Florida

I've been away to Florida for about a week.

I saw palms:

I saw pelicans:

I saw alligators:

The space shuttle (Well, technically, I only saw the external tank and the boosters, but they promised me the orbiter is there as well....)
I did plan my vacation so I could see a shuttle launch, but then the launch was pushed out by a couple of days just to the day I was flying home. A well, at least I've tried...


I saw lots and lots of water

I saw surfer dudes


And, of course, I saw a lot more but there's just not enough space for it here.

A Knitting Update

I finished a couple of projects during the last couple of weeks. The biggest one is this brown cardigan.

There was no pattern. I saw a cardigan like this at a friends place, tried it on and saw it fitted almost perfectly. I took the measurements and from then on I improvised. In the above picture it's not blocked yet, so it does look a bit wonkey.
But it does fit well and keeps me nice and warm (even with the short sleeves)
The color is a bit warmer and browner than in the picture, though.

I also finished a pair of socks.

The pattern is called Monkey and is by far the most popular sock pattern on Ravelry (with like 9200 projects). I knitted them in Amiral by Schoppel Wolle. Though I have to admit, I don't get the craze about this pattern, it is a nice enough sock and they do fit quite well.

Next is an experiment in felting


A dice bag I made from a skein of Noro Kureyon I've had lefts after finishing Lizard Ridge last year. This yarn is used a lot for felting, so I decided to give it a try. I ran it twice through the washing machine, but still wish it would have felted a bit more. I also would have liked it to shrink a bit more, but it lost maybe 10% in size, no more (I've expected something like 30%)
Ah well.


I did start two now projects - one's a pair of potholders with my rainbow pattern (--> here and here). When I gave the last pair to my sister, my mom said she also wanted a pair.

The other is possibly my project for my vacation in Iceland.

A lace shawl made from a silk/wool yarns I've bought two years ago in Seattle. The pattern is called Hanami. I've seen that pattern a while ago and finally decided to give it a go. So far it has been a lot of fun.

Speaking of vacation. As of next weekend I'll be gone for two weeks vacationing in Iceland. I'm really exited about this vacation and really am looking forward to it. I promise a lot of pictures will be taken.

The Swedish Vacation Post

So much has happened and was done in the last two weeks, I decided to split it up in two posts.

This is the first, the Swedish Vacation Post.

Last time I've visited my sister and my nephew in Sweden was four years ago, during the summer olypmics in Athen. And again I timed my vacation for the olympics. Perfect excuse to sit together, watch TV, chat and do crafty things - in short, having a damn good time.

But we didn't just sit on our butts, but also did a bit of sight seeing and making some photos.
Not far from my sister's place is a little harbor.

In the first half of my trip, the weather was not so good, but, hey, this adds atmosphere, right?


Those little huts are used to store stuff, I would think. I do love how the way is so overgrown.

We also went to Gothenburg and made a very nice boat tour through the channels and the harbor (only interupted by a little kid who pinched his finger pretty bad when we all had to duck in order to pass underneath a bridge that seperates the harbor from the channels. Eventually the parents decided they wanted to get off so they could get the little one to the hospital)

The ship in the picture is not really a ship anymore, but a hotel (but it used to be a real sailing ship - The Viking)

This church isn't a church either - it's a fish hall (but named the fish church)

The weather has improved greatly the second half of the trip, so we made another trip to the harbor.


I also played with my nephew and went to see his school (he just started his second year). He's grown so much since I've seen him the last time.

Maybe I shouldn't wait four years until the next trip - but then, there's always the winter olympics in two years ...

And the Games Go On

I'll be off next week in Sweden visiting my sister and her family. And watching the olympics. Excessively. It's turining into a bit of a tradition, as we've did this four years ago. I was stitching on 'The Minstral' from Teresa Wentzler back then and finished it while I was there. My sister, courious, started with her own stitching project and the bug was passed on again ...

This year I'll be probably mostly knit, though I have a quilting kit I want to try and my sister has done quite some lovely quilting so far, so she may be able to give me a few pointers. But for TV watching I'll work an a new pair of socks and also bring my Aran Afghan project, to work on some more squares.

Yesterday I've finished the Lily of the Valley shawl and, gosh, it turned out beautifully.


This picture was done pre-blocking (isn't is great how the shawl hides my big butt?)
I was a bit reluctant how the silk would block, but there was no reason to fear. It turned out great. I blocked the whole thing this morning and it got even more lovely then it was before.


You see what I mean?

Last night was a lunar eclipse over Germany, so, of course I tried to capture is with me camera. The 300mm lens did get some cool pics. I did play around with exposure times a lot,

I did try to caputure the famous red glow, but was not as successful as I hoped I'd be.
That's the best I've got.


Yesterday was also our traditional BBQ in the Hundsrück. Looks who was there ...

Flowers of Alaska (and Mt Rainer)

Well, that's it. I'm back home from my vacation. Nine days of Alaska and seven days of Seattle / Mt Rainer NP. The weather was so-so - there have been good days (like the last two days in Seattle) and not so good days (like most other days when it rained or was foggy or simply overcast). Not the best way to get a tan ;)

I did read Harry Potter 7 within two days (it was raining, what else was there to do?) but I also did get out for some hiking. And while hiking I did a few photos of flowers (they do have the advantage that they don't run away when one gets close ... most animals are not so accommodating)

As I don't have anything to show stitching vice (I haven't stitch anything (at all) while on vacation) and only knitted one sock (which I'm not even sure I like and might frog again), here some of those flower pictures.

The quick tour of the flowers in South East Alaska and Mt Ranier National Park

Fuchsia at the B&B we were staying in in Craig (Prince of Wales Island):



Fireweed (all over the place)


Salmonberry (taste good too)


pretty flower (might be a Columbine flower)


another pretty flower


Indian Paintbrush

Some sort of bell flower (might be foxglove)


Maybe, next time, some land scapes - and then I should have something to show on the knitting or stitching front ...

vacation update - the wildlife

Well, vacation is well underway - I've spent the last week in Ketchikan, Alaska, with a friend. A nice, quite place to relax. We also went for three days to Prince of Wales Island (to only way to get there is to take a three hour ferry ride) and checked out the wildlife there:








As you can see, we got a bit :)

Tonight, I fly back to Seattle for one more week of sightseeing (and shopping - never forget the shopping)
I've picked my books store for tonight to pick up my copy of Harry Potter 7 - all I need is a nice, comfortable place to read it.