Yeah eBay!!!!

Remember how I said eBay was bad? Well I was wrong because I got these Tigerente lovelies:


So, the baby will not being wearing the t-shirts until the 3rd or 4th grade (maybe later).
But they were soooooo cute and I had to have them - and yes Fritz is right, this is more for me than the kid. And check out the little reisetasche!!!

He will have the cutest little travel bag for when he goes to Nana’s for the weekend…and the cutest little rucksack ever!!!!

I am losing it.

do you hear what i hear...?

It was Christmas! Did you hear? Yeah….love that time of year when you have to discuss about whose family you are going to go visit…

About 1 month ago:
Mar: So, are we going to your folks for Christmas? It is their year since we did my folks last year…
Fritz: I don’t know. Driving to West Virginia…it might snow.
Mar: Well next year there is the baby, so if we blow off your folks on their year then we have to drive 6 hours to West VA next year. Instead of 4 hours to mine?
Fritz: Uh – huh…
Mar: With a baby…and a crib…and diapers…and all that other stuff they come with.
Fritz: Like hats?
Mar: Yeh, hats.
Fritz: I’ll think about it.

(If you ever watched WEST WING – then you might get the hats reference – ‘cause babies come with hats)

2 weeks before Xmas:
Mar: So what’s the plan for x-mas?
Fritz: I guess we can go to your mom’s… what are her plans?
Mar: The usual. You know, decorate tree on Christmas Eve, eat Chinese food, light the menorah, alcohol is allowed and you can smoke. Movie on Christmas day…The usual Greene Family event of loud Italians and Jews…
Fritz: Hmmmm
Mar: I need to know ASAP, ‘cause I have presents to finish and I need to know who’s get finished first – yours or mine?
Fritz: So West Virginia this year? How about we have Christmas at our place next year?
Mar: With both families?
Fritz: Yeh….
Mar :………………..( many many minutes later) we’ll have to get a tree? And they might not be into the Chinese food….does your family go to movies?
Fritz: Ha! Ha! Maybe not. Well, we’ve got a year to figure it out.


It is so easy to be a married couple without kids – because then you can bounce around and not have to stick to any real traditions. Not ever be xpected to host. That is coming to an end my friends...
Fritz’s family is definitely Christian (like New Testament all the way baby!)– And my family? Well, they are mostly lapsed Catholics with a few Jews thrown into the mix – so we truly have our own traditions – oh! and an Atheist or two – so the winter holiday season is more about just getting together and getting crazy, eating lots, trying to steal the cookie dough before it becomes cookies and the nieces and nephews. And fighting over what movie we will see on Christmas Day. Last year it was SYRIANA – good movie, but not really a “holiday movie.”

So we went to West Virginia – as per my usual standard – I left my SIL’s present back in Maryland (2 years ago, I forgot the grandmother-in-law’s present). And it was a lovely time had by all. My MIL is quite sweet – she even remembered no pork in any of the dishes – which for southerners is not easy to do (just ask my husband – or any Bavarian :) for that matter). And had a lovely time…(well until I stuck my liberal foot in my mouth about politics...I will never learn)


FYI – I am taller than all those people! (nephew, niece, Fritz, sil, fil, mil, bil)

this is a test

okay i haven been trying to blog for days now.
and i have been trying to post on other people's webpages - but if you are blogger realted, i can't.

so here is a test to see if blogger has gotten over it....

if this works, expect a bigger and better entry tomorrow :)
fingers crossed or daumen druecken!

fabulous things!

My Godmother is just THE coolest person ever! First of all, she taught me to knit while getting a blood transfusion and she makes the beautiful Dale of Norway Sweaters. As you can see above, as sported by Classic Winnie the Pooh, is both a fabulous sweater and hat for the boy to be. IN the basket was also: pacifiers, little bottles, washclothes and drying towels for baby, those little pads you stick in your bra for leaking, this adorable duck with scented bags for diapers on the go...what else? lots of stuff and a very cool diaper bag all by Avent - My aunt has an in :)

And the last picture is the Duck Mobile - I had one when i was a baby and so did my Niece and Nephew - so Max gets one too! I was so excited about it - Fritz thought i was crazy about it - but he just doesn't understand the cuteness of the little guys. And if you look closely, Walter is eyeing them with much interest from behind.

