Yarn along - Imagining Winter

While outside the sky is covering this part of the world with clouds as grey as the citys concrete and rain is filling the rivers to the brim, I am dreaming of snow and clear blue skies and fresh crispy air. As long as that is not happening I have started to create my own litte winter world:
While the last bits if christmas decorations are nicely tucked back into the cellar boxes, little Snowdrops are have been placed on sills and tables and snowflakes have started to cover the windows, at least from the inside. Inspiration for the snowflakes I got in a German magazin called "Landlust". Such a simple way to winter up, just drawn with a piece of curd soap and very easy to remove.

 And there is still that book with me at all times. "The Snow Child" Lori has been talking about a while ago when she returned from Alaska. I am taking extra long to finish this, because it fits my mood so well and I want to treasure the beauty I find on each page. Its been a while since I read a book as wonderful as this one. To not finish it too fast there is enough time for some baby (or acctually toddler) knits, some more free style babylegs and this tunic that I have wanted to make even before I knew I would get a girl. Just wondering when it will fit her but she will grow into it eventually I guess...

In the meantime I keep looking up to the sky hoping for that snow still, someone mentioned next weekend, oh my, how sweet that would be.

I am joing Ginny for Yarn Along today.

Yarn Along - Knitted Landscapes

Knitting and reading - my favorite things to complete a perfect day. So I am joing Ginny for Yarn Along today to share my passion with you. Come and join in if you like!

Last week I had around five lucky minutes at the liberary. One of my favourite founds was this inspiring read about Yarn Bombing. I posted some yarn bombing pictures that I had found in Colognes streets a while back and I always feel lucky when I find another piece somewhere in the streets. It hadn' really crossed my mind though to create my own piece of knitted streetart. Not until I picked up that book. But the chapter that inspired me most was the one about knitted landscapes by two dutch artists . That's what I feel like I want to try myself. I have been in love with the land art by Andy Goldsworthy for a long time now. Adding knitting to a landscape just seems to make sence for me.

And what better use could there be for all those small amounts of experimentally colored handspun yarn that I have, than transforming it into knitted land art? So far I only knitted up one simple square and sewed it around a stone I had at home.  It was funny, how that knitted square fitted around that unusal shaped stone very smoothly.

I can think of a great spot for my knitted stone, but I didn't manage to go there yet. Next time we'll spend at the shores of our river I will take it along and place it in the landscape. Hopefully this weekend the weather will be ok as we want to go and celebrate St. John's  and a little belated Solsitice with a bonfire on Sunday. I know, Solstice is today, but it is raining badly around here and I have to work late so we postphoned it to the weekend. But, of course happy Solstice to all of you! I hope we will at least see a little bit of the sun today at one point...

Good to be a little weird!

Knitting and reading - my favorite things to complete a perfect day. So I am joing Ginny for Yarn Along today to share my passion with you. Come and join in if you like!

I finished the crazy colored socks and started some plain grey sneaker socks that my man will get for his birthday next week. he wished to have some knitted sneaker socks, so nothing can go wrong here...
Sometimes I feel weird to knit woolen socks in summer. People seem to give you weird looks when you knit in public (i knit on trains, in parks, in cafes etc)  but usually I just don't care. Most of the time I think there is nothing wrong with people thinking I am weird. Cause I might just be weird, I don't like being very normal anyway. I guess that's why I like the book I am reading this week: "Irre". It could be translated "Insane" and is written by a psychiatrist who explains, why we should not be afraid of psychologicaly sick people (most of them at least) but of those being very healthy, but crazy. (Like some politicians, finance managers and other people who would like to run the world etc.) We can only treat and help people who feel sick and suffer. Most of them are all worried about their own being. Those who are crazy but don't suffer they are the dangerous potential. The book also gives very well written and simple explainations of most of the main psychological problems like addiction, depression, fear, schizophrenia etc. There are so many statements in this book that I find very, very, helpful to learn about for my work and privat affairs.
I think this strawberry has also developed some sort of personal disfunction. It seems like it would rather be a shrimp... But, and that's what I have learned from the book: there is no need for treatment as long as this strawberry feels very happy looking like a shrimp...

