Familiar Friends and Comfort Clothes

Since last Thursday was Germany's Re-union Day, Firu and I got together with a couple good friends of ours, Iva and Wilson. We all slept over at Firu's for the weekend. On Friday we headed over to Venlo, Holland. Last year Firu and I went there on my birthday and it was magical. I love the town! Though small, it's very sweet and beautiful. Is this to be our annual autumn tradition, hopping into a train and taking a trip there? My, I wouldn't mind that one bit. It was Iva's and Wilson's first time there and, as per usual, we went straight to Toko Indradjaja, grabbed some tasty snacks for back home and had lunch. The food was delicious and we met very nice and friendly people there! Venlo in autumn looks so magical and in keeping with the theme, what with brick houses lining the streets left and right and falling leaves lining the pavements. Iva also loved the ambience of the whole town, the architecture and everything. We both wanted to move there, if at all possible. We spent the rest of the day just roaming around town, looking at all the shops and stalls. I even bought some tasty macaroons from Lamers Banketbakerij. All in all, everything was in good fun.

DIY infinity scarf // Brave Soul sweater via TK Maxx // vintage purse + loafers // photos of me by Firu + Iva

If you're following me on instagram, you might have seen this sweater. It's been my comfort clothes for the past two weeks or so. It's been so cozy and incredibly comfortable. I found it by accident on TK Maxx and it resembles a cardigan of Firu's that he wanted me to give it to him. But how can I give this baby up? The answer is no way. I love how the colour matches the autumn theme immensely. There's a flaw to this number, though. It has actually not been cold enough on this day that I had to pull out this sweater. But I was determined to have its pictures taken and show you how beautiful this piece is. Can you see just how I fell in love with it? I love the pictures Iva took of me standing on the pile of fallen leaves. How autumn is that! They weren't taken in Venlo, though, actually. After we left Holland, we went to Essen - specifically Villa Hügel - because I've been dying to know what was there. There's this grand and amazing mansion/villa belonging to the Krupp family of ThyssenKrupp. It wasn't much and we didn't have time to venture the garden - which explains our disappointment. But the parts we did see was undeniably marvellous.

To Infinity and Beyond

Last summer, I had a plan to knit some scarves for myself and Firu. I started as summer was nearing its end and procrastinated quite a lot to get the scarves done. In actuality, a ball of yarn took me only 1-2 days to finish - without procrastination, of course. But last week, they were finally finished. Just in time for the cold weather, I suppose. Please do head on to Park & Cube for the tutorial. It was very helpful for me. Granted, I already learnt how to knit last year - though failed miserably upon knitting a scarf for Firu - but Shini did provide links to learn how to knit a scarf from scratch for beginners. So her tutorial should be quite helpful even if you haven't tried your hand on knitting before. She only provides her readers with the basics so you have plenty of room for modification - which is what I did.

This is my scarf. It has to be in the colour of autumn, obviously. I used one type of wool only, Rigato wool - I don't know if that's the brand or if it's the type -, which consists of 53% virgin wool and 47% acrylic fibre. Just so you know, I'm just throwing this out there. I have no idea what kind of effect they have to the scarf. For this scarf, I used up 270m of wool - which took 3 balls of yarn. Since I have no idea about any of the stitches, I just decided to try three different patterns. One is when I vary between knit and purl every three lines, two is when I vary every two lines and the third one is when I vary every line. This scarf is significantly thinner than Firu's but it's perfect for autumn. I bound the ends together by stitching it together with a tapestry needle, which is the traditional way of finishing it off.

Photos of me by Galuh

I must say, there's this amazing rush of accomplishment when I can finally wear a scarf I made myself. Sure, you can always walk into a clothing store, pick a scarf which you like best and purchase it. But it's definitely less satisfying - and to your liking - than if you knit a scarf yourself. You can always turn it into whatever you want, use a colour that you love best - and rarely find in stores - and in whichever style you love best. Let me tell you, it's seriously awesome sauce! And, yes, this is me encouraging you guys to try something new, like knitting - if you haven't already.

Don't Knock It 'Til You Try It!

