A Brighter Forecast and an Unlucky Purse

I photographed my finished "Forecast" sweater kind of late at night in some bad light, so I thought I'd show you one more shot that is in natural light and isn't so blurry. You can even click on the photo itself to check out the details if you want.

This is a bit closer to the actual color of the sweater. I think those other shots made me look like a Big Bird wannabe.



Anyway, the sweater made its debut at work yesterday and it was very comfortable to have on all day.



Now onward to the next project! :)





This is a purse I knit for myself back in the fall. I actually knit the body of it on the plane back to Germany at the end of August. I used a ball of aran-weight yarn that I had bought back in Ireland in 2002. The stitch is a basketweave stitch that I found among my Grandmother's things last summer. And once it was knit, I added bamboo handles.









I even sewed a lining into the purse!

Needless to say, I was pretty proud of my purse and was eager to take it out for a test drive.

However, when swapping out purses sometimes things get lost in the shuffle. And on the night I took this purse out for the first time I forgot to take my house keys. That led to an unplanned sleepover at my friend Verena's and a 140 Euro visit from the locksmith. And since I didn't want to blame my own poor organization on my wounded bank account, I decided to blame the purse. Since that night it hasn't accompanied me anywhere.


But now it's back!!!!

Since that fateful night, my little handmade purse has been patiently sitting on my coatrack, just waiting for me to change my mind and take it out. And a few days ago I realized that the unlucky factor wasn't keeping me from using the purse, it was the aesthetic factor. Somehow those plain bamboo handles just seemed dull. And all that basketweave just wasn't doing anything for me.

So, I decided to jazz it up with a shot of spring. I wrapped the bamboo handles in green yarn (recognize the color Tyra??) and knit a pretty flower to attach to the bag. Then I sewed a stem and leaves for the flower and attached it to the purse.



I'm not great with a camera, but here you can see the pretty leaves and stem. The flower is a bit out of focus, but you can see the bead closure I added to make the purse more practical.

I took a wooden bead and knit a cover for it. Then I sewed the bead to the front of the purse. I then knit an I-cord and attached it to the back of the purse so I can just sling the I-cord over the bead to keep the purse closed. Voila!

Now you can really see the awesome texture of the basketweave stitch. It is so easy, just a simple pattern of knit and purl, but it comes out really looking woven!















I was thinking of adding a lot of flowers to make it really look like a basketful (get it??), but I decided just one would probably be best. Besides, when I'm wearing the purse on my shoulder, you really only see a little bit of the purse itself anyway.


PS After some sleep and enjoying the morning sunshine, I feel much better today. Now it's back to the theater for a Sunday matinee. The show must go on, right?

Exhausted

Tonight was our 28th performance of Kiss me Kate. Yes, 28th. It was supposed to be our last performance, but tickets are still selling so well that the theater has added four more performances, meaning the show will run until the middle of June. That's a really great run, considering the premiere was on December 1st.

Tomorrow we do our 10th performance of the Wizard of Oz. It is also selling strongly and the theater has already added more performances to the roster this season. I also wouldn't be surprised if it is brought back next season because of its instant popularity.

Overall, the chorus has done 90 performances so far this season. The premiere of Faust is a week from tonight and we're knee-deep in end rehearsals for that show. And then comes another operetta. And then an opera. And then a musical. Yep, that's four more premieres before the end of the season.

I am so tired.

When I tell people I'm a professional singer, I usually get a really positive reaction. Many people are interested in hearing more about what I do, and sometimes I hear stray comments about how great it must be to get paid for something that isn't really like work.

Let me tell you, right now this feels like work.

Getting home from the theater at 10:30 p.m. only to be expected back at the theater at 10:00 the next morning is work. And performing every weekend and on every holiday is work. And yes, I don't have to work eight hours in a row and I don't necessarily work 40 hours every week. But when we're in the middle of such a hectic rehearsal and performance schedule, six hours of being "on" when onstage can sometimes feel like double that.

I guess it goes to show that every job, no matter how cool it seems (and believe me, I do realize how cool my job really IS), is a job. And sometimes it just drains you until you're just exhuasted.

Forecast

Well, here it is. This is my version of "Forecast" from knitty.com. I finished it up at work tonight and used our dressing room's awesome steamer to block it a bit.


I think it turned out pretty cute, but I have to say I am fairly disappointed in the pattern instructions and the photos included on the knitty website. (Warning, I'm about to go on a knitting rant, so if you don't want to read about it, just scroll down and look at the pretty pictures.)

