Of Wacky Weaves, tatting bookmarks and espresso tarts

First of all I want to apologize for a bug on my blog – someone pointed out that my cookie banner does not go away if you click on close and accept. This is actually a WordPress bug in the banner since they made changes due to the GDPR. I cannot do much about it myself and Bloggers using the free version are usually last in service, so I have to be patient. I could remove the personalized version and go back to the default one – which of course would not link to my own privacy policy – but I rather wait a little bit more, hoping they will fix the bug soon.

I have another Wacky Weave square to share though and I love the psychedelic look of it. Now only two more are left which makes me a little bit sad actually. When I work that long on a project, I get a little bit sentimental in the end…. I still have not started on the second set and my blocking board is really getting crowded. I have no clue of how to join them yet either. The suggested simple join does not call out to me and any fancy lacy style is just not wacky. If anyone has a good idea, drop me a line in the comments – I would be happy to check out any suggestions!

 

In between squares there’s always some time for smaller projects. This time it is a tatted bookmark which I made from the book “New tatting”  by Tomoko Morimoto. I messed up a little bit at the first flower as I forgot to join to the second one. But I was already to far ahead to unravel again and decided to join them afterwards – not very neat but practical. It just was a practice peace for shuttle tatting anyways. It needs some blogging but I was too busy this weekend to get this done before writing here and I just didn’t want to postpone showing it to next week. The book in the back is actually my newest find and passion – it’s “Crewel Creatures” by Hazel Blomkamp. I really want to make this beauty – Maureen, the Owl – but I need to learn crewel embroidery first. So I cleaned out my embroidery thread this weekend and sorted it, so that I can start a stitch practice piece soon.

 

 

Last but not least I was busy preparing for a friends birthday party. This is always a good possibility to do some baking without having to eat the whole bunch of calories myself. As she is a chocolate lover (yes, she is the same one I made the Death by Chocolate cake last year ;)), it was an espresso tart this time. A cocoa crust, a mascarpone filling and a super delicious espresso ganache on top. It was gone almost immediately so I guess people liked it :). The recipe – taken out of Martha Stewart’s “Pies and Tarts” – needs some tweaking in my opinion though as the crust was kind of difficult to handle. It definitely did not come out as nice as shown in the book – especially on the sides.

Still more Wacky Weave and another race

Are you tired of reading about my Wacky Weave CAL already? Well, rest assured – we only have a couple of squares left until we are supposed to join and add the border. I still have to do the squares a second time but I guess I will not bore you with pictures of them again 🙂 This weeks square was very symmetrical. I love the effect of it as it adds some dynamic feeling. In the picture they look a little bit too much like a rectangle.

On Sunday I participated in another race – the 31st Asics Woman’s Run. I actually was not keen on participating this year as there are about 33.000 women running that day and I really don’t like such huge crowds. But than my running buddy signed up and quite insistent begged me not to leave her running alone…. We signed up for the 10k as the number of runners is not that big as for the 5k. It was pretty hot this year again but I was able to stay mostly in the shade which made it quite nice to run. I am happy with the result as it is better than my training runs even though I was 2min slower than last year. Now I need to continue training so that next year I have the change to beat my personal best.

GDPR: super hero or nemesis? – a Privacy Policy add-on

When I started blogging a couple of years ago – first on blogspot, then here on WordPress – I was probably acting like any other hobby blogger out in the world wide web. Happily playing around with themes, setting up a nice little universe with the hobby I wanted to share with the world and being happy about any person that actually found it worthy to follow my blog. Over the last 1 1/2 years my little universe has grown a little bit more and more – still very small, still a hobby, still with cherishing any existing and new follower. Then all of a sudden the hammer came crashing down in the form of a new EU regulation – the GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation that we all need to comply with starting from the 25th of May. What first sounded like a really good idea to protect any natural person from misuse of their private data, soon turned out to become a hobby blogger’s nightmare. I guess I am not the only one that spent endless hours of reading and trying to make sense of what actually is expected from us. The requirements sound easy until you actually try to figure out what actions to take. I am able to understand basic law texts but I have not studied law and EU regulations are written really really difficult. Actually even lawyers are a little bit unsure how this should be handled. I never considered that having followers or even only blog readers might be a data protection issue. However after digging deep into the topic, I can tell you: The digital world stores a lot of data we are actually not even aware of – even when you are only a hobby blogger wanting to share your passion.

Therefore I have set up a site with my Privacy Policy that you – follower as well as only reader – need to check out. I ensure you that I will handle all data that is ever given to me by you personally or stored by the system with strict confidentially. I myself would not like to have someone give away my data, so I will apply the some ethics to my own actions. I still hope that you will continue to follow and read my blog – I would be really crushed if the small little world with all the fellow bloggers – some of which I already count as friends – would break down….

