Heidelblog

Not Dead

Christine — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:17:48 +0000

No, I’m not dead. Just busy. It started nine days after my last post; I was in the hospital following an emergency surgery. This was in the midst of planning a move back to the US, which is hard to do when your doctors say you can’t lift anything. So seven months later here we are living in New England, missing German beer and pastries, but I at least have tons of knitting shops at my disposal now.

We have since gotten a dog–a rescue yorkie/jack russell who is two. Her name is Gracie but somehow we end up calling her BooBoo most of the time. She’s sweet as can be, hates to get out of bed early to do her morning business, and is a total cuddlebug.

I have managed to knit quite a bit with so many friends having babies and whatnot, but I did manage to get something done for me. It’s Hannah Fettig’s Lightweight Pullover, which I knit in Beaverslide Dry Goods’ sportweight merino/mohair blend. I loooove this yarn and it goes perfectly with this sweater. I think I may knit another one for next winter, but change up the yoke or something.

I predict 2011 will be a good year (hopefully no surgeries at the very least!).

Buttons and More

Christine — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:43:14 +0000

We recently made a quick trip to the states to prepare for what is likely a move back to the US later this summer. But no trip to the US can be complete without some stash enhancing and more (my husband disputes this).

Tired of the buttons here in Heidelberg, I made sure to stop at JoAnn Fabrics to see what they had. It’s been a loooong time since I stopped in a JoAnns and I’m impressed at how much better it is now. The smiling cat buttons are my favorite!

I also stopped in at Webs in Northampton, Massachusetts. Otherwise known as my-husbands-nightmare. Aside from brown and teal skeins of Ultra Alpaca for Kate Gilbert’s Wintergreen Mittens, I also picked up three skeins of The Fibre Company Canopy worsted in the Black Walnut colorway. The plan is to use this to make Gretel by Ysolda. I’ve used this yarn before for a cowl, and it’s so soft and warm–perfect for a hat.

Also at Webs I got a skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock in lightweight, colorway Muckity Muck. After finishing a secret pair of winter socks for a friend for xmas (yes, I am starting early this year), I cast on for So Square by Anne Hanson at knitspot. Anne’s patterns are so clear, so well-written, so fun. I already have one done and it fits like a glove. The second one will come soon but I have to finish a pair of short socks for my 4-year-old nephew, Mason.

We also went to Windsor Button in Boston. I managed to control myself somewhat and only bought one thing: a skein of Fibre Isle Pearl Bison. This stuff is so yummy soft that you just can’t believe they leave it on the counter like that.It’s made of bison, cashmere, seacell, and I forget what else. I have no idea what to make with this. I have 200 meters in a fingering weight. Maybe some lacy fingerless mitts? A cowl? Let me know if you have any ideas.

Finally, a picture from the Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island. Read= sunburn. I am still peeling.

Frogged: Wanker Cardigan

Christine — Tue, 04 May 2010 12:52:10 +0000

Pictured here, and then scroll down to “Tissue Cardigan.” I think I know why it’s called that–because you will want to cry if you knit this. Thinking my MIL would like this sweater I ordered the yarn called for in the pattern and cast on. Immediately I dismissed my gut feelings telling me to knit it all in one piece, not bind off the sleeve stitches, etc. But I went on as the pattern instructed. Stupid stupid stupid. I was sewing the side seams today, and then the sleeve caps when I finally gave up. I realized I would not even give this to a blind person–s/he would inherently know my seams were ugly and wonky.

After a “fun” session of knitting like this, I need chocolate. Or yarn (new yarn). Or a stiff drink. Luckily I have all three! My friend Siga, who lives in Zurich, spoils me with Swiss chocolates. I still have some on hand from the last time she stopped over. For new yarn, my friend Jenn (smartchick on Rav) went to MDSW and got me a beautiful skein of Creatively Dyed sock yarn. Cannot wait to knit with this. And the wine (a Riesling) is in the fridge.

So now I have to frog and rewind all that yarn so I can cast on for what should have been the sweater in the first place, Featherweight Cardigan by Hannah Fettig.