I am a fairly detail-oriented person and like to follow the directions for a knitting pattern and also use the posted pictures as a reference to mark how I'm doing. If you're like this, let me warn you now that the instructions for this sweater will make it look slightly different than the sample sweater posted on knitty.com.

First, take a look at those cute 3/4 length sleeves. They were supposed to be full-length sleeves, but I ran short on yarn after the body was done and had to shorten them up quite a bit. That actually means I had to knit the first arm three different times to make sure I had enough yarn at the end to make the cuffs look the same as the body.

The frustrating thing is, I used the same yarn as the pattern called for, my gauge was right on, and the size I knit was the same size as the sample sweater posted on knitty. So why did I only have enough yarn for 11 bobble clusters (yes, those little balls are called bobbles) and the sample sweater sleeve had 18 with the same amount of yarn? I'm confused.











PS: welcome to my bathroom. Taking pictures of my own back is not easy!!

PPS: the ladies in the choir think this cardigan looks like the kind of Tracht they wore as little girls. Tract is traditional German clothing like Lederhosen (leather pants) and Dirndls (those cute dresses that bar maids wear). Interesting, considering the woman who wrote the pattern was living in Germany when it was published Hrmm....














Right, so the other thing that irked me about the pattern has to do with the cuffs on the body and sleeves. Check out the three stripes that start right after the bobble clusters and then appear again at the end. The pattern clearly states that there should be three of these stripes, but the sample picture only has two. Hrmm.

I will definitely wear this sweater and will stop picking on the pattern soon. But in the future I think I might just buy at least 100 grams more yarn than the pattern calls for, just to be sure. And maybe I'll stop looking at the photos for confirmation that I'm following the pattern correctly.

"Psssst..."

"Have you noticed that lately Teresa's blog has been comprised of entries about either knitting or snow? Doesn't that girl ever get out of the house?? I'm starting to wonder about her..."

Ahem, yes, I do get out of the house. You end up seeing so many pictures from my living room because that's where my digital camera lives. :) But actually, in the last week I've taken two fun little day trips.

Yesterday I went to a "Thermalbad" (like a hot springs) about 25 minutes from Coburg. If you want to try out your German, check out their website (www.obermaintherme.de) and click around a bit. There are even some panorama shots of the pools.

I've been here several times before, but this was the first time I went during a snow storm. It was really windy and snowed the whole time we were in the pools.

Here is a view of one of the outside areas. This place has a handful of these circular whirlpools and then three large swimming pools outside. Inside there are another handful of whirlpool tubs, other pools, a steam room and a large sauna. Seriously, the Germans really know how to relax. After three hours of steeping in salty mineral water and watching the snow fall on my face, I felt like a new girl.
Photo credit: http://www.huebner-braeu.de/images/sehenswuerdigkeiten/therme_staffelstein.jpg

Last Friday on my day off I drove to Darmstadt with my friend Garrie to see our friend Maggiee sing in a performance of Wagner's Parsifal. Her scene was really cool and I got to watch all the action from the side of the stage. Check out the seating in their big theater. Not bad, huh?

The stage itself is also huge and makes me realize that I have really gotten used to Coburg's tiny stage and really sweet seating area.

Darmstadt itself is an interesting town. It's a fairly large city and the shopping area in the center of town is chock full of American fast food AND Starbucks!! I swooned a bit and was tempted to get a mocha even though I really didn't want any coffee. So instead I just went inside and breathed in really deep and then I felt better.

Photo credit: http://www.darmstadt.de/

While Maggiee was finishing up the performance, Garrie and I took off to get some dinner. (No, we're not mean friends. Parsifal is typical Wagner opera length and we had already missed the beginning of the show after sitting in traffic on the freeway for over four hours.) On the way to get dinner, we stopped off to check out this Jugendstil former artist commune near where Maggiee lives. Pretty nifty, huh?
It was kind of dark by the time we found it, but these buildings are really amazing. That tower on the left I find especially neat. I think the grounds are now used as museum space, which is kind of too bad. An artist's commune in the middle of a bustling, post-WWII Darmstadt would have been really something.

So, now back to snow and knitting. It is STILL coming down outside, but the temperature is hovering right around freezing, so nothing new is accumulating. My feet are still pretty cold, though, so I went to my favorite shoe store today to see if they still had any winter boots in the back. Not only do they not have any winter boots, but the only shoes they do have are definitely not appropriate for the kind of weather we're having. I was kind of forlorn, so I came home to knit. And hopefully I will have a finished project to show you in the next day or so. Ooh, how exciting! :)

I peeked out of my bedroom window this morning to see how much snow accumulated last night and caught a glimmer out of the corner of my eye.

