Harvest Moon Festival
I was expecting to see Marjorie or Eva write about this, because it's one of the most important Chinese Festivals, but I was delighted to read about it on Siow Chin's blig. It's celebrated with these ultra sweet, ultra rich, yummy (it's an acquired taste) cakes.
Traditionally celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. When I was a child, my mother would light incense and put the cakes out under the moonlight. We would then sit outside watching the incense burn, before devouring the cakes. (The Chinese are practical, the moon goddess only need know that we were there to honour her and offer her the cakes, she's actually delighted that we were there to eat them.) The best cakes are reputed to be baked in Hong Kong and flown that day to the US and UK.
The cakes are symbolic of unity, as legend had it that it was used by the Han Chinese to deliver the secret message that coordinated the attack that led to the overthrowing of their Mongol rulers. We celebrate this unity by coming together to share the cakes. This year, the harvest moon festival was celebrated on the 28th of September and my husband brought me a moon cake. (wasn't that sweet of him, he tries to do this every year and one year we ended up with almond cookies instead since in came in a similar tin and he was in a hurry)
Making Waves
All that time spent travelling around and always with my camera meant I've got a lot more pictures to download. I did want to point out that while I was away, I did manage to do some knitting. In fact, I even finished my making waves socks. This is the second pattern in the six sox knit-along. I haven't touched bomber in weeks, but then again, I wasn't going to tote half a kg of yarn with me to the US either.
So I present the finished making waves.
Since some of you have mentioned in the past that I really ought to show my FO's worn instead of of draped, so I assembled various family members to pose, just for your viewing pleasure.
Knitting (and many other handcrafts ) is alive and well in Austria. Vienna has a population of approx 2 million people and nearly 20 yarn shops in operation. NYC has a population of approx 8 million and I can't imagine there being 80 yarns shops anywhere in NYC.
Prior to going away, the intrepid knitter tends to do the following:
1. post on every single board that they are part of (Rowan, knitlist, Knitters Review, etc.) asking other members, if they can bring their knitting needles on board their flight.
1.1 Let me tell you now, you may NEVER bring your needles on board on any British Airways flight. The security section may let you through (at their discretion) but knitting policy varies from airlines to airlines.
1.2 I have never had problems with knitting on American Airlines (transatlantic or domestic flights in the US). I usually bring plastic needles or circular bamboos. Long straight needles are less likely to be permitted.
2. inquire on every board/list (see above) where are the **good** places to go to buy yarn. This involves :
2.1 being on good terms with most of the people on the list (so as not to be sent to the **bad** places on purpose)
2.2 generous people taking time out to tell them where they went, 1,2 20 years ago when they were there
2.3 no fear of being critcised for not googling, etc.
3. google and see if yarn shops are found in the city.
If you've arrived in a city where you don't speak/read the language, you need a bit of brass to siddle up to the hotel clerks to ask where the local yarn shops are and you're likely to get a few strange looks when you do ask.
Those that know me will know that
(1) I already know the inflight knitting rules
(2) I'm not brave enough to ask the big lists for help, nor organise enough to ask early. I'm also likely to print out a list and leave it home (more on that later)
(3) I'm pretty good with google but there isn't a lot of hits with yarn+shop+vienna or yarn+shop+salzburg, so I armed myself by using babelfish to find out what yarn and knitting were in German.
Bold as brass, when I discovered that my hotel room did not contain a yellow pages, I went to the hotel reception to demand the loan of one. The desk clerk in Vienna offered to help me but I bravely said, 'don't worry, I know what I'm looking for'. In Salzburg, the clerk told me that they didn't have a phone directory, but I spied one in the cafe where we had lunch and borrowed it for a browse.
.. and guess what I struck gold
Look what I got...
I stuck to sock yarn to avoid dyelot problems. It's hard to buy yarn for bigger things without projects in mind and socks make great great presents.
I managed to find 3 yarn shops in Vienna and 2 in Salzburg. I'll add a link with the details to the shops, what they offered and how helpful they are in the next week or so.
A few words of advice though:
(1) bring cash, most shops that I visited did not accept credit cards.
(2) In vienna, the addresses are something like 4, Weidner-Haupstrasse,75 which means that the shop is #75 in the 4th district. Many shops can share the same address, so #75 can be (and was )a VERY long walk
(3) Germany and Austria both tend to close by noon on Sat, so do your shopping early. Shops are closed on Sunday and normally operate between 10-5, although many shops were still open on 6pm. Some of the smaller shops may also shut at lunchtime.
(4) Most yarn shops that I visited are on the small side, carrying embroidery, crochet cottons, sewing and other sorts of haberdashery items. Shops also tended to not be in the (expensive) tourist areas, so you will need to go off the beaten track.
