sweetest surprise

Do you know what happens when you work your ass off for three weeks straight with no breaks, and then you come home to find something like this:

Totally unexpected and totally loving. I cried. I cried. I cried. And smiled. It couldn't be more perfect, and not with better timing. Mandy sent me love. And yarn. And two books. It's so awesome I can't find words. There is Koigo in luscious greens - so soft! So lovely! There is Indiecita Alpaca in a turquoise and one in black, and guess what? I had already bought two skeins of Indiecita Alpaca, but in reds! Yarn telepathy, that's what it is. And that tagliatelle ribbon thingie! The colors! The fun! The beauty! I love, love, love it! Then there is lots of the soft Araucania of the same sort Mandy used for my Flower Basket Shawl - Will I now make matching gauntlets in all those forest green nuances? Who knows? I'll take my time just fondling these treasures, planning, scheming for their destined projects.

Mandy wrote me that every new knitter needs to be encouraged with gifts. I feel encouraged not only to continue knitting, but to buy my tickets to go to Canada and hug this wonderful woman! Thank you so much Mandy! I can't even begin to tell you...
The colors, the textures, the love implied. And those books... Just having flipped through them I see help has come my way! You, Mandy, are truly awesome. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
And people: I officially have a yarn stash.

proof of progress

Two weeks ago, I had just started with the first cuff.

Yesterday at the same café, I had come about as far on the second cuff - with all the lace done in between.

Today - I started the collar. (Thank you Lea for the photos!)

If only knitting was the only thing I did... I'm scared to say it, but I either work or knit. That's it. Since two weeks. I wonder if it's good for me? I doubt it. I'll try to slow down, in about three weeks. This particular week is truly insane. I've promised you a blog on what I do at work... Well, my company's webiste is up and running now, but unfortunately it's only written in Swedish so far, but be my guest to take a look! Here: www.inlevel.se
And I'll still write that post about what I do. But not now. Later.

minus collar

What's that I'm wearing?

That, my friends, is a Lacey without a collar. I'm starting that at a knitting café at the museum (Yay!) tomorrow, where I can get help picking up stitches around the body opening. It fits, it's gorgeous and
I made it! (It's a crappy photo, I know, but the light in my hallway is crappier this time of night.)

I was at a knitting café tonight too, and I have pictures in my cellphone to upload, but not tonight. Now it's bedtime. Apart from the knitting, this week is insane in workload. I do not work well under pressure.

But hey... Lacey huh! I can't wait to start the collar. Knit, purl, knit purl...


(Pst... I still need help with that color choice, but I think I might get going on something else before Pilar... )

survey

I'm seeing the light in the tunnel of my lacey project. It's an adventure and I learn from my errors, and although my mistakes will show in the finished bolero (if you study it up close) I think I'll wear it with pride. I'll walk around town with an aura glowing with I made it!-energy.

Now, my next project will probably last me the better part of the next year. Yes, I'm going for Pilar.

I will use a yarn that's 100% alpaca, since they have a cheap and beautiful one at my favorite "dealer" - Drops Alpaca from Garnstudio. Now here's my problem: I don't know which color to choose! Here's a link to a color scheme of the yarn in question. I'm choosing between red (3900) and purple (3800 or 4400). I should also tell you that I'm working on a pair of glove type thingies in 3800 and 3900. Help! Tell me what you think! Another thought was to make it in black and not hide the button, but choose a decorative and colorful button to show like a jewel or broche... I need your opinions!

progress

It's a sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeve!

master

...of architecture
is what the diploma will say.

The diploma that is supposed to arrive to my mailbox within the next few weeks.

Today I finally had the last meeting with the last professor to give me my last few points at Chalmers University of Technology. I'm done.
I've graduated.

Actually I graduated last year, and I've been calling myself an architect since, but I still had this course to finish by handing in one final assignment. I got it approved today.

Master of architecture at your service.

1000

My counter just showed 1000. I know some of it is me coming in to check, but most of it are people coming here to read what I write. I'm humbled by those four digits. And even if my last post tells you that I'm not in the best of moods, I hope you do feel it's worth coming back to read my ramblings here. I love blogging!

And I love knitting. I calmed down by doing a few inches worth of lace on my lacey... So far so good! I can't wait until it's done!

annoyance

There are some things that other people do that makes my spine curl up into my neck, and if it’s really bad you might even hear me grunt about it. But the real problem is – it’s my problem. Mine alone. My biggest annoyances are mostly stuff I should just shrug off, but catch me on a bad day trying to deal with these little ticks in others, and you might see a muscle in my jaw twitch, and my eyes squinting at the culprit with a look saying “k-i-l-l y-o-u n-o-w”. What can possibly make me, sweet little me, so unfriendly?

