Munich!

Arrived in Munich on Monday to fabulous weather!!! Definately made up for how tired we were! We're staying in the city centre and just did some basic "find our bearings" and had dinner in a beer hall. Very meat & potatoes.

Today... went to Dachau, the concentration camp, about a 30min train ride from the hotel. The town is very serene and beautiful--with a rapidly flowing, clear creek that runs right near the camp. I wondered if the prisoners would've been able to see it surrounded by the trees in the spring? The exhibit that is housed in the maintenance building is very informative and moving--and in both German and English. Only 2 of the barracks remain [and they were rebuilt in the 1960s after all the barracks were torn down due to being in bad condition].

Dinner tonight was at a wonderful Afghani restaurant, "Lemar," onBrunnstr. 4. HIGHLY recommend! If you're in Munich and want a great meal, go to Lemar! The menu is only in German, but several waiters speak English & picked out items that we weren't disappointed with. Chicken with saffron rice & spinich: a dish similar to chicken tikka and fresh salad; lamb with a sweet rice & eggplant; spiced pumpkin with yoghurt sauce; tempura-like vegetables with yoghurt dill sauce... ALL were great! A leisurely meal that took 2.5hours but was well worth it!

Random Wednesday...

Here's some Beijing for you... the Imperial Restaurant, inside the Forbidden City & Tiennaman Square. P is there on business [par the course]...it looks cloudy but it's all the smog & pollution in the air! Blech! Very crowded on the roads & greasy/spicy food he says... Hope they get ready for the Olympics in time!

Where to next week? Munich! And I get to go! Stay tuned for pics!

Random Monday!

And when you think you've seen everything--in Seattle, trees wear sweaters! Erika was clever enough to make a sweater for the tree outside her office. Here in Seattle, it's understandable that a tree would need a sweater... If you click on Erika's name, you too can see more about her tree's sweater & how to make your own. This definately wins the "super cool" award.

Done [part deux]

Ok, so I never posted the WIP of cascading leaves & mata hari...but here's the finished products!

On top, we have cascading leaves in Fleece Artist in mineral [addi #1]...there are a few little baby hiccups in the pattern but pretty unnoticeable. Some people would probably say that the dark color really doesn't show off the pattern very well, but I like it b/c it's more subtle. If I had done the pattern down on the foot instead of the ribbing, it wouldn't have fit into shoes and would've only been worn in the hiking boots!

Next...is Mata Hari from Steph [Craftoholic]. These are in STR farmhouse. The BEST socks I've done so far! The pattern was super easy & the colors made it easy to pick up those gusset stitches & the toe turned out perfect too! One thing I was bummed about...no pooling...not even a puddle of color anywhere on the foot/heel, etc.

Back to the my intarsia sweater in Blue Sky Cotton...pictures soon...

Done!

Done!

One Skein Wonder [ok, 1.5 skeins]
Manos del Uruguay Cotton Stria
Needles = US9
Arm Trim = US6
Neck/Back Trim = US8

Didn't really do a gauge swatch since I didn't want it too snug on it but it's comfy to wear...
I'm not coordinated enough to take a pic wearing it!

Kuala Lumpur

Some pictures from hot & humid Kuala Lumpur...it's about 95* and humid...pictures of the pool from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel which is right next door to the Petrona Towers...

P is there on work...but have to admit, it looks quite nice!

~c

Lookie!

Look what I got the other day! Got a coupon from the LYS and decided to spend it on this...really want to do the hourglass sweater...but fof some reason I also have a weird affinity for the knitted animals...

The little draw-string sacks are cute too...

~c

Georgia Weekend

And check out the socks my mom sent me--just waiting till I got home! Pink & green Lorna's Laces in "knit happens"...

Ok, not the best picture...but we had a good weekend in Georgia! There were 40 greyhounds there for the event--so exciting! Evie did spectacularly I think--she got a 5th place on Saturday & a 3rd place on Sunday. She ran against dogs that were 2-3yrs old & she's 5.5yrs...so nice & consistent!

Sir Mark Prescott travelled all the way from England...and I've learned why the stories about Evie keep exaggerating! She'll soon be a legend in her own mind.

Oliver did wonderfully as well. I honestly was a bit worried about running him b/c his toe seemed a bit fat, but he did well on Saturday. He had 20 other open dogs for competition and came in around 6th...he didn't run on Sunday. BUT, for the conformation match, my "professional" show handler, Bridget, did wonders and he got 4th!!!! Ollie the show dog!

Overall a first class event...nice people, great food, etc. We'd definately go back. The only thing that sucked was the fact that I came home with a nasty cold~

The Mysteries of Ollie...

Ollie spends most of his time asleep upside-down on the sofa like this...

There aren't really any words that can describe how nutty the kid is...

And feeling like I've neglected the cats for awhile, I have decided to make them each a kitty pi. I have some leftover cascade 220, peace fleece & rowan big wool that should turn into nice pi[s]. More on that later.

Ollie's a nut...

Pilfered Koigu!

AHHAHAH!

I'm trying to decide if the penalty for a friend shipping her *beautiful* order of koigu to my house is to have it pilfered by me?!?!?!

