Homesick?

The simple answer to that is NO. All I have to do is look out of the window at all that lovely rain and the homesick feeling dissappears fast. Just now the rain is bouncing almost up to the windowsill here at work and that's pretty high up off of the ground. The lighting and the thunder haven't stopped for the last 30 mins and light outside would suggest that its midnight not midday. In fact its so dark out there, the streetlights have come on. At least its better at this time of day. 2 nights ago it was between 3am and 5.30am and even with earplugs in I could still hear it so you can guess who arrvied at work with a sunny outlook. Well it wasn't me so don't look at me with that tone of voice.

On the knitting front, I've done a few things. I've knitting 1.5 pairs of Obelix socks. That's Frank's old old rugby club in NL. They have one yellow sock and one green. Mr Obelix (Patrick) will be a daddy very soon so I've knitted baby's first obelix socks. The pair that are finished are newborn size and the 0.5 of the pair is a few months old size. Just one green one to do and I'll send them off. I'm also still working on the cable rib socks but I think I'll have to rip out a bit as my gauge is a bit tight. Might have to go up a needle size if it continues.

Only 2.5 weeks to go till we're off on our honeymoon. I know its a year after the big event but timing isn't everything. We've decided to cycle from St Etienne to Paris before picking up our train to London and then Glasgow. At the moment all I can think of is 'ouch' my bum is going to hurt but it should be a load of fun. Its mostly downhill so it won't be too much work on the legs and I'm hoping that France in September will not be as wet as Berlin in August. If it is then we'll camp out at hotel and jump on a train.

Rugby wise I've not been doing much. I will be going training on Thrusday though as I like the ground better when its a bit wet and muddy. Makes sliding tackles all the more fun. I've also agreed to take on the position of forwards trainer after my holiday so that should be fun. I've never done that before so it will be something new for all of us.

Too hot to knit?

I know that the title might raise some eyebrows as there are knitters is far hotter places than Berlin however, yesterday was sooo hot and sticky even after the thunder storms that it really was too hot to knit. I went along to stricktreff taking along my embossed leaves socks to play with and ended up knitting about 5 rows and making 50 mistakes.

I wasn't the only one. Most of the srticktreff maedels felt the same way and we ended up packing up our stuff early and just chitchatting for a while before heading home a whole hour before normal. Still I did come home with the new filati book thanks to Bettina (thank you) Its got some really nice designs in it which I quite fancy knitting up soon.

When I came home I ripped out the embossed leaves and started designing my skull and crossbones for the st pauli argyle socks which I want to knit. As Im not working this morming (still a bit woozy from yesterday's migrane) and its no longer so hot and sticky. I knitted a swatch. Yes me readers, ME. I actually knitted a swatch. Now normally I never swatch for socks. I do occassionally for other projects but for socks.....well....this is the first time. Okay so the colours are not what I'll be using but it will be the same make of yarn. However before I go out and get the other colours I need I think I'll make a very loud pair of argyles just for fun and to practice. Glad I've got the jolly roger all sorted though. I'think they will make very fun socks when I get around to knitting them.

Beerfested

On Friday evening I went to heaven. Don't worry, I didn't get knocked off my bike again, I went to the beermeile in Berlin. 2.2km of beer and crap music. Well some folks liked the music but I tend to think of german Schlagermusik as something I have to put up with if I want to enjoy beer festivals in Germany. I enjoyed the beer so much that I spend most of saturday and sunday on the couch finishing these. That's Frank modeling them for me. As you can see, they're very short but that's what he wanted, so that's what he got. The yarn is a bamboo mix which his nibbs loves. He swears that they make his feet less smelly and I tend to agree with him so I'll keep making them until his entire sock drawer is full of them. These are knitted up on 2mm's as the yarn is very thin and on the 2.5mm's the stitches were just too loose. The yarn is by Online and was half the price of the Regia Bamboo but we'll see if its any different in wearability, washability and general comfyness. Actually its tough if he likes the Regia better coz I've got another ball of the Online stuff and some left over from the ball that I made these out of. I tend to have these type of socks as an ongoing project for when I don't need to concentrate too much on what I'm knitting. You see his feet are huge and especially with the 2mm needles, it seems to take forever to get a foot done.

I've also had loads of mails from people concerned about my friend Jeroen. He's doing better now. The collar will be coming off soon and he's moving around quite the thing. He says himself that it looks a lot worse than it was but still, its a bit of a shocker. Its making me seriously concider buying one of those really ugly but very safe cycling helmets. When I think of the amount of times I've been nearly knocked off my bike or actually knocked off my bike here in Berlin, I think that it might actually be useful to have and to wear one. I might look daft but at least I've got less chance of having my brains splattered across the pavement or road. Just wonder if they do them in Frank's size. He's got a rather large head as well as feet.

I'm now on another 2 pairs of socks. Still finishing the jitterbug socks. They have just not turned out the way I wanted them to but they'll keep my feet warm in my blundstone boots this winter. I've also started a pair of socks in the flaemschen muster from the genial sockenworkshop book. I don't think pattern looks like flames at all. It looks more like the eye in a peacock feather to me so I'm knitting them up in a nice turquoise colour. Will take photo when I get good light again which is usually in the morning.

Not for the faint hearted

Dear Hit and Run driver,

I understand that last week Thursday may have been a bit of a stressful day for you and that you couldn't hang around to see the damage you caused to my friend Jeroen so I thought I would show you.

Just to jog your memory; you were driving along De Clerqstraat in Amsterdam on Thursday evening around 11.30 pm and hit someone who was cycling along minding their own business. You didn't stop to see what had happenend but kept driving like the arrogant swine you were probably brought up to be. Luckily for my friend, the people behind saw everything and managed to call an ambulance But fortunately for you, they didn't managage to catch your number plate. Shame really as it would have been nice for you to meet Jeroen. He's a funny guy and I'm sure he would have laughed and joked with you about the whole thing, had he been concious at the time.

This is day 1 and by the looks of things, Jereon is still out of it. Which is kind of lucky because after he smacked the ground at high speed, his eye socket and cheekbone broke. I imagine that it must have hurt a bit. Oh I nearly forgot, you managed to crack his skull too. To be quite precise the external occipital protuberance. As you will see from the next 2 photos, he's getting better however he has to wear a collar for a few weeks in order to let the various breaks heal up.

While you were racing off home, checking for bloodstains on your car and snuggling up in bed, my best friend (Jeroen's girlfriend) was pacing the floor and worrying herself sick. I don't know if you've ever worried about someone in your life but its like a very painful limbo, not knowing where someone is or what has happened to them. All sorts of thoughts fly through your head. You imagine terrible things like them lying in a ditch or a the side of a road after being knocked off of their bike by some eejit.

So Mr or Ms Hit and Run Driver, if you ever read this (or get someone who's more literate to read it for you), driving is not a game of grand theft auto. In real life the people you knock down don't get back up again so easily.

I really hope that what goes around comes around.
Groetjes
Jules