Everything is so cute when it is little!

crap! i am getting sucked into the parenting/baby thing - the dark cynical me is being taken over by the alien - QUICK somebody say something sarcastic or negative or cynical....

how the hell i am i going to afford daycare! (there you go....okay feeling like myself now)....back to work :)

why having a day off is bad...

because then i go on ebay and want this:














all of it!!!!! Now without shipping I can buy this "sofort" on eBay.de for 1095 euros! You get the changing table, the crib and the 2 door wardrobe. Of course you have to buy the mattress and the canopy (which is called a himmel or "heaven" in german) seperately.....well they only ship in Germany and Austria and they don't take PayPal...oh well :)


but i did buy a few Tigerente items yesterday and i didn't break the bank - i am so proud of myself! Though Fritz keeps reminding me that this is not really for the Baby, but for me and it won't care. True - but it makes ME happy and that is what it is all about! :)

happy monday!

mmmm...pie!

a little late thanksgiving yummy-ness-
I like to say that i don't cook or clean...
but i do bake:
















is that not a yummy lookin' apple pie? here it is with whip cream:

















okay now i want more pie...maybe apfelstrudel....guess i will have to bake some more

That's not Vienna....that's a sweater!

Okay there should be a post about my trip to Vienna here – but I cannot find the disk that the pictures are on! You see I had forgotten the digital camera – so I got one of those disposable cameras (they still make those!) at the Niedermeyer on the Ringstrasse and got it developed straight to disk when I got home…did I download the best pictures to my computer?....of course not! That would make sense....

So instead of a babbling entry on how much I ate and drank and loved my favourite city, I bring you the saga of Jill’s sweater!

You see Jill, has this beautiful Alice Starmore sweater a close friend knit for her – but alas, it was about 12 inches too big. Wish I had taken a before picture – but here is the “how to” and the after:

I pinned the sweater on Jill, and then thread marked the new stitching line with a smooth contrasting yarn:



Then I cut! That is where you hold your breath, say a prayer, light a candle, sacrifice a chicken, whatever you are into....





This is wear my trusty sewing machine comes into play (depending on the yarn- I will use the overlock machine, but not with pure wool – personal preference). I ran two rows of zig-zag stitch about ¼” and 5/8” from the new seam line.



After that, I hand stitched the side seams as if no alteration had been made. And here is the finished result:



Okay, I promised Jill I would block out her head since she had forgotten to put on makeup – but she looks so happy in her sweater that I HAD to post it…so I lied :)

turkeys for sale

it's that time of year again! The opening of our holiday show! and thanksgiving too!

JUNIE B JONES AND A LITTLE MONKEY BUSINESS is a remount of a show that we did a little over 3 years ago - and it is so much better this time around! I mean check out this set:
















and one of the things I will not get to make for my own off spring - but at least I can at work :) :









How sweet! Sometimes we do fabulous accurate period costumes and sometimes we get to make adorable things amd sometimes we just go shopping...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving - a day of overeating and football....well, no football in our house, but there will be overeating! Fritz does all the cooking and I'll do the apple pie, my one and only contribution to the feast. And maybe we will get dressed and go to the movies....or Maybe I will just sit and knit all day, I am so far behind.

Have a happy turkey day!!!!

it's a....

BOY!!!!!!!

or it will be in another 18-20 weeks and he might be a big one too!


as for a name?