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!

Oh how I wish my days had more then 24 hours. There are so many things I want to do, so many projects in line, books to read, posts to post, people to love, hours to spend in the sun and than there is work that wants to be done, meetings to attend etc. And I just absolutly love to sleep, I need a minimum of 8 hours to really make it through my day without downs.  So just a short post today to yarn along a little. My latest project on the needles (with my second sock from last week still not finished!) is this vest for Aaron. I wanted a simple, smart looking pattern, to show off the yarn, some handspun gotland sheep wool I got at the sheep festival last week. I plied it with some blue but over twisted single my sister gave me to free use. Mixed with the grey it is so lovely. Knitted up it reminds me of a forest lake shimmering in the moonlight. The ball is almost finished though so there needs to be a lot more spinning...

Suiting my rather limited reading hours I have got these days, I found this 40 pages book (The man who planted trees) in the library. Such a wonderful treasure! Its a bit like a fairy tale about a shepherd in the french alps who planted trees for many decades and by that rebuild a complete, dying landscape. A story about sustainability, believe, the strength of men power and simplicity. The story has been illustrated by one of my favourite illustrators, Quint Buchholt but that edition only excists in German. But there are some other nice editions available in English. This book also make a wonderful present!

Happy Knitting!

Yarn Along - Cover up your needles!

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!

Last week there has not been too much knitting but I finished the first sock that I showed you last time. The one here is the second one but I forgot to take a picture of the finished sock although the colorway is very interesting and worth showing... Sorry about that. I will show you the finished pair soon, hopefully... 

Today I want to show you something else though, I prepared a little tutorial for you, because yesterday I got tired. Tired of loosing the stitches off my needles all the time. That happens because I carry my knitting with me all day in a small bag that is getting draged in and out of my backpack constantly. And at home there is this very vital toddler... 

I needed something to cover my needles. And I needed it soon. It was night and there was no way I way going to do any shopping to solve the problem. So some upcycling it was:

I needed some material that would be strong enough to stop the needles from poking through it yet flexible enough to cover them and keep them together. That's when I remembered the broken tire from my last bike repare. Lucky me... But you can basically use any strong flexible material such as leather, tarpaulin etc.

I cut two 5" (12 cm) from the tire and opend them on one side.

Then I used a round item to draw a circle of 3" (7,5 cm) onto the tire and cut it. Repeat with the second piece.

I marked twelve spots (like a clock) and pinched holes through the tire pieces.

For the next step I used two strong elastic strapes (the blue one in the first picture turned out to not be strong enough but I found some brown left overs) and pulled each of them halfway through the holes as shown in the picture. Repeat the same with the second circle.

I fixed the elastic with a knot at both ends pulling the circles together as good as I could.

Last I tied the two pieces together. The length of the elastic should depend on the size of your needles. The elastic should be under tension when on the needles. Done! Such a fun way to upcycle!

I hope my tutorial was helpful for you.

 Oh, and I almost forgot, of course there has been some reading, even a lately rather rare visit to library in fact with some good outcome. A book about dying with natural colors, a knitting book for women of weight which I was very, very happy to find in the library as it has been on my waiting list at Amazon for month now and an easy reading murder mystery (only available in German) located in Brittany/ France which I read on my train ride to work these days. All of them make me happy on different levels, just like knitting different projects at the same time for different ocassions. You know what I mean, right?

But for now, I will hop over to Ginny and see what you have been up to last week. I see you around!

Happy Knitting!

Yarn Along - color freaking me...

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!

Somehow color just seams to happen to me, it comes and goes in turns. Right now color is boosting! My newest sock yarn is kind of crazy but its such fun to knit. The yarn is a single Zauberball from Schoppel. I hope the unplied yarn will be strong enough...

This is my third pair of socks since I conquered my fear of kntting socks and I must say, it is becoming fun! But, there has to be a good colorfull yarn. The second pair I made for a college who gives me a ride in his car from time to time. The color was rather boring, some sprinkled almost plain blue, but his choice. This one will be for me!

