Crochet WIPs: Baby blankets and scarf disasters

It finally happened - I completed a crochet project on time! Ok, mostly. I finished the below blanket a mere hour before the baby shower, although I did not get the amigurumi elephant done that I had planned to accompany it (there's still time! Another 2-3 weeks before the actual due date). I only did one repeat of the outer border row, since I didn't have time to do more think it needed more than that.

Still showing up rather pink in the photos, at least on my computer screen.

I love finishing projects. Actually, I hate it - I abhor weaving in the ends and all that tedious stuff, but I love the feeling of the project being finished. It's all neat and tidy (hopefully), and even if it's a little wonky, I can still check it off as complete and move on to the next. It's rare that I can say this is absolutely finished and I never need to do anything more with it (in any aspect of my life, really). Plus as a bonus, it's a physical creation that I can touch and say, ooohhh, so soft!

I'm happy with how the blanket turned out, but I wouldn't use the pattern again - it's just a little lacier than what I would want for a practical baby blanket (although hopefully it will be nice as a decorative piece), and I found it a little strange, especially with such a solid border.

So because I have no self-control and finishing things is addictive, I started my next project the evening after the baby shower. This baby blanket is adapted from a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarns, although since I was using a non-bulky yarn, I increased the repeats/size. I originally bought the lighter teal thinking I would use it as the main color and choose a pattern with the darker teal as a border, but I started to have doubts, so I went back and purchased the white. Definitely a good idea, I think. Very happy with the way it's working up.

Only problem when moving back to multicolour blankets is the number of ends to weave in increases exponentially. I started carrying the white along, which makes it slightly better.

The yarn is from Lang Yarns, called Nelly, and it's a cotton/acrylic mix. It's thicker than what I've used for the other blankets, so the resulting blanket will be cozier (and probably not usable during the warmer months - any friends in the Arctic circle procreating these days?). 

In addition, I have started a scarf using this amazing "Sweet Eleanor" pattern, which is universally adored in all the comments. So obviously I am doing something wrong...I'm only a few rows in and I plan to keep plugging away, but currently it looks a hot mess.

Seriously, what is this? I've triple-checked the pattern - the fault definitely lies in my own stars.

 I think the main problem is that I chose a freakin' variegated yarn again. I should be banned from buying these things, as I ALWAYS pick some pattern that plays against the yarn, rather than with it. In my defense, I thought I had chosen one with a slow/gradual color change, so I was hoping for something like this:

Knit pattern available here.

Look how gorgeous that is! Such an epic fail on my part. Most likely the scarf will soon be frogged and I will re-appropriate the yarn for a project that has a chance of succeeding - perhaps some socks or a super ugly shrug.

I do love the pattern, though, and I want to give it another chance - perhaps with some beautiful yarn that just arrived 2 days ago in a my first "Swiss Yarn Box" from Kaya Lana, a birthday present from B. I was sooo excited to open this thing - and I was right to be so! They sent two skeins of yarn - 50g of a cotton/silk mix in a beautiful grey blue and 100g of a hand-dyed merino from Yorkshire in brilliant green. The merino seems like an excellent candidate to redo the Eleanor scarf. And in a brilliant marketing move on Kaya Lana's part, they include a discount code (10% off) for ordering more of these specific yarns. Which of course I might really need.

Does anyone else get the itch to craft when autumn comes?

Local yarn shop in Zurich

By far the most popular post on my blog is the one discussing yarn stores in Zurich - likely because, as I discovered when I first searched for such information, there isn't much available (and what does exist tends to be in German).

So I am happy to have another LYS (local yarn store, for those of you unfamiliar with crafting lingo) to report. This one is close to where I live and I was thrilled to discover it a few months ago, but last week was the first time that I managed to walk by when it was open.

The name is lana e più ("yarn and more" in Italian, according to Google Translate), and it's located a short walk from the Morgental tram/bus stop (for map and address, see info at the end of this post). Super convenient for me, and not hard to get to for others - the 7 tram stops there as well as the 72, 66, and 70 buses.

The only thing that is slightly inconvenient is the hours of the shop. It is open Monday thru Saturday, but for limited hours each day (see info at the end of this post for exact times), which is why I'd been walking by it for several months without ever going in.

The stuffed bear out front means that it's open!

The reason for these limited hours became apparent, as the lady owner said the shop was a one-woman show. I was a bit nervous before going in, as it is a small shop and I didn't think I could hide my inability in German. Unfortunately, I was right - the owner was lovely and chatty, and after a few sentences I had to 'fess up that I couldn't speak (Swiss) German. She didn't blink an eye, offering English or French, the former of which I gratefully accepted. (I suspect she may also speak other languages - I just don't look like someone you would offer Italian as an option).

The shop is small and not stuffed to the brim, but I still found a good variety. Be aware that not all yarns are on display in the front - apparently she keeps the 'boring' colors in the back room, as she likes the bright ones to be on display - so you may have to ask her for a complete palette.

Overall, this shop was one of the most enjoyable yarn-buying experiences I've had in Switzerland. What made it wonderful was the owner was so knowledgeable - since she does everything, she is familiar with every single yarn in the store. I told her I was looking for yarn appropriate for a baby blanket in non-traditional colors and she had several suggestions. I finally chose a rather thick cotton yarn and she had a blanket she had crocheted (she crochets and knits, very jealous) from that exact yarn to demonstrate the size/number of skeins she had used. How very convenient!