Maximilian...or is it Maximillian with 2 l's? well i have time to figure that out...what do you all think?

oh wear, oh wear have i been?

that is the question isn't it? :)
sorry to not have postedin ove ra month! *gulp*

I had the most fab time in vienna doing nothing just fo rme and checking out yarn stores and museums - then there was the Gala at work (our yearly fundraiser) and then this next show is starting and things are a bit differente than usual. I hope to have pics tonight - i had left both the digital camera and my i-pod at home. So i had to buy good ol' disposable analog for the trip -and have i made it to the CVS to get it developed? silly question! of course not!

and there was a jaunt to Stitches East with the Mom! will post about that too!

so much to share with you all

Oh and i was doing some sidework for one of the Sewing Pattern comapanies - no designing - just sewing - but there will be a few re-released halloween patterns sometime next year and i am the one who sewed the garments in the pretty pictures! When they come out, i'll brag , naturlich! How else could I have afforded my jaunt across the pond? :)

So the next big news! I have finally knit a pair of baby booties - and they are still colorless:


i still do not know what the alien/satan spawn will be!!!! (if i knew how to upload the print out from the sonogram, you would agree that it looks a bit demon like) Tomorrow is the lucky day!!!!

I will color the socks in using photo shop/ paint (if i can figure it out) and post tomorrow night! that is, if it isn't a shy baby :) being mine, i find that hard to believe....


okay i could babble for hours! and those who know me face to face know that this is soooooo true!!!

gotta go show shopping.....

I can’t believe I am saying this...

I am at work and I am bored out of my mind!!! Can you people believe it? I can’t! Not really into sewing right now (though i have stuff for other people i should be working on as well as the dress I finally cut out for me) So here I am downloading podcasts for my trip…

Here are a few hints of where I am going (if you haven’t figured it out already)






































Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday night I will be on a plane to Vienna!!!! Just me – no Fritz! I am a terrible wife! And I have decided to make these socks while I am away. I am using SOCKS THAT ROCKS yarn that Neomera gave me for my birthday earlier this year. I am not quite sure how I feel about this yarn. I am a huge Koigu fan, along with Cherry Tree Hill Sock Yarn, when it comes to my variegated sock yarns. Since I have big feet, I cast on an extra 10 stitches (allowing for the repeat). I know the designer says that it is a very stretchy pattern, but one of my legs is way bigger than the other.So I must compensate…and hey! If it turns out to be big by the time I get to the ankle, I can always decrease???

And of course, I have mapped out the yarn stores in between museum trips and food trips.

Other than my love of Vienna and the yummy foods – I HAVE to see this:

REBECCA is one of my favourite movies and books of all time and I just have to see the musical! It may suck for all I know…but hey it is totally worth it for the finale live on stage. The theatre has publicity shots on the webpage – and the spectacle looks great – even if they ruin the story and the music could be crap – but I will let you know when I get back next Friday!

my mom is so cool!

okay so yes it is tue - she does read my blog - but that is not why she is so cool. Not only is she cool cause she came down last wekend and cleaned out the closets in my apartment and helped figure out rearranging for baby ( sat in pj's all day and watched - don't tell my siblings) BUT
my mom is cool because she bought my not-yet-born-alien, this:


Is that not the cutest baby hat you have ever seen? what is even niftier about this ha, is that it is made from QIVIUT - which just happens to be the Eskimo word for "down" or "underwool." Basically, the fiber is from the belly of the musk ox - a large hairy beast which has been around since the Ice Age (check out the wikipedia entry here)

Anyway - it is so SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFT! softer than cashmere i tell ya!

This kid better like hats is all I have to say!

in other news: still nauseous :(

ps - bloggin' while at work!!!! oooooh! but i have also made 2 tshirts today (need to cover the belly that will not suck back in now) and made two ren faire costumes - will take pics and post tomorrow :) Really i could be elsewhere right now - so no tneeded for once! Sick of cleaning! (Which Fritz will tell you, and I am proud to admit, I never do at home so how can I be sick of it) Every time I organize the desk, it gets messy with other stuff. So why bother? (Kind of like making the bed efvery ay - you are only coming back 16 hour later to mess it up again!)

PPS - guess where I will be in 10 days?

Sleeping....

Beauty is basically open!!!! (Official party next Saturday September 30th) Yeah! And my nausea is really starting to subside…which means, I think, that I can resume my regular routines of blogging and personal crafting – until the next show that is.

