Limited Return

I am back to work and moved into the new flat, but still without internet access at home. (Need to figure out the PCs place and get either a long cable or a wireless.)

I did not knit or stitch at all through my absence, but at least I read a bit: Curse of Arckady, Hunt Ball, Polysylibical Spree, Bear Island, Point of Honor, Among the Tibetans all finally got read. I have now started Bad Dirt. Currently I read what I can find since my books are mostly still packed up since we need to figure out where the bed we ordered will fit and the other room will default to library. It makes for fun reading if you just pick up what you find. But it is very bad for the challenges as I can not find the books I put aside for those.

Off for a While

I am preparing to move and am working like crazy at packing up all the books for that. I am looking forward to living with MyGuy, but am currently stressed out. However it is my birthday tomorrow, so I will take a break from packing and (but don't tell MyGuy) get myself at least one more book. I will likely not have internet in the new flat right away, so you will hear less from me, especially since we also will be on vacation as soon as the move is effected.

Ugly Socks = First Summer of Socks Pair

This is the first pair I finished during the Summer of Socks 2007. If I keep it up at that speed they will be the only ones, too. If they fit MyGuy's Nephew's Girlfriend will get them to wear them with her boots at the THW (technical assistance corp, they do all sorts of work with firemen and other assistance in natural or manmade crises). I am happy to be finally rid of that yarn as I am no longer fond of the Regia Jaquard yarns. I also felt like I knit with pencils using the 2,5 mm needles after all those socks knit on the short 2mm needles. I have also finished the first of the Horseshoe Crab socks from Fillyjonk, but I have no photo of that yet. They will however not be ugly at all.

My Sockapalooza Socks Landed

My sockapalooza socks arrived (finally) in Norway where Vigdis can now enjoy them. Look what other goodies she got the same day. Sometimes there is just a good mail day.

I had included Swiss goodies as I work there, but also a bit of German stuff because it is where I live.

RIP II Challenge

Of course I have not enough challenges for reading, do I? (Actually I do, but I still like them too much to miss one). I joined the RIP 2 challenge and plan to read:

Jomathan Norell& Mr.Strange, I am Legend, Woman in White and one of Jim Butchers books, thus qualifying for Peril 1.

Sockapalooza received

I received my lovely socks from Ammiryam aka Gromit yesterday. You can see the "loot" in the first photo. Thank you very much for all of it, Ammiryam!
This lovely card came with the package, the colors are great. You can also see the yarn she sent me peeking out from behind the card.
Here you have a better look at the lovely green yarn. It is from Ellen's Half Pint Farm and will make lovely spring socks.
And here the piece de resistance: my lovely socks. Monkeys were on my to do list and now I do not have to do any to own some. They are lovely in many different colors and I love them.



And here they are on my feet. so you can see they fit perfectly fine. The sneak peek preview are my horseshoe crab socks with Fillyonk's pattern. WhenI first opened the package I thought the colors were the same, but in comparison: not quite.

Again, thank you Ammiryam for the lovely socks! I love the color and the pattern very much.

Lilacs finished

These socks are my rendition of Jeanie Townsend's Lilac Socks. They turned out very nicely and despite the differences in material and pattern are likely to be worn with this sweater. Happily these are done now. So the Embossed Leaves and the Ugly Socks remain. The Ugly Socks are likely to be the next commute project and therefore likely to get done.

Finished Sockapaloozas

These are my finished sockapalooza socks worn by me to show how they will look "blocked". They could use a bit of blocking as you can see from the other picture, but I do not own sockblockers and did not come up with anything good, so unblocked they will remain, though I will give them a gentle swish in the sink to get rid of the dirt they might have collected on the train (and on my feet). The pattern on the leg is called Faces in the Crowd by Barbara Walker, but I kept thinking of Friendly Faces. The instep pattern is a chevron from a different Treasury book. The socks are bit big on my feet as my pal has slightly larger feet. I just hope she can get them over her heels, they are a bit thight there.
I am pleased that I am fairly on time with these socks and with how they turned out. The yarn is from Wollmeise and the blue and red are prominent in my pal's national flag. They will go out on Monday, hope she will like them!

A bit of fun

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Quick update

My parents visit went really well and they got along with MyGuy's parents so all was good. The wheather was ok and we went to Stein am Rhein to see the painted houses. Very nice.

Wednesday was the national holiday in Switzerland and I took the chance to catch up on my sockapalooza socks (almost done) and to photograph the bears and decorations I want to put on e-bay. Now I just have to find my account and get going.

No stitching or sewing recently, but the socks are getting done this week so early next week will go off.

Sockapalooza

I heard from my sock pal just after I had realized that I needed to get going with my sockapalooza socks again. I am now 6 rows away from the heel and expect to finish them next week.

Knitting these socks makes me wonder when a sock pattern is a new design. I have combined 2 patterns from different Treasuries from Barbara Walker and did something nice with the heel, but I am not sure if this could be put out as a pattern without infringing Barbara Walker's copyright. Possibly not.

It was nice to hear from my pal, but I had not been worried. (Waves to Pal!!!)

This Sunday my parents are coming for a visit, so tomorrow I need to do some cleaning and hope to combine it with a bit more decluttering. I am getting better at throwing things out, but there is still more than we can move.

