Being forced to take the rest of my annual leave from last year before the end of March I asked my friend Hasan, who lives in Vienna, if I could visit him. He was busy, but said it was ok. So, off I was for Vienna on Easter! Yay! :)
Vienna:
Karlskirche:
The Karlskirche is supposed to be the most beautiful baroque church in Vienna, but that is not the reason why I liked it so much and feel the need to tell you about it. No, the reason why it excites me is the panorama lift that takes you to vertiginous heights to give you a really great view of the fresco paintings on the ceiling (also over the city, but with all the security wire netting occluding and limiting the view it was not really worth it). Usually, a normal visitor will never have the opportunity to see these paintings at such a close distance, but here the scaffolds that had been used for previous restoration works had been preserved to take visitors upstairs (not sure how long they will stay though, seems like they have been around for a while though).
The lift takes you to a platform, from there you have to take stairs (they look the same as the stairs in the first picture ) to reach the top. Let me just tell you, if you're not a fan of heights and standing on a scaffold that surely was stable more or less, but well, not as stable as a nice stone staircase, you would also get the butterflies...
"Running and jumping is dangerous! Shouting is uncool!" Yeah, totally uncool. :D The sign also says that only a maximum of 10 persons is allowed. It also said something about "only under supervision," which everybody seemed to happily ignore. I'll be honest - I was scared shitless at this height. Crazy tourists who happily in their ignorance walked up and down the stairs to the top! Nobody here who cared about the maximum of 10 person! And where was this supervision guy?? In the end I decided to be a sheep and just go with the others, peer pressure you know, didn't want to stick out as the hysterical tourist, and I mean, who has ever heard of a scaffold breaking down under an overload of tourists in an Austrian church, right? Anyway, on my way to the top I was rewarded with a really nice view of the ceiling. If the pictures are blurry, it's because I didn't use a flasha and because my hands were shaking more than usual due whenever someone walked by and caused the scaffold to shake (I was DYING every time inside, I kid you not. :D). There were two information points where you could listen to your audio guide, but I simply didn't feel calm enough to take up any information. I only wanted to get to the top and then downstairs to solid ground as soon as possible. I listened to the information when I was downstairs and I regretted that I missed some interesting tidbits, but it was ok.
A short video that I made with my digital camera, the quality is therefore not that great.
She has this mischievious look on her face. I found the expressions on many faces to be quite interesting, you rarely get to see them with all the details.
Under the top. If I'm not mistaken painting the Holy Spirit in the middle of the ceiling is not uncommon in churches.
Ok, I'll say it (false modesty is so boring), I felt damn proud that I had continued to the top. :D
Kunsthistorisches Museum:
www.khm.at
Exhibition of works of Arcimboldo at the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
"The artist was born in Milan where he started his career by working on designs for windows for the city’s cathedral. He worked in his hometown, specialising mainly in religious paintings, before being called to Vienna in 1562 by Maximilian, the eldest son of the Emperor Ferdinand I. For the next twenty-five years he served as court painter to the Emperor Maximilian II and his son, the Emperor Rudolf II, both in Vienna and in Prague, before returning to Milan in 1587."
The exhibition was interesting. I still felt captivated by Arcimboldo's works and skills although the vegetable and fruit composite heads are so known. He painted the flowers, plants, animals that compose the heads with a scientific accuracy that is praiseworthy in itself, but to put them together in such imaginative ways to create faces is ingenious. Get an audio guide (which is not for free, but nevertheless makes the whole tour through the museum more interesting and enlightening).
The museum also exhibited some photos of Bernard Pras, who created his own version of composite heads. He uses 3-dimensional objects located in space to create faces, which can be comprehended best when captured in a 2-dimensional form such as a photo. Take a look at his website, www.pras-bernard.com, I assure you, it's worth it.
Donau City:
Home of apartments, offices, and various UNO institutions in the Vienna International Centre (UNO City). The United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), one of the four main headquarters of the UN worldwide (the others can be found in New York (that I have already visited with my mom years ago, we took a guided tour there), Geneva and Nairobi), is also located in UNO City.
Passing the Mexikokirche on our way to Donau City.
