California Dreamin'

I've had about enough of knitting teeny tiny projects with teeny tiny amounts of yarn. I am nearly finished using up all of my remnant yarn and so I stopped by my local yarn store yesterday afternoon to look for yarn to make this really cool shawl.

The pattern called for about 900 yards of cotton yarn, which isn't something I normally knit with. I have only knit washcloths out of cotton and tend towards using squishy wool or squeaky acrylic for my projects. But this shawl needed some weight to it so it will drape well, so I opted for cotton.

After spending about 40 minutes in the yarn store, I became really frustrated. The store is really small because, well, Coburg is really small. And if I found a nice cotton yarn I liked, they either had 400 yards (or less) of each color, or they wanted me to pay something like 5 Euros for 100 yards of yarn. I'm not a cheap person, but there's no way I'm spending 45 Euros on cotton yarn for one project. No sir.

I was pretty much ready to leave at that point, but my friend Verena was still browsing the crochet magazines and wasn't ready to go. So I did another round of the shop and stopped at the shelf where the washcloth cotton was kept. They had a gorgeous brown color that has just a hint of purple in it and suddently a lightbulb came on. This was cotton yarn! This yarn only costs 1.60 Euro per 100 yards! This could be the solution!

So, I grabbed 900 yards of washcloth cotton, paid all of 14.40 for it, and headed home to test out the pattern. And here's what my cheap-o washcloth cotton looks like now:



















Can you see the pattern emerging? Do you get the connection between my post title and the pattern? No? Let me give you a hint...



















"All the leaves are brooooooown, and the sky is graaaaaaaaaay. I went for a waaaaaaaalk, on a winter's daaaaaaaaaaay." Uh huh, it's California Dreamin'!!



















"All the leaves are broooooooooown!" :)

Sahara Sunset

I'm sweltering in my apartment at 11:00 p.m. I had the windows in my living room open until about an hour ago, when I looked up at my ceiling to find it crawling with about 100 various kinds of bugs. After slurping them all up with my vacuum cleaner, I decided it is better to be 5 degrees warmer and sans bugs. Sometimes I really wish the Germans would use screens on windows. Sigh.

Anyway, the temperature in Coburg hit 89 today, but it wasn't what I would call a clear day. There seemed to be a haze in the air even though there were hardly any clouds. My friend Verena told me the haze is from the desert wind that has blown up from the Sahara, bring tiny particles of sand with the heat. When I was cooking dinner tonight I caught an interesting view from my kitchen window:

At first I didn't realize that the sun hadn't gone down yet, because it seemed so dark outside. But then I took a closer look and this big yellow globe was looking back at me. It was really strange to be able to look directly at the setting sun without it hurting my eyes.

Tex Mex

I had my first rehearsal for Cabaret today and I am one of the Kit Kat Girls. Texas, to be more specific. She's the American in the group. Uh huh, the casting was a big shocker for me, too... :)

Anyway, that's pretty much all I want to say about Cabaret at this point because after a four-hour staging and choreography rehearsal today, I am so shocked and overwhelmed by what I am expected to do onstage that I don't even want to think about it, let alone write about it in my blog.*

Instead, I thought I'd share with you my Tex Mex dinner, since it is something yummy and wholesome and positive. Enjoy!

Teresa's Tex Mex Salad
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 onion
1 small bunch cilantro (I actually used flat leaf parsley because cilantro is hard to find in Coburg)
2 small jalapenos, fresh or canned
1 tomato
1 cup canned corn
4 cups iceberg lettuce
1/4 cup shredded cheese (I used Ementhaler)
2 small handfuls tortilla chips
1 tsp. taco seasoning
olive oil

Preparation:
Cut chicken breast into small pieces. Dice onion and cook with chicken in a pan with olive oil over medium/high heat. When chicken is nearly cooked, add about 1 tsp. taco seasoning and 1/3 cup water. Bring to a boil and cook until water is gone.
Wash and chop all the veggies and lightly toss in a salad bowl. Crush one handful of tortilla chips on top and add the cheese.
When the chicken is fully cooked, pour over salad and lightly mix.

I tend to like salads with very little dressing, so this might be a bit dry for some. If this is the case, you could always add 1/2 cup plain yogurt to the chicken after it's cooked and then pour over the salad.

*For those of you who want to know why I'm so distraught, do a google search for "Cabaret synopsis" and read who the Kit Kat Girls are. And what they do for a living. Then you'll know.

