A trip to the Isle of Mainau/Blumeninsel Mainau

On Tuesday, which was a holiday here, my mom and I went on a trip to visit the Isle of Mainau. Mainau is a small island in the Lake Constance (funny, I didn't know that was its name in English till I looked it up now, the German name is Bodensee. Also in German the name of the isle is Blumeninsel Mainau, the flower isle Mainau, but in English it's just Isle of Mainau) and famous for its beautiful garden and park. It belongs to the aristrocratic family Bernadotte and as far as I understood is actually not German property, as I had always thought, but Swedish.

Right now is a good time to take a stroll there and admire the flowers. It was a four hour trip with the bus, which also included a short ride with a ferry (I love water and boats, so that was a definite bonus to this awesome day), but it was absolutely worth it. We were also very lucky with the weather, not too hot, not too cold (although it had been very cold in the morning and I had cursed myself for my carelessness), and a lot of sunshine.

I found it hard to believe that the ferry would be able to take up a whole bus, but I found it even more amazing when on the way home I saw that the ferry was loaded with four buses (!) and a couple of cars.




That picture was taken on the way home, but we won't be too picky with the timeline, will we? :D


Here's a plan of the garden (only click on the picture if your connection can handle 4 MB images :D )


At the entrance we were greeted by a giant flower.


We had to get up very early, but it was worth it, less visitors and the light was just fabulous for taking pictures. I'm not really a fan of my camera, but it was doing a decent job this day. Here are some daisies.


I'm in love with magnolias. I like the ones with big tulip-shaped blossoms in white and pink and a little bit of brownish pink, but these here were also quite beautiful.






The whole ground was covered with pink blossoms, there were still plenty of them on the trees though.




Here's panoramic view of the garden.




A peacock.


I started to feel like I was on vacation in some mediterranean country (of which I'm very fond). Lake Constance is just a lake, albeit the second largest in Europe, but it felt like I was on a beach. You could see little waves on the shore.




The name of the artist who created all these sculptures is Stefan Szczesny and while I find these to be very charming and joyful I don't find his paintings very attractive (there is an exhibition inside the castle right now). A wild mix of colors that don't go well together and a lot of nude women, which is not the shocking thing, it's that he draws them in various revealing positions and with very clear details, so that, in my humble opinion at least, he crosses the border of sensual and gets rather close to crude.














Looks a lot like lace.




Stairs with flowers.






Allium








Now to pictures of some of my favorite flowers - tulips. There were masses of them there. The light was fantastic and in fact, maybe too much as some of the pictures look a bit artificial. In any case, after getting into the mood again for traveling because of the whole atmosphere and because of taking so many pictures, I think I really really want a new camera. If you bother to go to new places, you should make sure that you can take nice memories and souvenirs home. I used to have a Canon Prima Super 120, which was such a lovely camera, nothing very fancy, but I liked the pictures I took. I probably lost it one day at the airport (I was really really late and in such a hurry not to miss my flight. I guess, I forgot to put it back into my backpack after taking it out to look for my passport :( ).




















Dogwood (Cornus, Hartriegel). It's the state tree of Missouri and Virginia.




A hanky tree, I kid you not. :D With a lot of kids, too.






A very big maple (?) tree.


Rhododendron


More Allium.




Another field of tulips.








In the butterfly house. They're feasting on orange slices. Usually butterflies do not really get close to people, these here though seemed to like showing off. I was able to get really really close to them and make makro shots and they just didn't care. As if they were enjoying people's attention. :)




Suddenly they did not look that charming anymore... :D




Bamboo


View from the top.

Thou shall not buy multicolored yarn...

Guess what, I bought sock yarn although I never knit sock.I'm such a sucker for nice coloured yarn - aaaah! I just know, all this beautiful skeins once knit up will lead to multicolored thingies, which I totally hate, and still, the temptation overwhelmed me and I bought two skeins from sheepaints.com It looks gorgeous and many many people will like it, it's just - I'm not much into multi variegated yarn ("It's not you hon, it's me." :D).



If I had known the yarn (the skein on top) would look like this when wound into a ball I would not have bought it, probably :D (guess what, years ago I would have joyfully bought a multicolored ball, taken it home and then be thoroughly disappointed when I discovered that the ball looks nice, but that I nevertheless hated the mix of colors in the knitted item. Now I buy the skeins. I'm such a suuucker. :D). I'm saying probably, because regardless of what I knew I'm a hopeful optimist sometimes and I still ventured out and tried knitting a scarf with it, to be more precise an Argosy scarf. And guess what, I didn't like it. Surprise, surprise! :D I also am kind of sure that Noro would not be among my favorite yarns (blasphemy to write something like this on a knitting blog, I know, I know). And did I already say that I don't like tie-dye very much either? It gives me the same kind of shiver, not sure why.



