orang merajut

Stoffrotation

2009-08-13T17:59:00.000+02:00

I took part in this(sorry, leads to a german site):

Basically everyone who joined send off a package to FrauLiebe with five 50cm X 50cm pieces of cotton fabric and you get five different pieces back.
Here's what I send*:

And here's what I got:

I am pretty happy about the fabrics I got, eventhough two are from Ikea. I personally wouldn't send any of that since every sewer near an Ikea probably has enough of it. If I had gotten any of the other Ikea fabric I had spotted and own more then 3 meters each myself I might have been a bit more "meh". But I don't own or don't own anymore** of those two fabrics so I am a happy girl.

* Yes, I actually own 3 yards of the top fabric. It was just too kitschy and hilarious to pass up.
** Actually gave all the leftovers of the flower fabric away years ago and later on regretted it very much!

My first dress

2009-07-26T12:31:00.000+02:00

I have been wanting to sew my own dress forever and ever. I have been collecting quite a number of patterns, vintage patterns from fleamarkets, new patterns from stores, I even got a girl from the USA to raid a few sales to swap some patterns from Simplicity etc in exchange for crocheted skull squares.

Two years ago I actually made three mock dresses from muslin, but I had lost quite a bit of weight and still didn't really knew what looked good on me and what didn't. Plus retrospectively I probably should have used different sizes for the top and for the bottom since I actually still had hips.

Well, so it probably is a good thing I gained some weight and I know what suits me well and what doesn't. I chose Simplicity 3774 and view C as my first real dress. It accents the waist and bust which I think suits me well. I made a mock dress out of muslin first too and thought everything was alright...

So I cut out the pattern pieces from some navy fabric with white hearts and began sewing. I didn't wanted to line the dress top part as I think it is unnecessary with this type of fabric and dress style. Instead I used bias tape around the neck opening and armholes (Must remember to buy unpressed bias tape next time).
Lastly before hemming I inserted the zipper in the back of the dress. I put the dress on and it looked lovely on the front...but the back gaped at the top! We are not talking about a bit of gaping, oh no, it was 8cm of excess fabric!!! I measured up the pattern pieces and the dress later. It seems like the back top part broadens at the top by 4cm. Why is beyond me. The reviews I read didn't mentioned this problem, so maybe I am odder shaped then I ever though *lol*

Anyway, I just undid the zipper, cut away some fabric and reinserted it. Almost perfect, except for the transition between waist and hips. It rode a bit up when worn, because my hips are a tad bit wider and my waist line is a smidge above the one indicated in the pattern. I tried to remedy this by undoing the side seems and using some of the seam allowance to widen this part. Looks a bit better now, but I will have to remember to add atleast 1 cm to each side seem for the next dress.

And now here is a bad photo of the dress. Hopefully next time I wear it I can get someone to take my picture and show you a better one then this shapeless one.

Swap info

2009-07-16T12:09:00.016+02:00

I am often participating in swaps via craftster and thought it would be easier for my partners if I would write down a bit about my likes and dislikes.
I will update this post occasionally. Last update: August 2009.

About me:
I am a computer science student, who hopefully will graduate this year. I am minoring in physics. Yes, that is kind of nerdy and so am I!
I love everything chocolate except for plain milk chocolate. But I do like the Cadbury milk chocolate.
I am addicted to fleamarkets! For awhile I didn't go to any because I couldn't stop myself from buying even if I didn't really needed that item. I love kitschy things!

Colours:
I like all colours, except for orange and yellow. This is especially true for clothing items as these colours make me look sick. Some reds with an orange undertone also won't work. I won't mind yellow and orange where appropriate, say if you are making a bee-shape bag.
I am into green-blue tones at the moment.

Fabrics:
Quilting/patchwork fabrics are pretty expensive here in Germany, so I am always happy to receive cotton prints.
I am not a fan of plaisley or animal prints.
I am planning to sew a patchwork skirt with all different prints of fabric, but I will need over 100 squares! No way I could purchase that much fabric, but maybe you have some left-overs? I need 10cm squares, but 4inch squares would be ok too as the difference is marginal.

Yarns/fibers:
I prefer natural yarns for clothing, like cotton, wool, alpaca etc. I wouldn't mind it if part of the yarn is acrylic, but please no 100% for things I will wear or hold in my hand. It is ok for amigurumis or dolls though to be out of 100% Acrylic.
I own a spinning weel, but haven't spun much lately. Maybe some unusual fiber would motivate me again.

Jewellery:
I don't wear much jewellery and my ears are not pierced. I do love brooches though and wear them a lot. I prefer silver to gold.

Sizes:
That's a tough one since it seems to constantly change. I am between an M-L for clothing at the moment. As a general rule bottoms need to be bigger than tops since I have hips.
My shoe size is betwenn EU39-40.
Feel free to ask me for my measurements if you need them. I have no problem measuring myself up, but don't want to post it here *lol*

Crafts I do:
I can knit, sew and crochet quite well. I also spin, embroider, cross-stitch a bit here and there, though those could be improved a bit. I do some quilting and other crafts randomnly.

Crafts I would like to try:
Weaving, still searching for a place nearby to learn. Not that I could afford a loom of my own or have any space whatsoever for it, but it looks interesting and fun.

Things I would like to receive:
Please see my wists. Check the comments on items though since some things are on there for inspiration only.

Craft Books
I am a natural hoarder, but books are the worst. I LOVE books and can never part with any once I get my hands on them(I even keep books I stopped reading midway because I didn't liked them). So feel free to send me craft books and don't hestitate to send preloved once!

I collect:
I collect postcards. Normal touristy cards are fine, but I also like absurd, bizarre cards. I would love to have some more cards with words/sayings in foreign languages on them.

Books I read:
Anything but romance and thrillers are atleast given a try. My favorit author is Terry Pratchett followed by Anne Rice. My favorit book though is "The secret garden".

Films I like:
Everything Horror or Zombie. Sarcasm is good too or just plain silliness. Fido was great.

Favourite styles/themes:
I am a Hello Kitty fan and don't think I will ever outgrow this.

Favourite music:
Everything but electronic music.

Things I wouldn't like:
- I don't like items made from ducttape.
- anything religous
- earrings as my ears are not pierced
- animal themes(I do like cartoonie animals though)
- I am still living at home with my parents so eventhough I like pretty dishtowels and similare household items they are not of much use at present.
- I have limited space available and as stated before am allergic to pollen, so I prefer to have less dustcatchers around me. Nevertheless if you think I would really like something feel free to ignore this one
- A plastic bag despenser...since I try not to use plastic bags at all.
- knit/crochet dish or wash clothes, I already own enough.
- I am very sensitive to scents and can't stand most. I am ok with most naturally scented soap. Please no heavy, artifical scents, they give me the worst headaches ever!
- no tiger prints ore zebra prints or any kind of animal print please!
- I don't get this back to the eighties trend...
- I don't like glitter on my clothes

Allergies/Allergens:
I am sensitive to scents and allergic to pollen+mosquitoes. So as long as you don't send me perfumed pollen-sprinkled mosquitoes I should be ok ;-)
I myself quit smoking last December(2008), but my parents still smoke. Of course I wash everyhing before sending, but someone allergic might have a problem.

Saturday fleamarket finds

2009-06-09T13:35:00.002+02:00

I sure love to go to fleamarkets, I almost always find something. This time I found a really big glas jar for 2.50€. I saw a blog where the author stored the leftovers from used fabrics in a jar for inspiration. I rather liked the idea, but new jars are darn expensive I found out. My new jar now holds the leftovers from two shirts I sewed recently.
And to keep up with all the shirts I have been sewing, I also found four different jersey fabrics at the fleamarket. Only 6€ for them all and each is atleast 1m long!

P.S.: Yes, this is another try to blog more often, even if I don't have the time for longer posts ;-)
P.P.S.: Yes, the blog template changed and probably will change even more. I tweeked it a bit, but I am getting sick of it and will probably write my own from scratch soon.

Giving away...

2009-02-02T14:10:00.002+01:00

...the following handknits wasn't easy. I made them for a swap on craftster and used some yarn I really liked. Especially the hat(Noro Silk Garden!) and the socks were hard to part with!

Wrist warmers
yarn: Caron "Simply Soft Brites" + Schewe "Alpace de Luxe"
pattern: my own
Started - Completed: somewhere between November 2008 - January 2009

No sheep Calorimetry
yarn: Peaches & Cream
pattern: Calorimetry
Started - Completed: somewhere between November 2008 - January 2009

No sheep socks
yarn: GGH "Sprint" (cotton+acrylic sock yarn unfortunately discontinued)
pattern: mock-me-not-socks
Started - Completed: somewhere between November 2008 - January 2009

No sheep scarf
yarn: Caron "Simply Soft Brites"
pattern: Queen Anne's Lace Scarf
Started - Completed: somewhere between November 2008 - January 2009

No sheep bag
yarn: GGH "Java"
pattern: my own (soon to come become available here)
Started - Completed: somewhere between November 2008 - January 2009

No sheep hat
yarn: Caron "Simply Soft" + Noro "Silk Garden"
pattern: le slouch
Started - Completed: somewhere between November 2008 - January 2009

I sorted through the yarn and crafty things I want to get rid of again today and made a few photos. I also put them on ravelry, but have to think about how much I want for these things. I really just want to get it all out of my room as soon as possible as it is taking up space.
Btw. some of the yarn I will set free to find new homes are from swap and sp's. I want to assure my former swap partners that I really liked the yarn, but everything that I can't imagine knitting up within the next year has to go. That really helped cleaning it all out and not cling to it because it could somewhere in the distant future become something else than just yarn balls using up precious space in my tiny room.

Cleaning up

2009-02-01T17:56:00.001+01:00

To swap
Originally uploaded by javede

Instead of taking photos of finished projects I decided to clean up my room. I took three big boxes and went through everything, especially the yarns. One box was for things to keep, one for things to let go of and one for need to decide later.
The photo shows the let-go-of-box after I resorted through the third box. I'm trying to decide what I should do with it. One option would be Ebay or Ravelry for the better stuff that is in there(like the Colinette or Noro yarn). Maybe I am going to offer the rest on freecycle or something...

Still alive!

2009-01-30T19:05:00.004+01:00

Yes, I am blogging again! I will try to blog atleast once a week from now on, promise *crosses fingers behind back*
Though to be quit honest, I am thinking about self-hosting a wordpress blog somewhere as I have heard about a couple of issues with blogger lately. Any tips on that really appreciated!
I don't think I could recap all of the last year, but you can guess it was a good year or I would have been blogging more ;-) Still a student, but hope to change it this year and finally graduate.
So...a bit stumped where to start now...well, let's just start with the current projects:

I don't even remember if I blogged about this before, it has just been too long. It is my sock yarn left-over blanket and I started it about a year ago. Each square is 89 sts wide, which suits me much better than the 45sts squares I started with(if anybody is making such a smaller square blanket contact me and I will send you the squares I don't need anymore). I already calculated that I have enough yarn to complete two full blankets...yes, I have been knitting a lot of socks too.
Just realized I don't have any photos of my other current projects, I will change that tomorrow. Instead here are some photos of items finished last year:

P.S.: Yes, I have a bf now and of course that is part of the reason I was abscent for some time as you can imagine. Don't worry if I am not mentioning him again, but he wouldn't like being blogged about and I respect that.

Long time coming

2008-04-13T18:52:00.002+02:00

It's been sooooo long since my last post, I have no idea where I should even start! There have been more than just a couple of crafty projects, most now finished. I keep forgetting to take photos immediately so I don't have photos of all the finished projects now.
Instead I'm just going to give you a mosaic of the things I did get photos of and the promise of more to come in the future, which hopefully won't take me as long as last time.

Happy new year...just a tad belated ;-)

2008-02-05T08:36:00.000+01:00

Ok, maybe a bit more than just belated and it's over a month since I last blogged. I apologize, but life has just been quite eventfull in a good way and since I didn't had a camera I couldn't even just blog photos.

Anyway, my parents are back from their trip to Indonesia after 6weeks(for my mum, 10 weeks for my dad!) and now we all need to get accustomed to beeing around each other again :-)

...and another two weeks go by without completing the first post of the year! I'm sorry, it's actually not like I wouldn't have the time to blog, but somehow I start posts and never get to publish them. Not this time, it's getting published no matter how incomplete it is! Promise!

So where was I? Yes, my parents returning. I got some wonderfull goodies from them including cute printed jersey fabric, japanese knit/crochet books and various little things. Picture will follow, but I would have to dig everything out now as it's stored away by now :-)
We survived farely well without parental supervision and even managed to clean almost everything up before they returned(even if it took us till the very last minute ;-) ).

Craft-wise not a lot got finished. I have several knit-projects on hold because there's one or two things "wrong" with them. Like the sweater with armholes for a 2 year old...my fault totally for not thinking clearly that day I finished the shoulder part of front&back. I even remember thinking that it didn't felt right the way it was, but dismissed that as just beeing squeamish.
Three scarves...wait four scarves got finished, but I don't have a photo of one readily available(promise to post those too later!). Though check out Samsara's blog to see the pif I made her*. One pair of socks and a two mystery knits for a swap also got done. Plus some spinning.

Ok, more later, whenever that later will be...

ATTENTION to the woman who's name I'm farely certain started with a B and who asked for the pattern for Cerbera:
I haven't forgotten you, but I accidently deleted your mails and now can't contact you! Please leave a comment or mail me again if you like. I've decided to post th pattern on my blog soon-ish though ;-)

*btw. I will leave that post open, so you could still participate and get a pif from me!!!

Pay It Forward

2007-12-17T12:07:00.000+01:00

It's Pay It Forward time! Due to the niceness of Kerrie from http://www.kerriesplace.co.uk/hipknits/, I finally can play too. I have been following this for some time now, but always was too late to be part of it. Everybody is encouraged to comment, I will send internationally. Please leave a way for me to get into contact with you though.
Not sure yet, what I'm going to make you, but I will have lots of time between the holidays(or better to say I will take the time to craft).

