KNITTING WITHOUT DOG HAIR IS NOT AN OPTION

So, it has been a few days since the last blog entry. I know…Here I am, Saturday morning - I just fell of the couch, well not literally, but almost. Somehow I spent six out of the last seven nights on my love seat. Not very comfortable but my mind does not seem to care about what's right for my body.

At the beginning my conscious excuse was that there was still a bunch of laundry on the bed that need to be folded. Well, that excuse went away after the 3 nights on the couch. And I slept really well in my bed that one night. Oh, who knows…

I have big plans this week. Only three days in the office and then on Thursday I'll be off to Vermont to visit Irwin's sister and her hubby. They invited me to celebrate his 60th birthday. I am excited. They have planned a bunch of stuff, a lot includes fiber. :-) There will be tons of pictures, don't worry. The pooches are going to be in excellent care. The Yarn Doctor is going to stay with them while I am gone. Brett is the best!

While not blogging this week, I was very productive in finishing stuff. Here we go:

I whipped out a pair of baby booties for Linda's new granddaughter.

Project Info
Pattern: My Baby Schuhe pattern
Needles: US 3 / 3.25 mm 32-inch Harmony Knitpicks for Magic Loop
Yarn: Omega Sinfonia
How much? 0.5 skeins = 109.0 yards (99.7m)
Colorway: Rosa
Notes: I cast on 36sts and added a lace pattern to the cuff.

Also finished - Mom's birthday gift.

Project Info
Pattern: Full of Holes Triangle Shawl by Kirsten Zerbinis
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm 40-inch bamboo circular
Yarn: Artyarns Silk Pearl
How much? 3 skeins = 510.0 yards (466.3m)
Colorway: 8987 - blue/gray

I loved knitting that shawl. It is a very easy pattern. The only thing that is a little overwhelming is the casting on of 232 sts. But you'll get over that pretty quickly. The shawl was probably half the size before blocking. I put very strong wires on each side and just blocked the hell out of it. That made the holes really bloom.

And then, I finally put the finishing touches on the scarf I knitted from Jane's mystery ball.

Project info
Pattern: Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf by Karen Baumer
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm straight metal needles
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Manos Silk Blend
How much? 2 skeins = 300.0 yards (274.3m)
Colorway:Pink/Green
Notions: 8 lovely buttons - found inside the mystery ball ;-)

And last but not least - Dr. Bob's socks are finished. A week before the deadline… Shocking, I know!

(Thanks for modeling Jessica!)

Project Info
Pattern: My own - it will be for sale shortly! Be on the look-out here and on Ravelry!
Size: Men medium (shoe size 9), Women's Large (shoe size 10)
Needles: US 1 / 2.25 mm 32-inch Knitpicks Harmony for Magic Loop
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit 100g
How much? 1 skeins = 458.0 yards (418.8m)
Colorway: Magico

Currently the famous sock queen is proof reading the pattern. I am glad I could win her to help me! I'll let you know when the pattern will be available. It also includes instructions for the German Boomerang Heel. Yes, I finally wrote the English tutorial - with pictures. :-)

I am off to a day full of errands and meet ups with friends. Have a good one! See you at Knitch tomorrow?

The plane to Burlington, VT, leaves shortly after 10am this morning. I am totally excited and so not tired!!! I am going to visit Irwin’s sister and her husband for four days and I’ll be back Sunday night.

Uncle Brett got here for dinner tonight and the dogs are beside themselves. I think he will spoil them rotten, like I do with my niece and my nephew. ;-) He will be an awesome dog sitter, I know it. We just went through the house and I told him all the tricks he needs to know for the pooches.

Before I am leaving in morning, I wanted to post a little entry, since I haven’t blogged all week. But work was a bitch and I am glad I am getting out for a long weekend.

So, I got an exciting email today:

I love reading your blog, Claudia! Joanne

Thanks Joanne! That is so nice!

Of course, there are rules attached to the award:

1. Post this award on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate at least 4 other bloggers, and add their links as well.
4. Leave a comment at the new recipients' blogs, so they can pass it on.

I am nominating Amanda, Doug, Jane and Regan.