Some people suffer from I-can-only-knit-one-sock-the-second-one-bores-
me-too-much-syndrome, I have not even managed to finish the one I started last year, the first one ever.The charm of handknit socks is somehow lost on me. I have started to like them a bit better though and alto to appreciate waering them in winter and at home. Still, I will probably never find that handknit socks and high heels or sandals go well together. Aside from my aesthic objections I also have trouble understanding the construction of socks. In four words - I don't get it. And that bugs me. As I was stuck with the yarn now, I decided to give socks another try and unravel the mystery of sock knitting. I rarely show pictures of projects in process, somehow I'm slow with taking pictures, but I will do now, hoping that someone will remember this one in a couple of months and ask me about its whereabout.

By the way, the second skein I gave to my mom, I'm kind of sure that I will not venture again for multi variegated yarn (I also don't have a ball winder - have fun, mom :D Ok, I did offer to wind the second skein into a ball for her, out of sheer curiosity to see how it would look like, but she declined my selfless offer).

And now - the sock (actually the pattern doesn't look that bad):



I'm somewhat afraid though that it's a bit tight, which demotivates me a bit (or is this just an excuse?).

I often think I need to stop doing things of which I know I will very very likely regret them in the future. Sometimes it's yarn, sometimes guys. Sometimes I curse my hopeful optimism. Well, not the optimism actually, more the irrational hope that things will turn out differently than they did before, the banging of your head against the wall believing that one day the wall will get a headache and not you. :D

Finished: Another Flower Basket Shawl

Here's another Flower Basket Shawl, this time for me? I put it in a drawer as somehow I have the feeling this will be a gift again.

Pattern: Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark
Yarn: Zephyr JaggerSpun 50% Merino, 50% Chinese Tussah silk, 2/18 lace weight, 630 yds/2 oz.
Color: white
Price: $5.75, bought at www.sarahsyarns.com
Amount: 2 oz. ball
Needles: 3 mm
Gauge: none, none, none :D
Dimensions: 124 cm wide, 59 cm from center to tip
Modifications: A couple of more repeats

Regarding my blocking method, I follow the Yarn Harlot's instructions, more or less. Not sure how much blocking wires cost and if they would be more helpful, but this method here works right for me as far as now.










She's watching me work. :) And seems completely unaware that a pin is pointing at her - eek. :o
























On the manufacturer's website it says "dry cleaning only", but I have washed this in lukewarm water with Kookaburra and it was ok. I had washed it before, but thought this shawl deserves to be washed with something really nice (I know, I know, I had really high hopes for this woolwash :D It's not the stuff that will cure everything, but I guess it does a good job). When I washed it the first time and started rinsing I forgot that the water had cooled down and it seemed to me that I had slightly felted the shawl, but it turned out fine as you can see here.

Two book reviews: "Fabulous Flirty Crochet" and "French for dummies"

So, I'm not much into crochet, it takes more time and requires more hand movement, but sometimes I will find patterns that are hard to resist, like in this book from Katherine Lee, "Fabulous Flirty Crochet". This book is full with fun and pretty designs and I really feel inspired to make some of the tops and scarfs.

The designer, Katherine Lee, has a website, www.sweaterbabe.com, where you can buy many knitting and crochet patterns. I first saw one of her knitting patterns, a vest (looks more like a short dress to me though), on eBay and followed it to her website where I found this shawl, which looked really cute. I contacted her because I wanted some information about the yarn before buying and it turned out that it was the free pattern of the month - cool. :D (I recommend getting her newsletter as she will offer one pattern from her collection for free every month) I didn't really have the suitable yarn at home, but happened to find the original yarn on eBay (there are not only bad guys there :D). I think the shawl calls for six balls and I have only started with the second ball a while ago, so it will probably take a while until I will fnish it, especially since I do not feel like crocheting very often (it requires more concentration than knitting).





















Before buying the book I read some of the reviews on Amazon and I was surprised to find that some people gave such negative reviews. One even called the designs cheap-looking?! Well, I'd say, if you're looking for something really really artsy, very very innovative, with a lot of complicated and cleverly constructed bits and pieces, then this is not the right book for you. If you look for nice, fresh and fairly easy crochet patterns, then I'd recommend it. The photographs are all in color (some seem to be a bit overexposed though with somewhat loud colors. Either that or someone did too many modifications with Photoshop) and you can see the details of the different designs well. The book is spiral-bound, which is great, because thus it will lie flat and not fall apart one day even if I open it on the same pages over and over again. The only thing I do not like about the book is the fact that she does not use charts, and I so hate written instructions, but that's about it. And the price is also ok.

