Back from Indonesia…
Haven’t been knitting that much lately because I went to visit my family in Indonesia. My older cousin got married and the whole family attended the wedding. Which is a big deal, since we are a BIG family… She looked gorgeous…
We also went to Bali and Pelabuhan Ratu for a few days, just to relax a little bit… I went surfing for the first time and almost drowned. But it was a whole new experience and a lot of fun!!
But still I thought it weird that people in Pelabuhan Ratu went swimming in their clothes… I mean, they went swimming in jeans and T-shirts…. seriously weird, I though. Then my mother told me that Pelabuhan Ratu is a very strict muslim area, so of course the people weren’t allowed to show that much skin. And then of course, I was not allowed to go swimming in a bikini neither!! We’re not muslims… but to avoid any trouble I couldn’t go swimming…
All in all I was very busy lately and didn’t have much time for knitting. Despite that I DID finish some things though…
First: Syrian Shawl from Jane Sowerby
This has been a fun knit! It was very easy, fast and I just love the outcome. The yarn is very light and soft but also very warm. I love this shawl and am thinking of doing another one…
Second: Snowflake Socks
Another easy knit, I knit these socks for my mom since she loves handknit socks and I have never knitted socks for her (having discovered sockknitting only recently). She seems happy with the result, so I’m satisfied with it too.
Third: Thermalistic Sweater
Aah sorry for the bad picture, but it’s hard for me to take pictures of myself wearing a sweater… I tried to knit Thermal as instructed a few times but always failed somehow. Even the smallest size was way too wide for me, although I think it’s because the yarn stretches ALOT and in the end I just decided to knit it top-down. It’s a little bit too wide still, but I like it and always wear it at home (because my apartment is always so cold, even in summer). The yarn is Regia Silk, I like it because it’s so soft, but as mentioned above, it stretches alot and pools a bit… hmmm, not too happy about the yarn choice…
Last: Blue Beret (my own design)
Yet another unsuccesful picture… I came up with this design for a beret. Didn’t turn out as slouchy as I liked it to be, but I’m still happy with the result. It’s kind of cute.
All my knits can also be found at my projects page at Ravelry.
Also, I have noticed that I haven’t uploaded any of my old projects, like a crocheted little bag for needles, measure tape, knit markers, etc. Or my bag (also crochet) for my crochet hooks… There are a lot of things that I haven’t uploaded yet, but I’m kind of too lazy to do it right now… So maybe next time!
Woops…
…and again, a long time passed since I blogged last… but really, a lot of things happened here.
University keeps me very, VERY busy but of course, I haven’t neglected my knitting. In fact, I’ve been knitting a lot recently.
As posted earlier, I wanted to knit Thermal from Knitty.com, but I had a lot of problems with this. Not because of the pattern, I think it’s the yarn. I cast on for the smallest size and knit the whole body without the sleeves. But when I tried it on, it turned out to be way too big for me. I’m not even a small size, I consider myself as normal. And I could see in various Ravelry threads that other people did not have the same problem as me, so I guess it must be the yarn 
So I ripped my Thermal. And started it again, this time top-down (because I like top-down sweaters so much). I’ve already knit the whole body and one sleeve, cast on the other sleeve, but haven’t been progressing lately. This time it fits much better. Pictures will follow, once my Thermal is finished.
I have other finished projects though! First of all, I gave socks another chance, which I might have mentioned before. And then I had to do some destashing anyway, so I decided to knit these…
And these too…
And when I was frustrated about having to re-knit my Thermal, I came up with this…
I really, really love this cardigan. It’s cute! And I also love the yarn, although it’s a no-name brand. And it was finished in only one week, really fun knit! All my projects can be found here.
I’ve been busy with my part-time job this month, because my colleague was ill all the time and I had to substitute for her. But this gave me the chance to meet a very interesting person, who offered me an additional part-time job during the week. Sounds interesting and I look forward to this job!
My computer is falling apart recently, I have trouble typing on the keyboard. Well… My birthday is coming up and I hope, I can get a new notebook then… I really need one because I’m afraid that this one might completely break, while I am writing my next semester papers or even worse, my graduation paper… That’s really causing me to have nightmares!!
Short Update
Ok, so I have been a bit lazy lately…. Uni is keeping me very busy plus my eating habits got worse (I tend to forget eating when I’m stressed) than ever before, so I didn’t really feel like knitting lately.
