Well ... It's February Already!

I guess you can all tell that posting to my blog everyday was not on my list of New Year's Resolutions. Hopefully, I still have a reader or two left out there. This post is not about anything but rather everything. I have gathered a smattering of photos that represent the last two months of my life. Here we go ...

Things I've knitted:

Poor Arlo had no scarf to call his own. He had been using an old wool scarf in a blackwatch plaid that I have had since my travels to Scotland back in the early 90s. I knit him this doubleknit scarf that is 8 feet long. He can wrap and wrap and then wrap some more.


I knitted these fingerless gloves for my sister, Karen, and her husband, Joe. The pattern was based off of Kristen's fingerless mittens pattern but I added a partial thumb. I could not hand make all of my Christmas presents this year but I'm glad I chose Karen and Joe as recipients since they gave Arlo and me hand made gifts this year. That was a fun, bonding, coincidence.


This is the baby jacket that I knit for Isobel -- Sheri and Ron's GORGEOUS baby.


I knit this bauble for Carolein -- the secretary at MPI. She has been an amazing resource and friend to Arlo and me this year.

And finally, for myself I knit my first successful sweater. This is my third sweater. The first was made from free yarn that just did not match my skin tone. Nor was the variegation in the yarn suitable for anything other than a crazy animal print. It was great practice and a good lesson in how a sweater is put together. The second sweater looks fantastic ... spread out on the bed, but definitely not on me. I've been wearing this new sweater all the time. It is quite snuggly and warm. Plus I love the color.

Cooking:

I have felt that I've needed to learn to cook all over again. Recipes that I love in the U.S. seem to not work very well here. Many ingredients that are commonplace and inexpensive in the U.S. are not available or extremely expensive. Okay, maybe not extremely but more expensive than I want to spend on food. We would much rather spend Arlo's salary on travel. The two categories of food that I miss the most are Chinese food and Mexican food. In theory, one can get Chinese food here in Germany ... but I haven't had any that tasted good. There are no Mexican restaurants. I have found a pan-latino grocery store ... but I'm not really sure what to do with most of the items ... and again, it is expensive.

My friend Daniel and his wife Gabrielle invited me over to learn how to make Tamales. They had brought mole and some chilies from Mexico.




My kitchen does not have enough light to really photograph the cooking experience well. But here is the best photograph of my version of Orange Chicken. The frozen version from Trader Joe's had been a go-to meal in our busy life in Tucson. I found myself craving it. So with much experimentation, I figured out the batter for the chicken (egg whites and cornstarch) and I made a sauce with orange juice and hoisin sauce (available in the asian food store).


Carolein (at MPI) invited me over to her house during her Christmas holiday in order to make a Goose. We cooked most of the day on St. Nikolaus Tag (6 December). Arlo and Carolein's husband arrived after work. Carolein's parents also joined us. We really enjoyed being a part of a German family celebration.


Travels:

Since I've last posted, Arlo and I have been to Münster (Conference for Arlo), Ireland (Christmas and New Years with Sheri and her family), Darmstadt (Arlo's first invited talk), Mainz (on our way back from Darmstadt), Nijmegen (to visit Eric and Mette on our way to Utrecht), and Utrecht (Conference for Arlo).

Münster:
This was our first overnight trip within Germany. It turned out to be a nice trip. But it sure did not start out that way. I picture myself a strong, confident traveler ... but this trip tested me in such a way that I had difficulty regaining my confidence on further trips.

The second day of the trip went much better than the first (I'm still not quite ready to talk about the first day). I wandered through the city and saw lots of old things. We also went through the Münster Christmas market. It was slightly different from the market in Bonn. It was a lot more crowded. We had a fantastic drink ... an 'After Eight.' This was a shot of a mint liquor in a hot chocolate. That drink alone should be enough to wipe the difficult experiences on the first day from my mind.

Old Tower ... part of the medieval wall.

Evening view of the main pedestrian street. (There are so few people because everyone is in the market that is off this street.)

