Oh. Hello!

I'm sorry for being a tardy blogger, it's February already (I'll be thirty soon for the, oh, gazillionsth time) and time is flying. January was fun and crafty all around, one of its highlights being the great knit meet-up I had on MLK day with Angela, where we talked and knit and ohh-ed over cute Japanese craft books for almost 7 hours! It was great and I hope we'll do that again soon Angela, if you can squeeze some crafty time in between your training schedule! Angela also had a hard time talking me into joining the SAL that she, Stephanie and Mari dreamt up. I'll be using this pattern:

I forgot to jot down the pattern number but I'll update that soon. The fabric I'm using is this gorgeous light-blue silk/linen/wool blend peeking out underneath the envelope. I'm making skirt B, one color instead of two. Burda patterns are nifty in that they already have the seam allowance included in the pattern, so you draw the pattern outline on the fabric only once. I've been sewing on and off since I've been a teenager and at one time even took an advanced sewing class where I made a lined jacket with bound buttonholes and welt pockets. But I don't remember how to do all that fancy sewing stuff anymore and I'm glad these days if I can manage to put a zipper in a pouch. Also, this is my first -along ever, funny that it's not about knitting.
So on to the knitting. I got rid of the last skein of sock yarn in my stash, that crazy red-blue-green-brown-orange Lana Grossa Meilenweit. Socks are for bf. Sometimes I wonder how outrageous I could get with the sock yarn, where would he draw the line? But I won't find out any time soon, because this is it, people, at least until Christmas. I'm officially socked-out. Don't care to make another pair for the time being. I mean it!

I spotted this a couple of weeks ago on the cover of DNR and had to share because it's funny:

A fair isle sweater, sleeves are right side out but the front and back are wrong side out. Reminds me of the Eighties, when we turned our clothes inside out because we couldn't come up with anything else new. Probably not a great idea for my first fair-isle project. Which I've picked, but I won't tell yet, as other stuff needs completing first.

This Big Wool cardi I've been working on since the beginning of January. You're looking aghast at the ten or something rows I've done? Yeah, me too. First I had to wrap my head around the concept of knitting top down. It is embarrasingly simple, really, unless you happen to be me and to be looking at the Vogue Knitting book. Now that I've got the idea down, I'm having problems increasing at the front edges. This is not going to be a v-neck cardi (oh how easy that would be), but the neck will be rounded and I have to cast on ten or so stitches. Whenever I try that though I get big holes or funny looking stitches, so I know I must be doing something wrong. I have consulted several knitting books without finding anything on how to increase multiple stitches in your knitting. Anyone got a book or website info they could share? I'd be ever so grateful and might actually finish the jacket this month.
The other project I've been obsessing about is this cardi, 'Raindrop' from Rowan's 'Plaid Collection'. I'm using the unravelled Cork that was once a slightly boring half-finished sweater designed by me. Now, even though both Cork and Plaid are similar in gauge, I get 15 sts to 4", while the pattern asks for 11 sts. It calls for 8 skeins, and I have ten skeins of Cork. I want to knit this top down as well because I'm not sure I'll have enough yarn, but the pattern conversion is tricky, what with all the diamonds having to line up at the neck edge. But it's a V! The jacket is straight down but I'll add some waist shaping to it.
I've also had a little jewelry factory going. I had made a very simple gold wire circle necklace for my office secret santa, and a lot of my coworkers liked it so much that they put in multiple orders for one. I didn't get a chance to take a picture yet, but I have one more to make and will photograph it.
Judy asked me how I arranged my photos into a grid pattern for my 2005 FO review. I copied and pasted each photo in Powerpoint and then cropped it. There are probably many easier ways to do it with Photoshop or other programs, but it's what was available to me at the time. Copy and paste are my friends.
Thanks Marie for enlightening me on tracing back comments! Ahh, the craftoholic and the internets. A pair at odds.

