an unexpected good bye

Hi everbody,

I totally know, that it is sewing sunday but I haven't sewn a stitch today.
At the moment I'm surfing thru the internet and comparing car prices. Our car went to the garage (again) on friday and it came out, that it leaks oil (just because I insisted, that the drops on the parking space are from our car....) and the exhaust pipe is broken too. Fixing it would cost over 1000 Euro, more than the car is worth.

Plus there is this money-back program from the state at the moment. The first 600.000 people selling an old car (over 9 yrs old) that had belonged to them for over a year will get a 2.500 Euro refund. So that would make our car (11 yrs old) worth 2.500 Euro instead of just a thousand. And since my Dad is working for Opel (GM), we would get a good deal.

The car that caught our eye is the Astra Caravan, which will be just a wee bit more expensive than a newer version of our small car and since we hope to have a family in the nearer future, a slightly bigger car would be awesome. We had hoped though, that our current car would live a few more years and I really wanted to have a hybrid car next, but those are really out of our pricerange at the moment.

The downside of buying a new, more efficent car is, that we won't be able to travel this year. Scottland adé. But I guess Scottland will be still there, when we have saved enough money to travel there again. We hope to get to the UK nevertheless this year and visit our friends Frank and Anne in Leighton Buzzard.

I will have to cut down my yarn, fabric and book purchases though, so knitting and sewing from stash it is. I have plenty of books to read still and I have a lot of friends with a similar book taste.

But since this is a knitting and sewing blog, here are some pictures of my latest FOs.

La Parisenne beret




I think it's more a hat than a beret, but that might be because my yarn (Sivilla by wetterhoff from Finland)is a tad thinner than normal sockyarn

Pattern: La Parisenne beret by sockpixie

Babysocks for a friends little newborn son


Made out of leftovers from another project. I just have 1o meter left now, so that was a good project to use up those remnants.

Me in the February Lady sweater



And finally "Hey, Teach!" now 50% done


I hope to get a picture from Heiko in his new poet shirt (wedding outfit for the fantasy wedding) today.

Enough for today! I will go to the sewing machine now and sew some blocks for the quilt.

Santa Socke Teil X/ travelling sock part X

Huhu,

ich bin es mal wieder. Entschuldigung, dass ich mich nicht habe hören lassen. Ich bin schon so lange auf Reisen, dass ich manchmal die Zeit vergesse! Und ich bin auch schwer beschäftigt gewesen (*tütelü*) und ausserdem konnte ich zwischendurch auch nicht schreiben, aber dazu jetzt von mehr von anea , die ich in Bad Vilbel besucht habe.

Huhu,

finally I'm back. Sorry for not writing earlier. My travels are going on for quiet a while now, that I totally loose track of time from time to time. And I'm pretty busy (*smallishcough*) and I couldn't write for a while, but more on that now from Anea, whom I visited in Bad Vilbel.

Anea schreibt:
Und seit Samstag gastiert sie nun bei mir. Weitergestrickt war ja schnell.

Aber nachdem, was ich über diesen Sockenbengel schon gelesen hatte, ist das ja ein ganz übles Früchtchen. Bei Anja hat er für Nachwuchs gesorgt und da ich hier mit meinen Jungs schon genug Stress habe, ohne dass sich auch noch die Socken sinnlos vermehren, musste Vorsorge getroffen werden. Hier herrscht Zucht und Ordnung - und meine Wollknäuel hüte ich wie meinen Augapfel.

Anea writes:

Since Saturday I'm the host of Santa, the next repeat was knitted in no time, but from what Anja wrote on her blog, Santa Sock is quiet a rascal. At Anjas place there were babysocks afterwards and since I already have enough in my head with my own socks, without socks spawning all over I had to make arrangements.