Just call me "Worr E. Wart"

The theater is a mad house right now. Today the choir gives their 118th performance of the season. We are juggling performances of Kiss me Kate, Wizard of Oz, Faust, and Glueckliche Reise, and are rehearsing our latest opera, Der Wildschuetz, during every free moment. However, the last premiere of the season, Cabaret, is looming large and the director is trying to squeeze in rehearsals even before our Wildschuetz premiere. In addition, I am trying to learn my role for La Clemenza di Tito, which goes into production in Seattle in early September. If you've been carefully following along, that is seven shows that are all bouncing around in my brain somewhere. I think the remaining lecture material from grad school that was tightly clinging to my grey matter has been swept away once and for all to make room for all these productions.

Usually when work is this crazy, I enjoy the refuge of my little apartment up among the tree tops. I like to drink a cup of strong black tea with milk and sugar and work on my latest knitting project, read a book, or bake some cookies. But now that I have less than two months in Coburg until my big move, my home is no longer as relaxing as it used to be. Everywhere I look I see possessions that needs to be sold or given away, cupboards that need to be cleaned out, and a closet of clothes that I pray will fit into my two suitcases. And once the ball is rolling I realize I need to file my U.S. taxes, somehow figure out my German taxes, make appointments to cut off all my utilities, cancel my internet service, repaint my walls back to white, remove the fixtures I installed in the apartment, and schedule a final walk-through with my landlady.

When I first gave my notice at the theater and started worrying about my second international move in as many years, I would daydream about going back to Seattle and in my head were fluffy, happy thoughts of sipping extra-hot, tall mochas at Starbucks, seeing my friends and family, and escaping the insanity of my theater life. Now my daydreams have been replaced with the pressure to find gainful employment, medical insurance, and a place to live. Suddenly, everywhere I look I seem to find to-do lists, worries, and uncertainty.

Of course, my entire family could win awards for worrying. We are all-star, A+, #1 worry warts and sometimes I think I lead the pack for hours wasted worrying, which makes me realize that my current situation could be way less stressful than I am making it out to be in my head. And what I really need to do is make a to-do list, set goals and deadlines for checking off each point on the list, and then take each day as it comes without wasting time and energy worrying about the far future or the unknown. And in the meantime, I need to remind myself to make a cup of strong black tea with milk and sugar and start a new book, or maybe a knitting project.

Although I worry a lot, I am not a pessimist. I do think that everything will work out for the best and someday I will look back on this stressful time in my life with a smile. But my optimism won't totally curb my tendency to worry, meaning I'll always be more of a "Worr E. Wart" type than a "Cool Asa Cucumber." :)

Happy Birthday!

Today is Joe's birthday. I think he's an extraordinary person, and I thought I'd honor his big day by giving you all a kind of gross--but still romantic--example of how he proved to be a real-life knight in shining armor.

This picture was taken in January, on Joe's last evening in Coburg after staying with me for a month over Christmas and New Year's. The restaurant we're in is kind of a dive, but we both feel comfortable there, even in spite of our sketchy first visit several months ago.




















When Joe was visiting last October, he discovered this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant and suggested we go there for dinner after one of my performances. He wanted to experience a traditional German bar/restaurant and this seemed to be a good fit. He ordered Coburger Bratwurst that came with homemade sauerkraut and bread. I saw something on the menu called Suelze, which looked pretty interesting. The menu said it was homemade and it came with roasted potatoes, so I ordered it. The waiter looked at me a little funny and asked if I'd ever had Suelze before. I said no, but I was interested in trying something new. The menu said it was some kind of pork product, so I figured it would be sausage or cut of meat. The waiter asked if I was *sure* I wanted to order Suelze, and I said yes, so he took our orders and ducked into the kitchen.

When he brought out our meals, he put down Joe's bratwurst and then my plate. I looked down and saw three slices of what can only be described as chopped-meat jello. I looked up at the waiter and tried to fake a reassuring smile, as if meat jello were something I ran into every day. He gave me a bit of a smirk and left us to our meals.

After the waiter left, Joe dug into his hot, tasty bratwurst and I gingerly cut a piece of Suelze. I took a bite and for my bravery was rewarded with, well, with the the taste and texture you can imagine that comes with a piece of meat jello. I shudder in mere remembrance.

I looked plaintively over at Joe, enjoying his delicious meal, and I wondered if there was any way I could manage to eat three slices of Suelze without being sick. Joe noticed my plight and tried a piece for himself. He had the same kind of reaction to it that I did and quickly followed his bite with a hefty piece of bratwurst.

By this point I was starting to get a little nervous. Germans do not like wastefulness, especially with food. Sending the meal back was not possible, since I had insisted I wanted it. And just leaving it on my plate would be considered rude. So, after a bit of complaining and only managing one more bite, Joe came to my rescue. He discovered that a forkful of sauerkraut made the Suelze go down a little easier and, in his love for me, ate two entire pieces of my meat jello. Now if that isn't romance, I don't know what is.