Sightseeing in Vienna:
Vienna is surrounded by a main street called "der Ring", which is seamed by many of the interesting buildings and tourist attractions that you will find in Vienna such as the Karlskirche, the Museumsquartier with the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Naturhistorisches Museum, Leopoldmuseum, Burgtheater, City Hall, Staatsoper, etc.
I haven't been able to visit all of them from within. These are snapshots that I took from outside.
Burgtheater
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgtheater
Stephansdom
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephansdom
Gothic cathedral in the center of Vienna.
City Hall
Österreichische Staatsoper (Austrian State Opera)
At the Opernring in front of the Hotel Sacher. End of Kärnter Straße, close to the Naschmarkt.
Located in the center:
Hofburg
"Hofburg Imperial Palace is a palace in Vienna, Austria, which has housed some of the most powerful people in Austrian history, including the Habsburg dynasty, rulers of the Austro-Hungarian empire. It currently serves as the official residence of the President of Austria. It was the Habsburg's principal winter residence, while Schönbrunn Palace was their preferred summer residence."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofburg
A bit outside:
Schloss Schönbrunn
"Schönbrunn Palace (German: Schloss Schönbrunn [ʃøːnˈbʁʊn]) in Vienna is one of the most important cultural monuments in Austria and since the 1860s has also been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna. The palace and gardens illustrate the tastes, interests and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Sch%C3%B6nbrunn
I had a talk yesterday with a friend of mine who is French and she said Schloss Schönbrunn is so great inside. The French castle are all empty inside - many thanks to the French revolution - and she loved that here most was still intact. I also assume that many of the older buildings in Vienna are so well preserved as it didn't get bombed as much as German cities during WW2. If you visit Bamberg you can see how different German cities actually might look like.
Hundertwasserhaus
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundertwasserhaus
Accoding to my friend Hasan it's only tourists who visit this house, everybody else in Vienna thinks it's ugly.
Him: "Don't visit this."
Me: "But I want to! How can I not visit this when I am in Vienna and it's not even far from here?"
Him: "It's ugly. Don't visit it."
Me: "But, I want to."
Him: "It's ugly. Don't."
Of course, I went. :D
Gasometer
"A gasometer, or gas-holder, is a large container where natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasometer
The Gasometers in Vienna now house offices, shopping malls and apartments.
Me: "There's a shopping mall inside, right?"
Him: "Yes, but it's not worth it to visit inside, but you're not going to listen to me anyway..."
That's right, :D but I didn't have the time to see it from inside.
Hasan and I met a couple of years ago in Egypt, lost contact for a while and about two years (?) ago picked up contact again. In the meantime he had started a business with imported juices from Egypt - www.alijuus.com. I like the idea that he sells fresh juices that are made without any kind of additives or preservatives. Oh, and they taste really good, too! My roommates really loved it. He also recently started a business corporation with Sekem, an organisation founded by Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish that is based on the anthroposophic teachings of Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf schools, biodynamic agriculture, does that ring something to you?). I'm skeptical of the anthroposophical teachings (I remember a friend, who was an intern at a biodynamic farm, telling me about stirring fertilizer at moonlight clockwise, then anticlockwise, the clockwise again, something like that...), but I like the holistic approach to sustainable human development and farming.
I learned how to play poker (but not how to win...), I smoked (cigarettes and other stuff passively, ewww) more than ever before, I learned that guys supposedly don't like nice women, I found out that you can meet someone again after five years and it really just seems like no time has passed. And that someone can be quite grumpy but surprisingly still be your friend (he thinks knitting is extremely uncool, he hates being nice, he hates other car drivers, he hates posed photos, hence a fake one with us together, HA :D). He's a moody bitch, but I still like him. He's a doll. :D
Wiener Kaffeehaustradition:
Of course, I had to visit a couple of cafés and see what it's all about the Wiener Kaffeehaustradition.
Café Central: Very elegant with live piano music, but it was full and I didn't feel like waiting, so I moved on to the next café.
