Acorn hat. From London trough Berlin to FO.

I saw the pattern for Acorn Stitch Hat by Kim Kearney a couple of years ago while browsing at Loop in London. It’s a pretty beanie and I love anything oak/acorn, so home went the pattern with me.

The yarn was purchased in Berlin in 2018, during my birthday celebration surprise trip. The weather was fiercely cold but the city beautiful and its Fernsehturm (Radio Tower) is one of my favourite places ever. The tower was constructed between 1965 and 1969 by the government of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). With its height of 368 metres (including antenna) it is the tallest structure in Germany, and the third-tallest structure in the European Union. In addition to its main function as the location of several radio and television broadcasting stations, the building – internally known as “Fernmeldeturm 32” – serves as a viewing tower with observation deck including a bar at a height of 203 metres, as well as a rotating restaurant. The restaurant has wonderful, ever changing views, thanks to its rotating platform, and features beautiful original interior details, with a distinct 1960s / space era vibe.

Rotating restaurant atop the Berlin Radio Tower

Fernsehturm, East Berlin

This beanie was knitted for a friend who lives abroad. The warm shade of green is one of her favourite colours, and the lightly variegated shades add a bit of interest without overpowering the textured stitches.

You can find my project here.

I also made a cowl to go with it – more about it in the next post.

Have a merry Christmas advent, may you all be safe and in good health.

Autumn Colours Walk in Epping Forest

Epping Forest is a lovely long stretch of woodland just outside of London in Essex.  There are miles of meandering footpaths in a surprisingly remote mature woodland.

I have been on a beautiful walk together with a meet-up hiking and outdoor group. It was a guided linear tour from Epping to Chingford (outer London).

We walked for over ten miles; the landscape and colours were pretty and peaceful and we were very lucky with the autumn weather – a fresh day but not wet at all.

We started off from Epping station, were we gathered and had a small breakfast, then set off at a good pace walking along some road, to finally enter the forest.

We stopped to have a packed lunch at a pond where some birds hungrily approached us to share our sandwiches. They did get some (most of mine).

It was a great walk, easy but not boring, and having a guide meant that I didn’t have to worry about consulting maps or compass or navigator… Thank you for the guide!

I’ll leave you with some impressions from the forest…

 

Camping weekend in Guildford, UK

I haven’t posted in ages.. life has got in the way (insert boring details)

This weekend I have been camping… yes! I hadn’t done in ages and really loved it. It certainly helped that the weather was graciously good and they offered very decent facilities!

It was for the EMF Camp that takes place every two years – a large gathering of investigative minds and non-grown-up folks. In the words of the organisers:

Electromagnetic Field is a non-profit UK camping festival for those with an inquisitive mind or an interest in making things: hackers, artists, geeks, crafters, scientists, and engineers.

There were various activities – from talks to workshops, soldering sessions, blacksmithing, make-you-very-own-ring, villages (people with a shared interest of any legit sort), retro arcade…. (incomplete list by any means). An amazing varied crowd attended – families, geeks, alternative people, all genders/ages/tastes, from as far as Germany and Netherlands, Ireland (as well as from Scotland, Wales and England).

I tried out soldering, put up/down my very own tent with no hiccups (first-timer), played retro video-games. Generally had a fab time and felt very much in sync with the spirit and the landscape (amazing location, did I mention already?).

My very own happy tent

My newbie soldering (left, and left)

The Retro Arcade – play anything vintage, for free

The creator of the smallest sat (which orbited for 22 months, but found no cosmic rays – hope I got this right). http://www.50dollarsat.info and amsat.org

I also tasted freshly made Dutch Stroopwafel (a heavenly delicious recipe involving loads of butter, I understand). Sadly the blacksmithing was booked out, doh.

Stroopwafel, freshly made on the spot (note my reusable light-weight container!)

…And got to wear flip-flops, walked bare-footed, sat on hay bales and got closer to Mother Nature. Big win.

The organisers made an excellent job and all ran smoothly. A big thank you!

Impressions of Innsbruck (2)

Following up on yesterday’s post on Innsbruck, here are more images I took during my stays there. For the readers not very familiar with European geography, Innsbruck is a city in the Austrian region of Tyrol (or Tirol in German).

The area has high mountains and the city lays in the main valley where the river Inn flows. It hosted two olympics (1964 and 1976), during which times many new areas were built to host athletes and guests – there is even an Olimpisches Dorf (olympics village). While building activity and renovations are always ongoing, the city still retains many an old style buildings and areas; I really love the architecture from the 30s-70s.

Anyway, I’m digressing as usual! Back to the impressions, I hope you’ll enjoy this gallery with a flavour of the city:

Goldenes Dachl (symbol of the city)

Maria-Theresien-Strasse

Altstadt (old city centre)

city centre

Hofburg passage

Hofburg (imperial residence)

murales

Sill river

Triumphpforte

Edelweiss & enzian

Wilten

Nordkette

Glasmalerei

mosaic

mosaic

bridges over the Inn river

Watch shop in the old city

Golden Roof

Stadtturm (city tower)

old watch

amazing watch shop

city centre

Sill river

near Pradl

Innsteg Bruck (foot bridge over Inn river)

locks at the bridge

Dom (cathedral) seen from the river side

There is a last thing I would like to show you… it will be another post of this series, to avoid overcrowding 🙂

Innsbruck, life and a spinning wheel

I’ve been visiting Innsbruck (Tirol, Austria) after long – had a great time seeing all my old friends and chatting endlessly. It was also good for the soul, to reconnect with the past, where it had been dropped about 7 years ago. It feels like life has come to a full circle and now I can join different pieces of myself.

In the post I’ll show some pictures of the many I have taken in time. And a special scarf. And an old wheel…

First a few impressions from Innsbruck:

the first snow of the season

the earliest snow in a long time

clear sky the day after

white landscape

heading to the Pradl area

Sill river

local railway to Zillertal

late spring

another piece of my past

When I was there, tidying up I found a scarf I started about 7 years ago and left unfinished when I had to relocate to the UK in the space of a week. It was a strange moment to pick it up again. Luckily no moth damage in sight! I decided to simply continue the knitting, because it’s akin to integrating my past in my present and making a new future. I know the pattern is nothing special and the stockinette is curling at the borders… but it’s special to me.

a special scarf from the past, life comes to a full circle

A very good friend of mine there gave me an old spinning wheel. I’m not a spinner, but intend to try at some point – I already acquired a little British fleece and more will come soon: Wensleydale, Bowmont and Lincoln. I am hoping that among those reading there may be someone who is a keen spinner and could tell me more about this wheel (pretty please). It seems to me that pieces may be missing, but to be honest, right now I can’t make head or tail of it!

(in the next post there will be plenty more images from Innsbruck…)