Ireland:
We had been planning on spending Christmas and New Years with Sheri and her family since we first decided to move to Germany this year. I loved getting to see my friend and meet her beautiful daughter. I got some quality kitty time as well (the Gress-Wingrove clan have 4 cats in the house).

Here's Isobel. We're standing in front of Sheri and Ron's house.

I had one tourist goal for our trip. I wanted to see New Grange. I've tried to get to New Grange twice before. This first time, we didn't even get out of the bus station in Dublin. The last time we got to the site a few minutes after the last tour had left. And this time ... this time ... well, this time we arrived in plenty of time ... but all of the remaining tours were sold out.

A kind docent told us of a road we could drive on that would get us close enough to take the picture above. Along this road is another passage tomb that has not been excavated in modern times. We could not go inside (gate blocking the entrance). But we could wander around the site. This is where the following picture was taken.



Arlo and I took a few day trips into Dublin. We went to the Guinness Storehouse (which was a much different tour that I had taken back in 1993) and to the Kilmainham Gaol where the political prisoners during Ireland's path to independence were held. This tour was just as fascinating as I remembered.

We also took an overnight trip to Waterford. This is a port city ... but not a coastal city. So we took a city bus down to a coastal town so that I could see the ocean.


Darmstadt:
Arlo gave his first invited talk at the Technische Universität Darmstadt. The editor of the journal that accepted his first paper is a professor here. When he found out that Arlo was in Germany he invited him to give a talk.


While Arlo was giving his talk, I wandered through the city. Darmstadt was Germany's epicenter of Art Nouveau. It was a residence town during the prince-elector system in Germany. Like Bonn, the residence has been converted into a main University building. And the town was nearly leveled during WWII. So there is quite a mix of architecture around. Here are some of the photos from around town.

View of church through Herren Park that borders the University.

Art Nouveau wedding tower for the emperor Ludwig.

View from the Residence gate towards to old city hall.

Tower that was once part of the medieval wall. The copper top was added in the 1700s.

Mainz:
The next day (after Arlo's talk in Darmstadt) we needed to travel through Mainz to return to Bonn. We decided to take a long layover there.
A view of the Mainz Dom.

The facade of the Gutenberg Museum.

We spend most of the day in the Gutenberg museum. It was a fascinating exhibit not just about the man and his printing press but about the history of printing both in Europe and Asia.

Nijmegen:
Arlo registered for another conference in Utrecht. This is in the Netherlands so this was our first trip outside of Germany within continental Europe. We have friends in Nijmegen so we journeyed there first. It was fantastic to see them and we were able to save a night's hotel cost.

Eric walked us around the university (where Mette works as an Art Historian).

So this was a bit of an awkward photo to take. But I never really understood what was meant by "red light district" and I suppose it is possible that some of you don't either. Those red lights are in big picture windows that have a girl in them. Along the lines of a department store display window. This is in Nijmegen and is much smaller than the red light district in Amsterdam (so I've been told). I'm sure that Utrecht also has such a place, but I did not see it.

Utrecht:
Arlo did not get to see much of Utrecht as he was busy in a conference the entire time. He had two dinners in the city center (with me the first night and as part of the conference the second) so he only saw the city at night. Our hotel and the university were off to the east of the old city center.

Right in the center of the old part of town lies the Dom. This is a protestant church now. Interestingly enough, the church is only the choir of the original cathedral. The nave was destroyed by a tornado several hundred years ago. So the tower below is separate from the rest of the church.

I was unable to stand in such a way to get the entire tower. I did however climb it.


This is the view from about 95 meters up the tower. This is not quite the tippy top ... but as high as one can go and actually stand on a balcony. You can see the two canals that run through the city center.
A pretty cherry tree in the cloister garden.


Canal view


We have gotten used to dogs being allowed EVERYWHERE in Germany. They are in restaurants and in department stores as well as anywhere else that people go. Well ... Utrecht was a cat town.

This fellow was in the restaurant that we ate dinner in out first night. He seemed to be recommending the salmon to everyone.