Nevertheless, finished this! I got a new mobile phone about three weeks ago and of course decided that I also need a new cover for my sweet new mobile.
It’s cute, I like it.
And then I found out that three (!!) of my girlfriend have the same phone!! I didn’t know! (well, I haven’t seen them for a couple months, but still…) Hm hm, maybe I should knit one in different colors for each of them too.
I’m back…
I came back about three weeks ago and as soon as I arrived back in Hamburg I had to go to Uni again to my first classes. So since then not much news from here, but I haven’t been lazy in knitting though 
While still in Japan I have started and finished a pair of socks, toe-up. My first toe-ups! And first time using the magic loop! Actually I used to despise knitting socks before, but a friend in Tokyo recommended the toe-up socks using a magic loop and … I love it! Would have never imagined that. I anybody told me that someday I will like knitting socks, I would have laughed at him. Well… there’s always something new to learn I guess…
Since I discovered the magic loop I’ve tried to knit mittens as well. Until now I only have one mitten of a pair, looks nice, but I didn’t want to make any pictures without the other one, so this will have to wait awhile. I’m distracted with other projects right now.
Which is for example Thermal. This looks really nice and although it might not be the season right now to wear it, I still decided to knit it, hoping it will be finished until fall. I should be able to do that… I found this pattern while I was looking at some projects of a Ravelry friend, because I was waiting for her pattern for the Chamomile Tunic (Ravelry link). It’s gorgeous! Can’t wait to cast on this one, but until then I still have to find the right yarn for it.
I’m so disappointed! The yarn here in Germany isn’t really nice in my opinion. Or maybe it’s just so much harder to get yummy yarn in my hometown. You can’t get any Alpaca yarn unless you order it online and it’s so expensive!! It was so much more cheaper in Tokyo, I’m really sad that I didn’t buy any (my suitcase already had overweight)… And there aren’t many shops in the States which ship to Germany too… Aww, too bad, really!!
I haven’t had the time to take any pictures of my knitting yet, but I’ll try to upload some as soon as possible. But right now it’s Spring and I’m outdoors almost all the time… Such a nice weather. Perfect for sitting in the park, chatting with friends and knitting.
Arrival in Tokyo
Arrived at 20h in Tokyo, Narita Intl. Airport after a bad start at the airport in Hamburg, a bad stay at the airport in Paris and a terrible flight to Tokyo! I usually never get sick on a plane, but this time, I thought I really was about to throw up. It was hot and the air was so bad, and the food…
I couldn’t even enjoy the movies on the plane, because we only could choose between 5 movies or so and after watching the first one, I was so disappointed that I decided not to watch the others.
But! My arrival was much better. My boyfriend came to pick me up and we took a train to Tokyo to bring away my luggage and then we went to a Hub in Shinjuku. A couple of friends were already there, drinking and we had a really good time! This is the best way to fight a jetlag, by the way. Just stay up the whole first night and you won’t have problems with the day-night-rythm
Saturday we first went to Shibuya to get me a new SIM card for my mobile phone. I still had an old phone from my previous stay as an exchange student, so all we had to do is to go to Softbank (Vodafone in Japan) and get a SIM card on my boyfriend’s name and I was set up! Otherwise it would be too hard to get in contact with all of my friends here, most of them don’t really use the internet, but everyone has a mobile phone. The girl at the counter at Softbank was really cute and very nice to us, she even gave us a little stuffed animal, a white dog, as a mobile phone strap. Happy!
Had chinese food somewhere, delicious dumplings, HMMMM, and then went to a winebar in Shibuya again. This place is gorgeous! It’s tiny, but cozy and the prices are really good. I love it!
And I think it would be a really good dating-spot, if you don’t mind standing. The food is good too! Total recommendation!!
Today we went to Harajuku, because it’s St. Patrick’s Day and there was a parade on the Omotesando. Before meeting with our friends, we went to a really cute little neighborhood, which is really next to the Omotesando street but it was such a quiet neighborhood, very different from the rest of Harajuku, with its shopaholics and fashion victims. Went to Starbucks there, tried the Orange Latte (recommendation from a friend) and enjoyed the good weather. The parade was a little short, but interesting.
Countdown Day 2
Leaving in 2 days and I feel like I have a lot of unfinished business!! I still have to finish my papers, well it’s not even close to being finished, and clean my apartment and finish packing and go shopping to bring some o-miyage to my friends in Japan and and and… My head is spinning!!