Joe ran out of sauerkraut (and room in his stomach) before the Suelze did, meaning we left the better part of the third slice on my plate. And when the waiter came to collect our plates, he noticed the remaining slice and asked me if I liked the Suelze. I told him that honestly, it wasn't really to my taste, and sure enough, I could see a mixture of insult and "I tried to warn you!" on his face.

Later that week I told the story to my (vegetarian) friend Verena and she laughed hysterically. And then she corrected me, saying that Suelze is not just chopped up pork in gelatin, but rather chopped up PIG HEAD in gelatin. I felt a little sick. And sure enough, the next time I went to the grocery store I noticed a fairly substantial section of Suelze on a shelf next to the hot dogs, liverwurst and tuna fish. After taking a closer look at the jars of Suelze, they all said "Schweinkopf," or pig head. Sigh.

A few months passed and Joe and I returned to the restaurant in January for a beer and were greeted by the same waiter. He gave us a knowing smile and when we sat down, asked us if we wanted anything to eat. We said we just wanted to have a beer, to which he replied, "What? No Suelze for you tonight?" Joe and I (now knowing full well what Suelze is) both nervously laughed and said no, thank you.

Happy Birthday, Joe. And thanks for eating my pig head meat jello for me. :)

Preemie Caps

One of my blog readers bravely "de-lurked" to suggest that I donate my pumpkin cap to the local hospital in Coburg, since I didn't know what to do with it and the little preemies and newborns always need to have their heads covered. Although I don't know much about babies, the pumpkin cap is way too big for a newborn. But, the idea itself was great (thanks, B./M.'s Mom!), so I hopped online and found a stitch recommendation for preemie and newborn sizes. After casting on the right number of stitches with some leftover yarn, I came up with four cute little hat designs! (I didn't have a preemie or newborn handy to model, so I made due with my hand):

I started out with another pumpkin hat. It's ribbed and has a lot of stretch.

























Here's a little blueberry cap. Look, baby must like it, it's smiling! (har har har)

























Even though this one doesn't have any kind of fruit or vegetable inspiration, I added a little knot at the top anyway. It probably makes the cap easier to take off and it just looks so darn cute!

























What can I say, I'm hooked on produce!

























They all turned out so sweet, I can hardly wait to drop them off at the hospital! But I still have enough yarn to make two or three more, and since each cap only takes about 45 minutes to knit, I should have a great little collection by the end of the week. :)

Reality Check

Apparently I've been spending a little too much time in front of my computer lately, because when my mobile network (I have a very interesting cellular internet connection) went down almost two days ago, I felt like someone had pulled the rug out from under me. Very violently. And without warning.

Here's the funny (and sad) truth about my two days of virtually no internet (I actually could get a connection but only be online for about 30 seconds before it pooped out): I got SO much done!

Here's a list of the things I did to "pass the time" until I could park myself online again:
-took a long bubble bath and drank some champagne
-read an entire novel (in German, no less)
-knit four preemie hats for the local hospital (details on this in my next post)
-washed all my windows inside and out
-cleaned out and scrubbed my refrigerator
-ditto for every other surface in my kitchen
-ran errands downtown
-practiced TWO times

Wowie. Hrmm, maybe I need to rethink this whole internet thing, and maybe put a limit on the amount of time I spend reading blogs and perusing knitting patterns on Ravelry...

But I'm still very grateful that my internet is back so I can chat with Joe again. And post the details of my weird life for you all to read. :)

Leftovers

When I buy yarn for a specific project I try to over-estimate how much I need so I don't run the risk of not having enough to finish my project. That means there is usually a small ball of yarn left over. I like to save these little baby skeins for a small project or to practice a new knitting technique I'm trying to learn. Since I'm moving back to Seattle in just a couple months, I am trying to deplete my collection of baby skeins and I've been having fun thinking of small projects that don't need a whole lot of yarn.

I knit a little pumpkin beanie out of some yarn I had left over from two fingerless glove projects back in the winter. I don't actually know anyone in Germany who could wear this beanie, because it's made for a small child/toddler/baby (can you tell I don't know much about the size of a child's head?). But that's okay, doesn't it look cute?

























After the pumpkin beanie I started eyeing my leftover red yarn that I used for a shrug and got the urge to knit a watermelon beanie. I even went to a craft store and bought some little black beads to use as "seeds." And then I realized three things: 1) I still don't know anyone in Germany who could wear a small hat and I usually like my projects to have a recipient, 2) If I did know a small child who could wear a watermelon beanie, the little beads might be a potential choking hazard if they ever came off and I wouldn't want to put a kiddie in danger, and 3) I don't really have the guts to wear an adult-sized watermelon beanie.

