Merry Christmas!

I made it home from Germany in reasonably good condition, and Conrad and Chris will both be here tonight (the 24th). Greg sent these beautiful flowers and will celebrate with us via skype. We hope to get cards and a letter out this year, but just in case we don't, we want you all to know that we are still thinking about our family and friends, whom we love dearly.

Here's wishing all of you a peaceful and happy Christmas!

Just Books

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1997) by Haruki Murakami. This author (and his translator) are brilliant; the book was a real thought-provoking page-turner. It's hard to even describe what it's about--a young man whose life becomes strange and convoluted as he tries to bring his emotionally traumatized wife back to him. But there are so many layers of the story, and all are intriguing.

Beowulf translated by Burton Raffel. I finally read this, and it is fantastic! The translation really seems to underscore the tragic, beautiful and noble qualities of this tale.

Rolling Thunder (1974) by Doug Boyd. Rolling Thunder, an American Indian medicine man, has become a part of my life. I often try to imagine how he would view various situations and what his mind-set would be. While reading this description of his practice, I was surprised to discover how close American Indian and Eastern spiritual thought are to each other.

The Europeans (1878) by Henry James. A brother and sister pair who grew up in Europe come to America to meet their relatives and seek their forture. James enjoys playing with the differences in the characteristics of the two types--the European and the American, and the story is compelling and fun to read.

Edwin's Sweater and a Warm Scarf

As busy as I am here, I try to fit in knitting almost every day. It's my therapy! Here are a couple of recent finished projects.

Friends in Munich just had a baby, so they got a little blue sweater with some cute sheep buttons.



Here's a close-up of the very soft yarn (Lana Grossa Cinque, worsted-weight, wool and acrylic blend) and the cute buttons. The pattern is "Babies Neckdown Cardigan" by Knitting Pure and Simple.



I found some fun yarn on sale and made this very warm scarf/shawl. The yarn, called "Gedifra Seymor Double," is a bulky-weight wool and acrylic blend; the pattern is from ravelry: "Merino Stripes Wide Scarf."



Speaking of scarves, I frogged (unraveled) the mobius! I really liked it, but when I tried to unravel part of it to fix a mistake, I started unraveling at the wrong end, and then it was impossible to recover the rest. So now the yarn is sitting in balls waiting to be turned into another scarf or mobius.

Old Germany, Windows and Doors

Conrad and I did a lot of sight-seeing together in the short time he was here, including going to Nuremberg for a day. That is definitely a place I'd like to visit again as we didn't have much time there, and there are some interesting-sounding museums I'd like to see. Also, Nuremberg is the home of the very famous Christkindlmarkt. They were already selling Gluehwein while we were there in early November, and of course, I had to sample it.

I'm told that Munich also has some very nice Christmas markets...I'm looking forward to those. Christmas in Germany is truly something to experience.

Today I was invited to spend the day in Beilngries and the surrounding area (north of Munich, not quite to Nuremberg). I took some pictures of a couple of my favorite things in Europe: windows and doors. They are always, it seems, so well-made, and yet they also look so inviting.



And the windows usually have flowers and plants on the ledges, even on cool days in late November.

The following picture was taken at Willisburg in Eichstaett, near Beilngries. The stone fortress wall frames a view of the city below. It is dedicated to Greg, who is taking off for his grand New Zealand adventure in just a few days!

Cute Dog Pictures

Greg sent me the cutest pictures of the dogs taken out in our back yard in Spokane on a beautiful fall morning. Sammie looks like she is really enjoying the sunshine:



And Beau (in front) and Jack are probably resting after just having run around like crazy:

A Stocking, a Mobius and Kloster Andechs

The second in the series of five stockings for Sigrid's family has been completed. I am not a fast knitter, so this project will probably go on for some time. It will also go on for a while due to the fact that I seem to have "Crafter's Attention Deficit Disorder" (CADD), which just means that I love to start projects but not to finish them!

If the project is quick, I can usually manage to finish it before my CADD sets in. Below is a mobius scarf that I finished in about a week here in Munich. I love it and wear it almost every day. The yarn is a bulky weight, variegated, 100% wool called "Schoppel Wolle Pur" and I came up with the pattern myself.





Conrad and I went to Kloster Andechs (Andechs Monastery) outside of Munich today. We took public transportation to a small town about an hour away and then walked some three miles to the Kloster. It's well worth the hike--we enjoyed spectacular views, the beautiful monastery and church, and some scrumptious Apfelstrudel with vanilla sauce afterwards.

The Alps are in the distance on the picture below. Unfortunately, we couldn't capture them well with our little camera.

Conrad's Here!

