KnitFreak

Here I am, novice to making buttons and stuff, just having signed up for the Knitting Olympics. There are so many nice Team buttons on the net... Of course I wanted one too! So I started emailing/leaving comments on people's blogs where I saw nice buttons, if they could explain how they made them to a total beginner. Jen was so nice to even create a "Team Germany"-button for me! Check it out:

Thank you so much Jen!!!

Then I found out that there already existed quite a few German buttons already, so I commented there as well. Sandra got back to me quickly, explaining how she had made her buttons. After that, I downloaded the trial version of a software for graphics, the same she used to make her buttons. Now I have 30 days to produce buttons and stuff en masse and to decide whether I really want to buy this software... My advantage is that I could buy a student version of the software, so it wouldn't be that expensive (but still expensive enough)... or I find out if I can make buttons like this in Photoshop. Anyway, here's what I finally came up with:

I hope you like it... I might make a few more just like this one. I actually followed Deborah's design on the button, because I really liked what she came up with.
Let's wait and see what happens if I get bored over the weekend...

I finally signed up for The Knitting Olympics.

Does anybody know if there is a "Team Germany"? Or a "Team Europe", or a "Team Sockknitters"? I'd love to join them! I have seen Team Canada, and Team USA, but nothing else yet.
If you see anything, let me know, or pass on my call.

If anyone of you is from Munich, how about an "Olympic-Opening-Knit-Party"?

I finally took some pictures for you, so my talking about Josephine makes some sense for you. Guess what I forgot though - yep, I didn't take pics of my favorite sleeve. I have to keep that in mind.
Anyway, without further delay, here's the finished and extended back part of Josi:

As soon as I have both front parts ready, I'm going to seam the shoulders together so I can see if it is really too long... I wanted it a tad bit longer than in the pictures, but I might have done too much... I better not make myself crazy about this right now, I won't change anything right now anyway.
So, here we have one sleeve and a bit of the right front part:

(click for details)

Y'all probably heard about this one

Are you taking part? I'm still thinking about it... but I just signed up at Sockapaloooza and can't wait to get a pal assigned, and I'm knitting on Josi, and I've got other stuff to do for Uni... on the one hand, I'd love to knit Olympic, but on the other I don't want to rush myself too much with knits. I did that last year, from about October until Christmas, and it put me off knitting (a little bit). I already thought about combining The Olympics and Sockapaloooza, but... wouldn't that be a bit like cheating? Or is it okay? Plus, can I really knit a pair of socks within 16 days? (Okay, I guess I could - I've done something like that before) Hmmm... Now that will keep me thinking all day!

Dammit! I just finished this post, clicked on "preview", and blogspirit kicked me out! Fortunately, half the post was still there. I only need to re-write the other half. Dammit!!!

I wanted to show you this. It's called "chinesisches Neujahr" - "Chinese New Year". Ewa went to Singapore on holiday, and she brought back lots of ideas and the golden thread for this yarn. I already ordered a skein of it, I just couldn't resist!

Update: Sorry, the link doesn't work any more, the yarn seems to be sold out! I hope my order got there soon enough... anyways, check out the other yarns, they're gorgeous too! I especially like "Singapur" (=Singapore) and "Lotusblüte" (=lotus blossom)

I'll leave you with a picture of something K gave me on Monday to cheer me up because I had been in a really bad mood. They opened up a bit more; unfortunately, the camera doesn't get the color right. It's a stronger orange-yellow - but aren't they beautiful anyway?

Sockapaloooza is about to come! Thanks to Alison. I wonder how many people will sign up this time... My guess is 500 and more. What do you think?

***

There are news from Josephine as well (sorry, now photos!). I finished the back part and made it a bit longer than the pattern required, so now I'm a bit paranoid that the yarn isn't enough although I bought plenty so it should definitely last. I also finished one sleeve and now I'm working on the right front part. Last night when I couldn't go to sleep I rethought the whole sleeve pattern (2x2 rib). I've got a cardigan that I like a lot, especially the sleeves - they are in a 1x1 rib and then plain stockinette. Looks quite nice, I actually should take a picture to show you. Anyways, I'm thinking of something like that for Josephine so that it doesn't look too bulky. My imagined sleeves would start in 1x1 rib and then they'd be in a reverse stockinette stitch.
On the other hand, would that work for a bulky cardigan? Bulky body and non-bulky sleeves? Or does a bulky body require bulky sleeves? Hmmm... I might knit up that other sleeve pattern I'm thinking of, or actually, I might take pictures of the sleeve I'm thinking of to show you and then knit up the other sleeve to see if it would suit the rest of the rest of the cardigan. Or I'll come up with a total different sleeve idea ;-)

I saw this meme on Julia's blog and considered myself tagged.