Of course, whenever I saw sheep
I thought of wool ...
... even when I was freezing my tush off (yes, the white stuff is snow) on Glossglockner
I went to sign this
and I wrote this
Yeah, I know, you can't take me anywhere.
Just got back earlier this evening from a wonderful week in Austria. I'll write more on this in the next few days. I really must unpack and do some housework.
So here we go...all you need to do is replace a few key works and this little tune rather sums up my visit :-)
Vienna
This is my very first visit to Vienna and I was a little worried by the taxi ride into the city, as we passed the chemical works. I thought, what did I get into? Fortunately, the scenery improved.
This is at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna. Personally, I think, one of the gems of Vienna. It's outside the Ringstrasse, so somewhat off the beaten track. We arrived there just before mid-day and virtually had the whole museum to ourselves.
The Military Museum is inside an operating arsenal and is divided into 5 sections, detailing the founding of the Hapsburg empire, the Napoleanic wars/pressures from the Ottoman Empire, World War I and War World II. Even if you're not a history buff, the displays are well thought out and interesting. You can borrow a free audio guide from the front desk. The museum is one of the cheapest, entrance was only 5.10 euros per person. There's also a great breisl at the entrance to the arsenal. They serve ginormously large portions of schnitzel and cold beer for a very reasonable price. It cost under 20 euros for a hot lunch for 2, cheaper and significantly superior to the fare at the airport.
We trudged back through to our hotel via the Belvedere Palace. The place was absolutely teeming with tour buses. We walked through the gardens and admired the fantastic views. (while thanking the stars that we were walking downhill). The gardens were laid out formally, lots of grass and imposing statues. What a fantastic place to rest our weary legs.
No visit to any city would be complete without a stroll through the seat of government. Do you think that it's appropriately named? Rathaus? :-)
Within Vienna, we strolled through the Ringstrasse several times, to orient ourselves and also decide which sites we actually wanted to visit. I personally found both the guide books (Lonely Planet and Insight Guide) that we had to be somewhat disappointing, both in content and information. I'm going to write them both to complain, although I the history part of the Insight Guide was good whereas the Lonely Planet did a paltry write-up, highlighting a few interesting facts.
We also visited the Kunsthistorisches Musem (I thought expensive tickets 8.50 euros per person and the art wasn't that well displayed, the outdoor photo exhibition(free) was fantastic.), St Stephans (which I also thought was over-rated, the cathedral is lovely but can do with a good scrub, some tourists also seemed to have forgotten that it was cathedral, a place of worship, not a free touristic site built for their personal pleasure and feet should not go on the pews (sigh))
Melk
We also ventured out of Vienna and visited the fabulous Stift in Melk. Melk is about an hour's drive out of Vienna and upon arrival, the place was packed with tour buses of every nationality. Although you were allowed to visit at your our pace, the crowds meant that you really couldn't see very much. I can't count the number of elbows that were thrown at me. It was disappointing because the stift is fabulous. While most of the displays were in german, there were english subtitles. ( I was getting tired of writing down german text so that I can translate them when I got home.)
The husband snapped these photos. The rain was a great deterrent in encouraging the crowds to stay indoors. The view from the Stift is breath taking.
Salzburg
I've been to Salzburg before and loved it. We didn't visit too many places this time. It just rained and rained the whole time that we were here. We did go up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress. You get a wonderful view from the top.
Now, to get up there, you can do it the expensive and easy way, via the funnicular. (3.60 euro each way + 7.20 euro to enter the fort and the museum) or climb your way up. After getting up there, could you blame me for taking a knitting break? Unfortunately the gift shop was open but the cafe wasn't serving and I really could had done with a cold drink.
The museum is worth the visit. The tours are guided but you get an audio guide in your language of choice. Given my very limited/non-existent German and the ability to continually mix up schwein (pig) and zwei (two), mine was obviously in English. Again, I encountered some very badly behaved tourists. There was the American that pushed everyone out of the way so that he can take 5 pictures of every item in a variety of angles. The Polish woman that insisted to climb first up on the spiral staircase, causing an enormous tail back when she climbed slower than I get out of bed in the morning. The 2 young Japanese girls with 3 inch designer shoes that not only had trouble climbing, but walking on even terrain was a challenge. I'm not every going to describe the German woman who HAD to sit down on the stair blocking everyone from getting to the Register or the young Italian gent that had to have a smoke and attempted to light up inside the museum.
I could had spent the whole day up the fortress. It's huge, but in the end, we went down via the funnicular. It was fast and fun.
Finally, on our last full day in Austria, we went to the Hohe Tauern National Park. It was well worth the trip and the early start. Upon arriving, we were told that the park was closed due to icy roads. We waited for 30 minutes minutes and the gates finally opened.