Conrad arrived this past Saturday for a ten-day visit, and typically, he's already seen and done a lot here in Munich. He and Greg went on a walking tour on a gorgeous sunny day Sunday, and later in the day Conrad went to the English Garden and back to the city center on his own. That evening we were all invited to Norbert and Sigrid's for dinner.

Today while I was teaching, Greg and Conrad spent six hours in the Deutsches Museum and seemed to have enjoyed every minute of it.



And here's a picture they took on the walking tour--I'm posting it to show that we do sometimes have sunshine in Munich!

A Visit to Salzburg

Greg and I had a wonderful trip to Salzburg, Austria last Thursday. It's only a 2-hour train ride from Munich. Above is a view of the Medieval shopping district. I really like the old-style signs--can you spot the McDonald's sign?

Here's another nice street view:



Mozart was born in Salzburg in this house:



Church towers and steeples abound:



If you want to see all our pictures from that day, click here.

A Couple of Finished Projects

The Christmas stocking is for Greg's sister Sigrid and her family; it's the first in the set I'm making for her in colors that she chose--burgandy, forest green and off-white. The pattern is from a knitting magazine from the 1990s, and the yarn is Lamb's Pride worsted weight wool.

This is yet another Stefanie Japel sweater from her book Fitted Knits. I made it before in the bulky weight yarn the pattern called for, but I thought it looked terrible on me (I gave it away to a friend who says she loves it!). I liked the style of this cardigan so much that I wanted to try it again, so this time I did it with worsted weight wool, and I lengthened the ribbing and started it just under the bust line. I also changed the short sleeves of the pattern to 3/4 length. Like all Stefanie Japel patterns, this sweater was knitted from the top-down in one piece. The yarn is Moda Dea washable wool.

Now I'm concentrating on finishing a nice warm scarf for me here in Munich--it's already very cold!

Back in Munich!

So the Germans are also a bit puzzled as to why Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize. Greg and I got a kick out of this front page picture in the paper. The headline reads: "Obama Is Not the Only One Surprised by the Nobel Peace Prize."

We took a beautiful walk through the city today, partially to help us both overcome our jet lag. It's still very green here and there are lots of flowers.



The trees are just beginning to change colors.



We discovered some interesting statues as well.



Soon I'll post a picture of the sweater I finished before returning to Munich--it's actually the one I have wrapped around my waist above.

An Odd Assortment of Books

Book news:

Shakespeare dringend gesucht, by Heinar Kipphardt, 1953. A satirical play about a theater director who is looking for the next Shakespeare. The play was a huge success in socialist East Germany in the 1950s in spite of its, or because of its, palatable social criticism. It's actually quite funny.

Black Elk Speaks, as told to John G. Neihardt, 1932. Even though I already knew that the European-Americans completely wiped out the American Indians, reading this book felt like learning about that fact for the first time. It's devastating to read, but very worthwhile.

Ehen in Philippsburg, by Martin Walser, 1957. Walser's first novel is about a young man who establishes himself in the prosperous German society of the 1950s. All the relationships, including his own, are unhealthy, to put it mildly. Walser's skill in writing ironic prose is fantastic.

An Introduction to English Sentence Structure by Andrew Radford, 2009. This sounds like it's easy to read--after all, it's an introduction. Well, it was very difficult as it is actually about Chomsky's Mimimalism. I learned a lot!

Labor Day and Some News

This cell-phone picture was taken of Karen and me over the Labor Day Weekend. Karen came for a visit from Butte, and we did some touristy things in Spokane, including attending the annual "Pig Out in the Park" held in our beautiful park downtown.

It occured to me that I don't actually post very much real "family news" here, so I am going to remedy that today. I wanted to let everyone know that Greg has quit his job at the VA, and he is planning to work in New Zealand from this coming December until next September. He will be employed by a hospital in Auckland.

Greg got the idea of working temporarily in New Zealand years ago from a colleague who had done this kind of work and who had a wonderful time. And I'm sure he's intrigued by the idea of getting to know New Zealand...who has ever heard anything bad about it? Probably the fact that it is an island and there are unlimited sailing opportunities adds to the appeal.

I will return in early October to teach again at the University of Munich. We plan to get a house sitter to take care of the pets and house while we're gone. Anyone interested?

No More Hats!

Well, this crazy beanie and hat knitting project is finally coming to an end. I'm ready to move on to something else for a while--like finishing several WIPs started long ago. Below are a few pictures of my latest frenzy.

Here are all the beanies and an ear-flap hat knitted for Greg. There's one beanie in the bunch that I haven't yet described--it's the one in the middle made of a purplish varigated all wool yarn called "Rhythm." The caps are being blocked on balloons, a technique I read about on another knitter's blog. They look like little balloon people, sitting there so nicely.



