Vegan Food Pr0n!

Yay food!

Stricken in Salzburg

Taken by my friend Jess. That was at the very beginning of my sock adventure ... the one that was destroyed at London Stansted when they took my needles! Those dumb jerks.

T-Shirt Quilt

So I've been going through tons of my clothes and donating them to Goodwill ... something about being able to live out of a backpack for five weeks has made my every-day lifestyle seem a bit ... excessive. And then I remember this thing I saw on tv one day, where they took old t-shirts and made a big quilt out of them. What a perfect project for all of those band tees that I LOVE but no longer wear!

http://www.tquilts.com/

So I ordered my kit, which should get here in the next week or two. All I need to do now is round up 30 or so shirts to make my quilt. Oh, and find a sewing machine to use somewhere.

I joined the Football-A-Long!

http://footballalong.blogspot.com/

And I'm stoked. It is tradition for me to knit or crochet while watching/listening to football. The Bears, naturally. Who are going to be FAMAZING this year. That's right. We're going all the way again, and this time we're taking home the gold.



I'll be finishing the Queen Katamari Earmuffs tonight, and I'm making slow-but-sure progress on the Prince set. I hope to have those finished in the next week or so. Knitting is so awesome.

FO: Luxe Neck Warmer

I actually finished this back in June, but I was busy with the whole European backpacking thing to post about it. Feather-and-fan no longer intimidates me. I still need to figure out how to do a looser bind-off. Suggestions are welcome.

Tomorrow I return to the Katamari earmuffs for Lisa. They are almost finished! Then I can start on a matching pair of Prince Katamari earmuffs for her husband Joshua. After that I'll get back to sock knitting.

If you can't tell, I need a haircut something fierce.

Schloss Schönbrunn

Ew I'm such a fatty!
Anyway, that's it for the EuroKnit photos. The only places I didn't get ones of myself were London proper and Prague. There's always next time!

I can't wait to get back to the States so that I can start stash-busting!

Berlin

London Stansted = X(

They confiscated my knitting needles! So my beautiful socks from the German sock book are trashed. Oi.

But.
Today I went into a Euroshop (Dollar store) in Berlin and found replacement needles of the same size! For one Euro! So toll! So tonight after I shower and pack I'm going to start a pair of Jaywalker socks.

I have a picture of me knitting at the Holocaust-Mahnmal in Berlin ... I'll put it up eventually. Tomorrow is Prague!

Knitting in Bath, but not in _a_ bath

Sock Knitting in Ireland

The wind kept blowing my yarn around, which was really annoying. Today I'm off to London, meaning that in two days I'll be at a SNB with a bunch of Angloknitters. How cool is that?

Stricken in München

This is in the gazebo at the Englisch Garten in Munich, Germany. One of my challenges is snapping a shot of myself knitting in each locale I visit, so here's one checked off the list! There are a few of me knitting in Salzburg floating around on friends' cameras. I'll stick one of those up here eventually.

Oh, and here is the progress of my first sock (from the sock book entirely auf Deutsch).


Sock knitting is so nice because it's small and easy to take around. My shrug is coming along nicely but it's getting too big to lug around with me while traveling in town. Oh well.

I'm heading to Dublin on Saturday! :]

Ich habe zwei Garngeschäften gegangen.

"The Ingenious Sock Book." Yes, it's entirely auf Deutsch. That's just more motivation for me to keep studying! I can't wait until I can start making socks. The patterns are pretty nice, and it comes with a fab pattern/size converter.

I have been knitting while in Salzburg, but I don't have much to show. I'm making a shrug from a pattern on Caron Simply Soft Shadows (I'm on a green kick so I'm using Color 0006--Dark Moss). It's a very straightforward pattern and I'm about halfway finished. You basically knit cuff-to-cuff, show up the seams, then pick up stitches and make a ribbed edging.

In regards to the title, I have indeed been to two yarn shops in Salzburg. One is called "Die Wolle" (The Wool) and is in the Malle - Hemetsberger off of Universitätplatz. The owner speaks English and is incredibly nice. I may go back for some sock yarn and needles ... maybe. It's a bit expensive (as far as € to $, not overpriced). The second is one in the Europark ... you just take Bus 1 or Bus 20 all the way to the end and it's on the second floor. It's called Filati, and I think it only carries Filati/Lana Grossa yarn from Italy. Seeing as Italy is only five hours away it isn't as much of a stretch as you'd think. The yarn was beautiful, although a bit pricey. A nice silk/cotton blend would be sehr gut for a pair of socks ... O:)

I hope all is well in den USA. I can't say I miss it ... Europe ist fantastisch! Tschüss!