The other book I want to talk about is not really about crochet, it's about learning French, but I was reminded about it the other day when I was thinking about the word "crochet", which is French, and how it is pronounced in English. My English dictionary gives as phonetic transcription this:




while my French dictionary says this:




A while ago, my grandma sent me this book, "French for dummies", and I'd say, this book has not been written for dummies, but by dummies (as I've been taking a quick at the reviews when entering the website for the link I noticed that the book also got some really bad reviews from other readers). This book does not teach the correct phonetic transcription as you would find it in a dictionary, instead it teaches you to pronounce the words the American way, like [e] will become [ei] as in "say" or "pay" (in my experience it's just how a lot of Americans speaking French sound. It makes me suddenly wonder how British sound when they speak French?), so that you will really sound like an American speaking French, which I'm sure most people who buy this book are not striving for. We may never speak a foreign language perfectly, but we certainly do not want to be taught to sound like a foreigner when speaking this language! I think if a foreign word has become a part of another language and has undergone changes in regard to spelling and/or pronunciation (such as "crochet") that's one thing, but teaching people who are learning another language to pronounce words like they would in their language is another.

There is one review on Amazon where the guy complains that he is not even able to pronounce "bonjour" correctly, because the book teaches him to pronounce it "boNzhoor". Let me give you some more examples:

juin (July) - joon
aoûte (August) - ah-oot
jeudi (Thursday) - joo-dee
.
The three "oo" stand for three (!) different sounds in French, yet they are represented by the same letters. And with the French word "aoûte" you do not pronounce the "a" at all, it would really just sound like "oo(t)".

Another example:

jeudi (Thursday) - joo-dee
âge (age) - ahzh

They're not even consistent. Ugh. The "j" in "jeudi" and the "g" in "âge" should be pronounced the same way, hence the same spelling in the dummy phonetic system.

This book is so so so bad, it's really a waste of paper, which actually comes as a surprise, because the publisher, Berlitz, has a well-known reputation in the language instruction field, and they also claim that the authors are highly esteemed instructors (including one with a degree from Sorbonne). Maybe they should not have let them work on the Spanish, Italian and German for dummies books at the same time... It just upsets me when they publish books that teach such crap and sell it to people who are beginners and have no clue about this language, including basic things such as pronunciation, and as a consequence are totally unaware that they are taught nonsense.

Pink top IV

I've started a fresh new attempt at this top, but honestly, I think I just don't like it! I've come to realize I don't really like knitting with cotton and specifically not with this one. It has a glitter thread and my needles get stuck there all the time. It is not a nice yarn to knit with... >:|

Capelet from Wrap Style

I've finally received my Kookaburra woolwash and started washing and blocking my finished projects. It is biodegradable (good for the environment), has lanolin (good for wool) and tea tree oil (according to the manufactruer good for killing dust mites, bacteria, fungi, etc and good for the skin), and you don't have to rinse (good for the lazy among us), but it's pricy (not good for my wallet). As you do not need that much it's probably ok. And they have a good customer service, so overall I think it's recommendable.

If you want more information about it, here's a review including a comparison with Eucalan in a washing test on Knitter's Review. In the review the author mentions the strong smell of the tea tree oil, but that might be a bit during the washing of the garment, but afterwards I didn't smell anything, nada, niente.














I'm going to cheat a bit and call this capelet a finished project although it is only sort of finished. I think I could wear it now (well, it needs a bit more blocking to keep the bottom edges from curling), but I'd still like to add one or two more pattern repeats (someday :D)

Pattern: Spiral Shell by Deborah Newton, from Wrap Style
Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8, 100% extrafine merino wool, 90 m/50 g, 98 yds/1.75 oz
Color: #32 Light Pink
Price: $4.99 (I was lucky and it was on sale at www.sandrasingh.com)
Amount: 4 balls (I had to frog one swatch, because I did not want to start a new ball for the last row of the ribbing part)
Needles: 5 mm
Gauge: two pattern repeats = 12 cm, 24 rows = 10 cm
Dimensions: 49 cm wide at the bottom, 40 cm wide at the top, 30 cm long

I would not really call the color "light pink", more like "peach" or "salmon". As you can see this yarn is fabulous for cables and for patterns with a lot of structure. It's a thick yarn that after washing becomes very soft and velvety, but still keeps its plastic structure.











