Yellow Raspberries

In Scotland, July is the berries season: raspberries, strawberries, tayberries, gooseberries... (Well, blueberries and blackberries are later, in September)
And, I am lucky enough to get a lot of free raspberries at work! Last week I got some yellow raspberries. This is an ancient variety that is not as tasty as the red one but it doesn't have the acidity. So, I made some jam with them (I also got red ones) and made a small batch with half a banana in it. Banana flavour is very strong so if you want only a hint of it, you have to be very careful and use only a little. For 1 kg of raspberries, I used half a medium size banana.

Jam recipe:
1.2kg of fruit
1 kg of sugar
a vanilla pod (optional)
lemon juice

Mix everything in a large pan (ideally, use a copper jam pan). Leave it to soak until the sugar is dissolved. Boil for 30-45 min (it depend on the water content of the fruit and how thick you want it). Pour into clean jars. Close the jars and place them upside down for at least 10 min. Store in a dark cool place. You can keep it for years!
Enjoy.


On the knitting side, I've finished some baby jackets:

On Saturday morning, I started this project: a sheep yoke cardigan (size 9-12 month, free pattern here, or as a pdf dowload on Ravelry), on Sunday afternoon, I only had the sleeves left to knit but I realized that I don't have 4mm dpn!!! So now I am stuck. I don't know when I will have time to go 4mm dpn hunting before the knitting group in Newburgh (August 9th)!
Well, I can still tidy up the back and embroider the sheep...
Otherwise, it is a great pattern, very easy, top down, so no sewing!

My lace project is growing fast, I am on the fifth ball of yarn (I have 6) and it is as tall as me so far! I am really pleased with it. I am hoping to have it finish just before starting my Ravelympics project.

Ravelympics

Next week the Olympic games will start in Beijing, as well as the Ravelympics, everywhere on the planet! Ravelry members can participate to this worldwide event. I am registered with "Team Scots Can Do It Too!" in the "shawl relay". Rules are easy: you must cast on during the opening ceremony (Friday August 8th 1pm, UK time) and you have to cast off before the Olympic flame goes out (August 24th).
I hesitated to join the French team (I can still join them as well for another project, I have to decide by August 6th) but joined the Scottish one as my project will be 100% Scottish: knit in Dundee with hand-dyed Shetland wool bought at Twist Fiber Craft and using their pattern! Also, my friend Diane is in the same team and I am hoping Louise to join as well, so we can support each other!
I already took Friday 8th afternoon off!
So, this is it:
I've called my project "haggis wrap" ;0)))

Biergarten

While in Germany, I had the opportunity to go to several biergarten (beer garden) to sample local food and drink. The best one I've been to in Erlangen was Entla's Keller (Sorry, no link). The food was excellent, freshly prepared and the shandy delicious.

Another great thing about that biergarten is that they have their own beer pot. Every year, they have a new series printed with some local artist drawing.

When you order your drink, they charge you an extra 5euros, you get it back when you bring back the pot, unless, like me, you want to keep it!
I managed to get 2006 (0.4l) , 2007 (1l) and 2008 (1l) (I could have had more but I had to fit them into the luggage!).
I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do with them at home....
I lined the bottom with thick felt and turn them into knitting needles pot!
The one on the right is the one I got in Munich in Hofbrauhaus.

Knitting

I've managed to complete several knitting projects recently so I don't have so many WIPs!
I bought a zip in Germany to finish Stephane's jacket:

I've made the bag matching the flower dress:



I started another lace project (free pattern here) with some hand-died Shetland wool, but I wasn't very happy with it. Because the wool is variegated you can't see the lace pattern.

So I started again with some Rowan 4-ply soft I bought at Twist Fiber Craft last week (it was in the bargain basket).
I really like this yarn (100% merino), it is a pleasure to knit with.
I've got 6 balls for this project.
I bought a few more in different colors to knit some baby things as well.
Enough for now, I need to go and cast on more projects....

Strawberry jam

Yesterday it was our monthly knitting group in Newburgh. Unfortunately, none of our regular chauffeurs were able to make it so I rented a car for the day and gave a lift to Andrea and Saskia. The knitting group was very quiet, just a handful of people were there (us included).
After 2 hours of knitting, we went to St Andrews for lunch and then we had dessert in the strawberry field at Cairnie.
So, today, I was making jam...

Munich

At last, I am finding some time to post some pictures from Munich!
I spent one beautiful day there. I didn't go to any museum, the weather was so gorgeous that I just wandered around all day.
But first, I had a pretzel with a cappuccino...

Then, I went to Marienplatz

and the Theatinerkirche...

I was getting thirsty, so I went to the famous brewery, Hofbrauhaus, for 1 liter of shandy (yes, I was that thirsty!)

Finally, I climbed the stairs of St Peter's church to get this view:

Munich is really a beautiful city, I enjoyed it. Well, I enjoyed my whole stay in Germany, the quality of life is much better than I expected. I will go back, I hope, there are a few places that I would like to visit, especially Berlin.

Scotland

I still have plenty of pictures from Germany to show you, but, for a change, I am posting some photos I took yesterday. We rented a car for the day with Elise and stayed on the East coast, heading North, then, we came back to Dundee through central Scotland. The weather was not as bad as expected, we enjoyed our day and took loads of pictures!

Lunan Bay:

Dunnotar castle:
Stonehaven:
Crathes castle:
Deeside:


Glenshee:

Flower dress

I've got 6 knitting projects on the go at the moment and I am tempted by some more (including a lace project), so I decided to finished some WIPs first before casting on more! For 3 of them it is just sewing up (buttons or zip only for 2 of them). These are always the stages that I am putting off...Ugh!
I finished my second pair of socks this week and the flower dress yesterday evening. I am really pleased with the results. My crochet skills are not the best but I managed to make the borders properly :0)

I am now working on the matching bag to go with the dress. Then, I don't know when I will give it to its owner...

Nuremberg castle

As promised, some pictures of the beautiful medieval castle of Nuremberg.
Sorry, I don't feel like writing a lot today. Click on the link (and on the first picture, so you can read the text) if you are desperate for some more info, otherwise, enjoy the pictures....

Nuremberg

I spent an afternoon in Nuremberg, which is only at 20 min by train from Erlangen. It is a really beautiful city. I wanted to go again but never got a chance (well, I had, 1hour, in between trains). I let you enjoy the pictures (click on them to see them bigger) of the city centre...





I promised, I wasn't yarn shop hunting, but socks seem to be everywhere in Germany...:0)
There is a stunning medieval castle in Nuremberg. I've got pictures, of course, but I'll post them later.