[misc] Murderface Monday

Dollar treated himself to a new bass guitar. Murderface likes the new hardcase:





He likes face rubs even more:

[spinning] Black Alpaca

About 14oz of black alpaca, heavy worsted weight:



This was crazy boring to spin, but the yarn has a nice soft hand and drape. I'm thinking... Infinity scarf?

[food] Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. May your day be filled with turkey, football and Pocari Sweat:



Okay, maybe not Pocari Sweat. This is an "Ion Supply Drink" that I got at H Mart solely because of it's name. The name makes me think of sweat collected from mysterious animals called "the pocari". Or sweat collected from a here-to-fore unknown Amazonian tribe called "the pocari". But really- it's just an drink meant to resupply ions, I guess.

What does it taste like? Stale Alka-Selter drink, if you let all the effervescence go away. Not so yum.

[food] H Mart

An H Mart opened up in Burlington, MA in the end of September. The Boston Globe has a good article about it. The most interesting facts:

- this H Mart is the 30th store for the New Jersey-based chain owned by Korean businessmen (although in the video, it sounds like the President of H Mart says this is the 31st store), and the first one in New England
- H stands for hanahreum, literally “armful’’; the company says it means “love and care for the customers.’
- the store's footprint is the size of a football field

My sister and I took trip down this past Saturday. I had gotten some advice from other people who had gone ("It's crowded as [bleep]. Everyone in New England is there on weekends." I heard that parking was the biggest problem. So... I got my ass out of bed at 6:30 am on a freaking Saturday, put the coolers into the car, filled up the gas tank and picked up my sister a 7 am. We got to H Mart at 9 am and the lot was already 80% full. But we made it!



The store was already filling up fast. We grabbed a cart and went through produce first:



There were some great mushrooms here- some I had never seen before: White Beech Mushrooms, Brown Beech Mushrooms, Maitake Mushrooms and King Trumpet Mushrooms (all four of the exact kind sold at H Mart can been seen here). I got a package of the maitake, brown beech and enoki.

A whole section of refrigerated wall for bean sprouts and tofu:



Then around the corner to the Kimchi section... A whole department of kimchi and banchan!!!!



I got a tub of cabbage kimchi, young radish kimchi, sliced radish kimchi and small anchovy and shrimp banchan.

The onto meat and seafood:





The meat section was busy but the seafood section was completely backed up with more than a dozen people waiting.

The back corner of the store had housewares, with lots of comforters, pillows, dishes, cooking tools and rice cookers. I wanted a new rice cooker but instead got a very pretty spoon and chopstick silverware set. I had a long Korean spoon that died in a cooking accident and have been wanting to replace it for a while now. The set came in a nice burgundy velvet box.

After that, we went up and down all the grocery aisles. In the cookie aisle, we liked the description of these cookies:



"Original sweets covering good taste cookies. Enjoy nice time by sweets tastes." MMm, who doesn't want to enjoy nice time with good taste cookies? And it's a little hard to read, but the slogan above the Lily brand logo says "Taste, Cool Life, Health". I'm sure the cookies can deliver on taste and possibly health... but Cool Life?

We got snacks and tea and ice cream and frozen dumplings. We checked out and pushed the full cart through the parking lot to my car. The plan was to unload the frozen/cold stuff to the coolers we had brought, then go back inside to the food court for lunch. Of course, as we're walking, I can feel a car following us. The parking lot is totally FULL and many cars are prowling through the lot like big metal sharks.

At my car, we swing open the trunk door and start shoving things into coolers. A car approaches, stops, turns on their blinker. I snicker. I step back and attempt to wave them away. The driver opens their window and asks, "Are you guys not leaving?" We shake our heads. That car drives away and another one pulls up. I wave them away. This happened three for four more times. I was simply filled with evil glee about it. It's my reward for getting up on a Saturday while it's still dark out and being on the interstate by 7am. I'm sure I had the snotty, "Well, I guess you should have gotten here earlier. Maybe then you would be able to have a parking spot." look written all over my face.

Anyway, we went back inside for eats. I did stop by the Tout les Jours bakery to buy pastries and rolls for Dollar. I got a box and got some phyllo sticks, dinner rolls, a custard roll, honey buns (Dollar's a bread/carb junkie) and wondered, "Am I grabbing too much? Am I being greedy?" I look around and everyone is grabbing more stuff than me. I'm telling you, it's like Supermarket Sweep all day everyday at this place. People are getting food like they're feeding a family of 12 and they're not coming back for more food for months. I think everyone was trying to shut down the bakery by noon.