"So here's how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won't be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that's a promise! What YOU--the recipient--- have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. "

Much else has happened with little crafting, but I have to leave for university again and I just can't find the time to blog at the moment. Let's just say that I have one more christmas present to make now...for a male person ;-)

NoBloPoMo

2007-11-28T10:37:00.000+01:00

Some participate in the NaBloPoMo, I obviously don't. For me it's more like NoBloPoMo or atleast FeBloPoMo ;-)
I actually have started two posts but never finished nor published them as they were pretty boring and just consisted of me lamenting the fact that I don't have the time or don't feel like blogging.
I don't think it will get any better till next year. I've got a whole bunch of things to do for university and my mum will fly to Indonesia(where my dad already enjoys the sunshine at the moment) mid december leaving me and my brother alone here. No big deal, we are both certainly old enough to spend 6 weeks(yes, six!) taking care of ourselves, but that will mean that we have to do the chores ourselves too. Have I ever mentioned that none of us can cook properly?

Craft-wise I've finished a couple of smaller knit projects for a swap and a sweater/dress from the Rebecca 34 mag. I now casted on for this jacket and the back is already finished. No photos since I can't find the camera at the moment, I suspect my mum has it.

Anyway, since I predict that I won't blog much for a longer time, if you are on Ravelry, you can check out atleast my current projects there at http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Javede

Photos!

2007-11-04T19:29:00.000+01:00

But no time for text, still have an "essay"(for lack of a better word) and physic homework(argh, it's more really complex math than enything else!) to do. So, for now you will only get the collage, more details will follow...promise!

P.S.: Wow, someone has been productive, right?! No idea how I managed to make so much stuff when I have so little time, there's even another pair of socks missing and a 40% done sweater WIP.

Falling leaves

2007-10-25T12:51:00.000+02:00

How could I miss the falling leaves before? Yesterday on my way to campus I realized that some trees are almost empty of leaves! I guess I was too busy studying before and I can't even remember my last walk around the park, which I normally do on a regular base(it's my work-out ;-) ).

Anyway, university started again and though my schedule isn't jam-packed course-wise, I have a whole lot of work to do. Additionally I'm doing a project this semester(>10hours per week if I want to be finished by the end of the semester and not work much on it afterwards) and physic 3(kind of hard if you haven't heard physic 1+2...). Plus I plan on three oral exams this semester + 1 written exam maybe.

So blogging is pretty low on my to-do list at the moment. I will definately continue writing now and then, but there might be a discrepancy between posts started and actual publishing them. Biggest problem is taking photos as I normally won't be back from university untill it's dark again...or I'm not in the mood to take them like right now ;-)
So eventhough a bunch of things got made, I won't write about them now. If you want to have a look though, I uploaded a bunch of not very good photos to my flickr account.

Eh, really?

2007-10-18T14:37:00.000+02:00

The grade? A-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, I was amazed when she told me that. I mean, I knew I had passed when I left the room and that I did quite well, but an A-? Never would have crossed my mind!
Apparently every thing I said was right though she sometimes needed to rephrase her questions or give examples, but to be quite honest I totally made more than just a guess or two ;-) So, the key to success is guessing right then???
After she told me my grade, she asked if the sweater I was wearing was handknit because she really liked the collar construction...wait, my prof is a knitter?!! I was wearing Tubey from Knitty.com...
Anyway spend the rest of the day and today crafting, got some swap stuff to finish. Photos will be posted once it has been received, but I think there are still some things I finished while studying that I didn't posted to this blog. Might add them tomorrow, but then I might also prefer to use the time untill the next semester begins(next week btw.) to craft and knit and sew and spin and....

Only five hours...

2007-10-17T09:54:00.000+02:00

...and my exam will start! Panic? me?
To be honest, yes! I already have a bit of that someone-is-sitting-on-my-chest feeling and I know it will probably get worse untill the exam is over. Can't do much about it, it's always like that before my oral exams no matter how good I'm prepared. It's illogical and I know that too, I mean the worst that could happen is that I'm not going to pass and that is so not the end of the world. Actually I think it's better not to pass than getting a bad grade.
Anyway, I don't strive for an A(or a 1, different grading system and all that) so really there's nothing I should worry about...could someone please tell that my stomache?

Me hates paperwork

2007-10-02T15:41:00.000+02:00

And I probably will have to fill out some more and ask questions first...apparently we're rich(ha, as if) and I will only get a third of my student financial aid from now on! Yepp, surprising to me too.
I will have to look into this, there seems a way to update the income of my dad(they base their calculations on what he earned 2 years ago), but I just can't be bothered with it at the moment. I have to study and sort out the courses I have to take this semester first.
Unfortunately this means I have to resign from swapping for a long while. There's one more swap on craftster I can do as I have a prepaid postage box.
It also means no more buying of anything. I will need the financial aid I get for the study fees(thank god I have saved some too to throw in). I've got a job, but it's only 3 hours per week and pays approx. 80€ per month...will probably have to search for a new job and actually already did(the searching part, didn't found something suitable yet, job offers for students are another rant really).

Anyway, it was my birthday on Sunday, look what I got:
From my parents and the bear is from my brother.
From fellow Craftsters, the right one was even a suprise I didn't knew I would get.
And here are two finished projects, the bag which turned out great I think and the first ever shirt I sewed from the pattern I got for my birthday(it's Zoela from farbenmix). Nice shirt pattern and I would definately be making some more...only I don't have any Jersey suitable in my stash...

Free day = two posts

2007-09-26T16:46:00.000+02:00

Yes, I decided after finishing the last post that today would be my learn free day. Can't learn 24/7, can you?

Because I couldn't make up my mind about the fabrics for the bag, I decided to finish another sewing project that had been laying around for quite some time.
I embroidered two squares with patterns from "Under the sea" from Sublime Stitching. One square was pink and the other green with the intention to make pillow covers with them in the center. And now atleast one of them is finished:

I'm not sure the fabrics match 100%, but I'm trying to use up stash fabric. I actually loosely decided that I won't buy anymore craft supplies with only two exceptions:
1. the fabricmarket in October and
2. craft supplies needed to finish projects that can't be substituted with things from the stash.

P.S.: And I'm going to make the bag with this fabric combo:

Longing for a long post

2007-09-26T08:28:00.000+02:00

I have soooooooooooooo much to blog about! I even composed some posts in my head while I made my cigarette breaks from learning, but of course now that I sit in front of the computer I've forgotten it all ;-)

1. Learning is slow, but steady. The oral exam on the 17th is probably the hardest of the exams I still have to take. That's why I chose to do it first, it just can get better from than on!
The written exam is really a piece of cake as every topic of it is not new to me due to past lectures and seminar courses. I just have to memorize a bunch of things now.

2. Despite learning or maybe because of it, I've been knitting and crocheting quite much. I guess when you don't have much time to craft, you spend the time you do have for it much more focused.
2.1 I knit a dishcloth from the yarn I won over at romancing a novel:

2.2 I crochet a scarf out of the yarn I got at the fleamarket.

2.3 I added a bunch of stripes to my blanket, but it's only half finished as I want it to cover the length of my bed.(photo doesn't show the true colors...)

2.4 Finished a pair of socks for my granaunt and a pair of sneaker socks for my mum.

3. I've got a big fabric stash and since the next fabricmarket is soon I decided I should atleast lay out some projects and sew them when I find the time. I figured what I really needed was another bag ;-)
Well, I seriously lack brown and green fabric which explains why I don't already own a bag in these colors. And I have a hard time deciding on fabrics I should use. And the "day light" is not helping much either.
Here are two combos I came up with, but I can't decide which one I like better or if I should make a patchwork purse out of squares with all four fabrics?

4. Frogged a bunch of knitting projects for various reasons.

Another short one!

2007-09-22T11:23:00.001+02:00

1. last sunday fleamarket finds, click on picture for more info!

2. another slouchy hat, actually finished two, but forgot to take a photo of the second hat.

3. Lacey scarf:

4. embroidered Phoenix tea towel:

5. Been playing around with the template of this blog. Next will be color changes etc, but I need more time for that than I have now...maybe after the exams.

Brief and short is better than nothing

2007-09-14T11:00:00.000+02:00

I don't have as much time for blogging as I would like to have. I've got two exams coming up: one written exam, which will be fairly easy and one oral exam, which will be fairly hard with lots of stuff to memorize and understand(it's mostly logic stuff again...).
If I'm not learning, I'm crafting or surfing the net a bit. Writing blog entries would take away the little free time I have, so they will be scarce and probably also quite brief. I will try to make up for that with a few photos though ;-)

1.fleamarket finds:
lots of quality fabric for 2€ per meter! Bottom fabrics for free!:

School weaving loom, 3€:

From my grandaunt:

2. finished projects:
The best hat pattern ever: le slouch from knitandtonic!

Sublime napkins:

More Shrinky Dink fun:

3. WIP's
my own version of the Chevron scarf:

my coat, old photo, has grown double since then:

socks out of this yarn, on hold at the moment, have to finish another pair for a grandaunt of mine first:

The Good, the Promising and the Bad

2007-08-31T12:14:00.000+02:00

The Good:

This is my mum's new Kimono-style tunic I made for her birthday. It's a bit wide as it's none stretchy fabric, but we're going to solve that with sewing a belt thingy soon. She absolutely loves her new tunic and though she brought the fabric(ages ago it seems) and stored it in her room was totally clueless I had nicked it last Friday :-) It still needs the finishing touches, but I will do that this weekend.

I also made this card for her(Blütezeit=bloom time/prime-age...she's 49 now and I'm already collecting ideas for the big one next year ;-)):

The Promising:

My ripple blanket has grown so much since my last photo of it. Unfortunately I'm now completely out of yarn for it and it has to once again disappear into the black hole that is my closet...Have any left-overs you want to trade?

The Bad

That went totally wrong! I tried to make another dress from this: pattern.
Once again it seems that I have forgotten that I look like a stick now and it's much too wide! The solution could have been to sew some elastic to the skirt/belt part, but that didn't work very well either...
Any idea what else I can do with the fabric? Fortunately it was pretty cheap fabric and so no real loss.

And I ordered enough yarn at my LYS to knit myself a coat! I went there today and brought the first 1000g, if I need more(and I bet I will) than I can go back. I will loosely base it on this pattern: http://www.online-garne.de/aktion/200610.pdf The yarn is a different one, but the gauge should match. I'm using "Jackengarn"/Linie 52 from Online in Color 21 which is a dark plum color (color chart).

I'm an a**

2007-08-28T08:31:00.000+02:00

Why you ask? Because I forgot something completely and am quite ashamed of it...
I got some free yarn yesterday(6 skeins! but more on that belowe) and began thinking what I could knit out of it. I came across the Chevron Scarf(love ravelry for finding and bookmarking patterns!) and spend some time figuring the pattern out. Anyway I decided that the free yarn was probably a bit too thin and that I would make one with some of the other sock yarn I got first. I than remembered the Lorna's laces sock yarns I have, you know the two colorways and searched for photos of those on my blog, cause my sock yarn box is burried under tons of other stuff...I did only find one picture of those I swapped for, but none of the contest yarn I won!!!
I FORGOT to post it here! I'm so sorry Becky and don't know how that happened!
Well, back at the beginning of June(!) I won the contest on Beckys blog and got some fabulous Lorna's laces sockyarn at the end of June:

Isn't it a great colorway?! And I think I figured out why I forgot to post about it here, though that isn't a good excuse anyway. Around the time I got the yarn I had that Paypal mess with my Mystery shawl yarn...

Well and the free yarn that reminded me? I got six skeins by Mystical Creation Yarns from http://www.bockstarkknits.net/! I really like the colors but I don't think I would knit socks out of it, maybe lacey scarfs? And how nice is it to get six skeins for free?!!! She doesn't want anything in return either!

I've got more to blog about, but have no time at the moment, maybe tomorrow another crafty post.

Must resist urge...

2007-08-21T22:44:00.000+02:00

...to buy more stuff!
Honestly, I used to be much better at money handling. But this month I spend much more than I should have, good thing I sold some things already! But I also got my hair cut this month and brought new shoes as my old sporty shoes where already falling apart(literally, the foremost 1.5cm sole was gone on one side almost completely!).
And then swapping shipping costs were pretty high too with the Shop the Swap on Craftster. I'm so not calculating what it cost to send all those packages, I probably would stop swapping if I knew it.

Anyway I finished a bunch of crafty stuff and the Mystery project for another swap partner is almost finished. Good thing the deadline for sending is September the first as I get money on the first ;-)
First some fabric coasters inspired by the bend-the-rules sewing book:

The finished dragon embroidery, that didn't make it unto the bag. It just didn't really fit so I swapped it:

And the newest finished items, just glued the pinbacks on this morning! These are brooches/pins made from Shrinky Dinks plastic. It was fun coloring and watching it shrink:

I finished much more since my last crafty blog post, head over to flickr to see what else I made!

For Sale/Trade[picture heavy!]

2007-08-15T09:47:00.000+02:00

EDIT:
The left-over magazines can now be found on Ebay(seller name cloudpurple) and I will be adding the other things tomorrow.// Danke an alle die etwas gekauft haben, den Rest stellen ich nun bei Ebay ein(Mitgliedsname cloudpurple).

I almost finished tidying up my whole room, but there's a big box in the middle filled with things I don't need anymore. I will list them tomorrow or the day after on Ebay, but if anything catches your fancy, mail me and I'm sure we can work something out(if you don't have my regular email address, try my second one to the left). I would also happily swap for the items! If you have any questions about an item feel free to ask, I'm just too tired to type describtions now. Please keep in mind that I used to smoke in my room, though most of the following items have been kept up in the attic.

Sold:

Half-done!

