Scrappy Marathon

A couple of years ago I made a baby blanket using baby yarn and size 2 needles.  And when I was done, I said, "Never again."    I may need to say the same thing about size 3 needles.  But I'm finally done.

The finished size is 37 inches square, and it represents an entire (small) bag of yarn- about 6-8 full skeins and another dozen or so partial skeins.  (Picture me doing the happy dance of stash reduction.)

As I neared the end of the blanket, I started planning the next project- a baby sweater this time.  I've been wanting to make an Elizabeth Zimmerman Tomten jacket, so I pulled out more lightweight yarn and started poking through it.    My first thought was nice and bright:

Unfortunately, I had the yellow in only two weights- too light and too heavy (the red is the main color for the sweater because I have a lot of it, the other two are trim).   So I switched it out for beige, which is more sedate, but also plays reasonably well with the red and dark brown.

Cookie didn't have an opinion.

Aside from adventures in yarn, life continues busy, principally employment related activity.   We did get out to a nice concert of Irish music last week.  And this weekend, I had a full day at home by myself.  Not only a full day- but I woke up early (unusual for a Saturday) and full of energy (positively abnormal).   There was a useful amount of cleaning that happened, and I made a good start on the baby sweater.     The cats thought the cleaning was interesting- except for the vacuum, which they hate.  It's because they're a part of nature, you know.  And nature abhors a vacuum.    When they weren't following me around getting underfoot, there was some communal snoozing.

Then today we went out for a delicious maple-drenched brunch in western MA, and went for a nice short hike on Mt. Warner.    Most years it's too mucky and or snowy to hike much in March.  But not this year.  Beautiful sunshine, and see the snow?

Me neither.  We had to look pretty hard even to spot ice.  But when we found it, it was pretty cool.  So to speak.  I've never seen ice crystals that big outside.  (They are about the size of my fingers.)

We finished by going to hear the Navy Band, who are on tour.  They're really excellent.  I actually like brass and wind instruments more than strings (I don't hate strings, but I play a wind instrument).  They did some nice classical, some Rogers and Hammerstein, some patriotic numbers (of course) and naturally also some Sousa.

And then a quick dinner in Northampton (but no yarn, Webs is closed on Sundays), and home again.  I got to knit on the drive, so the tomten is up to the armpits, the current sock is an inch or two short of the heel, and I expect further progress this week.  Maybe even a photo!

New Year, Same Old Blog

Ahem.  Although I felt very pleased over the holidays to finish my shopping well before the holidays, ship gifts and do baking, something had to fall off the radar.   Sorry, friends.  It was you.

It was a very busy year- house guests through the summer and fall, a major construction project and a long trip in September combined to make it all rush by.  There was also a lot of employment related work that left me unwilling to spend time in front of the computer in the evenings.  Particularly when it meant wrestling with Photobucket's latest so-called upgrade to try and make it do things that used to be a lot easier.  However.  While I still intend to get the rest of the travel photos up, I have decided that there is no excuse for depriving the world of my latest craft endeavors, not to mention the unbearable cuteness of my household.  For example:

There has been a lot of seriously cuddlesome behavior happening since the weather turned colder.  Jake and Cookie have decided that they are pals united in the desire to be warm.   Biscuit is happy to cuddle with people, but I think he mostly doesn't really notice the chillier temperatures.  It's the fluff.

Though he has been known to seek a blanket now and again.

"Mine!"

And of course there has been crafting.   You knew that, right?  For example, before I mailed off the Oriel socks before Christmas, I finally got a picture that bears some resemblance to their actual color.

The recipient was very happy with them, which is always nice to hear.  

Then just about one minute into Christmas morning, I wove in the last end and blocked the last knitted gift, socks for my sister. (Edit- pattern is yet another pair of  Sagittarius socks.)

As soon as the holidays were over, I went nuts casting on new things.  Because I'd spent the last few weeks trying to stay on target for the holidays, I was ready to cut loose.   Which then took a back seat to preparing for our 4-day New Year's house party/board gaming extravaganza.    Here, I'm doing a little baking, under the stern supervision of Biscuit.  (He wanted to be a lot more paws-on about it, but I banished him to the pass through, where he could see but not touch.) 

