Bloom in Greyscale (+ mini giveaway!)

This is life right now. Don't be fooled, things are pretty good and I am extremely grateful for that. As long as I manage not to think about how things were supposed to be and how plans did not work out and how disappointed I am in myself. Which is, thank goodness, most of the time.

In the end, it is just another step in a mysterious journey called „growing up“. This too shall pass and one day we will laugh about it. Today may not be that day, but to quote my current favorite song of all times: „hold your head up high / to the end of our time for the rest of our lives“*

So if in doubt, take B&W-photographs of it and call it art.

And to cheer you up and make you have another good look at the pictures above, I have a (maybe way too easy?) riddle for you:

Where am I?

Whoever posts the correct answer (country and name of town is sufficent) in the comments until, let's say, Sunday night, will receive a free copy of one of my knitting patterns. Just pick one and give me your Ravelry name.

* Atoma by Dark Tranquillity. Go listen to it on Youtube. Now.

New patterns! Perm Cowl

Over the Christmas holidays I have been working on two new designs which are finally ready for the public. 

The first one is called Perm. It's a cowl design featuring a wide lace panel and a narrow xox-cable. This combo seems to be quite popular on Ravelry right now and I wanted to give it a try. I've never worked with Malabrigo Arroyo before so I ordered only one skein to play with. Let me tell you, it has a great stitch definition and is a dream to work with. It's super soft and the colours are great too. Knit as-is, the cowl takes just one skein, but since the design is modular, you can adjust both circumference and length to your yardage and preferences (think a wide wrap-around-two-times loop!).

I admit that the colour is not my usual pick (it's 131 Sandbank), but it shows off the texture nicely and apparently it looks great during photoshoots on frozen beaches in wintertime. Needless to say that while looking super comfortable and confident and not at all freezing to death in the pictures, a pair of snow pants was wrapped around my knees and my fingers felt like little icicles. #amodel'slife

If you like the cowl and want to knit your own, the pattern is available through Ravelry for 3.90 €. Frozen beaches and red noses are not included, but a chart and a complete written-out transcription of said chart is. Since I know that some people are not too comfortable knitting from charts (while others, including myself, love it), you can just choose the version you like most. Additional information like yardage, gauge, and sizes, are available on Ravelry. 

Happy knitting :)

Do we still have a savegame from 2015?

Do you know this cartoon from Adam Ellis? Well, that kind of sums it up.

2016 started out really great. During the first half of the year I learned a lot of new things. I went skiing for the first time in my life and didn't suck at it (or that's what people told me), did a pottery class, saw the Sisters of Mercy live, quit sugar and spent most of the football matches in which Germany played running through my deserted village listening to that one album by Soilwork. One sunday morning I ran 5 km in 30 minutes and 14 seconds without even trying. Hillary was on top, my job got waaaay better, I was getting rid of lots of stuff I didn't need anymore, there were a pregnancy and several weddings (not mine, but I caught the flower bouquet). Life was good.

The man and I were preparing for our life together, this time for good. We found a flat, we found a way to make the move happen, we made the move happen. After that we both had some adventure time, he in the north, I in the south. I got some freckles on my nose, I got soaked more times than I care to remember, I got ill, I got better again. My feet hurt, my shoulder hurt, but I kept on walking. I didn't see an elk, but I think I heard one.

But when I got home, somehow, the spell was broken. I still don't fully understand why or how exactly things went wrong. I don't want to go into detail, and right now it doesn't matter. What matters is that I am finally able to accept it, because that is the first step to change it. It took me quite some time to get to this point, but since it's still 2016, I guess it counts. 

Honestly I don't know yet what to expect from and hope for in 2017 because I am so taken up with the current situation. My list with good intentions is written, but everything else is still shrouded by fog. Manage expectations and disappointments, make baby steps, celebrate small victories. Hang in there. That's all we can do, right? 

I hope you are well, had a good end-of-the-year holiday and spent some time with your loved ones. 2017 means 365 fresh days to make it a good year. Should be enough. :)

Pattern coming + search for testers

Having done minimal to zero creative work in the past few months, I decided to make up for it by designing more knitwear and writing patterns for it. By now it is mainly accessories, but we will see where it takes me. 

First up: The Brua Cowl

This cowl uses a simple and very versatile stitch repeat that allows you to make the cowl as high and wide as you wish. The original sample was knit in Rosy Green Wool Cheeky Merino Joy (colour 065 Edelweiss). 