When I looked up, I saw these icicles gleaming back at me.

The roof of my building is made out of thoes rounded tiles and the icicles are formed in symmetrical clusters off the roof. Very precise. And very German. :)












This little cluster has one baby icicle forming there on the side. By the way, this hill behind my apartment leads up to Coburg's big fortress. It's not a very smooth walk to get up there from this side, though.






















I grew up in a very mild climate and never really saw too many of these. If I didn't know any better they could be the icy fingers of Jack Frost curling under my roof, getting ready to jump into my bedroom and give me frostbite!










Here are the icicles after the sun peeked over the hill later this morning. They got even shinier and started melting in the fairly warm SPRING sunshine.

I remember last May it was so warm in Coburg that the pool opened up their outside area and I traipsed around in skirts and tank tops. It's hard to believe that April is just around the corner and I'm tempted to go buy a pair of waterproof winter boots.

Happy, um, Easter?

Don't forget to turn on the sound of your computer if it's switched off. Happy Easter!

The aftermath

This is what I look like during a performance of Kiss me Kate. Stage makeup looks very heavy-handed under normal lights, but onstage I actually look very natural, like I'm hardly wearing any.
























I get kind of used to seeing myself with all that makeup on, so sometimes it's shocking to wash up and be faced with the aftermath. Here's what my face normally looks like after a Kiss me Kate performance. That line on my face is from my microphone, and those blemishes are from the heavy foundation we wear so we don't look washed-out under the bright stage lights. This is the negative aftermath of a performance.













But don't get me wrong. The aftermath to a performance is sometimes really good. In Kiss me Kate I don't wear a wig, so my hair isn't up in pin curls. But for all the other productions my hair is up in 100+ pin curls and when those are taken out, my normally straight, boring hair is transformed into this lush, shiny mane. I have to admit that I've gotten into the habit of washing my hair right before a performance and leaving it a bit wet so the curls last even longer. And then when people look at me they notice my pretty hair and ignore the weird red line and pimples on my face. ;)

Staying In

After returning to Coburg on Sunday afternoon I had about one hour to sleep before I needed to head to work for a performance of the Wizard of Oz. Then we had about six hours of Faust staging rehearsals on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday that were very intense. I've told you a little about my first impression of our staging director for Faust, which was extremely positive. This guy is not only totally organized with a very clear vision, but he even goes so far as to learn the names of every single person in the production BEFORE the first rehearsal. No kidding. And since there are about 50 people in the combined house and extra chorus, that is quite a feat.

But along with that extreme organization and vision comes a perfectionism that is exhausting, even when you're not recovering from jetlag. I know our finished production is going to be amazing, but after three days of Faust rehearsals, including an extremely tense rehearsal last night that included the stage director completely losing his cool and shouting at our choir director, I was really ready for a couple days away from him.

And since no-one seemed to tell Mother Nature that today is the first day of spring, I decided to ignore the to-do list I'd made for my day off today and just stay home.

This was the view of my window ledge after a five-minute hail storm this morning. So far today it has been sunny, calm, windy, snowy, rainy, and haily. Is haily a word? Hrmmm. Anyway, definitely a mixed bag, in any case. In my opinion, perfect laundry, cleaning, and knitting weather!












Here is some of the yarn I treated myself to when I was back in Seattle last week. That knitted glob there is the beginning of a funky cardigan called Forecast that I found on knitty.com.

Here's a picture of what it looks like all completed. Cute, no? And I saved an absolute bundle on the yarn by buying it in the United States. And it's such a pretty yellow, isn't it? It reminds me a little of my favorite hand-knit blankie as a child. :)














When it comes to shopping for yarn and knitting supplies, you may have noticed that I like to look for bargains. I usually purchase yarn for projects using the calculation that the yarn I buy to make the project should cost me the same or less than I would spend to purchase the garment ready-made. Like that yellow yarn above? That whole cardigan will cost $26. Although this doesn't factor in labor, that's not really a concern of mine since I enjoy knitting and don't consider my "labor" to be something I'd put a pricetag on.

