WIP - Tappan Zee Cardigan

I was so excited that I managed to finish knitting a garment that actually fits me that I could not wait to cast on something else :)

The {Tappan Zee Cardigan} has been on my secret "to-do-list" for some time and now I feel confident enough that I will do the pattern justice.

I also wanted to get a start on one of my goals for this year to use a brighter colour so I went and bought red and orange as I think those two look awesome together.

To be honest, I am not so sure about my choice of yarn - {Adriafill Azzure}.

Can't put a finger on it but there is something about the yarn which  I don't like - I think it feels too "plasticy". It doesn't have a nice soft touch feel to it...but hey I carry on and I am sure once it's done I will love it anyway.

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For more WIP's check out {Tami's Blog}

Good Day Sunshine!

What a lovely day this Monday morning promises to be. For the first time in what feels a lifetime, we are waking up to sunshine without gale force winds. In a few hours I will also have my stitches removed and I finished my Lace back Hoodie yesterday afternoon...woot woot!

To top it all off, the first email I opened this morning was from the lovely Tanya who surprised me with the Sunshine Award. If that isn’t the sweetest way to start your week then I don’t know what is!

The Award comes with the following rules: 

1: Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you.

2. Answer the 10 questions about your favourite things.

3. Nominate 10 blogs to receive the Sunshine Award and let them know they've been nominated. 

Favourite animal:

To be honest, all animals (even spiders and disgusting bugs and mites) are great. There is no malice in them and they do what they do to survive. There are many that are strikingly beautiful like the Tiger or some of the many exotic birds. I always had a soft spot for Foxes, Frogs and Hedge Hogs but if I really have to pin it down to my all time favourite it would be a tie between Wolf and Eagle (of each of them I have a tattoo on my body – shows how much I love them, I guess)

Favourite number:

There is none – but the number 2 sounds kinda cool. Because if you had two of everything you could give one away as a gift

Favourite non-alcoholic drink:

Water – nothing is more refreshing and better for you than our elixir of life.

Facebook or Twitter:

Used to be on Facebook but found this very interfering – people I never knew wanted to be “friends” and if you questioned why they wanted to be they got upset. It is just too high school for me (she/he with the most friends dies the winner, blah blah blah).

I am still on Twitter but that is more so for reading some of the funny tweets that celebrities leave

My passion:

Has always been something craft related – I am always busy with my hands. First it was watercolour painting, then scrapbooking/cardmaking and now it is crocheting and knitting.

Getting or Giving:

50/50 – I like both in equal measures.

Favourite Pattern:

From the ones I completed I would have to say Lace BackHoodie by Maria Tobita. Purely because this is the first EVER cardigan I have knitted which actually fits like a glove. And it doesn’t hurt that it looks good and is an easy knit.

Then there is one crochet shawl, which has been on my mind for quite some time but I am reluctant to buy the pattern as I am not sure my crochet skills are up to it: Kornblomst. One of these days I may try it though...

Favourite Day of the Week:

Hmm, I don’t have a favourite one but two that I dislike: Sunday (for being only one day away from Monday) and Monday (for being Monday)

Favourite Flower:

That’s easy: Lily all the way, baby. I love their elegant look and their scent. They are followed closely by the Orchid, which I find just as beautiful.

Favourite Country:

It has to be England, my chosen country of residency – otherwise I wouldn’t be here, right? But there are many other countries I like. Naturally I will always have some bond with Germany, haven been born and bred there. I left in 1998 and still believe it was the best move I ever made as my quality of life here in England is much better than it ever was in Germany. I love going back once a year to visit my folks up North plus Mr P and I love to take a holiday in the South of Germany every couple of years (coming up soon again...yay!).

And then there is Norway – oh my how I love that country. The scenery is stunning, people are so friendly and welcoming and I actually love the way in which they work WITH natural resources. If I ever had to turn my back on England I would try to relocate to Norway.

And here are the blogs that bring sunshine to my days – I am not sure if these have already received the award previously and I cannot give you ten as there are not that many which excite me with their new posts as much as these do:

Josiekitten

Pumpkin Spins

Autumn Geisha

ElephantJuice

Little Woolie

Have a stellar week everyone!

WIP - Lace vest

Shortly before I went for my operation and while I was in hospital I started on a new project. I needed something that did not require much thought  so I kept with the lace pattern of the {Lace Back Hoodie}, as that is so easy to remember.

I only had five balls of Rowan Bamboo Soft Classic, which I got in a sale so it had to be a smaller project.

I just cast on 100 stitches and knit until 1.5 balls were done, then I cast off and had my front piece for a vest completed.

unblocked - WIP status 14 June 2012

I am half way with the back piece now and hope to have it completed some time this week. Oh, and I have no ides if it is the right fit, I am just winging it this time.

For more WIP's check out {Tami's Blog}

Back home

Just a quick heads up that I am back from the hospital - pretty sore and tired but at least I am home.

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The hysterectomy went well but I was not best pleased at how I was looked after (or rather not) at the hospital, but that is something between the NHS and I and they will certainly get to know my views. Seeing how complimentary I have always been about their Day Surgery Care I am very upset and angry at how my three day stint went down.

