Hi there - My name is Claudia. I live with my husband, two kids and two furry kids in Georgia, USA. Originally I am from Germany - southern belle from Bavaria replanted to the Southern US. I am very addicted to knitting - at least 4-5 projects going at the same time... What can I say... And I started spinning in 2006... So lost in fiber space!
Sorry for no posts for a while. I have had my friends from Germany here and then I got sick.
So, now I am by myself again and a little better. A terrible stomach bug got a hold of me with a good dose of holiday depression, I think. I'd say it's pretty bad when I have to stay in bed for a couple of days and I don't even feel like knitting... But knitting while hanging over the toilet doesn't really work well. OOPS - sorry for the visual...
I'll be blogging again, I promise. I actually have some knitting to show, too.
Here are finally some knitting news on this blog. Remember, I fell in love with Sylvi a while back?
I ordered the yarn and it came last Thursday. Well, the note in the mail arrived that I had to pick up the box at the post office because I had to sign for it. So, here is what I picked up on Saturday.
Yes, I ordered a box full of Kahlua – I wish… Nope, it was filled to the brim with lovely, lovely wool. So, even better than a big box of Kahlua. ;-)
Red lovely wool! I balled two skeins right away and started swatching.
The gauge matches exactly to what the pattern asks for. And since I needed a little boost last weekend, I sat down on Saturday around 1pm and in the evening I had the first sleeve finished.
Very easy knitting, really! I first thought that the seed stitch would take a while since you have to switch between knitting and purling for every stitch. But honestly, I didn't think it took that much more time at all.
I will take the coat project as my main project to Germany for my Christmas vacation. I think it is very fitting since it is red and has poinsettias in the pattern on the back. I am even going to get over myself and knit the few bobbles that the pattern calls for. Hopefully I will get much of the coat done. I have two 10-hour planes rides and 10 days with my folks. And then I’ll maybe take a couple of little projects, like a scarf and a pair of socks. Even tho' my knitting is mojo is asleep these days, I can't seem to bond with the idea of just knitting on one project. SUCH A SCARY THOUGHT... At least for me. ;-)
So, I am almost finished with the silk/merino opera gloves for my friend Susan in NJ.
I had some trouble with the gloves because my scattered brain knitted the thumbs differently. Therefore I had to rip back the second glove (after I thought I was finished) and re-knit the thumb on the second glove. At the same time, I realized that I made the upper portion a little too long on the first glove and so I ripped back on the first glove as well. Which was good, because then I didn’t have to knit back as much on the second glove. Do I make sense at all? I don’t think so… But they are beautiful and my goal is to send them off to NJ on Monday. I know a little late for Christmas but it is also more a thank-you-gift to Susan than a Christmas gift. She is a wonderful friend and hosted Irwin’s gathering at her house in September.
And I started a pair of manly gloves for Hagen, one of the Germans who visited me for Thanksgiving. The pattern is loosely based on the gloves from Son of Stitch 'N Bitch. I am not doing the palm pattern and I am not crazy enough to knit each finger separately. The first glove went pretty fast. I did most of it at the last Friday night knit-in and of course got cursed for the fast knitting. At least I am not designing fancy fair isle mittens and producing hand-spun like Doug. He still gets more nasty comments than I. And we still love our knitting friends, because we know it is all teasing out of love. ;-)
I know I still owe a post about the German Thanksgiving visit. But I so don't have the energy. I need to upload a gazillion pictures... One of these days...
We had the Annual Knitting Holiday Party at Jacquie's house last Sunday. She is just the best host. I think we were almost 30 people. We had a great buffet – with interesting appetizers.
Penguins – with olives and cream cheese
Fruit – cut out with Christmas cookie cutters
VERY CREATIVE, LADIES!
Here are some pictures I took during the "White Elephant" auction (more here). People were ready to use their pointy sticks to pry open the hands of fellow knitters to steal their gift.
I am trying hard not to write too much about my current mood. It is awful and I don't want my knitting blog to be all about this. But then again, it is part of my life, just like knitting - and actually such a bigger part these days. Truth to be told, I am totally depressed and I have a hard time keeping up with all the cheeriness around me. I am just trying to make it through this week and next week until Tuesday rolls around and I am going to sit on a plane to Germany. I am not sure if it such a good idea to go there but it is better than staying in my house full of Christmas memories with Irwin. Tuesday is a sad day because is the day when they found him 6 months ago and then Germany has left this bad taste in my mouth because I was there when he died and not here with him. We’ll see – I will try to keep my chin up as best as I can. At least I am staying with my parents and I can just hang out on their sofa and knit, if I don’t feel like doing much else.