And I have to repeat it once more, I really like this book. Usually I just don't like ponchos, but there are some in the book that look really cute. The capelets and wraps are also very nice. Buy it. :D

Finished: Backyard Leaves Scarf

Pattern: Backyard Leaves Scarf by Annie Modesitt, from "Interweave Knit Gifts, Holiday 2006", can also be found in "Scarf Style"
Yarn: Siena Big by Wolle Rödel, 100% merino, 80 m/50 g
Color: #14241
Price: about 3 €?
Amount: 4.5
Needles: 4.5 mm, recommended were 5 - 6 mm, but somehow I prefer a tighter gauge
Gauge: not necessary, because it's a scarf - yay! :D
Dimensions: 2.30 m long (I think I will shorten it, it's just too long for me) and 12 cm wide (could probably be a bit wider, but I didn't block it very much, just lightly to preserve the 3-dimensionality of the leaves)
Modifications: 15 pattern repeats on each half instead of 11, but I think I will take out two pattern repeats, because the scarf is so long

I like the color, even though it's a very bright green, but I think with the Karabella Aurora 8 it would have been a bit nicer, because it's more fluffy and thicker. I think next time I would substitute it with Karabella Aurora Bulky, that would make the scarf wider so that you can also use it in winter, that one is a bit too skinny for me.

Although there were so many pattern repeats to knit, I was not able to remember the pattern by heart, but still had to glimpse every once in a while at my copy, because the pattern repeat is long and strangely it's not symmetrical as I would have expected. Overall I think it's a very very cute pattern and if I find a nice and suitable yarn some day I might do another again.

My model today is a very old teddy bear that my brother loved to death as a kid. Now he sits on my couch and seems to be quite happy to wear such a nice scarf. :)








Oh, and I would definitely recommend the magazine and the book. Both have a lot nice designs. I was skeptical regarding the magazine as I had assumed that it would be full of Christmas stuff like stockings and handmade ornaments for the Christmas tree, I did not even bother to check it's content on the Interweave website, but my grandma sent me a copy and it turned out to be a collection of really great and beautiful designs from old Interweave Knit issues. I'm really glad I have it now. :)

Update about the eBay seller from hell

Ugh... that eBay seller is a nightmare from hell. I'm now being accused of having copied the pattern and claiming a refund ("Iam honest, NOT STUPID") Yeah... I think it would be way easier to copy and then resell the magazine instead of going through the hassle of having to listen to her absurd accusations and paranoid reactions. The funny thing is, I didn't read the feedback she had received when I purchased the magazine, but later on I did. There was one negative feedback she had received and after reading her reply I was thinking to myself that this didn't sound good. Not so much because she had received a negative feedback, but because her reply was kind of loud and aggressive. There was no reason yet to believe that I would have problems with her, but I still had an uneasy feeling. Turns out I was right... :/

Anyway, I've filed a Buyer Protection claim now. Hopefully I will get my money back soon.

This and that and those bloody eBay sellers

I'm lying in bed at the moment, tending a cold and a nasty cough that had started weeks ago, had gone away for a couple of days and now has come back with full force with this new cold. ARGH!

I haven't blogged in the last few weeks, but knittingwise I have been really really diligent (*pats herself proudly on her shoulder* - what are you supposed to do you do if nobody else does? :D) I've finished a clapotis, a backyard leaves scarf, a capelet (which I probablyl will have to wash and block first to see where it needs further modifcations), and last, but not least, another Flower Basket Shawl. Why haven't I put up pictures yet? Weell, I'm waiting for this totally cool (everything I buy hopefully turns out to be cool or fun :D) no-rinse woolwash Kookaburra that unfortunately is taking ages to arrive here. I want to wash my knitted stuff with this woolwash, actually, this is too trivial, I intend to bathe it in this wonderful liquid, let the fibers bloom and smell like heaven when I take them out (hope my expecations are not too high... :D), but as long as it hasn't arrived I can't do it.

I'm not a really big eBay shopper, I've never seen anything I would want to buy and wear, electronics in my opinion are no such a good idea anyway (I've bought some electronic dictionaries on cd though, that was ok), so usually I stick to yarn and knitting magazines, thinking, well, people who sell this stuff are friendly people and cooperative, not creating a lot of trouble. HA, wrongo.

