Squares 21 to 23

I'm fairly close to finish the Great American (Aran) Afghan. I managed to finish knitting squares 21 - 24 (though 24 still needs blocking) and started on the border (of which I'll need to knit 6 or 7 meters *gulp*). After that all I need to do is sew the thing together and I'm done (excuse me for a moment as I leave the room to laugh hysterically at the idea of 'just' needing it to sew together - don't expect results this side of the century)

- Block 21: GAAA, designed by Dagmara Berztiss: nothing much to say about this one. Fairly straight forward. Like the knotwork pattern

- Block 22: GAA #12: Another entrelac. This one I enjoyed more than the other one, maybe because the entrelac goes over more stitches - less turning around the work.

- Block 23: GAA #16: oak leaves and acorns. Fun to do


On the other side, I finished knitting Hanami. Below is the shawl pre-blocking and all scrunched up. It looks to be 30 x 110cm - which is waaaaay too small.


I started to block the living daylight out of it though, and now I'm at 40 x 140cm - which is better, but still, I think a bit on the smallish side. I'll need to do some deep meditations (maybe while a sew together the monster afghan) to decide if I do it again with more repeats / different yarn / larger needles.

For blocking I used welding rods in lieu of blocking wires and it seems to work pretty well, though the threating of the stole on the wires is a bit painful. The matte is one of those puzzles things for kids, which I bought two packs of last week when they were on sale. One of my better buys I think.

Renaissance Fair In Büdingen

Last week friends of mine sent out an e-mail about an Renaissance Fair in Büdingen, which is about 60 km away from where I live. I joined up with another friend and drove there today.

The fair is held every other year in the old center of the town, which is considered one of the best kept medieval strongholds in Europe (I didn't know that before). It's spread out over a surprisingly large area, which made for a rather roomy event. Most of the fairs I've been to are usually rather crowded, but here you really could get around and see many different things all over the place.


There were a large number of people in medieval garb and it was very obvious that many people used it to meet up, and that they generously suffered the presence of all those modernly dressed people.

Of course, there were also knights.


I don't actually think there's a tournament, but that they just hacked at each other for the fun of it.


Misbehaving people where treaded befitting their crime.

...or, maybe they just did it for the fun.


And there was music all over the place

Iceland 2009 - More Pictures

Iceland's people are still rooted in some of the Nordic mythologies. Allegedly, they still believe in trolls and elves. We found this troll house at the harbour of Keflavik at our first day in Iceland. Inside, the furniture is three times as big as normal beds or tables and if you listen very hard, you can hear the troll snore in his sleep next door.

Iceland, being an island, has a lot of water around it and many, many lighthouses. I can't show a picture of each one, so this one has to do. It's the one of Akranes on the West coast on a sunny and very quite evening.

We didn't plan to, really, but we happened to be in Reykjavik on Iceland's independence day (17th of June). We saw the prime minister and the president of Iceland lay down a wreath at the stature of Jón Sigurdson (a Icelandic freedom fighter) not twenty meters away from where we stood and then joined the party that broke out all over the city. We also saw some people wearing traditional clothing. I simply loved that one.


One thing I came to Iceland for was the waterfalls. The biggest one is the Dettifoss, which is seriously impressive (maybe not Niagara Falls impressive, but pretty close to it). It's in the middle of nowhere, with one parking lot close by reachable only by a 30 km gravel road (and I'm generous there - the road was terrible). What the picture doesn't show is how friggin' cold it was that day, and how windy and rainy.


Funny enough, this picture of the Godafoss was taken on the same day as the one from the Dettifoss. It's really amazing how fast the weather could change. That day, for example the whale watching tour in Husavik didn't go out at all, because it was so stormy - the next day, the weather was perfect ...

I saw a picture of this waterfall (Svartifoss) in a wall calender I've got for this year and just knew I had to get there. It was a 40 min steep hike to get there, but well worth it.