So, I turned to my new favorite time-sucking website, Ravelry, for some ideas and found a pattern for pedicure socks. You just leave the toe part off the sock and then when you're painting your toenails, you can keep the rest of your feet warm! This is also a very good pattern idea for people from the Pacific Northwest, since we tend to wear flip-flops even when it's only 60 degrees outside. Anyway, here's what I came up with:


















This was really good practice for me to practice beading, but I'm not really happy with how my red yarn performed. Squeaky acrylic yarn kind of has a mind of its own and the heel and gusset got a little stretched out. But since I like the novelty of this pattern AND I think watermelon socks are adorable, I'm going to invest in some better-quality red yarn and try again.

Another technique I recently read about on the internet is making stripes in socks that perfectly line up where you don't have to break the yarn to switch colors. I still have Rico Design yarn left over from Joe's Christmas blanket, so I thought I'd try to finish it off with one last pair of socks:
























The striping technique is really cool and seems to work like magic, but unfortunately my gauge was not so magical. So, I need to pull out the sock and start over again with smaller needles so they will actually fit a human foot. :)

In the meantime, my cabled tank top project is taking a bit of a rest. I really want to finish it, but I keep getting distracted by my mini skeins and all these cute little patterns. And wouldn't you? Who can resist pumpkins, watermelons and magic stripes??

Everyone's a critic.

Being a singer is hard. Although singing in high school choir is good, and performing karaoke for your friends is super, I am not talking about that kind of singing. I am referring to classically-trained, voice degree-holding, in-foreign-language-singing performers. Today we held auditions for my position at the Landestheater and it reminded me how much I hate to audition. Hate it enough to never recommend this profession to anyone. Except maybe to my enemies. Or people who like to freely dish out criticism.

I don't really know how people can call classical singers divas. Sure, singers sometimes get dressed up in sparkly gowns and curl their hair and put on bright lipstick. But in order to climb the ladder high enough to earn a living from their art, singers will have to endure hearing dozens upon dozens (upon dozens) of people criticizing them in one way or another. Sometimes it has to do with vocal technique, but a performance critique can also cover vocal color, language ability, repertoire selection, acting and movement, and even general aura and presence. And the most frustrating thing of all is that these are mostly subjective critiques that are often made within the few short minutes of a vocal audition. If anything, I think a singing "diva" earns that reputation from having to build up a protective shield against so much criticism in order to maintain her own techniques and methods in spite of all this subjectivity.

Of course, some critiques are constructive and not meant to damage a singer's psyche, but rather assist them in becoming more successful in the future. But the bottom line is that professional singers have to put themselves out for repeated criticism in order to get anywhere. And unfortunately, getting a job does not end the criticism. Once you get to a theater there are vocal coaches, repertoire coaches, voice teachers, and directors all ready to further mould and shape you to fit each operatic role. And once you perform a role there are performance reviews from the media. I actually had my first negative critique after my "Kuechenlieder" Concert last month, when a reporter wrote that my voice was too big and operatic for the kinds of songs being sung on the program. Huh.

At the auditions today we had three very different ladies sing for us. While I won't get into the nitty gritty of their performances, we as a group decided to consider one of the candidates, and call the agencies again to get another batch of singers for another round of auditions before we make a final decision. And the singer we are considering was not as vocally strong or as poised and confident as another candidate, but according to our subjective requirements for our specific choir, we decided in favor of her anyway. It was strange to be a part of the audition process and to offer my own critiques of the singers after we had heard all three. And it was a bizarre experience to agree with my colleagues that the best singer and performer was actually not the best candidate for my position. And overall the whole experience left me exausted and a little frustrated that I actually contributed to the cycle of subjectivity that I hate.

The other side of the table

Tomorrow five singers are coming to the theater to audition for my position in the Landestheater opera chorus. During our performance this evening we all sifted through the application packets of the candidates. It is a very strange feeling to be the one on the picking end, especially because the last time the ladies chose a female singer, I was the one chosen, and that wasn't all that long ago. So I couldn't help but pay extra attention to the fact that every woman in the choir carfully read each application and pored over the information given. And I remembered back to the resume and headshot that I sent in. And how I sent in an 8x10 black and white glossy headshot, which is normal by American standards, but is really really "look at me" huge by German standards. And I tried not to think about the hand-written cover letter I included that probably had a million mistakes, but by that point in my audition tour I couldn't be bothered to spend the time finding a computer with Word and printing out something better. Sigh. I had no idea that the entire women's choir would have access to that information.

But all that is neither here nor there. I got the position and now it's time to find someone to pass the torch to. I hope she's a nice lady with a strong personality. And I secretly hope she fits into the chorus and makes all the ladies happy, but not quite as happy as I make them. :)

Klettergarten

Yesterday I went to a ropes course with two friends near Kloster Banz, an old convent about 20 minutes from Coburg. For you German-speakers, check out their website for more information: http://www.waldklettergarten-banz.de/.

