...you just get sucked into it

Had a great holiday season so far? I certainly hope so.

My being in Germany and the only connection to the Internet being dial-up at my Mom's house have prevented earlier blogging.

Some impressions of Christmas in Germany:


My Mom's tree - I decorated it.



Yes, we use real candles. We love to live dangerously. That said, you must know that we only light them for about 30-45 minutes, mostly when presents get unwrapped and we can keep an eye on them. That's it.






Carousel at the Landau Nikolausmarkt.



Turmgasse in Kandel where my Mom lives.


Then there was this:


A nephew to be.


And this:



So you get sucked into knitting this:



That's all I have to say.

Food obsession

Taking pictures of food is fun. Chicken with Spinach and Cashews. Yum.

Dessert:


Melting on your tongue, they do. Did, rather.

Arts and Crafts

The Art of Cooking (or so):


Pumpkin Soup with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of freshly ground nutmeg. That's why we love fall.

Then there's Art etc.


There was that neat little Arts and Crafts fair in the Montreal West Town Hall, and on Saturday at 2 p.m. I went on a whim.

Artsy jellies and preserves:



Artsy baking:


I have tried myself at biscottis. These look better. There are also two homemade truffles in the box.

Very artsy soap:


Peach, Lemon Verbena and Chocolatte (it's coffee in a soap, really!). They smell great. That tin is Vanilla Lip Balm. That not only smells great, but tastes also good. Yes, I know, I am not supposed to use it as candy.

Then there's this:


Can't really show it to you, these are a bit of a secret.

One for me and one for...won't tell!



As you can see, I had a blast!!

If you wonder where the crafty part of that post is - I'm not finished.


Armwarmers. Very handy when one likes to wear 3/4 sleeves in colder weather. They are knit with the Applelaine Applepie in the Godiva colourway.



Yup, another pair. Also called "sleeves with holes."
They are knit from Mountaincolor Bearfoot "Mountain Tango" which was brought to me by the lovely Miss D..


And then there's the hat. Everyone who's seen it likes it. I think I look silly wearing it, as ever. The good news: it only takes one ball of chunky yarn (knit on 6 mm needles) and holes of lace notwithstanding it is very warm. Watch out for the pattern to arrive here soon - I am also going to tell you which yarn would be perfect.

It's 5.12 p.m., we had an important meeting today and my pattern has been destined to be published. Sorry, pals! I will try to make up another one you can have.

Obligatory picture(s)

The Yarn Harlot came to Montreal on Friday, November 10th, and I went to see (hear) her.

There she was, holding up "the sock" to take (blurry?) pictures of her audience. I was sitting in the audience, taking DEFINITELY blurry pictures of her. In fact, the two pictures I blogged are the only ones that are not blurry, and one was taken by Miss D. who kindly offered her services. They had been accepted thankfully, after all, it is really not her fault that I look like a walrus next to that tiny person. But, I got to hold the sock.


Sorry, Alison, you know you're not as pale as pictured.



Yup, it was fun. And she signed my book, too.

Embossed Leaves Socks "How To"

For all of you out there who wanted to knit the Embossed Leaves Socks

featured in IK Winter 2005 but have been kept by the size the sock design delivers, here you go. Adapt the pattern to your size without losing any of the design elements.

What do I do to make the circumference smaller?
Just leave out one of the purl stitches between the leaves pattern. You'll have 60 sts around. The heel can be easily adapted, and when starting the toe just k1, p1, knit to last 2 sts, ptog, i.e. drop one of the knit sts at the beginning.

What do I do to make the foot longer/shorter but want to keep the star toe?
For all of you with shoe size 10 or larger (I myself wear a 10, sometimes 11 and the Koigu version fit my foot, but sometimes it just needs to be larger or smaller for that matter, right?) knit another 8 rounds of the pattern repeat, or leave it out - or more if needed. Now comes the part where it gets a bit tricky, but not much.

To get the same finishing of the leaves as in the original pattern, you'll have to mirror the toe decreases. I.e. start with p2tog and end with p1, k2 on all needles.

To make the foot larger, you would finish the whole repeat, instead of ending after the first 8 rnds as written in the pattern. Now the last leaf points into the "wrong direction" for the instructions of the star toe as written in the pattern. Just use the following chart for the mirrored toe:


Click on chart to make it larger

To sum it up: when ending with half a repeat use toe as described in pattern. When making smaller or larger and ending with the whole 16 rnd repeat, use mirrored toe of chart.

