Distractions

There's not much to show this week. I knitted half a pot holder (second to the one I've already showed last week) and one single block in the Sampler Game Board.
That's it.
Nothing else.

Reason for the lack of progress is a distraction in form of a book - or rather a book series.
It's been a while I've read a good book I could sink me teeth in (sorry about the really, really bad bun) let alone a whole series. Last book I've read where I was really looking forward to pick up every evening and read on was 'The Unexpected Apprentice' by Jody Lynn Nye (and I'm still debating with myself if I should pick up the hardback for the sequel in April or wait until the paperback is coming out)
I have my favorite authors (I love almost every single book from Mercedes Lackey) and, of course, I've loved all the Harry Potter books.
But it has been a long while (I guess since HP7 came out) that I was almost incapable to put a book down (just one more chapter...) and last night I was up and reading until 2 am.
The series in question is the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyers, the tale of Bella (human) and the vampire Edward she falls in love with (and he with her). Romantic, downright sappy in places and riddled with oh so many obstacles to their love. Corny.
And I can't stop myself from reading and wanting more.
I blame it all on my friend Petra, by the way, who took me to see the movie two weeks ago. It's all your fault!

Just to have at least one picture in here (and, oh is it hard to look at ;)) a shot of Edward and his family.



On another note, I plan on winning the 35 Million Euro jackpot this weekend.
Just so you know.

More Pot Holders

I'm working on more pot holders.
First was an experiment in double knitting, which, if I may say so, turned out pretty good. The motive is the Tardis from the TV series Doctor Who.

On one side she's blue on black, on the back side she's black on blue.
This is a fun technique and my next project is done the same way.


I have a few more ideas for this, so I guess I'll end up with many, many pot holders, or my friends and family will end up getting a lot from me.
Better than socks - at least I don't need to care about them fitting any feet, right?

Too Heart To Handle

Before my mom had her stroke a couple of years back she made pot holders for me and my sister.
Now the pair she made for herself suffered a heat involving accident, so I offered to make her an new set.

The first one (the one in darker blue) is a bit bigger than the second one, because I knitted it on a smaller circular needle (less tension). Guess is doesn't matter too much.
I hope.

Other than that, I've been stitching and made some progress on the Sampler Game Board.


It's still a fun project and one where you can easily see some progress. 14 squares down, only 50 more to go.
(hmmm, putting it this way, maybe it does look a bit more depressing than before ...)
*grin*

They Really Did It

Friends of mine got married ... after 18 years they've been together.
I was a very nice, low-key wedding and we all witnessed how they said yes.

As they've got several Star Wars themed presents, I've thought a little Star Wars cake would be fun.
I did have the figures (and yes, I know, Merilyn Monroe is not exactly Star Wars, but really, I couldn't have Leia marry Luke, right?) so all I had to figure out is how to make the cake. I wanted something simple, but then I think that the whole idea got a bit away with me. In the end (after many changes in the plan) I've made a simple chocolate sponge cake with raspberries and a marzipan cover.


I think they liked it *grin*

Brrrrrr

It's cold!
Very cold!
At least cold for here. They say it hasn't been that cold in 22 years (which might be, but then I do remember it being pretty cold two years ago)
Proof:


The temp on the upper right side is the outside temperature (in Celcius) last Wednesday morning. I know, this is not even 0°F, but, hell, I think this is pretty, damn cold.
In some parts of Germany the temps dropped to below -25°C
*brrrrrr*

On the other hand, the weather is sunny and together with the snow that came down on Monday, it makes for good photo opportunities.


I did go on a two hour hike today, and beside some cold legs (which is really my fault, as I can't for the life of me find my long johns) it was really nice.

I did start a new project and already have to show some good progress. The fabric arrived on Tuesday and I had some good stitching time the last two days.


Compared to the castle sampler, this is EASY. But still interesting enough to not being boring. There are a total of 32 houses (64 fields) all in all, so I've already got about 10% done.

Short Interuption

...just to let you know (as you have probably already seen) I've played around a bit with the layout of my blog.

Not 100% there yet, but better. I think I'm going to fine tune the title picture a little bit more, maybe even make a new one where all the threads are properly lined up.

Drumroll please

I finally did finish The Castle Sampler:


(Pattern: Castle Sampler by Teresa Wentzler)

I worked on it for quite a while, but with at least two larger (like several months long) interruptions. I did the center panel first, then worked my way left and up, only to discover that I'm pretty, damn close to the edge of the fabric. So I sewed a stripe of extra bit of fabric to the left side which helped a lot. Eventually I finished the outer border, though I did work a bit on the figures in the bottom part in between. The last two sections where the musicians and finally the lady on the right hand side.

I did write the year 2008, even though I did actually finish it in 2009. But, really, the major part was done in 2008, so I think this is okay.
The frame I've already picked out, but, as it will be custom made, I'll have to wait for it a little bit.

I've picked already my next project. It will be the Sample Game Board from The Drawn Tread. It is a bit more on the simple side than the Castle Sampler (but then, what isn't). I had to order the fabric though, so I will have to wait a bit before I can start.

On New Years Eve and New Year I was at a friend's place and didn't want to drag the big project with me, so I picked something small and simple.

Moon Dragon by Dragon Dreams. I've did this once already in August 2007, but then gave it away as a present. This one I plan to keep and make into a bookmark.

On the knitting front I've made a simple hat

(and if you believe it's easy to take a picture of yourself with pointing a camera over your shoulder at a mirror ... think again)
2x2 rip until I figured it's long enough, then degreesing for a bit, then bind of.

On the bird house front, the word (or is that the peep) is getting around.

I've noticed that the girls (I have to admit I'm sort of guessing here, but I do think those are female birds) are far more willing to share than the boys. I've been watching one bright colored bird to chase another one off not just once but several times.

Look, A Birdie

Happy New Year first off. I hope you all have a good start into the new year.

Yesterday, the bird house finally found some interest. And I have fotographic proof.