She packed me off with advice on washing and as a bonus, gave me a single-size laundry detergent for free, which will be perfect for passing on to the expectant parents. She also offered that if I didn't end up using some of the skeins, I could return them to the store, which I thought was a generous offer (and brilliant, frankly - there's nothing worse than running out of a specific dye lot of a yarn before you're done with a project, so with that offer, I don't have to worry about 'underbuying' - a term I just created. Oh, and there are many worse things, actually - famine, war, disease. But hyperboles make a point. What was I saying?).

You do have to ask about yarn prices, as they are not posted, but the yarn I bought was just under 5 CHF/skein, which I felt was completely reasonable.

From my limited experience, it seemed that the shop is doing well - I was the only customer in the shop at the time,  but I ran into other customers both while entering and leaving - but I do hope others will seek it out, especially as a place to look for yarn for a specific project/pattern.

Lana e più  information:

Location: Albistrasse 58, 8038 Zurich

Opening Hours:
Monday: 14:00-18:00 (2 pm to 6 pm)
Tuesday: 9:00 - 11:45, 14:00 - 18:00
Wednesday: 9:00 - 11:45
Thursday: 9:00 - 11:45, 14:00 - 18:00
Friday: 9:00 - 11:45, 14:00 - 18:00
Saturday: 9:00 - 14:00

Note: The store accepts cash, Maestro and Post cards, but not credit cards.

Baby blanket bingo

It seems that everybody I know is getting ready to welcome a new life into the world. So over the past month, I've had to step up my crochet game. Last year, I finished one blanket and it turned out lovely, but the color switching really slowed me down. With due dates each approximately one month apart, I don't have that kind of time this year. So, I chose...efficiently (last year, I chose...poorly. Anyone else been re-watching Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade?)

Choosing simpler patterns is good news for my friends, who will hopefully each get the blankets within one month of birth (I figure if people have up to a year to give a wedding gift, a month  is acceptable for a baby gift). It's bad news for my yarn stash, which hasn't shrunk at all due to the fact that I am terrible at buying enough single-color yarn to make anything of reasonable size (usually I buy yarn that's on clearance - aka, not much of it - plus I am a magpie, so I am easily distracted by crazy-colored variegated yarn).

For the first blanket, which I finished last week (for the record: four days before the due date and two days before the actual birth - which would be perfect except it needed to be shipped to the US), I chose a lovely bright green yarn by Lang Yarns that is a mixture of silk, rayon, and nylon. So soft. And it can be machine washed (delicate cycle). I chose a white border and then, because I have issues, bought a multicolor yarn to spruce up the edging. I used this pretty, super easy pattern and modified the border to widen it some and incorporate the third color.

I may have delayed sending it off because I entertained thoughts of keeping it for myself (despite the lack of babies in our house).

 I was worried it would be boring, but I think it turned out absolutely lovely, although I didn't manage to finish an owl motif I originally wanted to put on it. I'm so pleased - my crocheting has definitely improved since the last blanket, so I didn't have to use the border to hide any issues.

Close-up of the border. I might finally be learning how to make colors work together!

I'm now working on another blanket that I hope to accompany with an adorable amigurumi elephant (my first attempt at amigurumi, so the blanket may have to stand on its own if things go south). I'm using this lovely, very simple pattern. The yarn is also another silk blend (with cotton & viscose) - this time made by Maddison, a yarn company that seems to mainly do yarns for the Swiss department store Manor, which - unfortunately - means that most of their yarns are not on Ravelry.

Silver for the blanket border (and elephant), maroon for the body (and elephant ears).

Does that look like an elephant body? No? Trunk is forthcoming, that should help.

As you can see, I haven't been opting for traditional baby colors - both mothers don't seem very big on the blue/pink dichotomy, but I also figure that they can pick up a blanket in those colors easily if they so desire, so I wanted to make something a bit different.

It's not really this pink, I promise.

So far, so good - I've been toting the blanket everywhere with me and crocheting on the tram, while waiting for (and sometimes during) meetings, even during lunch. I may look crazy to those around me, but I'm halfway through my third (out of 5) yarn balls for the body, and I still have 17 days before the baby shower!

A belated happy new year!

The problem with not updating a blog in almost three months is that choosing a specific topic upon return becomes increasingly difficult. So I've decided to skip that decision and instead compose a random list of items that will be sure to reflect that current scattered state of my mind.

1. Top of the list: I finally submitted my US driver's license to be switched over to a Swiss one! Woo, celebrate. Ok, fine - it's not that exciting, but lemme explain. This has been hanging over my head for almost a year now (see point 3, below), and if the conversion isn't done within a year of entering Switzerland, then it's no good and I'd have to take all sorts of classes and driving lessons that would cost several thousand Swiss francs. So with some encouragement from a fellow American who waited until the last day to switch hers over, I got it in just under the wire (a semi-interesting note: I wouldn't have wanted to do it before last August. Although I've had a license since I was 16, my most recent renewal was in August of 2011, and Switzerland requires that a foreign license be at least 2 years old, otherwise they make you take driving classes. It never really occurred to me previously, but US licenses don't say anywhere on them that they are renewals. Discuss. Or not.)

2. I got a job! A WRITING job, even! (Should I have led with this, which is indisputably bigger news? Possibly, but I've actually been meaning to change my driver's license over for longer than I've been job hunting). I officially started on Monday - my assignment is to write an e-book guide to Zurich for www.expat-living.info. I'm super stoked and only slightly overwhelmed that I need to be an expert on the culture that I still feel such a stranger to myself.

