dots&yarn

We have moved!

2008-09-15T17:35:00.000+01:00

We would love to start sharing some patterns and recipes, and a few other bits and bobs with you, and have therefore moved to WordPress.

Here is our new URL: http://dotsandyarn.wordpress.com

Hope to see you over there (the first free pattern has already made it onto our ‘new’ blog)!

Sunday Fashion Show

2008-09-14T17:27:00.004+01:00

The sunny weather in the morning made it possible to take good pictures of some knits that I have done a long time ago - way before Ravelry existed. Therefore I cannot remember the correct years in which in knitted them, but it must have been somewhere between 1996 and 2000.

Green Silk Cardigan (Seta from Lana Grossa)

G and I ran outside (in the middle of breakfast - obviously not trusting that the sun would last until we finished!) to take these. Probably to the delight of the entire street. We had some people passing by, watching with amusement, not understanding what was going on. And might I add it was still freezing in the sunshine and the light breeze didn't help to make me any warmer. Thankfully I got some hot coffee with the rest of my breakfast after we finished.

Golden Top, horrible pattern, but really cool once done, made as a concert top (looks great 'au naturel' with black trousers) with Lincraft Starry Night

Cable Top with Seta from Lana Grossa

Lana Grossa India

I have never tried this combination before, I made it as a concert top. I knitted it for a skirt I found on sale at Monsoon for a fraction of the original price (broken zipper - a nightmare to fix). I had no idea what to wear with it. It's difficult to combine because of the changing colour of the skirt. I told the lady who runs the yarn shop at home, when I went home for Christmas (obviously I had to have a stop in my old LYS) and she suggested this ribbon yarn. Amazing what you can find in your LYS!

Express Lane Socks and Saturday Roast

2008-09-13T17:03:00.004+01:00

D - I finally managed to make a picture of the Express Lane Socks I knitted for M (lovely pattern! I just had to make the socks slightly shorter as I was knitting with leftovers from my previous project: Dream in Colour, Smooshy, Colourway: Beach Fog).

When I woke up at 7.30am this morning, the beautiful awareness trickled into my conscience, that it was SATURDAY! The day to turn over in bed and sleep or doze another hour or so... no squeezing into the tube (London Underground) or fighting your way through masses of city dwellers on their way to work, to make it to work just in time (as the London Underground train had to park in the tunnel once again and took 30 minutes for a supposed 10 minute journey...)

So I turned over in bed and enjoyed the sun that tentatively shone its way through the clouds and into my window. K could unfortunately not make it to our weekly mosaique meeting and rehearsal today, so M and I had a nice long breakfast, knitted a few rows and listned to Ella Fitzgerald (Ella Swings Lightly). Such a lovely chilled and cozy morning.

A little later, we got this ready (here it is just going into the oven):

Oh so yummy pork roast on a bed of roast potatoes, tomatoes and onions.... mmmmh...
A, who is studying in the UK for a year (or more..), came by for lunch and we had a lovely - and, lets face it, fattening - meal and nice chat. In a couple of weeks' time M and I will be staying with her parents in Salem, OR :-) I can hardly wait - Seattle, Portland, Salem, Bend, Cannon Beach, Crater Lake.... here we come!!

Until then I shall knit a little faster to be able to finish my gifts for our lovely OR hosts, and I might add a couple of items to my USA shopping wish list...

Say it in French

2008-09-12T22:06:00.006+01:00

...I really wanted to say that to this house owner who has been getting work done on her property for months now. The same person who would only know me at official neighbourhood watch meetings and always overlooks me otherwise (as I 'only' rent and do not own the house I live in).
Like all builders, no matter in which country or from which nationality, hers come in the early morning to make a lot of noise (jackhammer was the favorite tool this week), then have an extensive break and do something around midday again. The time when the rest of the population will either still sleep or have a lunch break (should they work from home). The builders' van/lorry/skip will block the street for hours - making deliveries to other houses in the street nearly impossible.
This afternoon they added a new sound effect: a high pitched screech, not unlike what you hear at the dentist. To this you add the noise of the planes (thanks to Heathrow Terminal 5) which sometimes sound like they are flying through the attic, especially at 5.45am and 11pm (thankfully not every day). Well, you get the picture.
When I saw this doodle in another blog, it expressed what I felt this morning when I was so tired I nearly fell off the bed. This sleep deprivation then made me forget to eat lunch and bake Banana bread for one hour before realising that the temperature was far too low to make anything happen to the dough... time for the weekend and some sleep!

Oh, Pictures

2008-09-11T11:11:00.009+01:00

What to do on another rainy day in London (apart from dreaming of the upcoming holiday.... just 11 days to go!!!!! Watch this space for Oregon travel pics)? Look at yarn and FOs and brag with past achievements :-)

Melon pattern scarf (Victorian Lace Today) - in Blood (yes, what a name for a coulourway) Kid Silk Haze...

And Beaudelaire Socks (Dream in Colour Smooshy)

I knit day

2008-09-06T18:32:00.007+01:00

Ooh, what weather - London didn't try very hard to make this a nice sunny, welcoming day... rain and wind and more rain... a cheerful grey-in-grey.
Not daunted by the non-hospitable weather, M and I packed our little cotton socks (well, cotton hat in my case, as I am knitting gifts for D's little son who is expected in 3 months' time) and made our way to the I Knit London Day. Guest speaker was the Yarn Harlot (Stephanie Pearl McPhee), but as we hadn't made up our minds early enough, we didn't buy a ticket for her special event. Sorry, Stephanie, we would have loved to hear you speak, daunting as the Lindley Hall might have been - I'm sure you did a great job and hope you had a fantastic time with all the British knitters who bought their tickets on time!!

Instead, we used the lull in market hall visitors and managed to make our way to the book stands. I sometimes wonder how very lovely knitters can transform into very scary people who run over you and use elbows to make it to the fronts of stands... hmm. There we are - focus on yummy yarns and goodies might be to blame here (at least I hope that there are no more sinister reasons...). Anyway, it was great to see the lovely Socktopus with busy helpers, and enjoy looking and squeezing my way through some beautiful (oh so forbidden) and scrumptious yarns.
And despite my very firm stash-buying-ban, one little skein of lace yarn somehow clung to my hands at The Loop stand, and made it into my bag (making me part with my pub lunch money... probably better spent on the lovely lace yarn... my re-heated Risotto at home was quite nice, thank you very much)

Back at home, slightly shivering, we made the kitchen nice and cosy, had coffee with our fellow mosaique member and pianits K, talking about warmth, reindeer candles, future recording projects, etc. I think I might pick up my cotton hat now and knit a few more rounds for D's baby while letting the day pass by in front of my eyes one more time. More iknit day pictures here....

Under the spell of the 'L'...

2008-09-04T21:46:00.002+01:00

There is a lot to be said for the equality of letters in the alphabet, but after M found this on YouTube, there is no question - I am decidedly a new fan of the 'L'. Thank you Sam Ramey

And - have I made you an 'L' fan?

Flower Power Elefant

2008-09-01T08:44:00.002+01:00

Happy Monday morning!

Baby knitting & Sunshine

2008-08-30T21:14:00.005+01:00

Yes! Summer in London (at least one day of it....)! At 25 degrees Celsius and with just a few fluffy clouds in the sky, M and I just had to go out and sit in the park.
Equipped with the left-overs of last night's pizza and some coffee, as well as our new picknick blanket (finally premiered on actual grass under a sunny sky), current knitting projects, finished baby knitting projects, and a camera, we settled down next to the Thames River and a bare chested Italian gentleman who was obviously catching up on all of last week's phone calls. Just to annoy him I didn't take a picture of him, especially when he started whistling different tunes and trying a few other interesting moves to catch our attention after spotting the camera....

But really - it was a very lovely and peaceful day, and my skin might even have made the transition from greenish white to eggshell off-white. Here are some of the FOs that have finally been caught by the black box:

Saartje's Baby Bootees (Cashsoft Baby DK, Rowan)

Stripy-Baby-Trousers (Organic Cotton, Blue Sky Alpacas)

Coffee&Cream Baby Trousers (Organic Cotton, Blue Sky Alpacas)

Aaawww.....

A lot of words

2008-08-29T17:57:00.011+01:00

What words do we use most in our blogs.... an interesting question.This is dots&yarn laid out in a wordle: a graphic representation of all the words we use. I know, I write most of the entries lately - but G gets to read (and correct!) them before anyone else can see them. Since I have a dislike for stating the obvious at times or I get carried away for whatever reason and my mind is already in the new paragraph while I'm still writing the previous one. I wonder, though, if anyone of you would recognise us in those words...?

Unlike in German (where I have several favourite words like fürdahin which doesn't seem to translate) I wasn't aware which words I used most; apart from really which gets used in every language in the house - even in Portuguese thanks to a weird moment of watching parts of Shrek in Portuguese.

Some words seem to be quite prophetic like 'got sewing' which G definitely did do over the long weekend. We still need to put up the pictures of proof, but this will definitely be the topic for another entry - maybe tomorrow if we're lucky.

Paris for the day

2008-08-22T10:30:00.006+01:00

Finally we did it! We went to Paris, just for the day so don't get too jealous here. It was a fantastic day, though. Right from the - very early - start to the - late - end of it. We managed to meet up with our good friend (and former house mate) H who had finished playing for a masterclass and stayed on for half a day to see us.

After the 4am start and journey on the Eurostar from London to Paris, our (second) start of the day was a breakfast at the riverbank of the Seine, then (after some walking around) lunch at my favourite restaurant - my family has been going to this place since 1978. We spent some time around Sacre Coeur which as you can see in the mosaic (below) involved some knitting and buying very cool materials for sewing (pictures to come soon). A coffee stop on the roof terrace of the Printemps gave us enough time to recover (see picture above - took some time to merge my 5 photos in Photoshop!) and a quick jump to the Champs Elysées finished our trip.
Sunday we were barely able to move! But G's tried out the sewing machine and finished her felted bag adding a lining and a shoulder strap. More sewing is planned for the weekend as well as my final sprint for the Olympic Sock - 35% still to knit - that should be manageable if no disaster strikes. G has finished hers, so she's allowed the sewing and taking pictures of the FOs.

Olympic Weekend

2008-08-12T11:12:00.007+01:00

And we're off! Friday night we watched the re-play of the opening ceremony on France2 (one needs to brush up one's languages from time to time) and cast on for our Olympic challenge. The really cool thing was that France2 managed to get the Chinese educational attaché (I think) from the Chinese Embassy in Paris - always referred to as "mon cher Wang" who explained the symbols and history of China (as represented in the ceremony) with great enthusiasm and depth. Words are (almost) wasted to describe this wonderful ceremony, one needed to see it: the drummers and the dancers and the 'run' at the top of the bird's nest to light the Olympic fire - amazing, miraculous, mind-blowing ideas carried out to perfection!

Watching this, G worked out an Olympic pattern which we immediately tried out - and about 1 hour later frogged the whole thing because it didn't work well with the character/colours of the wool. This obviously meant that we restarted the Sock almost from the point go on Saturday morning. (Disaster no1)

I'm leaving out the minor disasters of Saturday morning: upset stomachs of house mate and house guests as well as the return of a jacket for house guest by very pregnant friend of just mentioned house guest who then (as it turned out Sunday afternoon) went straight from us to the hospital to deliver the baby! (Talk about planning out your chores for the day...)

We had planned some knitting time during the day and made our way to Stash Yarns to visit the lovely D. Walking up towards the shop we got caught in the sales.... And then disaster no 2 hit us - rain or as they say here drizzle. This is the understatement of the century! It basically means you get soaked to the bones within minutes by a light, relentless rain. It might have helped to know the exact location of shops around Upper Richmond Road (which we didn't) and so we did get really soaked. (leaving out a lot of grumpy words) Buying clothes in the sales has its advantage: it meant that we could change into something dry when we finally made it into the shop. We had some enjoyable time knitting and chatting to the people in the shop before we made it home (via a hairdresser appointment) - in a dry spell.

Sunday disater no3 struck in the morning when I sliced my thumb on the side of a package of pain killers (I see irony), but an Elastoplast Spray Bandage (bought some time later) made it possible to knit again. Sunday, as can be seen in the picture taken above, had some very rainy spells and the most beautiful rainbow I've seen lately. I managed to make a panorama image in Photoshop from two picture I took while hanging out of the window. Should I take this as a positive sign that we'll make our Olympic challenge?

Ravelympic Oath

2008-08-08T19:05:00.008+01:00

"In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Ravelympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a knitting without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of knitting and the honour of our teams."

PS. Does coffee count as a drug?

For Tigerduck: the yarn - Cherry Tree Hill Peacock Supersock, the trainer and a woolly teammate

For Tournesol: the yarn (Handmaiden Cashar), the trainer and a woolly teammate)

Gratitude Take II - Memories

2008-08-07T17:17:00.015+01:00

During the last week, working like a dog, I thought it might be good to take a leaf out of the Yank ediva's book and write some more about gratitude to keep my positive attitude up.
The plan was to say that I'm grateful for good friends who sacrifice their weekends to help me work/share their food/are an endless source of musical inspiration - until about 30 minutes ago. While being on Skype with G, I suddenly realised which day it'll be tomorrow:
08.08.08 - this would have been the 100th birthday of my first singing teacher Clemens Kaiser-Breme who shaped my life more than anyone else.

I was 15 when I went to see him for an audition; he was 80. I was a stubborn teenager, he a famous singing teacher. I came armed with 5 full opera scores which I could have sung from back to front, impersonating every character if asked to do so. I declared I hated Lieder, they were boring: therefore I wouldn't sing one for him. I really had nerve!

For 7 years, until the doctors forbade him to teach, I went to his house in Essen up to three times a week for lessons. He promised my parents he would take my musical education in hand and so he did.

Having been born in Dortmund in 1908 Kaiser-Breme was the second of three children. His father worked in the town administration and would only remember the birthdays of first and last child by counting it out from his second child - a source of great laughter in the family. In the 1920s Kaiser-Breme went to Berlin to study with Albert Fischer whom he lovingly called 'der dicke Fischer' (the chubby Fischer). He used to be invited for coffee to Max Friendlaender's house, where they would make music together for hours, and he saw Benjamino Gigli and Feodor Chaliapin on stage and was blown away by Chaliapin's Mephistophele in Gounod's Faust. He saw Richard Strauss rehearse and worked with lots of other famous musicians who are long dead now. He also could tell lots of stories about the world wars (both of them, including the occupation in-between).

After practicing on stage how to ask a women to marry him (as Mandryka in Strausses Opera Ara bella) he dared to do so in real life - 'Carölchen' as he called her - she was eight years older then him, not usual in those times! She had already known him when he passed his A levels. I won't say childhood sweathearts, because both of them remained adamant that they were just friends at that time. Whenever they tried to separate something made them reconnect. She moved to Berlin shortly after him, working as a librarian if I remember correctly, and could only find a flat in his building. She was very worried about what people would say 'at home' about this fact. A couple of years later he decided to find out if he could live without her, suddenly not speaking to her for a year (without informing her he'd do that). At the end of this year she nearly ended up marrying his brother! (This might have been the trigger for him to finally pop the question....) She was still furious about this event when I got to know her.