1. The sound of food. People eating. Chewing with open mouths. Slobbering. Apples are the worst. First you have the biting, then the breaking, then the slurp, slobber and chew… Ew. I told you – It’s mostly my problem, but it has come so far that I can’t even see “The Return of the King” in the LOTR trilogy again. I saw it once and the scene with close-ups of Denethor eating almost killed me.

2. Next thing is people solving problems I don’t have. It’s always a misunderstanding and the other person always means well, and I feel guilty just thinking of how annoyed I can feel with this behaviour. Example: “How are you? Still tired?”, “Well, I still work a lot, but I’m fine. I love my job”, “Maybe if you tried this herbal tea I have. It works wonders. Or yoga? Maybe yoga is the thing for you?” Did I ask for advice on my fatigue? Did I want my problems solved my herbal tea? How mean am I for thinking bad things about friends that are trying to help? So, this is actually two problems. First the initial annoyance and then my guilt over being annoyed. Thoroughly annoying. And obviously I do the same thing myself! Because I try to be nice and to be a good friend. Seriously, what's wrong with me?

3. Everyone who knows me also knows how I can’t stand peanuts. Not the taste, not the smell. You eat peanuts an hour before we meet and I smell it on you and I feel sick to my stomach. My problem – not yours – right? Still I can really work up a storm inside thinking about how thoughtless it is of my friends to eat a snack they love an hour before seeing me… I really need to work on this one.

These annoyances has actually started to interrupt my everyday life, because since I became aware of just how annoyed I get, and just how guilty I feel over my very irrational anger… yes, it actually verges on anger over these things, I experience it every day. Suddenly kind words are analyzed and criticised in my head and I have trouble being around others when I eat, or rather when they eat. And when I eat myself, I’m so afraid of being a hypocrite, making noise myself, that I spend unusual amounts of energy on table manners.

I think I need to rest a bit. This must clearly be evidence of sleep deprivation and strain…
Very annoying.

crash

Lots of movies this week! Or actually just two, and they happen to be just about the only time off I've had, or at least that's how it feels... But today I saw another movie you just have to see. Crash.

Although several of the people in the audience seemed to totally miss the point of the movie, for example by laughing at tragedy, I think few people left that theatre untouched. It is a very "Short Cuts" kind of story, where several people are bound to each other's stories by coincidence, but the message is quite different. This movie tells us about prejudice, stereotypes, coincidence and circumstance and moments that define a person. All the characters are portrayed from two sides, and you're shown how a good man can commit horrible deeds and how the wicked have hearts of gold. We're all the same. Only circumstance defines us. I have a lot to think about after having seen this film, and I think I'll see it again for more insights of what and who we are.

house

Another quote from work maybe? (Everybody cheered and I agreed to give the people another quote from work...) Kids say the smartest and funniest things! Yesterday I pointed to the museum building and asked:

"Can you see what material the museum is built out of?"
(I should add for the story's sake that it's made out of brick.)
One boy raised his hand eagerly and he answered:

"House!"

The museum is built of house. Think about it. It's pretty clever really...

Willy Wonka

I never laugh out loud watching movies. I rarely cry. Tonight I laughed so hard I cried, and then I cried just for the beauty of it.

Give it to Tim Burton to improve one of my favorite children's books! He made the chocolate factory come alive in Burton-esque splendour!

He gave Willy Wonka a background and explained his weirdness. He invented a sadist dentist and gave the part Christopher Lee. He gave a not so subtle salute to Kubrick by including his "2001 a Space Odyssey" in the most spectacular manner. He chose the right actor for every part... And Johnny Depp is now the only Willy Wonka there is. Sorry Gene Wilder - you don't stand a chance.

I had longed for this movie for a year and it was every bit as magical as I had hoped for.

original junk

I had a tour through the design history of the 20th century at the museum. A boy of 12 points to a Vespa from the 50s:

"Why do you display such junk at a museum? That moped is really old and shitty!"

I answer him that the display is about the 1950s and that the moped is from that era.

"It's an original? For real?"

I answer him yes.

"Coooooooool! I'll tell everyone I've seen the Real Thing!"

Don't you have to love kids?

#4

I'm childishly amused by those questionnaire thingies...

more questions

I am sorry people, but I do love these questionnaire thingies, and Jodi posted one with actually challenging questions! This might take a while and I might even have to leave some blanks... Here we go:


7 things I plan to do before I die
1. design and build my own house
2. live abroad
3. study more art, art history, museum pedagogy and more languages (more Italian, more French, more Spanish)
4. own a Citroën 2CV
5. have children (child)
6. travel, travel, travel
7. visit blog friends across the globe

7 things I cannot do
1. maths and economy
2. decorate with blue
3. shut up
4. finish on time
5. be late without an excuse
6. keep my place as tidy as I'd like it
7. budget

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex
1. eyes
2. shoulders
3. humour
4. a way of thinking. Similar to mine, yet challenging
5. sincerity, genuinity
6. a shaved head has been a big turn-on lately
7. words. The right words at the right place, twists of words, an interest in the language...

