KNITTING WITHOUT DOG HAIR IS NOT AN OPTION

Hi, my name is Claudia and I own this blog, even tho’ I almost lost the rights to the domain a few weeks ago... I figured I should re-introduce me because it has been a long while since I last blogged. I mean really blogged, not just an ittybitty entry.

Now, here is my pitiful list of excuses for the lack of being around:

1. I went on a 10-day vacation to Germany and Italy with the Coach. We had a fabulous time. More about that further down. Keep reading. I try not to write a novel, but I might…

2. From the vacation I came home REALLY sick. So sick, that I only went to work for 1.5 days after the vacation and I had to stay home another 10 days. I ran a fever of 103 for three days (because macho me does not like to see a doctor and tries to cure any illness herself). But I did not get any better and the Coach eventually had enough and drove me to the doctor. I was so sick that he had to sit in front of my bathroom while I showered because I thought I might pass out. Not eating and having a high fever made me feel truly weak and out of whack. The doctor first diagnosed an acute bronchitis and gave me some heavy duty antibiotics, a five-day treatment. The cough was still as violent as at the beginning of the treatment and so I went back to the doctor’s office after a few days. Which was a good thing because when they x-rayed my chest, they actually found out that had pneumonia in my left lunge. The result, stronger antibiotics this time, a cough syrup with codeine (hello blissful sleep at night... I still have some left... shhhhh) and a doctor’s note to stay home.

I have to say that I have never been that sick in my entire life. And my parents agree. Mom had been calling every day to check on her 42-old baby. The conversations did not go very far because I would get into a coughing fit when I talked for a longer period of time. And my voice turned into one of those voices that bartenders have who work into the early morning hours, drink scotch and smoke a lot. I have been told it is a very sexy voice but that was not much of a consolation. Plus, I am such a terrible patient. I don’t want to see anyone. Reminds me of Greta Garbo "I want to be let alone." I just wanted to sleep and get better. Thank goodness for cable TV and two furry friends who took up 2/3s of my bed… I think I scared my roommate Brett, too. Since I have never been that sick, he has never seen me that pale and looking like death warmed over... Now, good four weeks later, I am back to normal. Always amazing to me what chemicals can do to your body.

3. A lot of work at the office and therefore I am tired in the evening and rather go to bed than go back online.

4. A very busy new "social life" - as my dear friends call my new life with the Coach and his kids and lots of sports activities etc.

5. A bunch of knitting projects that took priority over writing about them…

6. Oh, and yes, last minute Christmas knitting gifts and baking gifts and getting ready for lots of get-togethers.

But without further ado... Here is the vacation report from our trip to Germany and Italy. I think this is going to be a looooooooooong post to make up for the lost time and there will be a bunch of pictures (I counted almost 60 pix). Don’t get bored, OK?

I already started drafting this portion of the blog entry while sitting on the plane back to Atlanta, when I had peace and quiet for the first time on the vacation. This was one of the busiest vacations I ever had. The Coach and I were literally on the go every day. Also, I edited over 1,000 pictured during the 10-hour plane confinement. Gosh, good time killers, because it can get boring on a plane. I can't imagine how boring it must be when you are a kid...

So, the Coach and I had a great time. We both agreed that it was one of the best vacations ever. He is a wonderful travel companion and I felt much pampered with the big guy. I hardly had to carry any bags, doors were always opened incl. car doors in snow showers, etc. A nice change in pace for an emancipated girl... ;-) Plus the Coach totally charmed my entire family, including my little brother who is always protective of his big/little sister. He is supposed to come back with his kids. Which will be a fun trip as soon as we win the lottery because four plane tickets during summer break cost a little fortune…

Now, the weather on the trip: We had everything. From pizza in the Italian sunshine wearing t-shirts and sunglasses to heavy jackets and scarves in snow fall in Germany.

We rented this snazzy BMW 325 Convertible and we actually drove around with the top off, as well as we drove through bunches of snow showers at the end of the vacation.

The Couch asked for snow and he sure got his wish. And I think that extreme change in temperature was also the reason why we both got sick and I ended up with pneumonia.

We did so much while we were there. I am just going to give you the highlights.

MORITZ’S CHRISTENING

The family highlight was for sure my nephew’s christening. One day before the event, I found out that most of my family would dress in traditional Bavarian clothes. Dang, and now I didn’t have anything to wear. Well, since I was in the right place, the Coach and I went shopping and I bought myself a new outfit, a traditional Bavarian Dirndl.

The coach likes the dress and I am hoping to wear it soon to some fancy occasion in the US. The lovely lady next to me is my mom.

The christening ceremony took place at the local church (all catholic where I come from, no other denominations).

My dad tailored the christening gown and my siblings, niece and nephews have all been christened in the same gown.

And Moritz was a good baby for the most part. Afterwards everybody (approx. 20 people) piled into my brother’s kitchen for champagne, coffee and cake to celebrate. It was a lot of fun and nice to hang out with in entire family.

A DAY IN BERCHTESGADEN

The Coach asked me for one thing to go visit, if we can and if it’s not too far away. He is a big history buff and totally knows more about German history, especially about the times of WWII. And of course we did, because nothing is far away in tiny Germany, really. We went to see the Eagle’s Nest in Berchtesgaden, visited the Documentation Center there and Hitler’s bunker.

Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the top, the Eagle's Nest, because we missed the last bus at 4pm. We were there at 4.10pm and didn’t know about the schedule... And you know how it is, German buses leave on time… The Coach tried to blame it on me. Supposedly I was “farting” around in the bunker. I think he wanted to say that I took a lot of pictures for his sake and it just came out the wrong way. ;-) Well, a good reason to come back with the kids. Especially since his youngest son is just as much into German WWII history as he is.

We just got a look from the valley to the top of the mountain where Hitler’s residence was. Sorry for the blurriness but it is really high up and I had to zoom in big time.

A DAY AT THE AUDI MUSEUM

I was so happy to meet up with Alys, one of my best friends in Germany. I hadn’t seen her boys (husband and two kids) in forever and we took the opportunity to meet up with the entire family in Ingolstadt, where Audi, the German car manufacturer, has a fabulous museum. Yup, we looked at old cars for several hours. The Coach and I took my nephew Michael with us. Michael did pretty well with his English. After all it’s his 3rd year in school. And Michael and Alys’ boys tried everything out they could at the museum. I took a gazillion car pictures. Here are just a few of these vehicles.

ITALY

Ah, bella Italia… What else do I need to say. Nope, there is much more to say. We left Germany with snow and arrived after 4.5 hours in sun. No need to say that we sat outside to enjoy our first pizza and one of my favorite antipasti - melon & thinly sliced ham - for lunch. We had a hotel reservation at my favorite lake in Northern Italy called Lake Garda.

They have the BEST ice cream in Italy, I swear!

Even the ducks like it. ;-)

We ventured around the lake and drove through a bunch of towns until we arrived in Sirmione which is located on a peninsula. We spend quite some time in an ancient castle until the sun set. I almost had to drag The Coach out of the castle…

The view was truly breathtaking and so was the sunset.

The next day, Venice was on the agenda. It is a beautiful city, only reachable by boat and you can only conquer the city by foot. Meaning, we did a lot of walking. I mean a lot of walking…

Pimped out gondolas…

A yarn store and nope, I didn’t go in… We were in a hurry to catch a ferry to another island. I actually did not buy and yarn at all on the entire trip. Shocking. I know.

And we took a ferry to visit two adjacent islands. We first stopped at Murano, famous for its stunning glass work. The Coach and I bought a very nice set of Martini glasses and we didn’t break them on the way back on the plane. I had nightmares about that because they were so freakin’ expensive.

And after that we hopped back on the ferry and went over to Burano, very famous for its lace work. I saw the most beautiful lace pieces in the oldest store on the island. You might want to lean back and look at the following pictures a little longer. I have never seen anything like it.

This is the thread the lace is made of… Super thin…

Some of the pieces date back to Napoleon.

And chitchatted with the owner for a little bit, until she tried to sell me her expensive lace. ;-)

The Burano lace is not knitted, crocheted or tatted. Very fine thread and a needle is used to make this kind of lace. Truly pieces of art. The funny thing is that I didn’t know about this island and its crafty women until I read about it in the travel guide to prepare for the Venice visit. The island is also famous for its colorful fisher houses.

I would love to have a purple house.

It is also funny how much laundry I saw hanging out to dry around here.