FO and Almost FO

Christine — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:25:10 +0000

My Estelle cardigan (rav link) is finished! I did have to make some mods after-the-fact in the neckline, but you can’t tell. The original neckline was too large for my liking, so I picked up the stitches afterwards and decreased by 16 stitches in two rows of garter stitch, then did one row even before binding off. Perfect. It’s so warm and light. I might make another one of these.

Father Kevin’s socks are also coming along. I should have them in the mail to him by the end of this week.

Pattern: Tesserae by Anne Hanson of Knitspot (rav link here).

Yarn: Wollmeise Sockenwolle 80/20 in colorway Fratello.

Just found out that the wool for Ma’s summer cardi has arrived at the post office! So I’ll likely be swatching tonight to get started.

FO: Fruit of the Vine

Christine — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:39:02 +0000

Pattern: Fruit of the Vine (rav link) by Anne Hanson (non-rav link to the pattern)

Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr 2/19 laceweight in colorway Juniper

Mods: I knit 38 repeats instead of the 30 called for to make it a little longer. The final size came out to be 11″ x 59″.

Anne Hanson’s “Little Nothings” series are beautiful scarves that can be made with yarn you most likely already have on hand. They’re great for spring and summer due to the lightweight yarns called for, but I also loooove to wear them underneath my cowls in the winter time; you get all that warmth without the bulk in those places where your cowl just doesn’t fully cover. (Maybe this is just me but I am always cold.)

Update on Ma’s sweater:

My hands apparently forgot what it was like to knit with cotton (aka hell in a crocheted handbasket). So, instead of Estelle (rav link) (which I am almost done knitting for myself in Misti Alpacas Tonos Worsted), I am going to make Tissue Cardigan from the latest edition of Interweave Knits. It calls for Misti Alpacas Lace Weight held double throughout–this I can handle much better than worsted weight cotton. It’ll be light yet warm–perfect for Spring for Ma. And since my MIL only wears black sweaters picking colors she would like is a non-issue. This should give her Coraline (rav link), which I made for her 70th birthday, a break. I’m lucky that I have a great MIL!

Hopefully by my next post I will have another FO to show you–my Estelle cardi. I’m almost done knitting it–just about 10 inches more on the last sleeve–before I can block it and begin the button hunting.

A New Sensation

Christine — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:14:44 +0000

It’s easy to forget that you live in a foreign country sometimes. (Ok, definitely not the African continent, but surely in Europe.) One example of this is grocery shopping. I went to Rewe yesterday (like a Tesco or other supermarket) and bought some avocadoes (I was too lazy to get up early for the farmer’s market here on Wednesday). So imagine my surprise when I get home and unpack them only to find this sticker on it:

That just would not show up on an avocado in the US.

Anyway, on the knitting front husbeast reminded me last night that Mother’s Day is in a couple of months–that would be the perfect time to give my MIL a second, but summery, cardigan. I decided that I’m going to knit her Estelle (rav link) by Linden Heflin.

It calls for a worsted weight yarn but I think if I knit it in a cotton/microfaser blend (or even bamboo) it should be perfect for her. While I look for yarn (let me know if you have any recommendations in this area) I’m going to knit myself a wintery version of it in some Misti Alpacas Tonos that I got recently at Webs in Northhampton, Massachusetts. FYI, if you have not been to Webs, you must go. It is Mecca for knitters and they let you walk around the warehouse. And there is even a sitting area with magazines for all the bored friends and husbands.

Finally, I have a new semi-finished object to show you. This is Fruit of the Vine (rav link) by Anne Hanson –my favorite designer. It’s made out of Jaggerspun Zephyr 2/18 laceweight in colorway Juniper. I used US 4 and did 38 repeats–about 444 yards. Now I just have to block it, which I dread as much as doing a set-in sleeve.

FO: Hamamelis Shawl

Christine — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:41:24 +0000

Knitting lace can take quite a lot of concentration. Between keeping your eye out for any errata, making sure you have all the yarn overs in the right place, and making sure you’re reading the chart correctly, it is very easy to mess something up. And I don’t like using lifelines so that creates even more drama when I mess up.

