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.
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 Start
Actually it started yesterday… Countdown to my departure to Tokyo! 6 more days to go!!
I will try to knit 1 repeat of the pattern of my Kinetic Shawl everyday before Thursday, but I’m still so busy with planning, my paper for uni, work and of course packing, etc.
Earlier today I saw my mom off at the airport, she left for Indonesia today. She was so excited to go to Jakarta and see her family again, I really had a hard time to calm her down. But I can understand her though, I’m already so excited about going to Tokyo myself… I found a lot of relatives on Facebook and we write each other emails sometimes. I say, sometimes, because my Indonesian is so bad, I have to ask my mom every time “how do I say this?” and “what is she asking me?”. I need to freshen up my Indonesian before going there in August myself. My cousin is going to marry! The first in our generation, so the whole family is in rapture.
Whoops, my mom just called! She’s in Frankfurt right now, her plane can’t take off, because something is broken and they have to find another plane for the flight, which will take quite some time, since they have to clean, etc. Poor mom! She’s stuck there for at least 2h!!
I said: “I bet you wished you had something to knit right now to pass the time!”
Ms. Dashwood
Finally finished! I was working the last few days at this shawl because I wanted to finish it before leaving for Tokyo. It turned out exactly the way I wanted. So happy! It’s a very soft Merino yarn and so cozy, I think, I’m gonna take it to bed with me. Unfortunately the pictures didn’t turn out so good, it’s just too dark in my room. Maybe I should try to take some pictures outside…
Now I have a lot of time to continue on my Kinetic Shawl. There are a lot of other projects that I’d like to cast on, but I’m restricting myself to the Kinetic for now… patience, patience!
I went to my Mom today, because she is going to Indonesia on Friday and I won’t see her for at least a month, because I’m leaving next Thursday for Tokyo as well. My family will be all around the world this march…
My father is in Manila right now, working. My mom is going to visit our family in Indonesia and my father will join her next week. My younger brother is going to Malaga, Spain , for a Spanish language course. My older brother is in Denmark from tomorrow until Saturday, then leaving on Tuesday again for Denmark, until Saturday next week, THEN leaving on Monday again for Korea! It’s all work-related, but wow, he sure travels a lot. Too bad, he is always so occupied with work, so he can’t do a lot of sightseeing… He just came back from China a few weeks ago.
Plus, he’s got such a cute girlfriend, I guess, it must be very hard on both of them, since he is always away. Won’t even be there for her birthday…
Well and I’m in Tokyo by next week! So excited to be in Tokyo again, it’s my favorite town!
Hm, I should do some homework and my apartment looks like it needs some tidying up, too… but the Kinetic is waiting, too… what to do… there’s always so much to do…
I guess it’s a question of setting your priorities!
In Progress…
I’ve got a couple new projects on my needles right now and very happy about how they’ve turned out up until now.
I’ve been to London last October and somehow was inspired to knit a comforter shawl in white for myself. I don’t know exactly how that idea came into my mind, but I like knitting and I like a comfy shawl, so…
I could not start the shawl right after I came home, because a new semester started and I had to concentrate on my studies. But I have some free time now, so I decided to cast on for my shawl. It’s already 80% done and so far, I’m really happy with this project.
I’ve been knitting this shawl while listening to the audiobook of Sense and Sensibility from Jane Austen. I love listening to audiobooks while knitting, but I have to get some new ones soon, I guess.
So the next project is the Kinetic Shawl from Knitty.com. It’s so interesting to knit after this chart, I like it so much!! I’m not sure about the color of my yarn though… but it’s soft and warm.
But I’m concentrating on the Ms. Dashwood Shawl right now, so I put this project on hold until I finished the shawl. I hope I will be finished with both before my departure to Japan in mid-March!