We were extremely exhausted after all this walking and all the sightseeing. There is just sooooooooooo much to look at and so much to take in. And I think that was also the beginning of my body saying “I think I am going to get sick now.”…

The next day we drove to Verona and Padua. Verona has – after the one in Rome – the other only completely renovated amphitheatre in Italy. I am sure the arena saw its fair share of lions and gladiators fighting.

Padua on the other hand is the home of St. Anthony’s cathedral. I didn’t take any pictures inside because we were not allowed. It was quite breathtaking tho’ because that church is just filled with statues, gold, etc. Makes you think about how ornate a church really has to be as a place of worship. But then again, we are talking about a Catholic church in Italy.

The next day we drove back to Germany and hung out with my family for a couple more days until we had to leave for the US again. The Coach really liked the trip a lot. So let me finish with a few Bavaria pictures.

The Alpes

Kloster Andechs, an old monastery that is also famous for its beer brewery

The view from our vacation apartment

And a bunch of snow…

And if you just haven’t looked at enough pictures and you would like to sit through a slide show of all 1,000+, go here.

... you would learn (at least) 16 things like:

1. When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
2. Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
3. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
4. Take naps.
5. Stretch before rising.
6. Run, romp, and play daily.
7. Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
8. Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
9. On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
10. On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
11. When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
12. Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
13. Be loyal.
14. Never pretend to be something you're not.
15. If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.. and
16. When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

A friend sent this to me a couple of days ago and I just love this. Hermione would be the perfect teacher for no. 7 and Noah would teach you all about no. 4 and they are both excellent at no. 16.

I am trying to blog every day about something during the month of December. Let's see if I can keep up with myself. At least, I finally got the vacation report published yesterday... Whew...

Believe it or not, there are still tons of knitting projects (not finished), yarn and roving at my house. Even tho' it seems that I am spending more time away from my knitting buddies because I went to lots of football games during the summer and now basketball games are on the schedule, I am still knitting (at the games). And believe it or ot, I am the only one. Poor Coach, not that he has the immigrant girlfriend who has no clue about football, she also knits at the games. Shocking for other people... But I can do two things at a time. ;-)

So, these are the last two FOs. I finished a couple of scarves for the Coach. At least I am knitting for him, right?

Name: His Valentine Scarf 2009
Pattern: "His/Hers Reversible Scarf" by Melissa Leapman
Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm Knitpicks Harmony
Yarn: Rowan RYC Cashsoft DK
How much? 5 skeins = 710.0 yards (649.2m)
Colorway: Burgundy

Notes: Actually, I finished the scarf for him in time for Valentine's Day 2009. But... I didn't add a fringe because I thought he was not a "fringe man". Well, before we got ready to go to Germany, the Coach asked me if I could do him a favor and add a fringe to his scarf. It looked unfinished to him. So funny. So I scored one more ball at Knitch and added the fringe in Germany because I didn't have time before hand. A comment on the yarn - it pills when you have stubbles. So, you either need to shave and not run around during your vacation being all lazy about that or wear your scarf outside of your jacket which then defeats the purpose. Kinda… But lucky him, I like stubbles. ;-)

Name: Highland Scarf
Pattern “Highland Scarf” by Nell from Knitch
Needle: US 13 / 9.0 mm Knitpicks Harmony
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky
How much? 6 skeins = 426.0 yards (389.5m)
Colorway: Green

Notes: This is a very cool and easy knit. It's a free pattern when you buy the yarn at Knitch. The Couch got already a bunch of compliments. Now I want one, too…

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post! I am designing a new sock with the first shipment of the Seven Sins Fiber Club. And think I am allowed to post about it know. At least I already saw spoilers on Ravelry today...

Number one - my little brother! Hey bro, ALLES GUTE ZUM GEBURTSTAG!!!

I think this little video is perfect for my little brother. Takes me right back into our childhood. ;-) Enjoy your second last birthday with a "3". Soon I am not going to be the only one with a "4". Love you!

Number Two - Miss Regan! Happy Birthday, Lady! Hope you have a blast, whatever you do today!

I thought the sweater guy was much more fitting for you. :-)

Y'all have a fabulous day and many happy and healthy returns!

I got nothing right now... Need to upload pictures of my FOs... This weekend I finished another scarf and Moritz' sweater is finally put together. And there is still the new sock and a project I started working on for Pixie's Rowan. But since I am lame and I spent too much time having fun with the Coach and his kids, I haven't done that yet, so I got nothing new for the knitting world. Maybe tonight, but don't hold your breath... I am going to a basketball game first.