A Friendly FYI

Knit 2 Together by Mel Clark and Tracy Ullman is only $5.50 at Amazon.com. It is definitely worth $5.50. Jump on that! I'm currently making the Luxe Neck Warmer, and it's fabulous!

Caution: some of the yarn they use in this book is hella expensive. So. Be a smart shopper!


Additionally, I went to Yarn Haven today and I love love love love love it! Definitely one of my top LYSs now. When a yarn is discontinued they mark it down by 20%. How hot is that? This review on Lime & Violet sums it up quite nicely. So if you're ever in the Greater Toledo Area you should stop in. I'll definitely be participating in the Thursday night SnB sessions this fall.

Postcards

If you'd like a postcard from me while I'm in Europe, please email me your address!
byebyelove@gmail.com

And do it soon! I leave BG in four days, and after that there is no guarantee I'll get your info in time before my departure.

http://euroscene.wordpress.com

Birthday Meme

Ah jeez.

The Rules:
Go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday (only the month and day). Find three events, two births, and one holiday that occured on your birthday. Then tag five friends. Sounds easy, no?

My birthday is August 3. (Gettup, leo!)

Events:

1. 8 - Roman Empire general Tiberius defeats Dalmatians on the river Bathinus.
2. 1492 - Christopher Columbus sets sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain. (Awesome!)
3. 1914 - World War I: Germany declares war against France. (Damn.)

Births:

1. 1926 - Tony Bennett, American singer (Hell yes! That rules!)
2. 1941 - Martha Stewart, American media personality

Holidays:
1. Niger - Independence Day

TAGGED!

AuraLee ... and everyone else that would look at this has already been tagged. So, uh, four other people that happen to look at this blog. Post your name and I'll update the entry! :]

Katamari Queen Earmuffs

I just finished the One Skein bathrug I was making for my grandma (no pics ... it's just like the one I made for myself many moons ago, but this one is in Peaches & Cream in Cream [har har] instead of the speckly stuff). So now I'm shifting focus to a set of Katamari Queen Earmuffs for my friend Lisa. I'll be making Katamari Prince Earmuffs for her husband.

To give you an idea of how dorkily perfect this is for them, I'll tell you that the first dance at their wedding was the cover of 'Que Sara Sara' from Katamari Damacy.

Yeah.

In other news, The Body Shop is the best store ever. Well, maybe besides H&M. Top two for sure. The Body Shop is entirely vegan (hot!) and H&M is the IKEA of clothing stores. Oh, so I guess IKEA would be number one, and The Body Shop and H&M right below it. I'm going there tomorrow! IKEA is awesome.

Okay ... less random, more knitting!

Grr ... FO!

This summer has been so awesome. I'm actually finishing knit and crochet projects!

Additionally, I am very bad at embroidering.

London SNB!

I am SO going to a London SNB Meeting!

A few days ago I sent an email to Stitch and Bitch London and they replied to let me know about a get-together on August 2nd at 6pm at Waterstones Book Store in Piccadilly Circus. So cool!

One of my self-made challenges for my European excursion is to knit in public in every city I go to. This will definitely help!

Here is my challenge list thusfar:
- one punk show a week
- drive a right-hand drive car
- knit in public in all locations I visit (Salzburg, Dublin, London, Stonehenge, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Venice)
- participate in a London stitch-n-bitch
- visit at least one tea shop in each place
- see at least one live concert (non-punk related)
- take a picture of every Mini I see (more for Steph & Q than for me)

Subsequently, if you'd like a postcard leave me a note and email me your address!
byebyelove@gmail.com

The cupcake madness continues ...

I finished my second cupcake hat/GPS holder.

I love that picture because it combines three things I love: cupcakes, knitted items, and music theory.

I've also begun a lace-like scarf. This is my first endeavor into the world of lace knitting ...

Although the colors are terrible, you can see the stitching pretty well. And it's coming along suprisingly quickly. I've decided that this scarf is going to be my plane/train/bus project while in Europe.

Up next: Grr!

Grr!

I love everything that Alice Bell creates ... but I am especially obsessed with her pattern in the latest Knitty!


Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen? As soon as I saw the pattern I instantly added it to my "top priority" project list. I want to use one as my washcloth when I go backpacking!