grandpa

My grandpa passed away last week. We spent the past days of his life by his side at the hospital. Letting him go was hard - we miss him every minute and imagining a life without him seems impossible right now. Although I had a chance to say goodbye there's still so much I'd like to tell him. He was a remarkable man who never lost his sense of humor, always lent a helping hand and had a sheer unlimited repertoire of interesting stories to tell. He wasn't ready to go yet, but he had a fulfilled life and I'm glad he didn't have to suffer long. I'll cherish the memories I have of him forever.
Rest in peace, Opa.

Baking Days // blood orange muffins

I have a confession to make: I'm a stress-eater. Whenever I feel overwhelmed I check the kitchen for anything edible. My favorite kind of stress-relievers? Homemade food. Since baking is kind of my thing I usually make a quick cake or oatmeal cookies. Just half an hour in the kitchen works wonders. So yesterday I made couple of quick blood orange muffins.

Fun fact: it was the first time buying/touching/eating a blood orange. Crazy, right? I've had blood orange juice once or twice but I don't remember it to be special; but these oranges? Oh my, I think I'm addicted! Each and every one looks different on the inside. And they're awesome for food photography purposes. I always love trying new fruits and vegetables :)

The recipe I used (from here) is very easy and quick; you just need two mixing bowls and a couple of ingredients - no fancy kitchen appliances!

These colors... yumm!

Simply mix all the dry ingredients together; in a separate bowl, mix the liquids together and combine everything. Mix with a spoon...

... pour the batter into muffin cups...

... and enjoy :)

So what kind of stress relievers work for you?

a weekend at my parents'

Lina and I spend the weekend at my parents' house. Lots of studying (and some test knitting) for me and lots of exploring for Lina. She managed to open a drawer, climb in and close it. She looked rather grumpy when we opened the drawer, hah!

She also helped me study (her favorite activity is laying down on my hand while I'm writing), watched my mom quilt (a long arm machine seems to be rather fascinating - from all perspectives). She really enjoys having a huge home as her 'territory' and she gets along with my parents' cats quite well. She claimed one of the couches as her own and enjoys getting lots of attention :)

52 Craft Projects // polka dot pouch

Yesterday, I met with two friends and my mom to sew in the morning. We made little pouches because a woman can't have enough little bags to store cosmetics, camera chargers, meds, etc.
I used an echino fabric (left over from this project bag) paired with a purple fabric from my mom's stash. I really love the combination of colors. Luckily, my mom also had a KAM snap that matched the lining perfectly.

My friends made these two pouches. I love how three people can use the same pattern to make a pouch but the results always seem to differ a lot, depending on the fabrics used and small variations.


This is project #3 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013.
You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

hooray!

The project life supplies I ordered (back in the beginning of December...) finally arrived - hooray!
I ordered my yearly supply of page protectors, some blank journaling cards and Elise's seafoam kit!! I wish I could sit down right away and get started on my 2013 album but my local knitting group organized a sewing day. Of course that's not a bad reason to skip classes either! I'll share a picture of the pouches we made (if mine turns out good enough to be shared with the public...) tomorrow and hopefully the first PL post of the year by the end of the week.

In knitting news, I've started knitting the Tiong Bahru shawl early this week. The design is gorgeous and the pattern is very well written, but even the stockinette stitch section takes forever, because there's a lace border that still requires quite a lot of attention. Of course I needed a new 'in class knitting' project, so I started a pair of Hermione's Everyday Socks. The pattern is easy to memorize and I finished the first sock in just three days - definitely an instant gratification project!

I'm also test knitting a shawl but it deserves a post on it's own, so I'll leave that for next week :)

welcome to my neighborhood

I voted today (German regional elections) and I used the walk back from the polling place as an opportunity to take some pictures of the neighborhood I live in. There are many small apartment houses in the area (and probably like 80% of the people who live in my street are students/young families) but just one block away there are some small companies and industry.

The neighborhood is a funny mix of idyllic backyards, thriving businesses  and abandoned premises. It's certainly not a place where I'd wanna raise my kids but the proximity to the campus and having grocery stores, restaurants, home improvement stores, etc. within walking distance is awesome. I came to really like it over the past months. Add a cozy apartment and a huge garden where I get to plant veggies and herbs in the spring (I planted my Christmas tree [which I decided to call Herbert] a couple weeks ago, so I kind of already started 'bonding' with the garden, if you know what I mean...) and you have a happy resident.

What kind of neighborhood do you live in? Do you like it?

52 Craft Projects // Horseshoe Cable Mittens

Pattern: Bella's Mittens by Marielle Henault
Yarn Used: Malabrigo Chunky (2 skeins of 'Tuareg')
Needles: 6mm DPNs
Modifications: I started on row 16 (CO 39 stitches) for a [somewhat] shorter version.

Thoughts:
This was my first time working with Malabrigo yarn and I'm addicted! It's soo soft! It has a beautiful texture and the stitch definition is awesome. Have I mentioned that it's soft? It's really soft. This won't be the last time working with this yarn :)

I've knitted these mittens before - several times. They were among the first projects I knitted without much help. They're great for beginners because they look fancy yet they are very simple to knit and the pattern is very intuitive and you actually see mistakes as they happen, so you can prevent them :)

I might add a thin lining one day... I'm dreaming of a cashmere-blend inner mitten ;)

This is project #2 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013.
You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.