Here are some lovely pictures of a few of the things we made the week before last – some of the pics are not that great since these are taken by me and not the professional photographer (which I plan to nab a few when I can get the disk later this week):





Check out our theatre’s home page and you will see (eventually) and fabulous picture or two and links to the reviews – which of course I will post (if they are nice) for all to see.
Yvette M Ryan designed these fab costumes and was great to work with – so I hope to get to work with her next season as well (she also made the yummiest Poppy Seed cake covered in powdered sugar along with lemon curd to smother on top….OH it was good and it stayed down!)


In other news – the lovely Alice of futuregirl – made me the most amazing handbag! Check it out:



Am I not a lucky girl? I am! I know! It is perfect and fabulous and I so wanted to lie and say I made it when asked….but the crafty-gods of Karma got the better of me and I did not…..

The stick has been thrown by my favourite mad hatter –a meem about the Who, What, Where, When and Why of my blog – but I will have to answer that one tomorrow.

I was working on socks – but decided I hated the pattern and 3” in I ripped them out. So I decided to start this crochet project instead:



Not done yet – but it is the beginnings of a crocheted purse from THE HAPPY HOOKER. The book calls it the “red-cross purse” – but in my case it is the it is a Suisse Flag purse – it is for Katherine – my fabulous new assistant (cannot sing praises enough for her) who happens to be Swiss German/American (and she speaks Hoch Deutsch, not dialect, as well as beautiful French and Spanish).

***oh and according to a staff meeting today: it is unethical of me to blog while on company time. Well, I wouldn't be at work today if I didn't have to be here for the company meeting. All our notes are at the drycleaners (just 1). And I try to close the costume shop the monday after a show is up and running since not much else is going and we really need a break...so which is unethical? - not giving me time off after working a very long week...or blogging when there is nothing else to do? (cause you know, i could do this at home)

finally!

Oh yeah! Vivi has gotten her packechen! Es freut mich sehr. I was so worried that the USPS had lost it or the German Customs Office had thought that when I wrote "gift" on the customs form, they thought I meant "poison"instead of present! I was considering making her a second package and sending it out - i felt so bad that it hadn't showed up yet..
Check out Vivi's page and you can see the pictures.

I made the purse out of a felted wool/rayon blend. The motif is actually one of the ladies from one of the fat-quarters I gave Vivi. I photo-copied it, enlarged the image and then turned it into a stencil, using freezer paper.
Instead of paint, I used maube a Tablespoon of bleach and 1/2 Cup or so of hot water (hot water activates the bleach quicker) to remove the colour, rather than add colour. Then, I reinforced the image with interfacing and satin stitched on the machine around it. It was sooo cool! And I cannot wait to make it again!

We are going into tech for SLEEPING BEAUTY starting tomorrow - so life has been busy...Tomorrow is the first time that the actors will be in costume - and i will take lots of pictures of all the yummy velvet :)

starting to feel better....knock on formica! Ate a whole box of kraft mac-n-cheese the other night. Took me an hour, but i did it and it stayed down! Not sure if i should be proud of this or not....hmmm

gold paper packages tied up in string!

(so meant to post this on friday)

Yesterday was a long day at the theatre...but going home was fabulous! There was a fabulous package wrapped in gold paper with yellow Deutsche Post stickers on it :-)

Of course, the camera was at the theatre and not at home, so there are no pictures of the fabulous gold wrapping; but here are the pictures of the yummies inside:

As you can see, Vivi has gone out of her way to make such a lovely package. There are lovely fabrics which are in autumn colours, and SOCK YARN!!!!!!!!!! (I am now tempted to rip my other socks off the needles and cast this on). Also a souvenir from the world cup (sweeties) and two cool little pink fobs that look like little sweaters. What was so nice was the little handmade something - Vivi made a little case out of this very soft loden green wool for pens (with pens inside) and a matching book cover for a blank journal, included :-). So I think Vivi has been sneaking around my house because I love blank journal books. I mean I have them in every bag (and I have a lot of bags) as well as one or two floating around the costume shop and my apartment. I sketch a lot - crazy design ideas for costumes or crazy knitting ideas - or lists upon lists of things I want to make or do.

It was really quite perfect! Vielen dank Vivi!

