27 August 2007
Punk Rock Knitters
i'm normally totally averse to using this space to answer questionnaires, but i want to get a boxful of knitting prezzies from some mysterious punk rock girl somewheres, so i'm gonna play nice (more or less) and answer some questions for the good people at the Punk Rock Gift Exchange
1. Why are you punk?
because pink was already taken.. because i was not H enough for phunk. because all the other people with unusual piercings are punk, right? because punk has been watered down into an efficient catchall word for non-fitter-inners. ..so i kind of fit in there. hey, and then there's the music.. let us not forget about the loud simple, kick you in the gonads music. :D
2. What are your five favorite things? (these don't have to be knit related)
bicycles! and adventures! and gin! also books and yarn in lots of colors
3. What are your three favorite things that you have made with knitting/crochet?
i wear my fingerless mits all the time, and scarf and hat like mad in the winter. i'm always really proud of something when i make it myself, especially when i designed it myself too.
4. What five things would you love to see in a swap box someday?
yarn! (something luscious? unique? pretty much any!), knitting books/magazines that i haven't seen (especially non-english, or interweave spring 07 - i was moving and my subscription hadn't caught up to me), stitchmarkers, something special from the area of the swap-buddy, and maybe knitting accessories - fancy needles, funny measuring tape, project bags, sheep jokes.
5. What are your three favorite yarns? What are your three least favorite yarns?
cascade 220 is a real workhorse, i fell in love with Jo Sharp silk road aran tweed, and noro silk road. wow, kind of a theme there, but one's tweedy and the other has long color stripes.
least favorites include acrylic-y stuff, pink/blue/yellow baby pastels, and hemp - feels like knitting barbed wire! ..which come to think of it, would be pretty punk. maybe i don't qualify....
6. What are your five favorite delicacies?
7. What are your three favorite guilty pleasures?
trashy TV series on DVD, big fantasy/scifi novels (especially Robert Jordan and Isaac Asimov), and iiiiiiice cream.
8. What are the five things you look forward to every week?
free time for sleeping/knitting/tinkering, a long bike ride, fresh bread at the bakery, emails from my friends back home (michigan), and playing soccer (football).
9. What do you collect?
bicycles, friends, embarassing stories.
umm.. i have a little start on yarn, roving and fabric stashes (i spin and sew a little too, just to subvert the patriarchy)
umm.. i have a little start on yarn, roving and fabric stashes (i spin and sew a little too, just to subvert the patriarchy)
10. When is your birthday?
january 15
11. Do you have any wishlists?
on amazon.com and amazon.de, and i have a hearts list on etsy.
12. What would you like your pal to know that is not covered here?
i live in germany, speak and read english and german, and pretty much just read spanish. i'm a engineer, so i'm pretty good at following instructions/pictures when i want to, or improvising a solution when i don't feel like following directions. i just knit my first pair of socks and was pretty darned proud. i like putting stitch patterns (lace, color, cable) into things that i make. oh, and my favorite colors are rich ones, saturated. i lean towards reds and oranges especially, but also blues/greens/purples.
hope this helps!
26 August 2007
Crete
Heraklion is happening. The intrepid sister has come to visit. We stayed 2 days in Germany, drinking beers at the big religious festival (anniversary of founding of the church on the bar-lined street). The street transforms, with special discos opening just for this weekend.
We drank vodka brause (put pop rocks into your mouth and wash it down with a vodka shot) and danced our pants off. in the morning we drank smoked hefeweizen and ate sausages and pretzels with sweet mustard.
then we took a cab to the train station, and a train to the airport, and a plane to Crete. tomorrow we will try to find our way out of the labyrinth at knossos before the minotaurs eat us.
it is warm and beautiful and relaxed here. the hibiscus flowers are blooming bright red. we visited a byzantine cathedral (painted to the gills). the people are charming and warm. all the girls are in skirts and little dresses (us too!). there is much drinking of coffee, and we are looking forward to octopi and ouzo. *eee* greece!
We drank vodka brause (put pop rocks into your mouth and wash it down with a vodka shot) and danced our pants off. in the morning we drank smoked hefeweizen and ate sausages and pretzels with sweet mustard.
then we took a cab to the train station, and a train to the airport, and a plane to Crete. tomorrow we will try to find our way out of the labyrinth at knossos before the minotaurs eat us.
it is warm and beautiful and relaxed here. the hibiscus flowers are blooming bright red. we visited a byzantine cathedral (painted to the gills). the people are charming and warm. all the girls are in skirts and little dresses (us too!). there is much drinking of coffee, and we are looking forward to octopi and ouzo. *eee* greece!
Labels: greece
21 August 2007
Nether Lands
On July 20, Hannes and I hit the road again. This time, he drove (yaay!) and i passenged, knitting and reading as we crossed Germany and headed into Holland.
Friday night we got to Den Haag (the Hague). Saturday morning was beautiful and blue, but i had such a headcold, it was hard to enjoy it. What I liked in the Hague was that it just looks different. It's different from Germany, even though it's only about 6 hours away.
We saw some rad old cars
some cool bikes (oh my, the Dutch and their bikes! they do a lot of personalization)
I cajoled the boy into coming into this cotton fabric shop with me
and as part of our compromise, i visited a coffee shop and an art gallery with him
Our hotel was next to the NutsHouse and the Nuts Savings Bank
After we left the Hague we headed to Scheveningen. (a name the Dutch Resistance used as a codeword in WWII because the Germans and English can't manage to say the name right). It's a resort town on the North Sea. But it was cold and windy that day, so we dipped our toes in the ocean and had lunch at a restaurant on the boardwalk before moving along.