3. As per item #1, the one year anniversary of my arrival in Switzerland looms very near. I arrived on the morning of January 15, 2013 - fresh-faced and prepared exhausted and terrified. I'd defended my dissertation five weeks previously and extricated myself from experiments in lab only 7 days before, which is when I started packing. I had left several boxes/items with friends in the hopes that they would have time to donate them somewhere worthy, and was lucky that I could leave the majority of my furnishings behind for the new tenants (my former dogsitters, lovely people). I spoke approximately three words of German and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I plan to do a more detailed post on this next week, but to summarize - moving is hard, culture shock is real, Switzerland is beautiful, and my husband is amazing. I'm grateful that I've had this experience, and I feel that every day continues to shape me in fundamental ways.

4. I did not hit my 50,000 word count goal for National Novel Writing Month back in November, unfortunately - a serious bout of food poisoning and two weeks of traveling around the US visiting with friends and family conspired against me. I did, however, finish with over 40,000 words and - for the first time ever -  plotlines that involved actual conflict/resolution, a milestone that I often trip over (I love designing worlds and characters, but have problems with conflict - a problem that goes beyond writing ;). Luckily, B has no such issues and helped me come up with several wonderful characters and entanglements that pushed the story forward).

5. Crafting got away from me the last few months, but I whipped up a shawl a couple weeks ago and am now working on a hat and possibly matching armwarmers to match. I'm not sure how much I actually like the shawl - I used this pattern with some modifications (I did a shell around the border instead of picot - mainly because I couldn't figure out the picot instructions. Lrn2utube, I know). I chose a relatively simple pattern, since the variegated yarn I had was quite loud, color-wise. Unfortunately, to my eye, it still didn't really work. So then you may ask why am I making a hat and armwarmers to match? Because I bought the largest ball of yarn known to man (not really, that's somewhere in Kansas) - 500 grams (over a pound - and keep in mind, yarn does not weigh much). Below is a picture of the ball after I finished the shawl. Lesson learned - humongous yarn balls are fun, but be triple sure you like the colors before buying.

I deliberately included a salt shaker because it was what was on the table for size comparison. Unfortunately I got the camera angle wrong - the ball is actually taller than the salt shaker.

I can't get over the fact that the middle portion looks like a 1970's granny square from hell. I'm trying to convince myself that the colors might work better for a hat.

6. I haven't made new year's resolutions for years, but my linguistic frustration has managed to channel itself into something productive; I am on a 10 day streak for German on DuoLingo and yesterday was able to field a few unexpected questions from various service people (exciting ones such as "Would you like the dressing mixed in?" and "On the Louis XIV, you want only shrimp?"). Baby steps, people, baby steps.

Speaking of small victories, this happened last week:

A sight I never thought I'd see.

Guys, it's AMERICAN FOOTBALL! ON TV HERE! Yes, I whipped out my camera as witness to this. As most of you know, I'm a pretty big pro football fan (as one must be in order to maintain fandom of the Detroit Lions), and I'd been following games online all season. Little did I know that our basic cable package (purchased only because it was free with the highest speed internet available, top priority for B) includes a channel called US Sports 1. I stumbled across it randomly while flipping channels - they were playing a college bowl game, not a typical sight on Swiss television. So I've managed to see every playoff game so far - the time difference makes this a challenge, but I was grateful to see that they replay them the following day at a more reasonable hour. The only catch? The commentary is in German. It's quite surreal. I log game watching as language practice.

I have so many pictures from a backlog of recipes, trips (Munich, Milan, Rome, the US) and holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's), but I wasn't able to access my iPhoto library for a few months when it got too big for my old MacBook Pro. Now I have a beautiful new MacBook Air (yay for Christmas!), so with the help of an external hard drive, I'm slowly starting to sort through them. I'll leave you with my favorite picture of a trip to Milan back in September with my parents and B. It's my mother in contemplation of the unfinished Rondanini Pieta by Michelangelo:

Celebrating crochet craft completions

I stalled out on some crochet projects a couple months ago, but have picked them back up over the past few weeks. And to a bit of my surprise, I've actually finished (or close to!) several of them. My current big project is a sampler afghan, in which every square is a different stitch. It's been great - I've now learned how to rib and cable with crochet (techniques typically associated with knitting), as well as some other attractive stitches. Unfortunately, I slowed down on a square for which I found the written instructions a bit confusing and the final appearance significantly less attractive than the images in the pattern. Ah well.

Also note the lack of size uniformity. Some of the squares are going to take serious blocking before they can be assembled. Square that has been perpetually in progress for 3+ months not shown.

To distract myself and still scratch my crafting itch, which has become difficult to ignore as the weather has cooled and greyed, I've done a few other projects. My favorite is definitely the shawl I finished just last night:

I had to improvise with the color changes, since I knew I was short on yarn and wanted to try to use as much of each skein as I could. But if I didn't tell you that, would you notice?

Unfortunately I only bought 4 skeins of the yarn, so it's a bit smaller than the original pattern intended. I also made my own edge with a bit more ruffle to it. Overall, I love it. The yarn is a silk/merino/cotton blend, so it's unbelievably soft and very warm. The pattern was super easy as well - I crocheted this from start to finish in 4 days. Highly recommend!