I remember the note from his parents in his Arabella score congratulating him (finally) to his engagement. This was one of the few things that survived WWII, almost everything else he owned, including his house, burned down in one night. When we worked on Arabella, (arias or duets) he asked his wife up to the studio at the end of the lesson for a mini concert whenever we had done a good job. He was a brilliant pianist and always played himself for all his lessons.

Struck by a mysterious illness he nearly died in his mid thirties (I think). This left him paralyzed for some time and he had to re-discover his body. He never got the full use of his legs back and walking was agony. Since opera performance was now mostly out of the question for him, he started a career as lieder and oratorio singer, he did research about singing for the Max Plank Institute and was an outstanding teacher and coach to numerous world stars. For years he was Professor for singing at the Folkwang Hochschule.

What I'm most grateful for is the discipline I learned from him, not only for learning music, but for all areas of life. Even during the hottest summer he'd wear a suit for hisf lessons, politely asking if he was allowed to take off the jacket. In contrast, he always wore slippers, I suppose real shoes were too painful to wear. He drilled discipline into my body and brain and that was the best that could have happened to me. When I fell ill, it saved me from drowning in self-pity. He wasn't the cuddly nice person you'd like to have as a grandfather, he commanded the room. I remember that I absolutely hated having to call him, because he always appeared so very distant on the phone. He admitted it was a trick he acquired from his father to keep off the annoying callers, but I wished he would have warmed up a bit to the people he knew.

He died in 1997 shortly after his adored wife. He had always said that if she was gone he wouldn't want to live any more. She had great heart trouble at the end of her life and there was more than one moment when we thought she'd left us already. So, his funeral was actually ... happy, as far as funerals can be happy. The priest had been a guest at the Kaiser-Breme house for years and knew him very well, and we all felt Kaiser-Breme wasn't really gone.

While writing this so many memories and stories come back to me. He always refused to write his memoires, saying that people would find it too boring. I found it fascinating. In my lessons I transformed into a sponge soaking up everything he said. I don't own at picture of him (this one here I found on the internet). I was too shy to ask if I could take one. What I have are numerous tapes of my lessons, which I still listen to from time to time . G lately tracked down a recording of him on iTunes, but most of his recordings were destroyed in the Dresden inferno at the end of the war (he was convinced all of them were gone).

I wish I could say to him how grateful I am for everything I have learned from him, especially because some things only proved useful years later, but I hope - wherever he is - he knows it anyway.

Dos and Don'ts

2008-07-23T19:10:00.004+01:00

If I could tell you anything (and not sound bossy) I would tell you not to get sick with food poisoning on a weekend where it feels like it could be summer (this time is so short here) .

Certainly don't get sick on Sunday morning hereby ruining the rest of the weekend. Do make sure if you travel by taxi to the airport to meet your sister (in transit on her way back home from the US) that there is an escape (in this case a service area).

Do not get so sick that you can't sleep, your feverish body tossing and turning all night, too hot one moment, too cold the next.

Do not take a hot bath to ease the cramps telling your house mate to look after you. She might fall asleep and not realise you struggle to get out.

When you finally stumble into the kitchen you realise that your zeal for banning packaged food has left you with nothing that can be easily heated.

Go back to bed you aren't hungry anyway.

When you eventually manage to get back up and look outside, you realise the bugs have left the garden and the clematis is in full flower.

Do be glad about the Riverford delivery that left you with some vegetables and frozen meat. (and about the other housemate suffering from the same sickness: at least you know you're not alone) Equally, be glad about get-well-texts from lovely people, Stelline that have been waiting in your cupbord and crazy former housemates who still make you laugh.
And finally make litres of soup with the remaining meat and vegetables, crawl back to bed, listen to an audiobook, knit (if strengh allows it). Otherwise enjoy the flowers that your housemate got at work (where she got an amazing review with a big bunch of flowers)

Meaningful post?

2008-07-08T17:16:00.010+01:00

Listening to the book pictured on the left last weekend I really - really wanted to write a meaningful blog post on Monday. Well, obviously that didn't work, it never seems to work if I set out to write meaningful things (imagine deep meaningful sigh).
So I deleted the pathetic attempt and am now writing again without trying to squeeze the meaning into the post: Julie-Julia is great. It's fun and entertaining and totally crazy. How can it not be, when someone sets out to cook all the 524 recipes of Julia Child's Mastering The Art of French Cooking in 365 days? (This includes the famous recipe of Homard à l'Américaine which has been avoided in my family ever since we knew it existed. There is even a family ban on it for restaurant orders.) In a time, where most of us didn't even know how to spell the word blog (in 2002 to be exact) Julia Powell blogged every day about her cooking experiences over the year and this is how the book came into being.
And if you are thinking "aha - a book deal... could that be what Tournesol is envisioning when she is trying to write a meaningful blog post", you're wrong. I thought about how and by what people are inspired and that we all need someone to inspire us - to do better, to try again, to try something new or something at all. And that we need to be reminded every now and then that we're not the only person in the world who feels sorry for him/herself.
The only flaw with Julie's book is in the publisher's summary: it doesn't say that the book is going to make you want to cook. You'll need to read/listen to it after you have stocked up your fridge from the market/supermarket and/or home delivery.
How I found out about the book? It's on a summer reading list of a French magazine. If they recommended a book about food it had to be good! And as I said it's also available as an audio book on audible. So what are you still doing here? Go over there and listen and be inspired!

Must have

2008-07-02T08:51:00.006+01:00

"It's yellow, it's ugly, it doesn't go with anything, but it can save your life." Last month Karl Lagerfeld launched the French campaign for the safety vest.
If you want to avoid a penalty (which can be up to 120€) you'll need one of those when you drive through Belgium, Italy, Montenegro, Austria, Croatia, Slovakia and Spain during your summer holiday. It will be obligatory in France from October, so you'll be safe there. The same goes for cars with foreign number plates in Norway and Portugal. Although how you'll manage to drive to Portugal by car without driving through at least a part of Spain (where you'll need one) is not clear.
They even come with a EU norm (DIN EN 471) Anyone out there who wants to submit a EU normed safety vest knitting pattern....?

post 101!

2008-06-27T14:41:00.004+01:00

I just realised that this is the 101st post on our blog! Yey! So much for the "I'll never be able to post anything on the blog" moments.
I love Fridays! I always have - even in school, when went to my cello lessons on a Friday afternoon and to my orchestra rehearsal in the evening. Although strictly speaking I don't have a 'real' Friday/weekend anymore since I left university. However, I try to stick to a Friday routine and because I love the mosaic tool so much you can see what I've done today or am still doing.
Initially I only wanted to share this with you. Sorry guys it's in German - even with a slight dialect, but I'm sure you'll get the idea about knitting on trains. You can even see a man knitting and to what the Europacup can inspire! Also note: important for knitting is a bottle of slow gin to keep the knitting needles well oiled. :-) Have a great weekend!

Five Minutes?

2008-06-24T09:11:00.006+01:00

Five minutes for a to-do list that could keep me running until Christmas, five minutes to realise I have too much to write about to fit it into one blog entry, five minutes that I spent to think if I wanted to write bullet points, but obviously decided against it, five minutes I spent looking out of the window enjoying the sunshine, five minutes to update the blogroll...

Talking about time, I found this lately and I'm seriously thinking of getting one. I severely dislike (borderline to hate) the mobile phone alarm clock in the morning. I just need to make sure I put some nice music on, not necessarily classical though.
Although classical music makes an interesting subject for conversation. Last Saturday while hunting a black dress for G, we sat on the tube (Underground) from Richmond to High Street Kensington and got to talking to a stranger. Yes I know, I usually never talk to strangers (at least not more than one or two sentences) and if it wouldn't have been for G the conversation wouldn't have been very long. But within the very short period of time that the tube ride took, we were chatting about music festivals in Germany, Buxtehude, and the Chinese music week on BBC3. It actually reminded me that I wanted to look into Buxtehude vocal pieces which I had totally forgotten about. Thank you stranger!

Also on the singing front: Our Waiting Room concert has been found 'outstanding' in the Music and Mind season review and we have been asked back for the London Opera Vocal team for this year's summer course. How much fun can you have, working with friends? KL and I have been a terrific Wotan in rehearsals years ago - time to revive this while working on the third act of 'Die Walküre'. If you find yourself in London on the first weekend of August, come along to watch us work in the National Opera Studio. As far as I can remember from previous years, you can listen to the final concerts on the Sunday or come to observe (on donation basis). If you're unsure if this is somthing you'd like to do, this is the time to find out! We'd love to see you there.

On the knitting front I nearly finished the second pair of baby pants for the 'twin set'. I would have finished it already if I had remembered to take the second colourway with me yesterday. It didn't seem to be the best day for knitting though: G took all her knitting and left the needles at home...

Five minutes it will take me to go downstairs and make myself some coffee. What a great start to the day!

Days of nothing

2008-06-19T16:17:00.006+01:00

After the madness of the weekend (and some mean food related headache on Tuesday) I enjoy sitting here looking out of the window. It's sunny, there is a light breeze - all I need now is a coffee . Hmm this involves moving (kitchen is downstairs) and I'm quite comfortable here... maybe after I finish writing this entry. Our camera still refuses to cooperate and housemate J was so kind to offer hers. The trouble is: she has been doing double shifts for weeks and I haven't seen her for days. I heard her leaving early in this morning so I know she is still around... I have finished my baby pants for my sister's friend and I'm currently on the second one - she is having twins. So far you just have to take my word for it that they are really cute.

The only thing I have done today was this mosaic meme I had wanted to do ever since I saw it on the yarn tootin' blog.It was fun! I apologise for not giving the accurate source of my pictures but my computer is funny today and didn't let me save all the locations. I'm not about to tag anyone, but if you like to play along the rules are simple (and it's contagious here is G's mosaic)
A. Type your answer in flickr search; use only the first page to pick an image
B. Copy and past your picture URLs into fd's mosaique maker

The questions are:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Madness - and gratefulness

2008-06-15T16:59:00.013+01:00

Is it ever going to be summer this year? This morning the sky was bright and blue and enthusiastically I was wearing a skirt to meet our friend HC for breakfast before she starts her estival activities in the UK this year coaching in Glyndebourne. G, HC and I used to share a house for a while and I really miss her and our crazy Monday morning conversations about the meaning of life. But coming back to the summer outfit, by the time we went home at about 1pm my legs had a nice blue-ish colour and for the rest of the day I abandoned the idea of summer clothes.

I'll leave the story with the 'cat Nazi' and the slight madness that followed to G for another post. In any case, instead of visiting the cat we went to Ikea last weekend and bought lots of stuff and an assortment of boxes and shelves to organise all our things: music, CDs, DVDs, books and - yarn!

With order re-established, I virtually didn't leave the room in days in order to finish our press pack for our Body&Voice - Voice unlimited Project! From about 20 hours of material (concerts, workshops etc) we created a short video about our ensemble - only 2 minutes long and not too bad for someone who's not a technician in the first place. Eventually we'll put it on our YouTube site, so you can see for yourselves.
I'm so proud of our Body&Voice Project. A project that unites singing and body works with a team of experienced singers and practitioners; oh, just go over to our Body&Voice website where G just put the English site in place.
I had this idea for years, but only last year I found a team of practitioners who believed in the project. We received the most amazing feedback in our workshops last year. In about a day our amateur singers (who generally only sung in the shower) not only learned a couple of opera choruses (some in two parts) but happily performed them at the end in a mini staged version - and last but not least had loads of fun.
As an interesting side effect, our practitioners loved the singing so much that they joined in the singing classes like it would be the most natural thing to do and one of the participants has now joined a choral society. We usually get a lot of comments from people who think they are 'not cool enough' or 'not good enough' to join a singing workshop. Excuse me, but if you love to sing then you are definitely cool and good enough to do it (I'm not saying you will become an instant professional).
Who knows - you might find that you're actually much cooler or better than you think you are - and let me tell you the surroundings of the abbey where we will be doing the course this September are spectacular. So grab your favourite partner and/or friend and go to Germany for a weekend. There is loads to discover!

Don't tell me you added butter, too?!

2008-06-02T20:38:00.003+01:00

I often read "it was one of THOSE days"... well, it certainly was one of THOSE weeks. If at all possible, I was more tired this (Monday) morning than I had been on Friday night after a week of working over-time every day.
The working week ended with M and I making some Risotto on Friday night (we often cook together), both not being able to eat much of it, deciding that it must be tiredness. The Risotto lasted us until Sunday, when M had a look in the butter dish (to butter a toast), wondering out loud where all the butter had gone.... she had only put a small piece into the Risotto - wait "You put BUTTER INTO THE RISOTTO, TOO?!" Well, let me tell you it tasted lovely and lasted for three meals for both of us. :-)

It was a very nice weekend with a spinning meeting in J's garden on Saturday morning (I still don't spin but was knitting happily on another baby hat.... more about this in a later post and no, I'm not pregnant). But from the moment M and I returned home, we were glued to our computers editing away at a promo DVD for our vocal ensemble. Oh, the memories - apart from the understandable problems in listening to oneself perform (I should have done this differently, not the right breath control here, so-and-so messed up this bit), it was a journey into reminiscence...
Apart from being absolutely shattered from not having slept enough and having worked through most of Saturday and all of Sunday, I loved every minute of it! We really built up an ensemble out of nothing despite M's sometimes debilitating illness and my having to earn money in non-singing jobs to make ends meet. This weekend's journey to past concerts and projects really made me want to fight for our little tiny corner, making a difference in some people's lives by performing for them and enabling them to make music as well (any encouragement is more than welcome, especially as M has been rather poorly in the last few weeks!).
So up, up and beyond.....

And it's our turn

2008-05-22T11:20:00.006+01:00

Diane has tagged us for a bit of Meme. Well let's have it then.

Rules:
The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. Ten years ago

Tournesol: Ten years ago I took my first steps back into life after being struck by CFIDS 12 years ago (I didn't know it was CFIDS at that time tough), I went on holiday to Paris with my friend A (something we promised ourselves we would do if we ever recovered from our respective illnesses - and yes, it was a very dark winter night when we made the promise, and we tried to be up-beat by thinking we'd make it through this!), I was busy living my 'second life', started on the auditions/competitions circuit again, looked for a new singing teacher (only would find him a year later), made one CD recording of a Mozart Mass and worked as a singing teacher for a school choir.

Tigerduck: I had just moved to Tampa, FL working with a Christian ministry (helping churches locally, going into Juvenile Detention Centres working with the young people there, sending Polynesian dance teams all over the place, and many more things). I also went to Australia (near Brisbane) for 3 months - hmm lots of things come to mind, but the years already start to blur a bit. I was only 23 then!

2. Five things on today's "to do" list (in no particular order)

Tournesol:
* eat lunch
* doing some admin work for our singing ensemble
* have a look if I can fix the external hard drive
* do my laundry
* go over that list of music for three voices and see if I can track down the sheet music

Tigerduck
*get up at 6.30am and don't fall asleep again
*find the right clothes to wear to work and don't curse too loudly when my hair does what it wants (clearly against my will and the higher powers of blow drier and hair straightener)
*stay calm at work and get as much done as quickly as possible while enjoying myself as well
*buy some yarn to knit baby garments (cotton and RYC CashSoftDK)
*watch House

3. Snacks I enjoy

Tournesol: Difficult, depending on the time of day chocolate (the sugar free version), carrot sticks with houmous, muesli bar (I recently discovered a sugar free version at home), and lately rice cakes with Amaranth and Apfelschmaus, salty black licorice (sugar free)

Tigerduck: Chocolate (sugar free = headache free!), crisps with guacamole, carrot sticks (!!) with Humous, cherry tomatoes, Lärabars (esp. lemon!), Salzstangen, salty black licorice (again of the sugar free variety - has to be)

4. Things I would do if I would be a billionaire

Tournesol: Buy flats in London and Paris (and probably somewhere else too but I can't think about it now), send my parents on that holiday they dream of, do the same for my sister, do a lot of charity with kids and music (and not be worried about being paid for a change), give to research, enjoy life without the pressure of money - wow that sounds good!

