KNITTING WITHOUT DOG HAIR IS NOT AN OPTION

December 1 - and the first cow of my Bovent arrived:

Title: Georgia O'Cowffe
Artist: Donna McKay
Sponsor: Wisconsin State Journal

The real life-sized cow from the Madison, Wisconsin, CowParade, was auctioned for $12,500. The beneficiary was the American Family Children's Hospital (Foundation for Madison's Public Schools).

I'm hoping to find the stats for each cow of Bovent. I will photograph them with some of my favorite yarn. Hopefully, this will make it a little bit more interesting to follow the cow entries. After all this is still a knitting blog, right?

So, behind Georgia O'Cowffe you can see a skein of Toasty. Ms. Toasty names all her hand-dyed yarns after foods. This one is called Blueberry Jam. Yummy! I can't wait to get my hands on one of her skeins of Nutella. Plus, I know Ms. Toasty - she's located in Atlanta and is a really nice and fun lady.

You must think I'm really cuckoo to collect cows. But the CowParade figurines are truly very cool, at least to me. And to encourage your thinking I'm insane, we have shelves of cows everywhere in this house, even in the master bathroom. Yesterday, Hubby counted 267 cows on display. Sure sounds serious...

I'm off to knit a few more Christmas gifts for the Germans. They'll be mailed next week. I'm surprisingly early this year, but that has a reason - I haven't knitted many gifts. No time... sorry folks. I still need get started again on the silk dress. I feel like I somehow have dress block. Or maybe I just need to get all the little things out of the way to free my mind...

So, the other day I had a brainstorm and realized it would be much easier to order gifts in Germany to be shipped to my Mom instead of shopping over here and sending a huge package to them that might not make it in time. My little nephew sent me a cute letter with a list of all his Lego possessions. And off Auntie Claudia went to order from Lego in Germany. Here's what I got:

The Nitro Muscle Racer for my nephew

The blaze of victory! With its oversized rear wheels, custom interior and massive engine, this tough street car with metallic detailing is ready to burn tracks down the street! Flip open the body to reveal the interior! Wheel in the back turns the front tires! Comes with metallic decals! Model is over 15" (38 cm) long!

And for my cute little niece, who truly is a princess (no, I'm not biased...):

The Princess and Pony Picnic

Time for a very special picnic! Come and share an enchanted picnic with the Princess and her sweet pony friend at the royal summer pavilion. You can even brush their flowing hair! Includes Princess figure, pony, cat and more! Bigger pieces are perfect for little hands!

I sure hope to win the award Coolest Aunt Ever... I can't wait to see them again next year. Around the holidays, I get a bit homesick because the hoildays at my parents are always special and so much fun. Hmmm, never thought I would miss my siblings. ;-)

OK, need to get some knitting done - later gator!

Today's Bovent cow:

Title: Teddy Bears on the Moove
Artist: Juan Andreau
Sponsor: Herrington Teddy Bear Company

The full-sized cow was part of the Boston Cowparade in 2006. The figurine is posed in front of a new lace project:

I started Wisp this morning:

Don't ask me what kind of yarn this is. It looks and feels like mohair. My boss's wife gave me all her stash and all her circular needles a couple of months ago. I think her stash is mostly from the 80s and a lot of it came without tags. She knitted for her kids when they were little. Yeah, can you believe it - they were born in the 80s... I graduated HS in 1986...

Anyway, the color is unusual for me - it's a very dark, rich blue. When I knit with dark yarn, I usually go with black - it matches pretty much anything. But this stuff is pretty (and free), and I think once I wash it with fabric softener, it'll bloom and get softer.

Getting ready for the SnB holiday party later today. Today is the first Sunday of Advent. We have a crystal Advent wreath and I light candles each Sunday of Advent. It's a popular Christmas tradition in Germany, whether families are devoutly religious or not. Naturally, Hermione had to supervise:

So, Happy Advent!

It was such a lovely holiday party. Jacquie opened her wonderful house - her living room/kitchen set-up is just awesome for parties - to a merry bunch of knitters. Including Jacquie's husband, daughter and daughter's friend, who all joined us to eat, we were 25 in total.

Just a warning - I took a bunch of pictures, but most of them suck because either my camera was not dealing well with the lighting or the batteries were low... So this is a picture-heavy blog entry with low-quality pix, but hopefully you will find more and better pictures on other blogs eventually.

So, at the party were people with a blog:
Alma, Regan, Steve, Sandy, Doug, Phyllis, Janice, Jen, Melissa, Allison, Jane, Katey and Laura

And people without a blog:
Michael - Doug's other half, Meg, Linda, Melissa (yes, the one who brought her wheel and forgot to take it home... we are trying to think of a way to keep it at Jacquie's house... let us know if you have a good excuse...), Shari, Tammy, Diana, and of course the hostess with the mostess, Jacquie.

We started out by arranging the food:

Of course, it was premature to take pictures of the food because much more showed up later on. And here are some of the guests:

Jacquie, Regan and Linda

Melissa and Jen (on the sofa), Jane in the center, Janice and Katey at the back

Michael, Doug and Sandy (l to r)

Allison, Jane, Diana, Tammy and Shari (l to r)

After we ate and everyone settled down with knitting, we had a little birthday surprise for Regan:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, REGAN!

