gang luxury yarn. And let me tell you this yarn is incredible. It is soft and thick and so warm! It's the perfect hat to have when you live in northern Sweden. I just want to let everyone know about this hat, because I feel like all the people living in Umeå deserve a hat like this. But back to Patty, you can find the hat I'm wearing, finished and handmade with love here. And another version of the hat (in black) can be found here.

The little ears on the hat make it look so adorable and appeals to my quirky side. I find myself feeling very cute in the hat, and I get a bit silly-nilly wearing it. It's like the child in me comes out to play for a while. Or maybe it is the kitten in me.

For Patty it's not just about knitting, it's about changing the world one stitch at a time. She has a beautiful way of looking at life and she tells people to, in life as well as in knitting, not give up. I often find myself inspired, especially by her intelligent words but also by her beautiful blog. Lastly one thing that I cannot omit to mention is one thing that Patty and I both share a great love for and that made us connect in the first place - Harry Potter! She actually has made Gryffindor scarves for her dog Willie. If I had a dog it wouldn't go far without a Ravenclaw scarf.

I just had to add this photo (above), because it is so cute and I love it! Here is the woman herself (together with my favourite book series). The maker of all knitted things in the shop and the mind behind all of the patterns. One day I hope that we'll sit together and talk about Harry Potter and knitting, but until then this blog post is as close as we get to that.

Hat: c/o PattyMac Knits (here)

Dress: ModCloth (Stylish Surprise)

Cardigan: Lindex (old)

Tights: Lindex (old)

Shoes: Ecco (here)

Get connected with Patty.
Website: http://pattymacknits.com/
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PattyMacKnits/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/PattyMacKnits/
Instagram: @pattymacknits and @pattymac100

So, are there any knitters out there? I've got one of Patty's knitting patterns but have yet to go downtown to buy yarn. It looks like I can do it though, and I'm going to heed Patty's words - I won't give up!

Much love,