Do you remember the television program "Double Dare" from 1980s Nickelodeon? I used to watch the kids on that show do the "physical challenges" and always wondered if I would be able do strap myself into a harness and do the wacky stuff they did. And I wondered the same thing when I'd come across one of the dozens of reality television shows where pansy girls who grew up in the suburbs (like me) were forced to traipse around on logs and cables while suspended 30 feet above ground.

Well, if the smile is any indication, it looks like I can, and I enjoy it, too! :)

























There are guides at the park to help everyone get hooked up into a harness. We then have a safety course and a short training course to become familiar with hooking our harness onto the cables. That hook thingie on the right (don't you love my technical language?) hooks onto the cable first, and then the pully one on the left goes on behind. This kind of double attatchment makes sure that your harness is always attached to a cable at all times. Which helps one feel more secure when perched on a tiny wooden platform 30 feet above the ground.




















There are five different courses at the park, all varying in height, length, and difficulty. We did each course at least once, and this one here was my favorite. It was the highest of them all, but not quite the most difficult. The views from up there were amazing.



















Each course has about 10 or so different segments, and each segment hangs between two tall trees. Some segments have you hanging Indiana Jones-style from a cable and sliding through the forest. A couple let you swing from a rope between two trees like Tarzan. And some parts have different ropes, nets, logs, or combinations of all three that link between two trees.
























Look, this guy even wore his Lederhosen!


















Like I said before, I'm kind of a pansy girl who grew up in the suburbs, so I wasn't sure how I'd react once I got up in the trees and was expected to trust a cable and a couple hooks to keep me from plunging to my (certain) demise below. But I felt safe with the cables and the course was well-monitored by park employees. And everything was just so fresh and green and cool up in the trees that I just let go and enjoyed myself.

And also, I've come to realize that performing is kind of an extreme sport itself, and I get way more of an adrenaline rush from that than a ropes course like this. Who knew??

My favorite kind of cake

This is one of my favorite songs. I have no idea how these alternative band boys from California got it so right, by they really seem to know what it's like to be an opera singer. Take a listen for yourself and enjoy your Monday! :)



Band: Cake
Album: Comfort Eagle
Track: 1
Title: "Opera Singer"

I am an Opera Singer
I stand on painted tape
It tells me where I'm going
And where to throw my cape

I call my co-stars brother
I call my co-star's name
I play both good and evil parts
I sing to Verdi's play

And every single morning
By 10 a.m. I'm dressed
My rehearsals last for hours and hours
With diligence I have been blessed
Some people they call me monster
Some people they call me saint
My talent feeds my darker side
Yet no one will complain

I am an opera singer
I sing in foreign lands
I've sung for kings in Europe
And emperors in Japan

And after each performance
People stand around and wait
Just to tell me that they love my voice
Just to tell me that I'm great

I am an opera singer
I will sing when you're all dead
I sing the mountains crumbling apart
I sing what can't be said

I am an opera singer
I sing in foreign lands
Most people seem to know my name
Or at least know who I am

FREE PATTERN: Cable Gusset for Brea Bag

Berroco has a free pattern on their website called the Brea Bag. It is a great bag, but I wasn't that fond of the gusset. The pattern calls for a seed stitch strip that then will be attached to the two bag sides using a crochet hook. I decided to take inspiration from the different stitch patterns in the side panels and create a custom gusset. I hope you enjoy it!




















NOTES:

Make the gusset after knitting one (or both) side panel(s) for the Brea Bag. You will use a side panel to measure the length of the gusset.

CF5: slip 2 sts onto cable needle and hold in front of work, knit 2, purl 1, knit two from cable needle.

You will notice the edges of this gusset and the center in between the two cables is the same modified seed stitch pattern from the Brea Bag side panels.

*PATTERN:

Cast on 15 stitches.

Row 1: purl across.

Row 2 (RS): k1, p1, k1, etc., across.

Row 3 (WS): and all wrong side rows, knit the knits and purl the purls as you see them.

Row 4: p1, k1, p1, etc., across.

Row 6: k1, p1, k1, etc., across.

Row 8: p1, k1, p1, etc., across.

Row 10: k1, p1 k1, etc., across.

Row 12: cast on 2 sts at beginning of row, p1, k1, p1, etc., across (17 sts.).

Row 13: cast on 2 sts at beginning of row, k1, p1, k1, etc., across (19 sts.).

Row 14 (BEGINNING OF CABLE PATTERN): k1, [p1, k2, p1, k2, p1], k1, p1, k1,[ p1, k2, p1, k2, p1], k1. (The stitches inside the brackets will be the two cables)

Row 16: k1, [p1, k2, p1, k2, p1], p1, k1, p1, [p1, k2, p1, k2, p1], k1.