Of course I am feeling serious guilt because she has yet to receive her package which I mailed around August 10th. She shipped hers to me on the 29th. German post better than USA post wahrscheinlich? Keine Ahnung!

And thank you to everyone - such nice thoughts about my Linda Blair routine :-) You might want to pass on some of those thoughts to Fritz - after all, he is the one holding back my hair every night - heehee. And thank you for the Tigerente offers - so nice!!!

I am not quite sure when/where I will be going - I waiting for another 2 weeks (when everyone tells me that this constant nausea will be over) to see how I feel before I book anything. I also need to convince friends that they want a crazy pregnant woman staying with them for about 5 days...so that is either Hamburg or Wien....ahem...we shall see who wants to put up with me! I am crazy when not pregnant and hormonal. And now I am pregnant crazy minus alcohol and cigarettes. Yes, really! For those of you who know me well, I have not had a cigarette in 4 weeks and 5 days (and yes I am counting). Have had the occasional ½ glass of wine or sip of beer - which is just fine...looking forward to that one glass I will have of the end of season white wine - really sweet - good gespritzt...ummmm.... Federweissen in Germany? And sturm in Austria?

Okay, getting hungry again...germknoedeln (yes, I am getting food obsessed since I can't keep it down) Tchuess!

whined long enough

Okay I think I have whined long enough about this morning-noon-and-night sickness thing that I have got going on.

Apparently this is a good thing…”keep your eye on the prize” people keep telling me…18 years till it is off to college is the prize  (you must remember I am very sarcastic and very cynical, and I think you can throw in sardonic? – I so need a dictionary, maybe even a thesaurus)

Had a sonogram – it’s not real – all magical computer tricks along with a good sound system– ‘Cause somebody tell me! Why is there a fish in my stomach? Fish I tell you! – Just waiting for the horns and tail to sprout… i am sure it is bigger now - but that first sonogram was a fish.

And of course I have been oohing and ahing at the tiny baby things on TV and the cute things in the stores – I will not be wooed by ridiculous items such as...


And Fritz said that he will ask our resident scenic artist (painter for the theatre) to paint a Tigerente mural for one wall in the baby room!!!!!!!!!!!! I might use the fabric that I got from Isa as inspiration or dig through my tigerente books and see what I can find….. I have also tried to convince Fritz that I REALLY need to go on a shopping trip to Germany and Austria to go Tigerente baby stuff shopping! He is not going for it…. I wonder why? I told him not to deny the crazy puking pregnant woman anything! Still isn’t going for it.

And then there is the knitting – I have not been in the mood so much – but I decided to finally to cast a two sox on two circs out of the lovely regia silk that Jacqui gave me a while back. Doing a little chevron pattern that doesn’t really show up yet – and I might just change it half way through the leg.

And yesterday was a perfect Düsseldorf/Vienna kind of day. Rainy and gloomy and just begging for a café in the Fuessgaenger zone with hot chocolate or a wiener mélange, some sort of semmel (broetchen) with a yummy cheesy spread, or a trip to Bitzi’s Pizza by St Stephan’s Dom in Wien or maybe find a dessert café and order etwas mit Mohn!!!!!!!! Mohn is poppy seed - I love mohn kaefer or mohnknuedeln…oh a germknoedeln (aka dampfknuedeln) filled with plum sauce or mohn with vanilla custard like sauce on top…..I bet I can keep that down….

Okay hungry now……see you in a few days! (I mean it this time)

pea soup

how i would love to to have something to post right now!

unfortunatley - the only thing to post right now is that i have been way to sick to do anything of interest to post about.

so basically, i am taking up your valuable blog-reading time to tell you that until i can get this morning (noon, and night) sickness under control, not much bloggin' going on (or kniting or sewing).

Let's just say that i have been doing a very good impression of Linda Blair in The Exorcist

well at least i won't get fat with this baby! (which by the way, is an alien :) - i have seen the pictures....)

and those of you who know that i am a workaholic - will be surprised when i say that i haven't been at work that much in the last two weeks

my other worry is that i mailed out my last two paeckchen zirkel packages 2 1/2 weeks ago and i have heard nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and can i find the receipt with the tracking number? NOOOOOOOOOOO! Of course not - so Corinna and Vivi, bitte sag's mir ob ihr zwei ihrem paeckchen bekommen haben!!

ginger ale.......

all about me

i had seen this on theresa's page a while back and figured since not much is going on, that this would be a good time to play.