This is Greg's ear-flap hat knitted from a worsted weight blend that self stripes. It's called "Classic Worsted Tapestry" and was purchased at the yarn store (Ana-Cross Stich) in Anacortes on our recent vacation to Guemes Island. The pattern was written by one of the women who works in the shop, Fran Jepperson.



I know, I look kinda scary, but the picture shows the hat well!

Beanie Mania

I've been making quick and easy beanie caps during this vacation on Guemes. In fact, I've been quite obsessed with them--they are the perfect carry-along and instant gratification project. It's also interesting from a knitter's perspective to see how the different yarns work up using the same pattern and same needle size.

The yarns, Plymouth Encore (tan), Berroco Comfort (cream), and Caron Country (aqua), are all worsted weight blends; needles are size 8 and the pattern is from Kody May Knits and is called "KMay's Eyelet Lace Elegance Hat."

Guemes Island Vacation

We're on Guemes Island in the San Juans this week, enjoying our annual vacation with Greg's family. Here we are in Seattle where we stopped to pick up Conrad and give the dogs a break and a drink.



Our first evening:



Chris is displaying the crabs they caught for dinner!



I'm enjoying a boat ride in the Bellingham Channel:



And Conrad perfected his mojito recipe for Happy Hour:



More vacation pictures are here.

Fred the Wonder Cat

Our cat Fred had to be euthanized this past weekend, and I wanted to pay tribute to him. I think what we all liked most about him was his free spirit and his ability to get out of difficult scrapes. We had had him de-clawed as a kitten because he was supposed to be an indoor cat, but he loved to roam outside and hunt, and he was able to do everything a cat with claws would do, including climb trees and catch rabbits. Fred would come when called and was never grumpy and certainly not a complainer. He'd turn up after being gone for days, and we once even saw signs posted around the neighborhood declaring that he had been found by a concerned family who wanted to return him to his home. We knew Fred was just visiting them and always intended to come back to us, which of course he did.

For all the times I worried about him, I see now that it wasn't necessary. He would have outlasted us all. We miss you, Freddy.

Sock Yarn Scarf

I needed a quick and easy project for some instant gratification, and I found it with this crocheted scarf made out of one skein of sock yarn. The yarn is a wool and nylon sock-weight blend, and the pattern, by designer Doris Chan, is in the summer issue of Interweave Crochet. You really don't even need a pattern to make this--it is just done in single crochet with a large hook. The trick is in the blocking--you soak the scarf in cold water and then stretch it out a lot on a towel and let it dry to get the lacy look. (My friend Josie is modeling for me--she's a natural!).

Friends--Old and New

My social calendar here in Munich has been quite full lately. Two friends from the US visited in the middle of July. Judy, whom I've known since our Milwaukee days, accompanied me to the Zugspitze.



Larayne, my friend from Montana, and I had an incredible hour of power shopping followed by some quality time in a beer garden. In fact, thanks to Larayne and Judy, I have gotten to know several more of Munich's lovely beer gardens and have learned the joys of Käsespätzle.



Renate, a colleague and dear friend, and her charming brother, Hansbert, invited me along on their Kaffee and Kuchen outing and afterwards had me over to Renate's apartment for dinner.



Last, but certainly not least, here's Ulrike, pictured in the park where the Olympics were held in 1972. She and I meet once a week to exchange conversation lessons.

At Last, Some Knitting News

Today I actually have a couple of items to post about my knitting activity. The first is that I finished this shrug in just a matter of weeks. Participating in a "Knit Along" (KAL) that I found on the Lion Brand blog helped this go so quickly. I was eager to do this particular KAL because one of my favorite designers, Stefanie Japel, was leading it. The pattern for the shrug was the first post, and then each week, she posted pictures of the progress of the sweater and detailed instructions. Other people following the KAL could post their pictures as well. It really kept me motivated to finish the sweater and not get side-tracked and bored, as I often do. (Friend Josie is modeling for me--actually, she got the sweater because it looks so cute on her).

The yarn is "Cascade 220 Heather," 100% wool. Here you can see the interesting texture of the shrug:



Below I have a picture of some new stash! It's called "Linea Pura" by Lana Grosse and is a worsted-weight, subtly variagated blend of soy, bamboo, and cotton, all organic. The drape is lovely.

Zugspitze

A friend from the US is visiting, and yesterday we went to the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain, located about an hour south of Munich in the German Alps. The picture above was taken from the cable car on the way up. Unfortunately, it's not as clear as I'd like because it was taken through a window and because the camera is just so-so. Still, you can get an idea of the spectacular scenery in this area.



And here's the view from the top (almost 3000 meters high). The mountains you can see from here are located in Austria, Italy and Switzerland, and on a clear day, you can see all the way to Rome, they say.



This was taken on the way back down in the cog-wheel train. There are several adorable-looking villages and lots of green meadows, all with the spectacular Alps jutting up in the background.