Now, go and knit some. You know you want to!

Frame of mind

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it: Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Socktober calls

It started November 10th, 2004

Remember this?

And this?

As well as this?

Next time you see it you might be surprised.

In which all shall be revealed

It is red, it is big, it was a blob.


I knit the whole thing practically in one piece (hence 'blob')- there is not one seam to speak of, no sewing except for weaving in the ends. First the body up to the armholes, then the sleeves, joined it, decreased in the round. Like it? I do, though next time I'd take off an inch here and there.

Technical Data:
Yarn: nameless stash yarn in fingering weight
Needles: 3 mm
Pattern: mine, with personal measurements, involving a lot of stockinette in the round


A bit overexposed headless view.

The big red blob

Big red blob, meet the world. World, meet the big red blob.

Socktober here we go

No, no sock news. But I am planning to knit some.

I have wanted to post a picture of what I like to call "the big red blob" and keep procrastinating. I also have ransacked old knitting projects and gotten out one that needs finishing now or it'll be never done.

And, I have a catchy tune in my head called "Stephanie says" because I had to listen to it yesterday for like 10 times...

"...it's so cold in Alaska..." (D'oh.)

Forgetful

Just to give you an inkling how we regard the importance of birthdays chez nous: I forgot my blog's second anniversary two days ago.

I think it might enjoy pictures of yummy sock yarn, how better could one celebrate?


Applelaine "Apple Pie" yarn in "Godiva". Picture is to show the colours, or did you honestly think I could take a non-blurry one?


Mama E's C*EYE*BER FIBER SOCK in colourway "Meghan", which is exclusively made for Pick Up Sticks. Connie's service is great - just in case you feel enabled and want to order.

Not this year

For the first time in four years (ever since I moved to Montreal) I am going to miss the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival. And just because this year it is not at the beginning of October but earlier and I didn't check and didn't make plans and...will say: hindsight is 20/20.

Have you started your Christmas knitting yet? I did, and I fear as a consequence I won't post a lot of pictures of knitting in the upcoming weeks. Or maybe I'll find some more old crap I can finish (ha, of course I can) and show off...maybe.

No deadline - it's alive

I've been done with the shawl for a while now. It's fluffy, soft and quite big.



And a close up:



Ed. to add:

Technical data:
Yarn: AHS Slub Kasuri from AmiAmi, 100 g of colour A 36
Pattern: my own, knit on 3.5 mm (size 4) needles

What's left

That's left.

Out of the blue - just for entertainment

I felt inspired by Nadine's pictures of Scotland. I wanted some nice pictures on my blog, too. So, here we go. These pictures are from last year's visit to Germany.


Bridge in Landau/Pfalz where I love going shopping.



Old military building (the French used to lodge there) from the 19th century (finished in 1863) that has been repurposed and is now full of quaint little shops and restaurants.



The "Café Klimt" in Landau. I've never been in there but Gustav Klimt is on of my favourite Art Nouveau artists, so anything with his name on it is interesting to me.



The building the Café is housed in. It's pure Art Nouveau (Jugendstil in German). I can get lost in the details.



More Art Nouveau windows. Aren't they great?

Going back to Basics old crap

Last night I went to one of our knit things. Before I left I was looking for a knitting project to bring. I felt utterly lost. Could it be that I am really done (at the moment) with all work knitting? That there's nothing that I have to knit? Don't even ask about socks right now, after knitting/designing non stop I can't stand them. What to knit, what to knit....

Looking at my basket I figured that is not really going to be a problem (D'OH). I am going to be a good girl and will try to finish old crap instead of starting new crap. So back to the Lace Shawl I cast on last year to be finished October 15th.....2005. Well, I figure I can try to make it till the same date in 2006, eh?


17 g of laceweight - or: the yarn that never ends.

I would have preferred a project in a neutral colour, but, alas, no old neutral crap could be found. My sincerest apologies for crapping out on Project Spectrum - still love the concept, can't make it work.

Is the colour "toast" neutral?

Decide for yourself.


I finally managed to finish something for myself that's not a sock and it almost kills me that this is all I can show you. (Yes, I know, it's blurry. On purpose.) The pattern will be only published next year - it's one of Véronik's. It's cute, girly and I like it a lot. And, best of all, I used yarn from my stash.