When driving along the South coast you can see several glaciers - which were in fact all outlets of one single glacier, the Vatnajökull, Europe's largest glacier. Most times, sadly enough, the glaciers were hiding behind clouds, but a couple of times, the sun came through and so I got this lovely shot (during our boat trip on the glacier lagoon)


I love this sculpture in Reykjavik. It's called the Sun Voyager.

Iceland 2009 - The Birds And The Beasts

I spent the better part of the last three days to condense the number of pictures I took in Iceland down to a more manageable level. Of course, I can't show all of those I loved most here, so only a small selection.

The picture of the seagulls was taken close to a small lighthouse on the Western most tip of the Snaefellness peninsular. It was a bit of a bumpy right to get there, but when we finally reached the lighthouse (in a lovely shade of bright orange) we already saw seagulls and other birds in the air. Stepping up to the cliff edge we already could see the first nests. My friend (who has a touch of vertigo) was very happy when I finally crawled back from where I was laying on my stomach to get this picture.


These bird were found pretty much at the same location, they just nested closer to the water.


When we were in Reykjavik, we took a boat out to one of the smaller islands in the harbour to go and watch for puffins. We didn't get quite as close as I would liked to have, but eventually we got good at spotting the birds in the water and take pictures just when they were taking off. I love those little fellows, they are really cute.


In Höfn, a smallish town on the Soutch coast (well, maybe smallish for most of the world - with more than 1.600 people living there it is after all the largest settlement on the South coast), we took a little drive around when we noticed sea swallows sitting practically everywhere; including the street. When we got out of the car, I got flashes of The Birds by Hitchcock. Luckily, none of the birds got really close, but still, it is a bit spooky.
Those swallows are fast! I took maybe 70 shots, but only a few were good (bird in picture, bird in focus, bird in a good position)


So much for the birds.
In Husavik, on the North coast, we went on a whale watching tour. I've seen a couple of different whales over the years but this was the first time I got a big blue whale. They are really, really big. They are also not very good to take pictures of. You can spot them easily enough, but unlike the orca or, say, the sperm whale, they aren't usually into showing off, and when they dive, you don't even get to see the fluke.
Still, very impressive.

If Iceland is famous for one thing (except for a crappy economy) it's the famous Iceland pullover, made from Iceland wool, taken from the Iceland sheep. You can seen sheep in all places, sometimes walking along the street you want to drive one. This one obviously has not been sheared and is in the process of loosing its winter coat.
(and, yes, I bought some wool in Iceland - I just can't show it was we sent it by mail and it's not here yet)

One thing my friend was particularly eager about is the Iceland horse (not that I blame her, I love those little horses too). Though we didn't take a ride, we at least stopped once in a while to take some pictures. I believe those two are from the last day we were in Iceland.

Teaser

I returned yesterday from my two weeks in Iceland. It's a very beautiful place and I plan on posting a lot more pics than the one below. But first I have to sort through the circa 2.300 photos I've taken, weed out the grap, and decide which are acceptable for the general public. I've gone through the first five days so far, so I guess it will be a little bit ...

Strokkur Geysir erruption

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.

Orientation

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Guild and Trade

Last weekend we went to the Zunft- und Handwerkersmarkt in Seligenstadt (guild and trade market).
It was a fantastic showcase for old (as in traditional) arts, like millering, black smithing, spinning, carpeting ... (basically all the stuff that was already known in the middle ages and required a profession to do)

The place for the event was the (now defunct) abby in Seligenstadt. The weather was fantastic and the setting fitted perfectly the event.

There also was some needle crafts, like making bobbin lace.

There was also a very lovely lady, who did a lot of explaining, and if I had time I think I would be tempted to try a hand in it myself.

There was also some entertainment, like this group here, which did a very funny little play.

And there were also some acrobats, like this lady on the trapeze.


It was a very lovely day.