I'm also almost done with a scarf that I'm attempting without a pattern - which I feel now to be a mistake, but since the scarf is 90% or more done, I'm not about to restart it. Oh well! 

Scarf disappointment. It's a medical condition.

I based it on a simple wave pattern, which I thought would look nice with the blue colors, but the yarns are more novelty than I'm used to, so the entire scarf feels a bit stiff and looks quite awkward (imo). I think a looser stitch would have been better to give these yarns more pliability (that is so not a word that I've ever seen applied to crafts, but maybe I'll start a trend). Win some, lose some! Unless anybody out there needs a scarf that isn't very warm or snuggly? 

And finally, I finished another market bag, this time in blue with brown handles. 

I continue to play around with modifications of this pattern, mainly changing the handles. I like the two tone look, and I bought a crapload (technical measure) of the mercerized cotton yarn when it was on clearance, so I'm taking color requests for Christmas presents (I've got more of the blue above, a teal color, dark blue, brown, white, linen, and lavendar). I may try another bag pattern with only one large shoulder handle from the same pattern designer and put in stripes, because stripes are festive (and easier than polka dots). :) 

I hope everyone is having a happy fall! What craft projects are you working on?

Rainy day update

Life continues apace here in Zurich! B and I sat in our darkened apartment with all our fans on this past weekend in an attempt to survive 36C highs (that's well over 90F - Europe does not believe in air conditioning). However, today the predicted high is 20C, and there is a lovely cool rain that's been falling since late last night. Given how much rain we had this past spring, I never thought I'd be this excited to hear the pitter pat of the drops on our windows.

Last Monday morning, in an attempt to organize, I created a weekly schedule for myself. One week later, I have yet to follow it exactly on any given day. Despite this failure, however, I've found that I have been satisfied with how productive I've been - I'm back into daily German vocabulary cards, I managed to write almost 7000 words on my current story, worked out regularly, prepped several awesome dinners, and actually finished the baby blanket for my grad school friend. Just in time, since her baby is almost 2 weeks old! I'm currently working on a little hat to accompany the blanket before sending it off (I'm using this pattern - so adorable!).

How cute it this!? And yes, it's small on purpose. You can admire my color coding, but if you actually read what I'm doing, that's just dorky (well - it's dorky of you, but of more concern is that it reveals what a dork I am, as well). Ok, fine - if you read it, then the point is that I put most of my 'fun' stuff (eg, baking and crafting) later in the afternoon - so if I am running behind, I don't get my fun reward. It's been surprisingly effective.

I've learned that I am about 6000x more productive with writing and editing if I am not in our apartment (especially since I am currently addicted to Murder, She Wrote, and all eight seasons are available on Netflix), so I have been frequenting a large Starbucks almost daily. I appreciate that it allows one-hour of high-speed internet access and then reduces bandwidth, but doesn't cut me off entirely (is this how the US stores work? I can't recall). Definitely smart. I focus better in coffee shops - my dissertation was largely written in ones around Boston - but it also gets me out of the house regularly (important for my sanity). Another bonus is that I get to people-watch and eavesdrop. I hear a surprising amount of English, although usually not American (or native-speaking). But I also have lots of opportunities to practice my German comprehension (and without any pressure to actually speak it).

I was quite happy with how the baby blanket turned out; I think it looks much better in person than any picture I managed to take (maybe it's time I started trying out those DSLR camera tutorials on DVD...that can be part of my 'craft time'). It's a little knobbly around some of the edge, but the border greatly helped to 'normalize' the blanket - definitely a useful trick to remember in the future. However, as much as I was satisfied with the design, I will never, ever make it again. It was the SLOWEST progress I have ever made on any crochet project (hence why I'm sending it as a post-birth gift).

The blanket, folded in fourths. It's quite a good size (exactly how big are baby blankets supposed to be, anyway?). The shell design is from this blog, but I didn't follow the number of rows or the border part of the pattern.

Also, I realized that I haven't posted any pictures of our living room since Ikea shipment #2 arrived. There are still a couple sets of shelves to be assembled, but, overall, voila! We have a living room!

Yayy, a place to lounge! It needs some throw pillows and maybe a second chair, but it's enough to host!

And it even LOOKS like a living room! A side table! Places to sit! A coffee table! A rug! Yes, in case it's not apparent, I'm excited to finally feel that we are living in our apartment, and not just squatting. We still have some lingering boxes (see the right of the above photo), but their numbers are dwindling. And a former college classmate came to stay with us last weekend (she found herself in Luzern for work), so we are officially hosting visitors, if anybody is interested (hint, hint).

This upcoming Thursday, August 1, is a national holiday in Switzerland (think 4th of July in the US or 14th of July in France - complete with the fireworks). B will be taking the Friday off as well, allowing for a long weekend. We wanted to travel somewhere, but we are officially the world's worst trip planners - we only started looking at destinations last night around 11 pm. HOWEVER - we are still hoping to snag a train to somewhere fun, and I have sworn up and down that we will buy some cheap tickets from Easy Jet for future weekend getaways. Swiss blog people - where were some of your favorite weekend trips? I'm taking suggestions!

Baking/cooking post due soon! I'm way behind on sharing what I've been up to in the kitchen.

NB: I think I may have broken my own record on asides and parenthetical comments in this post. I've used up all my 'good' writing on my story, apparently.