I bolded the ones I HAVE done and of course, me being me, there is commentary. :)

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink (does it count if there are only three people in the bar?)
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07.Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08.Said 'I love you' and meant it
09.Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11.Visited Paris (not a fan)
12.Watched a lightning storm at sea
13.Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14.Seen the Northern Lights
15.Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa (not fair: it was under construction)
17.Grown and eaten your own vegetables (do my mom's count?)
18.Touched an iceberg
19.Slept under the stars
20.Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22.Watched a meteor shower
23.Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25.Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26.Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30.Had a snowball fight
31.Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33.Seen a total eclipse
34.Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36.Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (southern in nyc)
38.Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had 2 hard drives for your computer.;
40. Visited all 50 states. (about 47 - missed maine, alaska, and hawaii - otherwise i think i have been to them all)
41.Taken care of someone who was drunk
42.Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47.Taken a road-trip
48.Gone rock climbing
49.Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51.Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53.In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56.Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59.Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61.Gone scuba diving
62.Kissed in the rain (prien am chiemsee under a weeping willow)
63.Played in the mud (sorry about the backyard mom)
64.Played in the rain
65.Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67.Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken (so far)
69.Toured ancient sites (athens)
70. Taken a martial arts class (tai chi)
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight (more like 12 hours)
72.Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74.Crashed a party
75.Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77.Made cookies from scratch (and nobody died of food poisoning)
78. Won first prize in a costume contest (12 years old)
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River (too bad the delaware doesn't count)
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83.Got flowers for no reason
84.Performed on stage
85.Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour (monster magnet - not my favourite band persay - but i like the sound guy)
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100.Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102.Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery (not for fun)
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108.Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110.Broken someone's heart
111.Helped an animal give birth (cats - in MY closet)
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113.Broken a bone (several, in fact)
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced (what? tongue and nose are not adventurous enough anymore?)
116.Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117.Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118.Ridden a horse
119.Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127.Eaten sushi
128.Had your picture in the newspaper
129.Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133.Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136.Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138.Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141.Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146:Dyed your hair (pick a colour!)
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident (as well as victim of one)
150:Saved someone's life

time flies

oh my! it has been awhile...

well let me give you an update:

been sick (head cold)
have not heard if my last two paeckchenzirkel packages have arrived (a few more dayas and then i will worry)
building the last show for the summer (the robber bridegroom)
still sick
almost done with summer camp at the theatre

and, oh yeh, preganant!

I could follow jewish superstition and not even bother to mention this until we are, at the very least, into the second trimester - but i am not one for superstition and we are almost there.
And let's not forget the morning, noon , and night-sickness! Which has made it very difficult to function in the heat or want to knit or sew.

I figured we have blabbed to just about everyone - and if we have missed someone, i am so sorry. I have tried to make all the phone calls and send all the e-mails and I am sure that we have missed somebody! So that is that! WE shall see how it goes.
Guess i'll have to change my profile now....

the lazy days of summer

Are definitely getting to me... We finally had a break in the weather AND I finally sent out my last two packages for the paeckchen zirkel.

And since they are going to Germany – they might not get there by the 15th of August which is the deadline. Hmmm…I suck! I hope that they get there safe and sound. Of course, I did not take pictures of anything that I made. I finished everything and then packed it up and sealed the envelope and then…crap! Forgot to take pics! C’est la vie! (sp?)

There are other crazy things happening too – but I’ll leave that for another day.

Too hot to blog!!!

It has been a HOT week! Too hot to be motivated to craft on any level or to share the crafting for that matter. BUT there is a finished knitted object to share:



Yarn – trekking xxl 1 skein
Needles – 2.25mm
Pattern – my head, cast on 72 stitches, 2x2 rib leg, short row heel




I had finished the first sock ages ago (October) and cast on the second sock immediately – and finished it not too long after. Well, the 2nd sock was somehow 1” shorter than the first sock. So it sat and it sat until I felt the desire to rip it out and redo the toe - last week.