Anyway, that being said, I fell in love with this pattern a couple months ago, but was shocked to see that the yarn called for in the pattern would cost over $60! For a vest! With no arms! So while on my yarn spree last week, I found some inexpensive ($2.50 per skein!), acrylic sport-weight yarn (in a red that is so bright it's almost offensive) that I thought would work for the pattern. But when I got the yarn back to Germany, I knit up a swatch and the gauge was WAY off for the cute vest pattern. So, I had to find another pattern that would be fitting to this squeaky, cheap, acrylic red pile, and I think Ester from knitty.com fits the bill. Surprisingly, when I looked for yarns in Coburg that fit the gauge to that cool cabled vest, the only one I found that fit was...sigh...Rico Design. Yes, that same crazy yarn that I used for Joe's blanket, and about a half-dozen other projects, including these basketcase socks!

So it looks like I am actually going to purchase more Rico Design yarn, which I never ever thought I'd do, considering it's taken me three months to wear down my stash. But I think I'll just get a different color and try not to think about how much Rico Design yarn I've consumed in the last several months.

But back to the socks. They are turning out so cute, but I have to admit that I got a bit sidelined by all that yummy yellow yarn (ooh, alliteration, anyone?), so they may not get finished in the next few weeks. Oh well, I'm not in a hurry. Back to my yellow bobbled cardigan!!

Signing on the Dotted Line

Yesterday I gave my official notice that I will be leaving the Landestheater at the end of this season to pursue performing opportunities in the Seattle area. Today the official announcement was made to the choir, and I signed a kind of "end of relationship" statement that takes effect August 31, 2008.

I was curious how my choir colleagues would react to the announcement, and it was very positive overall. Several people approached me to wish me well and inquire what I'll be doing next season. And some others didn't really acknowledge the news at all. A few told me they figured it was coming because it seemed like I've been really homesick for Seattle, and a few said it was a good move to come to Germany to get some experience and that should win me plus points when I look for work back in the states.

Speaking of work, last week in Seattle I had an informational interview with the Early Music Guild and an audition with Puget Sound Concert Opera. The Early Music Guild won't be casting singers in an opera until 2009, but the coordinator of the program was very helpful and gave me some names and contact information to broaden my network of musical contacts. And the Puget Sound Concert Opera audition went really well, and I have been invited to be in two productions with their company next season. The details are still being worked out, but I will be involved in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito in September and Puccini's Suor Angelica next spring. I'll let you know the specifics when they become available. :)

A friend of mine once told me that the four most stressful events in a person's life are starting a new job, ending a job, a family member/loved one dying, and moving house. Hopefully no-one in my life will die in the next several months, but the other three are all going to apply to me soon. I'm starting to feel a bit of that stress now that my move back to the United States is imminent, including giving up the security of my full-time job and my medical insurance, which probably means you'll be seeing even more posts about knitting and crafy things in the near future. Knitting is great for letting my brain slow down and work through all my existential questions and worries while keeping my fingers busy. And it sure is great to have something cute to wear after my brain has worked through all that stress!

Let it Snow!

Isn't it ironic that I just brought all of my winter clothes back to Seattle last week? Sigh.

Gift Knits

The three lovely ladies in my family all have birthdays in the late winter/early spring. Since I went back to Seattle right in the middle of their birthday season, I decided to make gifts for all of them and save myself on some shipping costs. :)

These are fingerless gloves and they are a variation of a really great pattern from knitty.com. For those of you who are interested in making my version, I added extra cables on the cuff (7 twists instead of three) and the top (2 twists instead of one). And when making the thumb of the right glove I knit two stitches before knitting on with waste yarn so the two thumbs would be perfectly symmetrical within the ribbing. I knit eight rounds on the thumbs themselves so they'd be longer, and I did a normal bind-off in ribbing instead of the fancy one from the pattern.

Check out the way those diagonal stripes knit up on the middle pair! Not only do the colors stripe (cool!), but when you put the gloves side-by-side, it looks like the stripes actually continue from one glove to the next, which I totally didn't plan. But here's to happy accidents, huh?


This is what the glove looks like with a hand inside. They are very warm and cozy, but if the weather is really crazy you can even put a normal pair of gloves on underneath for some extra protection. My sister told me that she plans on wearing them at work when typing on her computer because her office is chilly.


Anyway, that's about all the blogging I have in me today. I am in the throes of some crazy jetlag and am noticing that my spelling, grammar and punctuation are really suffering. When I am a little more rested I'll tell you all more about my trip home and maybe even post some photos of my insane capitalist pigdog shopping spree! :)

Shock and Awe

Those two words succinctly sum up my last few days in the United States. But since I've never been good at succinct, I'll elaborate. Let's start with awe, shall we?