Randomness

Random assortment of thoughts that are bouncing around in my head:

- I surpassed 4000 page views yesterday on this blog! Either my parents just like to check in hourly to see if there is a new post, or there must be lurkers on here. Hello lurkers!! I love you guys! Feel free to introduce yourself (or continue to lurk, that's ok, too).
Honestly though, I see this blog as a way to let everyone back home know how life is going, and I love hearing that friends and people are reading (even enjoying!) it. As for the growing Swiss audience (according to my audience posts) - if you're an expat, I hope that you can relate to some of my stories, and if you're Swiss, I hope you know that I actually like this country very much and I'm sorry I can't speak your language better.

- Yesterday was a total productivity loss because I started a book by this woman. Connie Willis is one of my all-time favorite authors (possibly even rivaling Jane Austen - yes, I said it!), and reading this interview (and this more recent one) of her makes me like her even more. Even if you're not a huge SciFi/Fantasy fan, I would highly recommend her stories. Her research into the topics she writes about are unparalleled and she's not a scifi writer in the stereotypical sense (no aliens, etc. Just people being - well, very human). I just spent ten minutes typing and erasing attempts to explain why she is so awesome, but I can't. Instead, please just check out her stuff. The first page of one of my favorite short stories, "Even the Queen," is online here, and is very representative of her writing.

- I need to pick up the pace on the baby blanket, although there is progress being made! Just not enough for a baby that is due next month (and needs to be shipped internationally). (As an aside, if anybody could email me the actual due date, that would be great - are we talking, say, July 2, or do I have a couple weeks into July to finish this?)

I started carrying the yarn with me up the sides - it's much faster, and I'm hoping that a large enough border will disguise the resulting unevenness.

 - The baby blanket hasn't been getting done because I started an attempt at fingerless gloves. I had to frog it twice; the first was because I used the wrong hook size and they were too big, the second was because I followed these instructions and it turns out my wrists must be super, super tiny. So I threw out the directions and just started adjusting it for my wrist. And now it looks great!

Something about the perspective in this shot wigs me out. It's like my arm is unnaturally large, infinite ,and not connected to my body.

Of course, the only problem is that technically gloves come in pairs. Or they're supposed to, I've heard. And in no way do I remember or noted the rows where I decreased/increased nor how many stitches I adjusted. Oops. As a stalling tactic, I'm going to make a slouchy hat to match the glove. Hypothetical gloveS.

- I was wrong about our apartment being a fortress of solitude (or at least silence). Either we previously had no upstairs neighbors or it was a silent single person, because the past week I've heard voices and screaming that sounds threateningly like a young toddler. Also, I would like to point out that I've seen at least two moving trucks in the six weeks we've been here, and no new neighbors have knocked on our door to introduce themselves. Is that something that is really done in Switzerland, or is it a bit of a myth, like the one where you will get a ticket for jaywalking? (Yes, it's technically illegal, but I've never seen or heard of anyone ACTUALLY having to pay a fine. And people do it regularly).

- Stores here are ramping up for the summer sales, and it's oh-so-dangerous. Unlike the US, where there are sales at seemingly random times, most stores here (and in France - anyone know about other European countries?) have big sales twice a year - in January and July. In January, I didn't really take advantage of the sales due to sticker shock ("Holy crap, they want 60 swiss francs for a shirt!?"), but now my mindset has adjusted ("Holy crap, that shirt is only 60 swiss francs?!"). Although the danger for me isn't really the clothes - it's the home decor.

- Speaking of home decor/furniture, we still don't have any. We've been furniture shopping twice and successfully have obtained...(drum roll)...one computer chair! Woohoo! -.- Switzerland is known for its efficiency, but - unfortunately - not for its speed. We don't have a car, so we've had to order everything for delivery. We went to Ikea sometime around May 25th, and they scheduled delivery for June 17th. Last weekend, we ordered a couch, a computer chair for me, and a trundle bed for the spare room (which we need before we can figure out any other furniture for that space). The trundle bed will be the fastest - they said they'd deliver June 18th. Unfortunately, the couch and other chair aren't available until the "end of the month" (I bit my lip on asking WHICH month. The saleslady didn't look the type to appreciate sarcasm). At this point, that's not too far away, but I must say I am very, very tired of having only one tabletop space that must double as two desks and a dining room table. Moral: If you have no furniture and are so spoiled as to want some, order it before you move, or as soon as humanly possible after.

- The garden is a separate post, but let's just say that my impression that I could just weed the flower beds that haven't been tended in 2 summers was vastly wrong. Don't mistake me - things are growing. The problem is that they are growing everywhere. I'm not sure what vision the person who originally planted it had, but I'm fairly sure it wasn't "overgrown jungle with strawberry plants strewn throughout."

Even my succulents are starting to slip out of control and grow many babies. But at least they're cute still.

More crafting...

Last week I wasn't assigned any editing jobs (nor was I quick enough to grab any group assignments), so I had a bit of time on my hands. I was feeling a bit aimless, and my usual answer to that is baking. So I made chocolate chai snickerdoodle cookies and ate at least a dozen of them (I believe I've posted this recipe before, possibly on my old blog. I always double the amount of spices and add several shakes of cardamom as well. It's a specific taste that may not be suited for everyone, but I absolutely adore them). Then I realized that was not a sustainable solution, as I am really really trying to be more aware of what I eat, so I turned to crafting.

I made this crocheted market bag in one day (the link actually has several lovely patterns, some free):

Cute and sturdy as well - I carried several large cans of refried beans home from the Mexican grocery store in this.