Tigerduck:Yes. Me too - although I don't really think my parents would actually enjoy going away all that much (they just got a dog in February) - but there is always time for that. There are so many fantastic things to do and to give to, projects that allow people to build up a living and have hope in their communities. The possibilities are endless.

5. Places I have lived

Tournesol: Really lived in (like in stayed for more than 3 month), Hamm (Westfalen), Dortmund, Münster, Paris and London

Tigerduck:Hamburg (Germany), a ship (while in Dakar - Senegal, Lome - Togo, St. Vincent - Caribbean, Jacksonville, FL, Wilminton, NC and Norfolk, Virginia - USA, France), Salem, OR (USA), Tampa, FL (USA), Budapest (Hungary), Rostov-on-Don (Russia), Klaipeda (Lithuania), Carbrook (near Brisbane, Australia), Big Island of Hawaii, London (UK).... hmm might be a few more - point is I have moved around a bit.

People I want to know more about
This is tricky.... Ali, Daisy, Rachel, Laurie, Eusebius,

A little trip to Amsterdam

2008-05-18T16:53:00.012+01:00

Two weeks of wonderful sunshine here in London, and then a trip with work colleagues to Amsterdam.... pouring rain!! However, it cleared towards the middle of the day, and it turned out to be a great time on a boat, going through the Amsterdam canals.

Although I have been to Amsterdam many times before, I had never had the opportunity to see some of the little hidden courtyards - originally mostly built out of charity by organisations or individuals - that can be found in the centre of the city. Here is a picture taken in such a courtyard.

It was a bit too late for shopping by the time we came off the boat, but I just had to take a picture of this cheese store.... Really makes me want to go back some time soon (sigh). Besides... there must be some nice little yarn and crafts stores just waiting to be explored.

Happy CFIDS/ME Day!

2008-05-12T08:38:00.005+01:00

Today on Florence Nightingale's 188th birthday we celebrate the international CFIDS/ME Awareness Day, actually the whole month of May is dedicated to CFIDS/ME. The biggest event will be the 3rd international conference on the 23rd of May in London.
On this Awareness Day we should not forget those ones who aren't lucky enough to have supportive families and friends and those ones who passed away miserably like Sophia Mizra. If you are going to read about Sophia's story and medieval practice in the 20th century, you might need some time to re-adjust afterwards; her story is very touching.

The CDFIS Association of America Website with their campaign SPARKS is still the only one having started a media campaign and keeping a list of all interesting materials.
The Guardian commented on this month's event by publishing an article about what life with CFIDS feels like, which I only became aware of thanks to reading posts on the Ravelry forums - knitting helps!
A very good site is run by CFIDS-affected Regina Clos , but you'll need to know a bit of German. Since Germany is miles behind the USA and the UK, she took the time to translate lots of articles from English into German. It makes a huge difference to be able to read an article in your own language; also, many CFIDS/ME patients suffer from 'brain fog' which some times even makes reading in their native language difficult - never mind trying to read in a foreign language. Even the German Association for CFIDS referrs to her website as the one with the most up-do-date data base information. In order to keep her site alive she has finally agreed to put up a donation button. If you can spare a few Pounds/Dollars/Euros, give them to her so she can keep up this fantastic work.
Having CFIDS myself, I know how hard it is to keep yourself going despite the pain, the fatigue and all the countless other problems a chronic illness brings with itself, while not allowing yourself to wallow in self pity and slip into depression. To give you an example of how a constant lack of energy feels like, have a look at the spoon theory.
Having said all this, thinking about illness shouldn't make us depressive for the rest of the day - on the contrary, it should make us celebrate life in all its diversity! We cannot put our life on hold until we are all 'healthy' (and what is all healthy anyway?) there is so much to discover and what seems like small steps to one is a giant leap for another. So, for today, let's not go out and compete about who is the best but encourage our colleagues and friends to be who they are.

Weekend away going to Luebeck

2008-05-07T10:35:00.007+01:00

We went to see my sister in Luebeck for her birthday and to celebrate her exams. My parents took us to a restaurant for dinner, I don't think I have eaten that much for weeks! During this weekend we found a most amazing shop and we made this: and this and thisWe drove to the beach and watched the ferries to Finland. It did look like they were walking over the beach...

and we spent lots of time talking, sitting on the balcony, watching a cat
And then we did some more talking, eating (white asparagus, I really miss this here in the UK!) and watching the sun set. A perfect weekend!

Going to have a cat!

2008-05-02T10:09:00.007+01:00

The landlord has given his permission: we can have a cat! I'm soooo excited!! Some happy thoughts after spending one hour trying to fix my Thunderbird. But hands up who knew that the Logitech software is blocking Thunderbird updates? Huh? No idea why, but when I disabled it, the email gods smiled at me again. So now you all know and I can get back to knitting...

Happy Birthday to .... Us!

2008-05-01T23:17:00.002+01:00

I can't believe we almost missed it - dots&yarn is now one year old. It's been lovely blogging and sharing with all of you!! So, 5000 site visits on, we are still alive and kicking :-) Happy first birthday to us

Wonderwool and gifts

2008-04-30T11:32:00.006+01:00

Wonderwool weekend, and G and I made it there! Not exactly knowing what to expect, I was nevertheless looking forward if not to a great show, then at least to a weekend away. It only took Hertz 30 minutes to go through our booking on Friday evening, and judging by the faces in the room that was very fast - which made us start the trip later than we anticipated, but despite that we had a lot of fun. Having spent all my time with arranging events for our vocal group, I really enjoyed every free minute - even driving on the motorway which I usually don't like that much. We had the most beautiful Bed and Breakfast. Just look at the view in the morning from the bed. We drove up to the Show grounds after breakfast on Saturday morning in the sunshine. Even the weather was perfect, there was really not much to complain about! In the hall it didn't take us long to meet with lots of lovely people. Have a look over there to check out the pictures on their blogs. As our camera wasn't cooperative during the weekend all our pictures were taken with our mobile phones. Our Ravelry Badges (very quickly printed out on Friday morning) were a great tool to talk to strangers. I managed to get my Mum's and sister's birthday presents this week. G finally got her wish and tried out the giant knitting needles, and continental knitting is not an adventage here!
After a nice pub dinner we drove back home (some more late night driving). The past two days were spent very close to the phone, as my sister had her last exams in medical school and I'm proud to say she did brilliantly and passed everything yesterday evening. I'm still working on her graduation present (actually we are working on it as it is a co-production) I'm sorry to be so enigmatic, but my sister tends to check out the blog at odd times, so I can't say more. I'm flying to Germany on Saturday morning (this time some very, very early getting up) to see her. Initially I wanted to pick her up after her last exam (as it is tradition in Germany), but I couldn't leave earlier. Well, Saturday will do nicely, too, and I'll even get a part of the birthday cake then.

Spring cleaning

2008-04-18T11:05:00.007+01:00

Spring cleaning does help, not only to get rid off dust and clutter, but also to find lost things! One of the lost items was the camera....

Our Easter Egg project

The garden wakes up. My hosta shows definite signs of spring too.

I love Fridays, especially when we get our fruit and veggie delivery. I don't have to carry them, they taste much better than from the supermarket - and (equally important) they're organic.

The finished Irish Hiking Scarf with the wool from the Knitter's Coffee Swap 3. I finished it some time ago, but there was no camera to take a picture of proof.

In case you're wondering what I'm doing right now... this is the second sock of the second pair of Globe Trotter Socks for my Dad (I'm suffering at bit from second sock syndrome) and I'm listening to Jonathan Stroud's The Amulet of Samarkand. Acctually I'm cheating and listening to it in German, but it's fantastically read by Martin Semmelrogge. So please excuse me I have to listen some more.

Could it be... spring?

2008-04-17T16:21:00.006+01:00

This was the view from my first flat in London some years ago. I used to sit in front of the window for hours watching the blossoms. Inevitably for me spring brings on the questions of 'did I achieve what I wanted to in life'. Perhaps it's all the little flowers coming out and the fresh green everywhere which reminds me of new beginnings. Perhaps it's because spring marks my second birthday- the day, after months of agony, in which I started a successful treatment for CFIDS (although at that point we weren't sure if it really was CFIDS). This year it was my 12th "birthday". And it was a nice one with G and J taking me out for dinner to Del Aziz and T cooking a real Sunday lunch a couple of days later.

This above mentioned state of reflection is regularly followed up with a little pity party which takes some strength talking me out of. What pulled me up today was a blog entry in thewinger. (In case you haven't heard about it: THE WINGER is a community oriented dance website that shows the lives, insights, and personalities of professionals, students and experts) This entry is by a dancer from the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) suffering from the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). What really touched my was the honesty with which he describes his struggle of not letting ABT or EBV determine who he was.
I remember a singing lesson some months ago in which is said "I too was a singer once" to which my teacher indignantly replied "But you still are a singer!" and in my soul I still am a singer. Otherwise I would never still be able to carry of gigs like on the picture last year. Actually, this is a rehearsal picture in case you're wondering about the absence of people.
Being 'a singer' used to define who I was. I worked hard and prepared a lot for rehearsals. Having the feeling to find excuses for myself was not what I was used to. Now I feel betrayed by my body being the excuse. I have tried to be someone else and shut out the singing. In the beginning of my recovery when I was a student for musicology, I concealed the 'singing factor'. I ended up really miserable, so much of my personality and knowledge was hidden that I felt only like half a person.
Some days I find it hard to adjust and it is a struggle not to let CFIDS or 'being a singer' determine who I am. I have been very fortunate to have a supportive family and find real friends who believe in me.
When I was little I used to pray for an exiting life - hmm I can say, that I have been given. I can't complain about too little excitement in my life!

Weekend away

2008-04-03T11:51:00.013+01:00

On the day G went to her last job interview I promised myself that, would she get the job, I would drag her on a weekend away back home. Weeks and weeks of stress and late night Shiatsu sessions have eaten on my nerves. G and I had a couple of things to do in Wiesbaden anyway, so why not have a weekend away?
We booked tickets to Frankfurt Hahn which isn't really Frankfurt but somewhere in the middle of nowhere, for last Thursday. The flight went well, the Hertz car rental guys gave a us a free sat nav. It needed to go back to Frankfurt Airport where we would drop our car anyway- Frankly I don't even care if they gave it to us because we looked like two helpless women, it was really nice - although I had all the maps printed out.
The Airport B&B was comfortable (I miss double glazing!) and even the weather was great. We had a pleasant drive to Wiesbaden - apart from one moment on the motorway driving past oodles and oodles of lorries. The poor Italian guy - who happened to be the first car in this lorry-overtaking-event - looked close to a nervous breakdown when we drove past him at the end of the line of lorries. It was a stressful with just two lanes, one being entirely occupied by lorries, the other one by the overtaking cars. I had to suppress the mad urge to crawl over G and out of the left window. It didn't help that the motorway bent sightly towards the middle lane, which gave the impression that the lorries would fall on top of the overtaking car.... well you get the idea: not a peaceful moment. The picture above shows our breakfast in Wiesbaden, in a small cafe/restaurant called Lumen near the cathedral. Nice place with enormous windows - I can recommend it. I particularly enjoyed the moment when the people at the next table made remarks about how sad people are who depend on their mobile phone. (I took several pictures with it while G was feeding the parking meter). Since G and I usually talk in a mixture of German/English they might have thought I was foreign - big mistake - and so I didn't feel guilty listening to their conversation.
We dropped the car at Frankfurt Airport because the train station is in walking distance under the terminal. It now paid off that I had to go to Frankfurt for singing lessons years ago and knew about the locations. The train journey up north to our families is one the most beautiful train journeys we have in Germany. If you take the IC train from Frankfurt to Cologne, it will take you for about two hours up next to the Rhein with stunning views. The Lorelei rock - I think - is part of the UNESCO world heritage. We sat on the 'wrong' side of the train, but I still managed to take one good picture. For more pictures, the legend and the translation of the Lorelei poem by Heinrich Heine see here. Of course all those hours on the train meant uninterrupted knitting! I finished the Odessa no. III - a birthday present for my friend A, and G knitted socks - which originally were meant for her Dad, but now will be for her. Also note on the picture's left side the red melon shawl which hadn't been on any pictures so far (we're still looking for the camera).
As you can see I already have the sock wool ready: Dream in Colour, Smooshy, Black Parade from socktopus who bent over backwards to make it possible that we could take the wool with us to Germany. Thanks again! I left G on the train as her family lives a bit further north than mine and spent a great evening with my parents at home. I love my old room, huge compared to what I have here. Ok, I really don't need it that big but it's so nice to come home and invade all this space. On the road again on Saturday to see my sister (three more hours of knitting) in my parents' new car and then to my friend A's 60th birthday party which only (!) lasted until about 3.30 am - summertime's calling.... slightly tired we all met for breakfast a bit later that day.... In the evening G and I met up at the airport to fly home together. A great weekend away. So nice that we decided to do this more often and have booked a car and a B&B to go the Wonderwool Wales at the end of the month!

Organisation

2008-03-26T09:14:00.009Z

Sheep message - cute isn't it? It took 200 sheep, 6 dogs and 3 hours to arrange. It doesn't feel a bit like spring at the moment, though. It was snowing on Monday, absolutely miserable weather for Easter - according to the weather service it hasn't been that cold over Easter for 38 years! I have some time this morning and wanted to use it to take some pictures of our Easter decoration and update my knitting pictures, but somehow the camera is missing. I got told off for working too much and I promised to do less before leaving the house this morning - I had so many headaches lately. I need to organise my time better, so that I have some to rest as well....
I have now found the chip with the all the pictures on it, but the actual camera is still nowhere to be seen. So you just have to take my word for it that there is some Easter decoration in the house (and that we made ourselves) and that I knitted at least 3 Odessa hats (I'll keep one) and currently two more are on the needles. One is for my friend A's birthday - together with a biiig fluffy towel for her weekly trip to the sauna. In absolute hat mood, I have done a green beret in a berry pattern which G is currently wearing a lot as she left her hat on the train - again. I'm still knitting the second version of the Sahara in Emerald Malabrigo and should do another pair of socks for my Dad as he loved the pair I gave him for Christmas to death. I wasn't quite sure he would like them as he has freakishly sensitive feet. Buying socks with or for him requires an expert - he is just not going to wear them if they are scratchy - probably he had enough of those as a boy. Smooshy did a great job, so there will be some more of those in the future. If I'm lucky, the yarn will arrive before I leave for Germany tomorrow evening. I have to go home for some check ups and A's birthday which means that I'll miss the spinning meeting on Saturday morning. Ah, why can't I have it all?!