2007-08-14T13:59:00.000+02:00

Half because my craft supplies need sorting. Like a new system or something and new storage. The way it is now is chaotic and searching for things keeps me from crafting all too often(recently I searched for my hot glue gun, but only found the glue sticks for it!).
But the very next thing that I really need to tackle are my bags, about 2/3 of them are hanging on a wall coat rack, but the other third is piled up on the floor behind the door... I plan to get a second rack and place it above the first one. Maybe I will buy one later today, but it's a 15minute walk to the hardware store where I got the first one and I don't feel like going out at the moment.
Oh and there is also now a box of things I don't need anymore that will get listed on Ebay tomorrow or the day after unless there's anybody out there who wants some of it. I've got old german sewing magazines(79-82), two dutch children sewing magazines(Bizzkids), a couple of fabrics and a couple of other things. I will have a look through my fabric boxes up in the attic too as I've got way too much fabric. I will probably post pics tomorrow or so.

Uncrafty day ahead

2007-08-14T09:00:00.000+02:00

I'm sick of my room at the moment and there's only one thing I can do now - tidy up! And this time some stuff will be moved into my parents big, gigantic closet, cause mine is overflowing and I can't open the right door unless I want to trigger an avalanche!
For motivation I'm posting here and showing the before pictures and hopefully in a few hours also after pictures that are worth it. Don't mind the white fussed out areas, those are swap projects in progress, fussed out just in case my swap partners check here.

I thought you were on a yarn diet?

2007-08-02T20:07:00.000+02:00

That's what my mum said when I showed her this:

Well mum, I didn't buy this, I made it! I'm really proud of my latest homespun, it's the thinnest 2-ply I ever spun. Here's a better pic for size reference, the brown yarn is regular 4ply sock yarn:

The roving I spun is some of my selfdyed. It started out as yellow, blue + white and I predrafted it so that the colors would mix which worked quite well.

And today I finally managed to go getting my hair cut! I like the new hairdo, though I probably won't ever spend the time to blow-dry it like this...that just takes too much time better spend sleeping in the morning ;-) Besides I like my hair a bit wilder anyway.

Pictures!

2007-07-28T00:48:00.000+02:00

First, take a look at the receipt I got for HP:

That really made me smile :-)

There's a bunch of stuff I want to blog about but I've got to go in a few minutes. Because I don't want to delay this post yet again(I started it last Monday!), I will just post the pictures and write a bit about them:
First of some totes/bags I made for a swap on Craftster:

The skull on the second bag is hand-embroidered with floss that glows in the dark! Embroidery is really addictive, especially smaller motives get finished in no time at all(in contrast to cross stitch which seems to take for ever and ever).
So I stitched a bunch more. These will be patches to be appliqued unto bags some time in the future:

And this one will be put unto a bag for myself. I think it might take a little longer than the others though ;-)

Btw. those are all sublime stitching patterns, they are great!

Than I just have to show you these two necklaces I got in exchange for a cross stitch. I love them, but my mum claimed the red one...

I do still knit, but can't show you any of the secret projects. I can however show you how far I am with my MS3. Unfortunately, it's on hold at the moment untill the secret projects are finished.

And the last photo, I promise. I got this amazing dress at the fleamarket last week. I absolutely love it and though it was not upper cheap I think I still made a bargain. I will need a belt as it's a bit too big in the waist area, but that is already in the works too. It looks a lot better when it's worn!

Ok, till next time whenever that will be. Pretty busy at the moment and when I'm on the net than checking out other blogs is the priority...

Shush, I'm reading!

2007-07-22T18:44:00.000+02:00

Yes, I'm reading HP, what else could I read at the moment ;-)
I'm about halfway through I think and I would have been finished by now had not an Amazon order arrived before with another book I just had to start reading on Friday. So I started reading HP on saturday midday, but was interrupted after chapter one by my dad who "asked" me if I wanted to paint the walls in the hall with him. Well, to be fair, that morning when he said he would paint the ceiling I said jokingly that I could paint the walls then...how come he remembers stuff like that but forgets other things???
Anyway, took quite some time since I never before did that.

Have to continue reading now, but will post tomorrow about some crafty projects!

Stress sucks! EDIT: week finally over

2007-07-15T16:44:00.000+02:00

Too much to do in too little time at the moment, especially bureaucratic stuff and running from one place to the other to get papers and signatures and drop off forms and trying to get hold of someone via the phone to ask questions concerning even more stupid forms...argh, hate it!

One good thing happened though, I was fast enough to snatch a place for a one-week course on a special programming thingy(won't bore you with any details, but I'm spending lecture-free time on campus, so that sais something!).

EDIT(Continued):Not much got finished this week, actually I think I didn't finished anything this week[EDIT again: actually I finished a pair of socks on Tuesday]! It has just been crazy and I had to spend the whole Friday on campus plus half of saturday!!! I'm still not convinced at all that this way of teaching helped in anyway and actually think it was a bit counterproductive...anyway, it's over and I will get credits for that course.

I was in a fabulous swap on craftster and got an even more fabulous package from tasi292 and finally I can blog about what I send her. Well, the swap was called "Fill a purse" there was just no way I could have resisted participating.
Here's the great purse and things I got:
(Not the best picture, check out the one my partner made before sending here)

I was totally stunned when I opened it and my mum was the most envious ever she has been for me getting a package! The purse is not only lovely and just right for me, it's also made perfectly! I'm in awe at my partners sewing skills.

So, what did I make her? My partner doesn't knit nor does she crochet and she had a cute crochet+felted bag on her wrists, so I knit+felted a purse for her. This time I even managed to make before and after pictures:
Before:

And after:

Again, my partners pictures are much better, have a look here .
I made up the pattern myself and if I ever find my notes again, I will post it.

And I finished the pair of socks out of the Regia Galaxy. I really like the way they patterned, unfortunately I don't like the other colors of this yarn or I would buy more ;-)*

And I finished sewing two pillow cases last sunday. I got the fabric squares pre-cut in a swap and I loved not having to cut them myself :-)

*Yarn diet? Haven't you heard, sock yarn doesn't count *grin*

it's addictive!

2007-07-07T14:26:00.000+02:00

Have been playing around with Ravelry a lot lately, it seriously can get addictive and I might have been a bit obsessed getting past projects into it. Fortunately I had photos of most of my FO's already on flickr, but remembering all the other details took some time.
But I think Ravelry will help me a lot in beeing a bit more organized and keeping track of my projects.
Anyway, not much happened knitwise. I finished the One-Skein-Wonder, but it's blocking right now so no photo of that. But I've also been spinning a bit:

and knitting another pair of simple stockinette socks. This is the new Galaxy sock yarn from Regia and I already finished one sock. I was a bit affraid at first that it wouldn't make those cool spiral/arrow/galaxy pattering, but it did. I casted on 60sts btw.

And here's my newest sewing project. It's a bagsket! It's a bit uneven and the pieces didn't fit together that great, but that's only due to me calculating wrong(my guess is I calculated too much for seam allowance).

Ravelry, finally!

2007-07-03T21:41:00.000+02:00

Yes, I got my invite today! I was soooooo happy when I got it and at the same time sad, because I had to wait till this evening to play with it eventhough I was sitting at the computer the whole day more or less.
But homework, atleast important homework that is due the same day till midnight, comes first. Especially when you're doing it all alone eventhough you're in a group of four. Can't complain though because I didn't contributed much to our first few homework exercises.
Anyway, Ravelry is much fun and worth the wait, really. I still can't believe how fast they add new people to it, knowing a bit of what it must take to programm it.

Great minds think alike!

2007-07-02T15:35:00.000+02:00

Hey, thanks Atti and Amy for suggesting thunderbird. When I read your replies I had already installed it, but it's nice to know others I know are using it too :-)
Not much else happened, more crafty updates in a day or two.

Argh! or my computer hates me!

2007-07-01T11:56:00.000+02:00

Seriously, this is soooooooo frustrating. Ok, I know the incidents don't have much to do with my computer, but more with various programs, but it still sucks.
Yesterday I wanted to wite a java program and realized in order to use what I want to use I have to use a different java version. I checked, it was already on my computer and so I tried to use it with the IDE(Eclipse btw.). Didn't work!
Found out I needed a newer version of the IDE and downloaded+installed it and finally after an hour it worked.
Then totally unrelated to the above I changed my email password. And so also changed it in the email client I use(Incredimail).
Today when I wanted to send an email, it kept saying my password was wrong, though I entered multiple times the right one(I double and triple checked!). And then my whole IP adress was banned for 4 hours, actually it's still banned and I can't log into my mail account at all!!!
ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Never liked incredimail much anyway, so will search for a new client now...

never thought it was this easy!

2007-06-30T07:51:00.000+02:00

I got the Stitch-it-kit from sublimestitching this week in a swap and had to begin embroidering right away. It's soooo much easier than the last time I tried. Not sure if it's because of the material, instructions or because my handsewing skills got better too.

I already finished one towel and the second is in the making. I will need more fabric to embroider soon, but will check my fabric stash first. I think I have somewhere some handdyed linnen fabric that I got for cross stitching in a swap some time ago.

I also finished crocheting another fat bottom bag also from swap yarn. Yes, I've been swapping quite much lately, it's just too much fun!

And I started knitting a shrug loosely following the instructions from the One-Skein-Wonder, but mine will have long arms.

The Mystery stole? Well, the Paypal mess was even more of a mess and without going into too much detail, I don't think it was Paypals fault at all and once I have some more time I will have a look at what other banks offer for student accounts. I'm avoiding the MS group and all blogs of knitters I know that are participating, because I want it to be a true mystery! If all goes well(*knocks on wood..ouch*) the new payment should be on their account on tuesday and hopefully it won't take longer than a week for the yarn to arrive here...

Still knitting

2007-06-24T18:26:00.000+02:00

and spinning and dyeing and crafting in general.

I also still haven't decided which exams to take, but am almost sure on the field of study(either "distributed and information systems"* or "softwaredeveloping methods"*). But I made a list of things I have to read that will hopefully narrow it down soon :-)

I recently got my first ever batt in a swap and since it cooled down the last couple of days spun it:

The photos don't really do it justice. It kind of reminds me of washed out jeans, but it also has sparkly bits. Spinning it was really fun!

I also dyed some roving for the above mentioned swap, all but the bottom one are gone already(that is mine ;-) ):

And I finished knitting the Somewhat Cowl, but since it isn't blocked yet, I will post about it some other time. Now the question is what to knit next. The Mystery Stole KAL begins on friday, but there's a major f*** up with my Paypal payment for the yarn. Totally the fault of my stupid bank, which apparently can't distinguish a Z from a 2! Grrr, I already contacted Paypal once when I saw the mistake first and they said it shouldn't be a problem, but the money didn't arrive, so I gues it is a problem!
That means I won't get the yarn in time and need another project in between. I can't decide what to knit though...

*pretty sure that both translations are not a 100% correct, but am much to lazy to look that up now ;-)

Quick hi

2007-06-17T08:59:00.000+02:00

Just wanted to let you know that blogging will probably slim down for the next few days/weeks. There are a lot of crafty projects and university stuff I have to finish/do. This semester I'm aiming at taken 3-4 exams and deciding which route of study/field I want to take. This not only takes a lot thinking, but also a lot of work. I will first have to decide on the exact field of study before I can take any exams and to do that I will have to review my options and lectures to see what I like and am most interested in. I put that off several times because it's rather hard for me to make a decision.

Till then, happy knitting!

Nichtmituns!

2007-06-14T20:09:00.001+02:00

Nichtmituns!
Originally uploaded by javede

I just couldn't believe it when I read about this on another blog, but it's true! Flickr is censoring every photo for people with a German yahoo id that is not flagged safe!
And with no notice at all and no reason whatsoever is given, just some lame empty words in response to a forum post!
I know a bit about internet regulations and laws in Germany(heck, I study computer science!) and there are indeed some reasons flickr might have had, but this certainly is not the only way to deal with the situation. Actually it's one of the worst I could think of, but probably also the "cheapest" atleast if you forget how people might react to it and what consequences they will take. I certainly won't refresh my pro account once it expires(can't anyway, see belowe!) if it stay the way it is now.
And to top it all of, you can't pay with paypal either anymore which is the only way for me to pay for this "service".
Now I wish I hadn't upgraded to pro. Had I known this would happen I would have searched for another place to store my photos.

I could swear I had one

2007-06-12T17:42:00.000+02:00

I was so upper sure that by now I had all the knitting needles accumulated that I would ever need. Ok, maybe not every length(I only use circular needle or DPNS), but every width...
Well turns out I don't or atleast I can't find it. I'm missing a 8mm needle now, which I desperately need, like right now. I wanted to start knitting a project today that already got delayed too much! And best of all? I was a 100% sure I had this 8mm needle!
Honestly, I could swear that a few months ago I needed a 8mm needle and therefore must have brought one. But maybe I ended up using a 7mm or 9mm needle instead? Anyway, really thinking about going out once more and buying one, but the nearest shop only has a small selection and you never know which they are "currently" out of...
Argh!!!

EDIT: 10 minutes after writing this I went to the LYS and brought the needles! Surprisingly they had a selection of 8mm needles, but why do they always offer the expensive needles first? Hello, me student, me not much money!
In contrast my favorit LYS 2 owner told me that a few colors of the yarn I needed for the project where destined to go into the sale bin when I asked for the yarn. She knows I don't have much to spend so volunteers this info! Actually she also suggested a different cheaper yarn!

fashion victim

2007-06-10T13:11:00.000+02:00

You know how it is, don't you? When the season changes and all the magazines, stores and "celebrities"(using that word in its widest sense) showcast the newest, hippest and oh-so-hot trends, you will soon see a lot of people on the street wearing exactly that no matter how ridiculous it looks. And sometimes trends even take 1 or 2 years untill they hit the big masses. Nevertheless, you're a grown up and long ago realised that not every trend has to be followed in order to look good(actually quite often following every trend leads to the exact opposit result).