But... The Coach and I uploaded some of his old high school pictures to Facebook last week and we had so much fun doing that, that I looked for my old high school picture, too. I remembered that I had blogged about it sometime on my old blog. So, here is a copy of the questionnaire that I posted with the picture - my senior year revisited. That was in June 1986... A LONG TIME AGO...

1. Who was your best friend? Petra

30. What was your favorite yarn? A German brand - Wolle Roedel.

The Coach, his youngest son and I went to a barn christmas party on Sunday afternoon.

This was the greeter at the entrance. After some petting, he tried to eat the coach's jacket. ;-) The "real" party hosts live on a gigantic property with lots of animals and a pond in a little valley. We took a hay ride down to the pond. There were bonfires, roasted marsh mellows (which is still one of those US culture fixtures that remains strange to me...) and grilled hot dogs. Lots of kids ended up with gooey gloves… Told you, a strange culture fixture. ;-)

And this is the view from the barn across the lake.

Very romantic. We had a really nice time, standing around the bonfires, drinking hot cocoa and visiting with lots of nice people. I tried to take more pictures in the dark but they all turned out blurry. Oh well…

And I finally took knitting pictures. So, tomorrow, you’ll finally find Mo’s sweater here.

Finally... I finished knitting Mo's sweater before Thanksgiving. But you know me... I hate, hate, hate weaving in ends and seaming. So, it took two weeks to work up the energy, take the sweater pieces and a bottle of red wine and go my Friday night knitting group. And surprisingly, it took only 1.5 hours to put the sweater together. But obviously I needed knitting company to do it.

Name: Mo's Sweater
Pattern: my own
Made for: my German nephew Moritz
Size: 6-12 months
Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm
Yarn: Dark Horse Yarns Fantasy
How much? 2 skeins = 410.0 yards (374.9m)
Colorway: baby blue

My SIL asked me if I could knit a sweater for Moritz in baby blue (to match his eye color) for Christmas. So here it is and also actually shipping out today! YAY!

PS: Thanks Regan! I meant TA-DAH! I guess TATA is the German version of TA-DAH and this is when I get in trouble and lost in translation...

So, more holiday spirit. Today it is a totally weird weather day in Atlanta, not Christmassy at all. A thunderstorm woke me up around for 4am this morning with heavy rain and gusty winds. I thought the house might fall apart but it must not have been too bad because the furry kids slept right through it. Then it had temperatures in the 60s when I left to go to work and supposedly we should get back into the 40s by the time I get to go home. Oh well… That’s not global warming, is it?

So, my tree has been up since Thanksgiving evening. To find all the decorations, I rummaged through the basement and found a box of really cool Cirque De Soleil ornaments, which I have never seen in my entire life before. Some of you might remember that my late husband was a very crazy jigsaw puzzle collector. In addition he also collected matchbox cars, die cast model cars and Christmas ornaments, with the exception that I knew about all the collections but the ornaments (and yes, all the collections are still stashed in my basement). So here I am, trying to find the tree and the ornaments I knew of and all of a sudden I am confronted with a flood of boxes that I have never really noticed, because my basement is full of boxes. So, there are probably at least half a dozen big moving boxes full of unknown ornaments, organized by brand etc. Yep, he was compulsive and organized. I was totally overwhelmed by these findings. Especially with the thought of what to do with all the ornaments... I could probably stock an entire Christmas store…

So, I am still thinking… Let me know if you have any ideas.

And here are pictures of the tree, decorated with Cirque De Solail, Swarovski crystal and silver stars.

See, Hermione and Noah, that is what the dogs do in Hungary.... Maybe you guys can at least help me and put the tree away after the holidays?

Yeah right, I can see me waiting a looooong time before that ever happens. ;-)

Well, I am talking about the first yarn shipment from the Seven Sins Fiber Club. I also got the second shipment in the meantime, but I think not all the members have received it, so I'll be quiet about it for now. Just so much, another great color and very cool stitch markers. ;-)

I am designing a new sock pattern with the first yarn. As it is named after one of the "Seven Sins", it is called LUST. And yeah, I know. I am always designing but never get to the point where I am publishing a pattern. And why is that?