I bought the yarn, a mercerized cotton, on clearance at Manor, and it was perfectly suited for the project - it was almost like crocheting with small ropes rather than yarn. So I went back and purchased another half-dozen balls in various colors and plan to make several more. One on request for one of B's cousins, but I'm also starting to crochet items with an eye towards possibly grabbing a table at the American Women's Club of Zurich (AWCZ)'s Christmas Bazaar and trying to sell some things. We'll see.

On the same day I made the bag, I also transformed one of B's old shoe boxes from this:

Into this:

I'm not sure why we had the shoe box - when you buys shoes here in Switzerland, the store usually asks if you want to keep the box and if you don't, they break it down and recycle it for you. Dead useful, but I was glad that for some reason B kept this one. It has resided, emptry on the floor of the apartment, since before I arrived (also, I'm not sure why it made the move with us), so I co-opted it for a gardening supplies container. I had been keeping all my stuff outside on our patio, but we received a flyer in our mailbox warning us about not feeding the foxes (füchse) and how they love biowaste, food, and gardening supplies (the paper even specifically stated gardening gloves). We haven't been proper Swiss neighbors already (I accidentally used the wrong washroom last month, and also we haven't knocked on people's doors and introduced ourselves, which is apparently supposed to be done within hours of moving in), so I didn't want to be the stupid American in the building who attracts the foxes.

Anyway, the shoe box was nice and sturdy, so I bought some washi tape, paint, and brushes to decorate it with.

At least, what I thought was paint.

It was like coating the box in a thin layer of clay. Between this and the crocheting, the tendons in my fingers actually  ached the next day.

Turns out, it totally wasn't. I'm still not sure what it was - it felt almost clay-like in texture and was very thick. The box was textured, so I was able to rub the color in to great effect. Perhaps I was supposed to add water? I have no idea. I am glad that I learned my lesson with this smaller project before buying more of the same type for the Ikea furniture we have arriving in 2 weeks.

Then I made this hat the latter half of the week:

I just loved the pattern, and I'm happy to report the result was a much greater success than my first attempt at a hat last year (it ended up fitting a hypothetical flattened, enormous diameter-head person, not actual humans). Unfortunately, I didn't quite pay attention to the pattern and it wasn't until I was stitching the last row that I realized I had followed the instructions for a children's hat. Oops. I don't really know any 6-8 year olds (my best guess as to what age would fit in this), so it's definitely going in my pile of potential items to be sold.

This week so far has been a little quieter, but I did just finish a hat adapted from this pattern today:

Ta-da! This picture makes it look like a seat cushion...

I used some yarn that my mother passed on to me when I was in the US, so I have no idea where she got it from. It turned out not to have the appropriate gauge from the pattern, at least in my hands, so I had to adapt the pattern some, but it turned out to fit a real human (me!), and I'll probably hold onto it for myself.

Fuzzy, sorry. Turns out that taking pictures in the bathroom mirror is quite challenging. Also, yes, I am in my workout clothes. No judging.

I hope that everyone is having a great week! Have you done any crafting recently?

Crocheting it up

I took a bit of a break from crocheting in April, largely due to my attempt at Camp Nanowrimo and the whole moving thing. But I packed my hook and yarn for the long plane ride and, after I'd finished my book, there wasn't much else to do in the remaining six hours (other than sleep, you say? Yes, if you are one of those lucky people who can sleep in a near-upright position. And if you are, then I am officially jealous. And if I ever ride on a plane with you, don't sit near me because I will regularly poke you awake in order to share my misery. B will attest to this).

So I dove back into my afghan during the trip, and I'm so glad I got back to it. Whenever I step away from crochet for more than a week, I always forget how relaxing it is. I also realized while I was in the US that I didn't have nearly enough gray or mixed color yarn to finish. Luckily, the yarn was from Michael's, so I was able to pick up another skein of gray in North Carolina (the lot wasn't the same, but luckily the color was still indistinguishable).

And then last weekend, I finally finished it - including weaving in the ends (the part I dislike). I used this free pattern - if anyone out there wants to learn how to crochet, this is an excellent beginning project. I found it fairly monotonous by the end, but the feeling of actually finishing a project kept me going. I added a small single crochet border of the mixed color (I didn't have enough yarn for a double, which I would've preferred).

Speaking of finishing craft projects, - I already mentioned this, but I'm going to show the picture again because it took a while and I'm super proud of it - in NC I also managed to finish a long-neglected embroidery project for a friend. Since I have significant numbers of half-finished cross-stitch projects languishing in a drawer, I was disproportionately happy to have one finished (including even the backstitching!).

Parts of it are slightly crooked and I can see many slight/more obvious problems, but I actually completed something, yay!

So, of course, I've already started a new project. A friend from graduate school is having a baby, and she requested a color scheme in lavender. I spent some time finding appropriate yarn (I had no pastels in my stash), but actually more time looking for a pattern I liked. And one that would allow me to use different colors, a choice that I am regretting a wee bit now, as it does significantly slow the rate of progress. And leaves many, many ends that will need to be woven in at the end. But overall, I am enjoying the pattern and I think the final product will be lovely.

Unfortunately I am not doing well at capturing the detail of the stitching, but you get the idea of the color scheme. All the yarns are from Coop City or Manor.