Café Hawelka: I ate their famous Buchteln, they are made of yeast dough, usually filled with plum butter, but mine came with poppy seed, which I'm not really that fond of, so dry and the seeds always get stuck between your teeth. The waiter was arrogant, but I was assured by various people that it's their job to be arrogant, that's also why they wear suits, so don't take offense. The café was full with people and the air was thick with smoke. Somehow I think Leonhard Cohen would have loved it here. I had not been aware that this café had such an interesting history of visitors (Friedensreich Hundertwasser, André Heller, Elias Canetti, Henry Miller, Arthur Miller und Andy Warhol, came for a visit whenever they were in Vienna), I just knew it was famous, but had no clue why. It also seems that the walls are decorated with many works of the visitors, which I also didn't notice or maybe they have changed the decoration. My tourist guide obviously failed me here, but you can find more information about the café on their website, albeit only in German www.hawelka.at
Café Prückel: A café with a long history at the "Ring".The waiters here were nicer. I had Apfelstrudel and Palatschinken (very thin pancakes). My friend Hasan said it was Jugendstil, but I thought it had a 60ies touch. I struck up a conversation with a guy, Patrick, from there and he told me that people do indeed spend lots and lots of time in cafés to drink their coffee and read the newspapers (they even had German ones here) or work (like him), which means if you are a single tourist in Vienna, go to a café and just bother an innocent Viennese guest with your questions, because they will have a lot of time for you and nothing better to do anyway. :D Ok, try to to find someone who is not working. :D www.prueckel.at
At the Café Prückel.
I had also already entered the Café Demel (they're the ones who had a quarrel with the Café Sacher about the correct preparation of the Sachertorte and the use of the term "Original". They lost and now are only allowed to sell "Sachertorte" like any other café, but not "Original Sachertorte".) to eat Sachertorte, but I had eaten so much before and didn't want to stuff myself with cake just for the sake of eating it, I also wanted to take pictures of the pastry cooks working behind the scenes and as the batteries of my cameras needed to be recharged I decided to go back later, but I didn't find the time to do so. Next time. :)
Couldn't find any restaurant/café that had Marillenknödel. :(
Conclusion:Vienna is worth a visit. The city is beautiful and there is a lot to see and to discover, I still haven't seen everything, not a single castle from inside. And the cafés are good places to meet people.
Tourist guide: "Wien" by Doris Mair (Merian). I recommend this book. It has a lot of information on everything - museums, castles, restaurants, bars, shops, cafés, public swimming pools, cinemas, theaters, etc. and lots and lots of background information.It also has a foldable map that shows all the interesting tourist spots and six tour cards with different themes (bar tour, coffeehouse tour, composer tour, etc.). I got told by a German couple that this one is better than the one from Baedeker, which they had, as it contains information about bars, public swimming pools, etc. (I actually wanted to go to a swimming pool, but I forgot my swimsuit. I got told that Vienna has some beautiful swimming pools.)
I got home with the "Mitfahrzentrale" - www.mfz.de It's a website that organizes car sharing between strangers. It's a pretty cost efficient and more ecological way of traveling as you share your car and the costs for gas with others, a win-win situation for everybody involved. I was able to get back from Vienna for 19 €! Awesome. Much cheaper than with the train (would have cost 72 € with an Austrian ticket and a bit less with a German ticket). I definitely need to try this out more often.
That was a really long post. I think I can take a break now until next year. :D
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Vienna is calling!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Stories from Absurdistan: Creeps and idiots
Once upon a time I went to our local swimming pool. This country is famous for its "Freikörperkultur" (my statement that the French were more explicit and open about their bodies encountered an indignant "But you Germans have FKK!" from a French student to the amusement of the other people in the train. I may also add that I only made this claim after he told me that he liked running around naked at home and that his mom and sister were not really fond about this. :D), but guess what, when you go to a normal public swimming pool the changing rooms for men and women are still separated. But obviously some people have difficulties grasping this fact, I kid you not.