It was really foggy, but the view was fabulous.
Here's a photo of me in front of the glacier on the panoranic walkway. I sort of walked right back onto solid earth when I realised that the metal platform was bolted onto the side of the mountain and the wind was causing the platform to shake rather alarmingly.
I certainly, wasn't letting go of this. Husband had already proclaimed that he was not climbing down to the glacier to retrieve my knitting... and the other climbers were nodding at him vigourously. They probably thought that it was a good ideal to humor the idiot knitting on top of the mountain. What the heck? Gives new meaning to extreme knitting?
I arrived at the Mason-Dixon Afghan Sewing Bee, last Sunday, kindly organised by Kay and Ann.
and hosted by the wonderful Phyllis. (Phyllis's husband kindly absented himself from the fray while we worked on assembling the various squares and littering his home with bits of yarn)
Of course, there was a wonderful spread. Sufficient food to feed about 50. I tried most of it and when I mentioned it to one of friends, I was asked if this was wise considering that there was a pre-bought bridesmaid dress that I would have to shortly pour myself into. Did you know that Body Shapers makes a bodysuit guaranteed to help you look 10 lbs slimmer...? Can you tell that I'm the kind of girl that does her research prior to tucking into?
It was fabulous to meet so many knitters.
Lis does have the most fabulous hair. Thick and luscious with curls to die for. I went through a phase in the teens when I permed my hair and ended up looking like a brillo pad. To see these curls made me green with envy. Some women have all the luck... and to think that she ever had it cut short. Whoever cut that hair short should spend some time with Martha Stewart over the next few months. It's the kind of hair that I've seen men salivate over (and that is not a pretty sight).
Jenny (also pronounced as Ginny), Katherine, Mary Neal and Ann had the most delicious southern accents. Mary Neal had the most wonderful red hair... long, and glossy.
The fabulous Tish was the best whip stitch stitcher I have ever met. Each stitch was regimentally positioned. Tension was perfect. She worked quickly and neatly throughout the day, despite the many distractions... (like the food). She's also informed us that Birkenstocks are indeed sexy, afterall, she wears them all the time and had S-E-V-E-N children. I was particularly delighted by her bringing her French Market Bag with her.
Rowanette Ben came all the way from Massachusetts in the Chinese Bus. Prettty cool, I'd thought, especially when I found out that the buses go to lots of places and are dirt cheap. Rowanette Ben also had the FMB bag. I wished that I had spent more time speaking to her, but I was wary about being photographed standing next to the tall, slim and very stylish Ben. As Sandra Bulluck once said when someone tried to photograph her standing being Cindy Crawford, "My mama didn't raise me to be a dummy, I'm not going to stand next to her and look short and dumpy".
Heather and her mom, came along and brought a mouth watering peach cobbler. I had two serving and think that I'm going to need to invest in some Body Shapers. The cobbler was perfect and I was tempted to grab it and hide in a dark corned and NOT share. Fortunately, I managed to restrain myself and not disgrace myself too much. Did anyone notice that I had 2 servings?
Poor Kay was sick but still managed to get us in gear on those blankets.
Clearly, I spent far more time gabbing and eating than sewing. A happy day for everyone that made it to the sewing bee. Those gals at MDK can even making sewing (a boring task, that I try fervently to avoid, fun).
Did I mention that my secret pal also arranged for me to get a wonderful gift there? Have a look. She found out that I didn't have dawn, needed some kool-aid and ... cherry life savers.
Unfortunately, when I got to the London end, JFK security must had been a bit hungry and thirsty because somehow, the cherry lifesavers and kool-aid were gone from my bag. Does anyone honestly think that lifesavers and 6 packets of kool-aid could jeopardise the security of the plane ...
On Saturday morning, I got up at the crack of dawn. I mean I got up before the birds got up. It was pitched black and if there was a worm to be had, it would had gone to me... eventhough I don't like worms.
My dad (a.k.a Old Bean) and mom, got up with me and deposited me at Penn Station. The mood in the city was somber. Security was tight, of course, the bonus of having so many police officiers around, was when I got lost, there was a realiable person to pester to get instructions from. ( Penn Station, isn't the most savoury of places and I'm not too familiar with the layout so I had a little trouble finding Amtrak but none finding the LIRR.)
I caught a train to Union Station, DC to visit Knit Happens. I wanted to pull my camera out and take a picture of Penn station and Union Station, but I didn't want to freak anyone out. Much of D.C. and N.Y.C. was locked down, so I think some weird looking woman taking photos might make people think that I was preparing for something far more nefarious than my next blog entry.