OK, I think I should try and get some sleep… Maybe some hot milk with likker... I need to tiptoe so I don't wake up Brett. Hehehehe... That is funny.

I already have my boarding pass for the flight. So, I can just toss my bag at the Delta person at the curb. I’ll bring the laptop for DVD entertainment when I can’t sleep at night and blogging and knitting. OH, yes, I need to pack and also decide what knitting to bring. YIKES…

See you soon!

This is probably the first and last chance I get to blog from up here. ;-)

My flight back to Atlanta is delayed for about an hour. Thank goodness for WIFI at the Burlington "International" Airport. ;-)

So, I am sending a wave to y'all. I had a fabulous weekend including

- buying yarn
- petting "real" working border collies
- hanging out with 20 sheep and their lovely owner, a spinner and dyer
- finishing a project and starting a new one
- buying a ton of old knitting and crocheting books at a used book store
- wearing sweaters and socks
- eating way too much great food
- sleeping fabulously under the roof of almost 200 year old house with a view into a big tree

and I had a marvelous time with my sister-in-law and her husband. Plus I have two new boyfriends, Jasper and Emerson. I tried to upload some pictures just now at the airport but I guess their WIFI security settings won't let me do that. So, you'll have to wait for the pix until I get home.

Just don't tell Hermione and Noah that I have been knitting with cat hair...

More when I get back to Hotlanta! Missed you all!

PS: Hey - Friday night knitters - thank you for the lovely message on my voice mail. I missed you too!!!

Well, what can I say... Besides that I owe you a huge blog post about Vermont...

I received the most fabulous blanket today. FROM THE SNARKYS!

Look how wonderful it matches my new furniture! THANK YOU SO MUCH:

Katey, Sherrie, Laurie, Stephanie, Nina, Ellen, Phyllis, Amy, Jennifer & Nicole

Ladies, I will treasure this piece of art and feel loved and wrapped up in some lovely knitting. If I can somehow manage it'll come with me to New York and Germany on Thursday. That just depends on how much stuff I am going to haul around...

I organized a new knitting group in my area (first outing tonight) for some of the Northern knitters and Katey showed up as a surprise and as if that wouldn't be enough, she also gave me the gorgeous blanket. What can I say... I feel the love gals!

OK, I have to go clean now. Yes, now... Because I am totally hyper and because Uncle Brett is going to arrive tomorrow for the entertainment of the pooches while Mommie travels the world...

I'll try to post about Vermont as soon as I can. Be patient with an old lady, will ya?

PS: Happy Spinning Anniversary - I started spinning on September 22, 2006. Thanks again Pixie for teaching me!!!

I am at the airport in Atlanta and my flight is delayed. And instead of being upset about this I have time to blog. YAY!!! Vermont will still be another entry because it’s going to be too long and I took too many pictures to copy and paste. But now worries – since I am actually on vacation, I’ll have time for that soon.

I can’t believe that all my stuff fit in my carry-on and my one bag. Since I am going to New York, I am only allowed to check one bag for free. The second bag (which I could take on the international flight) would cost money. No thanks! I can manage. Plus, I am going to visit my family and we can bet right now that my mom’s second question will be “Honey, where is your dirty laundry?”. She loves to raid my bags. ;-) Speaking of raiding my bags… It happened today for the first time ever that my carry-on bag got looked through by the security guy. I asked what made him look through my bag and he said the DVD case was in a bad angle and he couldn’t see what it was. I told him that I was officially not a “virgin” anymore with regards to the bag raiding. He laughed and said that he was happy to my first. Too funny.

My suitcase will be a lot emptier soon. I brought Uggs for my SIL in Germany, a soft-toy horse for my niece, two puzzles for the boys I am staying with, Mom’s birthday gift, two PJs for my niece, a sweater for my nephew, two very cool plastic containers for snacks for my niece and her cousin for kindergarten.

And – some of Irwin’s ashes for his sister. I found a very cool metal jigsaw puzzle tin with the peace sign on it to put them in. I think he would like the idea of resting in one of his beloved puzzles boxes. Don’t ask me how weird it was to spoon some of his ashes from the cremation container in a ziplock bag. Holy crap – I needed a stiff drink last night after I finished that task. I locked myself in the bathroom so that Brett wouldn’t be totally weirded out…

So, how in the world was I able to pack all the clothes? Well, Irwin always said that he never ever met anyone before who could pack bags like me. The bags look normal but when you pick them up… Oh boy…

So, I haven’t talked about knitting much lately, well, I haven’t blog about anything lately…

I finished the pumkin dress for Ms. Sydney.

Project Info:
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm Yarn Knitpicks Harmony circular
Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool
How much? 1 skein = 220.0 yards (201.2m) Orange and 1 skein = 220.0 yards (201.2m) Green

Notes:
It is a little tight on her and I will redo the top when I get back from my trip. But Pixie squeezed her in the dress and she looks totally adorable. I based the pattern on Pixie’s Fruit Loop pattern and added some curly corkscrews and a little flower.

You can see the super-cute pictures on Pixie’s blog.

I think I am going to walk over my gate now. I’ll check back when I get to New York. Y’all be good while I am gone!

OH - and guess what is folded up in my gigantic yellow handbag from H&M - the Snarky blanket. It fit right in there and I am so happy that I was able to take it on the trip. My mom will be excited to see what my friends knit for me. And of course I am wearing the knitted hug, as most of the times these days.

YO – New York, well actually New Jersey (Joisie) is fabulous. I am having a ball. This is like a real vacation. And I so needed this. The trip started out with a “little” drama… I lost my cell phone at the Atlanta airport, in the bathroom of all places… And I didn’t notice until I landed in NJ. I wanted to call Mike and Susan, my lovely friends, to tell them that plane arrived 1.5 hours late and I couldn’t find the damn phone… By the time I got to my rental car – yeah, macho girl had to have a rental car, so I could drive and get lost – it was already dark and guess what, I got lost big time. Somehow I had it in my pea brain that I had to go south from the airport. But, nope, I had to go north. So I finally got to my friends’ place around 8:30pm. But they already knew about the phone trouble because Brett had called them since he got a call from the Atlanta airport. Someone actually found the phone and took it to “Lost & Found”, surprising that there are still people who are honest. But I bought a new phone in the meantime – my contract was up for renewal anyways and I got the new phone for $18 incl. a new pouch etc. Totally cool new phone ;-), in burgundy red. I just didn’t want to be without a cell phone for the reminder of the stay in NY. Not that I need to talk to people all the time, but in case like on Thursday I need to be able to reach people to tell them that my flight was so delayed and that I am OK.

After the drama evening, the rest of the weekend was just plain FABULOUS. I am so relaxed here. Susan, Mike (her husband) and their two sons, Elias and Mychal Judge, are wonderful hosts and I was totally absorbed in their weekend family routine.

Elias gave up his room for me and therefore I have been sleeping all weekend with the Yankees. ;-) And see, the blanket is just a wonderful travel companion.

LOVE THEM – and even better – I am coming back for their daughter Heather’s wedding on October 18, 2008. They didn’t invite me in the beginning because they thought I was in Germany. But I am in Atlanta and so I am coming back for the weekend. I am totally thrilled and delighted that they want me to be at the wedding. And it is in New York City, at the Terrace in the Sky, overlooking the city. I am very fond of NY. It’s Irwin’s home town, we had a bunch of fun vacations here and it reminds me very much of Europe with all of its different people, cultures, and foods and of course all the art that is combined in NY. Each time we were here we stayed with Susan and Mike and it was always really nice.

On Friday morning, Susan and I went to the gym in the morning (geez, I am out of shape…) and then we got all the shopping done for Irwin’s party. In the afternoon I went shopping for the new phone and a wedding gift for Heather and Rene. And in the evening Susan and I watched the debate (my first since I don't watch TV and don't care much about the circus before an election) with a bottle of fabulous white wine. It helps getting sloshed to follow this silliness. So besides, not being a “bag-search” virgin anymore, I am now also not a “debate” virgin anymore. But since this is a non-political blog, I am not going into details about Susan’s and my outbursts during the debate. Bottom-line - we had fun and it was interesting for me to watch how different the German election campaign is from the US one.

