Beautiful Art

Franz Marc: Horse in a Landscape, Image from Wikimedia

We saw this Franz Marc painting in the Museum Folkwang in Essen a few weeks ago. It is another example of the "der Blaue Reiter" art movement around the turn of the last century. I love this artist and this period--can't get enough of it here!

Big Storm in Duesseldorf

There was a huge storm in Duesseldorf Monday night--sort of a small hurricane actually. It happened around 9:30 in the evening, when we were home watching a movie. The buildings here are very solid and the windows are tight, so I didn't worry for our safety. When we ventured out on the balcony to see what was going on, it was a wild sight--it seemed as though a wall of trees was advancing on us. I couldn't stand there for more than a few seconds, so terrifying was it. The next day hardly any trams, busses or trains were running, due to all the downed trees and damage to electrical lines, and there still aren't many running today. The cleanup will take quite a while, and many people are still stranded.

Apparently, it's the worst storm of this sort in about 10 years. When the TV weather person was asked if such a fierce storm was proof that climate change is occurring, she answered without skipping a beat that it was indeed proof. I couldn't help but think about how they would have answered this question in the US...they would have probably hemmed and hawed and said no, that violent storms have always occured. But maybe that attitude is changing now in the US too.

Feasting in Brussels

Greg and I took a trip to Brussels this weekend--it's only 2 hours away by train. I should probably tell you about the interesting sights, but all I can think about is how good the food was. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that Brussels has quite the French flair and atmosphere, and this extends to the food. The food is, in short, delicious and well prepared. The beer and pastries are especially divine. Above you see our lunch--steak tartare and the famous pommes frites for Greg, and a filet mignon for me.

Then there are the amazing Belgian waffles...I just never knew what all the fuss was about. Now I do, and I want to go back and eat some more. Here I am buying them from a truck--they are everywhere--after a museum visit.

How to describe them...they may just look like ordinary waffles, but they are more a cross between a cake, a doughnut and a waffle. They are a bit sweet, a bit doughy and a bit chewy. You can get all sorts of toppings on them; above we have caramel, below, strawberries and chocolate. Yes, they do that.

As Greg and I were wiping the chocolate from our mouths after sharing one of these delicacies, I happened to look over at a woman sitting near us, who was also enjoying a waffle. She and I looked directly at each other and both said, at the same time, "This is just so good." It was funny to connect over waffles like that.

Writing about Translation

Lately I've been writing about translation for Source, an online publication of the literary division of the American Translators Association. It's a lot of fun to do this because I get to look into topics I might not have thought to look into on my own. The links below are to a couple of book reviews I wrote on translation and an article about the Kenyan writer and translator Ngugi wa Thiong'o.

http://www.ata-divisions.org/LD/newsletter/2013/SourceMar29Spring2013%20.pdf
http://www.ata-divisions.org/LD/newsletter/2014/SourceSpring2014.pdf

My assignment now is to do an interview with the superstar Spanish to English translator Edith Grossman. Her authors include Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargos Llosa, and Cervantes! I will post the link here when the interview comes out.

Wooly Mice

A friend asked me to make a knitted cat toy--she said just a tube of some sort--that she could fill with catnip to give to her kitties to play with. I quickly found this pattern for knitted mice and it's been hard to stop making them ever since. I read that the cats prefer the toys made out of all wool or other natural fibers; that is no problem for me since I almost always only use natural fibers. And I have lots of leftover yarn...watch out, cat owners. You may be getting a shipment of these soon.

Hat Giveaway!

Here's a fun slouch hat I knit recently. The yarn is 100% wool, very soft with variegated color (Malabrigo Merino Worsted--a really nice yarn). It's kind of a pinky purple color, which brings me to the problem and the reason I am giving it away--it's just not my color. I love wearing the hat because it's comfortable and doesn't mess up my hair, but it really doesn't look that great on me color-wise. If someone who can wear cool colors would like to have it, just let me know, and I'll be happy to send it to you. Write to juliemwinter6@gmail.com. 

Here's a picture of the designer Natalie Larson showing how the hat is worn. 

So why did I knit a hat for myself that isn't my color? Well, the yarn was on sale with the pattern, and they didn't have any other colors, and I loved it so much and wanted to make the hat. I will look for a better color for me and make another one now that I have the pattern. Can't wait to hear from you!

Catching Up with a Few Projects

It's been a while since I posted about knitting, but I haven't stopped knitting ha ha. Here are a few recent and older projects.

The picture above is of a scarf/cowl/neckwarmer I made for Akiko a long time ago--her daughter Alicia (in the picture) borrows it from her all the time. I decided that Alicia needed her own version; here it is in blue below. Both are made of worsted weight wool, and the information about the pattern is in my previous post here.

The lacy shawl below is "Phoenix," and the yarn is a DK weight camel and silk blend called "Tundra" from Pagewood Farms. I made it for my ballet teacher, Tamara, and she wears it with a lot of flair!

The sweater pattern on the left below is called "Brynna" and is made from a light worsted weight cotton "Cascade Ultra Pima." On the right is "Summer Flies" knit with the beautiful sport weight wool by Malabrigo "Arroyo." Both are real hits and I wear them a lot. I wear the little shawl as a scarf wrapped around my neck. All the patterns can be found at ravelry.