Monday, February 28, 2011

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Fresh & Organic 7

Coming to you this week on Sunday - the vegetable box! It waited in all its freshness for my arrival on the balcony last night. I had no problems finishing the last one, bar three apples! And now?



Fruit: two kinds of oranges (blood and juice), apples, pears

Vegetables: potatoes, carrots, red pepper, batavia lettuce, mushrooms, zucchini/courgettes, tomatoes, kohlrabi, broccoli, parsley root, cucumbers and mangold (also known as chard, Swiss chard, silver beet, leaf beet, white beet, mangel, perpetual spinach, spinach beet, crab beet and seakale beet - did you know this?)

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Knitting in Kiel

While my lovelies are spending their last warm days in the south,
I decided to go further up north on a little trip of my own. Leaving Oldenburg main station possible rail strikes were announced:



Anyway, I was professionally prepared for any waiting time with good reading and knitting materials.



Excuse my shameless self-promotion, but guess whose letter to the editor was in the journal? (if you don't know German or know German but don't like my egomaniac cross-promotion just skip this)



I am sure I didn't write magenta. I wrote pink.

I do suspect that knitters must have some kind of inner radar system to find each other in all kinds of surroundings. Because getting off the train in Bremen (Bremen is worth a visit, too) I met two babes from Oldenburg Knit Night. And how did I recognized one of them from behind? By her self-designed white cabled hat, of course. Her comment when she looked at me? You look pink.

Do I?



No strike on my trains, I was lucky. And what a surprise, shortly before Hamburg - snow! I hadn't seen snow since the beginning of January.



There are two yarn shops near Kiel main station.



Wolle & Hobby is located in a big hall. The yarn section was overwhelming.



That is only part of it.



And it is not only wool they sell, it is a crafter's paradise with everything from patchwork to scrapbooking, from painting to embroidery.

As I was in the company of my two charming friends they were so nice to pose with pink wool.


Lee (I have made him do this before) and Daniel

The other yarn shop is fadenwerk, located in a former gym (Daniel used to work out there, he told me). Smaller & lovely.





Also fabrics, sewing machines and sewing supplies.



They offer sewing classes.




This used to be the sauna.



I couldn't resist.

Yet the highlight of the Kiel yarn shops is on the outskirts, in the placid surroundings of woods and lakes. The WollWerkstatt Kiel, specializing in high quality yarns.



And lucky me, once a month there is a Stitch'n'Bitch - on Saturdays from 11 am until ... (it is usually dark by then). This Saturday.



The shop is downstairs in the owner's house.





On Knit Saturdays she opens her house to the Kiel knitaholics.







I couldn't resist.

Another good thing - there is potluck.
And if you are an experimental vegan like me, my recommendation for Kiel is:



How could I resist that name?





It is more like an alternative pub with a familiar feel - seriously, in the short time we spend there they had following customers: young mamas with really small babies, teenagers, families, a grandmother. They have a vegetarian/vegan menu - and everything that is vegetarian can also be turned into vegan on request. The pizza, burger and thai curry we had were equally yummy.

This last thing is for the German speakers/or linguistically interested - during my stay there was a trade fair going on, which is called:



Umschlag has different meanings: in this case it is a fair or a market.
In my case it means: yarn over.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Little Pink & Green

Babies keep coming and coming (yes, that is their natural way).
Not as much as last year, but still enough to be well advised to have a decent stock of knitted little baby gifts at the ready. A perfect gift are baby booties. Last year I hosted a baby bootie party and then knitted some more booties. The pattern is from the book Knitting for Baby
by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas.



Today these spring-inspired booties found their way to the tiny feet of a baby girl. And the floral wreath found its way to the handlebar of my bike - surprising me there after my mama and baby yoga class (it came from a student). A circle of gifts, I like that.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Candle Flames






Neckwarmers!
Inspired by my walk last week and all the other WIPs gently trotting along with no finishing line in sight, I wanted an instant gratification knit. I saw the candles, I felt the cold outside, I remembered one of the first pattern I ever queued on Ravelry - the Candle Flame Cowl.

It is knitted with sock yarn held double. I have this thing with sock yarn.
I hardly ever use it for socks. I knit shawls with it. The colours are often beautiful and you only have to buy one skein, which is very easy on the yarn budget. One cowl uses up half a skein of sock yarn. If you ask me: one sock or one neckwarmer? I will go for the latter. I love the pattern and how it came out. And it was really easy to memorize while knitting. Ravelry notes here.

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Purple Flame



... inside is burning hot with minus degrees outside.

Feeling Sentimental



... looking at the flowers my lovelies gave to me before going on their Canary Islands vacation. A different kind of homesickness.
I miss them (even though the house is in more order).

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Good Night

A Walk in Pink & Purple

With the feeling of spring in the air I set out for a walk. Just walking and seeing. The pink and purple passing by. And flowers.



Always with me: my purse and my camera (cover) -
that ticks the purple, pink and flower boxes.

Flowers of the real and artificial kind:

















Do fairies get bored hanging around with jewelry?



What is the use of this bike?



Light up!







Miscellaneous:













Super (twice):





For some reason the next picture reminds me of the movie
I watched the other night - "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee".



Last but not least:



How could I resist some wool that is called Indian Pink?
(that reminds me of the film I saw last night: "Eat Pray Love")
And a lace ball in blueberry (no matching movie).