7 things I say most often
1. Most
2. of my
3. expressions
4. are in Swedish,
5. but I do say
6. puss och kram (kiss and a hug)
7. instead of goodbye

7 celebrity crushes
There's no way I can list seven of these. I just don't have them, but the close-up of Gary Oldman's eyes in the third Harry Potter movie made me gasp, and Eddie Izzard always has to be mentioned. Always.

it's a small world after all

It's been days, but I finally got to tell Mandy her compliment yesterday, and now it's time to tell the rest of you, though it will appear a funny anecdote to you guys. (You should suck it in and gloat though Mandy!)

So I found a favorite yarn store, and they organize knit-along cafés every two weeks and I attended my first yesterday evening. I'll get back to that. Since I don't want this story to come back and bite me, I'll leave out the names and specific circumstances. If this knitting world is this small, the designer in question will know it's about his/ her design in no time at all otherwise. This friday I showed my printed pattern for lacey from Knitty to a knitting related Swede. She asked if I was on the Gothenburg mailing list and I said that "no, I have another link to Knitty". I did not mention Mandy. (There is a huge mailing list for knit related news in this city. My new hobby is actually beginning to feel overwhelming, but still mostly inspiring!) This woman goes on telling me that she just discovered Knitty myself, but a friend of hers absolutely loves it. Especially since she's been blogging or emailing or whatever with this designer who apparently has had his/ her patterns in Knitty. These two exchanged patterns ones, and this friend tried the pattern out but was unable to read/ decipher it! Then, the same pattern appears on Knitty, and she's able to complete the project! The woman closes her story with "Their editor must really know what he/ she's doing!" This is where I tell her that I know the tech editor of Knitty.com... Small world huh?! And she confirms what I knew already: Mandy rocks! And she's now an international knitting celebrity as well!

Anyway, more knit related news today: Yes, I went to my first knit along café Monday night! I sat in a café with about 30 other knitters (!), both beginners like myself and real professionals! Damn I wanted to learn faster seeing their work! I almost got caught on camera too. See here. I'm the blond head to the right.
And also: I'm making progress! Look at this:


I still have a long way to go, and I'm learning as I go, but I'm pretty darn proud of it so far. Only one mistake visible, and I won't mind when the rest of it looks like a piece of clothing.

And just to add pressure: I hereby promise to blog about my job soon again. I'm having so much fun! And I will bring my camera and show you some pictures too! Soon.

more projects

Hah! Guess what arrived in the mail today? No guesses? Well ok, I'll tell you. This arrived:

Yes, I bought a book of knitting patterns! And first thing from it I'll make after lacey has to be pilar. So as you can see, I'm officially hooked.

I bought yarn for lacey today too, just as I said I would. But I didn't end up with any lilac. I fell in love with a brown Vivaldi one instead. And I have realised from reading all these knitting blogs, that many of you know brand and quality of a yarn just by seeing some fuzz of it in a jpg-picture on the screen, but for the rest of you, and for my own recollection later, I'd like to point out that it was color no2 of the Vivaldi 43% mohair...

And since I've bragged to everyone I know about my new hobby, I've also stumbled on some wonderful knitting things happening here in Gothenburg, so Monday night I'm attending my first knit-along at Deisy Design, my newly found favorite yarn store. They're said to be great, and the coffee is supposed to be good.

Next time I blog I'll tell you more about some knit related events in my future that I'm very exited about, as well as a funny story involving a very special compliment for Mandy. Maybe I'll write her an email tomorrow with the whole story before I tell everyone else.

update: yeah, and one more thing. In my last entry I wrote about misunderstandings, and I fell right into one right away. The picture of the lilac yarn is not of "what I chose for the design" but a mere illustration of the color I had in mind. Stupid me. I went with brown instead anyway...

lacey

I must be nuts. Shouldn't I still be knitting square potholders? Ok, I have practiced (one secret project finished), but the new issue of Knitty just presented me with an irresistable, yet very challenging, challenge: Lacey.

Seriously, how wonderful wouldn't that look on me, done in a grayish lilac? Really? So, I went through the pattern and I actually understood everything but one little detail, and that doesn't come up until the end, and I'm sure the piece itself will explain it to me come that. Wish me luck you guys! I intend to buy yarn tomorrow!

