FO: Talia

I knew I had to knit this right away after I saw it on Knitty. I was just looking for the right yarn. I haven't seen Brown Sheep anywhere in Germany, so I had to find the right substitute for it. I was going for black, just as in Knitty, but I liked the blue Bingo shade by Lana Grossa so much. And I thought the pattern will be even more noticeable in blue, which it actually is.

I knit between the sizes, but I really wish I had gone with the s and then just added more increases for the bust. It's somewhat wide at the bottom bit right now. I guess this will make it wearable in winter, though.

Details: Talia by SweaterBabe from Knitty Spring 2008. Knit on 5mm in one piece and then sewed shoulder seams and knit the armhole and neckline edging. 7 skeins of Lana Grossa Bingo, purchased in Wollstübl', Heidelberg. I used up all the yarn, there's not even a bit left. This took only two weeks to knit 'coz I had loads of time on the drive to the airport. (I was on a short visit to Lithuania last weekend.)

sports break

I've been tagged by A Homely Heroine. So here I go with my answers.

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
In 1998 I was finishing my exchange year in the US. I was nowhere exciting – in the very south of the sunflower state (i.e. Kansas), in a small city that is called Arkansas City. But the people from there call it Ark City. I think around this time of the year I was preparing to go back home – maybe I was already on my first visit to Chicago, doing loads of sightseeing.
So that was the year when I actually did get to go on yellow buses to school. I ate loads of brownies and chocolate chip cookies (not for breakfast, though) and gained loads of weight. I lived with a high school teacher and another exchange student from Brazil. I wish we were more in touch, but this is partly my fault - I should write to them more often as well.
But the best thing about my exchange year is my dear one. I met him back in 1998 on a bus trip (not a yellow one this time) to Washington, DC and New York. Two years later we met again and have been together ever since.

2.What are five things on my to-do list?
Right now? Well, watch the football (AE= soccer) match between Germany and Turkey, read my book (Mark Haddon “A Spot of Bother”) and get ready to go to sleep.

3.Where have I lived?
I grew up in a small village in Lithuania. Here's a picture of somewhere in Lithuania. I love the many lakes and the fact that you can actually go and swim in them.

Then I was an exchange student in Ark City, KS, US. Afterwards I lived in the capital city of Lithuania – Vilnius – for two years. Here's Vilnius from the top of (almost) the only hill around. Vilnius is a nice green city.

Then I moved to Krefeld, Germany. Since then I’ve lived in Stuttgart, then near Landau (Pfalz), near Heidelberg and in Darmstadt, Germany. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about it – I spent my university exchange year in Nottingham, UK (and absolutely loved it!). I had baked beans and bakon for breakfast. McVittie's HobNobs are still my favourite cookies.
Here's a picture of Heidelberg Castle.

4. What would I do if I were a billionaire?
This one’s easy. It’d mean that I’d have all the time in the world and would be able to do things that I want to do and not the ones that I have to. Yes, I want to buy time with the money. Time to enjoy life.

Now I tag Aesthetic Entanglementz, Knitting deLila, Knit Lit, Wooly Stuff and Opportunity Knits because I'd love to get to know you better, girls.

FO: Dreamer

Last week Christine showed me some LYS. In one of them I found Geisha yarn by Schoeller & Stahl and I knew right away this would be great for a Dreamer. I wanted to have a version of this pattern the way designer meant it to be, so I got the yarn (only 9 EUR for 6 skeins, by the way) and started knitting. A week later - voilà - my Dreamer.

The bottom bit is a bit wide, you can check some more pics on Ravelry. But I think the airy style makes it work quite well.

This took me only a week because I already had some practise with the pattern. I still want to finish the other one, but it'll take awhile. Now I want to move on to something else.

Details: 5 skeins of Geisha by Schoeller+Stahl. Well, I did start the 6th one, just because I was double stranding it. But 5 would have been enough.

I have it on right now and I love it! Pieces like this make knitting fun. If I knit it again, I would try doing it in the round, just like this knitter. I just didn't feel experienced enough to do it the first time (but experienced enough to take a completely different type of yarn the first time, I know).

being a good bank

This is Jeymi Ruiz Castillo. She lives in Managua, Nicaragua. And I just gave her a loan for her beauty salon. With the money she'll buy shampoos, gels and other equipment. She wants to be able to take on more customers. It's not a donation, she will pay me back. She could not get this small amount from any bank. The only difference is that neither me nor other lenders will get any interest. So it's more like lending money to a friend.
Today I wanted to let you know about Kiva, a non-profit that allows you to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur in the developing world. Because I believe that everybody can make a difference. You can find more details on Kiva homepage, on Wikipedia or through Kiva Loaners Group on Ravelry. I wish I had heard of it earlier.