Saturday morning Susan and I got the food ready for Irwin’s gathering. She picked great recipes (no worries, I’ll make them for the Sunday knitting group) and was very organized in putting everything in motion – my kinda gal. It is funny because over the weekend we realized how similar we are to a point that it is scary. We could have been separated at birth, ;-) Then Mike took me to a local yarn store to get my yarn fix for the trip. I went to Creative Knitworks.

The owner, Sharon, is originally from Norway. We chatted for a little bit. I could have stayed for a lot longer, but poor Mike waited in the car and we wanted to head into the city to spend the day at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York. But of course, I bought yarn. I had to – you always buy yarn when you are on vacation, right?

Custom hand-dyed Merino fingering yarn for Sharon’s store, Saphira Superwash, Berroco Lumino in pink and silver for a funky scarf, cute knitting needles with sheepies and a pirate tape measure

Then we went into the city to the MoMA and boy, I took a ton of pictures. I am only going to show you my favorites here.

The kids were like little sponges – absorbing all the cool stuff about art.

If you like to see all the pix from the NY trip, click here.

After the museum visit we drove to Little Italy to meet with Heather and Rene for a very nice Italian dinner. And here is the gang:

Mike (one of Irwin’s best friends) and his beautiful wife Susan

Heather and Rene – getting married on October 18

sweet Mychal

and super-smart Elias

We had a great dinner with a lot of wine, good food and excellent company.

And today was the day of Irwin’s gathering. I didn’t sleep well last night. I guess I was too anxious about the event, the preparations and meeting people I have never met before. I have never met any of Irwin’s family besides his dad and sister. It was interesting. And a lot of his old friends and coworkers from NY came. That was a fun bunch. I can see why Irwin liked to hang out with them. There was a lot of laughter and great stories about Irwin. Some of his friends wrote in a book I brought to share stories about him. I’ll also take that to the gathering in Atlanta in a couple weeks.

The only missing piece was Irwin, too bad he couldn't be here...

Part of me is glad that this day is over and part of me is so happy that I got all these people together after all these years. Some of them haven't seen each other since the 80s. It was nice to hear that even tho' some people didn't know me well or at all, they all seemed to know how much Irwin loved me and what a difference I made in his life. That might sound self-indulging now but I was glad to hear it. You will never be 100% sure, but it's a nice and warm feeling.

So, that was New York in a nutshell. I am off to Germany tomorrow and I am sad that I have to leave Mike and Susan. They made me feel very special. It was nice to hear Susan say today that she would love for me to live closer. Yup, same here, I wish I would live closer and I could spend more them with them. Their kids are just awesome. But I’ll be back – in three weeks. :-)

Next blog post from Germany – stay tuned! I miss you, my Atlanta buddies – but the blanket and the knitted hug help a lot. YAY for darn good friends!

I am at JFK, waiting to board my flight to Munich via Prague, Czech Republic. I haven't travelled with Czech Airlines before. I heard they're good. We'll see - I'll let you know.

Susan and I went for a wonderful walk this morning and I took a bunch nice Hudson River pictures. It took me only 50 (!) minutes to get to the airport. Everything went nicely so far. I still have my phone. I have been checking like a crazy person... Good lord...

I am excited to see my folks tomorrow. Mom asked me what I would like for lunch when I called a little while ago. She'll make my favorite chicken/rice dish. And there will be lots of dirty laundry for her.

I think I am followed by a weather curse... When I went to Vermont a couple of weeks ago the weather was almost tropical. Unusually warm for the time of year. And here I am in New York and it is the same thing. If there is going to be hot and humid weather in Munich tomorrow when I get there, I am really cursed... But it's supposed to be in the 50s. Hopefully I get to wear my new fancy coat from H&M much.

I'll check in tomorrow - gotta run. Boarding starts! Bye NY!

What a change of scenery. ;-)

After a busy weekend in the Big Apple, I arrived safe and sound in my home town, Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

This is the view I have every time I arrive in my home town. And that view makes me feel very calm and safe. I have seen it a gazillion times and it is always breathtaking, even when the weather is not nice. And finally, it is cold! YAY - when I arrived in Munich the temperature was in the 50s. It seems the "hot & humid" curse is broken.