More Summer flowers have been pressed, and new woodland pendants have found their way to the shop. I'm so amazed by the wonderful plants and flowers that can be found in these woods.

A tribute to Summer: Woodland pendants

I've been trying to think during the whole Summer what would be the best way to keep a trace of the beautiful flowers that bloom in the woods during that season. I'm still updating my botanical diary every month since I started it, but I think that I also wanted to create something a little bit more special, something that I could carry around with me all the time.

These little pendants have been in my mind for so many years, but I never figure out how I could make them. As soon as the heather started blooming, I knew that I had to start working on them. My favourite flower was not going to last for more than a few weeks, and then the winter will settle and no flower will be collected during that time.

So I've been enjoying many walks in the woods lately, searching for plants to press and mushrooms to gather if they were on my way. Many pages of old books are now filled with colorful flowers that are slowly drying, getting ready to find their last resting nest.

These little gems are my tribute to Summer, and you can find them in my shop!

Heather & Helga

As I said in my previous post, I worked on the last sleeve of my Helga cardigan. And it is now completed. I made some modifications to the original pattern: I opted for a three needles bind-off for the shoulders and modified the lace sectionon the sleeves as well. The pattern in beautifully written, and I think that it works very well with the yarn.

We've been slowly embracing the early arrival of fall. Many squashes have been bought at the market. Some of them as sitting on my windowsill as a fall decoration, and some of them are patiently waiting in the fridge to be baked later this week. I collect as much heather as possible, dry some, put some in vases for the kitchen. I cannot get enough of my favourite flower.

A handmade lifestyle: a Blue naive giveaway {closed}

Dress: Blue Naive / Pendant: Mandarine's / Shoes: Seychelles

At the beginning of Summer, I found myself browsing Etsy pages, to find the perfect Summer dress. As the temperatures were getting higher and higher, I knew that a linen dress would be the perfect kind of material that I was searching for. So when I came accross Karolina wondeful shop, Blue Naive, I immediately felt connected with her aesthetics and her wonderful photographs in the woods near her home.
Just a week after chatting with her, I received ther stunning handmade linen dress in my mailbox. That's without a doubt, the most precious and the most confortable piece of clothes that I own.

* Could you introduce yourself & your  shop Blue Naive.
My name is Karolina. And Blue Naive is my new chapter of life. My husband and I, left our stressful and intensive lives in a city and moved to live in a small house near the river in the middle of the forest. Now I live with the nature rhythm, in a huge amount of silence and peace with myself. Being surrounded with trees, I started to feel more relaxed, more alive, more sensitive. I've been working as a sale manager for a long time, and I was getting tired of the stress and an intensive life. For more than a year, I started to realise that I was totally not satisfied with my life, the way I was living, and what I was doing for a living. So I really started to think what kind of person I wanted to be. Then we fond a beautiful old house in the middle of the forest, close to a river.  Not long after, I left my job and embraced a natural life in the woods.

Linen came to me naturally. One day, I sewn myself a dress and it was beautiful! Shortly after, I decided to open an online shop, and that was the perfect reason not to come back to the city.

* How did the idea of creating Blue Naive came to you?
Everything was born from a huge inner desire to return to the purity, simplicity and gentleness. All Blue Naive clothes are born surrounded by nature, the century-old spruce and long-lived flowers, inspired by the flowing stream, and the fresh air, enriched with pure love and gentle care. These clothes are less about fashion and more about the way of living. It`s about balance between city and nature. With our clothes, we aim to give peace of freedom, and the moment of nature sense.

• Which item that you created do you like the most?
www.bluenaive.com/en/product/blue-naive-flighty-linen-dress
This dress is my favorite, because of it's simplicity and comparability. I made three of them for myself in different colors. And I can't stop wear them.

* What are you currently working on?
Now I'm working on new dresses, skirts and sweaters for fall and winter. I'll be using wool and cashmere. It's going to be very light yet warm, cosy and delicate. I hope to make it available at the beggining of September!

• What effect do the seasons have on you/ your work?
They have a huge effect on me. Summer doesn't last long, so you can only wear linen clothes during warm weather. At the beginning of summer all my customers are from Europe, but at the end they're from Australia! I'm looking forward to be working with cashemere & wool, but I will miss linen definitely.

• Any plan for the future?
Yes, my next goal is to participate in www.maison-objet.com/ this September, I will be searching for new materials, partnership and so on. And of course, the new clothes for fall and winter.

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So this week, Karolina is generously offering to one reader, the linen dress of his choice (for a value of 75.73 USD). To enter the giveaway:

1. Visit BlueNaive and follow her.
2. Come back her, and leave a comment below, telling me which item you would like to win.
3. For an additionnal entry, share this giveaway on a social media platform, and come back here to enter a new comment.

Please, remember to leave me your email address so I can contact you. The giveaway will close on Monday 18th August at 8EST time. Good luck! Congratulations Nicole!

A knitter's Summer wishlist

I hope that you're enjoying your Summer. We're having such a blast in here, and all I want to do is to spend time outside. And I do! We reached 30°C last week, and the only kind of material that I could/ wanted to wear was linen and cotton. These simple linen dresses by Blue Naive are perfect for a long Summer day.
In the evening, I usually head out to the small park close to my home, and knit a few rows before sunset. I absolutely love knitting my Keynote cardigan outside, but merino wool is a bit hot between my hands sometimes. So I’m secretly dreaming of this and this. Aren’t the colours so pretty?
And this little pouch would make the most perfect project bag!
I recently started to forage for herbs outside, and found camomille and spearmint growing not far from a neighboor's garden. I love to make solar infusions on my windowsill and bring my beverage with me at the park in the evenings.