Posted in knitting, pattern, personal, self made..., Whatever on April 3, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Here is another short post to show off my newly finished Lambton Top!
Lambton Top
I just love how it turned out. The pattern is great and the top actually fits. Well it’s a tiny bit too big around the shoulders and it tends slip down. Maybe I’ll add another couple of rows to the neckline to make it tighter.
Lambton Top
More pictures and all needle/yarn details are on my ravelry page: http://ravel.me/aravis83/ew1ku
Posted in personal, self made..., Whatever on March 31, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Just a short post to wish y’all a very Happy Easter!
Here is proof that the Easter bunny came by in spite of all the snow and bad weather. 
Our second Easter bunny (created by mum) also brought a couple of Easter eggs… and Kitty the cat had a good long look at them.
Posted in knitting, pattern, personal, self made... on February 17, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Time to finally show y’all the stuff I’ve knit over the past few weeks, I guess. Some of the things were Christmas presents and so I couldn’t post them earlier. 
The first is the Zerg hat I knit for K. Zerg is something from the video game Starcraft. I used duplicate stitches to get the logo onto the hat… to be honest, it was real pain to create the logo and it took me about twice as long as it took me to knit the hat itself.
Zerg Hat
And here is the hat I knit for myself. I love how it turned out and it matches my green winter coat perfectly. Knitting it was quite a challenge, but after a few mistakes everything went smoothly and I just love how fancy the pattern looks.
The only thing I’m not too happy about is that it fits quite snuggly (a lot like a beanie), instead of being slouchy as it was supposed to be. Oh well…
To match the hat, I worked a pair of really lovely red mittens with the same yarn. The pattern is simply great and the mittens are supereasy and fast to do… and they look just awesome.
Reading Mittens
I loved the pattern so much, that I knit a pair in white and green as a Christmas present for H. and a pair of black ones for N. (Pics are on ravelry or on flickr)
After all those mittens, which I knit before Christmas I needed a bit of change and so I knit a lovely dress for my cousin’s baby girl. The pattern is also from ravelry and I really enjoyed it, though it required about a million of purl stitches.
Gaia Dress
It’s a bit hard to see in the pic, but there are actually cute leaves all over the skirt of the dress and the edging is crocheted white lace.
And for the other baby in my family, which is due in a couple of weeks, I knit a blanket. The pattern is from rav., but I modified it quite a bit. For one I used a thinner yarn and smaller needles. The main part of the blanket is also quite different. I started by casting on 1 stitch and then increasing by knitting front to back (kfb) into the second stitch in every row. This creates a lovely garter stitch blanket.
Hap Blanket
The ediging I worked according to pattern with the only difference that I of course had a lot more stitches to knit.
And finally here is the project I’m working on at the moment… just a pair of simple socks for one of my uncles.
basic socks
All the patterns can be found on ravelry along with more pics, yarn and needle details. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/aravis83
Posted in audio, Books, personal, self made... on January 29, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Like in 2011, I kept track of all my reading last year too and I have to say it has been a very busy year. All in all I’ve read and listened to 132 books. Of those 26 were commercial/non LV audiobooks, 75 LV recordings and 31 actual books. (not including the vast number of comic books and all the job related stuff I had to read). Quite a lot, eh?
Of all the books I read, the one I liked best probably was “A Game of Thrones” by George R. R. Martin (and all the sequels of course) closely followed by “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins and Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink. Both A Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games were re-reads, but I liked them almost better the second time.
The book I hated most was “Als ich unsichtbar war” by Martin Pistorious. I only made it about halfway through for though the book is very touching at the beginning, it gets tedious and whiny towards the middle… and also very confusing. There is no real story that is told, just bits and pieces mixed together totally at random. Apart from that the writing style is awful and the book is just plain boring, boring, boring.
