Fair Isle and other dreams - Yarn Along

Knittin and reading. My favourite things to complete a perfect day. So I am joining Ginny on Wednesdays for Yarn Along to share my passions with you. Come and join in if you like!

Do you know the feeling when you discovered some yarn, very soft, wonderful color and immediatly your heart starts beating faster? I'm sure you do. A few days ago I passed by a small store selling only homemade goodies by creativ people and I saw them.
Two hanks of handspun, handdyed merino. The price of it let me pass by first. The next day I had to come back and get them and I was very happy to still find them there waiting for me... The yarn is dyed in a very unusual color, kind of bright yellow, greenish, almost neon (THE color of the coming season, right?!), a little natural also. I love it and knitted up a spring t-shirt vest  like this one for Aaron in my mind very fast. For real I'm still calculating with gauge and needle size though...

And of course there are still my colorwork mittens, not so very spring like, but worse finishing. And, with some very helpful encouragement from your side I have removed the scrap yarn and knit up the first thumb, and even cast on for the second mitten which knits up much faster then the first but slower also because thats the way with me and second ones I guess...

Reading this book, but I have not come very far yet. I am very impatient with books and this one didn't catch me within the first pages so I am not sure if "we" will make it.

Another book has caught my attention though, rather one chapter of it, "the fairest isle of all".After knitting those mittens in fair isle style I seem to have gotten a little bold and started dreaming about these projects:

I am so in love...

Happy Knitting!

Süße (aber zuckerfreie) Geburtstagsgrüße - Sweet Happy Birthday without sugar

Zitronen-Dattelkuchen ohne Zucker / Lemon-Date-Cake without sugar

Glücklichen Herzwunsch 

Herzlichen Glückwunsch

Wünschliches Herzglück 

von Herzen für Dich!

Das Sonntagssüß wird 1 Jahr. Wenn das kein Grund zum feiern ist! Die große (zuckerreiche) Sause dazu findet heute statt bei Fräulein Text. JedeR ist eingeladen!

Zum ersten Geburtstag gibt es ja bei Menschenkindern gerne einen Kuchen ohne Zucker, damit Menschlein nicht direkt Karies oder Bauchweh davon bekommt. So einen Kuchen gibt es heute bei mir auch, allerdings vor allem deshalb, weil ich seit Aschermittwoch auf Zucker (und auf Facebook) verzichte, für die Fastenzeit. Wie sich bereits nach den ersten Tagen herausstellte, ist der Verzicht auf Zucker wesentlich schwieriger aber auch interessanter, als ich gedacht hätte. Vor allem, wenn man deshalb nicht komplett auf Süßes verzichten möchte. Heute habe ich das erste Mal ohne Zucker gebacken und alleine die Rezeptsuche war alles andere als einfach. Fündig geworden bin ich dann hier, habe das Rezept aber noch ein wenig abgewandelt:

Zitronen-Dattelkuchen ohne Zucker / Lemon-Date-Cake without sugar 

100 gr. Weizenmehl / all purpose flour

100 gr. Dinkelmehl (Type 630) / spelt flour

100 gr. Speisestärke / corn starch

1 Päckchen Backpulver / 15 gr. baking powder

25 Datteln ohne Steine / Dates stoneless

125 ml Milch / Milk

125 gr. Butter

3 Eier / eggs

2 unbehandelte Zitronen / organic lemons

etwas Honig / some honey

Datteln, Milch, Butter und Eigelb pürieren / blend dates, butter, milk and egg yolk. 

Mehl, Backpulver und abgeschrieben Schale der Zitronen vermischen / mix flour, baking powder and grinded skin of lemons.

Mische die pürierte Masse mit den trockenen Zutaten / Mix the wet and the dry ingredients

Saft von einer Zitrone unterrühren / mix in juice of one lemon

Eiweiß schlagen und unter den Teig heben / beat the egg white and fold under the dough.

