Berlin! 10July2010

It was 100 degrees the day we were in Berlin. Not bad considering it was probably 115 at home, but it was also about 60% humidity, which made it miserable. Forutnately, our bus had AC. The people who took the train in were hot and it was crowded.

We started our visit with (what else?) but a trip to a yarn shop! It was about a 10 minute cab ride from where the bus dropped us off. We were met at the yarn shop by Horst Schulz, a German designer who has written several books about patchwork knitting. I attended a 2 day class with him at Stitches a few years back. He allowed our group to go to his house for a visit.

I have been to Berlin several times and have done the tourist sites. I left the group when we switched trains in the city, going rogue with my new iPhone to guide me turn by turn. I was in search of the Freitag store. The Freitag brothers are Swiss and make bags that are awesome. In Europe, the trucks have canvas on the sides and tops of the trailers. They have their company logos painted on them. The Freitags buy the used canvas, cut them up and make all kinds of bags, wallets, purses, totes, you name it. The are trimmed with recycled tire inner tubes and use old seatbelts for straps. I bought this one for Carson. This style is called Dexter and it is perfect for a computer bag. I already have one, so I bout one of their Reference bags. You can check them out at freitag.ch They will never wear out and are impervious to dirty things. I am love all things Freitag! Next to impossible to find here. If you order something on a Monday in the States, you will get it by the end of the week. Really, their service is impeccable.

By the time I found Frietag and made my purhases I was starving. The shop is located in a section of town that is not touristy--regular Berliners everywhere. I found this little restaurant situated under a huge tree with picnic tables all around. Probably the best bratwurst ever made. Interesting how they trimmed the noodles with strawberries.

Tomorrow, at sea with classes, on our way to Talinn, Estonia!

Welcome Aboard! 9 July2010

In the center--Chris Bylsma casting on a new project. To her left and behind, Gay. Just after this, a lady walked up to Chris and told her that she could show her a way to cast on that is much faster. Chris responded by shaking her head yes, and counting "86, 87, 89......"She apparently did not know that Chris is a talented author, designer, and teacher of knitting. She and Chrissie Day taught classes during the cruise.

This knitting cruise was offered through Craft Cruises. Check them out at craftcruises.com .

They offer all kind of cruises from knitting , crochet, beading, quiliting, you name it. I was very happy with the classes, excursions and the cruise line itself. I recommend it highly. I hope to cruise again with them in the future.

It took a relatively short amount of time to board appx 2,400 of us. There were about 25 knitters and a few spouses. For each port of call, we had either a designer trunk show or a map showing where the yarn shops were located. During the cruise, we met other knitters who would see us sitting around (knitting of course) and come talk to us--wishing they had brought their knitting. Sometimes they followed us to the yarn stores in our port cities.

This was my first cruise, definitely not my last! A couple of tips that were passed on to me that I am really glad I took advantage of--signing up for the spa pass--it lets you go to the sauna, therapy pool, therapy lounge whenever you want---you don't have to make an appointment. Also--laundry--I could have taken fewer clothes easily had I known abut this.

Our first class was this night. Chrissie Day talked to us about inspiration---looking around in your environment for knitting inspiration not only with color, but with texture and shape as well. She challenged us to use this trip to look for inspiration. Consequently, a lot of my photos show pattern and texture--it has not as yet been translated into knitting, but I am working on it.

Tomorrow, we come into port in Rostock, Germany, and take a bus into Berlin. Stay tuned!

Copenhagen! 8 July2010

Sommerfuglen! Great shop, best of all, they SHIPPED our purchases. I even went back in the afternoon and added more to my original order. I purchased some Ilga Leja laceweight, a Hanne Falkenberg vest kit and of course, sock yarn!

I had dinner with Betty, Richard, Barbara, and Linda- the food in this restaurant was superb even though it was small-just the chef and his wife-

Copenhagen was very clean, very modern, very friendly, and when I go back, I will remember that there are bikes everywhere that you can borrow.

And Monkey found a friend. His name is Cat. I bought these Camper shoes for Carson and 2 pair for me. What do you remember about Copenhagen?

Where were you a year ago?

I was at LAX, ready to leave for Copenhagen. It was a hot day, they didn't turn the air on in the plane during boarding. I had plenty of sock yarn available for the flight, books ready for prolonged listening on my ipod, and my sock monkey, who attends all knitting-related trips as this one. Here is the obligatory monkey pic. He is holding the toe of the travel sock I started after boarding. Toe-up Personal Footprints for Insouciant Knitters in STR lightweight, a Rare Gem colorway. I had a contest on this blog to determine which of 3 colorways I should knit. The Rare Gem came in first, Plankton Ooze second, and Pond Scum was 3rd. Remember this?

Monkey made friends on the trip. So did I.

Revisit this sight as I recall the cruise. It was awesome. My plan is to follow it along, day by day. Photos too.

Please comment! I would love to hear from you! Even if you weren't on the Baltic Cruise!