2005 Review

I've been planning on doing a little inventory on my 2005 knits, maybe frog stuff I'm not wearing and re-using for new projects. It's all about recycling these days at Craftoholic. Or so I tell myself. The boyfriend sock don't need much review, they're so loved. Let me just say that the GGH Marathon I used for his for two pairs over a year ago is holding up extremely well. And they've been washed and worn a lot! No complaints about the Lana Grossa Meilenweit so far either.
The first 2005 knit was the
- Debbie Bliss Cabled Jacket. I love this so much and I've worn it a lot. The Rowanspun Chunky I used is holding up rather well, there is only slight pilling under the arms, which isn't really noticeable as the yarn is heathered.
- Leaf Scarf in Rowan Big Wool. Haven't really worn it too much, it's so toasty. I think I'm just too lazy to bother holding it together with a brooch. I might frog it, haven't decided yet.
- Clapotis. This kept me happily warm in freezing Europe. I wear it a lot and love that the Silk Garden gets softer after a wash, and doesn't lose its sheen.
- Lady Eleanor. Ten balls of Silk Garden make this shawl a bit heavy. I haven't worn it all that much because most days I can't be bothered to fuss with accessories. But knitting it was fun and the end product is so beautiful, I want to just display it as a wall hanging. I'll put this in the category 'knitted art', which doesn't require usefulness ;-)
- Debbie Bliss Rib Detail Jacket. After I tried it on for the first time, it itched. I didn't wear it much until I tried it on and it didn't itch. The ribbing on the sleeves still feels a little snug, but blocking should take care of it. Let's revisit that one next year after more wearage.
- Shedir. I use this a lot, mostly as a liner underneath wooly hats that make my head itch. Sure my head looks like a big ball, but I'm warm enough so it's a good trade-off. I'd wear this more if it was a bit longer, but I was insistent on using just one ball!
- Rebecca Wrap Top. I've worn this a few times over a long white top. It's cute enough, but there's that one spot at the back of my neck the GGH Soft Kid likes to itch attack. I still wear it, but won't make anymore garments out of Soft Kid.
- Aimee. Oh Aimee. I hate your ribbon. I'm going to try to stitch the ribbon opening up and I'm thinking about a dye bath as well. I love that green, but it does make me look anemic.
- Springgrass socks. The Nature's Palette definitely loosens up a bit after washing, and gets fuzzy too. I wear them, but mostly at home.
- Orchid socks. See above.
- Mata Hari socks. I love them so much and wear them all the time. The Koigu is getting a bit fuzzy but still nice. There may be more Mata's in the far future.
- Eowyn armwarmers. They were made only to get rid of two lonely balls of yarn, Rowan Yorkshire Tweed dk and Crystal Palace Merino Frappe. I wore them a few times in Europe, but they're just too bulky for my taste.
- Gothic Knee Highs. They bound off a little losely, so I need to fix that or else they'll be crunched around my ankles.
I'm pretty happy with half of my 05 knits, I have learned soo much and really figured out what I want to knit and what not. My plans for this year are to
- tackle a fair isle project
- try felting
- make a quilt
- design more knits
- sew leather

Ends with socks, starts with socks

Sometime around Christmas, a shift occurred, and with the new year I feel a new me emerging. It's time to get back to sweaters and cardis. I'm done with socks for now (though I think I've said that before) I still don't know why I lost my knitting confidence after I finished Aimee, really, all those successful modifications should have done the opposite. Somehow my real life fears manifested in my knitting and I got scared of sweaters, scared of my yarn choices, scared of not being able to make something I can be proud of. For the past few weeks I've been drawing and designing and getting excited about all the ideas flowing through my head, and I'm curious to see what is going to come out. So here are the last pairs of socks you'll see for awhile, gifts for boyfriend:

Saturday socks knit with Lana Grossa Meilenweit, 1 skein.
And these are for his upcoming birthday:

Sunday socks knit with Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch, 1 skein. While this yarn felt softer compared to the meilenweit while I was knitting, it's not as soft on the foot. I'll go back to the meilenweit. The sock ban doesn't extend to bf because I get so much pleasure out of his unbridled excitement for the socks I make him.
Right now I'm working on a plain stockinette cardi out of that ice blue Rowan Big Wool. The color is lovely and I might add a little bit of embroidery in something sparkly when it's done. I'm still experimenting with the knitting, I'd love to knit the sleeves in the round on two circs to eliminate bulky seams, or I might knit it top down. I've never knit anything top down but it should work with any kind of yarn, right?
I've also gotten hooked on two activities that are taking away knitting time: I signed up with my local gym before the holidays and have been working out almost every day. And I got addicted to playing the Wallace & Gromit PS2 game I got bf for Christmas. Somewhere pigs are flying and hell has frozen over.

