Aravis' Blog

Books I’ve read in 2013

January 27, 2014 by Elli

Like during the previous years, I again kept track of all – well almost all – my reading in 2013 and I have to say it has been another rather busy year. If I counted correctly I’ve read or well listened to 103 books. Of those 24 were commercial/non LV audiobooks, 41 were LV recordings and 38 were actual books. I of course didn’t include the vast number of work related papers, comic books and other stuff.

Anyway, of the books I’ve read during the past year, I liked “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee best. That one is one of my all time favs and I can’t seem to read it often enough! I also enjoyed re-reading part of George R. R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire”. Currently I’m somewhere in the middle of book 4.

The book I hated most probably was “The Ugly Sister” by Jane Fallon. The book starts out quite ok, but soon turns into a lot of whining. I guess the author didn’t have enough of a story and so she just filled the gaps with pointless waffle to create enough pages for an actual book.

Anyway here is the list of books I’ve read in 2013:

1. The Philosophers Stone by J. K. Rowling (audiobook)
2. Tränenmond by Ouarda Saillo
3. Hilfe die Herdmanns kommen by Barbara Robinson
4. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
5. Ptolemy’s Gate by Jonathan Stroud (audiobook)
6. The Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling (audiobook)
7. The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donell
8. Mich hat keiner gefragt by Ayse
9. Der Schleier der Angst by Samia Shariff
10. To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
11. Hardliner by Django Asül (audiobook)
12. The Last Child by John Hart
13. Bleib bei uns, Gulla! by Martha Sandwall-Bergström
14. Gulla hält ihr Wort by Martha Sandwall-Bergström
15. Gulla auf dem Herrenhof by Martha Sandwall-Bergström
16. Gulla benimm dich by Martha Sandwall-Bergström
17. Schwere Zeit für Gulla by Martha Sandwall-Bergström
18. Gulla am Ziel by Martha Sandwall-Bergström
19. Gefangen in Deutschland by Katja Schmidt
20. Aladdin und die Wunderlampe von Ludwig Fulda
21. So weit die Füsse tragen by Josef Martin Bauer
22. Miranda- Das Geheimnis der Perlenkette by Kerstin Sundh
23. Miranda – Ein ganz besonderes Geschenk by Kerstin Sundh
24. Miranda – Das wundersame Bild by Kerstin Sundh
25. Miranda – Ersehnte Briefe by Kerstin Sundh
26. Miranda – Wiedersehen am Meer by Kersin Sundh
27. Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying by Barbara Park (audiobook)
28. Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren by Barbara Park (audiobook)
29. Junie B. Jones Is a Beauty Shop Guy by Barbara Park (audiobook)
30. Junie B. Jones Is (Almost) a Flower Girl by Barbara Park (audiobook)
31. Junie B. Jones Is Captain Field Day by Barbara Park (audiobook)
32. Homeland – The Dark Elf Triology by R. A Salvatore (audiobook)
33. Junie B. Jones Smells Something Fishy by Barbara Park (audiobook)
34. By the Great Hornspoon by Sid Fleischman (audiobook)
35. Der Junge der Träume schenkte by Lucca di Fulvio
36. The best Halloween ever by Barbara Robinson
37. Nacht über Wassern by Ken Follett
38. Junie B., First Grader: Boss of Lunch by Barbara Park (audiobook)
39. Junie B., First Grader (at last!) by Barbara Park (audiobook)
40. Junie B. Jones Is a Graduation Girl by Barbara Park (audiobook)
41. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier (audiobook)
42. Saphire Blue by Kerstin Gier (audiobook)
43. Darkness by Douglas Preston, Lincolm Child (audiobook)
44. Old Before my time by Hayley Okines
45. Death Masks by Jim Butcher
46. Riptide by Douglas Preston, Lincolm Child (audiobook)
47. Mount Dragon by Douglas Preson, Lincolm Child (audiobook)
48. Thunderhead by Douglad Preson, Lincolm Child (audiobook)
49. Smaragdgrün by Kerstin Gier
50. Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
51. Requiem by Lauren Oliver
52. Iceship by Douglad Preson, Lincolm Child (audiobook)
53. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
54. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
55. Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier (audiobook)
56. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
57. The Ugly Sister by Jane Fallon
58. Sommer des Schweigens by Anna Maria Scarfo
59. Disgrace by Jussi Adler Olsen
60. Der Weihnachtsabend by Charles Dickens
61. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin
62. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (audiobook)