BSJ in STR lightweight remnants!

Another bead stew bracelet!

Swirling Snake bracelet

Check out the clasp... Easy to knit, go to EarthFaire.com for the kit.

My favorite new projects

I seem to have been bitten by the knitting-with-beads bug, quite severely I might add!#

A brand new pair of Queen of Beads

For a special friend in Dream in Color Smooshy and Firemountain size 6/0 seed beads.

More summertime knitting

My Stillwater socks (Sweet Georgia's Tough Love Sock---I already bought shoes to go with these socks:)), and a Flamenco Dancer bracelets from EarthFaire.com. Checkout the EarthFaire site-she has many beautiful things!

Test from iPhone

Summer of knitting with beads!

This post is a test from my iPhone-if this works I will have no reason fio not posting more frequently!

For Quinn

It is almost over!!!

As the year winds down, we all get so tired of everybody else's kids and I am sure they are tired of us too, the feeling is mutual. So we send them all home to their parents who are looking forward to spending time with their kids. By the end of the summer, their parents are all tired of them and can't wait for school to start. And the feeling is mutual for the kids, so they send them all back to us.

This school year started off pretty rough for me, losing my mom in July. It never let up. A kid had a stroke at school. Another had a fatal heart attack at his group home about 2 hours after the close of the school day. That was first semester. I told my husband and son that there were only two other things that have yet to happen to me, and that after 35 years of this line of work, when they happen, it is a sure sign that I need to retire.

The first---having to take care of someone injured on campus by an act of violence, either a stabbing or a gunshot. About two weeks after I said this, it happened. Technically, the kid had just exited the school property when he was jumped, beat up, and stabbed. He was able to walk though and Security brought him to me to assess and refer. Next thing I knew my office was filled with police officers who were part of the Gang Squad. The kid was stabbed in the head which produces a lot of blood and he looked like a mess. It about 20 staples to close his wound. I count this as an act of violence on campus.

The second thing that will trigger my retirement--the only thing left now- is someone having a baby in my office. That is the final trigger. Hasn't happened yet, but you just never know.

In the meantime, I get to be around people like Zairah, who penned the note above. People like her keep me going. Thank you Zairah! I will miss you when you graduate next week, but it has been an honor having you in my office. Congratulations Class of 2011!

Knitting Retreat in Friday Harbor!

IMG_0979
Originally uploaded by knitterati

Those of you who know where I am know who this is----noted knitting designer, author and teacher demonstrates a new heel technique! Really!

I started Saturday in Seattle, took the ferry to Bainbridge Island. I visited this store--Churchmouse Yarns and Teas. It is the ONLY store you EVER need to visit--seriously, I have been in a lot of yarn stores and this one is the best, for selection, assistance, friendliness, everything! Churchmouse is awesome!


More later!

Cat's Gift Kitting Retreat

I am waiting at the Burbank airport for my flight. I leave at 2 for San Francisco, change planes then on to Seattle. I spend the night there, and Saturday it's over to Bainbridge Island to visit Churchmouse Yarns and Tea. Just possibly the best yarn shop in the world! That afternoon I crawl up the coast from Seattle, visiting Great Yarns in Everett and Wildfibers in Mt. Vernon. Sunday morning, it's the ferry from Anacortes over to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island for a week of gift knitting with Cat Bordhi. I know that I still haven't finished by cruise postings, but I will later. I will try to be diligent at blogging as it happens on this trip. The retreat is Monday through Friday. I return to Seattle Friday and flly back to Burbank Saturday. Come join me on this adventure!

Berlin

MMmmmmmmmmmmmm.............Berlin and Bratwurst. This was an extremely hot day. Over 100, no AC anywhere, it seemed. As you know from my earlier post, I defected from the group, going rogue in Berlin with my new iPhone to lead me around. It was great--I found Freitag then ate at this place that was definitely not a tourist spot. The best bratwurst and German potato salad you could ever hope for!



I forgot to put this in earlier. This photo shows the queue waiting to board in Copenhagen. The lady in the middle casting on is Chris Bylsma. She is an author, designer, and one of the teachers on the cruise. She was casting on a new design and counting. A lady walked up and told her that she could teach her a much easier and faster way to cast on. Chris kept counting and smiled. See the couple behind her, just off of her right shoulder? See how they are staring? This is kind of how everyone looked at us during the cruise. Even thought there were only about 25 of us, we became a noted group. People in the elevator would say "Oh-you are one of the knitters. Exactly what are you doing?" We noticed that some of the other cruisers (appx. 2, 480 to guesstimate) would follow us when we went ashore because they knew that this cruise was one gigantic Baltic yarn crawl.


