2015 - The Recap

A collage of the knitting that went on this year on the blog - mostly cardigans for Gaby, it seems. Alex still firmly refuses to wear hand-knitted clothes, while Gaby wears cardigans and sweaters to school almost every day and enjoys them, sometimes bringing me compliments for my knitwork from her schoolmates.

The year may seem not that productive as the previous years, probably because I also did some cross stitching, which I haven't finished yet, lots of puzzles and quite a lot of hiking and traveling. We hiked many places and climbed quite a few peaks on Pirin, Vitosha, the Balkan mountain, Ruy, Rila, Plana, Cherna Gora. Among these are the five mountain summits we climbed this year:

Ruy (1706 м) - husband and I took part in the International Climbing of  Mt. Ruy. 

One of the difficult climbs, with some extra steep elevation

Cherni Vruh (2290 м) - the yearly climb of Vitosha's highest, 

this time the entire family present

Vihren (2914 м) - the highest of Pirin, the most extreme climbing this year

Manastirishte (1338 м) - the highest of Plana, more like 

a walk in the park than mountain climbing, very relaxing hike

Tumba (1129 м) - we had to travel to Cherna Gora twice to find its highest peak,

 but I'm glad we did, as the place is very pleasant for hiking

And a few New Year resolutions or rather suggestions, craft and non-craft related:

• Resume learning Spanish. My goal this year is four 30 min lessons per week. I've actually started this week and I'm already four lessons ahead.
• Exercise using my left hand. I'm a right-handed person, but I've decided I want to develop some left-hand skills, so I started some basic left-hand writing exercises, brushing my teeth with my left hand and eating with my left-hand, when I remember to practice. My aim is not to become ambidextrous, but rather to develop my brain and to have fun, learning something new.
• Exercise on the cross trainer for 15-20 min every day. I've been doing this for the past couple of weeks, skipping a day here and there. Easily achievable, and still - rarely done, and we've had the machine for almost 10 years now.
• Try new yarn and dye more yarn. Though I prefer seeing and touching and feeling yarn before buying it, I'll have to start ordering online
• Try my hand at hand-made jewelry
• Sew a garment. I've been piling fabrics and Burda magazines, it's high time I dared and cut into them.

But no matter whether I follow the above or not, I hope 2016 will be a healthy, productive, successful and happy year for all of us -  my family and you, my friends!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016!

Mondrian Color Blocks Cardigan

Pattern: Mondrian Color Blocks Cardigan (personal pattern, coming soon)
Yarn: Alize Cashmira, 300 m / 100g, 100% wool
Needle: 3.5 mm rib, 4 mm body
Time to knit: 20 days

Looking at these photos, I'm quite happy with the cardigan. It could have been a couple of centimeters longer, I'll try to block it more aggressively. I also intend to write it down these days, if i can spare the time. Happy Holidays!

Munich

A travel post about our trip to Munich in August this year. I couldn't find the time/inclination to finish this posting in the summer, but better late than discard it altogether - I'd love to have some photos of this beautiful Bavarian town on my blog.

The East Gate - Isar Tower::

The Old Town Hall::

The Alter Peter Church::

The New Town Hall::

The Statue of Madonna and Child in front of the New Town Hall::

The New Town Hall inner court (Neues Rathaus)::

In the Frauenkirche, the Cathedral Church of Our Lady::

Inside the Theatiner Church::

Alter Hof::

Hofbräuhaus, world's most famous brewery::

Viktualenmarkt::

The play of the Glockenspiel at 12 o'clock::

Inside the Church of St. Peter::

The view from the tower of the Alter Peter is amazing, totally worth the ascend of the thirteen steep floors::

Along the central street from Marienplatz to Karlsplatz::

Inside the St. Michael Church::

Karlsplatz::

In Nymphenburg Palace::

Sendlinger Tor (The South Gate)::

In the late Baroque Asam Church::

In the English Garden::

The lake in front of the Japanese Pavilion::

River surfing::