As usual I’ve left out the LibriVox recording’s I’ve listened to, but if you want to see the whole list here it is: https://forum.librivox.org/viewtopic.php?p=822933#p822933

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Happy December

December 5, 2013 by Elli

I’m a couple of days late posting, but like last year and the year before, there is a wonderful entirely new LibriVox Adventskalender with poems, stories, fairy tales, song texts and more for each day leading up to Christmas. Of course all the stories are something related to Christmas, snow, winter and of course the Christkind.

As I was rather busy all of Oct. and Nov. I only managed to record two tiny poems for the Adventskalender. Here is one of them. It’s called “Die Weihnachtsbäume” by Gustav Falke:

Die Weihnachtsbäume

Nun kommen die vielen Weihnachtsbäume
Aus dem Wald in die Stadt herein.
Träumen sie ihre Waldesträume
Weiter beim Laternenschein?

Könnten sie sprechen! Die holden Geschichten
Von der Waldfrau, die Märchen webt,
Was wir uns alles erst erdichten,
Sie haben das alles wirklich erlebt….

The whole Adventskalender can be found here (along with all the text links and author info). Happy listening:

https://librivox.org/adventskalender-2013-by-various/

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Just another pumpkin

November 3, 2013 by Elli

I know Halloween is over, but I just need to show off the second pumpkin I made. Here he is:

Happy Halloween!

Here is just a pic of Kitty with Mr. Pumpkin:

…and here is one of the making-of of Mr. Pumpkin:

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Happy Halloween!!!

October 29, 2013 by Elli

I know it’s a couple of days early, but as I probably won’t have time to post on Halloween itself, here is the beauty I carved this afternoon. Also, though it’s a little early, but…. Happy Halloween!!!!

Happy Halloween!

As you can see I didn’t carve the usual ugly face, but a cute little fairy instead. (At any rate I hope it’s recognizeable as a fairy!). In case you are interested in how I did it, here are a couple more pics of how the fairy ended up on the pumpkin. 😉

For the fairy I just googled for a suitable pic, which I printed out. You can also see a couple of different sized knitting needles and pins in the pic. They are for the fairy dust, which surrounds all fairies. 😉

Here is the beheading and de-gutting: … in case you are wondering, why there is a second pumpkin in the pic, that one got turned into a proper scary Halloween face. (I’ll probably blog about him another time.)

To keep the fairy pic in place I simply pinned it to the pumpking…..

….and then I just used a pin to copy the fairy outlines directly onto the pumpkin:

Here is the fairy already cut out:

And here she finally is all cut out and ready for a candle:

As a finishing touch I added a bit of fairy dust using different sized knitting needles:

We don’t actually celebrate Halloween here, which is a real pity for that way we miss out on all the fun. No witches, zombies, ghosts, trick or treating and other fun stuff. Still I always have a great time creating at least some decorations. Anyway… Happy Halloween!

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Pikmin, Firefly & Co – Smoothie Hats

October 22, 2013 by Elli

Due to a rather nasty cold I had plenty of time to knit a couple more smoothie hats last week. Those first few you’ve already seen in my last post, but now I’ve finally managed to take a pic along with the game – Pikmin for Wii – that gave me the inspiration for those hats:

Pikmin Hats

Here are a couple the new hats I knit last week… mostly with left over yarn:

Just some more Smoothie Hats

The Firefly fans among you, will probably have recognzied the hat in the middle. It’s the one Jayne wears in one of the last episodes, only a lot smaller of course. 😉 Here is a close-up pic of the Jayne hat:

Jayne Hat (Firefly)

And finally here are just a couple more of my smoothie hats:

Just some more Smoothie Hats

In case you’d like to see more pic or read up on yarn/needle details, just have a look at my ravelry page. I think I already linked it in my previous post. Maybe there’ll be a couple more hats eventually… there is still a bit of time before I need to mail them to Innocent Smoothies. 😀

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My Innocent Smoothie Hats 2013

October 13, 2013 by Elli

Summer is slowly turning into autum… well actually there was nothing slow about it this year… and so it’s time to start knitting Smoothie Hats again. I just love knitting those tiny hats. They make such fast and fun projects with the added benefit of using up a lot of left over yarn. Also they give me the perfect opportunity to try out new techniques or just repeat patterns I previously enjoyed. This year I’m totally into flowers and leaves:

Smoothie 2013

In case you are wondering those flowers are crocheted. I’m normally not very good at crocheting and so I’m rather proud of how the flowers turned out, especially as I made them up entirely. This is what I did:

With yellow chain up 6 stitched and then join up into a ring with a slip stitch. Then single crochet into that ring 7 times, slip stitch into the first stitch and then cut the yarn.

Switch to the white yarn (or whatever color you like) and chain 1 and them work into the same stitch *1 double crochet, chain 1, 1 double crochet and 1 slip stitch* Repeat that into the other 6 single crochets. Cut yarn and sew in the loose ends.

(I hope this makes sense… as I said before I’m not really familiar with crocheting techniques.)

Smoothie 2013

As usual I’m using my fav. Lana grossa Merino superfein yarn and 2,5mm DPN’s. Here is what I do, when I knit a basic hat:

CO: 40 stitches and join in the round distributing the stitches evenly on the DPN’s.

Then just knit or work whatever pattern you feel like till the hat is about 4-5 cms long before starting the decrease rounds.

For a rounded top (like the green hat above) decrease 8 evenly spaced stitches in every other round and for a pointy one (like the red one below) only decrease 4 evenly spaced stitches in every other round. When only 4 stitched remain either bind off or work an icord. 🙂

Smoothie 2013

In case you are wondering why somebody would actually bother to knit hats for a smoothie, the whole thing is basically a charity thing. (And also lots of fun.) For every smoothie that is sold wearing a self knit hat 30 Cents are donated to help elderly people through the winter.

Smoothie 2013

As usual here is the link to my ravelry page. More pics, all yarn and needle detail can be found there: http://ravel.me/aravis83/hveoz

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Anna hat

August 23, 2013 by Elli

A couple of weeks ago my little cousin Anna was christened and that gave me a wonderful opportunity to knit a couple of baby things. I love to knit baby stuff. Here is a hat I invented just for Anna.

Anna hat

Material: Lana Grossa Merino Superfein in 2 different colors, DPN’s size 3mm

CO: 80 stitches (the size of the hat is for a 6-9 months old baby)

Ribbing: k2p2 for about 3-4 cms or till you’ve reached the desired length.

Anna Hat

Pattern:

Optional Increase round: increase by 8 stitces, evenly spaced during this round

k 2 rounds in the main color before starting the actual pattern, switch color

1.-3. round: k all stitches (for the pink stripe)

Switch to main color

4.-5. round: k all stitches

6. round: p all stitches

7.-8. round: k all stitches

Switch back to color for stripe

Repeat those 8 rounds 2 more times or till you’ve reached the desired length before starting to decreases. For the decreases place 8 evenly spaced stitch markers. Continue working the pattern while decreasing as follows:

1. round: *k till 2 st before stitch marker, k2tog, slip marker* repeat to end of round (or p if it’s the purl round)

2. round: k all stitches (or p all stitches if it’s the purl round)

Repeat those 2 rounds till only 4 stitches remain. You can now either just bind off or do a short icord before binding off. Sew in all loose ends and block gently. Happy knitting! 😀

Apart from the hat I also knit a dress for baby Anna. Well, acutally I started out with the dress and then found that I still had so much left over yarn, that I also made two hats and socks…

Matching Dress and Socks for Anna

…and a Knubbelchen, which Anna absolutely loves.