There were different counters to order food from and tables to sit at. There was a Japanese, Chinese and Indian counter. We went to the Korean one:



And ordered two kimchi chigaes. Since Dollar enacted a kimchi stew ban on the house, it's the only thing I order when given the chance.



Come on. How good does that look. I like that it's served in the dish that it's cooked in, so it's still furiously boiling when it's brought out. This one tasted very good. It had kimchi, tofu, pork belly and rice cakes in it. I totally ate it all and then had to waddle out to the car for the drive home.

As we were leaving, the parking situation was so bad that police were directing traffic in and out of the lot. Which I think is just the norm for a Saturday at H Mart. I was also noticeably more aggressive driving away from H Mart than I was going there. I was cutting in on lines of cars, my sister was shouting at people that honked at us, I was weaving in and around traffic. I'm just saying, when you leave H Mart, you feel like you've gone through hours of intensive combat training and you're kind of itching for a fight.

All in all, I highly recommend going. It's so awesome in so many different ways. All I can say is: GO EARLY OR YOU WILL NOT GET A PARKING SPACE. Also, by the time the parking lot is full, all those people have to be somewhere, right? They're all inside hovering around you as you're looking at the meat; or standing in front of the meat and not moving to let you see the meat; or abandoning their carts diagonally in the middle of an aisle so they can get a free sample of food. You can't let these things drive you crazy here- it's just how this place operates.

Last night, I was finally able to have some rice and kimchi and radish and sauteed maitake mushrooms. As I sat there, I thought, "It was totally worth it."

H Mart: Burlington, MA
3 Old Concord Rd.
Burlington, MA 01803
(for GPS, use 43 Middlesex Turnpike, Burlington, MA 01803)

[misc] Murderface Monday

Murderface napped on the spare bed in the craft room on Sunday while I worked at my spinning wheel and listened to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History.



I will have lots of nice, new handspun yarn to show this week. Plus, an extra-long Thanksgiving weekend will give me lots of time to spin.

[crochet] A miracle, I tell you.

Do you believe in miracles? I have one to show you...



Pattern: Noro Catherine Wheel Scarf by ellemenop (rav)

Hook: 3.75mm (F)

Yarn: 1.5 balls of multi-colored Shes Club Peacock (yarn I got last year in Korea- a superwash fingering weight) and 2 balls of Elann Devon (now discontinued) in an eggplant color

This project was very fun to work on. It goes fast and the pattern is very well written with helpful charts and everything.

Basically, you go back and forth, alternating solid and multicolored wheels. Then you go around the entire outside of the scarf with the solid color, making half-wheels... Then you going around the entire outside of the scarf AGAIN, making the pretty/frilly little picots. So you need to make sure to stop growing the scarf in length to ensure you'll have enough yarn leftover for the border.

Here's the miracle: I was able to finish the border with 6 inches of dark purple yarn left over. See?



IT'S A MIRACLE. The border was nerve-wracking. From start to finish, my thoughts went something like:

"I'll have enough yarn."
"I hope I have enough yarn."
"No, I totally have enough."
"Okay. If I run out of yarn, I'll just do the border in a different color."
"That would look stupid! I need to have enough yarn!"
"I don't have much yarn left."
"I'm going to run out of yarn."
"If I run out of yarn two inches from the end, I'll kill myself... I'LL KILL MYSELF!"

I finished the scarf with mere inches left over. It was meant to be. And it needed to be acknowledged. I went to find Dollar...

AMY: Do you believe in miracles?

DOLLAR: What?

AMY: I have something to show you that will make you believe. LOOK! [holds up multi-colored purple blob, and points at 6 inches of string hanging down from the end.] BEHOLD!

DOLLAR: Uh... Wow?

AMY: I KNOW! RIGHT?

DOLLAR: ...

AMY: It's a MIRACLE! ... A MIRACLE! Don't you see?!

DOLLAR: Seriously, you have crazy-eyes and you're scaring Murderface.

AMY: Okay. I know. I'm just a little... [starts to sob]

DOLLAR: Oh sweetie [hugs AMY]

AMY: It's just, my stress level has been out of control finishing this thing... It's been, like, three hours of Russian Roulette...