Easter

2008-03-20T09:41:00.002Z

It's almost Easter and I had promised myself to make some praliné eggs, or at least some interesting painted eggs this year. Not so sure now, as I see the mountain of work that needs to be tackled. In the end, I went through something like 20 different interviews, but was offered exactly the one I wanted. So I am a happy bunny for Easter ;-) And, to top it all off, I'll need new working clothes..... sooooooooooo.... I'm going SHOPPING!! Ha! Maybe I find some more elegant knitting patterns that can be worn as well. Hm. Any suggestions? I better get going now, or I'll be late for work.

Mid-week s(t)ock take

2008-03-12T22:53:00.005Z

It's Wednesday, and so far I only had one further (third round) job interview... still no news as to the final results, and another second round interview to go tomorrow (sighs deeply). Sunday's talks went well all things considered, but we are still quite a way away from making the new workshops a reality. Still, in the long run this will hopefully turn out as a great opportunity.
Oh, and then there is KNITTING :-) to keep us sane, right (whatever amount of sanity there was in the first place, which is debatable to say the least).
The Melon Pattern Scarf (Victorian Lace) in Rowan Kid Silk Haze (colourway blood) is now finished, complete with some lovely Renaissance beads M. gave me for Christmas. However, since it was finished on Sunday, it has not left my neck very often, so I have had no chance to take pictures, yet. The number of baby blanket squares is constantly growing, and I am planning to start blocking and sewing this weekend. I have finished two pairs of Express Lane socks (pattern by Diane Mulholland) , both made of Dream in Colour's Smooshy Sock yarn (colourway Beach Fog). One pair for my friend A. in Germany, who's birthday I missed by two weeks (!) and one shorter pair for M. for putting up with me through the interview process.
Oh, and as a post script, my mother sent a picture of the iPod sock I made her to go with the iPod she got for Christmas. Wollmeise sock yarn, combining Poison No. 5 and Rittersporn. Here it is:

Race against time

2008-03-09T13:23:00.005Z

Now, racing against time usually only gets to me before Christmas - at least in knitting terms. But today it's a completely different race. M. is sitting next to me preparing the last bits of different Opera synopsis (what's the plural - synapsi?),for a meeting in a couple of hours. Fingers crossed, this meeting could make a difference in our artistic endeavours and for a lot of kids being introduced to Opera in an exciting way, so keep your toes crossed (since you are probably having both hands either on the computer or on a pair of knitting needles...)! After wading through lots of different synopsis (no, really, what's the plural?), M. should come up with a glossary of "what not to say in an opera synapsis". How about "Otello rambles on, saying something about head ache...." Not made up! It's a real example! And I am using too many exclamation marks!!Well, I'd better get back to proof reading. Have a fantastic rest of your weekend and watch this space for updates :-)

Beam of sunlight

2008-03-06T11:14:00.005Z

After all the horrible news and adventures of the past weeks, finally some sunshine back. I was reunited with my knitting (Odessa Hat) on Monday. I left it at work (I know, how could I!) and it was neatly packed away in a little bag marked with my name and the word DANGER. I'm still not quite sure what the danger is - the pointy sticks or me.... Yesterday my friend A came to London to play at Wigmore Hall with the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival Ensemble. A is my oldest friend (our parents have been friends since college times) . We met for breakfast in town before she had to leave for rehearsals. Her mother recently got a little labrador (lots of pictures to see) and A's friend (who happens to be one of my sister's friends, too) is pregnant with twins (no pictures yet)! Baby shower gifts here I come again. G has done so many wonderful little gifts for her friend, but there was no reason for me to start knitting on the off chance that one of my friends would get pregnant.
The concert in the evening was quite fun and entertaining to listen to and watch. The comic bits came with the contemporary music item. G. Kurtag's six little pieces for clarinet, viola and piano had more page turning elements than actual music. R. Schumann's piano quintet op. 44 made a fantastic, powerful finale. One could see that all the players had fun and not for the first time I regretted the fact that it's not fashionable to cheer in-between the movements. Especially after the first one, which finishes on such a high and dynamic point it calls out for you to jump out of your seat and cheer. Well, maybe in a couple of years we'll change common practice and it will be accepted to do this like in the times of Schumann.

Almost Weekend

2008-02-29T10:58:00.003Z

I said to M. last week - only half joking - that I am only 20 job interviews away from my ideal weight.... Be it auditions or job interviews, my adrenaline production just shoots up and, ahem, well, lets say I don't want to be too far away from the bathroom. So I end up not eating in preparation to avoid embarrassment. Yesterday was such an interview day, and although all considered it went well, this one is definitely one down on my list, 19 more to go. .... Maybe I could make some money by writing a book called "The Adrenaline Diet", or maybe "Embrace your fear and arrive at your ideal weight"... Then again, it might be a bit high risk for people with heart problems or high blood pressure... Hmmmm.
Well, today is Friday, I am off to work now, but the weekend is almost within reach. Just before I go, here is a picture of my improvised ear flap hat for my SPF. The wool is Artisano Alpaca Aran.

Baby knits and coffee swap

2008-02-27T10:37:00.005Z

Last September I took part in the Knitters' Coffee Swap 3, but this has been a journey with lots of obstacles. The postman must have really liked the first package my swap partner sent, because I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for it. Maybe it will arrive for Easter, since it didn't make it through the Christmas post...? But now my swap partner sent me a second package, when I had already given up hope altogether. And what a package it was!! Here is a picture:The Sockmeise Wool (colourway "Suzanne") is the best. And, if that's not enough, there are also two scrumptuously soft Regia Merino & Silk skeins. I really love the mug - M. and I were given a Tea Tin with the same motive last year, so it fits right in and the red is absolutely my colour! Mmmmmmhhh.... But not stopping here. There are three different locally roasted coffees from two different places in Bavaria and the "Knit one, kill two" book that I have had my eyes on for a while (watch out housemates... maybe some inspiration ;-) My housemate J. is happy about the sweets in the package, especially the Mozart Kugeln, as I can't have any sugar, so we're all happy.

On a different note, my friend A. in Germany is having her second baby very shortly, and I have been preparing some gifts in Rowan RYC Baby CashSoft:

Pattern: Saartje's Bootees

Pattern: Dotty (from Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson), but with out the dots...

Pattern: Painted Turtle (from Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson)

I'm still working on a blanket, but I am only three 30M squares into the blanket so far.... Watch this spot

Activities over Christmas...long time ago

2008-02-26T12:14:00.008Z

I know it's February (almost March), but work exploded after Christmas and I forgot to put up the pictures of all my knitting Christmas activities... I made my first stitch markers as a present for a knitting neighbour of my parents. Pretty stitch markers cannot be found easily. It took almost 30 minutes to explain what I needed to the shop assistant who was very eager to help, but had clearly no idea what I intended to do. I have to admit that part of the credit for those markers goes to my mother helping to find some simple practical solutions for putting the beads together and burning her hand on the lamp while I took the pictures....

Literally finished the day I went home to Germany was my Mom's Christmas gift: Sahara by Stitch Divas, here without sleeves. I had to block it here (in the UK) because I couldn't be sure that she would see it lying around somewhere in the house otherwise. My sister almost fell over her IPod Sock which I proudly showed my parents before she arrived home - and then forgot to hide. Luckily she had no idea it was an IPod Sock (she got the IPod for Christmas too), but a phone cozy. Phew!
The Sahara pattern proved my Mom's prejudices wrong that jumpers without seams never ever fit properly. I like it when I'm right:-) It's knitted with worsted Malabrigo in Amoroso. It was such fun knitting this pattern with this wool, that I'm doing the same pattern again in Malabrigo, this time in Emerald.

What will THEY see first?

2008-02-25T10:49:00.005Z

A new edition of what UFOs (and everyone/thing else outside good old earth) will see when they have a look at us is... the GIANT rabbit. You'll find him near the town of Artesina (Italian Alps). A group of Austrian artists called Gelitin have spend five years to knit it. It's so big that you can see it from the satellite cameras. Don't believe it? Click here to see it on Google earth! The giant bunny will be lounging on the hillside for the next 20 years (or so). If you are in the area you're invited by the artists to 'climp up along the ears'... in case you haven't planned your holidays yet this should give you some ideas.
The news came this morning with the S&B London newsletter and is soooo cool that I had to share it here.

Inspiration

2008-02-23T19:19:00.001Z

Do you ever need a reminder to see life as a forward motion, full of challenges? Just that little kick in the butt to stretch forward and be ready for the changes, challenges and opportunities that come, even if you can't really plan it all out? Well, I certainly do. And thanks to dancer and teacher Royston Maldoom I had such a reminder today. How fantastic it is to be jolted back into the right frame of mind from time to time (uncomfortable, but truly necessary). Thank you, Royston! Check out his projects, including Rhythm Is It! with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Phil, which was made into a full feature film.
I spent a good part of the past couple of weeks getting together video material from mosaique's educational programmes, preparing a DVD intro for a presentation. With all the little niggling things that need to be done, my sluggish brain needed a reminder of what it's all about.

Check this out: The Inside Loop

2008-02-20T09:31:00.002Z

It has arrived - today the new magazine dedicated to fibre arts in the UK is launched! Have a look at the first issue at www.theinsideloop.com. Congratulations to Kate and Diane and wishing you a fantastic success with your new magazine! (... and of course looking forward to the launch party tonight .... ;-)

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T13:41:00.002Z

Where is my head?!?

2008-02-06T20:21:00.000Z

It was there just a little time ago when I checked, but it seems to have gone missing (at least the insides of the same, which make the rest of me go into the desired direction or give the command for intelligible speech, etc.)
Work, job applications, job interviews, 2nd round of job interviews, waiting for answers, trying to edit 12 hours of footage into an inspiring 10-minute video clip for a funding application with software I am only just getting used to, finishing another website design, handing in my tax returns, .... breath...., keeping in touch with friends and family, oh - maybe - knit something?! as the birth of my friend's baby is imminent, knitting meeting, spinning meeting, deal with plumber as heating went off over the weekend while I was trying to work, trying out whether I can survive on 5 hours sleep per night, Arrrgh!!!!!
Well, the surplus of Adrenaline from the job interviews helps somehow, but I would like to get a positive answer and not wait any longer.
Well, to cheer myself up, a few more FOs from the Christmas period:

Monkey Socks (Colourway Turf's up)

Hot Water Bottle Cover (Cotton)

And the buttons I found for the Water Bottle Cover

Victorian Lace Mirtle Leaf Scarf for my friend H. (Malabrigo Lace Weight)

Hmm, yes, I feel all cheered up now. There will be time for knitting again one day....

I'm working...really I am...

2008-02-05T12:27:00.000Z

I really should be sitting here and working on our project for September, but somehow I can't bring myself to really start. There is sooo much going on right now, but I'm not allowed to tell anything about it. I have a meeting in a couple of hours - by phone, so I don't need to leave the house. I have done all sorts of things to keep myself busy and away from starting to work: I have tried to restore some of the pictures taken last Tuesday at ROH and put them up on the blog, I have (extensively) read all sorts of blogs, watched some video clips on YouTube - one good one with Jonas Kaufmann in London. Speaking to Ge. at work yesterday, he expressed his doubts about Kaufmann being a 'real' German, because of his dark eyes and hair. Well not all Germans are blond and blue eyed...
I then continued not working and congratulated T. on becoming an uncle (knitted him a couple of hats and mittens for his brand new niece for Christmas) washed my new 'Forest Green' hat knitted last Sunday (no picture yet - wool bought at Socktopus) and went on Ravelry (which can take some time as we all know). When I was (finally) about to close down my internet connection ( I found out that I do work a lot better if I'm not distracted by email etc) I received an email from a friend who is facing a terrible time right now. He's one of the kindest men I've known. Both G. and I have worked with him for many years and done a lot of crazy stuff together.
A look on the clock tells me that I have about 10min to get my stuff together before the meeting starts.... but I've to have a break in the middle (going to the hairdresser, a girl needs some fashion). Right, now I'd better go.. I really should go, ok I'll go...
Note: Went out to get hair cut and realised that it's almost spring!
Note2: Sister finally sent pictures from the IPod sock I made her for Christmas - here they are.

Knitting...

2008-01-31T15:07:00.000Z

Thanks to fellow blogger Intermezzo one does learn a lot of things about opera: for example that opera singer Anna Netrebko was seen in a concert on Monday night with a cream crochet beret - interesting, but the question remains: did she buy it or make it herself? (I found the pix in Ravelry. In case you like this one, it's called the beret gaufre by Veronik Avery)
There have been famous singers who knitted, the singer coming to mind in Kirsten Flagstad (if I remember correctly) who knitted lots of things for all her family in her dressing room. In fact, lots of musicians do. Even famous ones like Midori (acording to the knitting viola player), a fellow knitter.
I have to say that as much as I like knitting almost everywhere, I officially suck at knitting on stage. I tried in our last recital, in which I was supposed to play a person waiting in a waiting room (hence the knitting). I kept knitting back and forth the same row while G. was singing her way through the emboidery aria - a total disaster. I mean my knitting, not the singing. I haven't touched that project since!
We didn't take our knitting on Tuesday night when G. and I went to see Traviata at Covent Garden. G. had to overcome her disappointment when we discoverd in the morning that Dmitry Hvorostovsky wouldn't be able to perform due to illness. I happend to run into the man in question (by accident) in a big department store in London and I can say that he has so much charisma off duty that I was really curious to see him on stage. But no chance here. Instead, we got to see the recovered Mme Netrebko and the German tenor Jonas Kaufmann. If you haven't heard of him, go a do a search on YouTube. He is amazing - and I'm not saying that because I'm rooting for my country here (which of course I am, but he IS really good). As I had a singing lesson today I found out that my singing teacher likes him as well. He showed me his Kaufmann CD with Strauss songs which was neatly packed on top of his bag for his trip up North this afternoon. I took some pictures from our lofty position up under the roof, but they are on my phone. My computer never recognises my mobile, I have to use G's laptop. I'll put them up later today. For more close-up pictures have a look here.

Gnomitis?

2008-01-18T15:06:00.000Z

After weeks (and weeks and weeks) without the wool for the Gnome beards, it finally arrived just before Christmas.
Obviously that meant that I wouldn't touch it before January, since there were enough Christmas gifts to knit.

G. finished her Gnome a couple of days ago and mine is complete with beard and beanbag bum since yesterday. I had to take all the pictures twice; the first time there was no card in the camera....
Well, here they are, our Gnomes.

Spinning meeting...

2008-01-15T10:35:00.000Z

....hmmm didn't sound too appealing at first. I don't spin. It makes M. think of the whole spinning action in Wagner's Flying Dutchman - and once she has started giving a rendition of all roles and the entire opera, who is to stop her?! Also, despite my love for crafts and knitting, and (almost) all things hand made, I am NOT PATIENT! I can't face having to wash, comb, pull and spin yarn, to then combine threads to twist them into bigger threads.... and all of that before even starting to knit a single loop!
However, D. gave M. and me such a lovely invitation, that we couldn't really say no. We were even allowed to knit while the others spun - AND there were very nice peope as well as sugar-free cinnamon cookies and tea. So, altogether a lovely meeting. I will go so far as to say I love watching others spin and I also like the individual threads that come out of it. It's soothing. But maybe not really for me - how could I finance another fibre habit?! I will simply enjoy meeting up with some lovely people and knit while they spin. Yeah. Although.... maybe I can try just a little....

