Thursday, 29 January 2009

Shetland - here I come

You wouldn't believe it if I told exactly how difficult it is to get a ticket from Denmark to Shetland - so I won't! But trust me, it was difficult alright!! I got Moe to help me, we wrote almost all flights down (yes, all flights in the world!) and search the entire Internet. And finally, I got my tickets at a reasonable price even.
I'll be leaving on April 5 and return the following Saturday - April 12 or something.
Now I need to find a place to stay. Judging from the amount of time spent looking for plane tickets, my guess is that there won't be any other people anywhere near Shetland so I'm not in a hurry :)
But if you do know the perfect place to stay near Lerwick, do tell :)

6 days of knitting... I can't wait to go!!! :D

Work

I'm the busiest bee ever these days. In fact it's too much! I'm stressed out but I'll have to hang in there for another month. There's just nothing I can do about it so I might as well get the best out of the situation. And there are good things about it :)
For example! Earlier today I was notified that tomorrow is the day we've all been waiting for - at least if you work here. Or if you have invested a ton of money in the project. Anyway, tomorrow it is 'test-launch of the first prototype wave plane-day'. That is in itself very exiting and I'm really looking forward to seeing this huge lump of metal plunge to the sea.

In the wake of this test-launch there's a bonus. A knitting bonus. The event will take place around 50 km away from my house, and I'll be driven there, which means.... yes, you guessed it.... I'll be knitting to and fro. We are talking around 90 minutes of knitting with pay here! :)

See! 2009 is already looking bright! :)

Monday, 26 January 2009

WTF?!

So I called bladkiosken.dk to ask about my Vogue Knitting magazines.
I suspected they would tell me that a) my magazine was lost in the mail, or b) it's on its way. However, that's not exactly how it went.
The guy from bladkiosken.dk tells me that they have had a lot of problems with Vogue Knitting; about 50% of the magazines never reached the end-user. And because it had been such a hassle for such a long time, they didn't even sell those magazines anymore. Great! :(
Originally Vogue Knitting was sent directly to me from the UK. The weirdest thing is that some 'clever' person in the UK decided that 'no, I won't send the actual Vogue Knitting, I'll give her this 'Knit 1' instead - she obviously likes knitting a lot, so I guess she won't mind the least freakin' bit'.... or something.
I should probably mention something good by now....
Okay, the good thing here is that they never charged me for these random magazines.
Back to the bad stuff: I still want my Vogue Knitting!!!

Sunday, 25 January 2009

Knit 1 vs. Vogue Knitting



No, this is not a review on the two knitting magazines Knit 1 and Vogue Knitting. The thing is that a few days ago I got this Knit 1 fall/winter edition in the mail. It came from bladkiosken.dk from where I usually get my Vogue Knitting. The strangest thing is that I really don't recall having ordered this otherwise nice magazine. I checked my account to see if I did it in my sleep. No such thing seems to have happened. The next strangest thing is that the Vogue Knitting winter edition hasn't arrived yet. Did bladkiosken.dk run out of Vogue magazines and then decided that I would do just fine with a Knit 1 instead?
For obvious reasons I want the magazine I actually ordered. If I can have the Knit 1 for free I won't say no. I'll call bladkiosken.dk tomorrow.
Plant and view of the morning - say hello :)

Val Gardena

January 10, I went on ski holiday with Moe and my dad. My mother was left behind since her knee was badly damaged last year and she's still recovering.
The three of us went to Val Gardena, Italy; same as last year, the year before that and so on. I love those holidays.
Before heading out to the airport I made sure that all knitting related stuff was packed carefully in my suitcase. Arriving in the Dolomites I suddenly came to realize that my brain had left the building while the rest of me had been packing! I forgot yarn for my scarf in progress and I failed to bring the wires for my Knit Pick needles!! Fortunately I still had my Spring Forward sock and another unholy sock on the needles with me.
The whole thing did make me feel sort of naked, so I went into town and asked around for knitting needles. In St. Christina there's this store called Maciaconi and in the downstairs shop that carries kitchen utensils, books and magazines, sewing gear and toys, the most grumpy lady ever seem to spend most of her working hours (please retire, please!). This time around she was as grumpy as ever but I was prepared! Without hesitation in my mind, in German I asked her if they also carried knitting needles and if not, if she knew where I could find some. For about a split second she looked up and answered my question in a harsh tone: "Ortisei!!".
I quietly thanked her and skedaddled.
Ortisei is not too far away from St. Christina but you have to drive there. It meant that I would have to convince my dad and Moe that our holiday would be ruined if we didn't go.
We actually did go to Ortisei a couple of times: Sunday and all shops where closed. Tuesday and I still didn't know what knitting needles were called in Italian.
I never did get to buy any Italian knitting needles, but I did find out what chose seemingly forgettable tools are called in Italian (ferri da maglia). The person who was kind enough to enlighten me on that subject was from Scotland! The chances of meeting someone from Scotland in the Alps who even lives and works there must be 1:1,000,000,000. I felt so good to be able to communicate without searching for words all the time.
After all this one should think that I finished both pair of socks, right? Not even close. I hardly knitted at all.
Instead I did this:

Yup, it's me with my arms out in the air.

For unknown reasons...

I decided to make this pair of socks. They are size EU 26/27 and I don't even know any kids with feet that size. The socks are made with 'Sock Wool' from 'Hjertegarn. It's a 75% wool and 25% polyamide blend. Not the softest in the world, if you ask me. Soft enough, though. They weigh 34 g. I should probably go for 'more' and 'bigger' if I'm to reach 5,000 g before the end of the year.


Friday, 23 January 2009

Come and knit at my house!

If you like, you're more than welcome to come and knit with me and the other crazy knitters who may show up - be here February 7, 2009. It's a Saturday and I'll open the front door after 12:30. Be sure to have a full stomach when you arrive, since I'll be knitting and not cooking. Sorry.
I will, however, make sure there will be snacks and drinks! :)
Also, bring your own yarn; you may look and perhaps even touch my yarn.... we'll see ;)
You are also more than welcome to bring all other knitting related items, e.g. books, magazines, your newest needles, etc. (sheep will have to stay in the yard, I'm afraid - but don't let that stop you).

So, toss me an email (guinstuff@hotmail.com) or write a comment if you'd like to come.

Happy knitting!

Saturday, 3 January 2009

By the way!

I know that there are knit nights around in cafés and yarn shops, etc. But that doesn't mean that there are too many knit nights, does it? So preferably in February (first or second Saturday of the month) I intend to host a private knitting 'event' of some sort. To make things a bit easier for me - and more demanding on your part - I might suggest that you bring something to the 'dinner table', e.g. biscuits. Knitters low on sugar..... yikes! Oh, and bring your own knitting. I know I have a huge stash of yarn but it's not up for grabs! So far, so good. If you think this sounds at all appealing and you actually consider showing up, please let me know which Saturday of the two above-mentioned days you'd prefer. And please let me know if you DO show up :)

Back to the actual knitting.

Roger over and out.