The pattern itself I found, via Pinterest, on a Norwegian blog. Luckily, the blogger included an English version of the instructions at the bottom of the post, because it turns out that Google translate cannot handle crochet instructions. One sentence, according to the English instructions, was meant to be "chain does not count as first double crochet" - Google translated this sentence from Norwegian as "Air masks do not count as a spell." So Google is still fallible, in case anyone had other ideas.

Stitching is still unclear - oh well. Basically it's a modified shell stitch, in case anyone was wondering.

I started the blanket on Sunday at the Zurich Stitch n' Bitch meetup. Some words about this group - it's wonderful (ok, just one word). I am so, so glad that B encouraged me to go when I stumbled across it online a couple months ago. The women are super friendly and welcoming - and all of them speak English (although some not natively). II've only been twice, but I've met fellow Americans, Canadians, a "Kiwi" (New Zealander), Brits, and a fair number of Swiss/native German-speakers as well. They meet almost every Sunday morning at the Starbucks at Bellevue and there is currently a movement in the group to schedule a weekday evening meetup as well. People bring in crochet, knitting, embroidery, any sort of stitched craft - and if you don't know how, just show up with some needles/hooks and yarn, and someone can get you started. It's one of the first places I've been to here in Zurich that feels like a community (and one that I want to be a part of).

I hope that everyone in the US had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, and that everyone in Switzerland enjoyed the 2 days of sunshine on Monday and Tuesday - because it looks like that was our quota for the week. If anybody isn't familiar with Ray Bradbury's short story All Summer in a Day, it may help for some perspective (and for a slightly less depressing version, try the film adaptation).

Yarn stores in Zurich

Update: For (yet another) yarn store in Zurich, see my more recent post here.

 I'm in the beginning stretch of my Camp Nanowrimo marathon, but so far still on target towards my goal, so I'm feeling encouraged. Although I have started skipping around in the story, writing random scenes that may or may not actually occur later. But that's why I actually enjoy Nanowrimo - focusing on the word count forces you to just write and not get too bogged down in details (like, say, plot).

My completed basket! I had to frog (ie, take apart) large portions of this twice,  and the bottom was still a little wonky - getting cotton jersey that thick to lie flat was a real challenge. Halfway through, I had to buy more jersey to finish it, and of course they didn't have the same color, so ripped out half of it and introduced the stripes. I still have some of the pink, but I switched to more typical yarn for my next project in order to prevent carpal tunnel.

I've been crocheting steadily (B claims maniacally) over the past month in an attempt to reduce the size my yarn stash - a noble goal, but unfortunately the more I work, the more I feel the need to purchase yarn, a vicious circle. Particularly when dreaming of tackling a goal the size of an afghan, for which you often need 700 yards or more of a single color.

Successful yarn containage. Unfortunately I have 2 plastic bins full of yarn as well. I'm gonna need a bigger basket. 

So, I did some poking about online, and I found several yarn stores in Zurich that I decided to check out - for investigational purposes only, of course.

Current project: in the round afghan. I'll go until I run out of these yarns, but since I purchased them in the US and can't buy more here, it will probably end up being more of a lap blanket (or baby blanket?) than full size afghan. Pattern inspiration here.

I had previously purchased a few skeins of yarn here in Switzerland, but most of my collection was brought over from the US - it's not heavy and it makes great padding for packing any delicate items, such as an Xbox. Before starting my investigation, the only known yarn locations I had were Manor and Coop City, both large department stores with decent-size craft sections.

Opening hours/addresses for all stores are listed at the bottom of the post.

Manor:

The main wall of yarn at Manor.

Manor is the Swiss equivalent to department stores such as JC Penney or Macy's and has a sewing/craft section on the fourth floor (the Zurich store is located on Bahnhofstrasse). The selection is varied and I would compare it to the selection at Michael's (although the yarn is overall better quality), in that they have many basics and a few novelty/fun ones. If you just want something to scratch the knitting/crocheting itch, it is easy enough to pick up a few skeins here. Prices are clearly marked and run from CHF 1.50/skein - CHF 13/skein for the nicer yarns. This is the only place I found with the heavy cotton jersey "yarn" that I used to make the above pink/maroon basket. They do occasionally have yarns on sale (sales are rare here, stores don't have an almost-constant "sale/clearance" sections as in the US), so I try to drop by regularly. As a side note - I am allergic to wool, which often restricts my yarn possibilities, and this restriction felt most limiting here, although there are many cotton blend options. (Also note: in German wolle is simply 'yarn,' despite what google translate says. 'Baumwolle' is cotton, while Schurwolle is traditional sheep's wool, I believe. However, most yarn labels here do have details in English, so don't fret about knowing your textiles in German.)

Coop City:

Coop City is one of the multitude of store types under the Coop banner (we do most of our grocery shopping at the local Coop), and also has a sewing/yarn section. I've been to a few around the city, and by far the best selection is at the large Coop City at St. Annahof (also on Bahnhofstrasse, pictures below are from this location). They carry a lot of the same brands and options as Manor, and prices seem comparable. I did feel that this location had more non-wool options, as well as perhaps a few more novelty yarns (in terms of multi-color, not necessarily texture). Prices are also marked here and run from CHF 3.70 up to 13/skein. I did not find any sale yarn, although that doesn't necessarily mean that they never have any.

The main yarn wall, although there were at least 4 sets of shelves facing it, also full of options.

Ok, this isn't yarn. It's shoulderpads. Are those still big here in Switzerland? Coz they had a LOT of options.