DOLLAR: There there, everything's going to be-

AMY: [pushes DOLLAR away] It's a revelation and needs to be recognized by the Vatican!!! [shakes the scarf]

DOLLAR: I still don't even know what the miracle is! What? You finished that- What is that? A scarf?

AMY: I hate you! Why don't you get it? I thought I was going to run out of yarn- But I didn't!

DOLLAR: That's the miracle?

AMY: You don't understand! [runs to her craft room and slams the door]

End scene.



He didn't get it. Any-way... More pictures of the (miracle) scarf:





These were both yarns that I've had in my stash for a while and I'm happy with the way they look together. I don't crochet very much at all but this was a great project. Minus the insane amount of stress at the end.

[knitting] Lace Scarf with Baby Alpaca Brush

Pattern: Lace Scarf from Plymouth Yarn

Needles: US 9

Yarn: Plymouth Baby Alpaca Brush, less than 2 balls

This is a really nice scarf. The pattern isn't free but it comes with three scarf patterns on one page. I'm amazed that I stopped well before finishing the 2 ball. The scarf is very soft and very light. The yarn is a pain to rip back if you make any mistakes but the finished product is so pettable and soft. I think this is going to my mom for Christmas.

[spinning] Tampa

I've been spinning more than knitting recently. I wrapped up a sport-weight two-ply:



The original fiber is J. Knits Our Best Roving in the Tampa colorway. I had already spun another 4oz in a different color and wouldn't really classify it as "best". Both bumps were really matted and dense and require a frustrating amount of pre-drafting: ripping the fiber into thinner strands (almost pencil roving) and then opening THAT up, so that the fiber would draft/pull smoothly and evenly.

In the end, I had the following two-ply:





It's a lot more even than the brown one and I'm planning on knitting it into a baktus scarf. Barber-pole two-plies really look their best in garter stitch, I think.

[knitting] Regenbogen

A new pair of socks:



I'm calling them Regenbogen, which is German for "rainbow".

Yarn: Schoppel-wolle Zauberball, color #1564 "Tropical Fish", less than one ball.

Needles: US 2

Pattern: No pattern, just followed a generic toe-up recipe from More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. I cast on 28 stitches for the toe, increased up to 60 for the foot, did a short-row heel and kept going up the leg on 60 stiches again.

Notes: In theory, I like toe-up socks but they never turn out all that well. The short-row heels are a pain to work (e.g. Pick up a wrap and purl three together through the back of the loop? That's about as much fun for me as playing Operation.), the short rows always end up holey/gappy on one side of the heel, and my bind offs on the leg are never stretchy enough not matter how loose I do them. If I do socks, I'll just go back to doing them from the leg down, with a proper heel flap.

Also, this sock yarn is a single ply, which makes me a little nervous. Going back-and-forth for the short row heels really made the yarn fuzz-up there. I think these are going to be bed socks, never to be worn with shoes. I get the feeling that the slightest agitation will wear though socks fast. But this yarn is soft and would make a nice scarf or shawl.

Also also, you can see I tried to make the colors match from the toe-up. I started the dark blue too early for the 2nd sock (the one on the left) and you can see that the colors really start to un-match from the heel up. Frick!

[misc] Murderface Monday

Mondays haven't been the same around here without Murderface. When I was sick last week, he stayed in bed with me:



I was a little worried that he had the flu himself (I may have accidentally coughed on top of his head one time), but I think he just sleeps a lot.

Next to him in the bed there is a tea bag... Filled with catnip. Cute, right? It's a fabric tea bag, string and little cardboard tag at the end of the string.

[knitting] Good Luck Cowl

I finished this cowl ages ago and it just kind of languished around until I finally gave it to my sister this past weekend.



Pattern: Good Luck Cowl by Drop Stitch Knitter (rav)

Needles: US 4

Yarn: Plymouth Happy Feet, color #22, one skein

This was a very nice project. Easy pattern and a good one-skein project. A skein of Happy Feet is only $6 or $7, so this is a nice economical project. I might go for a solid color next time, for me. This is a good colorway for my sister, so it went to her. There's some colorpooling, you can see, but she doesn't mind that (and it pretty much disappears when you have the cowl on and it's scrunched up).

[misc] Recovering

Wow, I haven't posted in ages. I was out of town for work, back at work, spent last weekend at Carnage Con playing boardgames and, unfortunately, catching the flu. Friday was fine, Saturday afternoon was okay, Saturday evening I was a little *koff koff* "I don't feel too good." Sunday was fever, chills, body aches (which felt like someone took a baseball bat and beat every part of my body), Monday was just as bad as Sunday, but with added coughing, runny nose... You know what? Let's just say Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I was a mess. Today I can actually dress myself and put on real clothes. Which is good because I remembered last night that I have a car appointment this morning.