Row 18: k1, [p1, CF5, p1], k1, p1, k1, [p1, CF5, p1], k1.

Rows 14-19 form cable pattern.

Repeat the cable pattern until your gusset has reached the appropriate length for the sides to your Brea Bag, ending on the equivalent of Row 17 (one row before you would do another cable twist).

Next row (RS): bind off 2 sts, return to k1, p1, k1, etc. across, continuing the pattern you have already established in the center stitches of the gusset (17 sts.).

Next row (WS): bind off 2 sts, knit the knits and purl the purls as you see them (15 sts.)

Continue to knit the modified seed stitch pattern on these 15 stitches for 10 more rows.

Knit one row across.

Bind off all stitches.


FINISHING:

Pin together the right sides of the side panel and the gusset and, using a tapestry needle and waste yarn, whip stitch the seams together. Repeat with other side panel. Turn right-side out. The cables will form a nice seam along the side panel and round out the edges of the side panels.



















































*This pattern is for personal use only. Do not sell this pattern or the product resulting from this pattern. Thanks!!

Why I don't shop for clothes

I love shopping, especially for bargains. And I love clothes, especially when they're on sale. But lately I haven't been in the mood to shop for clothes, even if they're on super clearance, because it would mean trying them on. And I'm getting pretty tired of changing my clothes.

The reason is I end up changing my clothes several times a day for work, and when I don't have to work, I also don't want to have to change my clothes. That may sound a little silly, but let me put it into perspective for you. In the 11-day period between May 7th and May 17th we are performing nine shows:

May 7: Glueckliche Reise













May 8: Faust













May 9: Glueckliche Reise













May 10: Wizard of Oz
(1)
(2)
(3)













May 11: Wizard of Oz
(1)
(2)
(3)













May 12: Faust













May 14: Glueckliche Reise













May 15: Wizard of Oz
(1)
(2)
(3)













May 17: Glueckliche Reise













That's 14 costumes. But for Wizard of Oz I have to put my Munchkin costume on at the end for the applause, meaning I have 17 costumes. And then if you take into consideration getting dressed in the morning, getting dressed for bed, and also changing into workout clothes in the afternoon (on a good day!), that adds up to a whole lot of changing. So for now I think I'll keep window shopping and wait to visit a dressing room until our performance schedule slows down a bit.

Glueckliche Reise Costume

Who is that cross-looking secretary??

























Oh my, she doesn't look friendly at all! Just look at those glasses!

























Well, at least she has a cute outfit.

























Woah, I guess she's not that unfriendly after all!!

























"Relax, dahling, it's all just an act. I'm a nice girl, really."

Slow and steady

When I come across an interesting project to knit, I usually read through the instructions first to make sure that I am familiar with the techniques required. If the pattern seems clear, I dash to my local yarn store to hunt for just the right yarn. And usually once I have the yarn at home, I start getting itchy to begin knitting the project right away.

In the case of this pattern, I fell it love with how it looked, read through the instructions, and then ran to my local yarn store to get the right wool for it. I mean, look at how cute this tank top is! (Okay, I know the model needs to eat a few hamburgers, but just look at those pretty, swirly cables!!)





















Photo courtesy of http://www.allaboutyou.com/craft/Knitting-pattern-V-neck/v1

I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I bought 600 grams of Rico Design yarn for the project. Yes, the infamous yarn from Joe's Christmas blanket and just about everything else I've knit so far this year. But the gauge was right on and the color matched the photograph perfectly!

Anyway, I cast on for this project just a few days after getting the yarn and flew through the ribbing:



















And then I got to the cable pattern.

I can make cables. I've done quite a bit of knitting with a cable needle. But this cable pattern intimidated me. There are two different cable panels that are worked multiple times in one row. And the different panels have different lengths, meaning they repeat at different intervals. All of a sudden the progress on this tank top stopped. It seemed too complicated with too much stuff to keep track of.

But I really love this pattern and I figured all I needed was a bit of organization. And then Joe surprised me with a visit a couple weeks ago and brought me a brand new laptop. And I figured I could use it to make something work.

So what I did was copy and paste the pattern text into a Word Document. I formatted the different cable instructions and the two different panel instructions so they were easily legible, because let me tell you, most knitting patterns are not formatted in an easy-to-read way. So, now when I'm working on the tank top, I sit in front of my laptop with the word document open. And since the two cable panels have different numbers of rows, I change the text color to red when I have finished with a row so I always know where I am in the pattern.
















Look at that! Joe taught me how to take a "screen shot" of my computer. So nifty!!

Anyway, now that I'm all organized, the pretty swirly cables are slowly starting to emerge and I'm happy to say that they look pretty good:



















But since I can only knit on this project with the assitance of my laptop and Microsoft Word, it looks like it will be slow going until this cute tank top is finished.