Teig in gefettete Kuchenform oder in Muffinförmchen füllen / Fill the dough into a greased pan or muffin tray

bei 175°C ca 40 min backen / bake at 350°F for approx. 40 min.

Nach dem Backen mit einer Mischung aus Zitronensaft und Honig bestreichen / after baking brush cake with a mix of honey and lemon juice.

Leider war mein Kuchen dann doch etwas zu lange im Ofen, da im Originalrezept was von 1 1/4 std im  Ofen stand. Nach ca. 50 min sah er dann schon so aus, wie auf den Foto, ich kann ja nix mit Zuckerguss kaschieren... Ich denke, 5-10 min weniger hätten auch nicht geschadet.
Jedenfalls, der Kuchen ist erstaunlich süß, könnte aber auch noch eine frischere Note vertragen. Vielleicht mach ich nächstes Mal mal was mit Ananas oder so?

Um noch mal auf meinen Zuckerverzicht zurück zu kommen. Mir war ja schon klar, dass in den allermeisten Lebensmitteln Zucker enthalten ist, dass dies aber z.B. auf ALLE süßen Backwaren beim Biobäcker auch zutrifft wußte ich nicht. Ich dachte, da gäbe es auch Gebäck nur mit Honig gebacken oder so. Negativ.... :-(

Tja, selber backen ist da wohl die Devise. Ich bin mal gespannt, ob ich genügend zuckerfreie Rezepte finde um Sonntags immer dabei zu sein. Bzw. solche Rezepte finde die mir dann auch schmecken! Denn ich will es ja nicht gleich übertreiben und habe keine Lust jetzt auch nur noch Vollkornmehl zu verarbeiten, nene, so trockene Kuchen kann ich gar nicht ausstehen.

Gute Zuckerersatz-Naschereien die ich bisher gefunden habe sind: Bananen- und andere Fruchtshakes und Smoothies, insbesondere der Avocado-Dattel Shake., evt noch mit Honig, Ahornsirup oder Agavendicksaft nachgesüßt. Getrocknete Früchte in allen Variationen. Birnenkraut und 100% Frucht-Aufstriche und natürlich frisches Obst. 

Wenn ihr noch weitere Ideen und Rezepte habt ( in denen nicht Zucker einfach mit Süßstoff ersetzt wird, denn den Geschmack mag ich GAR nicht) dann würde ich mich sehr freuen, wenn ihr sie mit mir teilt!

Viele gute Gedanken zur Fastenzeit und einen bewußten Osterweg findet ihr übrigens auch bei Maria. 

I gave up sugar (and Facebook) for Lent. And I am very surprised how hard, but also interesting this task is. It is not very easy to find the hidden sugars in groceries. Even organic bakeries use only sugar to sweeten their baking :-( But I just want to give up sugar, not eating sweets. So I guess I just have to make the sweet things myself.
Good subs I have found so far are all kind of fruit shakes, sweetend with honey, maple or agave syrup. Dried fruits, pear bread spread and jam made from 100% fruits and of course, fresh fruits.
I don't like artificial sugar substitudes in generell, that adds to my problem. But if you have any good ideas or recipes for sweets without sugar, please share them with me!

{this moment}- A Japanese Tea Ceremony

Some time back, Soulemama came up with a wonderful tradition:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. - 

Thumbs up! - Yarn Along

Knitting, reading, (and tea). My favourite things to complete a perfect day. So I am joining Ginny on Wednesdays for Yarn Along to share my passions with you. Come and join in if you like!