Christmas Knitting Results

2008-01-10T11:30:00.000Z

I was finishing so many little projects before Christmas (and during Christmas), that I have to slowly catch up on sharing them with you lovely lot. Some of them haven't yet been photographed, so here is a start with some of the ones that have.
On the left are the socks I knitted from my dad (he was a bit concerned that his feet now appear on the internet.... well, they do!) Made from Dream in Colour Smooshy in Cocoa Kiss. I bought the yarn at the London SnB Day at the lovely and very tempting Socktopus stand. They were a joy to knit despite my dad's biiiiiiiiiiiiiig feet (size 48). The pattern is Harris Tweed by Ali Green.

Next one up is a very quick scarf project for my niece L. Very soft (as she is blind, I try to give her texture and things that are lovely to touch). Made from Lana Grossa Favola, simply knitted in "Patent" stitch. As I was sick over Christmas, I couldn't even give it to her yet :-(

Anyway, I'd better run. More projects later....

Post Christmas and New Year's Resolutions

2008-01-09T10:43:00.000Z

Yes, stating the obvious, Christmas is over. Unfortunately, I was sick with the flu all of Christmas and spend most of the holidays in bed with a fairly high fever.... as did M. who visited her parents, as did my mother, whom I was visiting (my dad was sneezing for maybe half a day and that was it, so at least I didn't get the entire family sick). Lots of time for knitting, though, once the fever had subsided.
I am all excited about the beginning of a new year. I like new beginnings and (hopefully positive) change and surprises, and here is a whole new year to go. No new year's resolutions on my part - just to take every opportunity, to be thankful for my friends and family, to help when it is in my power to do so, to make music with passion, and to enjoy life as much as possible - which is not really specific to this new year.

Sooo, for a fun start, have a look at the little creams and custards and the Bohemians' choir in Verdi's Traviata (in the video bar on the right of the blog).

Wishing you a fantastic 2008!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T16:19:00.000Z

Just a couple of more hours (we get our present on Christmas eve - HA!) and only one hour before we go to church (eek still need to get dressed and get all the glue off my hands from wrapping presents). Merry Christmas to all of you!

Just a few more days

2007-12-17T09:46:00.000Z

Just a few more days at work, and then M. and I both fly to Germany to visit our families. We have booked our flights onto the same dates, so that we can brave London traffic together and have a coffee at the airport before we each get on our plane (sounds a bit like we own a plane each.. on the contrary! After a few telephone calls with Ryanair, I am not sure they will take my luggage on board, never mind actually offering some customer service - every year I swear I won't fly with them again, but they are now the only ones flying directly from London to Bremen, which is where my parents live).

My Christmas-gift-scarves/shawls are all finished and being blocked as I write (pictures hopefully before I leave for Germany). I have decorated the gift boxes and now there are only two or three projects left to knit before Christmas..... :-) I just don't want to brave loosing my needles to security at the airport, but I'd so much like to take them onto the plane.... maybe my bamboo needles..... Any hints or tips?

Well, off to work now - have a great start to your week!

Coffee Swap Three (the first one)

2007-12-06T13:22:00.001Z

For St Nicolaus Day I got two packages of goodies. Every now and then it seems to be my day - I remember, I passed my driving test with a pretty nasty instructor on that day (ages ago) as second and last one out of ten. My Mom always sends my sister and me something on St. Nicolaus Day - I got a book and some homemade cookies. Thanks Mom! Later this morning the postman found our house to deliver the first of our Coffee Swap Three packages. G's still waiting for hers from Munich and so I conclude that, in postal service terms, South Carolina actually is closer to us than Germany... strangely enough.
Anyway, back to my Christmas-comes-early-package content (sorry the camera is not working, these are the only pictures I managed to take) Two skeins of Ultra Alpaca (the red one is called Chianti, the darker one Lobster Mix - very promising names!) Can't wait to start knitting with it! The Holydaze Sampler from Caribou Coffee which I only heard of - I'll wait until Saturday morning to try it out. I need time to enjoy it. I also got a new mug to try out the coffee with. Some yummy Coconut and Kiwi scented body butter (how did she know that I love Coconut?) A pretty snowman and a scented candle to brighten my loooong dark evenings trying to finish my Christmas knitting. :-) Thank you Cheryl! A report of tasting the coffees will follow shortly....

Happy 1st of Advent!

2007-12-03T10:11:00.000Z

The first of Advent (Advent Sundays = 4 Sundays before Christmas) has come around, and with it the real count down to Christmas. This weekend, apart from both J. and M. having a lot of pain in their necks (no, I am NOT their pain in the neck.... at least not this time), we welcomed the season by making some glitter stars and listening to Keith Jarrett. M. and I had to chase through London on the search for the right kind of glitter, glue, cardboard, paper cutter with self-healing mat, etc., but once we got going in the late afternoon on Saturday it was great fun. I managed to ram the butt of the knife so firmly into my thumb for such a prolonged period of time, that the tip of my thumb is still a little numb today, but have a look at the stars! The instructions can be found on the Martha Stewart website.

On Sunday, my friend H. and her son D. were visiting us for a session of Christmas cookie baking. Oh, the fascination of being allowed to sample the chocolate, cookie dough and cookies, as well as J's famous Brazilian cheese bread - I'm not sure whether D. had more fun or I did! Since neither M. nor I can have sugar in any quantities, we revised all the recipes and used some no-sugar-added-jam and made up the volume with some ground almonds and/or oatmeal. Also, we used lovely sugar free Rococo Chocolates. Here are a few (visual) samples of our achievements.

Chocolate Chip Ginger Bread Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Almond & Pecan Sandwiches (German Recipe)

Classic Mürbeteig Biscuits (German Recipe)

To round off this Advent weekend, M. and I finally started knitting our Christmas Gno mes (Alan Dart). I have to say, the initial verdict is that they both still look a bit like Barbabelle at the moment... Barbabelle with one giant foot.... But I'm sure we'll get there in the end ;-)

Stash and Christmas Knitting

2007-11-28T15:07:00.000Z

Wasn't it just yesterday that we set off for the fabled Get Knitted in Bristol? One Stitch'nBitch Day and several visits to Stash and i knit london (including a fun knitting meeting last Thursday) later, and my stash has grown unconscionably.
However, I'm doing my best to knit my way through it (like the mouse eating the elephant: one bite at a time ;-) I have yet to make pictures of the Smooshy Sock Yarn I bought at the Socktopus stand and some RYC Cashsoft.... And I can't wait to see how the Sirdar Foxy will turn out (as beard for the Christmas Gnomes)!

From now on until Christmas - once the second lace scarf is finished (the one in moss green Handmaiden Sea Silk) - you will probably be finding me knitting Christmas Gnomes (Alan Dart) or baby kits (my friend AS is expecting her second child).... if you will find me at all among my stash....

Happy knitting and may Christmas take a long time to arrive!

Soooooooo long

2007-11-23T10:21:00.000Z

Eeeeek - no post for 15 days....! What happened? A lot. We did go to the S&B UK day - I'm looking for the pictures (which is difficult while trying to type) - and had a great time. Ah here they are....

My scarf, our lunch box (red rice salad from 101cookbooks - you have to try it) and the program of the day. There was entertainment for everyone including music from the Shellac Sisters (on old gramophones and a comedy duo called Girl&Dean). We missed the "I knit a hamster" workshop, because they changed the location. We found it too late to join in, but it looked like fun.
There is a flickr group where you can check out lots of more pictures from the show. You'll find I Knit shop owners Craig and Gerard on the catwalk wearing some items knitted from the Debbie Stoller book! Ours came out a bit fuzzy, we only used our phone camera. We're still looking into buying a camera - but as we're also looking into buying a sewing machine it's going to be a close call of what's going to be there first. :-)

I was really good and only bought 1 skein of sock yarn from socktopus- which was great fun to knit and really fast. I finished them yesterday night. (I can't post a picture as they are part of my Christmas knitting. Yey two down! I'm getting there - hopefully!) G bought some amazingly soft yarn from --- I really can't remember. She'll probably post a picture in the next post. She is buried deep in Christmas knitting and I lost track of what's which yarn. We went to explore Brunswick Center and find some strength with a cup of coffee and some more knitting at Carluccio's.

What happened otherwise? Hmm, I finally got the CDs with our new ensemble pictures (343 pictures to work on...thankfully not all of them are worth it!). Lots and lots of Photoshop work. We had the deadline to finish the newsletter for our charity board meeting- which we made despite me having had lots of headaches.
We "converted" J to knitting and had a fantastic Sunday sitting in Starbucks teaching her how to knit - I can feel some Christmas knitting coming her way.

And (with G and J) I finally made it to an I Knit knitting meeting. A really nice evening - of course I finished the sock (remember?). D had had gotten her Moo Cards and badges for her latest project and we all ended up putting badges to our bags... really cool.

On the Knitter's Coffee Swap front G's packet arrived safely at its destination. I wish there would be pictures to point you to, but the girl seems to be so busy with pre-Christmas preparation that she didn't post anything on her blog. You just have to take my word for it that it was a cracking good packet!
Oh and congratulations to T's sister who is having a baby girl in January and (AGAIN) I'm knitting a baby hat. T asked for a sheep hat (apparently he confused one of my patterns) but even after hours on Ravelry I couldn't find a suitable baby hat sheep pattern. I suppose I could make one up, but it's before Christmas, so it's going to be some pattern I have. Although it would be quite cool to design a sheep hat...

Packages ready

2007-11-08T22:57:00.000Z

Wool leaving us.... After resisting A LOT of temptation in Get Knitted in Bristol last Tuesday, our packages for the knitters' coffee swap3 are ready to be mailed out tomorrow. I hope my pal's going to like it, it was so much fun to get everything together. Mine is going to the US, but it should still be out before the Christmas rush, so it should be fine and not take too long.
I was determined to have it ready before the first UK Stich 'n Bitch day on Saturday. It was hard enough to resist on Tuesday and any excuse buying more wool.. I don't think I'm fit to fight it. We finally ordered tickets for the event today (probably the last people to order them). If we are still in presentable shape after this event we'll be at our friend ON's birthday bonfire party.

Going out to play with yarn....

2007-11-05T23:58:00.000Z

How exciting is this: tomorrow (on my birthday) M. and I are taking the car and driving out to Bristol. There, it is said, is a very lovely yarn shop called "Get knitted".
So, not only do I get to leave London behind for a day, but I get to PLAY WITH YARN!!!!!! I can't wait :-) We will pack a picnic, load up our laptops (yes, even on a 'day off' there is just too much work to be able to get away from it completely....) and hopefully come back with new treasures. Knitters' Coffee Swap partners, maybe we will find that last touch to finish your packages that have been steadily growing and are nearing completion!
...... pause.......
After midnight now. My two amazing and crazy house mates just gave me a knit picks options set for my birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pictures later - I'm going to sleep now dreaming of new projects.

WeekendWeekendWeekend

2007-11-02T17:46:00.000Z

When I came home from work today, I made some of the beautiful new Allegro Mexican bean coffee from Whole Foods to try together with M. and we both snuggled under blankets and had a cup of coffee, some sugar-free chocolate chip cookies (yes! they exist, hurray!!) to knit / work with laptop on lap and listen to our latest Elizabeth Peters audiobook (from the Amelia Peabody series: "The Ape who guards the Balance"). And there is a whole weekend ahead of me - well, quite a busy weekend, really, but I am looking forward to it. Before I get into the business, I will continue some more of my newly found rich, smooth coffee.

This week I finished my new Sahara Pullover in Alpaca Silk (Blue Skies), which I have been wearing ever since. Here is the sleeve.... (incidentally a Tigerduck portrait is peeking over the top of my arm :-) I love the yarn, which is a shiny grey/blue. Very classy - could be worn in the office or to dress up a nice pair of jeans. Oh, but I better stop blogging and turn the audiobook back on, as it is not really fair to make M. wait how the story continues while I write and write.

Happy Halloween...

2007-10-31T10:29:00.001Z

....hope you have a great day! I'm not planning on wearing a costume today, but if I would this looks perfect, doesn't it?

Dignity

2007-10-26T13:13:00.000+01:00

Our always full of latest news (and gossip) Opera Chic has an update on the battle over the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti's assets (or lack thereof) in which Nicoletta Mantovani (P's second wife) does some damage control.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Pavarotti affair a short recap: Pavarotti died early September leaving his lawyers to sort out the mess with different wills. (For a long version of this dreadful story see here.) Last week the officials in Pesaro (Italy) could open an investigation into the filing of Pavarotti's last will, which contradicts his previously filed will, leaving most of his fortune to his second wife Nicoletta.
The reason behind such an astonishing situation? A massive overdraft (around 10 million dollars) has been found in Pavarotti's bank accounts for reasons that remain unclear.
This is all a terrible mess and I'm leaving everyone to their own conclusion. Nicoletta Mantovani's damage control is an article in the Italian newsweekly "Chi" which reports that she has been diagnosed in 2005 with MS and is in care at Multiple Sclerosis Research Center in NYC. What drove me up the wall were the words of "Chi"'s article '...There she attended a center that specializes in Multiple Sclerosis, an illness that she has combated for two years, in silence and with dignity...' What does this mean?
Does it mean that people who talk about their illness do not fight them with dignity? Do you measure how much dignity people have by how much they say about their illness? In other words one has to be ill and mute to have dignity - and what about people who aren't ill? How do you measure theirs?
Strange world! I know I feel rather strongly about this, so please don't be put off! I just happen to live with illness and sometimes it takes me all my courage to admit to it.
People who impressed me most were the ones who could actually talk about their illness as a fact, something you have to go through and you might as well take it graciously. A bit like you frog a knitting project when you're not happy with the result. You swear loudly and probably for some time one shouldn't talk to you, but after that you proceed with knitting.

Feeling overwhelmed

2007-10-23T17:38:00.001+01:00

This is how I feel at the moment - ok, I still have my hair. I had my lovely cat Hissy shaved at that time because she had some funny skin problems. She clearly has some difficulties adjusting to life with less hair. I leave the news for G. and will go on playing around with Photoshop to get our 300+ photos in a presentable shape - maybe later there will be time for knitting a bit on my Christmas projects. One must have time for fun.

Swap Questions Coffee Swap3

2007-10-16T10:27:00.000+01:00

Not to waste an enormous amount of space we thought we put our answers in one post... hope it doesn't make it too complicated :-)

1. Whole bean or ground?
Tigerduck: Ground (French Press) Tournesol: Ground

2. Fully-loaded or decaf?
Tigerduck: Fully-loaded (good job Tournesol and I are sharing house...)
Tournesol: Fully-loaded otherwise what's the point?

3. Regular or flavored?
Tigerduck: I prefer regular most of the time, althoug I remember an amazing Macademia Nut Kona Coffee that was very nearly heavenly.....
Tournesol Regular, flavored only occasionally if it's nice, not too sweet/intense

4. How do you drink your coffee?
Tigerduck: quite strong and with lots of milk
Tournesol: French pressed with milk (sometimes fresh cream) best thing in the morning!

5. Favorite coffee ever?
Tigerduck: lots of favourites, usually full flavour, medium or dark roast, but not too bitter
Tournesol: So difficult, it's like choosing the favorite music/book, can't do it, usually the one I'm just drinking. I'm fussy at picking them out and like to try out new coffees...

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do?
Tigerduck: Afraid so.
Tournesol: I like smooth ones, not too strong or bitter

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee?
Tigerduck: A good audio book, and some chocolate or cookies...
Tournesol Depends on the time of the day...Chocolate or cookies or cake or bread (I found a banana bread recipe which is amazing with coffee on 101 Cookbooks) - but I don't think they ship that well, a good book, some knitting...

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences?
Tigerduck: love to share it with friends :-)
Tournesol: Can't think of anything

9. Yarn/fiber you love?
Tigerduck: I'm a very tactile person, so soft natural fibres as well. Just saw some lovely chunky Alpaca at my local yarn store and made myself leave WITHOUT it in my shopping bag...
Tournesol: Soft natural fibers

10. Yarn/fiber you hate?
Tigerduck: same as Tournesol
Tournesol: I don't like acrylic or funny synthetic fibers - worst nightmare a furry orange acrylic yarn aaaahhhh....

11. What's on your needles?
Tigerduck: an Alpaca Silk Sahara Pullover and Kid Merino lace stole
Tournesol A lace edged hat in cashmerino dk (from my first knitters coffee swap) a vest with emerald malabrigo. If you are on Raverly have a look!

12. Favorite colors?
Tigerduck: strong colours (but not screaming ones...) Winter colours, if that says anything
Tournesol: Blue, Green, Red - don't know

13. Allergies?
Tigerduck: same as Tournesol
Tournesol: No allergies, but can't have sugar only the artificial one like Maltitol

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest?
Tigerduck: Nah.... so well balanced.... don't mention London's mayor or tube strikes and train delays, though...
Tournesol Not really fond of dark chocolate and I love mail so I'm absolutely annoyed with the postal strike we have at the moment - even more because I'm still waiting for two of my pay checks to arrive (BUH!).

Perfect Saturday

2007-10-13T23:16:00.001+01:00

After having had a stressful Saturday morning - with NO breakfast! - it turned around and wasn't too bad. G. and I went to a very (very, very) late breakfast at Whole Foods in Kensington, did some other little errands and bought some yarn at Stash. Look at this colour of my Malabrigo yarn; I bought it for the tweedy vest I'm doing. Is that not simply gorgeous? So, why am I not knitting now you ask? Well, Ravelry is the answer. G.'s putting up her latest project and can't concentrate on the new audio book I bought...so I'm being nice and wait for her- but wait, there she is finished. Sorry have to knit now!

Singers NEED socks!

2007-10-09T11:24:00.001+01:00

Thanks to our beloved Opera Chic we have a proof that Opera singers not only need socks for warm feet, but also to sing on stage.
This is OC's picture of Svetla Vassileva and her grey socks from act III of the new Traviata production in Parma. For OC's description of the evening and lots more of her fabulous pictures go to her blog.

Turning Pink for October

2007-10-08T23:55:00.000+01:00

Five minutes before the beginning of the 9th of October we turned pink (talking about insomnia...). All of this started with the weekly email from IKnit whose webpage not only turned pink, but who also have a breast cancer fundraiser for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.
Last year we managed to organise a breast cancer fundraiser concert back home in Germany. This concert was not only a fundraiser but also a memorial concert for my friend Beate who died of breast cancer in November 2005. She was one of those lovely people you'll always miss. She was hugely active when we started the Charity that supports our vocal group. I think one would be right to say that without her, there wouldn't be a Charity at all. The concert was a huge success with the local radio station recording and broadcasting bits of it later. We tried to come up with a fun programme that Beate would have like herself. Her husband was in the audience and very proud to see that his wife did make a difference to the world. Yes she did! She made it more lovely. So we turned pink for October (we are no 548 on the Sites Going Pink) All illnesses suck, so let's unite and give them hell :-)

Sheep Outing and Concert Prep

2007-10-06T16:23:00.001+01:00

Not sure whether I love or hate the manic time before a recital.... Probably rather love than hate - lots of rehearsals, research and writing for the programme notes, practice (trying to fit it all in with the part time day job), some nerves.... Oh, and of course the obligatory COLD! I have been thinking back, and I can remember more concerts with colds than without, even one fairly legendary 'Lemsip Concert'. Do they pay commission if you display their cold and flu medication in the intermission?!
M. has also been under the weather, and we are praying and keeping all fingers and toes crossed that things will be well, come the recital on Wednesday. It's a really lovely programme (thank you, M, for choosing most of the arias / songs!) with Baroque and 20th/21st century repertoire.
While trying to rest enough, get rid of the cold, not spend whole nights on Ravelry, and enjoy some of the October sunshine, Miss Maple (who has now been joined by Mopple the Wale) went out for a little outing in front of the house...

Ravelry

2007-10-02T18:02:00.000+01:00

Weeeeeeeeks on end I have been spying on Ravelry, thinking I'd be the last person who would get an invitation. Ok, ok I over-exaggerate - a lot actually - G.'s still waiting for her invitation.(imagine nasty laughing here) Despite the flu I got last week (probably sitting in the wind while the plumber knocked off half of the wall in the bathroom) I'm soooo excited. I really, really, really should take more pictures of my FOs. Ok, I'm off doing that and eating some soup. No recipe for this one, we just threw all the remaining veggies in the pot. Ok, this is not going to make you want to cook, but go to 101 cookbooks, I'm sure there is something in there for everyone. I have tried a few like the banana bread - hmm that's actually a very good idea I could put that in the oven while the soup's heating up. Have to go... Oh I forgot I'm Tournesol in Ravelry as well. See you there!

So much to blog, so little time

2007-10-01T10:35:00.001+01:00

After the proverbial kick in the backside (by myself - quite a gymnastic feat, really), I continued my blocking and finishing spree.

Since I was visiting my mum in Germany, the jacket just had to be finished, and although a good part of my visit consisted of sitting on my parents' couch, sewing the pieces together, adding a crochet edge and sewing on the buttons, I DID IT! IT'S FINISHED!

What a wonderful excuse to buy more yarns and start new projects.... Yarn shops here I come (well, once I've saved up a little). And while my mum and I sat in the cosy living room (she is still nursing her knee after a surgery), my dad was on his yearly hiking trip through the rain...

I almost forgot - here are the details
Pattern: Filati Summertime, Galaprint Cardigan
Yarn: Lana Grossa quality "Gala Print", 48% silk, 24% viscose, 17% linen, 11% polyamide
Colour Way: 508 - 'Olive Mottled'

Lots of pictures of M's new black sheep, walks along the river Thames and such like are waiting to be blogged, but - alas - time to go to work now. So, here is one last picture of the finished jacket, modeled by my mum:

Lace, lace, lace

2007-09-24T10:55:00.000+01:00

M's birthday finally forced me to get on with blocking - seeing that one of the lace shawls I finished, was supposed to be her birthday present! And here it is:
Yarn: Kid Merino (Crystal Palace Yarns)
Colour: Sage
Pattern: Melon Pattern (Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby)
While I was at it, I also blocked my Sea Silk project:
Yarn: HandMaiden Sea Silk
Colour: Ocean
Pattern: Print O' The Wave Stole (Design by Eunny Jang)

This second shawl was much fun to knit, especially with the scrumptious Sea Silk yarn - highly recommended!!
I loved Eunny's design, although it was a pity that there was an error in the border design, and also I preferred not to separate the centre into two panels.

We have a poster

2007-09-23T20:31:00.000+01:00

I had such a great time on my birthday weekend! Having CFS or rather CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Disfuction) my social life is not great. Work always comes first and then I need so much time to recover that I don't like evenings out.
Apart from KH and KL who had to work that evening all my London friends made it to the club. T. even dragged his massage chair across town, I wonder what they told him in the cloak room. We got a table on the side of the stage, basically looking into the big band's music stands! Perfect! The food was fabulous and I really liked the music!
Unfortunately - from a blogger's point of view - one is not allowed to take any pictures into Ronnie Scott's. G. took a couple after the show in a cafe opposite the club, but they are not really flattering for anyone of us... we were in a rather silly mood.
I still need to put on pictures of my shawl. G. has taken some, so she might put them on tomorrow morning. Keep checking!
The great Sunday news is: the poster for our concert on the 10th of October is online! Check it out at here. We have been cooking on this program for a while now. We called it Waiting Room Project. Since KH's heart is beating for contemporary music we have been looking at a possibility to integrate it into a concert program and still get a 'normal' concert goer into the concert. Usually contemporary music is only done (and listened to) by specialists. I think we need to keep music alive. This means not only trying to reach out and get young people into concerts/opera etc, but also encourage new music. I'll tell you more about this another time as it's time for Michael Palin's New Europe show on BBC1. I have to watch it!

Birthday!

2007-09-20T21:49:00.001+01:00

Today was my birthday and G. made me a sheep! And she made me a LACE SHAWL!!! I also got a glow in the dark stick, bubble bulves (haven't had that since I was 9) and a cherry lip balm. Since I still don't have a cat here I got lots of cat cards and cat birthday candles on my birthday muffins - there wasn't enough time to make a proper cake. That is a plan for the weekend. The girls are taking me out to Ronnie Scott's tomorrow. Yey!

blanket and pipes

2007-09-19T10:16:00.000+01:00

Now I want something like this! The weather is perfectly horrible - drizzle!! This is an euphemism for the fact that you are going to be soaking wet when you leave the house. It's this soft, light rain which crawls under your clothes, and I swear even your skin and bones (if you stay out really long). The blanket on the picture is the one I've made for my sister earlier this year, the log-cabin-mega-project. It took about 45 minutes for ONE row in the final square! The flat giraffe is a book mark I got my sister for her 'light readings'. I think the plan was to snuggle up in the blanket and grab a good book. She is going to graduate from medical school in January and there is a lot of 'non-light' reading to do. But she loves the blanket so it gets used - light reading or not. I have been thinking of knitting one for myself and I found an easier (portable) pattern somewhere on the internet. It must be somewhere in my bookmarks... I finished my green jacket, but it's still missing buttons. Maybe I can buy some tomorrow... My list of what to do gets longer and longer. On a happier note my blue shelves (on the picture below) now are the home of my new box files (LOVE them) with music (in ORDER) and a lot of my scores. Some live in the living room. Still, my room looks like after a small bomb explosion although one can see how it could look like when everything has found it's place.

AND the pipes in the kitchen have been replaced and we can now do the dishes. No more swimming pool in the kitchen sink! According to J who stayed home for the plumber he took 3 hours and he had to lift the floor boards. I'm glad we stayed away from that! :-)

An eventful weekend

2007-09-17T09:37:00.000+01:00

M. and I set out to have a laid-back weekend as our photo-shoot event to make promo pictures for the October concert was postponed: some rest, some knitting, maybe a visit to the gym, some good cooking (we took that beef roast out of the freezer to try a new recipe), maybe going for walks in the sunshine....
As you might have guessed, this is not quite what happened. As we both had a day off work on Thursday, we had started our 'mission' to improve the kitchen: new silicone around the sink and water tap, sanding and re-oiling the kitchen work surfaces, and then M. also white-washed a shelf and chest of drawers for her room.
Well, come Saturday, a little trip to Divertimenti brought us home with new storage containers, a muffin tray, butter container, and a few other goodies, but not the colander we had set out to buy. And of course these had to be put in place, and while one is at it, one could clean the cupboards in the kitchen, and......

Sunday started with beautiful weather and a Sunday paper, followed by a lovely lunch with a mutual friend on the Southbank of the Thames - then a bus ride home and .....

A completely blocked drain (not blocked due to the residues of our cleaning, but there since Friday) in the kitchen sink forced us to experiment with our abilities as plumbers after Mr Muscle drain cleaner had done nothing to clear the pipes over night - completely unscrewing and cleaning out the pipes under the sink (which didn't do any good as the blockage seems to be further down in the system, but was quite a funny sight of two women with yellow rubber gloves and fairly disgusted facial expressions), and M. decided that now that she had started, she could also go on to paint the big shelf blue - more sanding and painting followed and we eventually collapsed with a cup of tea at about 9pm on Sunday night..... pictures to follow.... off to work now.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Wooly Sheep Diary 2 1/2

2007-09-11T11:57:00.000+01:00

... where Miss Maple came to life. This is a picture from our Sunday breakfast at the beach at a café. It was somehow magical. Now don't get jealous S's house is actually not on the beach we had to drive there - for a couple of minutes :-)
I really love the city, but there is nothing like a peaceful time at the sea. S. only bought this house recently and we helped to sort our the music library... and I thought I had lots of scores! Well, I do have a lot, but most of them didn't make the trip to England and remain with my parents. Needless to say that we visited the only wool (and framing shop) in the area - run by totally mad people according to S., and G. bought some stuffing material for Miss Maple while I got a nice very small Christmas gift for my Mom. I want to be prepared this year...

G. seems to be on a sheep trip... all I can say is that there is one more on her needles at the moment, probably due to the fact that I Knit London extended their 10% off all wool as their birthday present until Saturday 15th September. Great offer!

Are you addicted to wool? Do you think that wool souvenirs (wool bought during holidays) don't actually come from your 'wool budget' but fall under the category 'holiday gifts' and therefore increase your ability of buying wool? Are you also trying to find knitting shops in all the towns you are visiting and happen to find only the ones that are either closed or with unfriendly staff? There is help - if you happen to live in a German speaking country or go there on holiday, Annkaris's Strickblog started a list of knitting shops. She calls it 'Ein Handarbeitsreiseführer'. What a supercool idea! I will try and link her map to our blog.

Woolly Sheep Diaries 2

2007-09-10T10:03:00.000+01:00

And here she is: Miss Maple! (no spelling error - Maple as in Maple Syrup, in honour of the great sheep detective of Glenn Kill). As predicted, she came into being before either lace shawl was blocked, and the felted bag is also still quite a way from being finished... But who could resist? I certainly couldn't.
Right from the start, she enjoyed good company and very nice surroundings, as we were visiting my friend S. who lives near THE SEA!!! So one of my obsessions has already been passed on to Miss Maple: I'm sure she will always be crazy about sea and waves and strolls along beaches. M. (who came along as well) thinks I completely loose my marbles when faced with the seafront. There is an initial joy that just bubbles up, can't be controlled and expresses itself very inappropriately in childish jumping up and down, and running to the water to have at least touched the sea, even though it's probably too cold to go in....
Well, as far as Miss Maple was concerned, this weekend was the best: she came to life near the sea and amongst lots of opera scores and within sight of a baby grand piano. What more could a sheep want!

Oh, I forgot to mention (and was asked on my last 'woolly sheep diaries'): the pattern comes from The Knitter's Bible. To finish this post, one final glamour shot of Miss Maple:

Woolly Sheep Diaries....

2007-09-07T11:12:00.001+01:00

The woolly sheep is growing and a step closer to coming to LIFE...! It's really like having a little bear skin ready to go in front of a miniature fire place...

Now it's waiting for an underbelly and some woolly sheep inside... erm... stuffing :-)

Woolly Sheep

2007-09-06T11:02:00.000+01:00

Now, I should be finishing what I started.... at least that's what I keep telling myself all the time.
Alas, the truth of the matter is that I enjoy knitting so much more than blocking or sewing together.... or.... well, FINISHING! Although I love the feeling of having a FO in hand, I just don't like the tedium of getting from the last knitted knot to the FO. So my overview at the moment is:
1 blue Seasilk shawl - finished knitting about a month ago, still needs blocking
1 green KidMohair shawl (for M) - finished knitting about 1 week ago, still needs blocking
1 Lana Grossa Gala jacket (for my mother) - finished knitting about a month ago, still needs blocking, sewing together, crochet border, sewing on buttons
1 felted messenger bag - on the needles at the moment (I am using my Knitters' Coffee Swap pal's gifted yarn and just found something to go with it at i knit london....Shetland Marl! So this is still in process and I am actually looking forward to felting my first felted object)
1 Woolly sheep - on the needles since yesterday, as I couldn't resist starting after I just got the black and white wool from i knit london at the same time as the wool for the bag... Knitting loops is so much fun! (and no, not enough fun to be starting on a bath mat).

So lets face it, the woolly sheep is most likely going to be finished before I've finally blocked that lace shawl....

Weekend?

2007-08-31T22:36:00.000+01:00

I cannot believe I'm sitting here and blogging instead off going upstairs and printing the stuff out I'll need for teaching tomorrow morning! There would be lots of things to do actually, but I sit here glued to the spot - well no, I'm keeping G company who is finding her way through Adobe Illustrator painting pictures we'll need tomorrow. Why is everything always last minute? Is anybody else leaving things late as well or am I the only one. It does feel like everyone else is always so well prepared and organised- just not me. In my defense I have to say that I have been fighting with my computer and internet in the morning, trying to use my online banking which didn't want to let me use it. It ended in lots of cursing and me stamping into the Bank (thankfully there is a branch in walking distance) in order to complain and make them change my standing orders there and then. Obviously this unplanned event held me up in my time plan - other things that threw me back. Oh yeah, I put on the washing machine - and forgot to press the play button (twice!) NOT my day. Not even in the bank when I thought I'd have time to read my new book: there was almost no queue. I swear if I'd forgotten to take the book I'd have waited for hours! So not many breaks, no knitting (although my green jumper is almost finished and looks at me reproachfully) and not much reading.
On a happier note my new book is really great. It's Encounters With the Invisible by Dorothy Wall. It's about her life with CFS . It is my very first book I bought about CFS and I'm only on page 34, but I really like it. Why did I never buy any book about it before? I don't know, maybe it's too close to me to read about it. I'll post a review of the book once I manage to read rest of it.

My socks arrived!

2007-08-28T21:03:00.001+01:00

Today was my turn to get the sockapalooza socks and I love them!
My pal from Rose Red spoiled me good. She had sent anonymous emails (with the most hilarious made up name) to ask some questions since I didn't have a blog then. She did a good job spying ever since I have the blog!
She knitted the most wonderful socks with hand painted yarn from The Knittery (colour water lilies) - and yes before you ask they do fit perfectly. She sent an email some days ago apologising that my socks would be delayed because she had been sick, but it was worth the wait.
To make up for the delay she included some goodies, sugar free treats and some Australian coffee. As you can see in the picture I'm already wearing the socks. It was a bit of a challenge to take that picture with one foot up on the bed.
I remembered that looking through sockapalooza blogs I noticed those specific socks already. I quite liked the colour and also it was one of those sock patterns which I'd like to knit (because it looks lovely) but it would just drive me insane. Thank you, thank you, my sock pal!!

Proms II

2007-08-23T15:47:00.001+01:00

Despite the miserable weather I queued for a ticket for the Proms yesterday. A, my oldest friend and M, my sister's friend both played in the Lucerne Festival Orchestra which performed in yesterday's concert. For everyone who knows them, you will be able to just about see them on the left side of the podium. Maestro Abbado conducted and mezzo Anna Larsson was the soloist in Mahler's third symphony.
I was the last one to get a ticket to the arena - something went wrong with the complementary tickets A tried, but orchestra members had huge problems to get even family members into the dress rehearsal on Tuesday. I only got a ticket because G pushed me forward when the usher only wanted one last person in, and there were still 3 in front of us...not something I would usually do.
I felt so sorry for G who then had to go home as she couldn't get in through the gallery. It was a shame, because there seemed to be enough space up there. If it wouldn't have been raining almost all day, I don't think we would have had a single change to get a ticket at all. The Lucerne Festival Orchestra is always very popular and it proves impossible to get tickets in Lucerne itself.
Having heard them yesterday I have to say I understand this. You always hear critics rave about the perfect orchestra sound, but this one really has a special sound. It was a perfect balance of strings, wood winds and brass, even the right balance between violins and celli/double basses (ok that's a former string player speaking here). I very much enjoyed maestro Abbado conducting, a real conductor, no need for 'special effects' simple yet effective communication with the orchestra. If you have the opportunity to see them, try to get a ticket it's worth it!
I waited at the stage door for A and M and went on to an improvised party that M and her boyfriend were having in their hotel room. I haven't seen M for about 5 years when my sister and I bumped into her doing our last Christmas shopping, but she hasn't changed a bit. G suggested she is using a cell renewing shower gel. I couldn't stay for long, but it was great fun to see them all. It made me feel like a teenager again, so many summers we used to hang out together at the Varga Festival in Sion. And of course A has known me all my life or rather the other way round as I'm three month older. So despite having caught a slight cold standing in the rain yesterday I feel blessed having been able to meet up with old friends.

Two Welcome Socks

2007-08-14T19:09:00.000+01:00

Presents! Gifts! My lovely Sockapalooza4 Sock Pall Ann sent me a pair of beautiful socks in - guess! - Monkey pattern :) All the way from Vancouver, Canada. And she didn't stop there, I also received some great hand painted yarn from See Jayne Knit (colour 'Surf's Up') and some very cute little stitch markers - just what I was still missing for my next lace project. But let pictures speak for themselves: here are my new lovely goodies:

Thank you, Ann!!

Quiet stars

2007-08-12T13:00:00.001+01:00

Finally I have some time to write about my week with London Opera Vocal. I made pictures of the rehearsals. The one on the left was made through the glass window of the door. S, one of our wonderful tutors is working on a duet with two amateur singers in the top floor rehearsal room at the National Opera Studio. They were working so intensively that I didn't want to break their concentration - so I took the picture through the glass door. The entire week I was surprised by the enthusiasm and willingness of these amateur singers to work hard. Two productions, Beggar's Opera (short version) and Mozart's Ladies, were put on stage within this week, plus a number of concerts featuring solo arias or ensembles - some of them semi-staged by the singers. All of this happened in a rather relaxed atmosphere as you can see in this picture of my friend K's feet (who was one of the tutors), here playing piano for the Beggar's Opera rehearsal. K's being on the team included going to the pub after the work was done. We had to be out of the building by 5.30 and the weather was great (not like now when it's raining). Susan has put up all the pictures from the rehearsal and performances on the LOV website. Go there and check them out, they are pretty cool! Another nice thing on this year's course was to meet C, one of the new tutors. I had heard her playing years ago in the Finale of the Kathleen Ferrier Competititon. I have to say I cannot remember who she played for (shame on me), but her piano playing was absolutely fabulous. She was a real asset to have on the team and she was very easy going. She didn't even mind me taking a million pictures in her classes which usually disrupts the precious time that singers can spent alone (or with their ensembles) and a pianist to work on the pieces. After having done extensive German coaching last year I ended up doing Italian coaching! Not my speciality, but I coped well and coached the enthusiastic male duet from the Opera I Puritani. Suoni la tromba. Besides dragging 12 heart-shaped balloons through the street to the performance venue (thankfully G was free that weekend and worked with me!) and buying 'tenor safe confetti' - the wedding confetti out of a small bomb apparently lead to near castration of the main character in a course last year - I got to teach a couple of singers on their arias. Passing on 'my wisdom' to people who are definitely older than me always feels slightly strange, but then I have to remember that I have done much more as a singer than they will probably ever do. So yes - wisdom it is :-)
The rest of this Sunday will be devoted to not working at all, since I have worked for the last 13 days with out a break, more about this in another post. All the results of this will be online soon to share. I will go back to listening to my audio book and knitting my jumper. Does this not sound like a great Sunday?

One stessful week

2007-08-06T09:23:00.000+01:00

Wow! I just go away for two days to Germany and G makes me a pair of Monkey socks! I should do this more often :-) They are super comfortable, well G made them to measure for my feet - silly me! I thought she was just taking measure for her sock pal who has about the same size.
I had a great week working for London Opera Vocal's summer course and flying to Germany for two days to sort out some things. I went to Wiesbaden where the the ADAC (motor recovery service) was promoting a new package deal and was handing out giraffes with a magnet to put on the fridge. Two girls were walking up and down the pedestrian zone and I must have managed to look really sad because the second time they came past I got one. I'll post details of last week's course later in the week as work. For the moment, enjoy the Giraffe pics for a great start to the week.

socks, socks, socks and monkey addiction

2007-08-02T23:26:00.000+01:00

Here they are: the Sockapalooza4 socks for my sock pal.... very simple ones - and I hope she will enjoy the soft Poison Nr.5 superwash yarn from Wollmeise. And again, ready to be posted off to my sock pal on Saturday.

But why stop there? Once sucked into the addiction to sock knitting, I could not leave it at that, could I?! In-between finishing my Ocean coloured Sea Silk shawl project (to be displayed here, once I have had some time for blocking it - by the way, any good blocking advice for over-sized shawls/stoles from anyone?) and continuing with the Lana Grossa 'Gala Print' jacket for my mum, I just couldn't resist the current monkey sock craze.

Thanks, M., for getting me 'hooked' to this new habit....! So here is one pair in "Rittersporn" for me (!!!!!) below and one in "Poison Nr. 5" for M on the left.

Catching up with things

2007-07-29T14:02:00.000+01:00

Lots of things happened this week! My French friend had her third daughter, mom and baby are both well. I made two little hats for Baby V. (again, you might say) from the itty-bitty hats in white and pink. For the first time I added little labels, care instructions, etc. as I won't be seeing my friends any time soon, I thought it might be safer to include these bits of information.

I have finished my first Mon key sock. I thought I was the last person on this planet who hadn't knitted one. Well, as it turned out, I wasn't! G started to knit one after me - but I must say she finished her pair of socks already!

I read the last Harry Potter book... and this will be all I say. My friend J hasn't finished the book yet, and has threatened to kill everyone who will tell her how it ends. She avoided newspapers and television all week, not to have the end spoiled. Since she might read this I will just say that G and I have been reading it to each other (so the other one could knit :-). Although I'm convinced that Steven Fry is a zillion times better at reading this book than me, it was huge fun.

I went to my first Proms concert this year. It had the world premier of Peter Wiegold's work 'He is armoured with' commissioned by the BBC. G, T and I were standing in the gallery of the Albert Hall and had a perfect view. My friend K and I have been working on PW's song cycle 'Les Roses' for some time now (we have played it to him once and I WAS really nervous!) and have built a recital around it, featuring all sorts of flower songs. Naturally, I was curious to listen to the new work, which was according to K nothing like Les Roses.

To say it straight away I found it quite scary. Starting from the huge amount of brass, the Telegraph advertised it as the 100 trumpet piece, that included Fanfare Trumpets of the Band of the Coldstream Guards standing at the rear of the arena (must have been warm under those hats) Uzbeks playing traditional instruments, the karnay trumpet (six foot long valveless instruments) and timpani war drums. There was a ring of trumpets in the gallery (one lot about 5m away from us), 16 tubas in the arena, 24 trombones under the organ, two brass bands in the stalls and a solo trumpet and solo trombone in the middle of the arena in what looked like a boxing ring.
And yes, before anyone asks, it was loud! It was quite colorful too, the Uzbeks were wearing traditional costumes in blue and gold, the Guards had their uniforms and the rest of the musicians 'normal' concert clothes. Due to the different positions of the musicians I felt surrounded with music. It added a sort of chasing/hunt effect. I quite liked it, but writing about it doesn't do this piece much justice as visual and acoustic senses had so much input, it feels like talking someone through a delicious meal. It's not the same, you have to experience it.

Sockapalooza sock finished

2007-07-25T14:03:00.001+01:00

I finished my sockapalooza sock - actually I finished it last week I just couldn't take pictures. Here they are now hanging in my 'money tree' in my little garden. The wool was Zenzi from Wollmeise - fun to knit with. I hope my sock pal will enjoy them!

Searching for like-minded enthusiasts

2007-07-18T19:18:00.000+01:00

Really not easy, this up and down of the singing profession that M. wrote about. Apart from the investment of hard work (that is common to anyone who wants to be good at anything in life or attempt to do justice to a work of art), lots of time, sweat, self-critique, contemplation, research, interpretation, love, discovery, and some more work.... And then of course there is having to deal with success or rejection and the quick interchange of the two. Which voices do you listen to? Any but your own? The critic? The fan? Your family and friends? A teacher or fellow musician? This is not even touching on the financial impact of people's changing opinions on your every-day-life. So why on earth do we subject ourselves to this?
There is the sheer overwhelming joy of making music - a very good reason for starters. The possibility of having something very special to give to those listening and participating in the moment, and those re-living the moment through recordings. And then there is a certain conviction of something like vocation, being most definitely yourself when you do what you were made to do: sing, perform, live!!
Such grand words from such an idiot like me. Oh, well. I have been wondering for a while, though, if there are some like-minded people out there... We are not all divas, and although I draw my hat (the imaginary one) to star performers such as Anna Netrebko, Juan Diego Florez, Rolando Villazón or Natalie Dessay, I do at times wonder whether there are others like me out there....
.... musicians who lack that diva-gene (i.e. the gene that makes you sleep with a knife under your pillow and look out for opportunities to trick the competition or else lets you realise you are the best and there is no competition), who love making music with others, but are soloists at heart and don't really want to loose their distinctive sound in a big choir/orchestra, but create something new and exciting in their music making.
Chamber musicians (if there is such a category for singers...)
They would be thrilled at the idea of building singer and musician colleagues up. They haven't given up on hard work and quality (no "it's-the-job-and-no-one-notices-my-mistakes-anyway-screw-taking-care-of-a-musical-performance" attitude), haven't become bitter, and are looking for like-minded others to find a market-niche together. Oh, and then, if I can add one more thing to my wish-list, they would not want to produce a 'white' early music sound (no offense, but there is already so much of that around), but want to range through many colours up to a full-blooded grown-up tone....
If you are out there - lets make some music together!!!!

Life, lifelines?

2007-07-15T20:28:00.001+01:00

I had planned to write about my FOs and post pictures from my blanket and the successful elongation of my old turquoise jumper (in order to fit today's style) when I read the post about lifeline in the concert's blog about the attempted suicide of U.S. tenor Jerry Hadley. After the first shock of reading this, I started thinking about the singing profession life in- and outside of it.
What happens if your life doesn't take the turn that you wanted it to? How desperate must one be to end one's life rather than being able to face the problems? I can't say why Mr. Hadley wanted his to end. I know I considered such a step when my life had been cut down to wondering whether I would be able to make it from my bed to the bathroom. During that time the German opera magazine Das Opernglas was my only contact with the singing world, or more the world outside of my room, and I read about his debut in Hamburg. I don't know the pains and worries that finally led to this attempted suicide. However, it seems that financial worries and a declining carreer were contributing factors.
Mr. Hadley is unfortunately not alone with these pressing worries. I can think of lots of other singers who after performing in major houses, winning Emmys, doing recordings - then disappeared. I can name several young singers who were supposed to be THE new star 5 years ago and now noone hears from them anymore. What happened? What shocks me is the fact that we all seem to be disposable, easy to replace - there doesn't seem to be much loyalty around.
It brings home how blessed I have been to have a lifeline. Lifelines in my experience are not huge big cords - more fine threads. In my case my family who was always there for me, my cousin C, and my good friend G. I know I can call them anytime if I'm sad or happy. And it is because of those lovely people that I'm here.

Five days of holiday

2007-07-11T10:11:00.000+01:00

Last Wednesday I was looking at this! I have been in Catalunya for five days and this is the view from the terrace. The sea is slightly to the right of this picture, I know, not very geographical! We found a great way to walk to the beach. It took me about 1 hour and that was only one way (plus this way goes down the hill and in the heat of the afternoon), but I managed. One needs to remind oneself of the essentials and I made it both ways, otherwise I couldn't sit here and write about it. There's no WIFI on this little hill...
I wish I could go out for a coffee like the one on this picture, but no, I have to work. (I took this picture especially for Laurie, good coffee now makes me think of her!) in the square of Palafrugell.

In Lübeck

2007-06-28T18:30:00.000+01:00

I'm staying with my sister in Lübeck for a couple of days. At the moment we are sitting on her bed G., my sister and I all with our laptops waiting for R., my sister's boyfriend, to wake up from his nap. He had a hard day at the clinic and declared he couldn't go out for dinner if he didn't have his two minutes of sleep.
We had a great day doing almost nothing. My sister has the flat in the center of town, everything in walking distance. We went out to get some funky Roiboos tea (Peach&Cream and Creativity) some sugar free licorice, Gummybears , some German Books and a cool poster.(Two things in life one can't do without: cats and books). One of the books is by a German comedian about his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. According to my cousin it was great fun to read. And the must-have in Lübeck: Coffee at Niederegger! I had a marzipan flavoured black tea. Not bad!
- .... we just came back from dinner-

We had a very funny, very nice dinner at the Steakhouse which had a great view of the Holstentor!

I really enjoy holidays!

The blanket I made for my sister was finished in time and she loves it! Unfortunately I forgot to make a picture at home and just took one yesterday night with bad lighting with G's camera. I will put them on the blog when I'm back home. Despite a very happy sister (which made me forget the long depressive weeks of working simple garter stitch) I wouldn't knit a log cabin adult size blanket again all that soon. It looks great, but it's really heavy to knit the last two rectangles, it pulls on the arms. But I found a similar pattern online...I'll post more about that later as well....

Here they are!

2007-06-19T13:10:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I won the coffee and yarn still life contest on the Knitter's Coffee Swap. The prize arrived last Saturday and made me really happy!

I never had stichmarkers before: I always used different coloured yarn. Ever since I discovered that stichmarkers exist I was very tempted to get them, but I could never bring myself to buy any as they are the sort of luxury my mother and grandmother would call me insane for buying. They have used coloured yarn for 'centuries', why would I need something like this now....?

I guess I'm much more influenced by them than I'd like to admit :-) BUT the problem was solved by winning some! They are absolutely beautiful. A wonderful work of art! And you can get them on Etsy - in case you were wondering....

Sentences I really enjoyed hearing ... NOT!

2007-06-17T13:42:00.000+01:00

I've been wanting to write a following post about my illness ever since I received a first comment on my first post. I know there are others like me out there :-) Today seems to be a perfect day for it, as I can't do much anyway. It's what I would qualify as medium-bad day. I sit here with a gel eyemask over my swollen eye (I'm not quite sure why exactly my body came up with this response to having pushed it slightly over the edge, it's only the second time ever). Obvioulsy it's only one eye, otherwise I wouldn't be able to write, but in order to see sharply, I have to wear glasses over the eye-mask - what a pretty picture! I rejoiced in the fact that the mask and my T-shirt are both blue: at least I'm stylish and colour co-ordinated!
I'll try to do some knitting later, some low brain activity project. The problem I found with these medium-bad days is that I'm not allowed to sleep too much, I have to find something that keeps me sitting and reasonably occupied, otherwise I get bored and am a pain for everyone around me. The idea of writing on the blog is a new try, I'll see how it works out.

Sentences I have heard over the years from the day I started feeling unwell up to today.
The first one that comes to mind was said to me during a date. This "man" (for want of a better word) suddenly said he really liked me, but since my genepool was contaminated he didn't see any future for us (i.e. he couldn't think of marriage). But he'd still like to go out with me if I'd agree to his terms. HA! On a second date he thought of marriage? Pahlease! He definitely had a big enough ego for a whole company. Once I had recovered enough from this experience to be able to tell this story to friends, a wide variety of plans have been developed since, how I could have dealt satisfactorily with that situation: He and I had gone out to a restaurant and I had just started my soup - wouldn't it have been perfect to throw this into his face right there and then?! Well, I'd love to say I did, but in the actual event I didn't. I just went home.
You need good sleep is another one of my favourites. The irony that it's called 'Chronic Fatigue Syndrom' does not mean that you can sleep or that sleep really recharges your batteries.
If I'd be you I'd go and see a doctor - ?!? At that time I had already seen so many of them that I needed more than my own hands and feet to count them. I should have dealt creatively with this situation! I should have thought about getting a signature of all the doctors I saw (with date and time) and then got them printed on my T-shirt.
Today I felt really tired, I know now how you feel. Hmm really? Your legs are in pain/going numb, you are exhausted but unable to sleep, you have to consider whether you have the strength to make it from your bed to the toilet to empty the few contents of your stomach without breaking down on the stairs? I'm so glad to be understood. (G. edited the last two sentences, she feels it makes more sense to non-CFS people. I rarely talk about the actual symptoms. Because if I did, I'd get the 'It must be horrible to get this' monologue, see below.) But then again what can one expect having something called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It sounds like we should sleep all day anyway.
You are still young- I never really understood this one. Several interpretations seem possible. Young means healthy therefore 1) you are not allowed to be ill or 2) you are just faking it, because you can't seriously be as unwell as you claim as you haven't reached the dentures cleaning age?
You are young therefore it's not as bad. As bad as what, as if I'd be 80? What do people mean?
What's one (two, tree, five) years in a life? I don't know, what is it? It's time, most probably and it's relative. Maybe it means that I should be grateful that it was only five years that I had to put my life on complete hold while my life as I knew it slipped away.
Couldn't it be in your mind - AH! There it is. Finally, our all-time favourite! My favourite version of this one acctually is when it comes from aunty Emma or uncle Franz who have just discovered the word psychosomatic in a popular magazine. Totally convinced that they found the only true solution lots of amateur psychologists (unfortunately many professionals as well) keep screaning your life for possible undigested, unresolved problems. I my case it was fear of the unknown - I just started university, I was a musician - and we all know they are neurotic - I was a young women - too sensitive. I still lived with my parents - couldn't detach from home. Actually, my mother had to hear that I only got ill, because she couldn't let me go. Go, where? When I insisted that I did what I loved and was sucessfull, I was too busy and I just needed more rest, or maybe - and this is the best - in my heart of hearts I wasn't really happy doing what I wanted and therefore my body sent me this message.
You don't look sick. There are two versions of this, one is actually meant in a nice way. In the case of the second one, you feel like you have to apologise that you are not the image of a sick person. Also really wrong in this scenario: laughing. Happiness is only for the healthy.
Oh my God, it must be horrible to get this. Ah, I thought "a beam of sunlight, someone understands". My hope got shattered a second later with the question if it would be contagious. After I answered that I didn't think so, a monologue followed about "how horrible to get this". I'd had preferred the monologue "how horrible to have this". One year, my parents couldn't rent a friends' holiday cottage (despite the fact that I didn't plan to come along) because my illness was classified by these people as contagious.

There are still a couple of very interesting sentences, but I think I'll save then for another time. If some of you who are reading this have experienced similar things, please leave a comment! I know you're out there reading this blog, so just leave a comment.

Don Giovanni at Covent Garden

2007-06-14T00:23:00.000+01:00

I just got home from a very fun evening out at London's Covent Garden. BP is putting on big-screen events all over the place, broadcasting live from the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. So, we were sitting out in the square with about 3000-4000 others, watching on the big screen what was being performed inside the house (you can see the blob of light in the distance - that's the screen!).

After the mad scramble for a seat, that is floor space for my little blanket(and 'seats' for M. and T. who came at different times, as they finished work a bit later than I did), it was a great night out, and there wasn't as much rain as in previous years (just the odd shower that was easily coped with by wearing one of the free ponchos the organisers had distributed at the entrance).

Sarah Fox sang a great Zerlina, Erwin Schrott was strong and sexy as Don Giovanni, and Anna Maria Martinez did a cracking good Donna Elvira. Oh - and here is the proof picture: my knitting project grew as well during the .... less intesting... bits ;-) For a review of the Don Giovanni Premiere, have a look at Intermezzo's blog!

Worldwide Knit in Public Day

2007-06-10T16:53:00.000+01:00

G and I joined the Stich and Bitch London Knit Crawl through London on yesterday's Worldwide Knit in Public Day. They started out at noon at St. Paul's, went across the river to Tate Modern, then to the Jubilee Gardens (under the London Eye) and finished by knitting under the Lions at Trafalgar Square from 5pm to 6pm. We joined them for the last two places only.... we had to buy some wool first :) Our local yarn shop is celebrating its first birthday - Happy Birthday, Stash! I had to buy some more yarn for my sister's blanket (the one that never seems to get to an end) and G bought some very nice kidsilk in sage and indigo - lace knitting is her new addiction and it took long enough for the Victorian Lace book to arrive! She waited for over a month for it.
So, armed with our knitting, we searched for the weird and wonderful people who would want to meet and knit in public, and we found them under the London Eye as it said in the Stich and Bitch Newsletter. My item of choice was the sockapalooza sock (as seen in the picture). G had her wonderfully soft HandMaiden shawl project. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm quite shy joining a new group and I always think no one is ever going to talk to me. Well, this wasn't true for this cool group of knitters. It didn't take much time and people in the group (as well as random passers-by) would ask about our projects. Initally I only wanted to stay for the Jubilee Gardens, but it was too nice talking, so that we ended up going to Trafalgar Square as well (and to the Pub after that....) This proved to be quite a challenge as there was a Free-Palestine-Demostration going on at Trafalgar. The person dealing with the sound system must have had a really bad day and the noise level was annoyingly high. So we ended up as a sort of added bonus attraction to the Lions for passing tourists (amongst questions of "are you knitting for peace?" "are you knitting for Palestine?" "what do you want to achieve by knitting here?"). All in all a lovely day!

Prize won for educational work

2007-06-09T13:36:00.000+01:00

For the second time in two years we have been awarded an honoured mention at the prestigious competition "Kinder zum Olymp" (Children to the Olympus) for our educational work in 2006. We are the only independent music group ever to have achieved that. I'm very proud of the work we have done. We have been added to the official list and you can check out some more pictures and details (all in German, sorry) here and here.

Looking through the list of who won the last two years, I didn't find anything similar to what we do. Probably we are mad, it's an incredible amount of work! In order to have scenes from operas that kids can safely sing, we need to cruise through the entire opera repertoire and then write a new show to put all of them together in a logical order. It gives the kids a sense of achievement when they get to perform with real opera singers on a real stage. From the feedback we got it's also a huge form of encourgement to the kids. My two favourite feedbacks from those workshops were: 1) 'I now believe that I can achieve everything that I want to.' - (and that came from a group of kids with incredibly low self esteem), and 2) in answer to the question of the National Television interview 'what is the difference between singing your favourite pop songs at home and opera at this workshop?', the boy looked at the lady slightly bewildered and said 'We just sing higher.'

All of this puts me in the right mood to go out an join the S&B London for the international knitting in public day. So, everyone now - don't sit behind your computer, go out and get knitting!

My package arrived!

2007-06-07T14:56:00.000+01:00

My Knitter's Coffee Swap package arrived from California yesterday. It couldn't have come at a better time. Our rental agreement expires in two months and we are negotiating with the agency - is it really called negotiating if you are bullied into an agreement...? Anyway, no more breath should be wasted on this matter here - my swap package arrived yesterday and looked like this...... You have no idea how hard it was not to rip it open straight away and to take pictures before!

Then it looked like this - and still you can't see what great things were hidden inside. My swap pal wrote that she could track down the package until San Fransisco on the 23rd of May, then it disappeared in space -or rather on a flight to London and spent a considerable time at customs until it arrived on my doorstep.
Inside I found three skeins of Lopi yarn from Iceland perfect for a felted bag (I wanted to make one for sooo long) one skein of Debbie' Bliss cashemerino dk in a petrol color (absolutely stunning color, never seen that one before) and 2 different sorts of coffee. I'm saving it for the weekend. (God, I wished it would be Saturday already!)

This wasn't all! My swap pal also found me a photo album (I have been looking for one for quite a while but couldn't find a nice one), Californian pine nuts and pistachio (how did she know that I love them?!) some sugar free sweets (I can't have 'real' sugar) and a pattern for a felted bag. It virtually made me hop and skip to work like a small child. (I'm the sort of person who hops when happy). Thank you my lovely pal!

An outing to the countryside

2007-05-26T17:17:00.000+01:00

My parents are currently visiting from Germany, and I had the nice challenge of finding a destination for an enjoyable outing that wouldn't proove to be to much for my mum's back problems.

We set out from a very sunny and warm London and drove North-West towards Oxford. As Oxfordshire opened up before us (my very favourite view as you drive down the hill between two rock walls), we saw a big black wall of clouds that seemed to cover all of Oxfordshire. OH NO!

Well, we continued on into Oxford and after finally locating a parking spot (quite a challenge, as anyone knows, who's tried this feat before) started having a look around. I love the old university buildings and book stores, cafés and shops. But - of course - it started raining. After fleeing into a little Italian restaurant and making the best out of the weather by having some lunch inside, I ran for the car and picked my parents up where they had found some shelter from the rain.

What to do?! There was no way I'd give up. Should I just let a rain front alter my plans for the day? Nope! Sooooo, we bravely went on through the rain to Blenheim Palace to have a look at the gardens and park. AND..... the sun came through after all!!!!!! Yey! Here are some pictures from the garden and the Butterfly House at Blenheim (the once-upon-a-time-home of Winston Churchill)

Also, we found the very nice maze. And while my mother sat down as she was in quite a lot of back pain, my father and I went to explore ..... The Maze .....

Oh, and the really funky Month-of-the-Year-Sun-Dial! Have a look at this! Of course I just had to try it...

...so I stood with my feet in the little square readying 'May' and.....

....my shadow appeared just slightly left of the 5 on the sun dial. Great - It definitely works (as long as there is some sunshine)!

A lovely end to a day that turned out really nice after all.

So, we took the little train back across the grounds to the car....

.... got the car, and drove home towards London :)

Sock Progress

2007-05-23T09:40:00.000+01:00

My first sock (here modelled by M.) for the Sockapalooza4 Exchange is almost done. I liked the colour of the wool so much (Poison No. 5 from Wollmeise), that I didn't knit a pattern after all, but left everything very simple. I hope my sock pal will like it...