Here is the list of books I’ve read:
Finished books (including non LV audiobooks):
1. Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
2. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (audiobook)
3. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (audiobook)
4. Mercy by Jussi Adler Olsen
5. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (audiobook)
6. Als ich unsichtbar war by Martin Pistorious: only got halfway through… at first it’s really interesting but then it gets boring, boring, boring
7. Deenie by Judy Blume (commercial audiobook)
8. Achtung Baby by Michael Mittermeier (commercial audiobook)
9. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
10. All unsere Liebe für Kate by Ben Harrington
11. Double Fudge by Judy Blume (commercial audiobook)
12. Miracle Cure by Harlan Coben
13. Ich habe den Todesengel überlebt by Eva Mozes Kor
14. Bed by David Whitehouse
15. Storm Front by Jim Butcher (audiobook)
16. Ugly by Constance Briscoe
17. Sing you home by Jodi Picoult
18. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (audiobook)
19. Otherwise known as Shiela the Great by Judy Blume (commercial audiobook)
20. Mit der Liebe einer Löwin by Christina Hachfeld-Tapukai
21. Die weisse Massai by Corinne Hofmann
22. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (audiobook)
23. Zurück aus Afrika by Corinne Hofmann
24. Wiedersehen in Barsaloi by Corinne Hofmann
25. Geschichten für den allerliebsten Liebling by Rudyard Kipling
26. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (audiobook)
27. The house of the Mosque by Kader Abdolah
28. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
29. Ziemlich beste Freunde: Ein zweites Leben by Philippe Pozzo di Borgo (commercial audiobook)
30. The Internet is a Playground by David Thorne
31. Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
32. Das fliegende Klassenzimmer by Erich Kästner (commercial audiobook)
33. Till Eulenspiegel by Erich Kästner (commercial audiobook)
34. Die Schildbürger by Erich Kästner (commercial audiobook)
35. Zerbrechlich by Jodi Picoult (commercial audiobook)
36. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher (audiobook)
37. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (commercial audiobook)
38. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (commercial audiobook)
39. A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
40. Die purpurnen Flüsse by Jean Christophe Grange (audiobook)
41. Der Flug der Störche by Jean Christophe Grange (audiobook)
42. World without End by Ken Follett (audiobook)
43. Du fehlst mit, du fehlst mit by Kinna Gieth und Peter Pohl
44. Der Streik der Dienstmädchen by Gudrun Pausewang
45. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
46. Madeleine by Kate Mc Cann
47. House Rules by Jodi Picoult (audiobook)
48. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud (audiobook)
49. Der Weihnachtsabend by Charles Dickens
50. Weihnachtsmärchen für Kinder by Luise Büchner (LV solo)
51. Deine Schritte im Sand by Anne-Dauphine Julliand
52. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson (audiobook)
53. Ein falscher Traum von Liebe by Christine Birkoff
54. Mundtot – Wie ich lernte meine Stimme zu erheben by Maria Langstroff
55. The Golem’s Eye by Jonathan Stroud (audiobook)
56. The Snow Queen and Other Stories by Hans Christian Andersen (for LV)
57. Wie der Grinch Weihnachten gestohlen hat by Dr. Seuss
Those are just the dead tree copies and commercial/non LibriVox audiobook. The full list including all LV recording I listened to can be found here: https://forum.librivox.org/viewtopic.php?p=686149#p686149
Posted in audio, Books, LibriVox, self made..., Whatever on December 22, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Just in time for Christmas my tiny German LibriVox Solo is finished and ready for listening. Yay!
The book is called “Weihnachtsmärchen für Kinder” by Luise Büchner (translated the title of the book means “Christmas stories for children”). As the title already suggests, the book consists of 9 fairy tales all centered around Christmas. The stories are all connected in one way or another by a frame story, in which a loving aunt tells them to her small niece and nephew – Mathilde and Georg – to shorten the time till the Christ Child finally comes.
Luise Büchner
»Liebe Tante,« sagte eines Abends, grade acht Tage vor Weihnachten, die kleine Mathilde, »du erzählst mir immer von dem Christkindchen, aber gar nichts von seiner Mama. Sage mir doch, wer sie gewesen ist und wo sie gewohnt hat.« »Nun, wenn du hübsch ruhig sitzen und zuhören willst und der Georg auch, dann will ich euch alles erzählen, was ich von dem Christkindchen, von seiner Mama, dem Knecht Nikolaus und dem Eselchen weiß.« (Zusammenfassung von zeno.org)
As I’ve already posted my reading the preface, here is my reading of the first chapter :
It’s a sweet little book with really cute stories and I enjoyed reading them. The only thing I found a bit strange – spoiler ahead – is that the Nikolaus is made out to be be the one who punishes bad children and also that he travels with the Christ Child. Oh and in some of the stories there is almost a bit too much morale, but apart from that the stories are very cute and fun to read.
Anyway here is the whole recording: http://librivox.org/weihnachtsmaerchen-fuer-kinder-by-luise-buechner/
Happy Listening and Merry Christmas!
Posted in self made..., Whatever on December 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
We finally got some real proper snow. Yay! It even had the perfect consistancy – wet, but not too much and just the perfect kind of sticky – for building a snowman. As y’all can imagine I just couldn’t resist temptation and so may I proudly present Mr. Snow 2012 to you.
Mr Snow 2012
Isn’t he a beauty? Unfortunately he had to borrow Mrs. Snow’s hat and as if that hadn’t been enough he had a slight accident later that very day… if I may add, not due to sloppy construction of course.