There is so much I should have written this past week. My life's gone completely crazy and I've worked as I've never worked before. Loving almost every second of it. Some has been tough though.

I learned a very valuable lesson this week for example. It begins with an article I wrote in June. It was a review of an exhibition at the design museum, presenting the diploma projects of this years graduates of the design and crafts university. Published in a Swedish branch magazine I know a lot of people read it, and I hoped I had been able to describe how inspired I was by the exhibition, since design students seem to have other views of architecture than me. Views I love to learn from.

However - me, the architect who wrote a diploma work about misunderstandings in and about my profession - was gravely misunderstood, and a very angry design student has written a debate letter to the magazine fiercely critisizing my piece for being prejudice and condecending towards designers. He is clearly mad at all the "elitist architects who think they're better than everyone else", and he thought I was one of them! I hadn't even begun to imagine that anyone could read that between the lines of my article. With my great fear of conflict and sometimes very low self esteem, I lost a lot of sleep the night to Tuesday pondering over how to phrase my answer. It's now written and done, and I hope the matter is finished, but I learned to read and listen to my own words with different attitudes, before assuming that others think the way I do...

When I'm not misunderstood or overrated (another workrelated problem this week - I can't do three people's jobs however much I'd like to) I really do love the life I'm creating for myself professionally. I only wish I knew more about the turns my private life is about to take, or not take, whatever the outcome is.

And I wish I could buy that yarn tonight and get started already...

buttons

Look over there! In the sidebar! Buttons!
Yes, lovely, pretty buttons you can use to link to this wonderful blog of mine from your place. Clever huh? I bet no one has ever come up with that idea before? Having trouble choosing color? Just pick the top one, it's animated and changes color every 4 seconds! Way cool dudes.

suffocation

I already told you I finally installed a printer, but since I didn't have photoshop installed at the time I couldn't scan and show you the hilarious warnings on the plastic my dear printer was wrapped in. I find this so funny:

I get what they mean, but to me they're saying: "Do not yawn in bag" or "Do not hide behind picture of yawning man" and "Do not put small fishtank on baby's head"...

Here's one who has actually collected stick figure warning signs. I sat here laughing out loud browsing this gallery.

Katrina

I’ve been trying to figure out what to say about the catastrophe in New Orleans, but while I’ve been thinking, most of it seems to have been said.

Our Swedish TV news let president Bush’s speech from today be illustrated by helicopter images of people running for their lives through the streets of a New Orleans in ruins. The contrast couldn’t be clearer as he said “…and we will show, once again, how the worst of times brings out the best in America…”

That is just the thing. I don’t hear about the “best in America” at all. The news’ stories are instead more about looting, racism and violence. It really shows humanity at its worst when there are people taking advantage of, rather than helping, each other at a time of crises.

It is difficult not to compare with the much bigger disaster of the tsunami in south east Asia, but only because that is the most recent nature catastrophe of magnitude I guess. Because the comparison stops there. For example 120.000 lives is a lot more than 10.000 even though both are scarily large numbers.

After the tsunami we heard about the world coming together to help, and even the day after we got stories about every day heroes rescuing strangers, caring for somebody else’s child minutes after losing their own and of people looking out for each other. I am sure that New Orleans also is full of heroes right now, and the world is coming together to help the victims, and I’m sure there are plenty of stories about heroes and humanity in the aftermath of this catastrophe. And yes, there where looters along the beaches of Thailand too, but as I said… It is difficult to compare the two.

Politically I place myself to the left of the scale, since human rights and solidarity with everyone is always at number one of my political agenda. That has also been my biggest concern about “the American Dream” as a political platform of some sort. If a nation is basically based on the belief that everyone’s in it on his own, then maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that evacuated homes are being robbed, people are shot dead and bodies robbed in the streets and half of the news being about the opposite of helping out, rather than anything else. But according to mr Bush, this disaster was supposed to show the rest of the world how united they stand and it was supposed to bring out “the best in America”. It seems to have brought out looters, blame that’s passed around tables and a lot of chaos.

Sometimes this planet is nothing but scary.

HP

So far, HP has been short for Harry Potter. That has now changed. According to the box it's short for Hewlett Packard, and the following description says "laserjet 1020" - not "student of Hogwarts". Weird huh?

However I think Hewlett is a pretty stupid name, so I've made a compromise. My shining new and very longed for printer is therefore called Harry Packard. I think Harry and Claire will get along just fine!

First thing I printed? Home made business cards.
Second thing I printed? (Yes, I've gone nuts) A pattern from knitty!
I told you I'm determined. No, I can't give you any more information. It's a secret project for now. I'll tell you later ok?