My amazing friend Maureen brought this little pipsqueak into the world just over three weeks ago. And when I say pipsqueak, I mean it. She makes this adorable little squeaking noise when she sleeps and eats that I just can't get enough of. Since I knew I'd be meeting this cute little bundle on Monday, I made a couple little gifts for her.
I found a really sweet pattern for a pacifier tether and modified it just a wee bit so the flower part at the end was a little bigger. Since I had some leftover yarn, I made a little matching beanie and knit some leaves from the tether pattern to coordinate. The hat was so teeny that it only took about an hour to finish, but it seems to fit her cutie little newborn head. Isn't she just the sweetest little pipsqueak ever???


















And here's Auntie Teresa getting a turn holding her. Pip kept her Mom and Dad up the night before and so she was really in a napping mood during my visit. I guess we'll have to save the sing-along for next time.
Can you see a little bit of baby belly in this picture?? How sweet! I'm actually surprised she managed to sleep since I kept pinching her cutie little legs and examining her fingers and toes.

Mommy Maureen was in labor for a shocking 31 hours to bring this little squeaker into the world. I am still in awe that she was that strong, but this little baby was definitely worth it. :)

Right, so now on to shock. I have experienced reverse culture shock before, but it has been several months since I've been back to the US, so it seemed a bit more extreme this time. In general, I am shocked that people in the Seattle area choose to leave the house looking like they didn't even take the time to get dressed. I have seen so many Ugg slipper boot things, flip flops, sweatpants, sweatshirts, and other outfits in a general state of disarray that it makes me wonder how we win the title of richest country in the world. Well, maybe that award actually goes to the Swiss, but then again they are all pretty snappy dressers.

It's not that I look at these people and think less of their intellectual capacity, especially because I have distinct memories of attending my 8:00 a.m. classes in college in my pajamas (sorry Mom). But I do find it interesting that "dressing down" is really a fashion movement here that people seem to work pretty hard at following.

Another culture shock I had was riding the Metro bus from Kirkland to downtown Seattle and back a couple days ago. On the first bus ride I shared bus space with a group of young men who seemed very proud of their criminal record, since they were discussing loud enough for everyone to hear that they had felony warrants with no bail. Uh huh. And then another man entered the bus who, after taking a brief nap on a row of seats, proceeded to make a telephone call to a friend to describe his weekend, which included mowing the yard and protecting his lawn gnomes from that [unpleasant] woman who wouldn't get off his grass. Learning where each of the gnomes came from and hearing this man's passion for lawncare definitely made the ride more interesting.

These two encounters going downtown were a bit shocking, but also entertaining in a weird kind of way. They weren't doing any harm, except for a little noise pollution. But on the way back to Kirkland that evening, Joe and I encountered a shocking young couple with a toddler. The parents were both morbidly obese and smelled of cigarettes, alcohol and cinnamon gum. The man had a very bad cough and didn't cover his mouth, which made the alcohol smell permeate the air on the whole bus. But the sad thing was their cute little girl, who I noticed was wearing eyeliner. I have never seen eyeliner on a two-year-old except for on Halloween, so it made me wonder why the mother was adorning her daughter in such a way in March. This kind of culture shock makes me a little sad.

My other experiences of shock and awe have to do with shopping, which I have done a lot of in the last few days. But I will write about that another time because I still have a few things left on my list and want to get a move on. Until later!

I sent a letter to a stranger

So tomorrow morning I'm heading to Frankfurt to fly home and I'm almost ready to go. The reason why I'm not completely ready to go (bags packed, house cleaned, etc.) is because I've been spending quite a bit of time reading a very entertaining blog. And when I mean quite a bit of time, I mean a lot of time. And not just today, but for the last several days. I accidentally happened upon www.thepioneerwoman.com and pretty much haven't stopped reading since.

But it doesn't end there.

After reading so many of her extremely funny, thoughtful, witty entries about life on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma, I wanted to thank the Pioneer Woman for doing such a great job entertaining me. But there are usually several hundred comments on each post she writes and I am fairly squeamish about posting comments online. So since she posted her mailing address on her blog, I went ahead and wrote her a letter.

And then I had to go buy envelopes because I had run out.

And then I took it to the post office and mailed it.