One seller I sent 4-5 emails in which I requested a new invoice, because I wanted a different shipping method. Not one single reply. One day I get a message from eBay that she had complained to them about the lack of payment. Oh really?! She might have sent me an email as well and ask, just like I did, but no, that would have been to normal. No, better go to eBay and file a complaint. Also, I don't understand how someone can have problems with his emails for more than two weeks?? That one was easy to resolve with, more or less.

The other one was worse and the outcome is still pending. I bought an Interweave magazine for $26, quite an insane price, but I thought I had to have the pattern for this Orenburg shawl. So, the magazine arrived and what the hell, 8 pages were missing. Half an article was missing and two sock patterns had also said good-bye. I contacted the seller and explained to her that at this price I'm not happy with the fact that the magazine was not complete. I got informed that she would have informed me if she had known about it, that she had inherited the magazine among others from her deceased aunts and she just could not imagine that her aunts would do this, she had sold 100 magazines and no one had complained as far as now.

So, I felt slightly irritated already, but decided to be nice. I replied nicely that maybe the other magazines did not contain sock patterns, which seem to be prone to being ripped out (I had once bought three magazines and all the sock patterns had been ripped out, but the seller apologized profusely and I got photocopies), that I understood her unfortunate situation and that I would be happy if she would send me the pattern or at least photocopies. I also sent her pictures of the ripped out pages as proof. Her answer was, she can't find the patterns anywhere, that's why she doesn't think her aunts did this, she can't imagine them doing such a thing, blablabla. At this point I thought, kiss my ass. Who do you think ripped out the pages??? I certainly won't pay freaking $26 for a magazine and rip out pages!

I'm then being told I can send the item back and get merchandise credit for it (what am I supposed to do with merchandise credit if she is not selling anything at the moment??? And who says I want the old stuff she might sell one day in the future?), but I have to pay for the shipping (since when do you have to pay for shipping when an article is damaged?). I guess, the only option I have now is to try it with the eBay dispute panel and if that doesn't work, let eBay decide if they will refund my money.

It simply annoys the heck out of me how much time I have spent trying to resolve these two problems, writing emails to the seller, writing emails to the eBay customer support (who is not really helpful). If you want to know the name of the eBay seller who sold me the magazine - email me! It will be a pleasure for me to warn everybody of this dubious seller.

Edit: I need to be more careful with the tenses. :o

What age do you act?

So I was reading Claudia's blog yesterday, where she posted the result of a test - what age do you act? I thought, "Ok, looks like fun, I'll do it, too." Yeah... Here's the result.

You Are 13 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

13??? A kiddie??? - *sniiiiff* After redoing the test and answering the question about favorite music band, which I had left out previously, the age I act was raised to 20. I assume, I can handle that. :D

Grace Kelly by MIKA

As some of you who read this blog may have already guessed - I'm on some kind of self-empowering trip. :D This new song Grace Kelly by MIKA (click on the link in the player) expresses this feeling so well. I think this is going to be my new hymn. :D

Someone made a Knitting Chart Maker! :)

A couple of days ago I discovered this Knitting Chart Maker by Jacquie. I'm definitely thrilled as I do not like written instructions, which take time to be read, instead I prefer using charts where you get all the information that you need with a quick glance. I hope she will include soon more symbols such as for p3 and also for all the sskwhatever.

Oh, I forgot, there is also another possibility to creat your own chart - Chart Creator. Both will make some people happy, I would only wish for some more symbols.

Audiobooks

I recently got a mp3 player, MuVo 100, and it's such a neat toy! I spend a lot of time commuting during which I often knit, sometimes I read, but then I can't knit at the same time. Also, most of the time I'm too sleepy and unconcentrated to do anything that requires a lot of attention, so listening to audiobooks is such a nice way to have it all. :) If you want to try some, here's a link to a website where you can download a lot of good and interesting books for free - http://www.librivox.org

Have fun!

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

I'm not a fan of coldness, but this year's winter was bland. Christmas was also weird. I honestly would love to see some snow now.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near,
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

-- Robert Frost

Finished: Shetland Triangle

Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark, from Wrap Style
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr, 50% wool 50% Tussah silk, 630 yd/2 oz or 576 m/57 g
Color: Garnet
Price: $5.50, bought at www.sarahsyarns.com
Amount: 30 g
Needles: 3.5 mm
Gauge: Don't know, I made two more repeats than the original, then blocked like crazy (I think I blocked it way way too much. I'm surprised the yarn didn't snap at some point, this shawl was so tense and tight like it was receiving a facelift)
Dimensions: 120 cm wide and 56 (? sorry, am not quite sure anymore) cm from the tip to the long edge
Modifications: Two more repeats. I also thought I'm going to skip the last row, because I also didn't want such pointy edges, but didn't realize until now that he said "the last patterned row". I skipped the row that was written out, but oh well, it looks ok. I think next time I would add more repeats. The shawl looks nice, but the blocking was hard work.

The book: It's wonderful, such nice patterns. I'm not a poncho fan, but all these little capelets and ponchos look cute. I think I nearly like it even more than the Scarf Style book. I'd definitely recommend it.

The pattern: Very easy to memorize. A fast and quick knit.

Here are some of the pictures in the book.




Honestly, I don't really know how to wear a shawl without looking like a granny. I like them, they look lovely, I like knitting them, but somehow I'm not really convinced that I'm wearing them the right way. The pic is blurry, because I turned of the flash; if I leave it on, my half closed eyes make me look like a junkie (also, you would see all the spots on the mirror :D)


Unblocked. Shall I complain again that the flash distorts the colors? Or was the light in my room so bad?

Blocking was a torture.


Looks like it has been blocked really tightly, doesn't it? But at least it drapes nicely.


So, what am I going to knit next? I started another Shetland Triangle with a beautiful blue silk that I got from www.colourmart.com (I didn't take this picture by the way, it's from their website, because my batteries are nearly empty and the color is well represented in this foto, the yarn is a bit more shiny in reality though. The color is azure.)


I have to say though, I'm not really a fan of needles smaller than 2.5 mm (which already seems somewhat painful). This shawl I'm knitting with 2 mm *eek*. I also am not really thrilled with the inelasticity of the yarn, especially since it's so thin (2500 yd/150 g). I think next time I will use it doubled.

Here are the other colors that I bought.



Melissa and Bonbon. Both are also cute colors.

"Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam"

I read a post today which was titled "Days of Wine and Roses". This phrase sounded very sweet, but I I wasn't exactly sure what it meant, there was also no explanation in the blog, so I did a quick search with Google. I found out that it was from the poem "Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam" by Ernest Dowson.

Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam

They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.

I got my hair cut yesterday - really really short. An act of defiance and liberation. I often think one of the greatest gift to possess is personal independence of other people's opinion and the belief in yourself. Sometimes you can lose yourself if you are too eager to please someone else. I am happy I lost a bit of my fears.

Finished: Swallowtail Shawl

I'm so impressed by myself - I've finished another item. :D (Humility is simply something for weaklings :D Just kidding! :D ). Truth to be told, I'm usually working on several parallel projects and now it happens that I have finished them all around the same time.

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark, in Interweave Knit Fall 2006
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace, 100% baby alpaca; 437 yd [ 400 m]/50 g
Color: #7120 sea mist
Price: $5.95, bought at theknitter.com
Needles: 3.5 mm
Gauge: Bah, for weaklings :D
Dimensions: 118 cm wide and 59 from the tip to the center of the bottom. I just blocked, I have no clue to what size I should have blocked it, but it looked ok as it was.
Modifications: I made a double yarn over after I made the nups, because knitting five stitches together turned out to be quite tricky for a tight knitter, which I am I think. With the double yarn over I could just slip one and loosen the stitches that were supposed to be knit together. I also changed the cast off method a bit. I used the same one as I did for the Flower Basket Shawl, which I did actually wrong by mistake. For the Japanese Feather Scarf I cast off using a method describe in an Interweave article by Eunny Jang (I think it was the Fall issue): purl two stitches, put them back on the left needle, purl them together, purl, put the two stitches back on the left needle, etc. The cast off method for the two shawls was similar: knit two, put them back on the left needle, knit them together through the back loops, knit one, put the two stitches back on the left needle, etc. What I did, was knit two, put them back on the left needle and then purl these two through the back loops, knit one, put back on the left needle, etc. I only realized it now that my cast off was different. I think it looks ok though, not too back actually. As it's still an elastic cast off I might use it again.





I think the colors are not well represented in pictures above. It's a bit more greenish, like in this picture. If I use the flash my pictures are on focus, but the colors look different. If I don't use a flash the colors look more like in real life, but the pictures are blurry.

Flower Basket Shawl

A shawl for my grandma (Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark, from Interweave Fall 2004). If you ask me nicely I can tell you where to get the pattern. ;-)

I'm too lazy to get dressed and model this shawl. The little one here is also doing a good job.