Wacky Weave 8 and an old project finished

This weeks Wacky Weave square was again my most favourite one. It was so fast to make and so much fun watching the pattern appear. One other participant said that one side looks like little bats and now I just can’t unsee my flock of little bats 🦇. I still need the second set of squares done – maybe I’ll start with them soon before the whole set of blocks has been released.

This Sunday I had a friend come over for a Westworld season one marathon. Now that season two has started we decided that it was more than time to watch season one. It has been in my movie library for quite some time and I never watched it. We successfully conquered the whole season and I can tell you: I love that serie! Of course I was not lazy while watching and picked up an old project that was ducked away for quite a while now. Remember the Spirits of the Orchid wrap? Well the yarn bundle came with the add on pattern, a metal hoop and enough yarn for a mandala dreamcatcher. I kind of messed up the first time and had therefore put it aside – but it was a perfect project now. I added some details – some peacock feathers designed by TheCurioCraftsRoom and some pearls for the sparkle. Don’t look to closely at the window – I definitely need to clean them but I wanted to put the dreamcatcher up right away. I love how it looks when the sun shines through the window. Sadly that sun makes it impossible to shoot a decend picture, so I can’t show you how it shines and sparkles.

Wacky catch up, shuttle tatting and the hunt for Mister Y

I did some mayor catching up on my Wacky Weave CAL and have now from all squares released two of a kind. The last one – number 7 – really was fun to make. It was very easy as it is mostly two separate squares only woven together after several rows. I did put all my squares on to the blocking board now as they are slightly rectangle and this will give them time to square up. Now only four more squares until I have them all and need to start thinking on layout, joining and border. I still have some time though as I will be making each square again twice for a serious cuddle beneath hubby blanket.

After catching up I actually had some time to start something totally different. I have been needle tatting on and of but have not been too happy with it. There are so many lovely tatting patterns out there that are only written for shuttle tatting. Of course some can be translated to needle tatting but some just cannot be changed. My friend had tried to switch to the shuttle recently and actually told me it was easy. So I just gave it a go. Using the book “new tatting” by Tomoko Morimoto the start was really simple. The book seriously has the best instructions I have ever seen. If you want to start with shuttle tatting, this book is a must. Well, I really got hooked on shuttle tatting after getting used to the different way of holding the thread and making the movements. There will be some more tatting projects pretty soon for sure.

My hubby and I love to solve riddles and so it does not come as a surprise that we were all ears when reading about a mystery hunt hosted by the local public transportation system. A hunt for Mister Y who has send a mysterious coded message to them. Such things are real fun: hints are given on signs on the public transportation system – in buses, the subway and street cars. Some hints point to the district the searched for mysterious object to solve the riddle can be found, some to the object itself and some to locations around the object. So my hubby and I spend Saturday on a hunt for hints and where very successful. It was fun also to watch the confused looks of people when we just hopped on a bus, made a picture of the clue and rushed of before the bus left. Guess not everyone knew what was going on. We believe we found the mysterious object though in the end – however now we need to figure out how to use this object on the key. We still have some time until the mystery hunt is over – we will solve that riddle!

Wacky Weave successes and happy running

Remember that Wacky Weave square number 4 that gave me a hard time? I successfully conquered it – okay mostly. I messed up the turning a little bit but this does not show as it is covered with the border. After the struggle I just didn’t want to do that square again with my second color right afterwards. Luckily I am a little bit behind so that I had some more patterns up my sleeve. I decided to go for number 5 in the same color instead, hoping that it would not give me as much trouble as number 4. It was so nice and uncomplicated that I fell in love with it right away. And with the next one too. But I really need to get back to tackling those squares in my second color soon. Otherwise my hubby will end up with only a baby sized blanket 😂.

Additionally I am training again for the next upcoming race. This weekend actually would have been the Wings for Life Run where we participated via app the last two years. However this year we would have had to pay upfront rather than donate whatever money you want or can afford. It was quite expensive, especially given that the app hardly ever worked correctly. At least I would like to have a serious time measurement if I have to pay. Given that temperatures were also supposed to become pretty high and the race was scheduled to begin at 1 pm, I decided that I would rather run in the morning without the app and just donate some money. Honestly it was a much more relaxed run than it would have been at noon time. I planned to go for 10k as this is the distance I will be tackling in three weeks at the Women’s Run. And 10k it was – at little bit tough on the last 500m but this time I was able to run the whole distance. And this with the sun already pretty though. I am actually pretty proud of myself – even though I might have bored the hell out of my hubby as his pace is much faster than mine …

