gemacht Archive - Seite 8 von 14

New Zealand rocks (pun intended)

Veröffentlicht am 24. April 201710. Juli 2020 von Carina

It must have been 2013, when The Green Dragonfly and I started following each other. (WordPress might know the exact date, but I am too lazy to look it up). Every now and then, Janette would comment on my blog and I would comment on hers – nothing special – that’s what followers do, right?

However, it is different.

Chances are, Janette and I will never meet, as she and her family live literally at the other end of the world from where we are. To fly from her city to mine would take a day. At least. It would mean four different airports and planes. Again: at least. They are getting ready for winter, we await summer. They are in New Zealand, we are in Berlin.

google maps 2017-04-24 um 19.04.37 Still, over the years, I came to know her (some) through her beautiful blog and photos, her comments and likes. And every now and then, she and her children (a bit younger than my son) would do stuff we used to do a few years back. Weird. Like playing with crocheted owls. Like wrapping up in granny square blankets.

Like painting rocks.

This is when my son said, „Maybe we can …“ – and yes, we can! So we initiated a rock swap. (Probably the first ever. I don’t think that existed before). Julius chose the rocks and wrote a letter. In English. Just like that. (I’d love to have the confidence of a 12yr old at times). My job was to pack und send our parcel. Simple? Yes. And Exciting!

The Green Dragonfly Häkelmonster painted rocks Today, eight little painted rocks arrived by mail. They came all the way from NZ. It took them less than two weeks. A chocolate kiwi bird kept them company. And we were thrilled!

The Green Dragonfly Häkelmonster painted rocks Thank you so much!

My favorite stone is the red heart on turquoise. Well, and the purple smile. Julius immediately fell for the strawberry followed by the purple rock with all these dots and of course the soccer ball (no surprise here) on yellow or … probably all of them!

Of course, the travelling rocks were subject to close scrutiny: Maia and Carter chose bigger rocks than the ones we sent. They use different paint and they do not color the bottom side. And – the most difficult part (at least for us) – we are well aware of the fact that they hide their rocks, those pieces of art, in parks around the city for others to find …

So, I guess, we have to set them free at some point.

We decided that each of us may keep one (heart = me & strawberry = him), another one will go to our lovely neighbor as she has a collection of stones (probably the purple smile, unless she preferes another). The remaining five will be released, so that strangers (scary!) will find them in Berlin.

Not now. In summer.

For now, we’ll wait for our parcel to arrive in NZ. It should arrive any day from now.

Heaven & Space

Veröffentlicht am 29. September 201610. Juli 2020 von Carina

The Carolinas were heaven and space. Heaven to be with my two friends and their daughters (no husbands, no sons). So many daughters, a total of five, beautiful, bright, loveable young women. We would spend hours on the porch of our airbnb house, talking, laughing, knitting (me).

And then there was space. Probably not the (aero)space Martina Behm had in mind when designing the shawlette. More of a letting-your-mind-wander-space when looking over the ocean in Charleston, when driving all the way up to Mount Airy, when being with a friend not talking at all (but communicating nonetheless).

One week in North and South Carolina was just as wonderful as I was hoping it would be. We stayed on a boat in Charleston, discovered the city by bicycle, had drinks at a roof-top bar, admired each and every crape myrtle’s pink beauty and every Charleston Single House. We enjoyed local food, were introduced to the Andy Griffith show and everything (everything!) that comes with it, did some shopping and slept in every morning.

Of course I visited the bead shop Beads on Cannon as suggested (thank you!!) and was deeply impressed by the very friendly and knowledgeable ladies who work there and their huge selection of beads.

Just one small downer: we did not manage to find the yarn store What’s Needlin‘ Ewe in Mount Airy, supposedly „America’s friendliest yarn store.“ (That’s what it says on their homepage). So, when back in Berlin, I sent them an email and (much later) a reminder – both are unanswered to this day. That is to say: no souvenir yarn …

However: I knitted (and almost finished) Heaven & Space within that week – thanks to lots of time and long plane rides … Upon landing in Berlin it was a shawlette with 16 pattern repeats (as suggested by designer) but I wanted it to be an actual shawl. Now it has 25 pattern repeats – enough width to wrap it twice around me. So lovely.

I love the pattern – knitting was fun. Still, I might choose a different yarn when knitting it again. Semisolid and sparkle and the geometric pattern are a bit too much (at least for my taste).