A couple of weeks ago I came out from the shower, wrapped in a towel and what do I see, I see a man lingering around. Exactly one week before I had caught two guys hanging out there and let me tell I was not pleased. I understand that you might get lost in new places and the signs might be a bit misleading, but the moment I see a woman coming out from the shower I as a guy must have some doubts if I'm at the right place, right? I as a woman would if I saw a guy with a towel wrapped around him, but these guys just kept lingering around after I told them very clearly that they were in the changing area for women and that the changing rooms for men was further down the hallway. Not much action from them and an apology was also far away. I know how a mistake looks like and they looked like assholes. People in this situation usually act differently, they look surprised, they apologize, they try to leave as quickly as possible. These guys here? None of these. So, one week later it's the same situation again. I come out from the shower and I find another guy here. He was around 70 with someone whom I later assumed to be his wife. My first reaction was to get pissed off. I know what sexual harrassment means; it's something that really makes me angry and I have no qualms showing it. I told him that this was the changing area for women and that he had to leave. He kept standing in this changing booth, talking with his wife what to do next. Now that infuriated me even more. Normal people with some manners would have gotten outside and discussed further procedures there, but he kept on lingering there, while his wife started to look nervous, trying to get rid of him, but he just didn't move. I started to get really loud. I didn't call him names or anything, but I was very clear that I wanted him to get out as soon as possible. Another woman who was standing there told me that I could say it nicer, but well, I'm not nice to creeps (and lady, if I had kids as you have I would be a bit more careful about strangers who trespass boundaries...). By the way, have you kept track of the number of women who were present? It was me, his wife and this other woman, maybe even more women, but I don't remember exactly. And he is supposedly too stupid not to understand that this is obviously not the changing room for men??? Anyway, he wasn't thrilled about the way I told him to leave and told me, "If you don't stop shouting, we can go outside and settle it there." HUH??? He was 70 and at least 1,80 m. I'm a woman, pretty small and at that moment was only wearing a towel and this idiot suggests that we go outside and deal with it like real men do??? Someone go and light a candle for his wife, please.
He's lucky I didn't take the challenge and show him what real men can do *spits on the floor - pffft* :D instead I went home and sent an email to the municipalities (gaawd, how civilized...). I got a nice answer back telling me that the signs might be a bit misleading, but that these guys were certainly not there by mistake and to inform the pool guards if it happened again. I interpret this as, "Next time you see another creep, just scream for the pool guards." - No problem! :D
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Final update on Medical Hypotheses article
As promised ( :o ) a final update on this Asians & Down Syndrome story. I had decided that this article was crap and that Mr Bruce Charlton's answer was absolutely not sufficient, so off I went and did a Google search for all the editors listed on the editorial board.
I did not get an answer from:
Peter Andras
Roy Calne
Arvid Carlsson
David L Hull
J Lee Kavanau
Mehar Manku
V.S. Ramachandran
Jack Scannell
Gavin Spickett
I did get an answer from:
David Healy
David Pearce
William Bains
Antonio R Damasio
Jonathan Rees
Andrew Miles
Not available:
Mark A Notturno (email account was full)
James Willis (didn't find his email address)
I was a bit surprised that I did not receive more reactions, but that might be because people thought that I should have taken the usual way, meaning entering a rebuttal via the official way (Mr Bains, Mr Miles (absolute meanie if I may say. He went from calling me oversensitive to hysterical to arrogant and he cc-ed all his emails and forwarded mine to Mr Charlton *rolleyes*. He also insinuated that anybody who took offense at the article was oversensitive, because he as a redhead was also the victim of jokes, but he didn't make such a fuss about it. - Sure, his experiences as redhead are as bad as the racism that minorities face.) and Mr Rees recommended me to take this step). In my opinion this would not have been enough though. My argument is that this article was racist and in no way scientific and should never have been published in an academic journal in the first place, therefore it would have been the responsibility of the editors of this magazine to react and to take appropriate steps, for example, withdrawing the article and clarifying their position on this issue; just printing a rebuttal from a reader does not strike me as sufficient. By not distancing themselves from the content of this article they were supporting it.