Because I never have enough time to bring my thoughts and ideas onto paper and because I am anal and if I do I try to publish a "good" pattern without mistakes it takes me forever. Unfortunately there is already a ton of crappy patterns out there and I don't want to be an addition to that.

Here is a sneak preview of the first sock in progress.

I promised the club members a test pattern, the German skeleton way, because that might not take me as long... We'll see...

The pooches have a new doggie door, thanks to the Coach. He spent several hours on Thanksgiving weekend to mount a doggie door into a new door and exchange it with my old kitchen door.

The dogs were very suspicious at the beginning and it took them several days and a bunch of treats to understand that they have now all the freedom they want. I think they spend quite some time in the backyard now, but of course I can't be sure because I don't have a doggie cam.;-)

Here is a little video I took a few days ago.

Tomorrow is the holiday party with my knitting friends. I just finished cooking a traditional Italian lasagna (no pre-cooked pasta), a veggie lasagna and marinated aspargus. And I have a yummy cake from Metrotainment Bakery. Can't wait to see my peeps tomorrow!

A bunch of my dear knitting friends gathered at Jane's house today for our traditional knitting Christmas Party. We had a fabulous time. Thanks Alma and Jane for organizing this!

It was super relaxed. Everybody brought a cool gift for the gift exchange. We had plenty of food, beer, wine, cider and several hours of knitting time.

The boys: Brett, Michael and Doug

Our wonderful hostess Jane with Brittany and Wayne

The other boys, hanging out in the more quiet room and watching football - and Pixie brought Baby Rowan. So adorable!

And some serious stash busting!

And look what Katey found in amongst the yarn...

I had a great time! The guests really made the party special! Thanks for coming! I hope I will see some of you more often next year than just for the Christmas party. ;-) Hey – did anyone else take pictures? Please share!

You probably wonder what I am talking about. Pixie asked me to knit a pair for Rowan. I guess you could also call them soakers because babies with cloth diapers wear them. But I like the name WONDERPANTS much better.

I finished the first pair just in time at the Christmas party for Pixie to take them home with her. I think she intentionally did not hand me the baby until all the ends were woven in. I got you figured out, lady. ;-)

And here we go – the finished wonder pants.

And with Pixie’s permission I “stole” this absolutely cute shot of Rowan modeling her new pants. I’ll probably end up knitting a bunch more since they go so fast. ;-)

Cartoons by Andertoons

The Coach is under the weather...

Hope this cheers you up a little and will make you feel better!

This is one of these days where I would like to be a little dog with a sweater...

Now I can blog about this scarf. I couldn't before last Sunday.

Name: Regan's Scarf
Pattern: "His/Hers Reversible Scarf" by Melissa Leapman
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm Knitpicks Harmony
Yarn: Regan's Handspun
How much? Don't really know, you need to ask her. ;-)
Colorway: Blues and Greys

It is a funny story how that scarf came to life. Regan forgot her gorgeous handspun at my birthday party in July. When I called her to tell "thank you for the beautiful handspun for my birthday" - just kidding of course - we agreed that I would hold her yarn hostage and turn it into a knitted birthday gift for her. Well, honestly, I forgot because the yarn started marinating in one of my many baskets. Until I looked at it again about a week before her birthday. Then I had to hustle, but it all worked out and I gave it to her at knitting Christmas party. And I think she liked it, too.

Now, don't get any ideas about leaving yarn on my door step. ;-)

Well, the intentions were good. I wanted to blog every day in December. But I slipped this weekend. No more entries since Friday. Sorry... I had a lovely Friday night knitting group meet-up and a dinner afterwards. We got more presents from Steve, Nancy and Jane. And Rob took us to dinner. THANKS Y'ALL!

And then I spent the weekend with the Coach and his kids in Hogansville for my first big Christmas Party at his grandmother's house. I had a great time and felt very much at home and welcome. Just as many people as at my parents place, in all kind of age groups. I got a bunch of lovely gifts. Need to take pictures to show them off.

But it has been so busy and it will not get better until Wednesday when I get out of the office. Thankfully I have a 10-day break ahead of me. And believe me, I NEED THAT BREAK...

I'll try blog again soon! Happy Holidays!

Maybe we'll get some snow for Christmas. I took this picture on January 16, 2008, at my house.