Tuesday

Long promised, finally, some yarn porn - isn't life exciting?


Mountain Colors Bearfoot in what they like to call 'Bitterroot Rainbow'

I've been very busy knitting socks, writing patterns, submitting, knitting samples...most of what other people (i.e. YOU) only get to see next spring. For me it is almost fall, 'Fall 2007' that is. Funny, that yarn business.

More fun stuff

1. "Your eyes are not that young and flexible anymore. You HAVE to wear your glasses ALL THE TIME." - Thanks, Doc!

2. Being hissed at by a pissed off, fat raccoon sleeping in a niche above the BBQ when preparing it for dinner (the BBQ, not the raccoon). Uttering a shriek that sends your husband into a laughing fit and then sending him out to deal with the problem.

3. Getting up - no, sorry, racing up every night at least once to close the windows because we got skunked again, while my husband apparently sleeps happily through any of that. (He will testify that I can smell one molecule of skunk stink and rise out of REM sleep in a second.)

4. Watching the weather channel upping the Humidex every day a little bit more.

5. Beautiful gifted "Mountaincolors Bearfoot". (pic to follow)

Miss me?

1. Germany did not win the soccer world cup. Old news, but still true. I figure we are even with the Italians now, Germany having won the cup in Italy in 1990 and Italy having won this year in Germany. As the Germans have done way better than expected, I have no reason to complain about the 3rd place.

2. I suck at knitalongs. No matter how lovingly organized, I'm no good at it. I can live with that.

3. Feeling hot, hot, hot.

4. I got sucked into watching "Canadian Idol". Blame summer-TV and my weak mind. I am upset (as much as I can get upset about a reality show where teens and twens get to sing their sometimes questionable song choices - though my opinion seems to contradict the judges' every time it matters...) that Sarah L. got kicked off last night. Which, of course, makes me wonder about who votes for what reason. It can't be about the singing.

5. Italian leather sofa. It's sincerely cool.


Since the weather is not, I am afraid to stick to it when sitting down. Will work that one out.

Got the soccer fever yet?

Here it is easy to catch 'cause the other half is determined to watch as many games as possible live. We're on the third and last game today, it'll start again tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

Good thing knitting and "watching" soccer goes well together.

Amazing

Something really amazing has happened. My husband was away on business and when he came back he brought me YARN. We must all understand that that means he went into a yarn store on his own and actually looked at yarn to buy for me. He must have picked it up and must have considered which colour I would like. And he scored. Sock yarn. Look:


Opal hand painted, enough for two pairs of socks. Me very happy. (I thanked him accordingly. Method of thanks won't be posted here. Use your imagination.)

Random Monday

It's hot here in Montreal. The Humidex is obnoxious. (Ey, what would we do if we could not complain about the weather?)

My chic strappy sandals gave me blisters. I still like 'em. I wonder though when I will be able to wear them again. (Knowing me I see a lot of band-aids in the near future.)



No, mine are not from Macy's. I got the cheap knock-off at the place where they keep telling me about BOGO (I have never in my life found myself tempted to buy more than one pair at once) and where I hate to go because the whole store smells like a new plastic container. What drives me there is pure despair. The only good thing is that they carry shoes up to size 12, which is pure bliss for someone who is wearing a size 11 in a city where women apparently stop growing their feet at a size 10.

Not stricken

I watched "Pride and Prejudice" with Keira Knightley today. I am underwhelmed. I'll stick to the BBC version with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth.

I bought a pair of sandals that are featured in "Lucky" - which I only discovered after. That doesn't happen to me very often. Actually, that never happens to me.

I am listening to "Stadium Arcadium" by the "Red Hot Chili Peppers" just now. Two CD's with 28 songs worth every penny.

Just thought I let you know.

Whaaa...? May?

It's May. And supposedly it's green. Thanks to Miss D. I have 100 g of lovely green coloured Mountain Colors Bearfoot, same colour I knit a pair of socks in and forgot to take a picture of before sending them to my Mom. I yet have to finish anything I started for PS. I guess that's why I usually don't do knitalongs.

It was our seventh wedding anniversary on Monday. Does that mean the 7 year itch is over, or does it only start? Any opinions?

Back on Track

Project Spectrum April