Anna’s Knubbelchen

More pics and all the pattern details for the dress, the Knubbelchen and the other hat can be found on my ravelry page: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/aravis83

The socks are my own pattern. They turned out really cute only she’ll need to grow a lot before they’ll actually fit her. 😉

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Böckstein Socks :)

August 21, 2013 by Elli

A couple of weeks ago during a rather long (and also very tedious) train ride to V. I knit a pair of socks, which turned out quite cute. Orignally I just wanted to do simple striped ones with 4 rounds in blue and 4 rounds in white. But due to a very long delay in Böckstein I had quite a bit of time to create a more interesting pattern and so here it is:

Böckstein Sock

Material: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Stretch (but I guess any sock yarn will work), size 2,5mm DPN’s

CO: 60 stitches (the pattern works with a multiple of 12 stitches)

If you are unsure about the size, it’s better to go for a bit more stitches than usual, for the socks get rather tight. That’s also the reason, why I prefer a stretchy sock yarn.

Böckstein Socks (close up)

Ribbing: k1p1

Work 4 rounds in each color till desired length (I worked 3 stripes)

Pattern:

Set-up stripe:

1. Round: k all st

2. Round: k all st

3. Round: 2 x (k2tog), 4x (YO, k1), 2x (k2tog) repeat till end of round

4. Round: k all st

All other stripes:

1. Round: k all st

2. Round: p all st

3. Round: k all st

4. Round: 2 x (k2tog), 4x (YO, k1), 2x (k2tog) repeat till end of round

5. Round: k all st

Switch colors after every stripe.

For the blue stripes with the white lines: (I’m working every 2. blue stripe like that 🙂

1. Round: p all st

2. Round: k all st

3. Round: 2 x (k2tog), 4x (YO, k1), 2x (k2tog) repeat till end of round

4. Round: k all st

For the heel and toe just use your prefered method. Once you’ve finished your sock, sew in all the loose ends and then block gently to open up all the eyelets.

Oh and here is a pic of the station in Böckstein, where I spent over an hour sitting on my suitcase, knitting my sock and listening to Hokuspokus read two awesome short stories by Guy De Maupassant to me. (Btw. check out Hok’s Blog. It’s pretty cool! 😀 )

Station in Böckstein

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Emilia Strikkedukker

June 21, 2013 by Elli

I had a couple of days off last week and so I had finally time to knit a “Strikkedukker” doll. The pattern is out of a book called “Strikkedukker” by Arne and Carlos. The book is really well written and detailed and so knitting was a pleasure… though all those small parts are quite fiddly to knit. Anyway, may I introduce you to Emilia Strikkedukker:

Emilia

Emilia actually is quite a big doll. I’d say she’s about 40-45 cm tall and very slender… that’s also the reason she is so fiddly to knit. Still I just love how she turned out. All she needs now are some pretty dresses and skirts.

Emilia

I gave Emilia quite a LOT of hair (almost 1 1/2 balls of yarn). She looks really awesome with all that hair and you can do all kinds of different hairstyles without having to worry that the skin of her head will show through. The only downside is that all that hair is so heavy that she has troubles keeping her head up. So she has an entire crochet hook in her body at the moment to stabilize the head.

Anyway, here is a closeup of her face… and the hair: 😉

Emilia

On my ravelry page are all the yarn and needle details… and you can also watch her grow from just being one foot into a pretty fully grown doll: http://ravel.me/aravis83/7t8qn

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The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – Der Zauberlehrling

June 15, 2013 by Elli

Today I finally had time to record a short poem for the new German poetry collection at LibriVox. The poem I chose is the famous poem called “Der Zauberlehrling” (= The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It’s about a young apprentice, who the moment his master leaves, enchants a broom to help him with his chores. But well things don’t work out the way the young apprentice wants and the broom, which got the task of fetching water, doesn’t stop and everything gets flooded. Eventually the master comes back and fixes everything again.

Ok, I’m no good with summaries, but I guess all of you probably know the poem anyway. So here is my recording: