• Styrofoam ball with the desired diameter
• ribbons in desired colours – 2.5 cm width satin ribbons are recommend
• short or ordinary pins
• additional ribbon to decorate

Short pins are recommended for balls with a diameter of 6 cm and less to prevent pins sticking out or hooking up any previously pocketed pin.

For the purpose of this tutorial I use balls with a diameter of 8 cm, ordinary pins and a smooth satin ribbon 2.5 cm in white and purple.

1. First cut the ribbon to the appropriate sections. The optimum length of a single piece of ribbon is a bit more than twice the width of the ribbons. So if you have ribbon 2.5 cm, it is best to cut it into pieces of 6-7 cm. Cut also one square piece of ribbon to start of the work.

2. Using pins clip the purple square piece to the ball.

3. Working with the second colour ribbon (white), fold single pieces forming a triangle and clip around the white square along its sides. Stick the pins in places where ribbon folds.

4. Then clip next colour ribbon triangles, trying to pin them close to each other. This will allow covering the pins and polystyrene.

5. Repeat step 4, pinning rows of ribbons switching two colors until you get to the point where only a small square of uncovered polystyrene surface is visible.

6. At this point, you will have to cut off the appropriate section of ribbon, wrap the edges of the narrower side to make it neat and cover the visible polystyrene.

7. Using the same colour ribbon but of a smaller width, create a bow with loop for hanging and pin it to the top. I use decorative pins for more attractive looking effect.
Some other colours combination.

• I moved the house
• Went on a fabulous trip across Europe
• I learned to knit!

I used to suffer from not being able to knit disease. Crochet seemed easier and faster. But knitting was always ringing at the back of my head. Therefore I decided to give it a try one more time. It must be thanks to the crochet that keeping the right and stable tension is not a problem any more. I am still struggling to have all the stitches looking exactly the same but I plan to get there slowly :)

My advice, if you have a problem with learning to knit because of tension keeping disorder – learn to crochet first :)

This is a square I knitted for Go Woolly in support of Knit-A-Thon in Ireland.

Also, if you like to stay connected, it is important to protect what keeps you in touch with others – iPod, iPad, iPhone, SmartPhone – make your pick. Dot stitch pattern from the Purls of Wisdom by Jenny Lord. Excellent book for beginners like me. I used James C. Brett Pure Merino DK Wool in Apple Green shade.

We live in a celebrity-obsessed culture. I know this because all the newspapers and TV programmes tell me so. But, even if they didn’t tell me, I could guess from the strange reaction people have to certain films—“I wouldn’t watch that because I hate Tom Cruise”. “Ugh, I can’t stand Keira Knightley”. They don’t hate their acting, mind you; they hate them. It baffles me, but there you go.

But if you can get over any weird to the actress who plays Daisy Duke, and if you haven’t decided from the title sequence that it just has to be a terrible movie because:
a) All the critics say so
b) You have happy childhood memories of the Dukes of Hazzard TV show and a remake is blasphemy
c) You’re convinced that a remake of an eighties TV show has to be terrible
…then you just might love this movie as much as I do.

I didn’t know anything about the film or the show, going into it. Here’s the set-up; Bo and Luke Duke are cousins closer than brothers, living on a farm in Georgia with their uncle Jesse and their curvaceous other cousin Daisy. The family distils and sells illegal moonshine, and the Hazzard County sherriff Boss Hogg is perpetually trying to catch them out. (In the TV series, the Dukes were reformed moonshiners.)
Despite this, Boss Hogg is the bad guy—always plotting and scheming misdeeds against the people of Hazzard—and Bo and Luke are the Robin Hoods of the piece. The film revolves around Boss Hogg’s plans to strip-mine Hazzard for coal, his seizure of the Dukes’s farm as part of this plan, and the Duke boys’ efforts to stop him.
All the reviewers slammed it. I can’t for the life of me see why. This is a witty, fast-paced, (mostly) warm-hearted, even poetic evocation of the Deep South in the twenty-first century. And it takes the modern-day myth of the Dukes of Hazzard (and let’s face it; the original series, though endearing, was pretty dull) and gives it a glow of the timeless. Yes, really. I think the Dukes of Hazzard inhabits the same comic never-never land as Bertie Wooster or Mutt and Jeff. Bo and Luke are never going to leave home, Uncle Jesse is never going to die, and Daisy is never going to retire her short shorts.
Enjoying this film so much inspired me to watch the original series on DVD. It’s certainly quaint, and it’s certainly endearingly innocent. I tried to like it, but the stories were dull as tapwater. Only the inspired comedy duo of Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, the eternal persecutors of the Duke boys, lifted it above utter tedium.
Oddly enough, those two villains have been utterly changed for the film, going from loevable buffoons to out-and-out creeps (Boss Hogg being played by Burt Reynolds). Still, it makes sense. The film, though still a comedy-adventure like the TV series, is a lot more realistic in tone—right down to the colourful language and lack of social niceties that we might expect from real hillbillies.
What I like most about the film is its evocation of Hazzard County as a reality—not a realistic reality, but a world of its own. The true test of a fictional world, whether it’s a galactic federation or a single house, is that we feel it existed before we looked at it and will go on existing when the story ends. Watching this film, I believe that Hazzard County is out there, somewhere, even if I can’t find it on a map.
Why do I think this pleasing illusion, which is surely the goal of most films, is achieved so notably in The Dukes of Hazzard?
Part of it, I think, is that the film expects a certain amount of prior knowledge. Even if you had never heard of the TV series you’d realise, from the way the characters were introduced—almost with a flourish—that they are not making their debut. As well as this, the dialogue gives us glimpses of a functioning past. “This is worse than the time you sunk it in the Tipton Swamp”, says Hazzard County’s best mechanic, Cooter Davenport, examining the vandalised General Lee. (The General Lee is the Dukes’s car, and here again the film leaves us in no doubt that the vehicle is—and there’s no other word to use but this much-bandied one—iconic. When Cooter repairs the car, and Bo Duke enthusiastically honks its new “Dixie horn”, and the boys admire its newly-painted Confederate flag on the roof, we realise we are present at a creation myth.)
The film boasts some effective and atmospheric scene-setting, too. The scene set in the Boar’s Nest, Boss Hogg’s is especially vivid. You can almost taste the grease on the air, and smell the beer fumes. Every bristle on the unshaven hillbillies’
chins is true-to-life. And it serves as the venue for the best film bar-fight I’ve ever seen.

(I love the idea of bar-fights, but apparently the reality is rather less romantic. There is another marvellous set-piece, later—the best movie car-chase I’ve ever seen.(And really, how could the Dukes of Hazzard fail to feature a classy car-chase?) It uses AC/DC’s song “If You Want Blood, You’ve Got It” to sublime effect, and as with all good action scenes, its appeal lies in the fact that the dialogue and story don’t wait for it to
finish, but continue right through it.

All this is served with some surprisingly witty dialogue—when the NASCAR driver Billy Prickett (a wonderful comic creation, drenched in bufoonish charisma) is asked what charity he’s driving for, he replies, “Anal bifida…spinal bifida…it’s one of the bifidas”. In one particularly inspired scene where the Dukes are posing as Japanese executives, Bo answers the reasonable question, “Are you guys really Japanese?”, with the magnificent line, “We converted”.

All this, and Roger Ebert still named it as the second worst film of 2005. The film received seven “Razzies”, the booby Oscars awarded each year to (supposedly) terrible films.

The lesson? Don’t bother reading film reviews (except mine, of course). Just slip this into your DVD drive and prepare for a rip-roaring ride. Yee-haaaawww!!!

Wybierz materiał, z którego chcesz uszyć królika. Złóż materiał na pół i ułóż wycięte z  papieru “części” królika. Przypnij szpilkami żeby zapobiec przesuwaniu sie części w czasie szycia.Zszyj złożony materiał.Wytnij pojedyncze części i  przewróć na prawą stronę.Wypchaj pojedyncze częśći i zeszyj razem. Do wypchania możesz użyć syntetycznego wkładu z poduszki.Aby zrobić dwukolorowe uszy, złóż razem dwa różne materiały i przeszyj zostawiając niewielki otwór aby móc je wywinąć na prawą stronę. Na zdjęciu poniżej uszy biało-różowe i biało- niebieskie.Przyszyj uszy i czarną muliną wyszyj oczy i nosek (nosek może być też różowy zależnie od upodobań).

Teraz pozostało Ci tylko uszycie stroju.Więcej moich Tildowych królików znajdziesz tutaj.

STOPKA

Rząd 1: 16 oczek łańcuszka, 5 słupków w czwarte oczko łańcuszka od szydełka, po jednym słupku w  następne 11 oczek łańcuszka,  6 słupków w ostatnie oczko łańcuszka (koniec gdzie będą paluszki). Pracując na przeciwnej stronie łańcuszka, po jednym słupku w  następne 11 oczek łańcuszka. Połącz oczkiem ścisłym w 3 oczko łańcuszka (34 słupki).

Rząd 2: 3 oczka łańcuszka, 1 słupek w to samo oczko co oczko ścisłe, po 2 słupki w każdy z następnych 5 słupków, po jednym słupku w  następne 11 słupków, po 2 słupki w każdy z następnych 6 słupków, po jednym słupku w  następne 11 słupków, połączyc oczkiem ścisłym w 3 oczko łańcuszka (46 słupków).

Rząd 3-4: 3 oczka łańcuszka, 1 słupek w  każdy  kolejny słupek dookoła.  Zaciągnij i odetnij nić.