Been to the library almost the whole day and wore my new, lovely Ms. Dashwood shawl which kept me warm through the whole day. I’ve never worn a triangular shaped shawl before, because I always thought it too bothersome to always tuck it back to the right places, so it won’t look weird. But I used a brooch today to drape the shawl around my shoulders and it looked so nice and felt even nicer! Happy face! Maybe I’ll take some new pictures with the shawl later…
Countdown Day 3
Found some leftover yarn from Japan. I used this yarn to knit a little cute bag and still had some left, so I decided to use it to try out some patterns.
My mom wore a knitted long cardigan recently and I was wondering how the pattern was made, it was the first time that I’ve seen it. So I decided to knit it up. No mistakes, I’m happy about that! The pattern is easy and it was a fast knit (most of it done in the subway).
Leaving in 3 days!
Countdown Day 5 … err .. .Day 4
I couldn’t blog yesterday, because I had to work late and afterwards I had to get ready for a girls out night. It was so much fun! Met with my girlfriends from highschool and it really felt, like we were back in highschool, meeting up at a friend’s place, drink a little and then head out to party. Nostalgic…
The party we went to yesterday was a really big one. It was situated in a shopping mall, but they made a lot of changes, so it really looked like a big, very big club. Would have been really nice, if the people there were not at least 5 years younger than me. Well, THAT wasn’t fun! And the service was bad, too, and the whole organization…
But nevertheless, we had a lot of fun together. I just love my girls!
By the way, I just noticed… all my friends are blonde!
I haven’t really knitted since Friday, but still managed to finish the 3rd pattern repeat of my Kinetic Shawl. I’m still excited about knitting this, but … I think I’ve got starteritis again. I want to start at least 2 other projects so badly right now.
Off to Tokyo in 4 days! Brought up my suitcase today, and will think of what to pack tomorrow. Good night!
What to do…
… I haven’t blogged for such a long time now… A lot of things happened after I came back to Germany and I couldn’t find time to do some rambling…
What to do… when you have a long-distance relationship with someone you met only a month before you left the country?
Luckily I’m a very optimistic person. I’m very optimistic that my relationship will last, despite the distance (Japan-Germany is quite apart…). But still, there are times when I feel insecure. Especially because we mainly communicate through emails, there are or will be a lot of misunderstandings. It’s not so easy to tell your feelings with just an email. Communicating also depends on the tone of voice, thus a lot of emails can be misunderstood. This causes me a lot of trouble and I usually reread all my emails at least twice, since we always communicate in English and this is not my mother tongue. So I’m usually insecure, whether this expression is right, or maybe too direct or maybe too vague, etc. Writing an email takes me up to five minutes…
I am a person, who likes to talk about a lot of things that happened in my daily life. And talking about stuff like that to my boyfriend always seemed to be an important part of our daily communication. But somehow though, I think that he might not be that interested in listening to things like that… who I met that day… what happened in class at university… Maybe guys are just not interested in talking about daily matters? Maybe it’s only interesting for girls?
Sometimes I think, guys only want to talk about things that are really important in exactly that moment. I mean… girls can talk from one thing to a thousand things, right? Well, I guess it’s different with guys.
When we talk, I always have the feeling that I talk a lot more than him. I don’t know whether that’s good or not. And usually he does not respond to what I’ve said, but changes the topics a lot… to things that interest him. Now, does that show that he’s totally not interested in what I’m saying? Or rather that he listened but doesn’t have anything to say about it, so he changes the topic? Actually, I could imagine both. But either way, everyone would like to have at least a little bit of a reaction to what you’ve said, right? Hm, am I the only one hoping for some kind of reaction?
Especially when I want to talk about something that troubles my mind or complaining about something. He’s very quick about changing the topic then. Maybe it’s his way of comforting me. Well, if it is… then it’s an extremely bad way of comforting. Aren’t relationships also about comforting your partner when he’s down?
I know that I always try to respond to everything he says, by asking questions or making comments. But I don’t know how helpful, comforting etc. that is. How should I know? Would he tell me, if I asked?
Sometimes I think, I can’t talk about problems with him (not that any real problems have occurred yet, but just in case there is one). He would change the topic again, wouldn’t he? If I can’t talk about something that troubles me with my boyfriend, who should I talk with then? Wouldn’t it be weird, if I always talked with my friends, but never with him?
What to do?
A lot of questions and a lot to think about on a lonely Friday night.