The pattern is almost ready for upload and I am now looking for a few testers who would like to knit the cowl and provide some feedback. You can follow this link to Ravelry and sign up for the test or send me an email/leave a comment here and I will get back to you with the details.

Thanks and have a lovely week!

Going places

A lot has happened since we spoke last. There has been an unhealthy amount of carrying boxes and driving cars, a healthy amount of sleeping in the woods, followed by a lot of walking and even more sleeping in the woods (more on that later). We had fish straight from the fjord and northern lights. The man and I are finally settled in our new home by the river where we have a more or less stable internet connection, though no proper desks yet. Our freezer is packed with blueberries and cranberries and we are writing shopping lists for the winter. Very high on mine: Spikes for my bike and proper gloves for skiing, snowshoeing and well, general survival at 69°N. 

Enjoy the view and stay tuned for more tales from the North ;)

... und nächste Woche gehen wir anzelten!

Mein Blog ist einer dieser halbtoten Zombie-Blogs geworden, in die man alle paar Monate mal reinschaut, um dann festzustellen, dass es wieder nur einen neuen Post gibt. Ein großes Sorry dafür. Ich verbringe auf der Arbeit zwar den ganzen Tag im Internet, aber eben in ganz anderen Ecken als normalerweise. Wikipedia, Google Translate und Linguee sind meine besten Freunde geworden, nachdem uns in der Uni eingetrichtert wurde, diese Seiten höchstens als allerersten Wegweiser und nur heimlich zu Hause zu verwenden. Die Rache der freien Wirtschaft. 

Nach einigen Hochs und Tiefs habe ich jetzt zumindest wieder Spaß an der Arbeit, das Gefühl, in die richtige Richtung zu laufen (wir erinnern uns) und nebenher noch Zeit für Sightseeing. Es geht voran, slow and steady. 

Und damit ihr nicht ganz umsonst gekommen seid, hier noch ein kleines "Life lately" von März bis gestern Nachmittag: 

Schneeschuhspaziergang hinter'm Haus.

"Noch Kaffee, Schatz?"

Der Stuhl ist da fest installiert und Teil eines "Guck mal wie schön unsere Küste ist (Duh!)"-Projekts in Harstad. Womit ich offiziell auch mal auf den Vesterålen war. 

Vitamin D in Holst Coast und etwas zu eng unter den Armen. Meine Maschenprobe wich etwas von der vorgegebenen ab, aber ich wollte es natürlich nicht wahrhaben. 

Langzeit- und Selbstkasteiungsprojekt Orenburgstola. Wenn ihr da jetzt einen Fehler findet, sagt es mit nicht. Bitte. Die Nadeln haben Stärke 2,0. 

Primärfarbenes Stickprojekt. 

Zukunftspatriotisches Strickprojekt. 

Life Lately

Ökolevel 7 completed: Eigene Licht- und Wärmequellen hergestellt.

Italien vor dem Schnee oder: Das Coverbild des Debutalbums meiner imaginären Black-Metal-Ambient Band. 

Die Borderlands nach dem Schnee. 

Warmes Frühstück (Rezept gibt es hier).

Besuch in der großen Stadt (mehr so als Beweisfoto). 

Hipster-Nachmittag. 

Die Tage der Welt

Im September war ich über meinen Geburtstag noch einmal eine Woche im Landet i det Fjerne. Wie das Bild, das ich noch von Norwegen aus gepostet hatte, schon vorausahnen ließ, hatten wir echt Spaß. Hier nun die ganze Story in relativ chonologischer Reihenfolge. 

Was ich in dieser einen Woche gelernt habe? Machen, einfach machen. Wenn du nach Finnland fahren willst, denk nicht lange darüber nach, fahr nach Finnland. Du kannst dein Abendessen mit Euros bezahlen. Wenn du zu diesem See fahren willst, fahr zu diesem See, egal ob die Sonne schon untergeht. Wenn du diesen Berg besiegen willst, dann besieg ihn, verdammt noch mal. Und wenn es den ganzen Tag dauert (es hat den ganzen Tag gedauert). Auf dem Weg nach oben gibt es Blaubeeren und der Weg nach unten ist sowieso egal.. weil du oben warst. 

Und wenn dir als Deutsche jemand in Norwegen italienischen Weißwein schenkt, bedank dich und nimm es einfach hin. Dinge müssen manchmal keinen Sinn ergeben.