Anyway, I am back home now and Mr P is fussing over me, which is nice :)

WIP - Lace Back Hoodie Pt II

I am keeping it sweet and short this week as I am off to hospital tomorrow.

{The Lace Back Hoodie} from {Designer/Vogue Knitting} has been coming on nicely.

All pieces are blocked and just waiting for me to sew them together and add the hood. But I am leaving that for when I come back home as my recovery time is expected to be around six to eight weeks - needless to say I will be bored out of my mind and probably most happy to finish my WIP's:)

For more WIP's check out {Tami's Blog}

WIP - Lace Back Hoodie

Uhm.... against my better judgement I pulled {my jinxed yarn} out of the box and started another project.

{The Lace Back Hoodie} from {Designer/Vogue Knitting} was one of my favourites from the Spring/Summer 2012 issue and I have been oooooohing and aaaaaaahing over which yarn I should use for it.

Don'tcha love that lace detail?

Instead of spending more money on yarn to use on a project which will most probably be frogged again, I decided to give the green monster another try - let's see who wins this time.

So far, the back, the left front panel and more than two thirds of the right front panel are done. That leaves only the sleeves and hood.

I noticed when I blocked the back that I made a mistake with the pattern and I have no idea how it happened. As I forgot to include a "{lifeline}" (which one should always take the time to do when working on a lace pattern), I left the mistake and in all honestly, it doesn't even bother me.

Lacing upwards rather than down..oh well

So far, I am feeling confident but I am not counting my chickens just yet.

For more WIP's check out {Tami's Blog}

FP - The Scarf

I finished my Sojourn Falls Scarf a couple of days ago and I am very pleased how well the blocking turned out. For some strange reason I never believe that after blocking the piece will stay in form, but it does and I still get excited about that :)

Isn't the pattern just gorgeous? And I love that despite the multicoloured yarn, the pattern is still very much visible.

Now, all I need is the perfect occasion to wear the scarf - currently I am thinking my long summer dress would work. Naturally I will take pictures when this baby gets its first outing. In the meantime a poorly set up picture of Sojourn hangin' around has to do.

Before I go I have two more things to share though.

At work we are sometimes given little presents, like calenders, cuddly toys, plastic aeroplanes form the airlines we have contracts with. The other day Lufthansa brought us a handful of silver plastic pots with earth inside....uhm ya, we all looked kinda puzzled until we realised that there were also seeds in the pot and you could grow your own peppers.

You know what? I thought that was a great little gift and in the office we have line of little pepper plants growing all over the place. I took mine home though, because they are going to live in my kitchen and hopefully spawn me something to eat :)

Here is a picture of my seedlings right now - I think they will need rehousing soon

And last, but by no means least - I have found a new favourite drink.

It is sooooooooooo refreshing (dangerously so, as one tends to drink it like pop as it does not taste of alcohol) and the combination of orange with spice gives you a Christmas kind of feeling in Summer.

Love it!

Oh and before I forget - for some more finished crochet/knitting projects, head over to Tami's Blog

The Movies we watched in May

Here is May's run down of the movies we enjoyed - can you see a pattern (wink*wink)?

Captain America 

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Well, any movie that stars the "Human Torch" aka Chris Evans cannot be bad - plus we are talking Captain America here, right? I didn't expect too much of this movie because I never really followed Captain America as a kid so this was new territory for me. Oh, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the fight with the Red Skull in particular. 

Thor

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To be honest, I did not look forward to see this movie as the trailers did not nothing for me. Sure, I know the legend of Thor but he was also never one of the Superheroes that featured on my radar.
The start of the movie kind of underlined my reluctance for Thor - too much CGI with too many futuristic scenes. But that all changed once Thor arrived on Earth - I loved the movie from then on and am now a converted Thor fan.

Iron Man 2

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I was so so disappointed with this movie. Tony Stark was my hero, I fell in love with him within the opening minutes of Iron Man 1 and had such high hopes for the sequel. Even bad reviews did not deter me and I ended up being so upset with this movie. There is no flow to it, it feels disjointed. Sure, there are a few laughs when Tony makes his usual quips but other than that I wish I would have never watched this...my superhero came crushing down to earth...

Avengers Assenble

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There was a method to our madness watching all the above movies first before we went to see the Avengers. You may recall me gushing about this movie here and I will say it again - the best Superhero movie so far since Spiderman 2 and The Fantastic Four. We watched it in 3D but I would not think it is a necessity as it was not written for 3D. Saying that, the facial expressions of Hulk come to life in 3D more so than they would otherwise. The casting for this movie is perfect and I am hoping for many more Avengers excitement on the big screen in the future. But for now, I cannot wait for it to come out on DVD.
To say it with the words of Thor: "Hulk, Smash!"

X-Men First Class

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I am not usually a fan of prequels, especially after falling asleep during X-Men Origins; Wolverine (yeah, can you believe that? I feel asleep watching Hugh Jackman....that should tell you how mind-numbingly-boring the movie was). Naturally, I was apprehensive  about this one but I rather enjoyed it. And Mr Jackman does appear with a fun cameo, so all is well.
You learn a lot about the X-Men and apart from Xavier I think the actors were well cast.