Wendy's question

If you could take a road trip with any three people, living or dead, real or fictional, who would you take, why and where would you go?

I have ransacked my brain for people I would like to take on this kind of trip and decided to make it as much fun (for me, tehee) as possible. Let's forget the fictional characters and stay with real people.

On a long road trip one has to knit. And to talk about knitting. So, I know I have said that I don't need to know celebrity knitters but I always wanted to meet Julia Roberts (even before I knew she knits). I say two birds with one stone. She comes along.

I like to sing while driving/riding. We need someone who will sing with me. I'll take Robbie Williams on the ride - he can sing swing, pop and a little bit of rock, that'll do nicely. And I bet with his attitude he is very entertaining on top of the singing.

Now, who else could we bring? How about someone like Hugh Jackman? He has a cool accent, can sing, too, and is nice to look at. Done deal.

Take a tour bus and drive around Europe to everywhere I wanted to go and never made it or where I already was and didn't spend enough time. Lots of yarn shops on the way, Provence calls, Malta, Scotland, Sweden...I would find destinations to fill six months of travelling easily.

My, that would be fun!

Things are a-changing

I changed my sidebar. I started a while ago and I am not finished. The music thing just didn't work for me because I am not listening to much music any more. At one point it is going to be spectacular and I will like it. I just haven't done enough brainstorming.

What else is changing? The weather. It is hot and humid once again. I feel like I need to change something else but haven't found out yet what and how. Ever feel like that?

Kate asks today if we ever have thrown out something we knitted. I have. The last thing I tossed was a hideous cotton tank top, that was to heavy, to long and just to...too! It felt great.

I won't toss any yarn though but try to find someone who will like it instead.

Caroline has more questions for me!

Which Harry Potter book was your favourite?
I had to think about that for a while. It wasn't the latest, though I liked it a lot (and have said so before). I think I have to agree with Caroline and name No. 4 as my favourite. Apart from being a big book (many pages!) it also was way more entertaining than the even bigger No. 5.

What's the best yarn you've ever knitted with. And what's so great about it?
Right. I don't have a clue. I wouldn't call it the "best" yarn but my "favourite" yarn. What do I know what's best, really? I like knitting with sock yarn. Any plain wool yarn is favourable. Why? How to put what you feel when you knit in words? I like when my knitting "flows". Mohair doesn't cut it, novelty yarns neither. There are lots out there I love knitting with, and after knitting with "VIP" from Lana Gatto lately I am sure this yarn will end up on my favourite list, just to name one I can think of. (And I do knit with Mohair occasionally, too!)

What kind of music do you listen to?
This could get embarrassing. As it is, I just refuse being embarrased because everyone is entitled to her/his taste regardless.
I listen mostly to music I can sing to. Which means no Heavy Metal, Rap or HipHop crap. That's why you find in my CD rack for example Sting, Robbie Williams, The Beautiful South, Dido, Dire Straits, Reamonn, Right said Fred, The Corrs, Flying Pickets, Ultravox...it's way eclectic, my CD rack. The embarrassing part might be the Spice Girls (yup, I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want...) and Bad Boys Blue (bad 80's pop). Go on, get out your big fat grin, I can handle it.

Thanks, that leaves 10 more questions. If you think that 14 minus 3 is 11 you would be right but that would be only because I haven't told you that Wendy has asked me one more thing that is really challenging and I have to ponder over for a while.

And, big finale, this just arrived:


A box full of Harris Tweed from elann. Delightful.

So happy together...

...we were on Wednesday night at one of our meetings. Read all about it here. (I figure my poor little camera must feel necglected by now, I keep forgetting to bring it!)

I am happy today because the humidity has lessened and the wind breezing through the window is actually cool.

There's a quote for you:

Dumbledore re-entered the room and Slughorn jumped as though he had forgotten he was in the house.
"Oh, there you are, Albus," he said. "You've been a very long time. Upset stomach?"
"No, I was merely reading the Muggle magazines," said Dumbledore. "I do love knitting patterns."

One just has to love that Dumbledore character, eh?

Got the new Harry Potter on Tuesday morning and was done reading on Wednesday morning. I like it a lot. Now, do we really have to wait two more years for the next (and, sadly last) book?

There aren't any more questions for me to answer, either no one is really interested that much in asking or maybe they just couldn't think of the right questions? There are 14 left and anything goes, really!

To skunk or not to skunk

Is not really a question, not to is definitely my answer.

Now, being from Germany I did know about skunks, I even know what one looks like. What I didn't know was how it actually smells stinks. See, we don't have them in Europe, that is outside of zoos. That non-knowlegde has been cruelly remedied last night.