Meine Idee/my idea :



Das hat sich auch bewährt, denn ich konnte bis heute keine Babysocken auffinden… :D

Das Fotografieren gestaltete sich schwierig, denn das Wetter war dermaßen bäh!, dass man da keinen Hund vor die Tür jagt, geschweige denn so ein halbfertiges Sockenkind (ja, er ist noch immer ein Kind…!).

Heute war es dann besser und so durfte er mich - wie wahnsinnig aufregend - zum EInkaufen begleiten.

Und was soll ich sagen? Man merkte sofort, dass es sich um einen Heranwachsenden handelt. Im Getränkemarkt stürzte er sich sofort auf eine Kiste Apfelwein und verlangte nach PARTY!!!!!

Worked pretty well, up to know there are no traces of babysocks! :)

Taking pictures was more difficult, the weather was aweful and I wouldn't have wanted to take a half-done sock out (he is still a baby, isn't he...)

Today it was a lot better and he was allowed to go grocery shopping with me - how exciting for a teenager!)

And what shall I say? Santa is def. a teenager, in the beverage store he immediately went to the boxes of cider (the alcohol!) and wanted to make PARTY!


Na, dem hab’ ich schön die Leviten gelesen! Von wegen Party! Aber da wir hier nun einmal im Lande des Apfelweins sind habe ich was für Sockes Bildung getan und ihm mal gezeigt, wie Streuobstwiesen mit Apfelbäumen aussehen. Das fand er ja ganz klasse und sockte sofort los, um zu klettern!

Ihr könnt euch ja nicht vorstellen, wie geschickt der Kerl die Stricknadel zum Klettern einsetzt!

Well, I gave him a good talking off after that! tss... party! But since we are in the land of cider hier, I did something for Sockes education and showed him how the orchard meadows look here. That was something Socke liked and he socked off (*grin*) to climb the trees!

You can't imagine how skillfull that little sock uses the circular needle to get up there!

Aber eigentlich ist unser Städtchen ja für Mineralwasser bekannt und nicht für Alkoholisches, daher habe ich Socke auch noch zum Sprudelbuben-Brunnen am Alten Rathaus geführt. Aus solchen Brunnen haben früher die Sprudelbuben das Wasser geholt, dass sie dann mit Kutschen in der Stadt verteilt haben. Einer der ersten, die sich um die Vermarktung des hiesigen Mineralwassers bemüht haben, war Friedrich Grosholz. Ihm und seiner Quelle wurde natürlich auch ein Denkmal gesetzt.

But actually our city is more known for mineral water and not for alcohol, so I showed Socke the Sprudelbuben-Brunnen ( that means bubblywaterboys-fountain) at the old townhall. The boys got the mineral water out of those springs and distributed it over the whole town. One of the first to merchandise the water was Friedrich Grosholz. A memorial was errected to his honor.
Leider fehlgeschlagen sind Sockes Bemühungen, den alten Herrn zum Stricken zu animieren. Er wollte lieber weiter nur so dasitzen und gedankenverloren in die Ferne schauen.

Socke tried to get the old man to knit a bit, but he refused and just wanted to sit there and stare into infinity.

Dank meiner drastischen Maßnahmen war Socke ein netter Gast, aber ich bin doch froh, die Verantwortung abgeben zu können…

Thanks to my radical measures Socke as been a nice guest but I'm happy that somebody else will be responsible for him now!

tss.... drastische Maßnahmen! DAS WAR FOLTER! Verbieten das die Kieler Sockenkonventionen nicht ausdrücklich ?! tss.... Annette, was bei Katho geschah, ist nur das Ergebnis, davon, dass ich bei Dir angekettet wurde!

tsss.... radical measures! THAT WAS TORTURE! That is forbidden by the Kieler conventions of sockrights! tss, Annette, what happened at Kathos place, is the result of me beeing laid in chains!

finishing ufos: sewing sunday

Hi everybody,

I know, that I should be blogging the latest sockstory but I just don't feel like it. Instead I have been sewing (since it's sewing sunday and I was at home all day, I thought I should stick to my new resolution).