But not so with this (rav link) pattern by Kirsten Kapur at Through The Loops (non-rav link). This was easily the most relaxing, enjoyable knit ever.

Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy, colorway In Vino Veritas, approx. 1 skein (I had some left over)

Needles: US 6 circular (4.00 mm)

Size: Medium

I received this yarn from my friend, KatJ (rav link) for Christmas. So awesome! Nothing like getting yarn in the mail from a fellow yarnie.

How To House 44 Lizards in Your Underwear

Christine — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:17:09 +0000

A few weeks ago husbeast and I were in Washington, DC for a conference. Thanks to jet lag I actually woke up nice and early and decided to go to Dunkin Donuts for a coffee. While I was in there I was treated to some nice, hometown displays of affection that commonly pass between would-be patrons and restaurant staff.

A homeless man was waiting inside the doorway of the DD and this did not please the staff there. After a few polite exchanges that resulted in the man having to go, he told the DD staff (in less vague terms) to, “Go suck my [dangly bits].” As if this wasn’t enough, one of the DD staff replied, “Yeah, I’ll go suck it.” None of the other customers in the shop were even fazed. I’m guessing this was a normal morning occurrence.

Yeah, baby. DC. How I soo not missed that, even though it was funny. Germans would never tell you such a thing, no matter how unruly they might feel; it’s just unbelievably impolite, and an inefficient way of expressing one’s grief.

No, Germans, in large, are some of the most polite people I have ever met. And their efficiency is remarkable.They organize everything (you should see our recycling system). This admirable display of efficiency and organization was seen last week in New Zealand as a German man tried to board a plane with 44 lizards in his underwear. Now when I heard this, I thought, “I bet he made sure those lizards were well-organized in that underwear of his!”

When this stuff becomes predictable to me on such a correct scale, I begin to think we have lived here too long now.

Knitting in Twilight

Christine — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:25:09 +0000

I like to post pictures here when I blog, but with it being winter in Germany, light is not something we get a lot of. And my camera only knows how to overexpose a shot or underexpose them (I guess this is really just a problem I have and don’t know how to fix on these “easy” point-and-shoot’s). Well we had a bit of actual sunlight this morning so I grabbed some FO’s to take pics of.

First, these are Fa Fa Fa Socks (rav link), knit in Dragonfly Fiber sock yarn in the colorway Riptide. This sock yarn was an unexpected gift from my friend, Kat, for Christmas. I loooove green so I was thrilled to knit these socks.

Then I found this great pattern (rav link) that uses up scrap yarn, which we all have too much of. These are going to some cats back home. I stuffed them with fiberfill and a teabag of this Schlaf und Nerventee (Sleep and Nervousness tea) that I got for my insomnia a while back. The tea worked great but smelled like ass. A friend’s cat confirmed that this ass-like smell was catnip (she went craaaazy). Hopefully Steve and Jay’s cats also like it!

I’ve got some other WIPs going–a pair of Gentlemans Sock with Lozenge Pattern by Nancy Bush (for the husbeast) and a Wee Wurm Hat for a friend’s little girl. Both are from the stash so I love that. Both are great for insomnia and jetlag knitting, which unfortunately I have been doing a lot of lately.

History of Nudity in Germany

Christine — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:07:34 +0000

Today there is a great article on FKK (Freikoerperkultur), or as we prudish Americans say “public nudity”, in The Local, an online English-version newspaper for Germany. As you may remember from a previous post, public nudity can take a little getting used to, but usually quite freeing once you get over the newness of it. I never thought I’d have the balls to go to a spa here and let it all hang out (you don’t get an option on this–nudity is the rule), but thanks to a friend I got over that weirdness and have been spa-hopping my heart out. I tell ya, there is nothing like four hours in a spa (for only 20 Euros!) when it is miserable outside.

What’s great about the article is that it talks about why FKK is/was so popular and why it came about. Plus it’s an interesting tidbit considering the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is on Monday.

But one thing the article misses is that West Germans (Wessies) are portrayed as being prudish and against FKK. Maybe this was so back then, but I can’t really agree with that now–nude seems to be the norm in the swimming/spa arena.