Soooo, after some “slight” repairs may I present the New Mr. Snow to you all:
New Mr. Snow 2012
Oh and here is proof that our cat actually ventures outside occasionally in winter.
Posted in odd stuff, personal, self made..., Whatever on November 11, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Just a short update to show y’all the new smoothie hats I made. My “modellling” smoothie – I don’t actually like the taste of them – has disappeared but as K. said this bottle is just as good…
I particularly like the hat with the big flower on top. The funny thing is that it totally wasn’t planned that way. It more or less just happened. Originally I wanted to make a plain black pointed hat like those you see in the Harry Potter movies. But I had a left over flower from the crocheting project I’m working on at the moment and it just looked really cute.
And here is what has become of his Evil-ness:
He is now a bit more than a week old and is starting to look toothless.
Posted in self made..., Whatever on October 30, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
In preparation for tomorrow’s Halloween party, I carved an absolutely wonderful Jack O’ Lantern out of a HUGE pumpkin. I got this beauty from a local farmer and it turned out just perfect for carving…
Acutally we don’t really celebrate Halloween here…. no witches, zombies, ghosts, gouls, trick-or treating and other fun stuff. It’s a real pity that we miss out on all of that. Oh well!
Here is the be-heading:
The de-gutting: The “guts” will be turned into soup – lots of soup actually – eventually.
Getting eyes and teeth… lots of teeth!!!
…. finally here is His Evil-ness in all his evil splendor:
Soooo…
Happy Halloween, everyone!
Posted in knitting, pattern, personal, self made..., video, Whatever on October 22, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
At the moment I’m down with a rather nasty cold and after finishing up all the socks and stuff I started to knit over the past few months – except of course for my crazy sock yarn blanket – I decided to again work a couple of tiny hats for this year’s “Innocent Smoothie Hat Knitting”. Underneath you can admire the first 3:
So far I’ve I have 3 hats completely finished and another 2 are in progress and if I don’t run out of ideas and left-over yarn I’ll do a couple more soon… so be prepared for more smoothie hats posts in the future.
In case you are wondering, why anybody would be crazy enough to knit a hat for a smoothie…the whole thing is basically a charity stunt. For every smoothie that is sold wearing a self knit hat 30 Cents are donated to help elderly people through the winter. Besides of that it’s a lot of fun!
While knitting I watched a couple of episodes of Game of Thrones, which is amazingly good…. and that’s high praise from me. I’m usually VERY picky when it comes to movies about books I’ve read before, especially when it’s a book I loved. But they didn’t spoil it and even the choice of characters is pretty good, though the Eddard Stark of my imagination was way more handsome than the actor.
The only thing about the series, that is really annoying is that they did an awful job with the German translation. It would have been better, if they’d left a couple of words untouched, especially the names…. even Casterly Rock got turned into Casterly Stein, which is just plain stupid. Oh well… it’s a good thing Dvds let you switch to English.
Anyway, back to those smoothie hats. Here is my ravelry page with the usual yarn/needle details. No patttern details this time, as I made everything up while knitting. http://ravel.me/aravis83/b6ikq
Posted in audio, LibriVox, self made..., Whatever on October 2, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
A couple of days ago I started a new solo recording for LibriVox. It’s called “Wintermärchen für Kinder” by Luise Büchner, who you can see in the picture below. It’s a fairly short book and as it’s a Christmas book I’m hoping to complete it by then… we’ll see.
Luise Büchner
Here is how the book starts out:
»Liebe Tante,« sagte eines Abends, grade acht Tage vor Weihnachten, die kleine Mathilde, »du erzählst mir immer von dem Christkindchen, aber gar nichts von seiner Mama. Sage mir doch, wer sie gewesen ist und wo sie gewohnt hat.« »Nun, wenn du hübsch ruhig sitzen und zuhören willst und der Georg auch, dann will ich euch alles erzählen, was ich von dem Christkindchen, von seiner Mama, dem Knecht Nikolaus und dem Eselchen weiß.«….
The book is about a little girl called Mathilde, who asks her auntie a couple of days before Christmasl to tell her something about the Christ Child’s mother too and not always only about the Christ Child himself…. and so each day leading up to Christmas the good auntie tells her a story.
So far I’ve recorded (still need to edit though… Ugh!) the first 2 stories and I just loved them. The first is about Frau Holle and how she helps the good people. In the second story, which is connected to the first one, Frau Holle askes the Nikolaus for help…. but if you’d like to know more you’ll have to listen for yourself.
For starters here is my recording of the intro:
Enjoy!
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