And I told Joe about it last night and he kind of laughed at me. Actually, what he said was, "is that why you were rooting around looking for an envelope when we were talking yesterday??" Uh huh, it was. Then he just sighed and pretty much said there's no-one like me. But I think it was meant in a nice way. ;)

Honestly, I did feel pretty dorky sitting down and writing a letter to a complete stranger. But here's the thing. Reading her posts are so entertaining, and this woman is so generous with her time and I figure it's the least I can do to send her a hand-written note to show my appreciation. My parents are the type of people to write these kinds of letters, so I'm sure when they read this they won't think I'm a dork. But even if they do, I hope that really cool Pioneer Woman gets at least a fraction of the entertainment from getting a letter from a complete stranger than I get from reading her posts. They are really fun.

The lazy way to learn German

When I was a junior in college I had two years of high school German and a few semesters of college-level German under my belt and was about to embark on a year-long study abroad program in Austria the following fall. And I couldn't *really* speak German.

At the same time I was taking a really interesting music theory class. One day in class we watched a biography on Igor Stravinsky. Since the class was about theory, I suppose I was supposed to remember something about his music and how he wrote it, but all I retained was the fact that he *always* carried a little notebook with him so he could write down new words he learned, musical ideas, etc., so he wouldn't forget them. And I was totally inspired. I was already stressing out more than a little bit about my upcoming trip to Austria and was (understandably) nervous about my sub-par German skills. But this handy dandy notebook scheme seemed like a fantastic idea for learning German fast! So fantastic that I wanted to start with it immediately.

So after class, I wandered down to the Bookie and proceeded to spend the next 30 minutes of my day browsing the notebook/journal/sketchbook aisle until I happened across the perfect notebook. It was small and had lined pages and a picture of a dragonfly on the periwinkle, handmade paper cover. And it cost something like $12.00. In 2001. Ouch.

For the first few days I was pretty diligent about using it. At the time I was also trying to re-learn my music theory in German for the placement exams I would have to take at the music conservatory in the fall, so I wrote in all the important vocabulary in my notebook. And I even tried to jot down words I learned in my German class so I would remember them faster.

Right. And inevitably the notebook fell to the bottom of my backpack and never really saw the light of day again until I found it in a random box in my parents' attic a couple summers ago and started using the copious amount of blank pages to write out my daily to-do lists. And they were long. Remember, I used to be a workaholic. Whew.

So now it is several years later and I have been living in Germany for about 18 months and I am still struggling to reach complete fluency, although I have to admit that I have relativly little trouble understand most of what's said to me and my brain has ceased to react in that deer-caught-in-the-headlights sort of way of freezing up on me when I meet a new person with a slightly different accent than I'm used to hearing. And I still don't write things down or study new vocabulary or look up words I don't know in the dictionary. Because I've discovered that my brain has worked out a very interesting filing system that seems to work for me and still increases my German vocabulary.

What happens is that when I read or hear an interesting-sounding word I don't know, that word gets filed away in the "German words I don't know" bin in my brain. And amazingly, that bin is not a vortex or black hole, because usually after a few days, weeks, or months, that same word I don't know will randomly come up in conversation or in a book or whatever, and suddenly because of the different context in which it's presented, I will suddenly understand what it means. And then I'll hear this *click* noise in my brain as the word is removed from the "German words I don't know" bin and is refiled with its English counterpart. Super!

The best example I have for this phenomenon is the word "smaragd." I first saw it when I was reading a trashy romance novel this winter and it was used to describe the heroine's eyes. So, I knew at that point that it must be a color of some sort. And the word itself looked really cool and kind of made me think of dragons. But since I was too lazy to look it up, I filed it away and kept reading. So about four weeks ago, we were in staging rehearsals for the Wizard of Oz and people kept mentioning the "Smaradgenstadt" a lot. And then I heard the *click* noise in my brain. I know the story to the Wizard of Oz! They're talking about the Emerald City! And the heroine of my trashy romance novel has emerald-colored eyes! Smaragd means emerald in German! (And how weird that the word originally made me think of dragons, which in my brain are usually green.)

Yes, I know I could have just looked up the word in a dictionary. But like this post title, it's the lazy way to learn German. And I kind of like the clicking sensation in my brain when stuff fits together like that.

Shopping in the promise land (and a big announcement)

I am flying home on Sunday for about a week and I am getting really geared up to see Joe, my family, and my friends. And to shop. Oh, will I shop. I already have a list prepared. And I've been using Google maps to plan routes to stores around Joe's house. And I am not joking about that. It really does sound quite sad, but let me give you an example of why the idea of acquiring goods in the United States is making my mouth water:

Average cost of 50 grams of wool at my yarn store in Germany: 3 Euros
Average cost of 50 grams of wool at my yarn store in Seattle: 3 Dollars
Current exchange rate: 1 Euro = 1.51 Dollars
Uh huh. So since I earn Euros and will be bring that currency back to Seattle to shop with, that means 50 grams of wool in Seattle will actually cost me around 1.97 Euros, whereas the same wool in Germany costs $4.55 US!