Do you know the book I have been reading to Aaron lately? Its the same one my mum used to read to us and I am still in love with it. The good thing, I know it by heart and can "read" it even when Aaron turns the pages too fast or flips the book (which he does often). And, are you surprised, there is a page about colors in it :). The story is about a mice family who work very hard to gather food for the coming winter. One of them doesn't help out though. Fredericks excuse is that he gathers sun shine, colors and words, for the long, cold and gray days of winter. A wonderful story! 

Amongst all those colors, did you discover the green smoothie? I am totally into green smoothies these days. Not just because of the color. They are (can be) so delicious when made with the right simple choices: Spinach, apple, banana and some salad leaves work great, even Aaron likes it and he is not into vegetables at all...

The baby bunting from last week was finished this weekend and passed over to sweet three month old Liana. What a cutie pie she is! 

The dandelion syrup from last week got me started on the syrup, and what else could I be making, than rhubarb syrup? I only had enough rhubarb for one bottle though which I toke to my friends birthday, added by some bottles of sparkling water so mix a great soda. Soooo yummy! There is more rhubarb syrup to come these days! :)

Of course there is not only color in my life, work has been stressfull the last days, Aaron and me are still sick with some exhausting cold and money is as short as it has never been before. Enough to freak me out...  That makes it even more important to me to enjoy the exploding nature, spinning, music, knitting and all the colors around me as much as I can.

Here is a song I want to share with you that lifts up my spirits so much, not just this song, all the music by the wonderful Senegalese artist Habib Koite. Enjoy!

Happy Knitting!

Yarn long - A Baby Bunting

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!

Oops, is it Wednesday again? I almost missed it! But, no Wednesday without knitting and reading, right?! Since I started spinning I am on the lookout for small projects to knit with the spun yarn which still is rather individuel to put it nicely... Not so many things can be made with it. Especially nothing to wear, the yarn is still too thick and a bit itchy. But, I am positive I will solve that issue in the near future. Until I am able to spin my own fine sock yarn I will just have to be creative with my projects... and there comes in the baby bunting. I am going to meet my friends baby Liana for the first time next Sunday and I want to welcome her with a little bunting, possibly with her name stitch or sewed on with some fabric, I don't know yet, any ideas?
A bunting is a great project for hand spun yarn because you only need very small amounts of yarn and can show off with all colors and mix them wildly if desired. I found helpful instructions for buntings with hand spun yarn here. Only I cast on with 20 sts and finished a few rows earlier. Some more colors to go now... Btw, did you see Loris buntings she knitted for different seasons, for example the summer bunting? Soooo fantastic!
Well, besides the knitting there is still lots and lots of spinning and dyeing, lots of purple, lilac, lavender shades lately, with a special person on mind... ;-)
Which brings me to the reading... what else could it be, spinning books of course! The lady who sold me the wheel had sent her old spinning books too. They are not on the market any more, so lucky me...
And I also found some interesting books in our library. So much input..
Now I can't wait to check out what you have been up to last week, yarn wise. See you at Ginny's!

Happy Knitting!

Yarn Along - Mama Sambona enjoys life

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!

My holidays are over. Two great weeks have been spent with lots and lots of Family, Knitting, Spinning and Dyeing. The coming weeks working call for some easy to-go knitting projects again. Stuff I can knit on the train, in a meeting or in a waiting room of a doctors office. Oh yeah, with my clients I usually spend a LOT of time at those places, not the worst places to work at when you have some knitting. In fact, its the best thing to do to pass time and whilst knitting I can still pay all the nessesary attention to my clients.
In my tea break I often spend some time in one of my favourite cafés, today I went to "Cafe Eichhörnchen" a very small and wonderful Belgium café, fortunatly just near my todays clients place. There is nothing better for a break than some french music, a tea or coffee and some knitting, right?!

