Beer Mitts

Dinge gibts, die gibts nicht – oder eben doch. So was ähnliches dachte ich, als mir die Chefin neulich ein Bild von einem Beer Mitt schickte. Sie war in Asien auf Geschäftsreise und kam mit einer Dame, die zu ihrer Delegation gehörte, ins Gespräch; ein Wort gab das andere und weil die Chefin bei allem, was mit Wolle zu tun hat, an mich denkt, kam dann das Bild per Mail an mich.

Ein Bier-Handschuh – verrückt, oder? Das habe ich echt noch nie gesehen. Braucht wahrscheinlich auch niemand. Es ist in der Idee sowas wie ein Fausthandschuh, der die Hand in „Becherhaltung“ zwingt. Gestrickt und um einen gehäkelten Boden erweitert. Da passt eine kleine Flasche rein oder eben ein Glas. Unisex und für Rechts- und Linkshänder gleichermassen.

Anleitungen finden sich überall im Netz. Auch in verschiedenen Größen. Profis stricken einen farblich passenden Handschuh für die andere Hand dazu, habe ich gesehen (aber nicht nachgemacht).

Und weil ich aus der Mail der Chefin zu lesen glaubte, dass sie genau so einen Handschuh gerne hätte und – ja – weil mich die Konstruktion gereizt hat und weil ich eh so wenig weniger als sonst auf den Nadeln habe, habe ich ihr gleich einen aus Wollresten gestrickt. Schurwolle, bißchen kratzig, aber warm. Passend für den Weihnachtsmarkt in USA.

Ich bin sehr (!) gespannt, was sie sagen wird, wenn sie in knapp zwei Wochen hier ist!

Für den Chef stricke ich auch noch einen. Und für meine Schwester. In Vereinsfarben. Dann hält der Kaffee länger warm, wenn sie im Winter am Fußballfeld steht, um ihre Jungs anzufeuern 🙂

The swimmer

No! More! Winter! (Please…) I really can’t take it anymore. I am so tired of the cold, the ice, the snow. Especially after spring already showed up. We had sun, we had crocuses, we even had a bit of gardening going on. And now this again. Really?

Of course, from a knitting and crochet point of view, winter has its charms. Cozy projects, warm yarn, all of that. But still. I am seriously longing for daylight and warm weather. Aren’t you? So I decided to take matters into my own hands. If summer won’t come to me, I’ll just “crochet summer” instead.

And here is the result:

Any idea what this might be? It belongs to a gentleman in a blue bathing cap and matching speedo – a swimmer!

Over the years, some of the photos that used to be here got lost – thanks to a total blog crash, a stolen hard drive, and whatever else can possibly happen to images along the way. The same goes for the link to the pattern – it seems the instructions have disappeared from the web as well. If I happen to come across either of them again, I’ll be sure to add them back in. Thanks so much for your understanding.

He is very committed to his look. Very confident. Slightly round in the middle, and perhaps not blessed with the longest legs—but honestly, he owns it. I am quite pleased with how the swimmer turned out.

Especially after I finally managed the floating tire. That part nearly defeated me. I tried again and again. I almost gave up. And then—out of nowhere—it clicked. Like a bolt from the blue. Literally blue, because of the blue cap, of course 🙂

The trick was doing it from the outside toward the inside. Not in rounds like usual. More like an LP record playing, spiraling in toward the center. For anyone who never handled vinyl: yes, that kind of record. Once I figured that out, everything fell into place. The swimmer. The tire. The whole summer scene.

So here they are: the swimmer and his floating tire, fully ready for summer—even if summer is clearly not ready for us yet.

Looks like there are at least two of us now, patiently waiting for warmer days…

The Green Dragonfly

Yesterday’s post by The Green Dragonfly  with all its flowers really got my imagination going. The photos she shared were absolutely stunning – every detail so vibrant and alive! I especially loved the one with the tiny dragonflies seemingly admiring the butterfly. It was such a perfect, little moment captured on camera that I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

The Green Dragonfly and her family live all the way in Australia – down under, it’s full-on summer right now! While we’re bundling up against chilly weather, she’s enjoying warm sunshine, blooming gardens, and long, bright days. It’s fun to imagine her little dragonflies and butterflies thriving in that heat, a whole other season happening on the opposite side of the world.

This morning, inspired by her post, I went outside to take a picture of the „flowers blooming“ in front of our own house. Of course, they don’t quite compare to her magical garden – the little patch is more ordinary, less artfully arranged—but still, it felt good to pause, notice the colors and shapes, and try to capture a bit of that same joy.

Flowers GaslaterneIf you like to compare – here is what it looked like in summer (we only moved in June, no „real“ garden planted yet):

Gaslaterne summer