astitchisastitch posted: " It's one of Mark Twain's famous bonmots: »If you have nothing to say, say nothing«. Was I consciously taking advice from a great mind? Did I not want to add drivel to the constant overload of chatter on the internet? Were my thoughts too personal for" A Stitch is a stitch
It's one of Mark Twain's famous bonmots: »If you have nothing to say, say nothing«. Was I consciously taking advice from a great mind? Did I not want to add drivel to the constant overload of chatter on the internet? Were my thoughts too personal for sharing in such a public space (private though it may seem)? Was I really absorbed by work? I guess it was probably a bit of all of the above. Many things happened. Everyday things, life, good things and bad, boring and remarkable, over … months? Ultimately, I just didn't feel like writing, and since this is a non-commercial oldschool weblog, there's not a lot of pressure to be feverishly collecting clicks and followers. Thank you, though, for returning, and staying with me despite the dry spell. I appreciate that a lot.
This post was actually begun end of July, and never got published because of some technical difficulty on this platform I find mysterious and frustrating. Since then most of the entry has been sitting in my drafts. I'll give it another go today, my first day after two lazy weeks of digital detox.
So, summer vacation. It's a quiet, rainy day in the country, and I'm literally by myself for the first time in what feels like months. I feel no particular desire to do more than read, knit, clear up a bit after we had family over on the weekend, maybe do a bit of laundry, walk the dog once the rain lets up, and give my new watercolors a spin.
Saturday was my birthday, and I spent it with my husband and kids, who were very kind and generous with their time and gave me a much-deserved lazy day, lovely prezzies, and much love.
That sculpture above was made by my daughter in her art class. I'm really impressed with her work, her sense of proportions that seems to come naturally to her ... her process never ceases to amaze me.
My husband (also the giver of said watercolor set) made a cake I had almost forgotten, incidentally a gluten-free number made with ground almonds, chocolate, butter and eggs, which was very rich, very pretty, and is definitely worth mentioning. Unfortunately, there's only a pic of a leftover wedge, because I simply forgot to take one of the complete beauty.
If you'd like to make it, combine
200 g dark chocolate melted in 200 g butter, 1 p vanilla sugar, 150 g sugar, pinch of salt, 4 eggs and 200 g ground almonds in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour into a baking dish and bake for 45 minutes (or a bit less) at 160° Celsius if you want it to be extra moist and gooey.
This is me picking up the tale in August, for here's where my entry from July stopped being saved. No idea what else I said!
All that rain over the past weeks have been doing wonders for the mycelia, as evidenced by spectacularly abundant growth of one of my summer favorites, the girolle mushrooms. Maybe we'll get one of those really good mushroom years? It's a pleasure to stroll through the woods and breathe in the rich, earthy, pine-y smell. I feel invigorated every time I walk Charlie, who is doing a lot better now. All the physio, rehab and months spent sleeping on the guest mattress (so he wouldn't jump AT ALL) have paid off, it would seem, and we've gradually been increasing our radius to 8.000-9.000 steps a day (human steps ofc., and not short-leggy Dachshund steps).
Rainy vacation days also make for great crafts weather! I talked about the Complicated Sweater before, which I finished in June. I was really pleased with how it turned out. It didn't end up with my daughter after all, but with my lovely niece M. in Düsseldorf instead, who took such a fancy to it when she came to visit in June. So, after finishing the piece, I wore it for a day, then let it go.
Now that I have the technique down, I've started doing other things using this pattern. From sock projects over the years, I've collected many good quality 4-ply and 6-ply blend yarns, and they combine really well in this quirky fabric. Upon seeing the sweater, my friend M. mentioned that the pattern would look really good on a couch cushion, and in my mind, that sort of led to an idea for small cross-body bags, which resulted in a series of small projects I worked on during my vacation, for daughter, self and dear friends.
I already have requests for two more, my friends (young and my own age) seem to love them. Smaller projects in between are a lot of fun, and it's gratifying to see quick results. The technique is simple. Cast on desired width of bag in the round, join, and make a few rows of rib. Then, alternate between two colors and go on knitting in the round until happy with the size. Cast off. Cut one of the yarns, turn the work inside out and close the opening using the other yarn. Single crochet into similarly colored stitches on both side. For the strap, make a chain in desired length, into which you crochet two rows of half double crochet. If the strap isn't the same color as the rib, you can crochet a row of slip stitches around the opening for symmetry. Bind off, darn in all threads and sew strap to the body of the bag – done! If you should make one of these, please send pics, I'd love to see them.
Finally, there's a reason why I'm a little slow in getting back into the work groove today. My thoughts are elsewhere, with one of the most important people in my life, who with all her 1,60 m of bravado has decided to go to the States by herself, to experience genuine high school life for a few months. My courageous little girl is en route with my husband and son to the Frankfurt airport now. I've stayed back with the zoo and my work (ahem), and I feel I'm holding my breath until she has arrived safely in California. Fingers crossed it will be an amazing experience.
When I was her age, I would not have done anything like that, no way in hell. But then I was also forced to leave my country of origin at 10 years old, and start fresh in a strange and not very welcoming environment. Truth be told, I've never enjoyed moving much, and I'm sure being the child of migrant parents has more to do with that than actually loving where I am.
But hers is a different story of course, and my parents' goal to make me a free person probably just skipped a generation! With my family, she has the best hosts in the world, we chose carefully and with tons of local input (!) the school, she'll have a couple of very cool cousins, a lovely room at what my folks like to call their House of Sand, complete with garden, dog and cat. The environment couldn't be more beautiful. An adventure indeed.
The missing her part will take some adjusting, obviously; I'm aware that letting children go out into the world is an experience every parent has to go through eventually. Of course I'm bummed out, but I also feel lucky to have had both kids live with us as long as they have – even though our son is already plotting and scheming his Great Escape, having secured a cool apprenticeship and expecting his first paycheck next month... it won't be long now until he's gone for good.
I feel we were doing all sorts of 'Last Times' over the past weeks. Last shopping. Last pizza dinner. Last canoeing trip. Last ice cream. Last swim in the lake. Last movie night. Last time foraging for mushrooms. Last, last, last …
There. That was a little maudlin, but I feel I'm entitled. Thank you for taking an interest!
And now on for all the shenanigans in the fun fantasy story by the amazing Louisa Masters, my next translation project.
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