Summer Feeling and more Wacky Weave

Spring was left out again this year and temperature went from cold to hot. Therefore I finally decided to clean up my balcony and start with gardening again. First I threw out all plants that did not survive the harsh winter. Sadly most of my strawberries did not make it – only one tough little plant survived hidden in the rosmary. My cherry tree is doing fine again – at least 6 cherries will be on the tree 😂. Maybe one day I will have enough cherries for some cherry jam but this year will definitely not be it. Rasberries and blackberries are growing well too. I also moved my lemongrass outside as it is warm enough for it to survive there. Additionally I added three different types of mint, some basil, lavendula, new strawberries, two different kind of tomatoes and enough flowers to attract bees and other useful bugs. I also try my hand on a little orange tree this year. We celebrated our new little balcony garden this weekend by having breakfast and diner outside. It’s so nice sitting in the sun and enjoying a beautiful, colourful view.

Additionally to gardening I had to thoroughly clean my appartment as I did only the minimum the last couple of weekends. Therefore I was not able to finish as many squares of my Wacky Weave CAL as I would have liked to. Also I am struggling with square number four – it just does not seem to work out and each time I start again, I get a different outcome. But I will not give up and will figure it out eventually for sure.

About survival, new squares and sharing the beading bug

How come that weeks are passing by so quickly? It seems that as soon as I have published one blog entry, it is already weekend again. I am lucky that the Wacky Weave CAL is actually pretty fast to whip up – otherwise I would not have much to show again. I actually was able to almost catch up. I finished two squares of week 1 and 2 and have one and a half squares finished of week 3. I calculated however with the size of the squares and figured out that I’ll probably need 4 squares of each design to cover my hubby with the finished blanket. This will mean more yarn shopping as this yarn is used up pretty fast.

Next I went shopping with my friend amigurumi_craze for a basic set of beads. When I made a pendant for her last Christmas, she told me that she would like to try that out herself. The hardest thing was to figure out which pattern to use with the beads we bought – of course I did not do that beforehand :). We went with a design by Victorya Antipova – the Metalic Sunshine. It is an easy to follow Youtube video that really works up pretty! Didn’t my friend do well? I love her color choice <3!

And last but not least I did run with my team in the Vienna City Relay Marathon. My part was the 9k and it started out pretty well. People were nice as usual and spirits were high. And then the sun hit me – it actually was 28 degrees with no wind and running without shade felt like hell. I survived however and did not do too badly: about 1h 17min with a 8:22 pace was pretty good compared to my training runs before. Our team made it in 5:08h which is only slightly slower than last year where we were shivering in 12 degrees windy wet weather… Maybe next year will finally be a comfortable run 🙂

 

Wacky Weave CAL and first yarn making

This week was again pretty busy. As next weekend I will be participating in the Vienna City Relay Marathon, it was trainig time again. Not only did I run 8k with my training buddy who is also part of my team. I also been hiking about 9k uphill (to 1260m!) for a friend’s birthday party. It was pretty intense but also much fun. We were lucky that we had really nice weather and the view was amazing up there! Of course I also had to go downhill the same distance the next day which was way more fun ;).

Not much on the creative side though. But I got squishy mail again for my hubby’s blanket. We found now the ideal design for him – the Wacky Weave CAL by Hilda Steyn – and he picked his yarn (“soft and fluffy”) and colours. The CAL calls for some special cotton yarn that is difficult to find in Europe and I just didn’t want to use regular cotton yarn as the blanket would be way too heavy. Therefore our choice is Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo which is super soft and not so heavy. I love how easy it is to work with. Wacky Weave is a CAL with Interlocking Crochet squares – something I have never done before. It’s actually a technique how to weave two colours together so that front and back look different. So with a nice back the blanket will be fully reversable!

Last but not least I spent some time at the Long Night of Science that took place in Vienna last Friday. I read that the museum of nature had some representatives for their citizen science projects there. I hoped that the lady who studies ancient tablet weaving techniques was there and I was not disappointed. As she was busy when we arrived, we spend some time learning how to twist yarn with a hand spindle in the meantime. It was fun even though the lady showing us was a little bit too forceful when correcting. I like it more to try it out myself than to have my fingers moved by someone else. We got the yarn we did afterwards and even though it’s a little bit uneaven, I will keep it as a lucky charm. Afterwards we had a long chat with Mag. Dr. Karina Grömer on the faszinating science of experimental archeology and finding out how textiles where created, dyed and woven in previous times. I loved her enthusiastic way of talking and you could really see that not only is she an expert in her field but also that she loves what she does. I now know that, if I start tablet weaving and want to try myself on some hallstatt designs, I am more than welcome to share my project and any insights with her.