Next we camped in an area North and East of Amsterdam called Flevoland. It was probably in the mid-60°F's, or 15-17°C. It rained and we learned that our new tent is truly waterproof. Woo! so we stayed dry. we bought ourselves a present - Yahtzee, with the scorecard in Dutch. Dobbel Blok it was called, which is Kniffel, in German.
The campsite wasn't too scenic, but we made little trips out and aboot. First we went to Urk, a cute little fishing town on the coast of Ijslmeer.
These great views courtesy of the Lighthouse in Urk.
Which, surprisingly, lets you climb all the way to the top, and walk around the light on the tower.
Later we visited Arnhem, rented out bikes, and rode up to the Hogue Veluwe nature reserve.
We rode over the paths, through the dunes and the sparse pine forests. They have over 1000 free white bikes at the park, for people to use, but we were glad to have our own.
In the middle of the park is a modern art museum with a huge collection of older Van Gogh paintings. They were mostly dark and unhappy paintings. I was really drawn to this picture, though.
I saw her and thought, "I'd really like to have a drink with that gal, I bet she's got stories." Turns out she's Mata Hari, painted by Isaac Israel.
We also did a day trip to Amsterdam, before relocating there. Can you believe, they need parking structures for bicycles?
Amsterdam was beautiful, but none of my pictures really turned out. It seems a little more Vegas than Vegas, but at the same time old and picturesque like nobody's business.
Odd notes on the Netherlands. Peanut butter is called Pindakaas, and it's delicious there. At the breakfast buffet we learned (from illustrated single-serving packages) that the Dutch put butter on their bread, and then sprinkles. That's right, you may know them as Jimmies. Those little candy cylinders that one normally gets on ice cream. They put it on bread, and it's breakfast.
They also have chocolate spread that's like frosting, but counts as part of a healthy breakfast.
Pannekoeken - pancakes. The dutch first sautée veggies and meats, then pour in a pancake batter that doesn't rise much. So it's kind of like a mix between omelettes and pancakes. And when they eat sweet Pannekoeken, they use syrup called Stroop which tastes a lot like molasses.
Neither Hannes nor I were adventurous enough to throw whole herrings down our gullets. Maybe next time.
Friday night we got to Den Haag (the Hague). Saturday morning was beautiful and blue, but i had such a headcold, it was hard to enjoy it. What I liked in the Hague was that it just looks different. It's different from Germany, even though it's only about 6 hours away.
We saw some rad old cars
some cool bikes (oh my, the Dutch and their bikes! they do a lot of personalization)
I cajoled the boy into coming into this cotton fabric shop with me
and as part of our compromise, i visited a coffee shop and an art gallery with him
Our hotel was next to the NutsHouse and the Nuts Savings Bank
After we left the Hague we headed to Scheveningen. (a name the Dutch Resistance used as a codeword in WWII because the Germans and English can't manage to say the name right). It's a resort town on the North Sea. But it was cold and windy that day, so we dipped our toes in the ocean and had lunch at a restaurant on the boardwalk before moving along.
Next we camped in an area North and East of Amsterdam called Flevoland. It was probably in the mid-60°F's, or 15-17°C. It rained and we learned that our new tent is truly waterproof. Woo! so we stayed dry. we bought ourselves a present - Yahtzee, with the scorecard in Dutch. Dobbel Blok it was called, which is Kniffel, in German.
The campsite wasn't too scenic, but we made little trips out and aboot. First we went to Urk, a cute little fishing town on the coast of Ijslmeer.
These great views courtesy of the Lighthouse in Urk.
Which, surprisingly, lets you climb all the way to the top, and walk around the light on the tower.
Later we visited Arnhem, rented out bikes, and rode up to the Hogue Veluwe nature reserve.
We rode over the paths, through the dunes and the sparse pine forests. They have over 1000 free white bikes at the park, for people to use, but we were glad to have our own.
In the middle of the park is a modern art museum with a huge collection of older Van Gogh paintings. They were mostly dark and unhappy paintings. I was really drawn to this picture, though.
I saw her and thought, "I'd really like to have a drink with that gal, I bet she's got stories." Turns out she's Mata Hari, painted by Isaac Israel.
We also did a day trip to Amsterdam, before relocating there. Can you believe, they need parking structures for bicycles?
Amsterdam was beautiful, but none of my pictures really turned out. It seems a little more Vegas than Vegas, but at the same time old and picturesque like nobody's business.
Odd notes on the Netherlands. Peanut butter is called Pindakaas, and it's delicious there. At the breakfast buffet we learned (from illustrated single-serving packages) that the Dutch put butter on their bread, and then sprinkles. That's right, you may know them as Jimmies. Those little candy cylinders that one normally gets on ice cream. They put it on bread, and it's breakfast.
They also have chocolate spread that's like frosting, but counts as part of a healthy breakfast.
Pannekoeken - pancakes. The dutch first sautée veggies and meats, then pour in a pancake batter that doesn't rise much. So it's kind of like a mix between omelettes and pancakes. And when they eat sweet Pannekoeken, they use syrup called Stroop which tastes a lot like molasses.
Neither Hannes nor I were adventurous enough to throw whole herrings down our gullets. Maybe next time.
Labels: adventures, holland, travel