Today I finished my long long long time ufo. I think I started the jacket I finished today in early spring 2007 but it might have been in 2006. Actually it was just a try-out for another project but turned out well and the fabric was nice too, so I thought of finishing it.

But uhm somehow it got into hibernation until a friend (blogless) and I decided to meet for finishing ufos and there I finished the jacket itself. It just needed a closure but both Anja and I didn't like the doublebreasted style on me and I wanted another belt to match the project. Since it had been a while since I made the jacket I could not find any remaining fabric to make the belt in my stash. That is when the jacket went into hibernation until last autumn, when I dug thru my fabric stash and folded everything instead of rolling it and lo and behold: I found remnants of my fabric. Hurray!!!

For some reason unknown to me (let's call the reasons: quilt of doom o.k.?) ;) I just did not want to sew the belt. Stupid me. It took me around an hour today to cut the strips, sew them up, interface them and sew the belt itself! So that is done. Unfortunately it is dark dark dark outside, so you will have to wait for a picture.

I also finished Heikos shirt. Next project will be my gown for my friends wedding. Starting tomorrow, when Anja and I meet again.

Parting shot:
My newest yarn purchases

Sewing sunday

Hi there,

it's sunday. I've been sick at home for nearly the whole week (went to work on thursday - not the best idea...) but I haven't been sewing much. Mostly done a lot of knitting and watching TV, reading travel guides (Scotland!) or just dabbling around, beeing on ravelry.

Not very productive (if you leave out the knitting) and I decided today that I need some kind of schedule. I'm all about schedules and lists help me focus on doing stuff. I just work best with a deadline ;) and so I decided, that there will be sewing sundays. I want to spend at least 15 minutes doing some sewing related things on sundays. That is not much time but I think, if I see progress on my work I will work longer and will be more motivated.

The only sewing related thing besides working on Heikos ren-faire shirt was culling the stash this week. O.k maybe not really culling but I got rid of 6.1 kg of fabric. There was a request to donate fabric for an Iranian family with 4 kids, that is merely tolerated here in Germany. They don't get a lot of money but need clothes and the mother can sew. So I dug out some fabrics mainly thick, bulky knits since the boys are in need of warm pullovers plus some fleece fabrics. I also wrote a note to the lady, who collects all the stuff, that she might use the fabrics the family does not want for craft-classes at the school she's working at!

Off to my sewing machine now! I want to finish Heikos shirt!

Santa Socke Teil IX - Travelling sock part IX

Tach auch! Ich bin derzeit in Hessen bei Anea, nutze aber die sonntägliche Freizeit um mich mal wieder zu melden und von meinen Erlebnissen im nebligen Hamburg zu berichten! Ach ja, Tach auch ist übrigens gesprochen ein Wort: Taaachauch!

Tach auch! (That is another way of saying hello in Northern Germany!) I'm with Anea in Hesse at the moment but during todays sparetime I want to tell you all about my adventures in the foggy Hamburg.

Ich bin am 23.01 bei Anja eingezogen und irgendwie fand sie mein "Na Baby, machst Du mir die Ferse" nicht so dolle. Dabei ist SIE angefangen zu flirten! Ich bin völlig unschuldig (das bezieht sich auch auf die weiteren Erlebnisse!)

I moved in with Anja on the 23rd of january and somehow Anja was a little shocked, when I greeted her with "Hey Baby, are you going to make my heel?" I mean she started flirting with me! I'm not guilty at all (that also applies to the following events!)

Erstmal haben wir also auf dem Balkon das noch recht gute Wetter genossen und dann Cappucino getrunken, um uns aufzuwärmen. Das war doch ganz schön kalt in Hamburg.