Damn youse, Carnage! [shaking fist] Damn youse! Next year I'm either (a) not coming, or (b) wearing a SARS mask the entire time.

[gaming] I can't wait for Carnage!

Nice, I checked on the status of the custom game cards and FedEx says they should arrive tomorrow. I'm hopeful but... they left the printing facility in Hong Kong this morning. And they should arrive to my house tomorrow? Oh... kay... I really hope so- I would like to see the cards before I leave for DC on Sunday.

Also, a couple new games are coming via UPS tomorrow. An expansion for Shadows Over Camelot (which I am running at Carnage) and a new sheep game called Wool Rules. Another sheepy game. I actually did a search through BGG and there are lots of games with "sheep" and "wool" in the title. I'll have to collect them all!

[misc] Lack of interest, boredom or depression

AMY: siiiiiiigh

DOLLAR: What's the matter, sweetie?

AMY: I'm filled with ennui.

DOLLAR: Maybe you should go to the bathroom then.

AMY: ...

DOLLAR: I don't know what that word means.

AMY: I could tell.

[misc] Getting stuff done

I'm finally crossing things off my list. I spent the weekend doing nothing but playing waste-of-time games on Facebook: Farmville, Cafe World, Rollercoaster something-er-other, Bejeweled blitz. It was awesome but now I have to pay the price: unwashed dishes, unfolded laundry, unclean bathroom, etc. Siiiigh.

I finally have Dollar's and my Carnage pre-registration choices and check to mail off. When are they going to make this registration process available online? I would like to be able to fill out an online form and pay via Paypal. Dude, I would so get my registration in first, rather than having to... you know... handwrite stuff and write a check and mail it with, like... postage and stuff. What is this, the 1890's?

And the super-good news is that I finished making digital custom cards for a game I am running this year. They've been uploaded to the printing website and should arrive via FedEx next week.

Alas, I will be in DC next week. Which I'm not really feeling too thrilled about. I've got to figure out what knitting to bring. Or crochet.

Crochet, you say? I may. Actually, I did start this Catherine Wheel Scarf with some sock yarn in my stash. It's coming out very pretty, although I might use it as a table runner if it doesn't feel good around my neck.

I know I haven't posted pictures of Murderface in ages. He's fine. There's been construction going on in the street in front of my house that vibrates the entire house. So Murderface spends his days hiding out on the stairs or in the basement, staring fearfully at the ceiling or the backhoe outside. I don't know what's taking these guys so long. They started this project well before I left for Germany and the street has looked post-apocalypic ever since.

One last thing- a knitting retreat that was supposed to take place Nov. 13 - 15 at the Comfort Suites in White River Jct. has been cancelled but Lois at White River Yarns is planning on making her own Holiday Knit In that weekend to replace it. I will be there running one or two sheep/wool themed games. The hotel will still be offering a $99/night rate (including breakfast) for the weekend. Things will be taking place at her shop, as well as other rooms in The Junction Marketplace.

[misc] Carnage is coming...

Cold weather is here and I think it's here for good. Reports were coming in yesterday from all over Vermont- snow. We got a wee bit of slush mixed in with rain. No snow. Yet. But this morning my car was covered with thick frost and I had to pre-heat.

Dinner last night was a very simple but yummy salmon, potatoes and asparagus. I use filets, rather than steaks. It's so easy and I love that it's all done in one pan. Tonight I have plans to make bacon wrapped scallops; we were at a wedding this past weekend where they were served but they were gone before Dollar had a chance to have some. So, these will be for him (xoxo).

I'm totally procrastinating on sending in my registration for Carnage Con. We probably won't get our first picks for games. But for the first time, I'll be running two games this year!

Spinning is going well. I have 4 bobbins full to start plying- some purple-gray merino and some black alpaca. I had a little set back this weekend when the leather strap that connects my right treadle to the footman broke mid spin. I bought some new, pink leather trim to use. Anything to make my spinning wheel more girlie. And now I have spare on hand in case it happens again.

[misc] Random random

I had to use my iMac's Photo Booth to snap a picture of the cat that has been staring at me all day from my page-a-day calendar:



Is the cat panting? Is it on ecstasy? I started out the morning thinking, "Hah hah hah, isn't that cute." Now I'm wondering what's wrong with it.