Loot and Process

After more than 2 months I finally got the surface delivery of my Elann order. You can see my loot in the first photo.
This is the first of my ugly socks. Not much progress and you get a glimpse at my Mannheim tea cup (it lights the windows when you pour warm beverages in it, advertising the electricity company in Mannheim) and my PC table.
These look much less turquois than they do in real life, where they are more bluish. Those are blocks 5 and 6 of 12 for my current Jewel Box quilt. They are taking so far 3 fabrics from my stash so Judy's (Sunshine Quilts) July Stash Challenge is met. We will see what I do with those blocks once I have finished them. They would make a quilt of 120 cm by 160 cm on their own which is a size I do not like.

Along the brook

These two pictures were taken last Saturday when MyGuy and I went for an evening stroll. You can just make out one of the young swans in the first picture.

Time flies...

I have no pictures right now, but wanted to let you all know that I am still knitting, sewing and stitching. I have turned the heel on the first of the ugly socks and am almost at the heel of the second Lilac sock. I have sewn 20 Jewel Box blocks in turquois and black-brown and have made 5 sets a 4 blocks from them. I will add 7 more sets. This is my way of participating in the July stash challenge from Judy (Sunshine Quilts). And I have a bunch more ideas of what to do with Jewel Box blocks... This will be a series I think. Hope Mum does not get to put off when I bring her the "same" pattern to quilt again and again... I have done a few thread lengths on my cross stitch tree, but you can hardly tell. I am tempted to do some blue-/redwork, but the snowmen BOM I keep seeing, I can not track down...

Nine Patch and Leaves

Yesterday I finally finished this quilt, the binding was the only thing missing, I made the blogs at least 5 years ago and my wonderful Mom quilted it for me. While this quilt was not really a scrap quilt, more of a FQ quilt, it certainly could have been. I cut squares and put them in two bags: one light, one dark. Then I proceeded to sew nine patches 5 dark, 4 light, they are all the same. The last part made it a bit challenging when it came to sewing the blocks together, but the no sames touching proved workable, the similar ones not so much. The cross pattern that you see in the photo is not aparent in real life.
The quilt got the highest possible accolade: MyGuy said, he likes it and that this one I should keep. Wow! But I have to agree, it is a keeper.
This is the first of my embossed leaves socks in Farn by Wollmeise. I took 4 stitches out which I regret now, but they still fit. However all of the photos were blurry, this one least of all.

Armchair Traveler Booklist

Not being content with the many challenges I have already going I want to join another one. This one is the Armchair Traveler Challenge by A Life in Books.

The books I have chosen are:

English Passangers by Matthew Kneale ( a cross over from the Summer Reading Challenge)
Murder on the Iditarod Trail by Sue Henry
Ladies Coupé by Anita Nair
Going after Cacciato by Tim O'Brien
Schmutzige Havanna Triologie by Pedro Juan Gutiérrez
Die Reisen des Herrn Baldassare by Amin Maalouf

Let's see how I will do with this. I need to read one of those each month which should be do able.

Summer of Socks Start

This is the sunspot sock with the first couple of rows. Not much progress, I know, but it is not a train sock, so it will be slow.


This on the other hand is my current commuter sock, a simple Nancy Bush Vintage Sock ribbing in an ugly yarn, that needed to leave my stash.
Since I am working on lots of things at the moment and have more WIPS than you want to count, here an old FO. I made this while I was at university. It only has two fabrics and it was quite a challenge to find enough sampler blocks for it. However I love it and think it turned out fairly balanced. I love the starkness of the two fabrics, made necessary by the fact that I could not find anything that would go with the purply-wine colored Jaquard. So plain muslin was used. I love two color quilts, but normally go with scrappy and different values.

No Photos - but knitting

I have cast on the yellow and orange Regia in the pattern sunspots from Barbara Walker, we will see how that goes in the long run. I have turned the heel on embossed leaves one and I have cast on for an extremly ugly sock in Regia Jaquard with one of Vintage Socks ribbing patterns. I love those, they are simple enough to do when your head swims, but entertaining enough to avoid throwing them in the corner out of pure boredom. I have out grown those Jaquard yarns, but since this was in the Stash and the only one to be knit with 2,5mm that is what got cast on. So I have 2 socks in progress for Summer of Socks and 3 that do not count.

I have also finally finished the Shell Collector for the TBR challenge, but think the book is fairly depressing. I have finished The Demon and the City which was much more entertaining. I am now undecided between the Mobile Library and starting Earthman's Burden, so I knit a bit.

We have found a flat and just need to sign the rental contract, so packing, sorting and tossing will ensue.

Summer of Socks - Start slightly off

This is the reason why my start of the summer of socks is postponed. The second sock for the Lilac Socks from the Townsend KAL, the second Sockapalooza sock and the first sock of my embossed leaves socks.






And this is the start going to be once I can get it started.

Ladder of Life finished

These are my ladder of life socks. They were originally intended for MyGuy, but were deemed to colorful and too patterned. Sigh! I have briefly considered giving them to MyGuy's nephew or nephew's girlfriend as they are both volunteers for the THW, but think the patterning might not be good in work boots. So they are mine. Much too hot for socks now, but at least the needles are free and I can borrow one for the sockapaloozas.

I finished sewing all the rows for my Bodensee quilt (calling a blue quilt Treehouse seems a bit ridiculous). Now the rows need to be joined and we will see if I add borders or just finish it like this which is what the book is showing.