ŚRÓDSTOPIE

Rząd 1: 9 oczek łańcuszka, 1 słupek w czwarte oczko łańcuszka od szydełka, po jednym słupku w nastepne  4 oczka łańcuszka, 6 słupków w ostatnie oczko łańcuszka. Pracując na przeciwnej stronie łańcuszka, po jednym słupku w nastepne 6 oczek łańcuszka. Odwrócić robótkę (18 słupków).

Rząd 2: 3 oczka łańcuszka, po jednym słupku w nastepne 5 oczek łańcuszka, 2 słupki w każdy z nastepnych 6 słupków, po jednym słupku w nastepne 6 oczek łańcuszka. Odwrócić robótkę (24 słupki).

Rząd 3: Przyłóż zrobione śródstopie równo do „palcowego” końca stópki i połącz półsłupkami. Nie zaciągaj ani nie odcinaj nici.

CHOLEWKA

Rząd 1: 2 oczka łańcuszka, słupek w każdy kolejny słupek stopki dookoła pięty oraz wolnego brzegu śródstopia. Połącz w pierwszy słupek, omijając pierwsze 2 oczka łańcuszka  (30 słupków). Nie odwracaj.

Rząd 2: 3 oczka łańcuszka, słupek w każdy kolejny słupek.

Rząd 3: (3 oczka łańcuszka, słupek, 1 oczko łańcuszka, 2 słupki) w pierwszy słupek, pomiń następne 2 oczka, * muszelka (2 słupki, 1 oczko łańcuszka, 2 słupki) w następy słupek, pomiń następne 2 oczka. Powtórz * dookoła cholewki.  Połącz w 3 oczko łańcuszka.

Rząd 4: oczko scisłe w następy słupek, (oczko scisłe 3 oczka łańcuszka, 3 słupki) w pierwsze pojedyncze oczko w muszelce. *4 słupki w następne pojedyncze oczko w muszelce.  Powtórz * dookoła. Zaciągnij i odetnij nić.

SZNURÓWKA

110 oczek łańcuszka.

Proszę o komentarze, szczególnie te krytyczne jeśli coś się we wzorze nie zgadza. To moja pierwsza próba opisania wzoru. Dziekuję!

INGREDIENTS:

for shortcrust pastry:

• 200g plain flour
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 tblsp icing sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten
  

for pastry cream:

• 4 egg yolks
• 100g caster sugar
• 25g flour
• 300ml milk
• 1tsp vanilla essence or 1 vanilla pod

PREPARING SHORTCRUST PASTRY:

1. Place the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor (I use pizza-dough setting on my bread maker) and whiz until they resemble breadcrumbs. Add 3/4 of beaten egg and continue to whiz. With your hands form the ball and flatten it until it is about 2.5cm thick. Wrap it in the cling film and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.2. Chilled pastry can be now rolled out to fit the size of your baking tin. The pastry should not be thicker than 4mm. Even less thick if you use small tins (for tartlets).3. Transfer rolled out pastry in to the tin.4. Line the pastry with greaseproof paper and fill it in with baking beans. I found that parchment paper works best. If you don’t have to, try not to use thin-foil, as it doesn’t allow the pastry to “breath”. I don’t have professional baking beans, so instead I use (and reuse) dried beans and peas. They also work!5. Now you are ready to bake “blind”. Bake in a 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)  for 25 minutes.

6. Remove the beans and the paper. Brush with leftover beaten egg and return to the oven for another 2-3 minutes.PREPARING PASTRY CREAM:

1. Bring milk slowly just up to the boiling point. If you are using vanilla pod rather than vanilla essence, score it and place it in the saucepan together with milk. Remove the pod when milk is ready to use in step 4.

2. In the meantime, whisk the egg yolks with sugar until they are light and thick. 3. Add the flour and mix well.4. Pour hot milk over the mixture, whisk well and return to the pan.5. Stir constantly over medium heat and bring it to boil. Do not stop stiring as it will get lumpy. Remove it from the heat and add vanilla essence.4. Cover with cling film to prevent forming the skin and allow to cool down.

FINISHING TOUCHES:

Spread evenly cold pastry cream onto the base and decorate with fresh fruit of your choice. I like to use strawberries, grapes, raspberries (oh yes…) and  blueberries. Refrigerate before you serve.

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 eggs separated
  
• 60g sugar
• 250g mascarpone
• 200g biscuits
  
• 1/2 cup of very strong coffee (espresso is ideal)
• cocoa powder

REMEMBER! Always use fresh, pasteurised  and good quality eggs! When using raw eggs in your cooking, rinse them first with boiling water.

1. Mix the egg yolks with sugar until they are light and fluffy.2. Fold the mascarpone into the sugar/egg yolks mixture.3.  Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and beat until stiff.4. Using wooden spoon fold gently beaten egg whites into the yolks and mascarpone cream.5.  Dip the biscuits into the coffee and place them on the tray/dish one next to another.6. Spread some cream.7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until you finish biscuits and cream.8. End dusting the top layer generously with cocoa powder.9. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. Longer won’t matter.

Enjoy!