She seemed to like her gifts because the roving and yarn went straight around her neck and down the front of her shirt. ;-)

OK, I admit I have stalker tendencies... But Ms. Jen wore really hot shoes and I had to take a picture:

And then the real fun began - the Chinese Auction. Everyone brought a gift, we distributed numbers and people got up to pick a gift when it was their turn. The rules (I hope I can still get them all together):

You can steal a gift from someone else. A gift can be stolen only three times. You can't steal your gift back. You can't go to the bathroom with your gift and hide (or hide it). ;-) And the number one can choose another gift at the very end and start the fun all over. Here are some of the gifts. As I said before, my camera acted up...

At some point, people got a bit braver and started stealing gifts, and some defended their gifts fiercely... But I think because all the gifts were so awesome, nobody really needed to steal anything.

And some chocolate changed owners within nanoseconds...

Jane knitted the beautiful Latifa (picture on the right) and Melissa stole it from Alma and then lost it to Shari.

Which then caused Alma to pick another gift and she got Doug's beautiful hand-made ornament. And Doug lost the basket (he-he-he...) to Melissa. So there. ;-)

All in all, I have to say that will probably be the best party of this holiday season. Everyone brought a great gift and wonderful food to share. I am so lucky to have such cool friends.

So I went home with leftovers for Hubby, the cute project bag, the rest of Jane's World Famous Chocolate Cream Cheese Fudge, which will be a treat for my coworkers tomorrow, and (drum roll please) some knitting inspiration for the lace dress. Yes, even tho' I knitted only a few rows on the Wisp because there was so much action at the party, I went home, pulled out the lace dress and lit the first Advent candle:

And I am glad I did because I truly forgot how yummy that Tilli Tomas silk is to knit with. I am still wired from the party and an overdose of caffeine, and now I am trying calm down with a glass of white wine. It is 12:30am and way past my bedtime... Oh, well, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Surely some knitting and TV will make me sleepy.

PS: I found the sock blockers I brought for the Chinese auction on eBay at Chappy's Fiber Arts and Crafts. She delivered fast, and has a ton of different sock blocker designs and sizes. And other stuff, too. ;-)

On the third day of Bovent, Hubby gave to me-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e... OK, a bad try to simulate the song...

Title: Cali-cow
Artist: Sarah Jane Cassie

Cali-cow was exhibited at the 2006 Boston Cow Parade. She is resting on two balls of Noro Kureyon. I bought 12 balls of this color to make a very cute short-sleeved sweater with lots of cables from the VERENA Winter 2007 issue:

AND - hopefully you'll read this after sundown...

HAPPY HANUKKAH!!! This is for Hubby and all my Jewish friends. Hope you have a great 8 days of celebration!

And here is a brief history on Hanukkah for the rest of you:

The Hebrew word Hanukkah means "dedication" and the holiday that bears the name commemorates the rededication of the holy temple in Jerusalem after the Jews defeated the Syrians in 165 B.C. Prior to the defeat, the King of Syria had outlawed all Jewish rituals and demanded that the Jews worship traditional Greek Gods. Some Jews decided to fight back.

Today, in commemoration of the miracle, Jewish families light eight candles on their menorah, one for each night of the holiday. Also, many traditional foods are cooked in oil, further celebrating the miracle of long ago. Children receive gifts of gelt (chocolate coins) to commemorate the money that was minted by the new independent Maccabee state. The tradition of receiving one gift on each night of the holiday, however, is fairly recent and is much more common in America than in Israel and other countries.

And here is my Hanukkah gift to Hubby - a Waterford® crystal dreidel:

Title: Klimt Kow
Artist: Erin Bakke & Diane Giusti

Klimt Kow was also exhibited at the 2006 Boston Cow Parade. She is grazing on the beginnings of the second sleeve of my Lily Chin lace dress. :-)

This cow's design is based on Gustav Klimt's paintings. Hubby says he sees elements of "The Kiss" (below left). I also like Klimt's portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (below right), which, in Spring 2006, sold for a record $135 million, the highest reported price ever paid for a piece of art sold at a public auction.

Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Art Nouveau (Vienna Secession) movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches and other art objects, many of which are on display in the Vienna Secession gallery. Klimt's primary subject was the female body and his works are marked by a frank eroticism.

Man, this is really the season. One celebration after another... This is a holiday I know very well from Germany:

Here is the story for you:

In Roman Catholic areas of southern Germany, such as Bavaria, Sankt Nikolaus still comes as a bishop with flowing beard and a bishop's miter and staff. Houses are thoroughly cleaned and children clean and polish their shoes or boots in preparation for the saint's visit. On the evening before St. Nicholas Day, children put letters to the good saint along with carrots or other food for his white horse or donkey on a plate or in their shoes. These are left outside, under the bed, beside a radiator, or on a windowsill in hopes of finding goodies from St. Nicholas the next morning. During the night Sankt Nikolaus goes from house to house carrying a book in which all the children's deeds are written. If they have been good, he fills their plate, shoe or boot with delicious fruits, nuts and candies. If not, they may find potatoes, coal, or twigs.