Lost in Yarn

Right before my trip to Europe, stressed from moving out and moving in, I allowed myself a little bit of shopping therapy. The packages came just days before leaving:

Eight balls of Rowan Big Wool in ice blue, and my new love, ten balls of Rowan Felted Tweed in watery. I'm so completely, head over heels crazy about this color, I almost took a ball on the trip for fear of separation anxiety.
Have you ever wanted something really bad and when you got it, you realized you weren't crazy about it anymore? That's how I feel about the Big Wool. I had been gawking at this for over a year, and when I saw this, there seemed good reason to give in and purchase. But I think I'm over it now. But maybe I'm not. Why is it that one day, all I want is soft, barely there color, and then next I crave dark rich jewel tones? The jewel tone phase is now, and I will hold on to Big Wool, hoping the desire will be rekindled before spring. It's not just that I crave different colors, I want different projects as well. Last night I frogged my almost finished 'Lila' sweater. I just wasn't 'feelin' it' anymore. So here I sit surrounded by beautiful yarns and I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with them. Maybe I need to do a little more shopping, for pattern books instead.
As for the rest of the stash, here is the sock yarn I bought in Munich at Wollkorb ( I went to the one by Sendlinger Tor, though I much prefer the one close to LM university) :

All these are for bf. He loves the self-patterning yarn, the crazier the better. I had to keep that in mind while selecting the colors. On the bottom are his socks for Christmas, the only gift knitting this year chez craftoholic. I have now finished those socks and wrapped them up, so there will be pictures after Christmas.
I got a pair of socks as well, knitted for me by my cousin in Germany, who knits nothing but socks:

She makes me a pair every year. It's fabulous to get a knitted gift, even if the colors are a little bright. I love them nonetheless. I'll be back after the holidays, hopefully with some ideas for a new project. Have a very Happy Holiday everyone!
And thank you to all those who commented on my gothic knee highs who didn't have emails listed!

Gothic Knee Highs

These have been finished for over a week, waiting to be photographed which proved very difficult given availability of light and photographer, but here they are. The dark red almost black color of this yarn made me think of Sadie Frost in Frankenstein, the dark ages, Gothic architecture. After studying drawings of the cathedrals of Reims and Strasbourg, I came up with a simple yo, k2tog/ssk pattern design of gothic windows. I used three skeins of Koigu and had just an inch of yarn left over after weaving in the ends. They would look great with a black taffeta skirt.

My knitting hasn't been very exciting lately, I'm working on a pair of socks for bf, a Christmas present, which means nothing else gets in the way until they're done. I'm past the ribbing on the second sock, so just a couple of days should do it.

There and back again

I've been back just a little over a week and already it seems my vacation was just a dream. I do this every year and yet I still experience culture shock both ways. This time held surprises such as my grandma offering me leftover chocolate from Halloween. Halloween? Since when do Germans celebrate Halloween??? Apparently they have been doing so for a few years now, as well as shopping at Staples, Toy's-R-Us and Eddie Bauer, and paging through Land's End catalogs. I dread to imagine what else will be there by the time I visit again. Munich is still the beautiful glorious city I left, busy yet always ready to sit down and have a beer or coffee and cake. For five days I accompanied my mom to a conference in Warsaw, Poland, where I spent a lot of time in the many beautiful city parks, wandering along the river Wisla, warming up in lovely cafe's with hot chocolate and apple pie. Poland was very exciting, it is so rapidly changing into a western society. Amidst the grey and heavy whales of communist architecture, steel and glass highrises announce the indelible establishment of capitalism. Krakow, a two hour train ride south of Warsaw, is beautiful and busy even on a chilly winter day, but then you slip into a little coffeeshop where time turns back and you expect Kafka to stop in on his way to Prague. South of the castle, Kasimierz is Krakow's old Jewish neighborhood, a place with little alleys and dark houses and street vendors selling old books.
Back in Munich, the opening of Christkindl's Markt (Christmas Market) a day before I left meant sipping Gluehwein and hot blueberry wine, eating roasted chestnuts and enjoying the sparkly lights and sounds dissapearing in freshly fallen snow. It was lovely. A few of my pictures can be seen here
Now what about the knitting? I almost finished my knee highs, both are just waiting for the ribbing on top and are hopefully ready to be photographed this weekend. My yarn purchases were extremely modest, three skeins of sock yarn, all picked for bf's eclectic taste, was it. But a tv station had a feature on a woman who is knitting a very long scarf incorporating the flags of all soccer teams participating in the WM. She's not knitting this all herself, but knitters from all over Germany are helping and sending her the pieces to sew together. I've never been a soccer fan, but in Germany it's better to feign interest than admit that out loud ;-)
Also coming, pictures of goodies I received from Janette's on ebay right before I left. It's hard these days to photograph things when even the daylight isn't light enough.

In Poland it's a muffinka, in Germany grandma calls it a 'mooffin'.

Auf Wiedersehen!

I'll leave you with a knitted, typically Bavarian snack: White sausages, Brez'n (pretzel), white radish and beer (why didn't they knit the beer?)
This image is from a postcard I picked up at a German yarn shop last year. I'll be back in three weeks!