Lately, I've been thinking about wanting, about wishing and about doing. You know how people keep saying things like "Oh, you're so something! I wish I was like that." or "I wish I could do that." These days, it's only become quite apparent to me. I'm a naturally impatient person. So impatient that I always have to do something to define my fate. Even if that means I'd fail, even if that means I'd regret it. At least it means I tried. You know, if I want to be able to do something, I just damn well do it. If I don't know how to, I'll find a way to learn. It's such a waste, living in such a modern community, with high-tech facilities and more than a thousand ways to learn, if you're not going to take advantage of all the overwhelming opportunities. Imagine if we were born ten or twenty years earlier than we did. I mean, if we're so afraid to try, so afraid to learn now, with all the tools made available to us, what the hell kind of clueless bunch of people we would've been then, when learning was made much harder? So look around, take a chance and try something new! Do something you've always wanted to do! Think about the regret and the failure later.

DeviantWEAR tee // 1982 kids varsity jacket // Hand-me-down backpack + shorts // Falke tights // vintage brogues // photos by Galuh

Recently I found this beautiful fashion blog, My Peach Days. The blogger is a Filipino girl, who has such a dreamy and lovely style. The other day, Kathy - that's her name - saw my past autumn favourites and told me how she loved how I paired my varsity jacket with the lavender denim. And I realised, I hadn't styled this jacket at all. I hadn't even worn it this autumn. So here it is. Umm...this wasn't supposed to be an outfit post. It was just one of those days when I needed to run errands and walk around town. So this is my lazy outfit. But I walked into a changing room and saw how great this whole ensemble looks. So here we are. That day was too warm for my comfy sweater but not warm enough to go without layers. By the way, I just found out that DeviantWEAR closed several months ago. So sad to hear that but it's been a good run and it's been awesome. I'm still currently at Firu's right now, enjoying life. You guys should too.

Autumn Closet Clean-Up

Autumn is already here (as I've probably mentioned abundant times in my previous posts) and that means closet detoxication - a.k.a. getting rid of clothes I no longer wear or never ever wore. I recently added some new items to my shop. Click here for German buyers and here for international buyers. By the way, Indonesian buyers, I'm working something out for shipping so that it won't be too costly if you purchase something from my shop. I'll keep you posted, of course. So what are you waiting for? Click through to grab some lovely pieces, such as that double breasted blazer above. Hangers are not included.

October, Baby!

Can't believe it's October already. Summer definitely flew by without a sound. September was no different. October means back to school for me - well, uni but you know what I mean-, birthday and Halloween. October is the peak of autumn and I'm excited to see heaps of leaves turn to red and yellow. The town will be so pretty. I've got plenty of stuff planned for October. Hopefully not too much as I do still have to hit the books now and then. For starters, I'm going to Firu's in two days to meet up with some of my good friends. Plus, we plan on hitting Venlo once they're there. I can't wait. So I'll be gone until Sunday - no effect on the blog, of course. I want to visit an Oktoberfest somewhere this year - Munich would probably be best, but I'm good with settling for second best. Maybe it's finally time to flaunt my dirndl. It's going to be so great. I knitted two scarves this past week, one is for Firu, one is for me. They will be on the blog soon so stay tuned!

Batik dress (bought in an exhibition) // AKO jacket // H&M tights // thrifted boots via Kleider Kreisel // photos by Galuh

This outfit is less autumn vomit than the last one. It was an attempt. I actually wanted to pair this with a magenta cardigan but it was too thick for now. So I grabbed my go-to jacket for late summer/early autumn chill. It's perfect for a little chill and it goes with pretty much anything. And how come I always wear this dress in the colder months? It's lightweight and was made in Indonesia so it's actually more summer-appropriate. But the colour is just so perfect for autumn! I love pairing it with mustard tights and tall boots. The structure is also beautiful. It inspired the dress I had tailor-made. Sometime I'd love to wear it as a top or a skirt. Maybe some other time. I'm still hyper from the coming of autumn. I should probably tone down the autumn-vomit look on a daily basis. You know, save it for outfit posts and golden leaves instead. Maybe as the days grow colder, I get more autumn-vomit looks than now. Patience, patience.