Progress and other things

I finally made some progress on K's sweater. I think it's coming along nicely, I like the stripes and absolutely love the yarn. A yay for Alpaka!

K_sweater, originally uploaded by d.knit.

The only disadvantage is that it's curling up, because it's stockinette stitch and it's on a round needle. That's a bit annoying while knitting, but it's not so bad. But as long as I get to touch the alpaka...

siegestor, originally uploaded by d.knit.

This thing above is the Siegestor here in Munich. K's office is near there, and so is the University where I study. So, when we walked past it on the weekend, I took this picture because the weather was just so nice. (It has changed since then, and it's raining constantly now)

oktoberfest_sunday, originally uploaded by d.knit.

Last sunday, at the Oktoberfest... the weather was nice and it was crowded. The second weekend of the Wiesn is called "Italian Weekend"; but not because they start serving pizza and pasta and vino rosso instead of the usual Bavarian Schweinsbraten / Schweinshaxe mit Knödeln und Sauerkraut (roast pork / knuckle of pork with potato dumplings and sauerkraut), no, they call it "Italian Weekend" because lots and lots of Italians come to visit the Oktoberfest. Munich isn't that far away from Italy (some even call it "Italy's most northern city". Some from Munich, not from Italy, that is), so lots of Italians drive across the Alps in camper vans (or mini vans, or in station wagons... or in regular cars), and park somewhere in the city. Then, they party all weekend, and maybe longer, take the train back to Italy, leave the camper van in Munich, and the second shift takes over the van and drive it back once the Oktoberfest ends. Clever, huh? (I'm not saying it's only Italians who are at the Wiesn... you'd still meet loads of Germans, French, Dutch, British, Australians, Americans, Japanese, Koreans, and any other country you can think of. It's just disproportionately many Italians on this second weekend)

Oh, and even Paris Hilton gave Munich and the Oktoberfest the honor! After she had a PR date in a supermarket, opposite the meat counter. She didn't seem to have much fun there though (they did a report on her on TV), not even when she was sipping on a Maß (a liter hump of beer); she only seemed to have fun when riding some roller coasters, listening to her single... "just like in Disneyland" or so, was what she said. (How old is she, ten? I better stop here, or else I'll keep going.)

Laurie asked to show her where her readers knit. Well, I thought I'd share this picture with you too; this is where I knit, next to the lamp, with the blue pillow in my back. This is also where I blog sometimes (like this post for example). I decided not to tidy up before taking the picture, to keep it real. Where's the knitting, you might ask? Hover over the photo with your mouse!

And last but not least, you can congratulate me for completing this bloody mouse over effect-thingy! Carola put a little tutorial on her blog, but it still took me some time until I could adjust it to my blog.