In Photo Booth, I had to take a couple of me, too.





These pictures are nice, I think. I don't know why my sister has to post such bad pictures of me on Facebook. Are you listening to me, Brahbrah? Take them down!

I had my birthday this week. It was very good. Except I think Murderface forgot. He didn't get me anything. Jerk.

Does anyone watch Dancing with the Stars? Hulu just started showing it and I am in love with this show. It's inexplicably entertaining to me. And inspiring and funny and impressive. I'm serious. I've actually starting spinning to it (I call it Spinning with Dancing with the Stars, or SWDWTS) and have managed to fill a whole bobbin just during the [3 part, 6 hour] season premier. This will be a good way to get through my huge fiber stash this winter.

[travel] Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival 2009

Saturday my sister and I braved the chilly wet weather to attend the 2009 Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival, for the first year at the Tunbridge Fairgrounds in Tunbridge, VT.

The festival looked like a ghost town compared to the World's Fair...



But I thought there was a good turnout considering the weather...



Misty fog settled into the surrounding hills:





There was a sheep-herding demo (it looks like he's conducting the animals like a symphony... I'm sure one could find an analogy between the two):



Animals to visit:



Friends to see, bunnies to pet, yarns to buy, fiber to pet and then buy, etc... I wore my holographic handspun scarf and brought it to the Fantom Farm vendor to show. The woman there was happy to see it, saying, "We never get to see our stuff."

Feeling a little soggy and cold, we left after a few hours. I saw some people walking around in wellies with their jeans rolled up. Me?



Yeah. I'll get it right next year.

I hope that the festival stays in Tunbridge. It's a good arena (lots of buildings) and I like how close it is to me now. My only complaint was the food vendors. I think there were only three. I waited in line at the lamb vendor for lamb chili and I have to say, the chili wasn't even warm. Standing in line for 20 minutes in pouring down rain for cold chili pissed me off. Next year it might be worth bringing a cooler with homemade sandwiches and drinks.

When I got back home, I took a looooooooong hot shower and then got into bed. Later than evening, Dollar took me out for an early birthday dinner. First, though, he surprised me with a stop at a jewelery store and I picked out a couple pairs of earrings. Very nice of him. Dinner was sushi and japchae at Yama. I know japchae isn't the fanciest thing in the world but I love it and I can't make it at home, so it's my favorite thing to order.

[cooking] Soba noodles with vegetables

I have more soba noodles in the cupboard than you can shake a stick at. After returning home from Germany (where some form of pork is served for breakfast, lunch and dinner), I wanted meat-free Asian meals. I went to Stern's for veggies and made:



I sauteed red and green bell peppers, asparagus, re-hydrated shiitake mushrooms and garlic in toasted sesame oil and added a generous splash of ponzu sauce. Boil the noodles and top with the veggies. Nom.

[misc] Next time, I expect there to be a flaming bag of poo.

AMY and DOLLAR, at home, relaxing upstairs.

Doorbell rings.

ding dong

AMY and DOLLAR look at each other and both go downstairs to the front door. No one is there. They look outside and see a police cruiser driving away, down the street.

AMY: Uh...

DOLLAR: Hm.

AMY: Did we just get punked by the cops?

DOLLAR: I think so.

[travel] Heidelberg, Germany

Yes, it has been two weeks since my last post. I wrapped up my Germany trip with a visit to Heidelberg. I returned home, promptly fell asleep for 15 hours, then had a week of vacation. I did... nothing. I slept and watched TV shows and movies and slept and slept some more. Here's the last of the Germany pictures...

Heidelberg:

Here I am on the south side of the Nekar river, looking to the north.



Looking east to the Old Bridge:



This town was so much busier than quiet little Schwetzingen:



We climbed stairs up to Philosopher's Way:



The viewing areas:



We were able to get many nice shots of the castle:



You can also see the large church.

Stairs back down to the Old Bridge:









After all that walking, we stopped at Vetter for beer and food:



The menu shows one woman with a platter of meat and one woman with beers. Here, let's take a closer look...



Our waitress did not look like that.

I got the cheese spatzl:



Mmmmm.

Auf wiedersehen, for now, Germany. I will come back for a proper vacation.