To get a little bit more acquainted we enjoyed the nice weather on the balcony and had some cappucino to get a little warmer after that. It was still pretty cold in Hamburg



Tja und dann war die Wolle alle und Anja musste erst welche nachordern.... Da war also nicht viel mit weiterstricken und weiterreisen, denn das neue Knäul brauchte länger als erwartet ( das wusste wohl nicht, was es alles tolles hier zu entdecken gibt, sonst hätte es sich bestimmt mehr beeilt)

And then the skein I came with was all used up and Anja had to order more.... So there wasn't any knitting and travelling on, since the new skein took some time to arrive. ( The skein did not know how much fun it is here, otherwise it would have sped up a bit to get here!)

Was soll ich sagen? Mir war halt langweilig und da waren so nette Damen hier mit scharfen Kurven und genialen Farben....

What shall I say? I was bored and there were so many nice ladies here with hot curves and wonderfull colours!

Und mehr werde ich zu dem Thema auch nicht sagen! Ein Gentleman geniesst und schweigt!

And that's all I'm going to say about that! A gentleman enjoys and keeps silent!

Bei Ravelry ist jetzt eine große Diskussion entbrannt, ob Socken Beuteltiere sind oder Eier legen....

There's a big discussion now on ravelry if socks are marsupials or if they lay eggs....

Ich habe also meine Ferse bekommen, wurde vorsichtshalber zu den Blumen verfrachtet, weil das sicherer ist und Anja schickt die Babysocken mit zu Tini, deren Freundinnen sind ja derzeit alle schwanger (oder so).

I got my heel and was kept close to the flowers for the rest of my stay. That seemed more safe. Anja is going to send the babysocks to Tini, whos friends are all pregnant (or so).

Sze onli Sing, die isch nu nich so gänz värstteeh is das mit die Schwänzgen in die Höh....
(für Anja only....)

See you in Bad Vilbel!

New beginnings

Huhu!

The last few days were filled with a little bit of sewing and tons of knitting. I've been sick at home since last thursday. The wave of beeing sick has hit me with a biiiiggg cold and lots of caughing but I'm a lot better now and will try to start to go to work tomorrow (even if DH is complaining, that I made him stay at home last friday because he was a little ill and I'll be back to work when I'm worse but I have such a baaad concience if I'm sick at home. I know that his behavior is totally stupid, but I promise to go to the doctor if I don't feel well.)

I totally know, that my colleagues will make me go to the doctor as well. But at least I will get some work done before they arrive and I will get rid of the boxes of wine, that I have here for them :)

O.k. back to the topic!
Since my socks are done (just plain vanilla and already in the laundry. I will take pictures and will scale them (is that the right term?). The FLS just needs buttons. I will see to that too and will post a picture and all the infos about how much yarn and so on...

But now to the new projects:


Pattern: La Parisenne Beret by sockpixie ( I still think it should be Parisienne...)
Yarn: Wetterhoff Sivilla, that I got from a secret pal pal plus the remnants of my Magic Mirror socks. Which I also forgot to show you, so here they are:


Pattern: Magic Mirror by Jeannie Cartmel
Yarn: 90gr. Collinette Jitterbug (I have to re-check that though after they are dry...)
Finished: 5th of january 2009

O.k. and my next new project is another cardigan:

Pattern: Hey, Teach! By Hélène Rush from Knitty summer 2008
Yarn: Summerfeeling from Wollatelier Schlawin. That was some special offer yarn, that was kind of inexpensive. It's a cotton-nylon blend and it is really nice to work with. I'm using 2 strands at a time and 5.5 mm needles.

Parting shot:

I have posted so many cute pictures of my cat Greebo but today I took a really cute picture of our "cuddle cat" Cookie. He loves to cuddle and is on my lap every time I sit in front of the tv, knitting!
Isn't he a cutie-pie?

Santa Socke Teil IIIV, travelling sock part IIIV

Moinsen aus Hamburg! Ich bin gerade bei Anja und genieße das wunderbar graue Nordwetter ohne Schnee....

