Couldn't resist...

Just imagine the German national anthem (well - I still have a German passport) and then the US national anthem – since I am the proud holder of a Green Card :-) and then look at this:

I could not help myself and put the Gold Medal on my blog… Everybody who finished in time is entitled to the medal - YAY! Many thanks to the Yarn Harlot – she did a wonderful job with the Knitting Olympics and its 5,000+ contestants. And I am sure she is glad it is over - just imagine getting a grip on all the data these crazy knitters provided...

I found something funny for all knitters and all the people who have to endure a knitter in their lives (e.g., neglected husbands and doggies):

ACTIVITY - CALORIES PER HOUR
Knitting - 50
Knitting while listening to "Brahms' Lullaby" - 75
Knitting while listening to "Flight of the Bumblebee" - 200
Knitting while talking on phone - 100
Knitting while riding exercise bike - 300
Knitting while riding regular bike - 600
Ripping back to mistake - 100
Teaching a dozen six-year-olds to knit - 800
Knitting while husband is talking - 50
Knitting while cooking - 300
Knitting while driving - 400
Knitting while husband is driving - 150
Knitting while 16 yr old is driving - 800
Knitting while sleeping - 100
Knitting while mother-in-law is present - 600
AND
Knitting while locked in bathroom enjoying a bubble bath and a glass
of wine – Priceless

Well – I don’t know if I would go that far and knit while taking a bubble bath. Seems to invite getting your knitting wet.

I guess I could add:
Knitting while ignoring a Border Collie that wants to hypnotize you – 100

Hermione – our Border Collie – can only take so many minutes of being ignored. Then she literally puts herself between the knitting and me. Which is very cute and of course I cannot resist her then and she WINS... What a smart girl – no wonder she is named Hermione (from the Harry Potter books). Noah – our wonderfully sweet mutt (Rottweiler-Chow-Border Collie–who-knows-what mix) – on the other hand does not seem to mind when I knit and don’t pay attention to him. He just likes to hang out.

My husband came up with a very funny metaphore. He noticed the other day that you recognize our dogs’ gender by just watching them. Noah, the man, just hangs out, watches Doggie TV (i.e., looks out the window), mainly auto-racing – cars driving up and down the street, and other sports – kids playing basketball, skateboarding, people walking and jogging, etc. Hermione, the lady of the house, on the other hand, busies herself with constant housework - rearranging of her toys - and parenting - checking in on all family members. Very funny ;-)

And what is going on in my knitting life? Well, I felted the big bag – knitted with all my leftover Wool of the Andes yarn. It turned into a kind of long sack. I can easily store three knitting projects, several magazines and books and my knitting tool box in it. But I don’t like the way the bamboo handles turned out. I think I am going to take the bamboo handles off (and save them for a more appropriate bag) and attach a long felted handle to it. Hubby named the bag “Dreadlock bag” because of the ties that hold the bamboo handles in place. I have no picture yet – I’ll wait until I have the right handle.

I have to finish my Dad’s vest this weekend. It is felted. I hope it did not shrink too much. Hopefully it’ll fit him. I have to knit on the borders and come up with a closure. I don’t like the idea of a zipper and buttons don’t seem good either. Hubby, who often works as my style consultant, and I decided that it should have just one closure – maybe an I-cord or something similar.

I bought a bunch of yarn at Knit Picks this week. For three sweaters – yeah, I know, soon I have to find a 12-step-program for yarn shopping... I already started the first one – all three patterns are from the Spring Edition of VERENA Stricken, a German knitting magazine which I REALLY love. They charge a bunch for shipping to the US – but it is worth it to me.

Julia’s baby blanket is growing. Kind of a filler when I have nothing else to knit. I need to take pictures.

AND THIS WEEKEND – I really need to clean up my room before I get in trouble. Projects, papers, etc. seems to be piling up everywhere...

TGIF – more after the weekend. It seems that we are getting into spring around here. Lots of trees are blossoming – very pretty.