###

The flight home was fine. Frankfurt airport is a little stressful. I had three hours from the time I got there to my plane's departure and most of it was spent in a nearly-hysterical panic. I was standing in the wrong line, I didn't use the kiosk to get a boarding pass like I was supposed to, the kiosk wouldn't read my passport, my bag was over the weight limit, etc.

On the plane, I was in an aisle seat in the 2nd to last row, in front of three Swedes in a continual state of alcohol-fueled ruckus and next to a deutsch-bag (a German douche-bag) who purposefully held up his newspaper after I tried looking out the window once. There were some screaming babies, a guy standing in the aisle with his bubble butt in my face, my chair wouldn't recline, I couldn't see the TV, the food was shit, blah blah blah, bitch bitch bitch.

The flight was fine. I made it home, that's all that's important.

[travel] Food in Germany

How are the eats in Germany? Good. It has been a little hit-and-miss because I have a "I'll eat anything" mentality, but once the food comes and I try it, I go, "Yeah... If I had known what 'Leberknodel und Saumagen' meant, I probably wouldn't have ordered it."

The first day here, I had a salad with salmon, crab meat and shrimp (in a mayonnaise sauce). It was good- the greens are really, really good over here.



This is when I had the beer in the cool curvey glass.

The next day we walked the gardens and then ate at a brauhaus. I ordered something I didn't know off the menu (expecting a prezel, some kind of wurst and other stuff):





A pretzel sitting on top of a crazy amount of spiral cut radish, with a side of whole grain mustard. And brat soup. Right? Soup? No. A much more well-traveled person than I informed me (after the fact) that it's not a soup- just a way of serving the brats, in it's cooking juices, to keep it warm. But... I ate some of it like a soup. I mean, for crap's sake, it comes with a spoon! What am I supposed to do?

Anyway, I had beers...



This one was tres yum!



This one was still on the yum scale, I guess, but only if I was in the mood for beer that tasted like candy soda. It was very sweet.

We went to a tapas place for supper and I got a plate of fried mackerel (again with the not knowing what I'm ordering)... It was good, though.



The next night we had supper at the hotel, a fixed three couse meal. First the salad (I love you, vegetables)...



Then the main- Hungarian pork with caramelized onions and potatoes. The picture might not look appetizing but this is the best meal I've had so far- the pork practically melted in my mouth...



Tonight for supper, beers:



My coworker's is the darker one on the left, mine is the lighter one on the right. I ordered the Schofferhofer Hefeweizenalkoholfrei and as I started transcribing the name, I realize comes out as Hefeweizen alkohol frei. Yeah. Alkohol Frei.

SON OF A-

I ordered it because the name was so long, which, ha ha, is funny right? Ha haha... Joke's on me.

For supper, I ordered Bratwurst, Leberknodel und Saumagen mit Sauerkraut und Bratkartoffeln.



Okay, Bratwurst and sauerkraut sound good to me, but I didn't know what the other stuff was. Turns out, it's just more meat. Meat in a link, meat in a ball and meat in a patty.

I just google translated it and apparently I had "Bratwurst, a liver dumpling, sow's stomach patty, sauerkraut and potatoes." I ate the brat and potatoes. The patty was good for a few bites but then I was all, "What are these white bits in it?". And the liver ball didn't taste good from the get-go. I'm sorry, Germany, I hope I have not offended you. I love your beer and pretzels.

[travel] Fish Lips

Creepy, right?

[travel] Staatliche Schlosser und Garten

I went to visit Schwetzingen's Castle and Garden on Sunday and took 200+ pictures. The gardens were so, so, so impressive. We walked around for hours and miles. Every corner revealed something new an impressive. There were old stone buildings, a fine mosque, tons of statues scattered around, swans and ducks and carp, oh my! It was well worth the 4 euro fee.

Now, just pictures. (The full set is here.)

[travel] Germany

Gutten Tag! I am in Schwetzingen, Germany for the week. The flight was relatively painless, I just didn't get enough sleep during the redeye. We left Boston around 4:30 pm and I landed in Frankfurt at 5:30 am. I waited for my coworker and a shuttle brought us to our hotel. I napped for an hour but forced myself to get up so that I can go to bed early tonight.

I went for a walk through town, checking out the sights. The hotel is very close to Schwetzingen Castle, where many swans and ducks hang around:



The buildings and streets are lovely:



Everyone is out walking or riding bikes:





It was a beautiful day:





The signs are funny to me. They basically say "Exit - do not block!", but I just like that the end with fahrt.