Some excuses and some more Jacaranda

Another week has past and I have not made much progress. My excuse for this week is my training for the Vienna City Relay Marathon where I will be running the 9k part. I did not succeed in running all through winter as it was cold and slippery and I just don’t like running the treadmill. So I need to practice to gain distance again – with success I would say as I did almost 9k this week and am still alive :). So I guess I will survive the race too two weeks from now.

Another excuse is me going to the cinemas again – this time watching “Ready Player One”. I read some critiques that stated the story too flat but I actually liked it a lot. Maybe you have to be a gamer to understand this movie and to sypathise with the main characters.

And my third and final excuse is my Yoga training which I now will continue on a weekly basis as I really gain so much from it. Relaxing, freeing my mind from all the troubles at work, strength and flexibility and a lot of fun. This weeks session however was pretty intense and left me with some sore muscles. But also the feeling that my flexibility has increased so much over the last couple of weeks. And I was even able to balance on one foot without falling all over!

I was able to continue a little bit with my Jacaranda however. It’s still too small to cover the pillow completely so I might really end up with doing the whole CAL. Never thought it would actually take a blanket to cover a pillow. I love the corner parts of this design so much – they look much prettier when stretched a little bit though. And can you see the butterflies on the edges? Aren’t those lovely too? When I took the picture I thought that I had finished part 5 and sat down afterwards to continue with part 6. Then I realized that I missed out on one row 😂. Well that was back to part 5 again but the updated pictures will have to wait for next week. And I can tell you one thing – part 6 started out amazing again!

A necklace finished and Jacaranda Update

I am a little bit late, I know – but I took a day off and with the Easter holidays I wanted to spend a couple of very relaxing days. I was able to finish my PWAT necklace after what felt like ages. I really love the technique but 45 cm take a really long time. I had a huge struggle with the ending and adding the magnetic claps but love how it worked out in the end. I plan on doing some Russian leaf earrings with a similar look but have not started them yet. Not sure if I will also do a bracelet to create a set though.

I decided to continue my Jacaranda instead. It was laying around now for quite a while and the CAL is almost finished. I finalized part 3 and – having fun again with it – continued with part 4. Love the corners and how it is squared of. It also fits perfectly with the pillow I want to put it on. Not sure how many parts I will need to finish it but I will keep on going. So watch out for an update soon!

Two little helpers

I am totally in love 😍. Okay, I know that I am easily falling in love with a pattern and have so in the past several times but this time it’s serious. When I first saw the Crafter Granny from Zhaya Design, I just knew that I need to make one for myself. Not only am I a huge fan of anything the designer has created so far, her patterns are always well written and easy to follow. I started to work on head and body and ran out of stuffing as this project is really big and I just didn’t have that much left at home. Additionally I filled a little bottle with rice to weight her body down so that she has a real solid stand. I mostly used leftover yarn and had several close calls with loosing at yarn chicken but luckily made it through. In the end I added some detail – a button on the hair band and a pearl necklace. I totally love the result and she is such a lovely helper. She usually stands next to me on the arm of my crafting chair holding my row counter, my stitch markers and my wool needle for me. I hate to put the row counter on my finger as it hampers me while crocheting and I kept misplacing my stitch markers all the time. Now anything I might need is stored nicely in Granny’s apron – even my sissors don’t fall off the arms of my chair again. Thanks so much Granny – and of cause thank you Kathrin!

After finishing my Granny I was again procrastinating, not wanting to work on my long timers. Then I remembered that a couple of weeks ago I bought the first book of Supergurumi where he shares all his patterns for bookmarks. You might remember that the rat bookmark “Leseratte” has been made by me several times already. Super cute but I wanted to make something different for myself. I had also bought some fluffy wool from Schachenmayr to fit the sheep pattern. Well let’s say, that was not one of my smartest moves: tough this wool is so nice and fluffy, it is awful to work with – the thread cut into my finger and the stitches where so hard do see that I am really not sure if I worked the stitches correctly (they most probably aren’t). I needed to adjust the pattern too as the bobbles on the head were impossible to make with this yarn. But in the end I winged it nicely I think and I now am proud owner of my first – and only – fluffy book sheep.

Last but not least – if you are curious about the Cake Dutchess Modelling Alphabet Collaboration I did my little hare for and want to know what all other participants created, mark the date in your calendar and bookmark Etty’s website. The reveal is scheduled for the 20th of March and I can assure you that you will be totally amazed of the creativeness of each and every one that took part!