Another place that carries basic, 'cheap' (by Swiss standards) yarn is Migros Do-it + Garden, but the one I went to had a very poor selection, almost entirely involving some percentage of wool. So I mention it here to be fair, but I wouldn't recommend it.

After the somewhat familiar chain stores, I switched gears. I found three yarn stores in searching online (well, I thought I found four, but one of them was a general craft mecca) and went to check them out.

Anna Lana:

This store is near Stauffacher and rather small, but manages to pack quite a bit into the space. About 2/3 of the store is devoted to yarn, while the remainder has a fairly wide bead selection, although I didn't take the time to explore that part thoroughly. When I first walked in, my main impression was simply the explosion of color. They had a lovely selection and I could've lurked for hours, but I managed to pull myself out after 20 minutes of fondling the various selections. They definitely had a much wider variety of yarn textures and materials/blends than the non-specialty stores - alpaca, bamboo, linen, merino, acrylic, mohair, silk - although it didn't have quite the range of the other two independent stores (below). They have a basket of clearance yarn to the left of the entrance with skeins for CHF 3- or 5- each. My only critique, as a budget-conscious wallflower non-German lurker, is that there were no prices anywhere for their regular yarn stock. It would have been nice to have some idea whether I could possibly afford the yarn I was fondling.

Side wall.

Back wall.

Yarn that didn't fit on a wall.

Vilfil:

The next two yarn shops took me to the east side of the city, on the side of Zurich lake that I don't get to very often. My first stop was Vilfil, easily the largest yarn shop in the entire city. The place was simply enormous - they have two rooms towering with shelves and shelves of yarn. They only display one skein of each color/type of yarn, because apparently they have a basement where the actual stock is kept. The organization seemed rather random, but it must have made sense to the people that work there, because upon inquiring about wool-free yarn (the lady was more than gracious at slipping into English), she knew right where to go. I managed not to buy skeins and skeins for an afghan that I really want to attempt, but I did break down when I found their basket of clearance yarn, and I bought 4 skeins of white/silver/black for CHF 3.- each.

This was the only shop where I actually interacted instead of lurking, and the woman was more than patient with me. Unfortunately she was very much a knitter, not much of a crocheter, and this - coupled with the facts that I don't much care/know about yarn weight, the weird US vs. rest of the world crochet hook size, and yards vs. meters - led to lots of me leaning towards heavier yarns than what she thought I wanted. I probably should've just asked her to show me nice stuff.

This places was like your eccentric great-aunt's den. It was awesome. There was an entire second room, almost as large, to the left. I thought I got a picture of it, apparently not.

In addition to the actual yarn, the shop also had dozens of knitted items for sale - hats, jackets, skirts, accessories, etc. I suspect these were made by the employees themselves when the store wasn't busy, and this seemed like it would be so much fun that I wanted to inquire if they had need of a non-German speaking intern. They also had pre-packaged yarns/supplies for various individual projects (most of them appeared to be knitting rather than crochet), which might be nice if you don't have time to browse all the options. As with Anna Lana, they had a huge variety of yarn materials, not just cotton and wools.

Also appreciated - price lists! They weren't always 100% up to date, but they hung from each shelving unit and corresponded at least somewhat to the yarns.

Tuttolana:

My final stop was also on the east side of Zurich Lake in a lovely part of town - much of Zurich isn't perhaps what one would expect from an old European city, but this area had it all: cobblestone streets, narrow alleys, small family-run shops. I'm definitely bringing B back for further exploration.

I was the youngest person in the shop by at least 30 years, and got a little side-eye from some of the Swiss ladies, but this may have been due to my camera and loud Desigual coat more than my lurking. The saleswomen didn't bat an eye. This shop also had their shelves arranged by color in columns, while the rows were the same yarns. It made for easy and aesthetically pleasing browsing, although there was no sign of any listed prices, so I was again left wondering if I could afford anything I had my eye on. They also had a display full of already-made items available, and a display afghan that I wanted to curl up under with a book and some tea and never leave. I didn't find any clearance yarn.

In terms of selection, they also had many, many wool-free options, and, based on the 100% silk ropes spread through some of the color displays, I suspect they had some pretty pricey yarns. I did see a repeat of some of the basic yarns as well, though, so there seemed to be a wide variety.

Yes please.

I love the mini granny squares peaking out.

100% pure silk, and they had every color in the rainbow, which I realized after I snapped this picture. My favorite was an emerald green. WANT.

Overall, I was pleased to discover that Zurich has such a wonderful selection of yarn shops. I was also happy to realize that a small city can support three independent yarn stores - all shops were doing a bustling business when I was in them, and I had to wait to snap pictures without browsing customers. I also was happy to have an excuse to venture into unknown parts of the city - something I definitely need to make an effort to do more often.

Now, back to that afghan.

Store Addresses/Hours:

(All stores are located in Zürich)

Manor:

Bahnhofstrasse 75

Mo-Sat 9 am to 8 pm

Coop City St. Annahof:
Bahnhofstrasse 57

Mo-Sat 9 am to 8 pm

Anna Lana:

Rebgasse 5

Closed Monday

Tues-Fri 9 am to 1 pm/ 2 pm to 6 pm

Sat 9 am to 4 pm

Vilfil:

Kreuzstrasse 39

Mo 1:30 pm to 6:30 pm

Tues-Fri 10 am to 6:30 pm

Sat 10 am to 4 pm

Tuttolana:

Closed Monday

Tues-Fri 10 am to 6:30 pm

Sat 10 am to 4 pm