Playing With Dolls

I admit, I'm probably too old to play with dolls anymore - though something like that never did stop me before, so why should I start now?
What I did start with is with MAKING dolls - or rather A doll (singular)
His name is Wictor (yes, with a 'W') and he's based on the character of Pavel Chekov in the new Star Trek movie. There's this scene in the movie where he's trying to enter his pass code, but instead of saying 'Victor, Victor' he ends up saying (with his cute Russian accent) 'Wictor, Wictor'



He's actually more of a test balloon, because I plan on making a Spock, a Kirk and a McCoy doll eventually, though I think not with the above pattern (which actually is based on the Kuschelschaf)

Sightseeing

Last Thursday was a public holiday here in Germany. I did work on that day, though, and swapped it out for Friday. I then used the opportunity to take my time to drive home (usually, it's a 4 1/2 hours drive) and made a stop in Erfurt, which is pretty much on the way.

The first three pics are still from Dresden, though.

The Frauenkirche (The Lady's church), probably one of the most famous churches in Germany. It had been destroyed during the bombing of Dresden in 1944/45 and only been rebuilt a couple of years ago.

This is the Fürstenzug (or, rather, the beginning of it), a larger than life panorama made up of 25.000 tiles and depicts the parade of 35 lords, princes and kings of Saxony, plus 59 followers. It's about 100 years old and is on the side of the castle's stable. Of the people depicted in in I particularly like Friedrich der Gebissene - Friedrich the bitten one.

Another famous place in Dresden is the Zwinger, which looks like a castle, but is rather a museum (or several museums)
If you should have a Second Life account, you can go to the Old Master's Gallery anytime you like. It's is in fact the first museum in the world that has been completely replicated in the virtual world.

In Erfurt I went to see the Dom.

The Dom was founded about 1250 years ago, though it has changed its look several times over the centuries.

The altar was built originally in the 14th century. A bit on the kitch side of things, but still quite impressive.

Blooming

I took this series a couple of weeks back when the opening of the orchid coincided with me being at home for once.
Pretty cool, eyh?

I've started a short sleeved jacket for myself based on an already existing jacket I saw at a friend's place. Nothing too exciting, really, mostly lots and lots of stockinett knitting. There's making progress (the back and one of the fronts is done), but nothing I've bothered to take pictures of yet.

After the trek dinner yesterday where I brought the Kuschelschaf from last week along and throwing around some ideas sparked by the new Star Trek movie, I'm now working on a star trekified version of the sheep, based on the character of Chekov. I've got the body knitted up and now fighting with the sweater. I've got it almost licked, but am not really satisfied how the back is shaping up, so I guess there will be a second one eventually. I'm running out of stuffing - note to myself: get more.

Kuschelschaf

It's all Birgit's fault. She was the one who gave me the yarn.

When I looked up on Revelry what to do with the super fluffy yarn, I came across the pattern for this: das Kuschelschaf (translated: The cuddle sheep)

Here it is pre-assembly: (is that just me, or does that look like somebody has killed the poor sheep and is now waiting for the crime scene people to find out who did it?)

I did run out of the lighter blue yarn after I made one of the ears, so I decided to rib up the diagonal scarf, which I didn't like anyway, even though it was very soft and warm, and recycle the darker blue yarn for the ears and the tail of the sheep.

And here he is in all his glory:

That Stupid Grin

I did go and saw the Star Trek movie last night and still have difficulties to get that stupid grin off my face. I have to admit, I was a bit skeptic about the movie - it's been a long time since anything Star Trek really was any good - but, boy, that movie did deliver. First of all, the chemistry between the actors was great. There were many, many nods to the good old times, enough to made me laugh out several times. The actions was good, too, and the special effects a thing of beauty. And the story didn't suck either. All in all, a very happy old Star Trek fan here.

Well, I've been busy as well.

This top was done within ten days. I used some yarn from an old project which I had not liked how it came out. I could - with about 30cm to spare - have made do with the yarn I had, if I had foregone the little armlets, but as I really like them I'm happy had I made the trip to my favorite yarn store and got another skein of the yarn.


The pattern is a variation of something I saw in a German magazine, but really, all I took was the basic stitch pattern and made up the rest pretty much on the go.
This time I'm happy with the outcome, so I don't think I'm going to rip that up again.

