KNITTING WITHOUT DOG HAIR IS NOT AN OPTION

HEY!

2010-03-05T02:21:32Z

Gosh, I don't know how many times I have thought about blogging since January 1, 2010. But there has always been something else. No time, too tired, no knitting to report, no laptop available... I think I could go on for a bit... Well - I shouldn't be such a slacker, I know and I am sorry. But the year has started a little sluggish and I am trying to get a grip on things. ANYWAYS... First, my favorite current TV commercial. It has a sock monkey in it, hahaha... Too cute, I still have to knit one tho. What is there to report on knitting? Besides lots of ideas tumbling around in my head and not enough time at knitting groups, I am still working on the sweater for The Coach and I am happy to report that I actually finished the back over the Christmas holidays. Now I am onto the front which has a zipper (which will be interesting to put in with my love for sewing...) and which also measures 28.5 inches (to match the back…) from the cast on to the bind off. As much as I love that The Coach is 6ft 4in, it's turns into a curse when you knit a sweater for the big guy. The back truly functioned as a lap blanket while I was knitting it... Nevertheless, I am past the point where I had to split the front piece for the zipper. So, hopefully I'll be done soon. And then - onto two long sleeves... But I am still enjoying the cable pattern. Well, a trip to Germany is coming up in April (for business, so I get to see my family on company expenses) and the sweater is the only knitting I am taking with me, I swear. 10 hours each way on a plane and 2.5 hours each day on the train. I am going to stay with Mom and Dad and take the train to commute to Munich to the office. Love the public transportation system over there. Oh, I did finish a baby blanket. It is my all-time favorite mindless pattern. I don't even remember where I originally found the pattern, I think Lionbrand? Because I think the first one I made out of Lionbrand Homespun. It goes really fast. This one was knitted during Superbowl 2010. Told you it was an easy knit. ;-) Pattern: Baby Love Diagonal Baby Blanket by Lion Brand Yarn Craft (thanks to Ravelry I found the pattern name…) Needles: US 11 / 8.0 mm Addi Natural Circular Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Heaven How much? 4 skeins = 220.0 yards (201.2m) Colorway: pale pink That's about it with the knitting. Have you heard that we, in Georgia, had three snow days so far? Totally not normal, but pretty. Here are some pix. January 8, 2010 The roads were very icy that morning and I drove to work a lot later than I usually do. February 12/13, 2010 Yes, my mailbox has knitting stickers on it... It started snowing Friday around lunch time that weekend and I couldn’t go anywhere on Saturday. Just too much ice and snow all around. A nice excuse to stay curled up in bed and catch on taped TV shows. Pictures from snow day no. 3 (last Tuesday, March 2, 2010, if remember correctly) are still in the camera. Sorry! I don't know if you noticed but Hermione and Noah gotten in fabulous shape. The vet was very impressed last weekend when he saw them for their check-up. Both of them lost about 10 pounds, thanks to the new doggie door and lots of play time outside.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-01-01T15:42:42Z

Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy New Year! May all your dreams come true in 2010! I am enjoying a very quiet holiday vacation with the Coach. Not doing much but knitting and watching TV. Exactly what I needed after a stressful 2009 to recharge the batteries for 2010.

BROKE THE MOLD

2009-12-21T11:05:33Z

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.

YET ANOTHER SCARF

2009-12-18T02:59:26Z

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. ;-)

CAN I HAZ THIS?

2009-12-16T18:05:45Z

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

FEEL BETTER!

2009-12-15T18:06:28Z

Cartoons by Andertoons

The Coach is under the weather... Hope this cheers you up a little and will make you feel better!

WONDERPANTS

2009-12-15T00:34:00Z

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. ;-)

THE KNITTING CHRISTMAS PARTY

2009-12-14T03:54:31Z

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!

A NEW DOGGIE DOOR

2009-12-13T01:32:44Z

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!

GOT LUST?

2009-12-11T17:57:55Z

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...

THIS ONE IS FOR THE DOGS!

2009-12-10T12:23:41Z

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. ;-)

CHRISTMAS TREE 2009

2009-12-09T17:55:17Z

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.

FINISHED OBJECT!!! TA-DAH!!!

2009-12-08T17:32:32Z

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...

FIRST CHRISTMAS PARTY 2009

2009-12-08T03:38:47Z

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.

SENIOR YEAR - REVISITED

2009-12-07T02:27:38Z

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 2. What sports did you play? Volleyball & skiing 3. What kind of car did you drive? Didn’t get my driver's license until I was 26. I rode a bicycle or public transportation. 4. It's Friday night, where were you? At home - my Dad was very strict. My curfew was 11pm. Not worth going out... 5. Were you a party animal? Sometimes. 6. Were you considered a flirt? Nope. 7. Ever skip school? No. 8. Ever smoke? Tried once - was awful... 9. Were you a nerd? I thought I was because my parents would only pay for the cheapest prescription glasses which of course make you look like Woody Allen... 10. Did you get suspended/expelled? Nope. 11. Can you sing the Alma Mater? We don't have them in Germany. 12. Who was your favorite teacher? My French teacher - she was a fashionista and very skinny AND a great teacher. I majored in French - go figure. 13. Favorite class? Skiing. Yeah, I know... But where I come from (German Alps, remember?) you can pick skiing as your sport in High School. So, instead of being indoors, you go skiing at 11:00am for the rest of the day once a week. Fabulous! 14. What was your school's full name? Werdenfels-Gymnasium Garmisch-Partenkirchen 15. School mascot? I don't think we had one. 16. Did you go to Prom? Yes. 17. If you could go back and do it over, would you? Yes - if I knew what I know today about life, etc., I would go back and pick different majors and probably study more. 18. What do you remember most about graduation? We had a great party - not at the school but at one of the local dance clubs. We were banned from the school because the seniors wanted to out some of the teachers' Nazi history in the yearbook. And that did not sit well with the school administration - so we celebrated with only the favorite teachers at some other place. That was pretty interesting. My parents were there and Dad gave me a beautiful bracelet - now do I have a good memory or what? 19. Favorite memory of your senior year? The non-published yearbook. 20. Were you ever posted up on the senior wall? Nope - I don't think we had such a thing. 21. Did you have a job your senior year? Yup - at McDonald's, with half of students of the senior class. That was actually a lot of fun - I also stopped eating food from McDonald's... 22. Who did you date? Christian. Two years my senior. 23. Where did you go most often for lunch? Class was out at 12:45pm and I usually went home for Mom's good cooking. But we hung out during our free time at a coffee shop across the street from school called "Cafe Kneitinger". They had great milk shakes. 24. Have you gained weight since then? Yes, and lost some, too. 25. What did you do after graduation? I went to work as an assistant at a bank in Frankfurt, Germany. 26. When did you graduate? 1986 27. Senior picture: YES - You can actually find it right here. See if you can pick me out. A hint, I am the only one wearing a scarf... And I have to add some knitting questions - of course! 28. Where you knitting at the time? Yes - some of the teachers actually let me knit during class. 29. What was your favorite project? Sweaters - with all the vibrant colors, big intarsia patterns and puffy sleeves - it was the 80's... 30. What was your favorite yarn? A German brand - Wolle Roedel.