This is the Freitag Messenger bag I bought for Carson, being modeled by the lovely Monkey and Cat. Freitag uses the tarps that European trucks use for the sides and tops of their trailers. They cut them up and make all kinds of cool recycled totes, bags, backpacks, you name it. The strap is made of old seat belts. The trim on the flap is from old inner tubes. Their products are indestructible, their customer service unbelievable. I order a backpack for him at Christmas. Ordered it online on a Wednesday night, received it on the following Tuesday. And it came from Zurich. That would be Zurich, SWITZERLAND. Via UPS. check them out at www.freitag.ch

These are the new Birkenstocks I bought for my mom. She never got to wear them, not in this life, but she has them on now, along with two pair of handknitted socks, one of them my hand-dyes. I miss her a lot, every day.



Coming up next: a day at sea, a class with Chrissie Day, and looking for inspiration in your knitting. You will see some photos like this :

















and some like this:
Stay tuned!

More from the Baltics.

I really must finish my trip for you!

I spent time tonight organizing my photos in folders so hopefully I can blog a little each day. My last post was from Copenhagen. We boarded and headed for Warnemunde(I think, or was it Rostock?) which is a port in Germany about and hour or so outside of Berlin. It was really hot this day and we were glad to have a bus take us in to Berlin rather than the train. I have been to Berlin a couple of times and done the touristy thing--Checkpoint Charlie, the Holocaust Museum (HIGHLY recommended), The Brandenberg Gates, the Bundestadt, etc. So this time, we had a date at a yarn shop and were met by Horst Schultz. After a bit of shopping (insert gratuitous yarn photo here)



After a bit, Herr Schultz took us on the train to his apartment, which is an awesome thing to do. Our tour may have been the last that he did this with. I took a 2 day class with him at Stitches West a few years back, so I politely detoured at one of the train changes. I was on a mission to find the Freitag store........................
(teaser photo goes here)



Coming up next--more of Berlin, the adventures of Monkey, Cat, and a Bratwurst on a hot summer day.....Tallin, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, yarn, food, knitting inspiration and new friends!

Copenhagen, Part 2

This is where Monkey met up with Cat, oddly enough in a pair of Camper shoes that I bought for Carson. They became fast friends in this world of yarn.

Monkey shows off enough Isager laceweight for two shawls. They will be a fun knit, especially if I can remember which yarn I picked out for which pattern.

They had some cools shawl pins here. Those that look like safety pins are made from horn, as well as one of the long ones. Not sure what the black is, it feels like horn. The one in the back reminds me of one of those little connecters that you use when you attach lures to your fishing pole. It caught me for sure, I brought it home with me.

Ahhhh, Copenhagen knitting swag. Here is the world of Summerfuglen, which I believe is Danish for butterfly. Don't exactly know what butterflies have to do with knitting, but it doesn't matter when yo step into this shop. A little bit of everthing and best of all, they ship to the States. So you have to get a box full to make it worthwhile, right? This is where we all gathered for the first time to meet each other. What a great place to come together. I visited it, bought yarn, ate lunch, went back and bought some more yarn since there was room in my box:) I know you understand.

These are Zauberball-the one on the left is Zauberball Crazy, it is a 2 ply. The left is regular single ply. If you haven't knitted with it yet, you have to try it. Makes awesome shawls with the long color repeats. Not a native yarn for Copenhagen,you can find it in the states, but you never find much of it because it flies off the shelves. You take it whenever and where ever you find it.

These next two photos are kits that I bought--both Scandinavian designers, the scarf/shawl is actually felted. The Hanne Falkenberg kit is a vest in denim colors, a wool-cotton blend. She is known for unusual construction and her garments have great drape and a nice hand.

Upcoming: Berlin, Tallin, Helsinki, St. Petersberg, Stockholm. Stay tuned!

Copenhagen, part 1

Copenhagen was beautiful! Clean, friendly, very nice. I would go there again in a heart beat. They all ride bikes there. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos, but they have very clever ways of building boxes onto the front (mostly) of their bikes to hold their children who are too young to ride. I saw one bike with a rather large box that had 4 little ones in it, ranging in age from about 1.5 to 5 years old. There were a few with the little trailers that hook onto the back of the bike, but most of them fashion these front box-type arrangements. I also learned that if you hear the tinkle of a bike bell, you had better stop because you are in the way of a biker and they are about to swerve around you. Better to stop because they have already seen you and are dodging around you. The foot traffic is heavy and so is the bike traffic. I found out too late that our hotel has bikes you can borrow from them--most places over there do.

Monkey met a friend to accompany him on his journey. Meet Cat. He looks remarkably like Tang, who is staying in LA with Carson while I am on my cruise.

One of the stores I have on my list for this trip was Camper shoes. With the help of the GPS on my iPhone, I was led right to it. I asked for their most comfortable shoes and these were the two that they recommended. They both have gel insoles. When I tried them on my feet said ahhhhhhhh..............so I bought both of them. And a pair for Carson that you will see in my next post.

Camper shoes are hard to find the USA. They only have stores in big cities--LA, Boston--I think the one in LA closed.

The yarn shop crawl across the Baltic starts with the next post. See you then!