The only two who did respond positively to my complaint and took it seriously were Mr Healy (a very very nice and understanding person) and Mr Pearce (I couldn't help noticing that out of only two positive responses one of the writers has a picture on his website posing as a bunny. I bet he is fun :D). Mr Healy was so kind to contact Mr Charlton various times to discuss this matter with him, but it became clear that resolving the issue of having bad article slip through can not be that easily resolved as the amount of articles is enormous coming in from very different fields and the editors are not paid, meaning the responsibility for selecting the quality stuff depends on the lead editor and there is no real possibility that someone else can check on him. In his opinion what should be encouraged is that anybody who takes offense with an article should be free to publish his view, thus including the readers into the peer review process. It also seems Medical Hypotheses does publish all replies, which according to him is much better than with other peer reviewed journals. I had to agree that it made sense what he said and he also told me that he appreciated that his awareness about this issue had been raised. He made his point to Mr Charlton and I am hopeful that his effort will be rewarded with a bit more attention among the editors.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Good night socks
I've told that I don't seem to update my blog anymore... That's because - *looking frantically for believable excuses* - I got abducted by terrorists from Absurdistan. Yep, many attempts were made to break and brainwash me, but I resisted and escaped. I escaped to bring you local stories from this wonderful place (I got told that this is what people want to read - aha...). I will also do any pending updates - I swear and promise. :D But not now I need to go to bed. But in order to have a reason to fill this post with a little more content here are pics from one of my current projects:
These are going to be my good night socks. See how nice they look with my pajama? You may notice that they are knit quit tightly (maybe even a bit too much), that's because for socks I like a snug fit. Pattern my own. More details when I have finished them, which is going to be sohooon! :D
P.S. "But in order to have a reason to fill this post with a little more content here are pics from one of my current projects:"
Ugh, this sentence doesn't make any sense at all. It was late, you know. :o
Monday, February 04, 2008
I'm sick and bored...
I'm sick and bored... I spent the whole day in bed and I'm so tired... *whiiine*
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Stephen Colbert - I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
I admit it, I am a Stephen Colbert groupie. :D He is smart, cute, entertaining and sexy - what more can you ask for. :D And married. *huuuge sniff*
And he also knows how to rap! This video is so incredibly hilarious. :D
More from Stephen Colbert with his Colbert Report on Comedy Central.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Update on "Asian people and Down Syndrome" article
So, I'm one of the worst bloggers in the world, which is not really any news, but yesterday while trying to clean up the mess that is in the background, meaning all the drafts and unfinished posts I had started and that you have never been able to see, I stumbled over this post and I realized that I had not posted it (it's from 24 November 2007 - oh...). I think I need to go to bed earlier and sleep more. I'm such a scatterbrain.
That's the post and it's not up to date at all, because I did write an email to all the editors, but right now I think I'm a bit too tired to write anything longer and coherent, therefore I'll just post this old update now and write a new update on this topic as soon as possible. Stay tuned, I will tell you who is the nice guy and who sucks. :D Ok, just kidding, sort of. :D
--
Ok, I contacted Mr. Damásio who told me he had not been involved with this article at all and had no clue about, but was so kind to recommend me to contact the editor-in-chief, Dr. Bruce Charlton, who in his own words he considers "a reputable and serious scientist". Mr Charlton's answer was:
Thank you for your communication. I do not have any statement to make. The web site for Medical Hypotheses states: "In Medical Hypotheses, the authors' responsibility for the integrity, precision and accuracy of their work is paramount."
http://intl.elsevierhealth.com//journals/MeHy/
So, the authors of an article are responsible for their work. The Correspondence section of the journal is a venue for submission of scientific critique of articles we have published.
Sincerely, Yours, Bruce Charlton
That seems to be his usual response to anybody who asks about this article (by the way, he did not even bother about any kind of salutation). I was somewhat speechless... I've considered contacting all the editors in this magazine and informing them about this article, but I wonder if they would be interested at all.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Finished: Paisley Shawl
Pattern: Paisley Shawl by Kate Gilbert from the book Folk Style
Yarn: Rowanspun 4 ply, 100% pure new wool, 148 m/25 g
Color: Squirrel (very light grey)
Price: about 1.6 € per skein
Amount: 5 skeins
Needles: 3.5 mm
Gauge: perfect, although I have no clue how many stitches are in 10 cm :D
Dimensions:
Modifications: None
It took me a couple of weeks to finish this shawl, because except for the repeats in the rows, there is no real pattern repeat, every row is different. Which means you have to pay attention to the knitting instructions. People are always so afraid of lace, but a lot have nice pattern repeats that you can memorize well and even if it's not nirvanalike blissful mindless knitting, it's still ok. The Flower Basket Shawl or the Shetland Triangle consist of stitch patterns that are quite easy to memorize. After a while you realize that what you knit is related to the previous row, meaning the stitches in your previous row lead and guide you in your current row. This pattern though requires you to pay attention, you can memorize the repeats in the rows, but you can not really rely on the previous rows much to help you forsee the next stitch you have to knit.
Nevertheless, I have to say this is probably one of my favorite knitting projects, not so much for the knitting fun, but I love the end product. While I was knitting I was wishing a bit that I was knitting with alpaca, because the yarn was not as smooth and had some slubs, which slows the knitting down a bit. The grey was also not a true grey, but has a little bit of a yellowish base due to the natural color of the wool shining through. And all the grey was also boring me a bit. My Mystery Stole - light grey (I haven't posted yet, because I need to reblock it properly, my lazy approach with a few pins didn't work very well this time...), my Esther Williams hat - light grey. But after seeing the finished shawl I'm convinced, the yarn is perfect for this pattern and the color is great, I don't notice the yellow undertone anymore - what can I say, I'm blinded by the beauty of my shawl :D. It's perfect, it's flawless, it's simply lovely! :D And can you believe it? I get such a nice warm shawl for about 8 €! I need to stock more of this yarn, I really like it.
At the moment I have another Paisley Shawl on my needles, this time it's alpaca in a lovely dark green, but I think I will have to frog it. Alpaca is a heavy yarn and this is a big shawl that is mostly knit in stockinette stitch. I'm therefore a bit afraid that it will turn out too heavy. A more lacy project might suit this yarn better.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
The World Of YouTube
I'm starting to discover the vast possibilities of YouTube. :D This is one of my alltime favorite songs: Top Of The World by The Carpenters. The Carpenters were a duo consisting of the siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter. I just love Karen Carpenter's voice, she has one of these voices that you will just remember and recognize anywhere. I won't start bashing new singers and complain why they can't make music as they used to do, but I have rarely met a singer whose voice has moved me as much as hers. It's a shame she died when she was only 32 recovering from anorexia.
Another group I also like a lot are The Beautiful South. Unfortunately, they broke up at the beginning of last year due to "musical similarities", whatever that means. :( I love the band for the singers (Briana Corrigan, Paul Heaton, Jacqui Abbot, both in the Perfect 10 video), but also for their lyrics; they give these pop songs with their catchy tunes a certain funny and sarcastic edge. Just listen to the lyrics of this song, Song For Whoever. When browsing through YouTube I also found this video, Perfect 10. I just remembered it when I mentioned Karen Carpenter's anorexia. I guess, we all need to remind ourselves once in a while to love ourselves a bit more. It's also a really good song.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Finished: Flower Basket Shawl 3
Pattern: Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark, from Interweave Fall 2004
Yarn: Alpaca Fashion by Schachenmayr Nomotta
Color: #122
Price: around 5 €/50 g
Amount: 3
Needles: 5 mm
Gauge: MIA :D
Dimensions: It's 118 cm wide and from the top center to the tip it measures 59 cm.
Modifications: I knit the second chart only 4 times instead of 10. I also did not start with the recommended provisional crochet cast-on. I tried another cast-on that does not require waste yarn (good, very good :)) You start with a circular needle and a slip knot. Then you take your working yarn and wind it around the two needles. Every loop will become a stitch. In the picture you can count three loop on each needle. Pull the second (lower) needle, the one with the slip knot, through all the loops till they rest on the cord. Start knitting the stitches on the first (upper) needle. I found my edge looked a bit nicer, but that might also be due to the thicker yarn. But in any case, you do not have to have to use waste yarn, which means you do not have to look for it (waste yarn is not always there when you need it, in my case at least).
Comments: What can I say, I have already knit two other Flower Basket Shawls, I just like the pattern. When I saw the yarn, I immediately thought it would look beautiful in this pattern. It's also easy to memorize and I wanted something that would knit up quickly (my aunt saw the Hydrangea Lace Scarf and mentioned that she also wanted to have something to wear around her neck). I also love the color. It's a very warm deep yellow with slight variations in color. And of course, nothing beats the soft cozy feeling of alpaca.
P.S. I think this cast-on only works well if you use thicker yarn. I did another Shetland Triangle with Misti Alpaca in laceweight and tried to do the cast-on with this method and it was a very fiddly thing. The crochet cast-on is probably preferable if you use thin yarn.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Finished: Esther Williams Hat
Pattern: Esther Williams Hat by Laura from Poor Miss Finch
Yarn: Lang Yarns Baby Alpaca, 170 m/50 g
Color: Grey
Price: around 5 € per ball I think
Amount: 2 (I used the yarn doubled)
Needles: 3.5 mm
Gauge: A very good question... Let me think... :D I cast on 114 stitches instead of 96 to make the hat fit
Size: There is just one size. My hat fits like a glove. :)
Modifications: Cast on 114 stitches and had to adapt the decreases. No biggie.
Comments: Nice pattern, although as alala said that with the short hair I might run risk that it looks like a chemo cap. I think it looks like a bathing cap. Surprise, surprise, afterall the hat is named after a swimming star. To my defense, the hat does not look like a bathing cap if your hair is longer. A girl with long curly hair from my stitch 'n' bitch meeting tried my hat and she immediately got compliments. Some hats look good with short hair and some look better with longer hair. That one probably belongs to the latter.
I like the hat a lot, not so much because I want to look as if I was wearing bathing caps, but the yarn is so wonderful soft. If you have ever worn a hat made of alpaca, you'll never go back to letting anything else touch your head. It's warm and it feels so incredibly nice. So, I wear it, but I try to hide it under a hood. Yeah, lately I've been favoring comfort and warmth over vanity, but still. The hat really does not look good with anything I'm wearing at the moment, but I can't resist its softness. Maybe I should get more of this yarn and knit a matching scarf, but I actually like the red scarf.
I got told that my face looks slack in my pictures and that a good trick is to act an expression.
Ok, now give me my Oscar. :D
For a profile view:
And although I'm a bit late - Merry Christmas to everybody! :)
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Finished: South Bay Crochet Beret and my Amor Intenso Scarf
Pattern: Crochet Beret from South Bay Crochet
Yarn: Schulana Tweed Lux, 85% virgin wool, 10% silk, 5% cashmere, 110 m/ 50 g
Color: #05 charcoal
Price: I'm not sure anymore, maybe about 7 € for a skein, must be so pricy for all the expensive stuff like silk and cashmere. The yarn is ok, but well, it's not causing me to gush about it. I mainly bought it because it had the right color, was tweedy and had the right weight.
Amount: 1.1 skein (I had to start the second one because of the brim I think)
Needles: 5 mm hook (you can all be so glad that I'm on Ravelry where it's supereasy to enter the details for your projects, because I have such a lousy memory; just yesterday I entered the information for a scarf I had knit like a couple of weeks ago and I just couldn't remember the needle size anymore...)
Gauge: I got told that it's not so important, because you can increase until it's big enough and then you decrease. What I can tell you is that the maximal number of double crochets between the front post double crochets is 8. After that I started decreasing.
Dimensions: The circumference is 24 cm.
Modifications: If you follow the original pattern you will get a spiral pattern. I somehow felt that I did not like the spiral pattern, but I was not not following the instructions on purpose, so you probably will have to pay very careful attention to the instructions if you want to get it right (but what is right anymore, I like my version better :D). I will include here the notes I made on Ravelry for this project:
I'm doing the front post double crochet (fpdc) on top of the fpdc from the previous row instead of on the following double crochet (I used this online tutorial - http://www.crochetkitten.com/tutorials/fpdc.html - because I just couldn't figure out how to do a front post double crochet ). It doesn't create a spiral, but looks much better I think. TheWilk told me about her modifications, but the instructions are a tad confusing I think, because without thinking too much and simply following the directions I did the same thing as she did.It also seems that I only made one row of single crochets instead of two.
My notes seem a bit messy, but the pattern is really easy and I was able to finish the beret in a couple of hours.
I forgot, the second knit item I wanted to post about is my scarf. I call it Amor Intenso Scarf for the colorway of the yarn.
Pattern: Mine, see below
Yarn: Handspun bulky from handpaintedyarn.com, 135 yard/ 100 g
Color: Amor Intenso
Price: $6.20
Amount: 2 skeins
Needles: Like I said, I can't remember, probably 6 mm
Gauge: Not important
Dimensions: about 24 cm wide and 2 m long
Modifications: None
The colors are gorgeous, aren't they? :)
Directions:
Cast on 27 stitches (I used the backward loop cast on). Knit 3 rows in garter stitch for the edge.