And then one day you go shopping and...you fall in love with one pair of pants, that is just perfect and fits great and...well, is quite trendy and probably a knock-off of something Paris Hilton once wore!

Yes, I brought a pair of hip pants. It has a knit waistband and a drawstring closure and the cotton fabric is a navy blue and white stripes pattern, need I say more? And to top it of, I brought some black ballerinas with a white polkadot pattern. They are darn uncomfortable as I found out today(let's just say that the only shoes I will be able to wear for the next three days are my sport shoes), but oh sooooo cute together with the pants...

In knitting news, I started knitting cotton socks, cause the cowl yarn is too warm to knit right now. I also joined the mystery shawl 3 group, but will have to order the yarn first(I want to use Zephyr in white).

I also sewed a bit this weekend instead of knitting. I wish I had more time for sewing, but it always takes me so much time to set everything up and trace patterns etc.
First I sewed a pair of sleeping shorts.

Pattern: traced from a old pair of shorts
Fabric: Star Wars knit fabric from the fabric market
Notes: I love to wear big shorts for sleeping especially when it's as warm as it's now. Therefore the circumference for these shorts is 40+inch and an elastic is sewn in into the top part.
And today I sewed another skirt.

Pattern: Easy fashion, H/W 2005/2006
Fabric: embroidered linnen
Notes: The fabric was pretty cheap because the embroidery is loose in some areas, I don't mind that because first you can't really see this and second I will probably only wear it a few times anyway. The color is totally off in the picture, it's actually a dark brown!
And then I went a bit silly and did what you just have to do when you wear a skirt like this :-)

atishoo!

2007-06-08T19:31:00.000+02:00

Yepp, that I did do a lot today. In order to change that I will have to remember to take my medicine every day and not just every other, actually wash my hair in the evening not in the morning and only open my window in the morning and late evening.
Furthermore I managed to clean my room today which took a long time and many more atishoos, but atleast it's clean and almost free of pollen!
I've got a picture to prove it:

The cleanest it has been for over a month(yes, I know that is kind of urghhs, but I hate to clean my room). And I got rid of a couple of dust catchers, they are pretty to look at, but impossible to clean so they had to go.

In knitting news not much has happened today as it's incredible warm, but I started knitting the somewhat cowl from knit and tonic awhile ago. I changed the increases a lot because of the skinny arms mentioned in the last post and am now knitting the sleeves. This is my second try at the pattern. My first got frogged cause the yarn I used was a very slippery cotton yarn and I was only able to knit two rows before my wrists started to hurt.

Now all I have to find is something to knit while it's so warm outside, maybe some cotton socks since I need another pair anyway?

Headless or I really should get a hair cut soon

2007-06-07T09:52:00.001+02:00

I finally managed to take pics of the Scoop du Jour, but they are headless. Really, my hair looks horrible right now and I'm so not going to make that public!
Scoop du Jour

Pattern: Scoop du Jour from Chick knits
Yarn: "Miro 5fach" from Schoppel; 50% cotton and 50% polyacryl
Needles: can't remember
Size: the smallest
Modifications + notes:
-I swear, I got gauge for this one perfectly, but somehow my gauge must have changed while knitting, cause it's a lot bigger than I wanted it to be. It's ok, I wear it anyway, but if I should knit this one again, I will recalculate stitches.
-The arms were much too wide too, so I had to frog one sleeve after knitting half of it. That may just be a problem I have because I have the skinniest arms in the world. Even when I weighted much more, my arms were always small, now they are even smaller.
I only casted on less stitches for the arms and then had to increase many for the sleeve cap, which resulted in a lot of bulkyness at my upper arm...
-Oh, and there's a mistake I made too, but I'm not going to tell you what it is ;-) You can see it if you make the photos bigger though.

Apart from taking those photos I also plied some yarn:

I love the color combo!

Currently listening to: http://www.kexp.org better than any radio station you can get around here and the best is that when there's the morning show it is afternoon here!

flickr+mum's bag

2007-06-04T17:58:00.000+02:00

Yepp, I broke down and got myself a flickr pro account. It's only like 20€ per year and I reached the 200 photo limit for the free account a couple of days/weeks ago. You might have noticed that I posted a bunch of old photos now as I'm cleaning up my computer to make some room. My hard drive is nearly full again, though admittedly the photos just use a small portion of that space. Music and various programms I need(or better to say needed) for studying use the most space right now. They will get sorted too, once I've got some free time. Which I have less and less of now that the middle of the semester is here.

I will take that for an excuse of not posting about the Scoop cardigan today ;-)

But I finished my mum's mothersday bag yesterday after finally finding the brown webbing locally. All the other stores only had blue, white or black webbing and I needed brown or fawn.

I really like this bag and would have loved to keep it for myself, but then it's still in the same apartement, so I could theoratically just grab it ;-)

Unfortunately I forgot that the applique shouldn't be centered on the flap, but a little more to the bottom to make up for the bag depth...my mum doesn't mind though.

I rediscovered it

2007-06-02T21:17:00.000+02:00

Ah, my Bloglust has returned to me, only I have little time to blog! I have so many crafty projects and ideas I want to finish this weekend so I will begin this post now and every spare second inbetween waiting for things to cool of, heat up etc I will add something. Let's see how that goes...
...I have a bunch of finished projects to show you, but since they are so many, I thought I would just show you one sample and than let you discover the rest on flickr. If you have any questions about those or want me to write more about a project here, tell me and I will answer...

...OH MY GOD!!!! I didn't realized how many projects I had finished since my last substantial crafty blog post. Ok, I will show you one project that I'm pretty proud of, because it took the longest from idea to FO.

Yes, it's a cross stitch. You might now about subversive cross stitch. I always liked the designs but from the first time I saw them I knew I would want to make my own. Besides all you need is an alphabet, right? Well, yes and a text. Which is half of the problem, cause I didn't wanted anything too vulgare, just something a bit fun and quirky. Finally one day, I had this idea(among others that are not yet stitched): "Angsthase". Which means coward in german, but it's composed of the words Angst=fear and Hase=Bunny. Kind of cute, isn't it?...

...The Scoop de Jour is finished and has already been worn. I'm shocked I haven't posted a pic yet, I was a 100% sure I already did!...

...Just wanted to post the pic and write the info, but there's no pic in my folder! Seems like I didn't take one!?? Too dark to take one now, but I will post about it tomorrow as I did some minor changes to the pattern etc...

...to be continued...

Sorry, nothing here

2007-05-30T15:57:00.000+02:00

Well, I have a severe case of Blog-unlust, that's why I haven't blogged yet and this post isn't a real post either. Sorry, maybe this saturday, but at the moment I prefer to craft instead of taking photos of FO's and WIP's...

Busy Bee

2007-05-24T07:59:00.000+02:00

I've been quite busy this week with a presentation I have to do today, but once this craze(and it really was one, think I never worked so much in so little time!) I will post my recent(as in completed within the last two weeks) FO's and WIP's. My next post will probably be on saturday though since tomorrow will be busy too and I have to get the apartement cleaned up* as my mum gets back from vacation on saturday evening. She's been staying with my grandaunt for a week.
So till then happy knitting to you all who have the time to knit!

*no, I'm not cleaning up alone, my dad and brother will get their share too!

If you do that again, I will kill you!

2007-05-21T21:23:00.000+02:00

No, I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about the f***ing satelite receiver. Some of the tv channels I watch most often are changing the frequency on which they broadcast so I searched for the new ones, found them and wanted to delete some obscene one I totally don't need...and that stupid thing deleted ALL THE CHANNELS!!!!!!!!!!!
After a deep breath(we are talking about 40 important channels plus 100 I don't really watch that are just gone), I started that auto-searching function again...
Can you guess what happened when I moved the more important channels to the lower numbers and deleted a few blank channels?
Yepp, all got deleted again...
The auto-search is running again and this time I will only move the channels.

knitting meme

2007-05-20T09:20:00.000+02:00

I found this meme at Westerly Whimsies and it seems to be originally from rineke. I thought it fun, so here it is:
Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting (atleast I tried)
Norwegian knitting
Dyeing with plant colors (let's not talkabout that result..)
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Soldier?!!!

2007-05-17T10:55:00.000+02:00

My brother went to his physical examination for joining the army yesterday and he passed it. He really wants to join the army...I still can't believe it. As a bit of background there's a compulsory military service in Germany for all men for 9 months total. You can chose to do alternative civilian service instead(just a bit of paperwork involved).
But my brother doesn't just want to do the 9 months, he wants to really join the army for 8+ years! I don't know how to react to it, cause I can't understand why anybody would want to join. Sure, it's his life and if he thinks that's what he wants it's fine I suppose, but I can't shake the feeling that he doesn't really know what that might mean. I guess for me, he's still my little, sometimes a bit weird brother.
Plus with the latest news involving the german army and racism it's a bit worrying to say the least.
My father thinks it's great that he's joining. My mum I guess is still kind of in denial, she has the same issues with it than I have, but since she always said that whatever we chose to do with our life she would accept it and support us, bites her tongue at the moment.

serious addict

2007-05-15T20:03:00.000+02:00

I'm addicted, a serious addict! No, I'm not just talking about my yarn addiction, that goes without mentioning, but all my other addictions. Here's a list in no particular order cause I'm addicted to it all equally:

Coffee: I can't live without it. Numerous attempts have been made to atleast drink less of it and more of the real stuff in contrast to the instant one I drink mostly. All have failed in the end! I need a coffee or two in the morning more than I need a cigarette(which I know is an addiction too). I need one during lectures. I need one when I get back home...
Craft supplies(not counting yarn+fabric): I hord it. Even if I haven't done anything in that direction for months/years I have to save it for the day I will need it again. I must say that I got rid of some supplies, but regretted it deeply more than just once. Like throwing away those wooden bars for silk painting, little skeins of thread/yarn to knot bracelets...I will never again be able to throw any craft supplies away! And I continue to buy more for new crafts...
craft books: I have to order most via Amazon cause the german books mostly suck. My wish list grows larger and larger and I already dedicated 50€ from next months money to craft books
books/reading in general: I will go weeks, yes sometimes even months without reading a book and then I will get in the mood again and read a book within a weekend! And we're not talking about small books, more like LOTR within a week.
Brooches: As I probably mentioned before on this blog I wear almost no jewellery at all except for brooches. I could buy more and more of them!
...to be continued one day...

The perfect flower

2007-05-12T19:12:00.000+02:00

I recently got some amazing crochet hooks in a swap and am using one now on my hunt for the perfect crocheted flower. That really sounds easier than it is. Yes, there are a lot of patterns out there for those and I have a bunch of books with patterns too, but it's always not quite what I want. So I decided to make up my own pattern and just try out a few different things.

This must be number 3 or 4 now:

The first two colored rounds are ok, but the yarn I used for the third round isn't stiff enough. Plus the yellow center could be better too.
So the hunt will continue!

And I was tagged by Di. I'm going to just ignore rule number 3, but if you want to be tagged, consider yourself tagged!The Rules of the Tagging
1. Start with 7 random facts/habits about yourself
2. Then write them on your blog
3. Then choose another 7 people to get tagged and list their names
7 random facts about me:
1.I love the Eurovision contest! And I watched it yesterday of course! Anybody else saw it too? The little knitting clip was way cool.
2.I will throroughly inspect bread before I eat it atleast here at home. Believe me, you would too if you had biten into moldy bread more than once!
3.My finger nails are upper strong, I don't have to do anything to maintain my long nails.
4.I wake up everyday before my alarm goes off. This means even if I don't have to go to campus early, I will be awake by 7am.
5.I own a cell phone, but seldomly use it. Actually most of the time the batteries are dead and my friends know better than to try and call me on that one.
6.I'm a coffee junkie and not even just to the good stuff, I mostly drink instant one.
7.I read all of the Anne Rice books and loved them, my taste in books is as weird as my taste in music sometimes is.

No socks, but many other things

2007-05-05T13:22:00.000+02:00

I'm finally in a sock knitting mode again(plain socks though, no time for patterned socks), but I don't have any cotton sock yarn in my stash! Ok, I got one uni colored skein and two from Knitpicks, but that is not what I want to use. I might be able to buy one skein at the LYS which is having a sale sort of(not sure if there's cotton on sale too), but I already spend my craft budget for this month on beads, buttons, interfacing(which cost more than I expected as they changed the width of it) and stuffing(for Amigurumis, ~~more on that when the first one is finished~~! just scroll down).
So with no suitable yarn I had enough time to make some more items for the craftster swap.
First this crocheted headband. I made the pattern up myself and will write it up when I get the time. It's pretty simple and should be light enough to wear in summer.

Then I made this needle roll. This roll is for straight needles.

And here's my first real Amigurumi for which I needed the stuffing. The pattern can be found here on craftster. It's not finished yet, it needs a mouth I think. Also I don't really like the button eyes, but I forgot to order stuffie eyes with the stuffing and eyes are too expensive at my local craft store. There's a reason I ordered the stuffing online, it costs three times at the local shop!

I already began crocheting my second amigurumi, but I'm using thinner yarn and am sort of making up my own pattern. Some time ago I brought a german book at a fleamarket for crocheted animals and the first few pages of instructions are just for different body parts, like one page for different heads, one for arms etc. I really like this book cause it makes it pretty easy to make your own crocheted animals starting from those plain body parts. The actual patterns though are much too complex for me, they add a lot of accesoirs to their creatures, fun to look at, but it would take ages to complete one.

revelation and crafting

2007-05-02T16:16:00.000+02:00

First of, my SP revealed herself. It was Beverly! Thanks again for beeing my fantabulous SP this round!
She was my first SP that I didn't kind of guessed before the round was finished eventhough I knew where she lived and her real name. The funny thing though is that I did click a link from one of her posts in the SP thread to her blog and a post of her own sp package where at the bottom she wrote that the she would send the next package to her downstream sp(me) by UPS! I so could have figured her out if I just had read that!!!
Which is another reason to not just look at the pretty picture when visiting blogs. I'm still working on cutting down my bloglist, but with minimal outcome. I think I have deleted two blogs, but added the same number...
Oh and Diane was the recipient of my packages!