Yarn: "Rheumawolle", which translates as rheumatism yarn? by Wolle Rödel, 100% wool
Color: #4860
Price: 3-and-a-bit-more €, at Wolle Rödel (Wolle Rödel is what you might a yarn store chain? Not sure about the proper English term)
Amount: 1 ball and a little bit of the second ball, 280 m/50 g
Needles: 4 mm
Gauge: Ha, I'm an independent woman and I don't have to slavishly follow gauge requirements when knitting a shawl, hihihi :D
Dimensions: 142 cm wide, 72 cm from tip to center of bottom

The yarn is very light, airy (good for insulating and keeping the warmth, hence "rheumatism wool") and soft. It just doesn't have a lot of sheen though. It's ok for knitting, but well, there is just nothing really special about it. They also just had it in white, although other brands also carry other colors, like 'sand', 'light grey', 'weird light brown', etc. none that I find really thrilling.

I had tried to dye a ball with something similar to Kool Aid (they don't sell Kool Aid here), but the end result just wasn't that thrilling either. I have a yarn now that is partially a light weird green and partially a very very light pink, that is so light that it looks like a dirty white.

My great new rosewood needles

Here are some pics of my new rosewood needles. They are really nice to knit with. What I like especially about them is the join. Unlike a lot of other wood needles that I have seen these don't have such a big metal join, there is just a small metal ring (or the part of a metal tube that is sticking out of the wood, I have no clue about the actual construction of the needle) between the cord and the needle that is barely visible. I also like that the cords are thinner, thus more flexible.


At the moment I'm using a 3.5 mm needle to knit the Swallowtail Shawl (in the same color and with the same yarn as the original - how original of me, eh? :D Give a gal a break sometimes. :p I'm doing enough projects where I substitute yarn and then have to recalculate everything. I guess, that's the reason why I like doing scarfs, they are quick to knit, nobody cares about gauge or swatches, and you don't have to worry about the right fit, which can become something that a perfectionist likes to obsess about - frogging, reknitting, frogging, reknitting. Ugh. Just give me the original yarn... :D ). Anyway, for knitting with the Misti Alpaca yarn they are good solution, as this yarn is so slippery (but also oh-so-soft, I'm in love with it. :D ), but with the wood needles there is a tad more friction to keep them on the needles.

Here's another close-up. "Holz & Stein" means wood and stone.


They are actually perfect. There is just one thing that bothers me a bit, I knit a bit tighter than other people it seems and when I do the row with the decreases and yarnovers and change to the purl row my stitches get a bit stuck at the join and I have to move them manually. With my other needles (Inox) I had less problems as the needles had a smaller diameter around the join and then gradually increased in size.

Add: My mom bought the needles in a department stores, but you can also order the needles at the manufacturer's, Holz & Stein, website.

Grumpy potholders...

The title says it all, these are potholders. Crocheted. With holes. Guess they will only serve as decoration :D Ok, ok, I didn't do it on purpose. It just happens that I do not crochet a lot. The last time I remember working on any crochet project was a blanket I had promised to my brother (and which has never seen the light of the day, he was still young, cute and naive then... :D )



They are supposed to be Christmas gift for a friend of mine who I haven't met yet. I'm also working on another pair with similar colors. All I can say is, crocheting bores me. Also my middle finger hurts, because I try to crochet tightly (so the potholders don't have too many holes). I'm afraid these potholders have not really been crocheted with a lot of love... :/ For a couple of reasons I just feel unmotivated to get her something. These potholders are just a compromise.

I think I will include the yarn information, dimensions, etc. in my next post.

Japanese Feather scarf

I've finished another item! :D Ok, I've have been working on it for a while, so it's not as if I made this since my last post.

It's a scarf for my mom. It was supposed to be a Christmas present, but as it was not a secret anyway she has received it today.

This is the scarf while blocking:



This is me modeling it, so you can see how it is when worn.



The pattern is called "Japanese Feathers" and has been used in this freely available Japanese Feather sock pattern , but first I saw it on some other blogger's website, Knitting Interrupted. Her stole was then in the beginning, but now she has finished it and it just looks gorgeous. There is a pattern for a stole called "Baltic Sea Stole" which incorporates this pattern and it looks soooo great. Take a look here. I've ordered the pattern and might start working on it one day. At the moment I'm waiting for my yarn package to arrive so that I can start with the "Deep V Argyle Vest".

Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr wool-silk, 50% merino wool, 50% Chinese Tussah silk
Color: White
Price: $ 8, bought at Theknitter
Amount: Less than a 2oz ball (630 yards), I still have some yarn left.
Needles: 3 mm
Gauge: none. I cast on 62 stitches with a garter border of 2 stitches on both sides.
Dimensions: about 20 cm wide. I have no clue how long, long enough to wrap it around my neck once and to have some ends dangling around. :D

Here's a picture of the leftover, not sure yet what I will do with it. I wonder if there is enough left for these cute mitts.



I forgot to give a report about my knitting experience with this yarn. It was weird at first to knit with such a fine yarn as I'm more used to thicker yarns, sock knitting yarns were as far as now the thinnest yarns with which I had ever knitted, but it didn't take me long to get used it. The yarn seems so fine, but it's astonishingly resistant, you have pull quite a lot for such a thin yarn till it breaks. I would definitely recommend it.

I'd also like to take a moment to express my gratitude to the the internet :D, because it's impossible to find yarn in lace weight here. I've visited several local yarn shops and none had anything in lace weight, sock weight seems to be the bottom of what is possible. I wonder where other people get the yarn for their lace knitting as internet shopping is still somewhat new. Where did they get their yarn, let's say, 10 years ago?

Last, but not least, I would like to add that in the last couple of months I have finished a couple of more projects than the ones I have posted about, it's just I'm a bit lazy with taking pictures. So, I've been a good girl and I deserve the rosewood needles that my mom has got me for Christmas. Yippiiiieeh. :D It seems these are luxury rosewood needles, can't wait to get them and try them out. My mom got these in a shop and thus saved shipping costs, but as far as I know you can ask them for special orders with no additional fees. I've contacted them to ask for shorter needles (I mean the needle part on circulars, not the length of the cord), we'll see what they will reply.

P.S. If someone needs a program for recalculating units, try Jonelo's software. It's open source software and in this case for free. I find it useful for converting yards, ounces, pounds, etc. into meters and grams.

Finished: Birds Eye Scarf

I finished something! :D Yeah! It's a white scarf, knit in Regia Silk. I got the pattern from the Heirloom Knitting site, it's called Birds Eyes (um, not sure if this is such a great name for a pattern - eyes of birds?! - freaky :D). The original pattern is for a triangular shawl, but I wanted a scarf, so I modified the edge a bit (actually my mom was so nice to do it for me).

Scarf unblocked:



I've actually finished the scarf quite a while ago, but I just never managed to block it. I didn't know how and where. Now I did it on my couch with a microfiber towel. At the moment it's still drying. I can't really say that I like blocking, it's all this pinning that I don't like. Some people don't like seaming, I think I don't like blocking.

The yellow thing is the microfiber towel that is kind of, um, waterrepellent. :D Not sure why they produce a towel that absolutely takes up no water. I used it once after taking a shower and I was just as wet as before. Anyway, it has found a new purpose. It does not soak up the water and therefore allows for a quick drying.

Scarf blocked:




Yarn: Regia Silk sock yarn, 4 ply, 55% merino, 20% silk, 25% polyamide
Color: white
Price: about 5,50 € per ball
Amount: 1 ball, 200 m/50 g

There's a shawl in "Victorian lace today" which uses the same pattern.



I think I'm going to knit this one, too. I love the color and I really like the pattern, although it's quite boring to knit, requires attention at every row (no purl rows...) and the many yarn overs and decreases slow my knitting down. By the way, the sell this book at the Book Depository at a pretty good price and you also get free delivery. I bought it by the same seller on Amazon, but here I had to pay an additional 3 € for shipping.

If you want to see some pictures of the models in this book, take a look at Grumperina's blog.


Last but not least, a picture of my cat. I think she looks so cute in this pic. She hates me, because I'm occupying her room, but ok, I'll forgive her. :D

Where I have already been

I just found this. Here is my map:



create your own visited countries map or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Regarding knitting I haven't done a lot lately. I don't really think the pink top fits and it's too cold anyway. I guess if it was warmer I would try to finish it, but right now I don't feel motivated at all. I have managed to finish a couple of other things in my life though, so it's ok I guess. :D

Pink top III

I think I hate this thing...

a) It still seems to be so small. I nearly had the gauge and thought that was ok, but now it still looks too small.

b) Within a couple of days the weather has turned from oven heat to freezer coldness. I don't really feel motivated to knit something that will never see the sunlight this year...

Next topic:

I have seen this gorgeous fair isle sweater on Eunny Jang's website. I'm soo looking forward to the Interweave winter issue and to trying fair isle knitting. I always thought it was too difficult for me with all the different colors and so on, but this sweater looks too cute. And I love boat slit necklines. :)