Retrospect January

So let´s make a short retrospect for January, what I "made".

Knitting:
January was a very productive month, knitting vise.
I finished overall no less than 5 projects. Ok nothing really "big", but still I finished 3 hats, one pair of mittens and one small shawl. And I did start a very ambitious project, a lace-weight shawl representing the southern night sky. Yep it is as crazy as it sounds, later I will share a more elaborate post with you. And I unravelled a hat which was way too small to knit it one size bigger.

So for February, these are my goals:
- Finish the Grandpa Cardigan (only one arm and the collar left to knit)
- Reknit the green hat, one size bigger (already started)
- Continue with the "Himmelsschal"
- Maybe start with some other project ^^ (thinking about socks ...)

Sewing:
I had big goals for January, sadly I didn´t finish anything. Last year, my mum gave me her old beautiful vintage Singer sewing machine.

My father in law was so kind to gave this beauty a treat so that it would work again (clean it, oil it, have a look at the electronics). It worked really well and I spent an afternoon getting to know the machine. All in all it worked pretty well. I wanted to sew a nice bag for myself, especially for knitting socks (they are square). Had all the ingredients there.

Sadly my machine decided to act up and there was an electrical surge and then it started to sew like mad. It´s now again with my father in law, who will have a look at it. :(

Goal for February:

- Finish the bag!

Cooking/baking:

Nothing fancy really, I was not very productive this month.

Just some spaghetti with minced carrots (i boiled them, rather than fry them in oil or butter). And a lentil salad with courgettes, tomatos, grilled eggplants and goat feta.

Goal for February:

- Try something new, bake or cook wise. Doesn´t have to be a big dish, could be just a new recipe. 

First FO 2015

Yeah! Yesterday I finished my first knitting project in 2015. A "wurm" for a friend of mine.

It turned out awesome. I´m so happy with the result, that I had to immediately cast on one for me (or somebody else, we will see about the color combination).

She was kind enough to sew in my custom made labels (gift from my awesome husband, detailled description here). I don´t like sewing very much, but I´m challenging that dislike. ^^ More on that in the next couple of days (I hope).

Naturally I had to also share this project in Ravelry. What you don´t know Ravelry? Ravelry is a kind of Facebook for knitters, crocheters, weavers and general yarn enthusiast. It´s a great place to share projects, discuss problems or find help or generally have a good time with nice people who share you´re love for fiber. The search mechanism is amazing. All projects are linked to the particular pattern, what yarn you used, how much of it and so on (ok you have to put in the information first, but then it´s great). And enrolling for Ravelry is for free. Ravelry gets their money from designers and yarn companies who either sell their designs, yarn or advertise. Ok enough yarn talk for now. 

Embossing

When I was at the "SPIEL" fair in Essen last year I found a booth who sold stamps and embossing pens, ink and powder. They (that´s them) showed me their stuff and I fussed a little if I should buy something or not. Finally I bought a red and black embossing pen as well as some white glittery powder. Another friend bought translucent and gold powder (we shared).

So how does embossing work?
Basically you have ink that´s not drying very quickly, sprinkle it with the powder and melt it. This creates a nice raised texture.

Before christmas I had a fun afternoon with LeaderBrat and we made some christmas cards.

Here is mine:

And here is one of her´s (she made more than I did ^^):

I had so much fun with it, that I also created a birthday card for a friend of mine:




Normally I don´t like cards, I don´t like writing them, sending them. Receiving them is another matter. But if they are something special, and if they are hand made than that´s different. Let´s see how long I´ll keep this up. But LeaderBrat and I will definitely have another session like this. ^^ There was glow in the dark powder as well ...

Let´s start a blog

Ok, it´s new year´s day 2015 and I´m starting a blog (good intentions and everything ^^). I was already thinking to start a blog for quiet some time now. But I always thought "why start a blog? nobody will read it and what would I write anyway?".

So what changed my mind? Nothing special, but you have to try out new stuff to see if you like them or not, so I´ll try.

2015 will start for me with a few changes to my life. First I´ll start at a new project at work, which is really exciting and challenging. Secondly this project will be in Duisburg so I need to travel (haven´t done this in my entire career yet).

But actually I don´t want to focus on my work/life balance (buzz word of the decade). I want to focus on me "making" things. I´m a knitter and I love cooking and baking and generally making things! The whole "maker" scene fascinates me and I´m thinking of joining the Hackerspace of my husband. Ok enough of me I have a few ideas I want to try out in 2015. I can´t promise you regular blog posts but I´ll try to do at least one post per month.