Anyway, the Star Wars pillows I made for my brother were a big hit, he loves them and said they would be for decoration only, too precious to sleep/sit on!
Knitwise my Scoop de Jour is almost finished and I brought some buttons for it today so now I can finally add the finishing touches.
I also started another cardigan out of Rowan Summer tweed. The pattern I'm using is from that Rowan summer tweed book and is called Cinnamon. Not sure yet if I will make it with buttons or without.
In other crafty news I finished a bunch of stuff for another round of the "Shop the Swap" on craftster. Too tired to add any pictures, but you can have a look over there. Not much else got finished.

B-day

2007-05-01T08:44:00.000+02:00

No, not mine(mine is in september *hint*hint*), my brothers 18th birthday is today! That little Schietbüttel is now a grown up with the right to vote, drive(if he had a licence), drink the hard stuff(he doesn't even drink beer though), stay out as long as he wants and go into clubs(yeah, as if he would do that).
I've just spend the last few minutes blowing up ballons. I did 10 and my mum 8 and if she tells you otherwise, she's lying ;-)
I can't believe that my little brother is so old now, makes me even older! But then he hasn't really been little ever since puberty hit him(he had the nerv to become 3cm taller than me!).

More later, we are preparing to wake him up singing birthday songs in a few minutes ~btw. he had been up really late yesterday :-)

SP package!

2007-04-29T17:18:00.000+02:00

On Friday arrived the last package from my fabulous SP! It was a bit surprising cause I had already forgotten that my SP wrote me to expect it friday or monday(that is not the only thing I forgot last week, am I glad that week is over now!).
Inside was a magnetic chart keeper(I've been wanting one lately: mind-reading SP! ...or did I wrote anywhere about it?), Knitpicks Bare lace yarn(will be dyed tomorrow and then turned into a candle flame scarf), yummy only-slightly fragranted hand lotion(I love it, but I doubt it will make my nails 10 times stronger unless it turns them into stone ;-)) and a bead knitted bracelet! Really, the photos don't do it justice, it's so much prettier in nature!

Thank you very much SP! This SP round with you has been real fun and your packages were great and thoughtfull, I feel really spoiled!

Now, who are you?

Crafty girl

2007-04-23T07:33:00.000+02:00

There's a reason I had not bloged for a week. Besides studying I did a lot of crafting mainly for a swap on craftster(Shop the Swap). Following are some of the things from my "shop" and some other crafted stuff:

knitting needle rolls for DPNS:

Dyed roving and sock yarn:

Star wars pillows, the first set is for my brothers 18th birthday:

Then I finally managed to sew in the lining for my cupcake purse. I'm pretty proud of the neat handstitching, my best so far. Though if I would do this again, I wouldn't interface the lining, atleast not with the strong interfacing I normally use for my bags as it's a bit too stiff:

(click to see neat stitches!)
And my Scoop du Jour is almost finished too. It took me quite a bit longer than I had thought it would take. The yarn is a cotton/acrylic blend and I can't knit as long as I want to with it. I still need to search for some buttons and then add the button and neck band.

I LOVE fleamarkets!

2007-04-22T15:33:00.000+02:00

We went to three fleamarkets today and I brought something at everyone of them!
First these 7 vintage craft books for 2€!!! There's some really cute stuff in the kid books and the crochet one has a whole really big section about everything you could ever want to know about crochet. I just skipped through it, but a lot of techniques I had never seen are desribed in it and they even show how to connected different crochet forms like flowers and such.

Then at the second fleamarket was a really nice lady who wanted only 1€ for the bottom ribbon you can see in the next photo. And when I asked what everything would cost together she said: "Oh well, it's so nice to see young girls interested in crafts...what about 2€?"!!! I haven't measured them yet, but that's a bargain for sure!

And at the last fleamarket I got this bag full of zippers for 3.50€. It was a fantastic day! Crafty post tomorrow.

half-empty girl

2007-04-16T22:23:00.000+02:00

You might have wondered how I managed to spend so much at the fabric market when just a little while ago I whined about having to save money for the study fees after using that money for the new and still nameless sewing machine. Well I went to the bank on late friday and found out I still had much money left! For the next two hours I tried figuring out if that could be right or if there was something I still needed to pay or if my card will be charged later.
Oh no, it really was true! Granted I got 30€ more from work than I had tought I would get, but still there was more left than what I had calculated with. Which shows two things:

1. I always think the glass is half-empty
2. I brought a whole lot of "useless" stuff in the months before. And we are not talking about yarn puchases here, they were rather slim and calculable, but magazines, candy and things I now can't remember buying!

With these came the realization of what I could have done had I just saved that money-buying a new machine earlier, travels etc.
Anyway with the extra money I decided to tackle a project I've been thinking a lot about for the past months but then always ended up thinking I didn't have enough money to do that or that there were more important things to spend it on. The big project is organizing my room better! I know, it sounds lame, but it is seriously frustrating if you have to search all over the place to get all the material for let's say a purse. Therefore I visited some cheap furnitur stores today and found this shelf that fits perfectly into my closet and it only took half an hour and little swearing to put it together!

You can see some of my cotton fabric stash already neatly folded in there. I aim on filling the upper section with all of my printed cotton fabric.
Will go back to folding now!

Fabric? Fabric!

2007-04-15T07:44:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was truely a fun day. I really liked it that I didn't had to go to the fabric market alone. The reason my mum volunteered was that my dad needed the car and I had to go there by public transportation. The tour itself wasn't that complicated rather faster than I thought it would be(45minutes one way), but I am weak. No, not just towards buying too much fabric and given in buying more stuff I don't need, but in the carrying sense of the word. It's a bit embarassing, but my almost 50 year old mother can lift things I can't! In the end it wasn't that heavy, mainly because the fabrics were all rather light, but it helped that she carried half of it.
Seriously, my left shoulder hurt on friday evening after only carrying my messenger bag to and from campus two days in a row! Granted it was indeed heavy since I needed some stuff, water bottle etc., but not that kind of heavy...
Anyway I decided I need to sort through my fabric stash once again and get it organized better. I have one big plastic bag that is either going to be sold on Ebay or just thrown away. Mostly stuff I brought the year I learned to sew or fabric that was gifted to me that I didn't liked in the first place. Then I will need to find a better place for the rest of my stash. At the moment it is stored in big cardboard boxes and plastic bags, but that is so not working. I never know what I have or have not! I was thinking about getting some kind of drawer/shelf thing to put into my closet. It is deep enough that one should fit into. I will probably have access to the car next week and will visit some cheapo furniture shops.
And I finally made the last two items for my SP. There were some minor problems, mostly me forgetting to add X before doing Y, but they look ok. Which means that I will be able to send next week!

P.S.: I colored my hair yesterday too! The package said it's blue-black, but honestly it's more black than blue. It's not permanent since I wouldn't do that myself. I've got quite different hairstructure than the average german woman(now, that's a surprise, right ;-) ) so I don't trust those permanent hair coloring products much. Unfortunately a trip to the hairdresser is out of the question at the moment, but black hair is ok.

my mum saved me...

2007-04-14T12:46:00.000+02:00

...from buying too much, but I still came home with this:

-upper left: 4 printed cotton fabrics 1m each

next: starwars knit fabric 1.5m

2 cotton something 1.5m each, my mum picked these, I am to sew her something shirty

-lower left: 2 jersey fabrics 1.5m each

next: jersey fabric 4m

embroidered linnen 2m

and this:

-Various ribbons 2m each

I could have brought much much more but my mum kept reminding me that I don't wear glittery stuff and that I actually despise orange ;-)

I've already done the math and I haven't spend more than 65€, probably less! Oh, I think I didn't mentioned it, there was a fabric market today and I went there together with my mum obviously.

Beautifull day...

2007-04-12T19:11:00.000+02:00

atleast weather-wise. But since I spend most of the day either indoors or in transit it actually sucked quite a bit. Yesterday wasn't much better either. I've got no courses on wednesdays, but went to campus anyway to get some paperwork done...after an extensive search for the right room-from the 11th floor to underground and back up again, do I hate this building!- the secretary apparently went to break early!!! I gave up and went to the nearbyish park instead, taking some photos. Most weren't that good cause the sun kept beeing overshadowed by clouds, so here's only one:

More craftiness in the next post.

knitting projects

2007-04-09T12:27:00.000+02:00

What can I say, I'm addicted to swaps! I swapped a lot the last two months, mostly just supplies and fabric. It will be hard not to swap much for the next two months untill I have payed the study fees!
Anyway, here are some of the crafted things I send:
1. a tube top that gladly fit the recipient. I really wasn't sure about that and had no one to try fit it on. But as you can see it looks great on her! I also send a yoyo brooch along.

2. a pair of leg warmers. After I knit these I thought for some time to make myself some cause I loved how they came out, but I never wear leg warmers. It would just be a waste of yarn and time making some for myself. Good thing there are swaps so I can atleast knit some for others!

she liked them too ;-)

3.I also dyed and send some roving+sock yarn. I really liked the white-blue one and think I will dye that way again. I guess it would result in a really light blue with darker blue when spun up.

4.+5. two Calorimetries. I love to knit them as they are fast and only take an evening to make plus you don't need much yarn so it's a good project for all of those single skeins in my stash.

And I decided to knit Scoop du Jour from the retrieved yarn. I even began knitting the back and am almost getting the gauge. In fact the back is just a few rows short of completion and the only thing that stopped me from finishing it yesterday was that my hands started to hurt, always a sign to stop knitting.

In sp news, I have a hard time coming up with ideas for the last package for my downstream pal. Fortunately I had brought yarn before I had to buy a new sewing machine, so she surely gets that, but what else to send? I already finished a little knit project too, but the package looks so empty. Will have to think about that a little more.

yoyo-craze

2007-04-07T20:27:00.000+02:00

Ever since I made my first yoyo brooch I've been eyeing my fabrics and matching them. I actually sewed a couple of yoyos, but had to wait for my button lots from Ebay to arrive untill I could finish the brooches. Here are some in various stages:

The two on the left are finished, with a stabilized fabric circle at the back and a pin. On my first brooch I had attached the pin right unto the fabric yoyo and found out it's a bit too loose and makes pinning it to something difficult. That's why I added a small circle to the back of those two with fusible interfacing to stabilze it. Works much better!
I love making these and I hate sewing by hand normally! I have to admit though that I stopped making more despite the great fabric combinations still waiting to be made into yoyo brooches because what should I do with a dozen fabric brooches? Even I don't need that many!

knitting:
I finished a couple of knitting projects, some were for swaps and have been received already so I will post pics of them tomorrow. Which left me with 0/ zero/ null knitting projects at the moment! Can you hear the despair? I'm truely addicted to knitting and having no project at all is...well, what did I ever do while watching tv before? I mean are there really people who just watch tv and do nothing else at the same time? It's sooooooooo boring!
I could have cast on another pair of socks, but I want my next socks to be patterned socks, no more excuses about finding the right sock pattern etc. Instead I unraveled my Miro top that was way to big and will use the yarn for my next project. I was thinking about a sweater or cardigan. Maybe SCOOP du JOUR?

SP package

2007-04-03T18:09:00.000+02:00

I got my first SP package today! Actually the really first one unfortunately got lost in the mail, just my luck. But my SP had been wonderfull anyway and exchanging mail so far has been too.
But behold the lovely package I got:

Yes, those are Fetching you see! My sp knit something for me *jumps around*
They fit perfectly and I love the color! She also included an extra ball from that yarn, it's Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed! Wonderfull yarn as it feels soft, but also holds one warm.
But that wasn't all, my SP also included the "Dyeing to knit" book! I've only skipped through it, but it looks promising!(now, if only I could find the undyed sock yarn...)
Thank you very much SP!

first day

2007-04-02T17:20:00.000+02:00

If it wasn't for the beautifull weather this day might have been a bit more of a downer. Break is over and university started again today. Admittedly due to the #*!&$% plan of courses I only had two hours today, four hours total with transit. But those where pretty boring two hours. I will probably never understand why at the first lecture of every course they spend almost all the time on either organisational stuff or What-this-course-is-all-about. Both are somewhat important, but why don't they cut it down to 10 minutes for each subject and then carry one with a real lecture?

web photo storing
Ok, it does seem like the limit on blogger photo hosting isn't that small and should be sufficent for some time, but it let me to wonder a bit. Seems like a couple of bloggers are using flickr to host their pictures. I do sometimes too atleast for FO's to keep them all in one tidy space together, but I realized that I'm slowly reaching the 200 photo limit for free accounts. I thought about getting a pro account before as it doesn't cost that much, but hadn't thought I really needed it. Now that I may do however I'm of course lacking the money-or let's say I would prefer to spend the money I can spend at the moment for other things, like swapping and birthday gifts ;-)

Flash your stash 2007

2007-04-01T15:24:00.000+02:00

I totally forgot about flash your stash and so hadn't made any preparations like sorting and getting the yarn from the attic. What I ended up doing was gather all the yarn that is in my room and than see if it all fit on my floor which it surprisingly did:
->

That's amost all of the yarn I have now except for a few balls(my guess is 2-4kg...a few, right...) that are stored up in the attic. I will post a bunch more pictures and descriptions later, but in the meanwhile here's a picture of all the sock yarn I have except for a few undyed balls(my guess is 400-600g...a few, right...):

I think flash your stashis a good oportunity to marvel at your own stash and maybe even realize that you have enough to complete a few projects without buying more.
Edit:
Click to see bigger photos and notes

P.S.: Has anybody else noticed that blogger picture hosting seems to have an upper storage limit now? Honestly I think they should have atleast notified bloggers!

buttons, more buttons and a little rant

2007-03-28T11:00:00.000+02:00

Before my sewing machine broke I managed to finally buy two button lots on ebay. I've bid on button lots for a month but always was outbid! It's crazy what some people are willing to pay, just crazy.
Including the buttons I already had I've got quite a lot now and need to organize them better. Up untill now they were in my sewing basket together with my other embelishing sewing stuff. That wasn't a convenient way to begin with, but is impossible now:

Yes, that's all of them! I was thinking about using jars, because it looks so pretty, but where would I put those jars? My mum suggested those diveded boxes like the small one I already use for some of my beads(which is actually too small for all of my beads), but apart from the fact that those cost money I don't know where to put it either.

a little rant:
I had to complete registration for my university courses this week and it was quite frustrating. Not because they were full, but because some of the courses I wanted to take colidated with lectures I have to take! The lectures will mostly be held for the last time and I really want to actually go to them. It's not compulsory to listen to them and mostly you get quite good lecture notes but I believe that you learn more consistently if you go to them. Plus one of the lectures I have to take doesn't exist anymore and so instead I have to listen to the second half of another lecture plus a two hour course next semester. And of course physics is parallel to one of my lectures as is the only project course(where you put what you learned to use)that interests me! It would have been the perfect project too...

like butter

2007-03-26T17:22:00.000+02:00

Yes, sewing with my new machine is like cutting through butter! Here she is:

And this is what I sewed, a bag. It's only half finished since I don't have anything to make a strap at the moment.

new baby!

2007-03-22T16:16:00.001+01:00

Yes, I did it, I brought a new sewing machine! After an extensive internet research through sewing machine company websites, online shops and sewing forums I had a list of machines that would be suitable. The "cheapest" cost 199€ and the most expensive one 499€. But of course the cheapest didn't actually have all the features I wanted to have like a one-step-buttonhole and to be honest was only on the list to make me feel like I could live with a cheaper one too(and a bit more money in my pocket).
So I went to the local sewing machine shop, which I only heard good things of. They have sewing machines from different companys and where suppose to be nice and professional...which they were!
I'm not a person who likes to be besieged by salespersons when entering a shop. And the few times I needed assistance while shopping for something I felt alienated, uncomfortable or stupid(in terms of the salesperson thinking of me as stupid-especially happens when buying computer or other technical supplies...). But not this time! The saleswoman listen to what I said, asked a few questions about what I want and my old machine and then demonstrated to me the first machine(a Bernina). She showed me almost everything one can do with it and explained what I could use this and that stitch for etc. I then asked for another machine on my list(my new baby!) and she showed me that one too. Answered all my questions and eventhough she didn't knew the machine 100% showed me everything(the memory function and alphabet!).
What can I say, after a quick walk outside(mainly to smoke a cigarette and find reasons to justify the price of the machine) I brought the second machine she showed me! It's a Smart 200c by Pfaff and I love her already!
It was most definately the right decision to buy this machine and invest the money instead of going with a cheaper one. I tested it thoroughly yesterday and I am now able to sew jersey and stretchy fabric without any kind of trouble! And I didn't even use a ballpoint needle(which if I sew a real garment I of course would) or pin things into place. I was also able to sew through 4 layers of really heavy wool fabric without using a special needle. Ok, when I tried six layers the thread got caught, but if I ever had to sew something like that I would use the right needle anyway and adjust tensions etc. And buttonholes too will never again be a problem!
Now, I would show you photos of my new baby, but first it's now stored in the big closet in my brothers room when not in use so nothing happens to it in my small room. And second my neck muscles still hurt and I am so not lifting anything heavy again today. Yes, I of course had to take the machine home on thursday when the saleswoman offered to put a rope around it to better carry it. Yes, I could have driven back with the car in the evening but with traffic and not knowing when my dad would be back from work with the car I decided that I could carry this big machine home...I learned I can, but it takes its toll especially if your as weak as I am!
Therefore you will have to wait till the next project for photos of it.
Also according to some recent money juggling I might just not be as broke as I thought I would be! I will have to calculate again to be sure, but it looks good.

Ok, no problem

2007-03-21T12:40:00.000+01:00

Ok...I am ok... really!
I mean it sucks that my machine broke especially now with two swap projects that I need to finish, only 1.5 weeks untill the semester starts again and after I spend so much already this month...
But after some chocolate and half a beer(no, alcohol is of course not the solution) I felt good enough to check the prices on new sewing machines. I decided that I won't buy a cheap one again for which you can't buy nifty accessories. I had planned to buy a new one anyway, just not now. So I checked when the new study fee is due(15. June) and how much money I have now. It might be actually possible to buy a new machine! I would have to use the money originally saved for the fee and then I couldn't buy much for the next two months to actually pay those fees. Thank god I'm still living at home and my regular expenses are pretty low.
I would ask my parents to loan me the money, but they are planning a trip to Indonesia at the end of this year and might have to pay for the flight in advance. Will have to discuss that with my mum when she comes back from work.
Anyway I want a quality machine that can make pretty buttonholes(my machine sucked at that and it kept me from ever completing a jacket or blouse) preferably in one step and where you can adjust the foot pressure. Fancy stitches and everything else are extras I can also live without. I'm already planning a visit to the local sewing machine shop which has almost all kind of brands.

Sob...

2007-03-21T10:46:00.000+01:00

My sewing machine is broken!
...
...
need chocolate now...

Back to craf...crochet

2007-03-17T08:45:00.000+01:00

Yes, you read right! The most I've done lately that I can actually show you is my crochet projects. The things I knit are all swap stuff so I can't post them yet. As for the perfect dress I copied the pattern unto tracing paper, but haven't had the time yet to cut the fabric.

Remember the little cupcake purse I crochet? Well the only way to go from there was to crochet a bigger cupcake purse! I increased more in the bottom part which is a lot more difficult than it sounds. I always have a hard time creating a circle and not an hexagon or octagon. The ruffles are also a bit bigger. I might even line this purse to use as a sock bag...

The other project I can show you is my ripple blanket. It has grown quite a lot and more yarn had to be brought for it, but it was all sale yarn under 2€ per ball. I love how it turned out so far! I did not think about any kind of color scheme, instead I just looked if the new color matched the previous two colors. The only problem now? I only have one ball left I haven't used yet, so if you have anything in your stash you don't need anymore(partial balls with more than half still there might be ok too) mail me and we can swap for it. The content of the yarn or color doesn't matter at all, but it should be yarn that would knit up between 20-25 stitches though.
Yans I used so far:
-Schachenmayr "Torino"; 100% superwash wool; 150m/50g; 22sts=10cm
- Debbie Bliss "wool/cotton"; 50% merino wool, 50% cotton; 115m/50g; 25 sts
-Rellana "Top Plus"; 50% cotton, 50%Polyacryl; 135m/50g; 22sts
-Schachenmayr "Merino"; 100% wool; 160m/50g; 24 sts
-Lana Grossa "Numero Uno"; 100% superwash wool; 125m/50g; 22sts
-Knitpicks "ShineSport"; 60%cotton, 40% modal; 110yards/50g; 24 sts

The colors are a bit different in the photo, unfortunately we have gone from wonderfully sunny days to rain and storm today.

looking back

2007-03-16T09:06:00.000+01:00

Sorry about yesterdays post, I was in a pretty bad mood for no reason anyway when he turned up his music.
Today my mood is a lot better. I've been flipping through some old photo albums including the really old ones like my parents wedding album. It's hard to believe that my mum had been married for over 3 years at my age! She rented her own apartement(with her best friend+ next door to said friends parents though as she likes to point out) and had a real job at the age of 16. And from the stories she occasionally tells me has been quite the party girl including tales that make you wonder how she managed not to get into trouble or hurt. I mean do biker bar or hanging around the central train station sound safe to you? What about someone put something into my drink, but my best friend safed me?!!
I realized that I'm very different from that girl and actually my mum is now very different from that girl too. She herself can't really understand what's so cool about hanging out at the central train station and just recently said she was a lot more stupid back then.
Why was I never like that? Really, I never felt the need to go out every weekend. Or to drink much at a young age. Like I said in my 30 things about me I was probably the last in my class to have had a real drink or get wasted; I was 18 or 19 I think(within the legal drinking age!). I've never tried any drugs not even pot -which is much more common around teenagers than their parents probably realize, atleast here- though quite a number of fellow students and friends did.
Maybe it is because of the way I have been brought up cause my brother still hasn't drunk any kind of alcohol(his 18th birthday is coming up). There were never any strict rules on curfews, places we could or could not go or friends we should or shouldn't have etc. There also never really were any needs for those. I also ,despise some teenager rebellion, always talked with my mum about almost everything. She knew that some kids at school smoked pot, but was confident that I wouldn't when I told her I didn't. Maybe that is it, the trust she put in me to know better, which I didn't wanted to betray.

Ok, enough of the babble. I originally started this post to show you some photos from the old albums, but without a scanner I had to take photos of the photos and the flash messed up with it. Back to crafting in the next post!

Argghh! Stop it!

2007-03-15T15:40:00.000+01:00

What's up with my neighbour lately? He's playing this ridiculously annoying music really loud now and has done so a couple of days in a freaking row!!!!!!!!!
Did his girlfriend broke up with him? Did he lost his job? Frankly, I couldn't care less, just stop playing this f***ing music so f***ing loud!
Honestly it doesn't it even help to play my own music a bit louder cause his stereo seems to be a lot better than my computer speakers... shit, I should have kept my stereo...

cupcake, sheep and the magic number!

2007-03-12T09:57:00.000+01:00

I brought a cute crochet cupcake pattern from purl on saturday and finished my first yummy cupcake yesterday evening. Ok, it took me considerably more time than the 30minutes it takes her to finish one, but then I'm a rather slow crocheter.
I love how it turned out! her instructions are pretty clear and easy to follow. I'm planning on making a bigger cupcake soon.

I also went to a "Kunsthandwerkermarkt"(craft fair) this sunday at an open-air museum(traditional houses etc. like a whole little village). I'm deliberatly not showing any pics of what I brought, but I have to say that I managed not to buy everything I liked...especially this one amazing lapis lazuli brooch...
Anyway, I'm the worst picture taker ever since I always forget to take pictures in the first place, so these are the only two I took: sheep!

And *drumroll* we've passed the magic number of 100000!

Swap projects

2007-03-11T12:26:00.000+01:00

I've been in a couple of craftster swaps lately and therefore couldn't post pics of some of my finished projects. But now that they've been received, feast your eyes:
1. dyed roving

I loved how the left one came out and debated parting with it. In the end I told myself that my swap partner might just like it as much as I do and send it.

2. knitted leg warmers

These are the first leg warmers I ever knit. I was a bit anxcious if they would fit, but my partner sais they fit perfectly! You might recognize the yarn, it's the same selfdyed lamb yarn I used for one of my sweaters and I still have left-overs from it!

3. heart swap

This is by far the best bag I ever sewed, if I might say so myself. I loved it so much I wanted to keep it for myself! I already cut some pieces to reproduce it for myself, but have to change the colors since I don't have enough of all the fabrics anymore.
And just because I'm so proud of it, more pics:

What next?

2007-03-09T09:11:00.000+01:00

So, the kimono dress was a no-no, the vintage dress was ok, but not perfect. Which one should I try next? I've got three more patterns that I could test(click to make bigger):

1. Butterick 3076
Would prefer the A version cause I fear the back of version B would gap when I wear it. It sais it is suitable for light weight broadcloth/linen/denim, so I should have something in my stash for it.
2. Burda young fashion 8174
Here too I would sew the A version since it has straps. Can't wear anything without a bra and don't own a strapless bra anymore( or better to say the one I have is one cup size to big, the downside of loosing weight).
3. Burda 8353
I love the fabric of version A and really like the dress, but I fear I don't have fabric for this dress. I have a black fabric with a black flowery embroidered pattern on it that might work, but it also has holes(lace) in it and I would need to add lining to it.

In the mean time I finally managed to organize my postcards and put some of them up:

Darn, I just realized while looking at the pic, that some of the cards though they have been secured with double tape moved and know you can see some of the brown background!

Kimo-NO

2007-03-05T15:26:00.001+01:00

or March madness second try: the Kimono tunic
Two weeks ago I saw a sewing magazine that I just had to have:

I loved the tunic on the cover though back then I thought it was a dress. In case you didn't noticed yet, but the magazine is dutch! Now, I can make out some words in spoken dutch if the person speaks slowly cause it's a bit similare to german. Just a bit though. I had my mum help me read some of it. She would read it out loud and then we both tried to make sense of it. She was pretty good at it probably because she learned plattdeutsch when she was younger.

Anyway, the tunic is so simple I don't think you really need to understand it all. Surprisingly though the tunic is made out of several pieces, on the pattern sheet it was just 4 pieces, front+back plus pieces that needed to be attached to it to make it longer(wouldn't have fit on the sheet otherwise).
You're supposed to cut the several pieces from these two back and front pieces. For my test piece I decided not to cut the several pieces apart. I just wanted to get a general idea of how it would look like, especially since the smallest size is only a EU38 and I wear a EU36.
Here's the test piece:

Ok...hmm, I don't think so. The patterns asks for popelin fabric which is a bit stretchy, but not that much. I don't think that would look to good, I could however imagine it in something more flowingly. My mum already asked if I couldn't make a tunic like that for her....maybe after I find my perfect dress.