Over the long weekend, I made substantial progress on a new pair of socks, and finished them up a week or two afterward.  (Deep Water Dye Works Tweed in colorway Lichen.  The pattern is Charlene Schurch's Alternating 2x2 Rib)

Then one snowy evening I stopped in to the bookstore to wait for the snowplows and sanders to catch up with the storm- when you can't brake (even very gently) without losing traction, it's time to wait for a sander!  And what should I find but a group of knitters and crocheters crafting for charity.  So when I got home, I searched out the various hats and things I had made.  And I figured I really should finish the Mock Aran hat that I'd started back in the fall.  Imagine my surprise when I pulled it out of a knitting bag and found that it was already finished.  

Naturally I went around and checked other bags to see if any other WIPs had finished themselves without me knowing it, but this appears to be the only one.   If I figure out how it happened, I'll let you know.   So I went back the next week and donated my hats, plus another bagful supplied by a friend at our weekly knitting group.  

And then I happened by the local yarn store (yes, these things happen), and found that they were collecting red hats for preemies for a pediatric heart awareness event at the hospital.   So I went right home and cast on.  

I did have to sternly remind myself of the size of my stash to get out without any new yarn.  The baby hats used up one full skein, so on balance the stash is going down.  Slowly.

And in the last couple of weeks, I've been alternating my attention between a scrappy baby blanket (no photo yet, but I've used up a whole whack of baby odd and ends in it), and a scarf for my aunt-in-law.   Which I rushed to finish because I was seeing her yesterday.   Once I blocked it, I had to put the blocking mats on top of a bookcase to dissuade my assistant from sitting on it. 

(He's not easily discouraged. He sat on the step-stool for quite some time, trying to figure out how to get himself up there.) 

I had to gently finish drying the last hint of moisture with a hairdryer yesterday morning before we took off. But I was quite pleased with it.   It's the last skein of yarn I bought from Wandering Cat Yarns, a couple of years ago.  The yarn is Slinky Solo Cat in the colorway Blue Skies, a luscious silk/wool blend.

The pattern is the Strangling Vine Lace Scarf,  which isn't a terribly appealing name, but I loved the pattern.  Super easy four row repeat and I really liked the way it looks.  Here's a closer look at the pattern.  The way the pattern rows alternate makes it look at lot more complex than it is.  

Anyway.  That's what I've been up to.  Hopefully (since you've made it this far), you're more impressed than Cookie and Jake. 

The Vacation Continues: Berlin, Part 1

After an insanely busy couple of months, which included an 'update' by Photobucket that makes organizing my albums significantly more difficult, we return to our previously scheduled travelogue already in progress. 

After a moderate wait at Orly Airport (which we are nominating for 'worst airport wifi ever'), we took a short flight to Berlin, where our weather luck deserted us.  We were met by my husband's uncle in a light drizzle and took the subway to their lovely apartment.  After a nice brunch, the rain tapered off and set out for our first stop, the Deutsches Technikmuseum, (German Museum of Technology).

They have a magnificent Jacquard loom, the largest I've ever seen.  

The Jacquard loom is famous not just for the fabric that bears its name, but for its groundbreaking technology- it could be set to make many different patterns using punch cards.  This was a revolutionary idea which was very important in early computers.

We couldn't possibly miss the steam locomotives (this one was a freight locomotive):

By the time we left the museum, the day was clearing up beautifully.   We walked past the ruins of Anhalter Bahnhof- it was the largest train station in Berlin before its destruction in WWII.

From there we took the train into the center of Berlin, to Potsdamer Platz, where there are a few sections of the Berlin wall still standing.  With tasteful explanatory plaques in various languages.

A fascinating sight, since I recall seeing the news when the Berlin Wall came down.  It was quite astonishing how thoroughly Germany has re-integrated.   Standing in Potsdamer Platz you can turn 360 degrees and scarcely see any buildings more than 20 years old.  I'm not a fan of modern architechture, but I quite liked the canopied central plaza.

My husband's aunt took us for flammkuchen at the restaurant overlooking the plaza.  Thus fortified, we set out walking.

We walked up to the Holocaust Memorial.  There wasn't time to see it the first day, but we returned later.   Having seen the Holocaust museum in Washington DC, I had wondered if this would be different and it was.  Aside from the heavy freighting of significance given simply by the location, this museum was built as a memorial to the victims- all the lives destroyed.  It was well done- and unlike many museums, the visitors were largely silent and solemn.  No one was unmoved.

We passed through the Brandenburg Gate and walked under the Lindens.

We ambled through a bunch of interlinked courtyards filled with arty little stores and cafes, called Hackesche Höfe.

I found some roses for Valerie:

I was charmed to see that the center of one court had been filled with a giant sandbox, for the entertainment of the kinder.

We regarded this as sort of a preliminary exploration- we were staying for five days, so we had much more planned.