They will soon be on their way to the other side of the pond as a slightly late birthday present. I have another friend in Germany that I want to knit socks for but his feet are much bigger and that requires a greater commitment – I’m thinkin’ for Christmas.

I was also house-sitting this past week for Jacqui at Woolwinders and look what she brought me as a present:












It is yummy Mongolian Cashmere yarn just for me! Gloves? Hat? Socks? What to make?!?!

And the other oddity of the week was this:








He (she?) was hanging outside the scene shop door on Friday afternoon. Someone thought it was a rhinoceros beetle. Who knows? It was big and icky.

Happy Day!!!!!!

Fritz: so did you get that package?
Mar: What package?
Fritz: The one from Germany – that you have been looking for every night when we get home. That package.
Mar: Oh yes! My paeckchen zirkel!
Fritz: Oh. Well, did you get it?
Mar: Not yet – but that’s okay we have until August 15th, and I have to send out my last two later this week. Just need to get to the Post office.

Warning: deutsch-lish ahead! (I apologize in advance for the poor German grammar)

…later that night…

It came! It came! My first package is here!!
Mein erstes paeckchen ist angekommen! Yeah! Es freut mich sehr. DANKE DANKE DANKE vielmals an Isa!!!! Sie hat mir eine kleines nachricht geschrieben: …”hoffe dass ETWAS nach deinen Geschmack dabei ist” Etwas?? Try alles!!!!!!







Ich meine – wirklich – habt ihr gesehen?:





Eine kleine Beschreibung: - 6 lovely fabrics (lovin’ the sushi), cool trims (even Fritz said that they were very Marietta, especially the pink), a very cool purse (you should zoom in and check out the hand work!), a nifty wooden button (it might be missing from the pics), a cool little “anhaenger” for my key chain, 2 very cool (and perfect) fairytale shrinky-dinks with my name (fritz is going to drill a tiny hole through them so I can hang them off the rearview mirror in my car), and the piece de resistance (imagine, French accent):




TIGERENTE FABRIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you see the Janosch book? – I LOVE TIGERENTE (it’s a love story) – which I did not have. I will read it tonight before I go to sleep.

Wie könnte ich nicht glücklich sein? Ihr koenntet alles besser HIER sehen.
How could I not be happy! You can see everything better over here!


in other news: did not meet the sew-retro challenge for the month - started late last week, so i am not surprised. I hope to finish it this week though, after i send out my part of the paeckchen zirkel that is. And a thank you to everyone for the nice things you said about my hair!!! You did not have to and that was just great - made me feel so much better about my random hair care choice - cause, dude! shaving my head is not far from thought on a regualr basis!

other things to tell you about - knitting and sewing - but it is past my bedtime (well for tonight anyway!)

see you later!

shoes!!!!

The day off was lovely! Started off strange – but all fabulous in the end.
The beginning? While at the drug store– I saw two men walk out with store baskets full of food items; the alarms went off and not a single clerk did anything! When I went to my car a minute later – those two guys were at there car – looked me kind of mean and took off. I called the store manager on my cell and when I mentioned that the alarms had just gone off moments ago and nothing was done, she said ” Thank you. I will check the security tapes. Have a nice day!”

Okay so that was odd and nerve-wracking…but they day got better – of course, because we saw this (it is a knitted boot!):










dancing shoes that you can make tap!:


And this(the closest i will ever get to a manolo blahnik):


We got to design our own shoe too!!!!!


And did you know that you can eat lunch at Whole Foods? Okay maybe you knew you could have a gourmet lunch at the grocery store– but I didn’t, until yesterday. My Whole Foods does not have his amazing lunch bar that the one in Alexandria Old Towne does – check it out if you are there!

We then went to PAZAZZ for our hands and feet. Brought a bottle of wine (an Austrian Riesling, aber natuerlich) and relaxed in the massaging chair while pedicured. It felt so good, I didn’t even knit. Then I decided to get my hair cut on a whim!