Heh. Fahrt.

This is that button to push for a walk signal:



And the beer here is so good...



I wanted to steal this glass. The bubbles effervessed up in a curvy manner. My co-worker talked me out of it, the party pooper.

People here have be been so nice and polite. The vegetation and temperature is very similar to home (I think we're on close latitudes).

[spinning] Forest Walk

I've seen 3 plies where people use variegated colors for 2 of the plies and a solid color for 1. This seems to give the yarn a more cohesive look, I think. I had 4oz of maroon merino sitting on a shelf next to this superwash merino:



I spun 3 bobbins- 2 of the colorful, 1 of the solid maroon. Plied together, they came out as:



I like it (although I generally like all 3-plies I see)...



But I'm beginning to think if I had it to do over again, I might choose a deep brown rather than maroon.



This will either become a pair of socks or a mitered scarf.

[knitting] Striped Scarf

Here was a good stash-busting project:



Pattern: Noro Striped Scarf

Yarn: Plymouth Royal Llama Linen (lighter red), Regia Silk (darker red, held double)

Needles: US 7

This scarf looks quite rustic and weathered but it's very, very soft. The only problem was that it was a pain in the ass to knit. I don't think I'll do another striped scarf for a good long while.

[knitting] Dishcloths

I whipped out a couple dishcloths recently...



PATTERN: Stacked Barrels from Nifty Knit Dishcloths

YARN: Plymouth Jeannee, .55 ball

NEEDLES: US 6



PATTERN: Simple Weave from Nifty Knit Dishcloths

YARN: Plymouth Jeannee, .45 ball

NEEDLES: US 6

I don't know why I've put off using Jeannee for so long. It is really soft, nice to knit with and it comes in a ton of colors.

[misc] Murderface Monday

Labor Day weekend is winding down. The weather was so nice, I brought a new scarf I knit outside for pictures.



MF went kind of crazy on it. He's a good cat and completely ignores my yarn and spinning fiber. I'm not sure why he went crazy on this scarf. Maybe it was the sparkles? Here's the handspun I used:



The pattern is a simple one-row lace scarf. My handspun was a lofty worsted weight and I used US 9 needles (and cast on 8 extra stitches). I love love love this scarf- it really is soooooo sparkly.

[spinning] Ocean

A while back I got some Lorna's Laces superwash roving in a swap:



The colorway is 'Beverly', named after my swap-partner's mother (she works at LL). It's a great combo of blue and green. Totally makes me think of the ocean.

I spun it up into a two-ply, rather quick and uneven...





I think this would make a great pair of mittens.

[misc] Murderface Monday

Dollar took this picture of MF curled up with me, napping:

[misc] Conversation Excerpts

###
####
###

AMY: Murderface, do you want some lunchies?

MURDERFACE:

DOLLAR: Come on, buddy, get some lunch.

MURDERFACE:

AMY: You have to eat up the last of the Whiskas pouches.

MURDERFACE:

AMY: It's like McDonald's for cats. It's McWhiskas.

MURDERFACE: Mrow?

DOLLAR: Come get your McWhiskas, buddy.

MURDERFACE:

AMY: Eat the McWhiskas. There... Good boy.

MURDERFACE: nom nom nom nom

AMY: Ha ha ha. McWhiskas.

###
####
###

AMY: [making dumplings at her mom's]

MOM: I did a different recipe for the filling this time.

AMY: Oh?

MOM: I put poison sauce in it.

AMY: [stops] You what?

MOM: I know, I never heard of doing that before.

AMY: What did you put into the filling?

MOM: Poison sauce.

AMY: Say it again?

MOM: HOY! SIN! SAUCE!

AMY: HOISIN SAUCE!?

MOM: YES!

AMY: [goes back to making dumplings] Whew.

###
####
###

[AMY and DOLLAR playing a game of Small World]

AMY: And the next race is... Ghouls. Biovacking Ghouls.

DOLLAR: Bivouacking.

AMY: What?

DOLLAR: Bivouacking.

AMY: What did I say?

DOLLAR: Biovacking.

AMY: ... What did you say?

DOLLAR: Bivouacking.

AMY: That's what I said.

DOLLAR: No, I'm pretty sure biovacking is a word you just made up.

AMY: What does biovacking-

DOLLAR: Bivouacking.

AMY: -even mean anyway?

DOLLAR: To put up an encampment of tents.

AMY: *sigh* It's your turn.

###
####
###