There I was, sitting in our living room on the couch, minding my own business (i.e. reading the new Harry Potter, my knitting is abandonded for now), when suddenly around 10.30 p.m. this incredible waft of stink pours through the open window and makes me almost gag. Instant headache, the inside of my nostrils feel like they have been singed and it won't stop, it gets worse and worse. Seconds later my husband comes home from playing soccer and says "that's skunk what you smell". I look at him blankly. Skunk? We live in the friggin' city, how can it be skunk? I thought you had to go camping (what I never do) to encounter one of them. "Yeah, A. (our old landlady) just saw it and dumped water on it. That must have made it do it."

I am a peace-loving person, but at this moment I could have happily wrung her neck. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that this would be the way for me to encounter skunk stink, not to talk about the fact that it stayed with us for hours in the bedroom, too, making falling asleep almost impossible.

This morning the stink has disintegrated. Yet I seem to encounter remnants of it everywhere I go. It's burned into my olfactory system. I know if I ever have to smell it again, I'll panic. Like that night a couple of weeks ago when I woke up to the feeling someone wanted to poison us with gas, with a nasty odor lingering in our bedroom. Today I know: that, too, was skunk.

Now on to more pleasant things: I got three new questions from Jo, here is what I have to say:

What is the next knitting book you plan on getting yourself?
That is difficult, since I have a whole list of books I want to get, which makes it hard to decide which one to buy. High on my list at the moment are books about lace knitting, like "A dictionary of lace", "Heirloom knitting", "Lace from the attic", "Traditional knitted lace shawls". That of course, can change in a matter of days without me having bought any of these because, let's admit it, I can't cough up the money.

Do you know how to play an instrument, if not, what would you like to learn?I actually know how to play several instruments. I learned to play the recorder when I was in third grade, then at 12 I started to play the electronic organ, and at thirteen I started with b-flat clarinet, going on to alto saxophone when I was fifteen. Now, I know how to play these instruments but haven't really done so in a very long time.

Of which knitting project are you the proudest?
Oooh, that's a really hard one. "Being proud" doesn't really describe it, it's when I give something I knit away and the receiving end really loves it - that makes me happy and gives me butterflies in my stomach. Actually, when someone poures over my knitting (yes, it has happened) I get easily embarrassed. So, is there something I am proud of? Alright, maybe the fact that I finished a Kaffe Fasset inspired cardigan - not the knitting, the finishing is what I am proud of.


Thanks, Jo, that was fun!

14 possible questions remaining...

Let's play 20 questions

Right now I have about three to answer (should I forget some, please forgive me):

Lee Ann asked about my studio: Nope, not all set up. It's too hot in there to care. Will do as soon it's cooled down a bit. Maybe.

Wenders asked: Why? I frogged the darned back of my sweater because I counted/calculated the rows wrong. It had gotten too long.

Samantha asked: What it was what I frogged? Well, the back of my Baby Alpaca, Silk and Cashmere sweater - dubbed also "cabled delight", screw the delight at the moment!

Thanks for all the comments you readers leave frequently - even though I don't answer/react all the time, I love them!

As you can see, there are at least 17 questions left, feel free to bother me with anything you ever wanted to know about me, myself and my knitting. Anyone?

For heaven's sake!

Enough. Enough with this humid heat that makes me wanna do nothing but sit and stare. In front of our fan, don't you know it. No, we don't have AC, not even a small window unit. The humidex right now is 41°C, the dewpoint 23°C. I can't really explain why, but the higher the dewpoint the worse the humid heat feels. I keep watching the local forecast on the weather channel, hoping for a sudden change to appear. No luck so far. And it doesn't look as if it's getting better soon.

I know a lot of people have complained already, but you know, when there's nothing else to talk about, there's the weather, no? And, one more thing:

Happy Birthday, Mary!

Progress in reverse

You know how most "before" pictures are bad and the "after" are good? Not here.


BEFORE


AFTER

It can only get better.

It needs a good spa....uh, blocking

My alpaca Flower Basket Shawl is finished. I used almost all of the 250g of yarn I had, I even thought of weighing it before the second last repeat to find out when to knit the edge. It worked out beautifully, I have only a little ball of yarn left over.


No, one can't see the lace pattern before blocking. If nothing else, this picture is proof.

London calling

What are those bomb planting people thinking? From my perspective I'd say nothing I care to know about. There can't be any sane reasoning behind this. Once again I am at a loss for words for this abomination in human behaviour.

Holy crap on a piece of toast!!

Or: Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I think that describes it very well. "That" being the discovery that I have to rip out the fucking back of my teal cabled sweater because I miscounted my swatch and so my fucking calculations are way off. Which, of course, had to wait to be discovered until I decreased for the armholes. Just a little reminder: it's knit with 2.75 mm needles and takes for fucking ever.

I don't think I have used the f-word that often in the last twelve months.

Have a nice day, everyone!

Mwah, haha...Madness has caught up with me

Or maybe it was a heatstroke that made me model my finished socks in a humidex of 36°C. Who knows.


That's all I have for today.

Five minutes is just too much

Or so it seems. I can't get myself to spend five minutes on grafting this stupid toe of the second sock that has been finished for more than a week now.


As Caroline said: it's not sock weather anyhow!