4 jobs you have had in your life

1. modelling for a sculptor
2. working for the German Red Cross for a year
3. translating a brochure about marketing for 45-year-olds and older
4. working as a waitress for one night (the boss was/is a sucker)

4 movies you could watch over and over

1. 3 Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel (Czech/GDR co-production of a Cinderella-story; I actually watch it every year at Christmas)
2. The Third Man (it's a classic!!!)
3. anything Jim Jarmusch directed
4. Brother (with Takeshi Kitano)

4 places you have lived

1. Schwäbisch Gmünd, Baden-Württemberg
2. Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg
3. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
4. Munich, Bavaria

4 TV shows you love to watch (...ok, this is fairly recent)

1. ER
2. CSI (Las Vegas, NY, Miami)
3. Law and Order
4. Lost

4 places you have been on vacation

1. New York City
2. Byron Bay
3. Venice
4. the German North Sea coast

4 websites you visit daily

1. the blue blog for the knits
2. imdb.com for the gossip
3. leo.org for the vocabulary
4. The Age website for the news from Melbourne

4 of your favorite foods

1. chocolate
2. fresh Mango
3. anything Austrian my mom cooks
4. Italian food

4 places you would rather be right now

1. Melbourne
2. New York City
3. Melbourne
4. Melbourne (do I really choose Melbourne over New York City? I'm surprised)

4 bloggers you are tagging

1. Carola (hehe!)
2. Amanda (hehe!)
3. Jacqueline (hehe!)
4. Christine (hehe!)

Irene asked about my stitchmarkers, whether I made them myself or not, and if so, how I made them.
Well, I did make them myself because I knew I needed some for Josephine. So I searched the internet for some stitch marker tutorials and bought some silver wire and a pair of universal pliers on top of my beads. As you can see, there's loads and loads of tutorials on the internet for stitch markers, so I won't give you another one. The tutorial which worked best for me was made by Poor Miss Finch (scroll down until 9th Feb '05), because I only had regular silver wire. I bent it just like Miss Finch did; in other tutes, you can see that they use a small piece of wire with some kind of stopper at the end. If you can find anything like that in a shop, it makes making markers a bit easier I guess, although the way I made my markers was very easy. It didn't take me very long either, I guess it was less than an hour for 6 stitch markers (hey! I was a beginner!), and when I made the markers I thought if I could possibly knit jewelry, like a bracelet or maybe a necklace. The silver wire bends quite easily, and I've heard of people who've knit stuff like that, although I've never really seen anything like that. Have you?

Oh, and I'd like to thank Amanda for her encouragement with Josephine. I'm about to start shaping the armholes on the back piece, and it was only last night when I discovered that I made a few wrong stitches in one of the cables at the bottom of the thing. At the very bottom of the whole thing I've knit. And I've knit about 6 balls already! Now, on the one hand my vanity tells me "do it right!", but on the other, my common sense says "what the f***, you're so far already, you'd have to start all over again. The mistake is like in the first or second row, don't bother!" I'm most likely to follow my common sense, but then I hear that vain little voice again... and then the common sense kicks in. It's a vicious circle.

Somehow, I did figure the pattern for Josephine out. When patterns are a bit strange, my brain gets so twisted that even the most simple things give me a headache (like reading knitting patterns). So, thanks for your help, Amanda and the guys from the yahoogroup of the Josephine-knitalong!

The back of my Josephine doesn't exactly look like in the picture on knitty.com (as much as one can see there), but hey, what the heck. I like it anyway. So here we go:

The color isn't that dark actually, it's a nice light beige. This picture shows the pattern quite nicely though, I took it without the flash. Maybe some day I'll figure out a way to take a progress shot that shows the pattern and the colors nicely. I just hope the fronts won't give me a headache like the back did, and that it turns out fine, and that it will actually fit me once it's finished (unlike the other cardigan I didn't show you because it's too small - I just don't know if it's because I've gained a bit of weight or if I knit it too small. Either way isn't too flattering, I guess)! But until then, there's still a long way to go knit, so I better get back to it!

- it's a stitchmarker!

These (above) were made with beads I bought in Murano, Italy, where they make the famous glass objects. The others below were made with beads I bought from a shop in Munich.

My nephew in a few of my creations - top, pants and cat on the side. I don't know who made the booties, but they match the rest just perfectly, don't they?