A quick question: I am not quite sure whether I prefer it blocked or unblocked. Do I bathe it again? There is still some time left before giving it to my wonderful travel companion for her birthday. Ideally, she will remember the week we had full of women, warmth and wedding preparations every time she wears it.

kurze Auszeit

Veröffentlicht am 8. Juni 201610. Juli 2020 von Carina11 Kommentare

Beim Decken des Daches sind den Dachdeckern Ziegel und Zementbrocken ins Blumenbeet gefallen.

Über jeden Teil dieses Satzes könnte ich jetzt einen Blogpost schreiben. Über den Dreck und den Krach und das komische Gefühl unter einem Dach zu schlafen, das (für den Moment) keins ist. Über Handwerker, deren Sprache ich nicht spreche, über kontinuierliches Hämmern seit Tagen und abgebröckelten Putz im Schlafzimmer. Darüber, dass die Veranda gefährlich ist zur Zeit und trotzdem fast die Treppe mein Verhängnis geworden wäre – weil draußen einer auf dem Gerüst turnte mit dem ich nicht gerechnet habe. Und dass sie heute morgen die Lampe – das Ei aus Glas – im Treppenhaus abgenommen haben, weil das dann vielleicht doch besser wäre …

Ich könnte darüber schreiben, dass Dachdecker (zumindest die, die auf unserem Dach stehen) keine Gärtner sind und deshalb wenig Sinn für Pflanzen im Vorgarten haben. Dass sie Rosen unter Latten begraben und den schönsten Lavendel mit einem Ziegel erschlagen haben.

Zur Schadensminimierung räume ich jeden Abend auf. Sammel die Brocken aus dem Beet und tröste die Pflanzen. Dabei bin ich mit der Hand in einem Rosenbusch hängen geblieben …. Wie immer ich das gemacht habe. Wohl im Zorn. „Erwischt“ hat es den linken Zeigefinger. Genau! Nicht einen der neun anderen. Nur den, um den ich den Faden wickel.

Murphy’s Law.

Auszeit. Kein Stricken, weil das mit Pflaster nicht geht. Aber ich sehe das Gute: seit heute morgen ist der Finger nicht mehr dick, das Pflaster ist ab. Rosen und Lavendel wachsen nach. Und wenn das neue Dach drauf ist, ist es isoliert. Keine heißen Sommer mehr und keine kalten Winter.

Alles wird gut. Und im nächsten Blogpost stricke oder häkel ich wieder.

woolly hats for innocent

Veröffentlicht am 5. November 201310. Juli 2020 von Carina4 Kommentare

It was at the Frankfurt YarnCamp when I saw innocent’s little brochures, asking for wooly hats, first. (Before that, I didin’t even know innocent existed, not to mention they care about people – but that’s another story). And it was love at first sight!

The idea is to sell those little hats with innocent’s smoothies. For every woolly hat sold, they make a donation to support the elderly and old, who are cold in winter, lonely and isolated.

So far, 11.965 hats were knitted in Germany this year. Quite a few of them are real masterpieces! Second only to the amazing hats knitted by people in Great Britain.

So last weekend my mom and I would knit little woolly hats for innocent too. Rather hands-on than design, made of bits and pieces of stash, my mom would knit each basic hat and I would weave in the ends and take care of extras like pom-poms, flowers, and the like. You know how much I like to make flowers :). At the end of the day, there were 31 hats.

For those of you who would like to join in (please do!!) – deadline is December 1, 2013; please see the (German) innocent homepage for more information (requirements, patterns, ideas) or watch the (English) film.

I need to go to the post office now to mail those hats 🙂

Crocheted Daisy

Veröffentlicht am 18. Oktober 201310. Juli 2020 von Carina5 Kommentare

Knitted Art presented Cherry Heart’s lovely crocheted Daisies and I had to make one on the spot. Lazy (and impatient …) as I can be, I used yarn and hook that were closest to me.

Well, this first little flower didn’t turn out as „bumpy“ and haptic as the ones Sandra made (plus, it looks like a fried egg) so I may have to give it some more thought. My guess would be that (1) the crochet hook I used is too thin or (2) cotton is not the best choice of yarn (too „stiff“). Still, it’s a pretty little flower. I will definitely make more and post better pictures within the next days.

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