P.S.: See the counter to the left? Granted, some of these are my own visits, but still...way cool!
This graph probably shows more the true visitor number(click to make bigger):

P.P.S.: Omg, I love all of these here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=91219

Flower obsessed

2007-03-04T19:01:00.000+01:00

Since all of my WIP's are long term projects(except for socks, but I'm not in a sock mood lately), I decided to look for some little projects I can do inbetween.
I skipped through some of my knitting and craft books and saw a flower brooch in the "Crafter's Companion". I've made some flowers before out of craft felt(the thin type), but always wanted something with a bit more depth to it.
So I got out all of the fabric that hid in my wardrobe and searched through it...and then I went crazy making fabric flowers! The big black, the blue and the purple flower are based on that pattern more or less. They are nice, but didn't looked as "finished" as I wanted them to. So I did a quick google search yesterday evening for fabric flowers and stumbled across fabric yo-yo's. Something I have wanted to try for some time, but hestitated cause I would have to handstitch them. I suck at handstitching and get very impatient with that stupid needle. I had read somewhere about a yoyo-maker/template thingy(I think it's from clover) and had thought it a good idea at that time, something that would help even me sewing these.
Not anymore, because yesterday I sewed my first yo-yo in no time at all and I do ask myself why anybody would need that clover thing. I mean, if I can sew a yoyo, everybody probably can. Is there something to it that escapes me?

Today I finished a bunch of more yoyo's and then essembled three of them into this flower. It still needs to have a pin attached to its back, but then it's ready to be pinned to my blazer or bag or...

And then I colored one of the really cheap notebooks I brought at the euro store last week. They were only 50 cents and I'm definately going back to get more of them. This one has already been claimed in a swap:

March madness

2007-03-02T09:23:00.000+01:00

Joining Amy in a little crafting challenge, I chose my mad challenge to be: sewing the perfect dress for me!
It will be the first dress I ever sewed. I won't count the dresses for my little cousins, cause they had no shaping at all and where more than just simple.
My biggest problem will be finding a pattern that I truely like and am capable of sewing preferable without having to alter it too much and using stash fabric...

First try: Vintage Burda dress(60's ?)
This is a pretty simple dress though it looks more difficult than it is. Because I would hate to have wasted some gorgeous print fabric and there where only drawings of the dress on the pattern, I sewed a dummy dress today.
Here's the pattern and the main dummy dress parts already cut out. I'm using bomull from Ikea for almost all my test sewing pieces unless the end fabric is stretchy(which hasn't occured yet).

And here's the dummy dress:

Hmm, it actually looks a bit better than in the photos; e.g. no bump on the front. But the pattern asks for two zippers, a long zip on one side and a short zip on the neck back. Plus I think that it would flow better in a fabric with atleast a small percentage of stretchability, something that is not in my stash.
I think I will try another pattern too. I've just brought a sewing mag with a cool Kimono style tunic, shouldn't be too difficult to change it into a dress...I hope.

P.S.: Apart from sewing I started a long term project: a crocheted ripple blanket. They seem to be quite popular at the moment and I just couldn't resist! At the moment I'm using stash yarn and also brought some additional skeins in different colors from this yarn. The yarn is "Torino" from Schachenmayr; 150m/50g and I use a 4mm hook. I had thought about using a thicker yarn, but I don't want the blanket to be too warm as I would not use it then.
That's why I had to chain 274 sts!!! The first row really sucked and took me way over 1,5 hours, but the second one was alot faster already.

busy bee

2007-03-01T00:41:00.000+01:00

As you probably already guessed, I was quite busy lately trying to finish all my WIPs. Not only did I finished the cotton candy, but also a scarf/shawl and the camisole.
First the scarf: The pattern is a simplification of eunny's print o'the wave stole. Fewer repeats and a simple garter stitch edge instead of the fancy one. It's knit out of Kauni yarn 100% wool, my mum thinks it's too scratchy for a scarf, I think it's perfect! It even smells a faint bit wooly plus it matches my coat!
Unfortunately the picture is not very good, but I hope you get the idea. There's also my fab shawl pin from scottsmountaincrafts, love it! (Have you seen her new bracelets? Wish my arms weren't that skinny and I could wear bracelets, see pictures below for what I mean)

The camisole has been blocked too. I blocked the hell out of it since it ended up beeing much too wide due to my gauge changing while knitting. Well, it definately isn't too wide anymore, but now it's quite lengthy flowing over my hips. I don't mind though, it's rather hip now, isn't it?

(I really, really need to get my hair cut, but I can't decide how...)

I also dyed some roving for a swap and since I couldn't decide what kind of colors I wanted to send I dyed a bunch more and decided afterwards. The rest is going into my fiber stash.

I already spun up one that isn't in the above picture and plied it with some undyed fiber

I love how it turned out! It's light blue with light blue-green. I'm thinking about knitting socks out of this though I probably have to spin the rest of it for that too.

Well, with almost all my projects finished I felt lost. What to knit next? I opted against another pair of socks(though I just brought some more sock yarn...) and tried out Domino knitting instead. I had brought this book recently and it is really nice. The instructions are pretty clear and take you every step. I'm not so fond of the patterns especially the yarn choices made. I think Domino knitting just screams for multicolored yarn.
Anyway I made this potholder for my mum within two hours.

Ok, there also was a lot of shopping lately, but I will only show you this gigantic fabric stash enhancement. These are over 18m of Ikea fabric! Ikea had a special last Tuesday: 2 for 1! Yes, you got two yards for the price of 1! I went there early in the morning to be there when they open cause I knew the chaos it would be. Of course that was the day a truck lightly hit a car and though nobody seems to have been injured the 15 minutes trip to Ikea took me 1.5 hours!!!
The fabric section had turned into hell by the time I finally arrived! Nevertheless I got everything I had wanted to buy.

You might not believe it, but I'm a pretty stubborn person. Once I set my mind on something there's not much that can distract me from it. I'm very much like my father in that characteristic, though he denies beeing stubborn ;-)
There was a contest on Dawanda , which is kind of like a german etsy. It was a valentines contest where you had to mark your favorits and then you randomly got kissed by valentin, valentina or a frog. For every valentin or valentins you got a point and the three persons with the most points would get something of their favorits list.
That's where my stubbornness set in and I kept on adding to my favorits, must have been hundreds and hundreds of things I marked( you could see the top 8 persons I think). Well, in the end I was indeed number three!
To my surprise I was allowed to make 3 suggestions for the price which I did. And then even more surprising, I did not just get one item, but two!!!
First this really cool felt pillow arrived. It matches my room and is just fab. I'm really thinking about buying a second one. http://dawanda.com/user/berlinerfilz

And today this amazing brooch was in the mail! I'm a sucker for pretty brooches! http://dawanda.com/user/filani

Watch your steps!

2007-02-28T17:01:00.000+01:00

Cause there might be needles in your way!

This is the last of my almost finished knits. Sesame only needs to dry and some sewing. Now, why I block it at 5pm is beyond me. I can barely walk my room and the only empty space is on top of my computer chair and my bed.
I've got another post full of pictures waiting to be posted, but that has to wait untill tomorrow. I will resign to the living room now.

Cotton candy with Flair

2007-02-27T13:33:00.000+01:00

Finished!

More here and don't forget to vote for me once voting begins ;-)

P.S.: The skirt I wear is one of the two I sewed recently.

craftster knitting challenge

2007-02-26T17:36:00.000+01:00

Yes, the vintage lace camisole is finished, but I decided that I wouldn't enter it into the challenge. Instead my entry will be a vintage inspired knit from a none vintage pattern. I recently found these really cool buttons and had to buy a pack of them(5 for 3€).

I already had matching yarn in my stash, "Soft Hair" from Gedifra in color #4957. I knew I wanted to make somekind of coaty thing, not just a cardigan, but one you could wear in spring without a jacket.
Then I stumbled upon Flair. Just the perfect pattern!

I'm finished with the knitting and it's blocking right now. If all goes well it will be my entry for the knitting challenge, but I want to knit a faux fur collar too(pink and black).

Edit: Oh, here's a blocking pic. Yes, it's blocking on a hanger since all I want to achieve is more length ;-)

Urghh, is that me?

2007-02-23T21:39:00.000+01:00

Drinking beer and dyeing roving is fun!!! Seriously you should try!
But mix the colors first so you don't have to wear a mask and smell your own breath...urgh!
Just waiting till the next roving is finished cooking and trying to entertain myself till then. Results will be posted once I decide which one I will send to my craftster swap partner aka somewhen next week.

cleaning up etc.

2007-02-21T08:38:00.000+01:00

Ok, I finally broke down and realized that I really need to tidy up my room. A friend called me yesterday and since she was in this part of town asked if she could come around...

...well...

...I think...

...maybe...

...hmm, how if we meet up at the next cafe instead?
I don't read as much blogs as I used to do, but quite a number lately showed pics of their homes or craft rooms and I envied them. Not only for having a craft room, but for the apparent tidyness in their homes! Even the ones that claimed they were a mess looked clean to me. I mean compared to my mess they really were!
How did this happend? Before the last exam this room was really tidy except for a bunch of study material lying around. And the last big clean-up was only 1.5 months ago and it included finding space for everything. Plus I haven't been buying that much new stuff since then!

Edit 2 days later: I managed to tidy up the room a bit and block a lace scarf and the camisole. Teaser blocking pics ahead:

I also finished knitting a pair of socks out of selfdyed yarn. The leg part features a little triangle pattern made up of purl stitches. Sorry for the blurry pic, but it showed the color best.

Excuses

2007-02-20T09:46:00.000+01:00

or another post without real pics.
I've finished a few projects, but they either haven't been blocked yet or are in the washer. Also I've been rather busy with secret pal or swapping projects I can't blog about. That's part of the reason the blog was so quite lately. I actually started writing two posts, but never completed them. I was just not in a blogging mood lately and would rather knit or sew than sit in front of the computer. This mood has changed, but now I have nothing to really blog about...typical!
It's just like shopping for clothes, if you are broke there are a thousand pieces you would buy if you could and then if you have the money you can find nothing that you like or that fits you. This is more or less what clothing shopping is like for me at the moment. I'm searching for a black skirt and where there were plenty of them before I can find none...atleast not in my size. Which is a whole complain in itself. How is it that what ever size I have the clothes I like always have a different one? I've been looking for some great vintage dresses lately, found a few really nice dresses at a fleamarket last sunday and they all were too big! Like two clothing sizes two big...
Though I ended up buying a few patterns at the fleamarket to sew my own dresses and a vintage knitting mag:

soooo many ideas

2007-02-09T15:17:00.000+01:00

At the moment I have so many ideas for crafty projects, sewing, knitting, spinning, dyeing etc. But I want to finish a particular project first before I begin anything else.
It's my first project from "Vintage knits". I love the knits in this book, but up untill now there always was something else to knit and I didn't had any suitable yarns...or so I thought.
The newest knitting challenge over at craftster.org is "What would Marple knit", the perfect excuse to finally knit a vintage project. After searching through the net and a couple of magazines(late 70's) I decided against all of the projects I liked from them for one reason only: yarn. For some I didn't had the right yarn in the right color and gauge and for others, well I would never be able to knit a whole sweater with sock weight yarn in time(though one design has been put on the to-do list; regia silk is all I'm saying about it).
That's why I am now knitting the Lace Camisole from "Vintage Knits". I even had suitable yarn for it! It really does help to reduce the stash and get rid of yarns you never ever will knit with anyway. I'm knitting the camisole in some silky grey yarn from a cone. I'm not sure where I got it from, but I'm sure it was gifted to me by someone. I also have no idea about the actual content, but from the feel of it my guess it's silk. I already finished the back and am now knitting the front.

Update:
The front is now finished too, but I'm a little confused by the instructions for the straps. It says to pick up and knit from the point, the back and to the next point, knit a bit and bind of. Then CO for one strap, pick up from the front and CO for the second strap ???
Sounds much too complicated to me and it would be hard to adjust the straps length, so I decided to crochet around and also crochet the straps. The camisole seems to be a bit too wide, I guess with this silky and slippery yarn my gauge changed while knitting, but since I never intended to wear it alone, it might be ok...we will see.

I also sewed a skirt(more on that in the next post) and a few secret projects, which I can't reveale untill the Knitty SP is over. Otherwise it would be too easy for my pal to spot me, though I really want to blog about these highly usefull things...

FO's 2007

2007-02-05T21:56:00.000+01:00

Here's a list of the finished projects for 2007:

January
Le Slouch
Socks out of handdyed yarn
Wrist warmers out of handdyed yarn
silk scarf
crocheted purse
sewn shopping bags

February
messenger bag
Caliometry

March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

pre- and post-exam-crafting

2007-02-02T13:33:00.000+01:00

Eventhough I learned a lot, I still found the time to knit and craft a bit. It were mostly just easy mindless projects inbetween learning. I don't remember 100% what I already bloged about and what not, but since I probably didn't post any pictures with it, I will just post anyway.

pre-exam:
1. Shopping bags:

Those are quite easy shopping bags that I use when I have to go grocery shopping or want to wear one of my tinier handbags ;-) Hmm, I think one is missing or did I just make three???

2. Dyeing yarn:

This is all sock yarn and some of these have already been used. The yarn itself is really nice and I love working with color and the surprising results.

3. crocheted purse:

I didn't even intended to make this into a purse. I just played around with some yarn and in the end it became this purse. I still have to sew the lining and attach it.

4. knitting

And this is what I made out of the handdyed yarn. Two pairs of socks and some wrist warmers.

5. Silk scarf

This scarf is made out of Hipknits silk left-overs I still had. I got the idea from another blog where someone had knit a scarf like this with this Seafoam lace pattern(unfortunately I can't remember the blog)

post-exam:

1. Messenger bag

I wrote before that I really needed a new campus bag, preferably messenger bag style with enough room for a big folder. Unfortunately though I searched through etsy and a couple of online shops I couldn't find any that I also could afford. I wouldn't have minded paying up to 50$, it's handmade and that costs, I know that. But the ones I liked, that were big enough and had a proper closure(why people sell bags without closure is beyond me, they probably don't live in a big city with thiefs) cost a fortune, from 90$ skyward. I can understand that in the cases of complicated bags with e.g. applications on the front flap or a lot of extra pockets as they take time to sew, but for unembellished bags?
So yesterday after the exam, the first thing I did was search through my fabric stash, calculate size etc. and cut everything out. A few hours later(the sewing/assembling took me around three hours with a few little breaks) I had this lovely bag!