Another thing I finished is a summer scarf I've started last summer in June and was sitting around doing nothing for the longest time.


Pattern is the Lace Ribbon Scarf from the Summer 2008 issue of Knitty. The yarn is some mysterious yarn from Japan (Gokuhoso by Wister) and I knitted it with 3mm needles. I tried to block it, but the yarn just springs back to curling inward, so I guess it's some sort of acrylic. It's soft enough, though, and I really liked how it came out.


Finally, I have two new starts. One is almost done already, so I'll make a post about it when I done. The other is a pair of Monkey socks. It is, by far, the most popular sock pattern on Ravelry and I finally decided to give it a try.


I do like it so far and the only down is that within 3cm of knitting, I managed to break one of my brand new KnitPro wooden needles. Luckily the set came with six (instead of the usual 5) needles, so I could go on without hunting down another needle. But still, it is annoying. I don't even knit that tight, really.

Live long and prosper

Movie Month May

May looks to be good - at least on the movie front and compared to the last four months of the year. I've been to the theater twice since the beginning of the year; once for 'Twilight' (which I, I admit, watched twice) and then for 'Monsters vs. Aliens' (which was cute enough, but didn't blow me away like 'The Incredibles' or some other animation movies I love to pieces)

But May, May looks good.

1) X-Men Origins: Wolverine
I've seen all the other X-Men movies and quite liked them with the exception of X-Men 3, which, honestly, sucked. One of my biggest complains about those movies, though, is that my favorite X-Men character is missing in all of them (though I have to admit, if they had underused him like they did i.e. Angel in the last one, it would have been even worse). Now, Gambit's finally there and, wow, he's so cool (still not enough of him, but at least the part is good, and he's gotta kick ass)


It doesn't hurt either that Mr.-Sexiest-Man-Alive aka Huge Jackman is also in the movie quite a bit (*cough, cough*).
I went to see it on Friday and quite enjoyed it and am going to watch it once more with a friend tomorrow night.

2) Star Trek
I've been a Star Trek fan for a long time now. Much less active in the last 15 years or so, but I've did it all: I had the uniform, the toys, the magazines, I did go to conventions and spent nights on movie marathons. I used Star Trek to learn English and most of my friends I've met through the fandom. I've been through the up and downs that come with being a fan of the franchise and for the last couple of years I've thought it to be over with.
But I'm really excited about the new movie. What I've seen so far does look very, very nice and I'm looking forward to seeing it next weekend.
I even would dig out my old uniform, if I though it would still fit *wink*

3) Angels & Demons
I loved the book, but I am a bit apprehensive if Ron Howard is able to give it justice on the big screen. Davinci Code was already a let down, really, and so I will go into that movie with a good dose of scepticism.
Still I'm planning on going.

4) Terminator Salvation
I'll be back!
Who could ever forget Arnie saying those words? It's been 25 years, yes, but this is still one of the most memorable movie quotes there is. I've seen T1 and T2, but skipped out on T3 (I've heard it had been awful ... what is it with those really bad 3rd parts anyway?)
This movie is on my I wouldn't mind watching it, and am willing to fork over the money, but if I should miss out on it, I probably won't be heart broken. Christian Bale is an awesome actor, but I'm a bit afraid the movie will end up to be a little bit too gritty for my taste.

5) Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
The first part of that movie was something that I happened to watch on a plane flight from A to B. Nothing I would have really considered to watch if I had anything else to do, but if you're stuck for hours and hours inside of a big flying tin can, one does get desperate. Surprisingly enough, I liked it, and when it was on TV over Easter I watched it a second time and again, I really enjoyed it.
Hence my willingness to go and see the second part in the theater.


So, in summary, two movies I HAVE TO WATCH, and three I'm more than willing to spend money on, which is way more than what was available over the last four months (or longer)

And, in June there's one more I'm really, really, reallllllllllly looking forward to, and that is Transformers 2. The trailer alone is made of win and it will be so awesome. I've already made a movie date to see it in Reykjavik.