Weird

The lifestyle of a professional singer is weird. It's weird because I grew up in Olympia, Washington. It's the state capital and about 50% of the people who live there work for the government. My parents are/were both state employees, and when it was time for me to get my first job, I also got a job with the state. I worked in the Human Resources Office of the Department of Revenue on and off from 1997 until 2003, when I went to graduate school in Seattle. And, of course, when I looked for work in Seattle, I got a job at the state-run University of Washington, in an administrative position that has a lot to do with Human Resources. Big surprise.

I have always been accustomed to this lifestyle, because it is what my family life was structured around growing up. 40-hour work weeks, one-hour lunch breaks, 15 minute coffee breaks, having evenings, weekends and holidays off, and striving for a friendly, professional rapport with my co-workers is something that has always seemed natural to me.

That is not the world I live in now. Oh no. No no no no no. My life is much different. It's weird.

At the theater the schedule is ever-changing. I have no idea if I have a rehearsal tomorrow morning, because tomorrow's rehearsal schedule won't be posted for another 30 minutes (at 2:00 p.m.). I work evenings, weekends, and every major holiday. When I get a day off I usually spend it doing laundry and cleaning and slounging around my apartment, because I'm never quite sure when the next day off will roll around. And when I have an unexpected morning off, like today, I sometimes become so overwhelmed with all the things I could do with my "sudden" free time that I become paralyzed, and instead resort back to washing dishes and updating my blog and slounging around my apartment.

My relationship with my coworkers is also weird. In general we all have a friendly rapport, but I am much closer to my female colleagues than I would ever be in an office job. This is because I have seen them all in their underwear. Or less. And they have all seen me in my underwear. Or less. Not only that, but if I happen to be wearing underwear that they haven't seen before, I may be subject to closer inspection and commentary/opinions. This is also true if I have lost or gained weight, gotten a tan, etc. And depending on what show we're doing or how fast costume changes happen behind stage, I might be changing clothes in front of my male colleagues as well. Needless to say, personal grooming for work takes on a whole new meaning at the theater.

The different personalities that are found at the theater also exist in the office world. There are whiners, do-gooders, lazies, and nit-pickers in every job everywhere. But sometimes I feel like our particular venue makes it easier for these personalities to come out. For instance, as a choir we mainly function as a unit. We are co-dependant on each other to produce our product, which, in our case, is a good performance. And if a nit-picker sees a lazy not pulling their weight, you can believe they are going to say something. And if a whiner is jealous of a do-gooder, yep, you're going to hear about it. There isn't a lot of water cooler whispering going on or running to the manager or boss. It pretty much all gets thrown out from all sides. And that is weird.

Of course, "weird" doesn't always have to mean negative. I think it's weird that I get paid to put on pretty costumes and wear make-up and sing and dance for people. I think it's weird that I get six weeks of paid vacation in summer to make up for not having much of a life the other 10+ months out of the year. And I think it's weird that a large chunk of the funding for this whole enterprise comes from the federal government of Germany. But that stuff is all great, too, and I'm going to definitely miss it when I am gone.

So for now I'm just soaking in the weirdness, but I'm also secretly looking forward to a new set of coworkers in an office somewhere. And I hope I never see their underwear. Or vice versa.

What a difference

Remember back in March when winter extended its visit all the way to Easter?

There were icicles hanging from the roof!



















And click on this video to check out the size of the flakes that fell on a particularly snowy day later that month!



Well, here we are a little over a month later and the scenery from my living room window is much different:



My house plants are responding to all that sun as well. Check out all the new leaves on this little guy! I had it by my front door all winter and moved it to my window sill just a few weeks ago.




















I think these little leaves are inspired by those giant trees just on the other side of the window. Look at how they're stretching towards the sun!

























Thank goodness for spring!

"Saved by Seed Stitch" Cardigan

A few weeks ago I went shopping in Nuremberg with my friend Verena. We found a great store with a huge selection of yarn and I splurged and bought 600 grams of fluffy, tweedy green wool. I found a pattern for a side-to-side knit cardigan and thought the simple pattern would compliment such a great yarn. The pattern starts with the cuff of one sleeve and you knit the whole sweater sideways, which is a really cool concept. I knit a swatch to make sure my gauge was correct and then I cast on for the project.


And after binding off a few days ago, this is what my cardigan looked like:

























Oh dear. I steam blocked the cardigan to try to make it longer, but it didn't really help. It really looks like I'm trying to squeeze myself into a 10-year-old's sweater.

And the back wasn't any better. Sheesh.

























Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed. But even though I had completed the written pattern, I still had a lot of yarn left over and decided to try and salvage the project and all of that beautiful, squishy wool. So, starting at the bottom edge, I used a size smaller needles than I did for the original pattern, picked up a row of stitches and knit 17 rows in seed stitch to make the the cardigan longer. I used smaller needles becuase seed stitch pattern spreads itself out a bit and I didn't want the ends to become misshapen.

I repeated this process on the two front panels, the neckband, and finally the arms so I would have cute little cuffs. And I am happy to say that seed stitch saved this cardigan!

























It is now long enough all over, it closes easily in the front, and it also has kind of a cool, slanted design that I think looks really nifty. Here's the back view:

























And check out these cute buttons I found. They were a splurge and I probably spent too much on them, but I was so excited that the cardigan really looked like a cardigan that I took the plunge and got them.

























Seed stitch has always been one of my favorite stitches. It looks so neat and even, it lays flat so it doesn't have to be blocked, and it gives any yarn a really cool texture. And it is definitely even closer to my heart now that it saved my sad cardigan from being "frogged."

Check out the before and after! :)

The sound of silence

My apartment is blissfully quiet. It is Sunday morning and if I were to open my windows, the only noise pollution I would hear would be coming from the birds that hang out in the trees around my building. I crave this kind of silence and rarely have music playing when I am away from work.

That might sound a little silly coming from someone who makes her living as a singer, but it's actually quite logical. When I am at the theater I am surrounded by sound. During a rehearsal I take in three hours of singing, piano playing, instructions, corrections, or chatter. When I'm learning a new score and don't have it quite memorized, I have to concentrate on every musical cue that comes my way. And when staging makes that process even more complicated, I can feel that my senses are all heightened to take in the sights and sounds around me so my spacial memory conceptualizes the combination of music and movement.

A performance isn't necessarily as hectic for the senses, but my ears do stay completely alert. This week we had a rigorous performance schedule and have not only performed all four shows on our roster at least once, but these evening performances have been juxtaposed with morning rehearsals for a fifth show. This means mentally switching gears every few hours and re-tuning my ears and other senses to recall the music and choreography for each show.

After so many months of learning and performing these trained responses to the music in each piece, I have become acutely aware of the physical and mental reaction I have to music. Music has the power to change my mood and energy level, for better or worse. And after hours of that every day at work, I want to turn off those knee-jerk responses when I go home. So when I have free time, I enjoy the silence of my apartment and maybe the chirping of the birds outside. And then the sound of silence becomes real music to my ears.

Culture shock at home

Joe's friend Jon was in Germany on business last week and stopped by Coburg for a visit. This was his first trip to Europe, and it was very interesting to hear about his experiences and culture shock. It made me realize that I have become almost immune to many things in my own apartment that would be considered "strange" or "different" by American standards. I took my camera around my home today to capture a few examples.

These are two different cartons of milk. They are both one liter, which is the standard volume of milk cartons in Germany. The carton on the left has a plastic screw-off top and the carton on the right has a plastic flip top.



















My living room has three windows, which is the perfect way for me to show the way to open standard windows in Germany. The left window has its handle facing down, which is the closed and locked position. The middle window has its handle facing to the side, which is the side-opening position. The window on the right has its handle facing up, which keeps the bottom of the window locked, but opens the top of the window. This system is really fantastic.



















This is a German phone jack. It took me awhile to figure out what this was, but if you look closely you can see a small "T" on the face, which is the German Telecom logo. (The cellular company is also known as T-Mobile. Sound familiar?)



















All of the door handles on the inside of my apartment look like this. This is a fairly standard "knob" for interior doors in Germany.

























Culture shock really hits in every room of a typical German home, including the bathroom. Here is my toilet, which you can see is mounted on the wall and floats freely over the floor. The tank must be hidden somewhere back in the wall, because the flushing mechanism is also wall-mounted. The panel above the toilet has two different "flushers." Pushing the smaller tab on the right will produce a short flush, and the larger tab on the left will produce a long flush. You can probably figure out why. :)

























This is a German light switch. Pretty different than ours in the United States, huh? There are several variations on this switch, but the ones in my apartment are fairly standard for modern houses.



















This is the exterior door to my apartment. Most exterior doors in Germany are self-locking, meaning that the door knob does not turn and the door is locked from the outside anytime it is shut. Although this is a good safety feature, it is not always practical. After locking myself out last fall I experienced some serious culture shock!

























This is one of the largest differences between American and German apartments. This is a German power outlet, which gives out twice as much electricity as an American outlet. You can see that the prongs are much different, and the circle cut-out on the outlet is for large plugs that need to be grounded. I still have to use a power converter and adaptor for a few of my small electrical devices, including my cell phone and my digital camera. And now that I have this shiny new American computer, I need to use an adaptor for that as well.