Of course, I went to see Amelia and Kristine.
The shop was fantastic and everyone was just so nice and civilised. I didn't even have to fight any of the regulars to get to the wool. I snapped this when she wasn't looking... yes I'm sneaky.
Holly was just fabulous. A human dynamo, helping the knitters, fixing knitting mistakes and she even took the time to pose. Did I mention that she knitted the French Market Bag too?
Of course, it all descended into silliness when Phyl Phyl took out some expert knitting from her granny. So, Kristine, what did you really think of that fluorenscing acrylic?
Of course, I had to pose with the orange blanket.
It's so me, don't you think?
I just want to thank all the Knit Happens crowd, for making me feel so welcomed. It was a superb day and I really didn't want to go home. So, if you within a hundred or so miles from Knit Happens, make an effort and visit. You will feel welcomed and you will become an insatiable knitter.
Knit Happens
127A North Washington Street
(between King and Cameron Sts.)
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703)-836-0039
Knit Happens is open every day EXCEPT Mondays.
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday -- 10.30am - 5.30pm
Wednesday -- 10.30am - 8pm
Sunday -- 12.00pm - 5pm
After a year of a really plain layout, I thought I would have a little play and tart up the place a bit. It took a lot longer than I intended since there were so many templates to change (not to mention all the other miscellaneous stuff). Finally, ATU was more or less ready (I'm sure there are a few more things to do but I was getting crossed-eye by Sunday afternoon). I tried to give it a **Liberty** look. ( I know Liberty prints are an acquired taste and in my heart, I still like the plain, boring, white background, so I'll leave it as it is for a few weeks and decide if I want to revert.)
The **wallpaper** is actually a Turkish design. This was also the closest tile that I can find to match the wallpaper in the Art Bar Café. Liberty's wallpaper has a similar motif in red. (No way was I going to do a red background, the variations on different monitors are too great and I know from experience that red is a hard colour to photograph.).
I'll increase the text size at the request of Cindy G. I wouldn't want anyone to strain their eyes ;-).
So an update on George. He's all sewn up now. I've decided to forgo the pockets. I'm not a big fan on patch pockets and to tell you the truth, that Handknit cotton is a heavy yarn. I think the pockets would had be a bit heavy for this little jumper.
I also admit to cheating a bit (sorry). You know how the back of the collar sometimes rides up and you see that not very nice join of where the stitches are knitted up? Well, I decided that this won't happen. I stitched the collar down at 3 points. (over the raglan join and center of the back of the collar. You can't see it, but this should work.
I wanted to stitch the front collar down too, but the shape changes when you button the top button, so thought to leave that as it.
One other point to note, although I made the 1-2 yo size, HandKnit DK cotton does not knit to the same tension as Jaeger Merino DK. So, my cardigan came up big (about 10% bigger). That's OK for this project since most children tend to grow into their clothes. If you were to make the same substitution for an adult jumper, you need to regauge the pattern to work with the yarn tension or use a different yarn. You might be able to get away with knitting a smaller size, but it all depends on the pattern.
It's all baby stuff at All Tangled Up recently. I'm really looking forward to getting to work on something a but more substantial. Of course, the little urchins must be properly dressed.
It's so much easier to knit for girls. You can choose just about any colour yarn and girl patterns are much more fun. (Well, I think ruffles, frills, lace and heart shaped buttons are fun, anyway.) It's much more difficult to find interesting patters to knit for baby boys, especially when they start tottering around.
Fortunately, I found George. George is from the New Jaegar children's handknits book.
Now, several people have told me that the patterns are a bit too '4 ply ish' or fussy. I have also heard that Martin Storey isn't all that good with children's stuff. (and these comments are from people that I know fairly well and I definitely trust their judgement) . Nonetheless, I bought the book. There are several things that I would make, but mostly because there are several things that would be do-able for boys... and I've got a nephew that I want to knit for.
I really like George.
and I wanted to knit it NOW. Unfortunately, it was Saturday night and all the shops were closed. So if I wanted to make it, there would have to be a few compromises. So I dug into my stash to find something suitable. In the end, I went with the Rowan Handknit DK in Reef. The cardigan goes fast. The blue is just like the Caribbean.
In one week's time, I was ready to finish off. Then, tragedy struck. My iron was dropped. I had no choice but to join up some of the seams without blocking, so that I can do the button bands and collar.
There are an awful lot of ends to weave in (Drat! I knew I should had tried and convert this to neck down).
Fortunately, I have a new iron now, a Polti. It's the Rolls Royce of irons. So, I'm going to steam and sew tonight. OK, I know I'm sad, because not many people would be overjoyed by the purchase of an iron, but it is a polti and it makes ironing a really pleasant experience.