But seriously, all I do these last days is get out of bed, go to work, go home and go back to bed. I hate it, but I have no energy. At all! And I feel so trapped. My therapist keeps telling me that this is all normal and that my body and brain are just reacting in their own way to the terrible loss.
So, for my trip to visit my family, I hope that there will be tons of snow in Garmisch (which always cheers me up – I guess it is the white clean look, as long as it stays white) and that I can go for long walks. Hopefully the fresh crispy winter air will clear my head and get me to a better place. I have never felt like this in my entire live. Granted, I have been through terrible times before (twice divorced, hello…) but this is just too much. I totally feel that I have no will power to overcome losing Irwin.
OK – but that’s enough now… Thanks for reading - as always. I do feel a little better writing about it. But then I feel like I shouldn't trouble the rest of the world out there.
AND - my apologies for not sending Christmas cards and or gifts! I just can’t this year. I have high hopes that next year will get better and I can plan a little ahead.
So, to end this post with a little smile, I have to share a German pizza commercial with you... One of my German peeps emailed me the YouTube link. I think it is pretty funny.
Have a great rest of this week. I'll be checking in before I leave for Germany. I promise!!!
'Twas the night before Christmas and all around me
There was unfinished knitting not under the tree,
The stockings weren't hung by the chimney with care
'Cause the heels and the toes had not a stitch there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
But I had not finished the caps for their heads.
Dad was asleep---he was no help at all.
And the sweater for him was 6" too small.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I put down my needles to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash.
Tripped over my yarn and fell down in my stash.
The tangle of yarn that lay deep as the snow
Reminded me how far I still had to go.
When out on the lawn I heard such a noise,
I was sure it would wake up both Dad and the boys.
And although I was tired--my brain a bit thick,
I knew in a moment that it must be St Nick.
Yet what I heard left me very perplex-ed
For nothing I heard was what I expect-ed.
"Move Rowan! Move Patons! Move Koigu and Clover!
Move Shelridge! Move Starmore! Move Spinrite!
Move over!
Lopi, don't circle around, just stand there in line.
Pay attention you sheep and you'll work out just fine!
I know this is hard as it's just your first year
But I'd hate to go back to 8 tiny reindeer."
I peered over the sill. What I saw was amazing:
Eight wooly sheep on my lawn all a-grazing!
And then in a twinkle, I heard at the door
Santa's big boots stomping on the porch floor.
I rose from my knees and got back on my feet.
As I turned around, St Nick I did meet.
He was dressed all in wool from his heat to his toe
And his clothes were hand knit from above to below.
A bright Fair Isle sweater he wore on his back.
And his toys were all stuffed in an Aran knit sack.
His hat was a wonder of bobbles and lace
A beautiful frame for his rosey red face.
The scarf on his neck could have stretched for a mile,
And the socks peeking over his boots were Argyle.
On the back of his mitts was an intricate cable.
And suddenly on one I spotted a small label:
"S.C." in duplicate on the cuff.
So I asked, "Hey, Nick, did YOU knit all this stuff?"
He proudly replied, "Ho, ho, ho, yes I did.
I learned how to knit when I was just a kid."
He was chubby and plump, a well dressed old man,
And I laughed to myself, for I'd thought up a plan.
I flashed him a grin and jumped up in the air,
And the next thing he knew, he was tied to a chair.
He spoke not a word, but looked down in his lap
Where I had laid my needles and yarn for a cap.
He began then to knit, first one cap then 2--
For the first time I thought I might really get through.
He put heels in the stockings and toes in some socks,
While I sat back drinking a scotch on the rocks.
Quickly like magic his needles they flew,
Good Grief! He was finished by two!
He sprang for his sleigh when I let him go free,
And over his shoulder he looked back at me.
I heard him explain as he sailed past the moon,
"Next year, start your knitting sometime around JUNE!"
With this I wish you Happy Holidays and all the best for 2009. Thank you, my friends in blogland, the US, Germany and elsewhere for all the love, care, thoughts, friendship, uplifting cards and presents through the last six months of my life - the toughest ones so far. I know I can never repay you for all your kindness.
Noah, Hermione, Claudia and Irwin
Christmas 2005
And I'll be thinking of you, my darling Irwin, wherever you might be these days. Love you always!
I'll be off to Germany tomorrow and I decided not to bring my laptop along - so don't worry if you don't see any posts until I get back in January. I think I want to travel as light as possible. I'll bring my knitting and a couple of books that have been collecting dust on my shelves. And warm layers - it's snowing in Garmisch. YAY for that!