Pattern:
- Row: Knit
- Row: Knit 3, purl 3, * (knit 3, purl 3), repeat from* to the end
Repeat the pattern till you nearly run out of yarn. The pattern should end with the first row. Now knit 2 rows in garter stitch and cast off with a technique whose name I just can't remember anymore. :D Ok, I'll try to describe it: Knit 2. * Insert left needle into the second and first knit stitch and knit (as if you were knitting them through the back, it's just that the stitches are mounted differently). You have one stitch on the right needle again. Knit another one. * Repeat from * Break yarn and pull through the last stitch. Voilà, finished! :)
More information about the sweater that I'm wearing here.Ugly acrylic yarn to give away
I have this super ugly acrylic yarn. If you want it, you can have it. Just promise you will pay for the shipping and this beauty will be yours.
On the needles: a lily of the valley lace stole
The pattern is a variation of the Lily of the Valley Stole from the book Lace Style. My inspiration for using this yarn (laceweight from handpaintedyarn.com in the colorway: hortalizas) was this absolutely stunning Swallowtail Shawl, a shawl that also happens to feature the lily of the valley pattern. I love the little nupps and I love the combination of these rich dark red tones and the green. Don't the nups look like little roses?
Lily-of-the-valley lace stole, originally uploaded by projektleiterin.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Um, shit, I just messed up my template?!?! :o
Um, shit, I just messed up my template?!?! :o Guess, this will have to do for the moment... *sigh*
Edit: Ok, I made some changes.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
A fun survey
A survey game from Victor's blog.
01. Can you cook? I think I can prepare a meal that most people would eat.
02. What was your dream growing up? Being a famous scientist (don't ask me what I want now...)
03. What talent do you wish you had? Spontaneously I would say, a good memory.
04. If I bought you a drink what would it be? You mean an alcoholic one? A cocktail maybe? I don't really drink a lot.
05. Favorite vegetable? Tomato
06. What was the last book you read? I think "Lying on the couch" by Irvin D. Yalom was the last book I finished reading completely. I really liked it.
07. What zodiac sign are you? -
08. Any tattoos and/or piercings? My ears are pierced.
09. Worst habit? Procrastination or indecisiveness - I can't decide right now, can I tell you this later? :D
10. If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride? To be honest, no. I neither take rides nor do I offer them and I also discourage other people to do it.
11. What is your favorite sport? Running or swimming?
12. Negative or optimistic attitude? I'm extremely mood, but I would say the optimistic attitude is probably a teeny-weeny bit dominating.
13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me? Start talking to you.
14. Worst thing to ever happen to you? Being in love with the wrong person
15. Tell me one weird fact about you. I feel a certain reluctance eating berries that have been processed, like in yoghurt, cake, jam, etc.
16. Do you have any pets? Yes.
17. What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly? At the moment - don't. Otherwise - come in!
18. What was your first impression of me? Nicer than what I had expected from your self-description on Ravelry.
19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary? I think a bit scary.
20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? I don't want major changes, so I only wish my hair wasn't so flat.
21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience? Conscience!
22. What color eyes do you have? Brown
23. Ever been arrested? No.
24. Bottle or draft? ?
25. If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it? Put it in my bank account and donate a part.
26. Would you date me? No, you don't like kissing girls. :D
27. Where's your favorite place to hang out? I don't have any place I really like to hang out. I like the sea though.
28. Do you believe in ghosts? I am afraid that I totally irrationally do.
29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time? Probably knitting or reading.
30. Do you swear a lot? Yes. :o
31. Biggest pet peeve? Not sure, the choices overwhelm me. :D. When people don't do what I tell them although it's good for them?
32. In one word, how would you describe yourself? Nice.
33. Do you believe in/appreciate romance? Oh yes, totally.
34. If you could spend 12 hours with me and ask/do anything you like, what would it be? Teach me Thai and show me how to spin.
35. Do you believe in God? Agnostic.
36. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same? Yeah, doing.