Hoorray, I might finish the first mitten in colorwork before easter! But, the scary part is still to come, the thumb... You see what I have to do next? I have to remove that piece of scrap yarn and insert needels into that wound... How scary is that??? And, I have to do the whole thing all over again... we'll see about that. But at least I am very happy with the way the pattern and my choice of color turned out.

my writing scares you? me too! and my teachers... ;-)

I have been reading my own notes lately which I wrote into my journal last year. And for once I feel good about what had been my plans at that time and what of that I have reached so far. Why I make plans in the middle of the year that sound a lot like new years resolutions? Well, I believe any time is better to make resolutions than new years because new years resolutions you may just make because of new years and not because you are ready for a change. But to make resolutions by the time you are ready for a change might really get you started. At least that's how it works with me. I had another really helpful push up though:  Lisa Work. I was fortunate to win one of her workshops with  Sew Liberated last  year and that really set me up. It took a while and it didn't all work out as planned, but I still reached my aim, to have my own blog and especially to be far more productiv and creative on a regular basis. It makes me so very happy and satisfied. Thank you Lisa!

Soulemama readers will have noticed my journal being made by Nikki McClure. I just adore her paper cuts , I even framed a few prints of that journal... I wish the shipping of her calender to Europe wouldn't be that expensive :-(

My boy has been sick with high fever the last couple of days so there have been long nights, early mornings and a lot of cuddles and carrying. To keep me going I used my "drug", a  beautiful Japanese Matcha tea. Preparing that tea takes time and a whole ceremonie which I will share with you in the coming days.

Last chance to take part in the candy give away, I'll choose the winner tonight :-)

Kindheitsträume

Das größte Highlight in der Faschingszeit meiner Kindheit im Norden Deutschlands war immer das Gucken des Rosenmontagsumzuges in Köln im Fernsehen. Um dabei davon zu träumen, eines dieser Kinder zu sein, die dort mit Süßigkeiten und Spielzeug bombardiert werden.  Welch ein Paradies musste es sein, in dieser Stadt zu wohnen und dort Karneval zu feiern...

Seit über zehn Jahren ist mir dieses Vergnügen nun gegönnt. Allerdings war mir damals nicht klar, wie wahnsinnig so ein Karnevalsumzug ist, was für Menschenmassen dort sind, wie viel Alkohol dabei im Spiel ist und wie anstrengend ein solchen Erlebniss damit ist. Ich wußte allerdings auch nichts, von den vielen kleinen gemütlicheren Umzügen in den einzelnen Kölner Stadtteilen (Veedelszüge), die ich im Laufe der Jahre sehr zu schätzen gelernt habe. Insbesondere mit kleinen Kindern sind diese dem Riesen-Event am Montag definitiv vorzuziehen. Zu einem solchen Umzug zog es uns denn auch heute, hinaus in ein rechtsrheinisches Veedel am Rande der Stadt. 

So sammelten wir unser Sonntagssüß heute von der Straße, und zwar nicht zu knapp. Es war sogar so viel, dass Aaron und ich euch gerne ein paar Kamelle (so nennt man hier die Süßigkeiten die geworfen werden) abgeben wollen und ein kleines Give-Away für euch vorbereitet haben. Dafür müsst ihr nur bis Aschermittwoch einen Kommentar hier hinterlassen und erklären, warum ausgerechnet ihr ein Kölner Care-Paket gebrauchen könntet. Ich werde wohl auch am Montag auf den großen Zug gehen, ohne Kind, und nur um für euch zu sammeln ;-)

Die große Sonntagssüßtafel wird heute bei Julie präsentiert. Lasst es euch schmecken!

Kölle Alaaf!!!

Dear English Reader, of course you can also take part in our give-away this week. Aaron and me have collected lots and lots of candy at the Cologne carneval parades and want to share it with you. Just leave a comment until Wednesday (the end of the carneval season) and explain why you need this care-package from Cologne very much.

Edit: Nachdem ich mich einfach nicht entscheiden konnte, wer die Kamelle nun am meisten verdient hat, habe ich doch das Los entscheiden lassen. Und die Gewinnerin ist: Maria, aka Frau Kreativberg. Herzlichen Glückwunsch und lasst es euch schmecken! 