Okay I am going to toot own horn and say: Aren’t I cute?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
You have to understand something – 9 times out of 10; I am in tears when I leave a salon. It is very hard to find someone who will do a fabulous cut and color. This time was just cut (the bleach streak is my own personal boredom).

dresses and dinosaurs

The shop is a bit quiet until we start fitting the show - so in order to teach the girls how to follow a pattern, i thought that i would give them something fun to do:






Two of them felt that their dinosaurs were more dragon like - so they added wings :)
While they were having their fun, I was having mine. I started that 60's dress pattern (from ebay)- made the muslin, fit it (sort of) and just jumped into the fabric. the choice was difficult - i almost went with classic black, my personal favourite, but thought that it would be just too heavy and typical. So i dug a little further and found a dark brown with pink dots and floral:












the collar isn't actually a collar - just a bias strip of a pink silk shantung from my stash pinned on for me to see if it really is the right colour - and then there is me being all crazy and costume-y:












i was messing around and thought that maybe the silk could use dark brown polka dots - but that is the costume designer in me, and not the practical dress maker (granted, this is NOT a practical dress). And am still thinking that I might make the sleeves short instead of "not really 3/4 length sleeve" - not a big fan since i am tall and 3/4 length always makes me feel like the sleeve is too short. But the "not quite" is a determined length that looks good on me and not like i ran out of fabric :)

Oh and remember this? The Bias Corset by Annie Modesitt? I finished it and finally got to finish it on Starr - so now all i need to do is figure out if i am going to do the i-cord bind off at the hem or do a ribbing, as well as the i cord straps. I will gladly take a picture of it on Starr when i give it to her in August - all finished and fabulous!

here's a thought - how retro is retro? Does fabric that i bought more than 15 years ago count as retro?
And how do i get those buttons for other webpages into my side-bar?

Tomorrow I am off from work!!!! - manicures/pedicures and a museum trip to see an exhibit on shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

take me out to the ball game....

So it is a few days late but here is a little bit of how i spent my weekend:

Not the most flattering picture - but what is important are the hats. Yes - that is Fritz in a Cubs baseball cap. One of the many reasons i married him was his lack of love of sports - i warned him about my Cubs passion and world cup insanity (he swears i never told him) - and i hoped he would share in the fun. He ignored the world cup - but was willing to go to the game. :)

(and you do not need to ask - yes my team lost - but AUGUST is our month....)
And there is this lovely tradition at the Washington DC :

if you look real close - you can see that this is what is called the Presidential Race. George Washington won, Abe in 2nd, Teddy in 3rd and Tom (jefferson) was last - i think...

it was actually an exciting game so there was no knitting - though i did bring a pair of socks with me just in case...

so much to make, so little time

The first summer student show has opened… and it has closed – went to strike and filled the car with the dry cleaning! So much done for such a little time. Now on to the next one – THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM – but we get about 3 weeks to build that one and most of it has been pulled from several other theatres – yeah.

There are also now 3 high school interns in the costume shop plus 3 college interns – we are jamming! I’m thinking that there is plenty of time for personal sewing for everyone one as well as teaching a few things. Especially a stuffed dinosaur patern i found while cleaning out my sewing room.

I have a long list of things that I need to make for myself or others – to knit or sew:
Pakchen zirkel items
Felted tea cozy
Luxurious hand knit or quilted eyeglasses case – for my sunglasses
That retro 60’s dress pattern I got on eBay last week
That retro 70's dress (reissued by simplicity) that everyone is making (so why can't I?):












Purse organizer
Another summer skirt – before summer is gone
A few more of these t-shirts
Maybe a retro apron or two:












Finish that world cup sweater
About 20 pairs of socks including these, these and these
A quilt or two
A few bags, such as this or this
A slip-cover for the ugly sofa in our living room
That suit for my mom

Oh and did I mention? Finally saw pirates of the caribbean II – not disappointed…but not thrilled…kind of like Indiana Jones II – need to see it to get to part III. Not going to complain 'cause cute boys and fab costumes….Johnny Depp…need I say more?