2. Caliometry

In the evening after planning future projects I knit Caliometry from Knitty. It's a really fun and easy project, but be aware of the sizing/stitch count issue! Fortunately I had read about it before and I only casted on 90 stitches. The yarn is handdyed merino from Hipknits.

P.S.: Yes, my room is as untidy as the floor looks like. But it's just threads and stuff on the ground, nothing really disgusting...

The exam

2007-02-02T09:09:00.000+01:00

The Exam
It all started with a quiet good omen before I left the car. They played "We are the campions" last and yes, I sang loudly with Mr. Mercury ;-)
I got a bit nervous when I stood infront of the building smoking a last cigarette, but I fought it down with singing "We are the campions" in my head transforming it to "I am a clever girl" and similare encouraging lines. Well, it helped!
The exam started a bit late cause the prof had to sort out something with another student and his final paper(the final final one, that everyone has to write at the very end!). No problem for me, I didn't get nervous at all.
When we finally got to the room where I was to be examined(wow, who else is thinking about pathologists now?) the first question the prof asked was if the chair was ok or that I could take one of the cushioned chairs. I declined, but it was a nice first question :-)
The exam went well, the questions where clearly made, now misunderstandings at all. He only once asked a question where I though "Huh?", but immediately said himself that that was probably an unclear question and rephrased it!
There were a few times I couldn't answer at all or not as deeply as I should have, but on the other hand the other topics I could discuss in depth! And everything I did say and all defintions/formulas I wrote down where correct!
This exam went so much better than the last try which was due to two facts. First I had learned much more and second this prof was soooooooooooooooooo much nicer! I have no idea why everybody had said that his exams where more difficult than the ones of the other prof. It's just not true! Yes, he wanted everything formaly correct and I had to write down alot of definitions/equations, but the other prof wanted that too. And on one topic(turing machines) the other prof didn't liked that I made a drawing first explaining the different components first before I gave the tupel definition. This prof(the nice one) asked me to make a drawing first!!!
Anyway, I got a 2.3 in the end which I never would have thought I would get!

On the other hand I decided to not take any more exams this semester. Every exam from now on will count for my diploma and I want to do well. Besides all the later dates for exams(march) have already been taken. I will learn for those exams nonetheless and then try to make early appointments during the next semester for them.

I passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-02-02T08:08:00.000+01:00

Yup, I passed and I was good! Not fantastic, but good.
More later, there's a whole list of things I want to do today including shopping for my SP and searching for buttons for Sesame!

Don't forget to breath!

2007-01-31T14:33:00.000+01:00

Less than 24 hours till the exam. Am I freaking out like last time? Hmm, not sure. Yesterday evening there was a little voice in my head screaming:"OMG YOU DON'T KNOW XYZ!!! YOU'RE GOING TO FAIL AGAIN!". But I ignored it, pushed it far away and kicked its a**. I know, I'm a lot better prepared than last time. All I have to do is stay calm and listen to the other voice, that says things like: "Wow, you're smart, you can do it!!!"
I'll go back now to my notes and ask myself questions and answer them. Good thing nobody can see me ;-)

continuiously added Part 2

2007-01-28T18:49:00.000+01:00

1. Been knitting like mad the past few days inbetween learning. I learn a bit, knit a bit and then write down or recite what I remember, then check, learn.....
It's a nice method and I have most of the topics covered now, though I still need to memorize a few arguments. That's one of the harder parts if you ask me, not only knowing what, but why and formaly correct!

2. I knit a pair of socks and started some wrist warmers with the self-dyed sock yarn. I made 1,50m hanks and dyed half of it in one color, the other half in another. It makes a nice one row stripe pattern! I also knit a silk scarf out of some Hipknits silk I still had and used the "seafoam" lace pattern for it. It's really soft and will probably be worn all the time now!

3. I already heard from my Knitty SP and she sure sounds nice! This will be so much fun!!! I didn't had much time for my downstream SP yet, but I brought some yarn for her.

4. How can it be, that half of the jobs offered on the university page(from companies outside of the university) are part-time jobs with more than 20hours per week? Which serious student can do them? Also, why are the working hours in the morning to midday? Atleast I have lectures then! The best of all are job offers for full-time!!! If I work full-time, I can't be studing at the same time now can I?

5. Yes, I'm searching for a job at the moment. A small one with not too many hours, preferably not on the other end of town and so not in retail. I'm not allowed to earn more than 350€ per month or else I lose atleast part of my federal student support. Around 100€/month would be just fine with me in order to save some more for the new tuition fees.
So far I haven't found any, there was always a twist, like it was only fee-based and that means a whole lot of paperwork for me at the beginning of the year for the tax office.

6. My dad is back and he brought some present with him! Apart from some black hair shampoo(the best in the world, really!) and a bunch of pyjamas he got me these fabrics:

I see bags and skirts in the near future!
He also got me these three coordinate fabrics, they are black and gold! Three pieces because that's what you would need for a traditional skirt-top-shawl-combo. It's a really nice woven fabric, but I'm not sure what to make out of it(and no, traditional is out of questions!).

7. OMG, I could...I mean my dad could be rich! Ok, let me explain a bit here first. My dad's dad, my grandfather whom I never met cause he died before I was born, owned a lot of land in and around my dad's home town in Indonesia. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot! He never really sold any of it even when money and so food was tight cause you might get money now, but it leaves faster than land(clever man). When my aunts(I had five!) married they all got some of that land to build their own houses and start a family. Nevertheless the bigger part of those lands was passed down to my father as the oldest son of the family. Most of these lands are somewhere in the middle of the island or around(and on top) of a mountain where nobody wants to live anyway. But among the lot is also a small island near to the coast line and a bit of the coast line too! For years now there had been talk about various people wanting to buy it for different reasons among them building a hotel... apparently some of these people offered my dad a whole chunk for the land this time...but he refused!!!
One day when I have more time I'll tell you about the lands that my grandmother passed down to my dad...in singapur!

continously added

2007-01-21T12:52:00.000+01:00

I don't have much time to blog, but a lot to blog about, so I thought I would just start a post and add to it whenever I have the time. Starting this now on sunday, we will see when it's really published. Edit: published on monday, so not too long, though no photos, sorry!

1. The Sesam sweater
It's almost finished! I really love the color combo and the pattern is a rather quick knit despise the needle size(3mm). I made a mistake in the sleeve cap where I forgot to change color once and will have to rip back. Of course I noticed this after I already bound off... one should probably not knit after 23.00 after a long learning day.
Even if I manage to reknit the cap the next week, I won't be able to complete the sweater since I have no buttons for it, so I can't knit the button band yet. I want some contrasting buttons in the burgund/red that the yarn is which will probably be a little problem. I'll have to compare buttons and probably visit many stores to find some which is not going to happen before the exam.

2. dyeing yarn+socks
I got my order of Ashford dyes this week and have been dyeing quite a lot even before it arrived. I dyed some beautifull yarn, if I might say so. Already knit a pair of socks out of the first yarn I dyed and they are nice to wear. A bit softer than regular sock yarn.
The second batch of dyeing didn't come out that great and the two different colorways came out quite alike. I might offer one of them up for swap, though I'm not sure yet.

3. Knitty SP
Yes, I'm participating again. I just love the Knitty SP and the nice folks I've met through it. The last one was real fun and I hope this one will be too.
I thought about it for a longer time whether or not to join, because of my exams(of which there will be a number shall I pass the next one, otherwise I'm stuck...), but figured there's always enough time for shopping and sending emails. Might not be able to knit much for my downstream SP as I did for my last, but then that's not really a requirement.

4. exams
I'm worried to say the least. I really have to pass this next one. Granted everyone thinks it's the hardest to pass for your "Vordiplom", but that's not what I'm really worried about. I'm worried that I'll mess up, because I'm too nervous during the exam and will have a black-out again. Or that I don't understand the questions right etc.

5. wanted list
There's a couple of things I really would like to buy including yarns to test. I don't have a strict new years resolution, but I want to knit from my stash for awhile, so I'm not going to buy any of these just now. Still thought it would be a good idea to write them down so I don't forget about it.

SWTC Karaoke
Noro Kureyon
a messenger bag big enough to hold my university folder; I could sew one myself, but I'm not in the mood. On the other hand I can't spend a fortune on it either.
hand carders
SWTC Tofutsies
more spinning fiber
Hello Kitty cotton fabric

6. needle felting
When I ordered the ashford dyes I got some needles for felting and a foam pad too. I've been wanting to try needle felting for awhile. Well, it takes a lot of time and you have to concentrate on it or you will hurt yourself, but it's fun too!

7. sewing
Awhile ago I brought a bedsheat and pillow case for cheap at ikea. It's all black and white ith swirly motives on it. Back then I had the idea to color it and sew it up into a skirt. Well, it had been laying around since then, but when I saw blog post(can't remember which one) about coloring ikea fabric(though a different one) with fabric markers, I remembered it. Coloring it was a lot of mindless fun, felt like beeing a little kid with a coloring book again! The skirt is almost finished now.

8. podcasts
Ever since I got my Ipod nano for birthday, I've been a podcast addict! They are a lot of fun and it's nice to have something to listen to besides music when knitting or having to clean up etc. My fav knitting podcast are CastOn, limeandviolet and Sticks&Strings(mainly because of his voice ;-) ).

9. blogs
I am subsribed to way too many blogs on bloglines! I found that I'm not really reading every post but mostly just look at pictures... Once I find the time I'm going to seperate the list into blogs I really want to read + follow and other blogs.

10. oh boy, this is really getting long! Anybody still reading?

11. youtube
In the past I sometimes wrote down at the end of a post what music I currently listened to. I don't always do that cause I'm not always listening to music.
Anyway, thought I would share some videos, especially of bands/musicians you probably don't know.
Gentleman-Superior
Farin Urlaub-Zehn
The Staggers-Wild Teen
Bela B. feat. Charlotte Roche-1. 2. 3....
Seeed-Ding
Jan Delay-Klar

short, shorter...

2007-01-15T19:04:00.000+01:00

...the shortest presentation in class: approx. 30 minutes, probably less. I'm just not able to speak slowly when confronted with a room full of people listening to me. I just can't slow down! And therefore my rather short presentation was a lot shorter than it should have been. I also tend to oversimplify and leave out lengthy explanations, especially when I think that eveybody should know what I talk about. Definitely happened today. Anyway, the organizers were nice, gave a few suggestions for the next presentation and said that that is what this course and univesity in general is for, learning!
Now it's all learning for the exam!
In crafty news, I got some superduper cheap undyed sockyarn for 2.40€/100g and will order some more dye for it. Sesam has grown quite a lot, mostly in the evening while mindlessly watching tv. Sewed a few shopping bags in the wee hours one morning and can't wait till my dad comes back from his 2-month(though VERY rainy) vacation cause he brought a bunch of batik fabrics for me!

taking a break...or two

2007-01-10T11:45:00.000+01:00

I know I said I wouldn't post for a month, but everybody has to take a break sometimes ;-)
Though it's only a short break inbetween preparing a presentation I have to give next monday. As always I'm a bit late, should have seriously started earlier and asked my seminar instructors earlier for advice on what to include and what not to include...Now I have to basically rewrite everything and read a whole lot of new info plus I would like to complete it today so I can concentrate on my exam learning!
...a day later:
Still working on that stupid presentation! It's almost finished and I decided I will leave the structure as it is now. I don't have time to change it yet again. I still have to write some slides new or add a few slides plus the style of the presentation(background etc.).

Nevertheless I started a new knitting project. Everything else including the spinning wheel has been put far away, so it doesn't distract me from learning. My new project is "Sesam" from Magknits, an easy enough cardigan. I only knit a few rows inbetween learning and in the evening. No picture though as my mum has the camera and anyway, I have to go back to that presentation...

Goodbye

2007-01-08T10:08:00.000+01:00

This will probably be the last post for a long time. Remember that exam I did not pass last year? I will give it another try on 2. February and therefore have to learn lots and lost for it. I really have to pass this time, in order to not have wasted a semester as no credits I will gain will count if I fail to pass this exam before the credits are given! Yeah, talk about pressure here...
Anyway, there are a few things I would like to blog about before I will drop from the bloggers world(will probably not read many blogs either).
First two projects I finished. I really love tams, the Reggae kind. When I saw this pattern over at knitandtonic, I fell in love. I immediately searched through my stash and found some yarn in the right gauge, casted on and was finished within a day...it did not look that great. It was ok, but the yarn was much too heavy and wouldn't really drape, therefor creating pointy bits where the decreases are.

So I took the pattern and hat with me to my LYS to ask for a more approbriate yarn and found some Lang Yarns "Tosca" in the sales bin! It was the perfect yarn texture-wise, so I brought all of it and recalculated and knit and was happy!

Here's my beloved childhood doll modeling them both:

The blue one is a bit slouchier as I increased far more stitches, but I like them both.

I've completed a few other small things like socks and wrist warmers, but don't have the time to blog about it. Neither the time to blog about the fabulous things I received in the mail lately. Sorry!
But here's a link to a competition I participate in. You can see my contribution here . You can also vote for me folowing the first link, clicking on my project picture and then on the stars. Of course you can also vote for others ;-)

need yarn?

2007-01-03T08:45:00.000+01:00

I spend two hours yesterday to take pictures and prepare the auctions on Ebay! So much knitting time has been wasted recently, it's quite sad...
Anyway, shameless plug for my auctions: look, yarn! (if this link shouldn't work, look for seller's name cloudpurple on ebay.de)
You know, you want it ;-)

Done!

2007-01-01T19:00:00.000+01:00

The attic is tidy now as is my own room and I'm totally done. It took me almost the whole day, over five hours to clean my room. I've got 1 big blue platic bag full of junk and 1.5 big blue bag of yarn to be put up at Ebay tomorrow. But my room has not been this kind of clean and tidy and walkable(yes, it was up to the point were you had to go on tiptoes) since two years atleast.
Too tired to write much more, so projects have to wait a little longer still.