{this moment}

Some time back, Soulemama came up with this wonderful tradition:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. - 

Going for color - Yarn Along

Knitting, reading, (and tea). My favourite things to complete a perfect day. So I am joining Ginny on Wednesdays for Yarn Along to share my passions with you. Come and join in if you like!

This week I have conquered yet another knitting fear of mine: colorwork. I have been so in love with some projects I have seen at Loris, at Ravelry and Pinterest and in my new book. That book has really inspired me a lot so far and it made me dig into my stash, come up with some lovely dk merino colors and just give it a try. Okay, I was not mistaken, it does take ages (in the beginning) and the yarn gets tangled a lot and there was some frogging of course, but now, my first mitten is growing slowly but steadily and I might even be done with the first one by easter and finish the second one by the beginning of summer. Who cares? The knitting is great! I LOVE how colors and strange pattern turn into something so beautiful, like a painting. I have even dreamed about my mittens the last two nights. Please tell me, you also have some knitting dreams every now and then.
There was tea too this week of course, nothing new though, just my regular Chai, day by day, no desire for a change here.

Happy knitting to you!

Über die Liebe

Heute bekam ich von einer Freundin dieses Video geschickt. Mir ging das Herz auf, als ich es sah und deshalb möchte ich es gerne mit euch teilen. Schließlich ist ja Valentinstag...

The video I want to show you today exists only in German. Sorry! It features children who talk about love. Very, very sweet and absolutly a reason to learn German ;-)
Furthermore I really like what Svenna said about Valentine's Day, so this video is just an addition to that.

Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

Weekending

What a busy, beautiful winter weekend we had. There was no baking though, no Sonntagssüß. Instead I am joining Amanda for some Weekending. We spend most of it outside in the cold. Both my men were standing (sitting) on frozen ice for the first time in their lives!

The "lake" we went to is in a park in Cologne, called Blücherpark. One of my very favourite spots, especially in Summer when there are concerts, public viewing soccer and weekend picnics. But no need to miss summer this weekend!

And then there was lots of crafting going on inside. I finished my socks, I did some driftwood painting and made a valentines bracelet for my man. (I know it looks like an old ladys golden bracelet, but wait till you see him wearing it...) There is a great tutorial on purlbee if you forgot the "how to" from girly days ;-)

{this moment}

Some time back, Soulemama came up with this wonderful tradition:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. - 

Stick to your socks

Socks... I think I can say I made it through the worst part. After Aarons godmother showed me how to do it I finished one heel (with lots of very wide stitches). Then again, I got that far with my first pair in school but never made it past the second heel. The other thing that kept me from finishing my socks was three beautiful skeins of chunky purple which I found on sale on Monday and which quickly wanted to be turned into a warming cowl. Only I was too lazy to find a good pattern and just cast on what fitted onto my needels. Three skeins turned out to be not very much for the nummer of stitches I cast on. The cowl became too loose but small in rows. And I really wanted something to cover my ears because I don't like hats. So, I did some folding, a few stiches of sewing and born was my very unique and cosy cowl...

This weeks tea was a memorial to my late grandmother who died last week. She and my granddad lived in the north of Germany, where I also grew up. The tea they drank every day is called "Ostfriesentee". Its a strong black tea to be drunk with sugar and cream. The special part is that you don't stir the tea after adding cream and sugar, so the tea becomes very sweet towards the bottom of the cup. The tea cups I used my grandmother gave to me a few years ago, she wanted to make sure my sisters and me wouldn't fight over her stuff when she was dead...

The book I discovered on Amazon last week has exhited me a lot so far (despite some not so new projects when you are already part of blogging country) Some ideas sound so much fun I want to share them with you soon.

Now, Wednesday morning has turned into lunch time, my boy is hungry and tired, I have to go to work soon and I am very happy I can use my new cowl! I can't wait to check out your projects tonight.

Happy knitting with Giny!

Schaufensterbummel - Window "Shopping"