Those children who performed badly enough or had committed other misdeeds throughout the year were put into Ruprecht's sack and taken away, variously to Ruprecht’s home in the Black Forest, or to be tossed into a river. In other versions the children must be asleep, and would either awake to find their shoes filled with sweets, coal, or in some cases a stick.

So-o-o, now you can understand why my siblings and I made sure we behaved... At least the day before Sankt Nikolaus showed up. ;-) We didn't want to end up in Ruprecht's sack or get coal instead of sweets...

And I guess what - I should get coal today... Because I'm a slacker and I didn't take a picture of yesterday's Bovent cow. Y'all are probably relieved to get a break anyway. BUT - I have knitting content instead.

I finished the outfit for the AKG Trauma Bear. And here is the little teddy bear girl with her new outfit.

Now she's dressed in a cute little tubey dress with cables, a matching shrug, and a bow. Sorry, no pattern for the outfit. It's in my head, but that doesn't help much, does it? Maybe soon, OK?

Needle: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Yarn: Noro Kureyon
How much? 1 skein = 110.0 yards (100.6m)
Colorway: Bright rainbow colors - Color No. 102 Lot Y

This morning I am making up for lost blogging...

Fifth Cow of Bovent:

Title: Windows of Wisconsin
Artist: Patricia A. Harmsen
Sponsor: Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board

The full-sized cow was part of the 2006 Cow Parade in Madison, Wisconsin, and was auctioned for $10,500 to benefit the American Family Children's Hospital.

According to Hubby, the figurine is a strictly limited edition, and he was able to obtain one only because he has a source in Wisconsin (who actually visited Madison while the CowParade was being held).

And in case you were wondering what's underneath the cow, it's another multi-directional scarf. The yarn was part of my vacation discoveries in Asheville, NC. It's the Himalaya Yarn Wool.

Sixth Cow of Bovent:

Title: Pop Art Cow
Artist: Joe Fiorello
Sponsor: Liberty Mutual

The full-sized cow was part of the 2006 Cow Parade in Boston and was in an online auction benefiting the Jimmy Fund's fight against cancer. The figurine is posing in front of Gale Evans' handspun, which is my payment for knitting her the cardigan for SAFF. ;-) LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the colors!

Seventh Cow of Bovent:

Title: Smootches
Artist: Kris Henderson
Sponsor: Estee Lauder Go Pout Lipcolor

The full-sized cow was named "sMOOch", and was in the 2000 New York CowParade. Smootches is posing in front of Fetching, the fingerless mittens I'm knitting for the Secret Santa gift exchange at my office. I just started the second one. The pair has to be finished by 12/12 - but that shouldn't be a problem since the pattern knits up super-fast. ;-)

And, OMG - look how many bears the AKG collected last night. If I heard correctly, there were over 150. So cool!

A very nice woman from the Children's Advocacy Centers of Georgia (CACGA) came to visit, gave a little talk about the center and what they do for the children. This is the CACGA's vision:

When abuse is reported, every child in Georgia will have access to the services provided by a Children’s Advocacy Center.

And they'll get a bear with a knitted outfit. I'm going to try and knit four bear outfits next year, one for each season.

I am still alive.

I still knit, just not blogging.

I get a Bovent cow every day.

All my gift packages made it safely to Germany – YAY for that!

It is somehow a weird time this year just before the holiday vacation. I hope I'll catch up with everything soon. Our office is closed from December 22 until January 1. I'm looking forward to ten days of blissful laziness and do-nothingness. I'm sure by then I'll be back in blogging-mood.

Just a little knitting update:

I completely ripped the lace dress and started the Jeanie shawl. It's going well. I'm about a third into the shawl, and it has to be finished by 12/28. So, still a lot of knitting, but also still a lot of time. I have to say that at the beginning it was very slow and I had to get used to the flow of the cables, the twisted purls and knits, and the drop stitches. But I really love the pattern and it is coming along great. Stay tuned for pictures.

Hope you are having a great holiday season!

Thankfully, I stopped writing Santa letters a long time ago. At least he would have to print emails first. ;-)

This is a very traditional German Christmas song. Don't ask me how many times I had to sing it as a kid... Thank goodness for YouTube. ;-) The Toelzer Knabenchor is a very famous Bavarian choir (yes, they all wear a Bavarian outfit: Lederhosen, knee socks, red and white checkered shirts and usually a knitted cardigan).

And here are the lyrics for you, Doug. I finally remembered to look for them...

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Wie treu sind deine Blätter!
Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,
Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Wie treu sind deine Blätter!

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Dein Kleid will mich was lehren:
Die Hoffnung und Beständigkeit
Gibt Mut und Kraft zu jeder Zeit!
O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
Dein Kleid will mich was lehren!

Hope you all have wonderful holidays and a very Merry Christmas.

All the packages at our house are wrapped, and I am knitting away blissfully on the Jeanie shawl (20% from the finish line) while watching Dr. House.