Although, he might have preferred herring since he is a dutch cat. Eric joined us on the second day of Arlo's conference. He convince Arlo to try the (raw, pickled) herring that is a dutch specialty. I had a small taste of Arlo's but chose the Chicken Satay for myself. Eric says that when you buy this as street food (imagine living somewhere where it is safe to eat fish as street food) you hold it by the tail and eat it -- bones and all. In the University Refer one is normally more civilized.


Local Ventures:

We spent quite a bit of time at the Bonn Christmas Market. It was the place to meet up with friends, listen to music, eat fun food, and make a wish list. Most towns in Germany have a Christmas Market during December. Occasionally they have a special theme.

Siegburg is the town at the end of the streetcar line that passes in front of our house. I had heard that they had a medieval christmas market. So we went to see.

Here is a woodworker using a foot pump to turn his lathe.



Here I am eating Räubersfackeln (robber's stick) we are still unsure as to what type of meat this was. As I ate it I thought it was chicken. But we've heard all sorts of things from pork to horse meat. I have no idea. It was really good though.

Speaking of good ... the bread that we bought was made in these stone ovens. It was fantastic.

This fair was a challenge to my German skills because they were using archaic words. (Just like we would at our Renaissance Faires). For instance instead of things costing 1 Euro they would be 1 Teil (one piece). We ate a lot of amazing food (including some apple fritters that were the best apple thing I have ever eaten) and saw some entertaining stage shows. Arlo even bought me a Christmas present while we were there (a pretty hair clip). We were there on a Sunday afternoon. I understand it was really pretty at night since they did not use any electricity ... so there were candles everywhere.

January was a busy month for us. In addition to our trips to Darmstadt/Mainz and Nijmegen/Utrecht we had to use the coupons that had been given to us when we registered with the city upon arrival in Bonn. They expired at the end of 6 months.


We used the free Bonn Theater tickets to see La Boheme at the Opera house.

We used our Bonn Orchestra tickets to see the National Youth Orchestra at Beethoven Halle.

Both of these performances were amazing. We also used our free tickets to several of the museums in town.

Strickentreffen and other Knitting news

Sunday mornings in Tucson found me in Espresso Art (a cafe by the University) knitting with a great group of women. While I love knitting alone, I really like the social aspect of gathering to knit. I've noticed that I don't knit nearly as fast in these groups as I do alone ... but I love to see what everyone else is doing. We end up teaching and learning from each other and just sharing our lives.

Since coming to Germany, I've been trying to fill some of this void with my internet explorations. The knitting/personal blogs that I've been reading have been quite inspiring. I really like the knitting podcasts that I've been listening to. I treat these almost as I would a knitting group ... I put on the podcast and start knitting. But it is not the same.

I went into a yarn store here in the Fußgangerzone but the proprietress was so unfriendly that I didn't ask her if she knew of any knitting groups in town. I posted an ad on Craigslist -- Köln has a city entry but Bonn does not. I figured Köln is not too far away and perhaps Bonn people look at it. This would have the advantage (or disadvantage, however you look at it) of reaching knitters that speak English. But alas, I had no response to the ad.

One of the women in MPI suggested that I go to the Münster (the main catholic church right in the city center). She was fairly sure that they had a knitting group. So I found the Münsterladen (church store) and asked about this. The nun I spoke to (I started in German, but she switched to English) was very confused by my question. She wanted to know who had told me that the church did such a thing. After much explanation she said that no they do not have a knitting group. I should try the Protestants ... they do that sort of thing.

Well before I could go to Kreuzkirche (the big Protestant church in the center of town) I went into a different yarn store in town. This proprietress was very friendly. She responded to my attempts at speaking German by speaking very slow, simple, clear German herself. So I asked if she knew of a knitting group that I could join. She owns two stores and her store in Rheinbach (two towns over -- about 20 minutes by regional train) has a Strickentreffen (knitting meeting) every Thursday evening. I've gone twice now and it has been great. I get to listen and practice German ... but if I'm really confused they will clarify in English. It costs 5 Euro per week. I wish it didn't but if you think about it, I spent about 5 dollars each week buying a coffee in the cafe where I met up with my last group.

So now some postings of my latest projects:
Here is a scarf I made for my niece in California. It is based on the scribble scarf in Mason-Dixon Knitting. It is very lightweight and yet snuggly ... perfect for California. This was made with stash yarn. I think the blue is shine sport from Knitpicks and the white is boucle that I got in some super yarn sale Michael's had last summer.

I mentioned that I didn't like the washcloths here so I was knitting a few out of some cotton yarn I had in my stash. It washes nicely but after one use it is completely out of shape. I think I could get used to knitted washcloths, however, I like the feel on my face.











I finished Arlo's hat (Mütze auf deutsch) I like how the crown looks on his a little better than I like the look on mine. That's okay though since I won't see the crown of my hat when I'm wearing it. Although, I will be hard pressed to see the crown of Arlo's hat when he is wearing his.

Lastly, I finished my first knitted swap project. It is not due for mailing until December 1st ... won't my partner be surprised when she gets this in October. I knitted this 6 foot 2 inch scarf from the touch of whimsy pattern. I had never done an I-cord cast-on and cast-off. That combined with the double knit edging makes for a beautiful border.

I'm still working on the baby jacket for Isobel. I have the back and the two front pieces done. I'm working on the arms now. I would like to start a sweater for myself. I think I will go buy some more of the blue yarn that I used for the scarf. If I get truly bored, I could always knit one of these ... if only I knew a horse:

Craft Update

I finished my hat on Friday. While I am happy with how it turned out it is not quite like the hat I saw on Etsy that I was trying to model. I've included a picture of that hat and the top view of my hat for comparison purposes. I think this knitter used a smaller needle (or thicker yarn) and he definitely did his decreases differently than I did. I don't feel I can just post a picture of someone else's hat so here is the link to his Etsy store. As you may recall, this is the prototype for making Arlo a warm winter hat. All I have to do now is get him into a yarn store to pick out the color he wants.








































I've also added several pages to my art journal. Here is my favorite one:

Crafting in Germany

Germany has been very good for my crafting life. I did not get my normal summer break this year. Almost as soon as the semester ended I started teaching in the summer session and immediately following that I taught a professional development class for two weeks. I then had just enough time to get the house packed up and put into storage before we left for Germany and began our language class. Well, now the language class is over and while this is bad for my goal of learning German it is excellent for my goal of quality craft time.

I completed my first bit of color work with this fair isle pattern. I had to tear it out several times, not because of the fair isle stitches but because I didn't like the rolled brim of the pattern. I decided to make a boucle brim but I had never really knit with this before and it took some working through.

Using some stash yarn (yes I brought a bit of my stash with me) I knit some pot holders. Our apartment did not have any and I am not very good at using towels as pot holders. I also knitted a slip stitch scarf with both the white and a purple boucle yarn. It is very warm and cozy. On my needles now is another hat. I saw this hat on Etsy and thought I could recreate it. So far it is going well, I am just about to start the decreases so we will see. I think this one will be my size so once it is finished I will see how much bigger I need to make it to fit Arlo. He doesn't like the yarn in my stash however so we will have to go yarn shopping -- terrible, I know. I am also starting a jacket for Isobel (Sheri's baby, in Ireland), knitting a present for my niece, and some washcloths (the washcloths here are like mitts and since things don't dry here as fast as they did in Tucson I don't like these very much. I had some cotton so I though I would try a washcloth pattern. My first one came out wide enough but not long enough so I am working on version number two.

I am also resurrecting my love of paper crafts. I saw some beautiful journals on Craftster (can you tell I've been spending a lot of time on crafting websites?) and thought I would make one for my self.
Here are two pictures of the calendar pages that I've water- colored. The nice thing about water colors is that you can either write first or paint first. It comes out either way. My goal is to write in a square each day at the very least. I also have other pages for books, crafts and of course general thoughts.