And this is just small potatoes! Let's use another example:

Average cost of premium Levi's jeans in Germany: 125 Euros a pair (no, that is not a typo)
Average cost of premium Levi's jeans in Seattle: 60 Dollars a pair (give or take, but I've actually found them cheaper at outlet stores)
Using the same exchange rate listed above, jeans that I buy in Seattle with the Euros I bring over will cost me a mere 39.51 Euros, but in Germany those same darn jeans cost $189 US!!! Gasp!

I know, it is very shocking. And even though I earn Euros in Germany, spend most of my time in Germany, and do a majority of my shopping in Germany, it sometimes physically pains me to think of how much cheaper this kind of stuff is in the United States. And makes me want to take advantage of my time in Seattle next week to buy a new wardrobe, an obscene yarn stash and all the Clinique make-up and skincare products I could ever dream of. Sigh.

Right, so this is the part of the post where I make a big announcement, namely that I am also flying to Seattle to audition for local opera companies because I am resigning from the theater after I get back from my trip, effective at the end of the season (which is the official end of my contract and my work visa).

Some of you may be quite shocked, especially considering the fact that I have a really amazing job and earn a comfortable living (with full benefits and retirement) doing what I actually studied in school. But the truth is, it is time for me to go back to the United States. I still like my job, but my life needs to be more than a job, and right now it's not. Notice all the posts recently with beautiful hand-knit items by yours truly? Those were knit during the free time I have when I'm not at the theater and the weather is too icky to play outside. Because as much as I hate to say it, I only have one good friend in Coburg and she's busy a lot. And my weird work hours make it hard to meet people who don't work at the theater. And I'm not actually fond of the theater's work hours, either. I'm not normally a night owl and I am getting really tired of working evenings, weekends, and all major holidays. And sometimes not having a day off for 10 or 11 days.

And I really, really, really miss the United States. I miss having a dishwasher, and a car, and being able to understand every word that people say to me in a casual conversation. I miss feeling like I'm a well-spoken, articulate person. And call me crazy, but even with all their faults, I miss Americans and American culture. After living abroad in two countries over a period of almost three years (including my year in Austria), I can honestly say that no culture is perfect and no country is flawless. And my heart is calling me back to the United States, because even though there are a lot of things wrong with it, it's my home. And I want to go home.

Half of a Pair

Look, half a pair of socks!!

I like this pattern a little more than the one I used for my last pair of socks because it actually looks like a sock when it's not on my foot. Probably a silly reason, but oh well.

I think this sock also helped me kick the last little bit of my remaining cold yesterday because instead of running "errands" that weren't really that important, I sat on my couch and knit.

I think I recovered fairly quickly from being sick, but then again, each time I've become sick in Germany I have managed to get better within just a few days. After thinking back a bit, I realized this "amazing" phenomenon is actually due to the fact that when I get sick, I stay home when I don't absolutely need to go out, I sleep a lot, drink tea, rinse and repeat. And the Germans really aren't into taking pills, unless they are chock full of essential oils or herbs, so I also haven't been "taking" anything to treat being sick other than hot baths with eucalyptis oil and using my sinus rinse (sounds gross, but it's a lifesaver if you're a singer).

As I was finishing up my sock last night and feeling particularly not-sick, I thought a little bit more about the culture of being sick in the US and it reminded me of ALL those television ads you see for cold medication. Usually it goes something like this: person wakes up in the morning and is sick. Person takes *magical anti-sick pill* and is immediately bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready to take on their overly-busy schedule as usual. Uh huh. No wonder it used to take me three weeks to get over a cold, especially if it was being supressed with doses of drugs every 4-6 hours. Funny things is, I never actually slowed down enough to just let my body go ahead and heal itself, say, while I was on the couch napping. What a shame.

But I do have to admit that sometimes those cold medication ads are pretty funny. I think it must also be fun for the actors to fake being sick. And get paid to blow their noses while wearing flannel pajamas.