I picked up one of my UFOs as an easy project to-go. It`s the babys kicking bag I started a while back and got stuck with because I ran out of yarn I had dyed turquoise with easter egg dyes. 

Now I finally bought another skein of organic yarn. Because I was very sure I would not manage to dye another skein in exactly the same colorway I decided to go for a completely different color instead. This orange is what happend...  I frogged a lot of what I had already knitted to start with the orange earlier. What can I say, color really makes me do it. I am so exhited about how the combination of colors is working out so I started knitting like crazy and am almost done by now. I will never again knit such a simple, call it boring, project again in only one color because I will never finish it. Mix in some more colors and the stitches are flying away... you just need to know how to outsmart yourself.

Oh and there is this wonderful book I found in a book store and have enjoyed so much already. I am not sure at what age I should read it to Aaron but I am sure I will. There is no English translation so I wil try to tell you the story here:
The lady you can see in the picture is Mama Sambona. She lives as a queen on the Island Ukerewe in Lake Victoria in East Afrika (part of it belongs to Uganda btw.) Mama Sambona is very old and Dead has plans to take her "home". Problem is, Dead is only allowed to try and take someone home three times. Since he knows Mama Sambona will not be an easy play, he sends his rabbit first but Mama Sambona is nowhere to be found: Her neighbour informs rabbit the queen went to Uganda to buy some hunting dogs. Rabbit does not like hunting dogs and runs off. Dead is angry with rabbit and pays his own first visit to Mama Sambona. Dead politetly asks her to finish her tea and join him on their way back to the ancestors but Mama Sabona excuses herself because she still has to help her granddaughter with her homework. Dead knows he can't let somone die as long as that person does something good for a child so he leaves in vain.  The second time Dead come for Mama Sambona, she can't join him because she is harvesting millet for her granddaughter. The third time Mama Sambona has organized a big festival so Dead believes she welcomes him with music this time to say good bye to her people. But Mama Sambona asks Dead for a dance and Dead enjoyes that dance so much he completely forgets what a he came for.
That is why Mama Sambona still lives on her Island Ukerewe and drinks her tea with pleasure. She gave up smoking though... :-)

Happy Knitting!

P.S.: I found a spinning wheel, or rather my sister did. It might  be with me by next week! I am so exhited!

Yarn Along - Spinning Beginnings

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!

In German there is a funny homonym for the word spinning because "Ich spinne" (I am spinning) can also mean "I am nuts". My dad never stopped to tease my mum with her spinning abilities and he is very delighted that I have now joined the club (both my sisters know how to spin also, so all his family is nuts now...). 

Aaaah, what a fantastic feeling to make your own yarn. The possibilities are just endless (after a few days of practice of course and with the right fiber).

If you get your wool straight from the sheep, like my mum did, there is a lot of work like washing and carding involved in the process until you can actually start spinning. I was fortunate enough that my mum had already prepared enough wool for me so I could get the wheel going soon.

Because my mum and me are not the most constructive teacher-student match, I had ordered for this very great book on spinning and additionally watched some very helpful videos on You Tube (in German) It all together has been very successful:

The first bobbing I filled was full of overtwisted and fluffy parts, an unintended thick-and-thin thread but I it was love on first sight :-) Once dyed and turned into a ball it looked some more serious and less curly and even knittable...

I dyed it in a deep blue. I plied it (twist it with another yarn) with some very thin yarn my sister had spun earlier, dyed in a green-blue

I only had one skein so I decided to knit it up into a small basket from "More last minute knitted gifts".

Oh, all that dying... (we used chemical dyes this time as we didn't have all the ingredients for natural colors)

We also dyed some of the wool before spinning (the purple in the top picture). 

Today Aaron and me arrived back home in Cologne, after 10 days at my parents place. A suitcase full of handspun goodness, a few skeins still ready to be dyed into any given color. Now my search begins for my own spinning wheel... oh how I want that right now...

Aaron never left his daddys arm again after the reunion at the train station, it was the longest time they had ever been seperated and as soon as we got home all three of us cuddled up on the sofa for the rest of the evening...

Happy Knitting!