Aber dazu später mehr! (Erwähnte ich eigentlich, dass die Ravelistas im Deutschen Stricktreff ein bisschen gaga sind? Wenn ihr Deutsch sprecht, dann lest Euch das da mal durch!)

Moinsen from Hamburg (in the North of Germany you say Moin to say hello. Moinsen is kind of a Kiel dialekt from that.) I'm at Anjas place and I enjoy the wonderfull grey northern winterweather completely without snow...

But more on that later. (If you want to have a good laugh, please read the entry about me and what not on the German Stricktreff. It's in German but the ladies over there are special....)

Bevor ich bei Anja aufgelaufen bin, habe ich bei Cornelia der Leseratte in Schwetzigen eine tolle Zeit verbracht. Da war auch gleich eine Menge los. Zusammen mit einem Kontrabass wollte ich dann die Gegend erkundigen (auch wenn Cornelia erst mal an anderen Socken stricken musste....tsss). Über vorgenannten Socken hat Cornelia dann gleich den Kontrabass für ihren Sohnemann zu Hause vergessen als wir losgefahren sind, um Schwetzingen zu erkunden. Gott sei dank fand sich dann noch eine andere Lösung und wir sind auf in eine Bank. Da fühlte ich mich gleich wie zu Hause. Tini ist ja so eine Banktrulla, auch wenn die gar keine Geldautomaten haben. Wirtschaftsförderung oder so....

Before moving in with Anja, I enjoyed a couple of days with Cornelia the bookworm in Schwetzingen close to Heidelberg. Just after arriving (and having some food from the golden M) I wanted to explore a bit together with a nice contrabass. Cornelia dared to knit on some other socks....tssss.... And over that the contrabass stayed at home, when we started our trip. Luckily there was another solution, so that Cornelias son was able to go to his lessons nevertheless. First stop: A bank. I somewhat felt like beeing home. Tini is a bank chick, although they don't have ATM a her bank. She mumbled something about economy advancement on some occasions...

Dann gings shoppen und Cornelia glaubt jetzt, ich wäre eine "Sie". Aber vielleicht hatte ich nur von frühester Jugend einfach zu wenig männliche Kontakte. Irgendeinen Grund muss es für meine Shoppingleidenschaft ja geben!

Then we went shopping. Cornelia now believes I'm a" she" but to tell the thruth: I think it's the lack of male contacts from early on in my life! There must be a reason why I love shopping!




Leider war ich nicht zur Spargelhochsaison da! Da soll hier ein Spargelstand neben dem anderen stehen! Lecker! Wenn ich daran denke.... Sauce Hollandaise, frische Kartoffeln und Spargel! *Schmatz*

Wenigstens konnte dafür mal ein Spargeldenkmal sehen. So was gibt das ja auch nicht alle Tage oder!

Unfortunately it was not the season for aspargus. During season Schwetzingen is packed (o.k. the marketplace...) with booths, selling aspargus. Yummy! Just thinking about aspargus with sauce hollandaise and fresh potatoes. *smack*

At least I was able to see an aspargus memorial. Nothing you can see very often, or what?

Ein weiteres Highlight von Schwetzingen ist das Schloss, aber der Kontrabassunterricht war zu Ende, so dass wir das Schloss und die Gärten bei diesem Besuch nicht sehen konnten!

Another "Must see" in Schwetzingen is the castle with it's great gardens. Unfortunately we did not have much time since the contrabass class was over and we had to head home.


Am nächsten Tag ging es dann noch nach Heidelberg. Dazu könnt ihr bei Cornelia was lesen!

Next day we headed to Heidelberg. More on that at Cornelias blog!

See you! Tschüss!

This is the end..

of my cancer therapy! YAAAAAYYYY!
Today I got the last of roundabout 600 injections in 5 years. Something I'm not going to miss any time soon!

I'll get back with more interesting sewing and knitting stuff soon.

HURRAAAHH!