Knitting and sharing

In the last several months I've been knitting more fun and complicated patterns thanks to the amazing amount of free patterns and tutorials available online. However, in my postings I realize that I haven't been playing nicely and sharing the links to those great patterns. So here are a few of my current/recent projects and links to where you can find the patterns if you want to make something yourself! I will also try to go back and insert links into my older posts so that I give fair credit where credit is due. :)

On my size 6 needles: "Cozy" lace wrap. This project is using Rico design sock yarn that I don't think I'll ever get rid of. Very crazy back story: When I was working on Joe's blanket for Christmas, I ended up with around NINE HUNDRED grams of extra wool! Aak!! This was completely my own fault due to the fact that I changed the pattern of the blanket and was using two strands of yarn held together and didn't really know how long I wanted the blanket to be OR what colors I wanted to use. So, after experimenting with lots of color combinations and non-returnable yarn, I finally ended up with Joe's blanket... and a huge amount of Rico Design stash. Anyway, back to this project. I made it narrower than the pattern because I'm really more of a scarf girl and I totally love the tweedy look to this lace pattern. And it's so easy but it looks complicated!


















On my sock needles: "Basketcase Socks." Once again, this is more Rico Design stash. Right, if you're wondering what else I have made from this blanket-leftover-stash, take a look back at the Christmas Stockings I made for Joe and me, the cabled socks I made in January, and the lace cardigan sweater I just finished a couple weeks ago. And I still have a ton of yarn left. Sigh. Anyway, I think these socks are totally original and I know they are going to be SO warm and cozy...once I get them done.
























Recently Completed: Beaded I-Cord bracelet. I was blog-hopping the other day (which I tend to do a LOT when it comes to knitting blogs) and came across this really great idea. We have oodles of beads in the women's dressing room at the theater that came from broken necklaces that are up for grabs and I just took a handful to try out the technique. I think it's pretty fun-looking! Oh right, and of course I used Rico Design yarn for this project as well. ;)
















The only thing I'm not totally fond of is the fact that you just tie it in a knot to secure it around your wrist. So I'm considering this an experiment and my next attempt will involve a bit more planning and maybe some kind of clasp closure. So, anyone want a free bracelet? It'll only cost you one trip to Coburg!!























What I've also realized lately is that a lot of these free patterns I come across online are from people just like me who like to turn their ideas into something tangible. So hopefully I can get on the bandwagon with them and share the patterns to some of the things I've made over the last several months. You might see a tab on the page linking back to the projects I've completed recently, so keep checking back! :)

One Thousand? Really??

When I started this blog a little over a year ago I figured that my Mom would be the only one reading it on a regular basis. But after checking my profile today, I see that over 1,000 people have looked at my profile in the last year, which is quite an honor. So to all of you who have taken a peek (and an extra thanks to those who came back for another!), thank you!! And as a little treat, I slightly updated my profile to add a teeny bit more information. Which you probably already knew to begin with... :)

Anyway, on to my real post.

I am recovering from a nasty cold that took hold of me during the bus ride to Erlangen a couple days ago. After spending almost the entire day yesterday in bed or on my couch, I am starting to feel human again and went to our dress rehearsal this morning for the Jungle Book children's concert. I knew a few of the women in the choir have been sick lately, but I didn't realize the full extent of the viral spread through the theater until I looked around backstage and noticed that almost the entire ensemble is sniffling, sneezing, coughing, and making various sick noises.

I am generally not a germaphobe and tend to be pretty healthy, but it really struck me this morning as about 30 people stood in a clump backstage waiting for our entrance how easy it is to spread something at the theater. Our working conditions are so close and we have to have so much physical contact with each other that it seems impossible to keep germs away. For instance, in our dressing room there are 13 women in a fairly small space and if one of us gets sick, you can't physically get away from them. And the same goes for the other dressing rooms, not to mention the inevitable contact from waiting backstage or interacting onstage with one another.

Some of you might be saying to yourselves right now that if we were to just stay at home when we're sick then the germ spread wouldn't be so bad. But there are really only two kinds of being sick at the theater: 1) you feel terrible and want to stay at home but you can still sing and move around onstage and 2) you feel terrible and can't sing or even get off the couch. And since it is both stressful and expensive to find a replacement for people at the theater, there are all kinds of sick folk wandering around.

The chorus doesn't feel quite as much pressure as the soloists to push through and sing when sick, but when a few people from the choir are missing, it really shows onstage. In Kiss me Kate and Frau Luna earlier this week there were four women missing from the choir, meaning the rest of us had to scramble and fill in for them when they had specific choreography or lines to say. Anyway, most of us seem to be on the mend and hopefully this wave of sick will leave the theater soon. In the meantime, I'll be spending my free time as far away from my sick colleagues as possible, preferably breathing the clean, germ-free air from my couch at home.