8 lovely skeins of KPPM--4 in blues and 4 in pinks...very very tempting!

~c

Sock Starting to Rock?

So, Bridget & I went to Tricoter the other day and they just got a brand spankin' new shipment of STR in that hadn't even been opened yet! How cool were the ladies there who let us pilfer the box and pick out some colors!!!!

Anyway, I picked "Farmhouse" and let it settle for awhile before starting Pretty Petals by Jean Townsend...

Not too bad so far!

~c

Knitting Fool!

I am a knitting fool! Since the last post, I worked on AND felted my "hobo grommet bag."
Pattern = decidedly hilltop [LYS]
Yarn = Cascade 220 in jet [on Addi Turbo #9s]
All that's left to do is let it dry & add the grommets!

Project #2...alison's ankle socks. Tricky b/c they require short row heels--and that was a pain in the ass to figure out!
Pattern = the blue blog [see link above]
Yarn = artyarn supermerino [superwash] 110 [on Addi Turbo #1s]

Wasn't sure what I was going to do with the artyarns--it's SO pretty in pinks/purples/reds and ankle socks seem perfect :) It's a bit thick for a footie, but should be perfect with tennis shoes! Kinda did a modified kitchener--so it would have a bit of a seam across the foot like on a regular store-bought sock...

Done!

DONE! No, my feet are weirdly shaped, but it was the easiest angle to get the picture with the raquetball-sized left overs...The toe on #2 was more difficult for some reason than the toe on #1 [seems more gappy]...

Differences between #1 and #2? #2 gusset turned out perfectly, where the decreases on the foot kinda got messed up b/c I was attempting to multi-task & the toe gaps! #1 had some gusset issues but the decreases on the foot were perfect and so was the toe...how weird!

Now what to do with the leftovers in the ball?

Dirty Water!

Yuck! Dogs came back from a free coursing weekend and they're coats smelled like stale gym socks...quick wash in the sink and YUCK, brown/black water...the yellow coats were even worse...and the pink keep bleeding pink...least they smell somewhat fresher now...

One Down, One to Go!

After some puffy pancake [a whole page should be dedicated at some point to this yummy breakfast treat]... I finished the sock! Kitchener stictch worked out ok, but b/c of the varigation in the yarn it seems to stand out a bit more since it's all done in "one" color. On to sock #2...

Olympic Update...

Thoughts include...

Skeleton. You have a helmet, leotard & sled + ice chute + head-first = insane!

Super G. 80mph or more + ice + sharp turns = better than an action movie! Greyhounds would clearly excel in this--have you seen Cherry run?

Ice dancing. Why? Isn't that what pairs is for?

Curling. It's a broom & a rock on ice. It's not a sport. If you added a cat, it would at least be funny. See...Miss Thing looks funny...now imagine her on ice...

My sweater. Front & back done & joined. One sleeve done. Hood done [but do I want a hood now? Directions on attachment are weird anyway]. Sleeve #2 = 1/4 done. Pictures to follow once the batteries re-charge.

~c

Socks From Hell...

Ok, after *much* trial and tribulation, I finally got the gusset stitches on this freakin' sock picked up and turned! I couldn't figure it out for the life of me [newbie knitter + hard to figure out directions = 1am bedtime]! Well, that and about 10000000 visits to various blogs for "how to" help plus a few yahoo groups--and another wish for Cherry to take the damn thing & run through the house with it like she did last week [which resulted in me re-doing the entire thing from about 1/2 way down the cuff AGAIN...]

There are a *handful* of tiny mistakes, but not too readily noticable--and they will not appear on the other sock when I get around to it!

Not entirely sure if I'd recommend a sock for someone just starting out--but damn if I wasn't determined to get it done :)

Wow...

Long weekend in sunny and *warm* Mexico on a mini-cruise. Needed that for sure--too much rain here in Seattle. Brought along my sock to try and get the gusset done--didn't make it that far.


Still working on my sweater for the Knitting Olympics...should be able to have it done? Had to pull apart & re-do the back since I apparantly decided to knit it 100 times looser than my gauge swatch. BUT, the front and back are done & put together...can't figure it out but when I tried it on, it hung on me like a damn cape or something...maybe that will improve with the sleeves being added? If not, a round in a hot water wash in the laundry may solve that problem ;) Onto the sleeves!

Dogs are happy to be home [well the boys anyway, will be getting the girls tomorrow]...the cats are generally chatty--which to Gizmo indicates "snack food..." Ugh...

~c

My First Sock!

Check it out! I was getting frustrated, but finally figured out my first sock on 2 circular needles! Yeah me! Sorry, just exciting since it seemed to take forever to figure it all out!

Yarn: Sockotta [45% cotton/40% superwash/15% nylon]

Color: 6672 [light grass green, blue, chocolate brown & cream/yellow flecks] --self striping

Other Stats: US2 = 7 sts/inch; 414 yds. approx.; 100g

I'm just on a posting ramage with this!

~cindi

Big Savings!

The sweater I really want to do! Handmaiden Cashmere from Canada! Not sure which color, but you can take a peek...probably about the same cost as a cashmere sweater using cashmere from Axelle @ Two Pointy Sticks, but I bet it's just fabulous :)