hy's blog

Here is a pix of the scarf I am knitting. (Pattern by Shibui Knits), purchased from www.pureknits.com

I am using the silk mohair hand-dyed kusa from Habu Textiles, in purple. So light and airy and soft and so darn slippery on the Addi Turbos. (I had to change to rosewood circs - LOVE those pony!)

Here she is making cupcakes for her friends at school.



Birthday girl at school with her friends (even balloons!). Check out the birthday crown!



Marlis is 3 years old today.

I wrote my GRE this morning in NYC! I did alright, not great but it is over!! YAY! And since I took the day off. I spent a leisurely afternoon walking around mid-town.

I also treated myself to some soft yarn at Habu Textiles. The showroom was, well, overwhelmingly small and overwhelming with skeins.

And to top off a perfect day, I made it to Mary's class at 17:30 but it was soooo packed that maybe I will just bite the bullet and go to Lara's class on Wednesdays. Mary is an exceptional teacher. It was a pranayama class so we did only 3 asanas to prepare. It was exactly what I needed.

It was really yummy. Recipe from The River Cafe Cook Book found in a magazine clipping (can't remember where):

8 black figs (fresh)
1 lemon
freshly grated Parmesan (the real stuff )
dash of red crushed chili peppers
6 egg tagliatelle nests
olive oil
100 ml heavy cream

- figs cut into quarters. Zest lemon and juice.
-cook nests in pot of salted water
- heat a fry pan, add oil. when pan is smoking, add figs
-caramelize. add chili. season.
- drain pasta. stir in zest and juice into cream.
-add to pasta. add figs
-serve with grated parmesan

I am thinking about not knitting the gumdrops but flowers instead. What do you think?

Here are some photos inside the Aquadom that was in the lobby of our Berlin hotel. It was way cool!!! The aquarium is cleaned every day by 3 divers!!!

Here are some photos inside the civilian bunker located underneath the Gesundbruennun train station. The tour guide is explaining how these toilets work, no running water, uses peat to cover up. This bunker was supposed to be a "muki" bunker. "Mutter und kind" mother and children. It ended up being a bunker for more people than was built-for. And yes, only for civilians who have special identity papers.

Berlin has undergone a lot of changes since I was last there in 1999. We stayed at the SAS Radisson in East Berlin, the area renamed as "Berlin Mitte". The hotel was close to Alexanderplatz, Bebeliplatz, Berliner Dom, and the Fernsehenturm.

We passed by the Judaischer Denkmal on the way to the hotel but I did not visit it. My colleague did and he said it was quite amazing. Slabs of stone of various shapes and sizes to commemorate those killed in the concentration camps.

I did not have much free time there since I arrived Monday lunchtime and the Welcome reception was that very night. Some of us were bad, we went to yoga instead and got to the Welcome reception late and then buggered off to dinner at the really great Italian restaurant (Bacco il Bocca; I think!) I had a baked fig with goat cheese and speck and then tagliolini topped with shaved truffles.

The excursion on Wed afternoon was to tour the civilian bunker underneath the Gesundbruennen train station. It was an interesting yet sobering tour. We learned about the origins of the triangle and what the different colours represented. I did take some photos but have not downloaded them yet.

On a knitting note, I completed the Gumdrops sweater while in Berlin. In fact, I stayed up until 4 am last Thurs to complete it. I am wondering if I should even bother putting those "gumdrops" on (bobbles) since it looks great without. The annoying thing is, I think Marlis has actually almost outgrown this sweater!!!

GRE: is next week. Did not get any studying done while in Berlin. Why was I so optimistic to think that I would?????????

School starts tomorrow.
I am also flying to Berlin tomorrow night. I swapped out my Addi Turbo for Addi Natura so that my baby blanket WIP doesn't get confiscated. In addition, I printed out the "allowed items on board" list from www.tsa.gov. Interesting that KY Jelly can be brought onboard and not toothpaste!!!!!!

I have been knitting this since Feb. Well. I started it then, put it aside for months, frogged it and then re-casted on. Knitting with mohair was a learning experience. In fact, I am starting to notice a pattern (no pun) to my knitting. I cast-on, I knit a few rows, I set it aside for weeks (months), I pick it up again and forget where I stopped, I frog, I re-cast on.

For this sweater, I am using Classic Elite La Gran in "Julia's Pink" (colourway 6571). I was so afraid that I was going to run out of yarn that I ordered 2 extra skeins from www.purlsoho.com (it is in the sale bin) and now it looks like I will probably still have those 2 extra skeins left. I suppose I could knit myself a scarf with the extra yarn or something.

I received the 3rd package from my Secret Pal 8 this evening when I arrived home from the office!!! A book of cute patterns to knit for Marlis, a pair of knitting needles, and a skein of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece yarn. Marlis was so happy to put the yarn to her cheek "Nice and soft" she exclaimed!!! Thank you very much!!!!!!!

My spoiler for Secret Pal 8 is Norah of:
www.texoergosum.blogspot.com

Here's a photo of Marlis. Couldn't resist. Look at her happy little face!!!!!! And it wasn't because she finished eating this:

I love tea. I drink tea while I knit. I found this swap by accident. Why not???
I am drinking "Liebestee": a herbal blend of hemp, sunflowers, and chamomile. Jenny introduced me to it.

I signed up for it! I thought it was such a cool experience from Secret Pal 8 that I just have to do it again!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, it is a good excuse to go shopping. "something for my secret pal, something for me"

I frogged the few rows of the "Zip Cardigan" that I started knitting for Richard from "Last Minute Knitted Gifts" because I couldn't remember which was the RS or the WS. Pretty sad. But I re-casted on the stitches and have knitted about 6 rows and I used a stitch marker (given to me from my Secret Pal) to mark the RS, as a reminder. I am knitting the cardi using the Manos Del Uruguay in black.