KnitFreak

The Radio Box arrived at my door today!

It travelled all the way from Iceland to the very rainy Munich. I will have to give the box a little rest so it can dry... Check out where it has been so far:

And just look at the content! It is so amazing what Carola packed for me - she outdid herself!

Isn't she crazy? (In a good way, that is!!!) Okay, what do we have here..? Clockwise from front center: A pair of toe socks in the front, 2 flip-flop-shaped note pads, 3 postcards with Icelandic recipes, Icelandic candy in a red box, a huge box of Icelandic chocolate puffed rice crisp bities, a postcard of Carola's home town Hafnarfjördur, a postcard with ponies in the snow (I love Icelandic ponies!), a bright'n'yellow keyring holder that you can squeeze and which stays in the shape you give it, a sheep magnet, a little sock full of lavender to keep the moths away (I love the smell!), and - last but not least - TWO HANKS OF LORNA'S LACES in a wonderful colorway named "Flames". I love it! Here's a close up (forgive me that it's blurry):

You just have to love that color! Thank you soooooo much Carola, you absolutely made my day! Everybody who gets you as their pal in a swap is really lucky.

The blog world has me back! There's been lots going on over here during the past week and a half, and not much of it was good. First, I had this bad cold, nothing too serious, I was just not feeling well. You know, when you're in the stage when you're not sick enough to stay in bed the whole time, but you're still not well enough to go on with your regular work. And that annoys the heck out of me, every time I have it! Plus, my right eye was troubling me. A lot. Five years ago, I've been diagnosed with a disease called Uveitis, which appears in batches. The disease is basically an inflammation which appears in the background of the eye; my eye looks perfectly normal though, because only an ophthalmologist can see it with their things. And just before Easter, on my dad's birthday, I had another one. Fortunately, it's not as bad as it could be (it can affect the visual nerve), and so I don't need to take heavy medication (if it gets bad, you'd have to take steroids and cortisone for about 4 weeks, and while doing that, you'd have to get your liver functions tested on a regular basis); in fact, the doctors said I couldn't do anything. So, what's so bad about this, you might wonder... the only way I notice that something is wrong with my eye is that I can't see properly. It is as if there is a grey-ish cloud in my right eye, in the right-hand center of my focus, and this cloud is moving with my eye movements. And it won't go away, at least not for a while. A long while, that is. (5 years ago, when the Uveitis first occurred, I asked the doctor at the University Eye Clinic in Tübingen how long it will take for this cloud to go away. He said it would take about 3 to 4 months. A few years later, I could still see the cloud. Another doctor told me that there is no way anybody could tell me how long it would take until the thing goes away.)
Well, now you know why I wasn't feeling too well lately... this whole affair affected my mood a lot.

But now to something more cheerful! For those of you who live in Munich or Munich-area, a group of knitters is meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, April 25) from 6.30 pm onwards at a restaurant/tavern/cantina place called "Esszimmer" (= Dining Room), to knit together and maybe learn a few things together. If you want to come, either leave a comment on my blog, or contact Amélie. Everybody's welcome! Oh, and we'll probably speak German, but that shouldn't scare English speakers off!

Now, finally, I'll come to the knitting content!
I'm still, or, again, knitting sockapaloooza socks!

The pattern is again from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks, the shell pattern. It might look complicated, but the instructions are soooo easy-peasy! And the yarn is called Singapore, from Ewa's place. (I know, I know, the site's still not in English, but we're working on it! If you want to order some of her yarns without speaking any German, I'm happy to assist. Her yarns are very seasonal, she makes about 10 balls from each color)
The heel on this sock is turned and I'm on my way down towards the toes. I know, I already made a pair of socks for my sockpal, but this is the yarn I originally intended for her. Remember, I wanted to knit the socks as my Olympic project, but then the yarn didn't arrive... The only problem is now, I won't be able to finish the second pair of socks in time to mail them so they arrive on May 1st. I'll ask my pal if she prefers either one pair of socks on time or a pair of socks and a surprise, but a bit later... I'll see what she wants.
Oh, and if my sockpal aka the person who's making socks for me is reading this: in case you need some more time, take it! I don't mind waiting a bit.

There's another project I've been making without posting about it. See, my nephew's christening is coming up in May, and my sister asked me if I could make a cardigan that he could wear then. Although the christening is in late May, the weather might be chilly; or it might be so warm that he doesn't need a cardigan at all. Anyways, I agreed to knit the cardigan (what did you think I'd do?), and we chose the cardigan with fair-isle yoke from the Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino book. My sister and I said we'd make a different pattern for the yoke though (well, she says, and I make) because we didn't like the colors of the pattern as in the instructions.

All I need to finish now is the button bands and the sleeves. Although I'm not sure how long I should make the sleeves... my nephew doesn't live nearby, so I can't just go over to my sister's house and try the cardigan on. I might make the sleeves and try them on the day before the christening, and then seam them, or... I'm coming up with a different idea. I don't really like the thought of making everything in the last minute, but what can I do?
Here's a close-up of the yoke:

Isn't it pretty? I hope the little one will look just gorgeous!

Wasn't there another project, still unfinished? Yep, Josephine. She's still unfinished, because I didn't touch her since the last time. I basically told her to bugger off until I feel like finishing her. Which most likely won't be until I'm done with the sockapaloooza socks and the christening cardigan. Josephine will have to wait. And then there's still Starsky to think about... and I want to reduce my stash a bit over summer.

Oh, and before I forget it: I'd like to thank everybody who commented on this post. I decided to leave Josephine as she is, I won't frog her or anything. You cheered me up a lot, so eventually I'll just set in the sleeves and weave in all the ends. Thanks you guys, YOU ROCK!!!

Yes, I'm still around, although not blogging much lately. I'm not healthy at the moment, and not in the best of moods, so there you go. Plus, there's lots of other stuff I need to sort out, but I just can't manage to get to it.
Still knitting away (although not on Josephine. she's resting in a corner, until I feel like seaming her. Your comments helped a lot, though!!! more on that later), and there should be an update coming soon, involving pictures and knitting content.

And finally, temperatures are rising to a more comfortable level in Munich! Thank God, it was about time. Considering we had snow here only last week...

I hate Josephine.

This is how far I am:

I tried seaming the sleeves in last night. The armholes are huge! And the sleeves... I'd have to stretch them a lot so they fit into these giant armholes. I just double-checked the measurements, and the sleeve measure seem to be on the okay side, and the armhole measurements are almost okay. Almost. Only about 1,5 centimeters (0.6 inch) too short. But can that be the whole mistake? Oh man... that would mean: undo the side seams, undo the much-hated collar, undo the shoulder seams, undo the back and fronts to the armholes. And then to redo all this shit. Oh man... I soooooooo want this thing to be over!

(I just decided to leave Josephine on the floor for tonight, and have a good night's sleep before making my final decision. I'll probably do the undo-and-redo... although I hate even thinking about it. On the other hand, I know I'd hate ignoring the giant armholes for now and seaming the sleeves in anyway, I'd hate the whole jacket later on.)