Winding balls

...must hurt. (Okay, that's my really bad joke for today. I'll be more serious now)
I have more and more yarn in hanks, and recently, I received a hell lot of cashmere yarn on cones (and I'm talking serious hell... like almost a kilo (that's more than 2 pounds!) per cone on 3 cones and more than half a kilo on 2 more cones. So, I reckon it's time to get a ball winder (or to have K give me one for Christmas). Now this is where YOU guys come in - can you recommend any brand? Anything that I (or K) should pay attention to when buying? Do you know any good places to buy them (well, obviously this would be done over the internet, as the local yarn shops don't sell anything like a ball winder because they don't sell yarn in hanks), or is amazon.com sufficient enough? Is a swift absolutely necessary, or can I do without, at least for a while? Any comment is appreciated, thanks! (well, unless it's spam)

Coffee packet arrived!

Ever since my Coffee Swap 3 packet arrived I thought I'd really install the camera software and upload some photos... but as my written exam is only 2 weeks away and the workload is killing me... well, some other time.

Anyways, my pal Tigerduck spoiled me rotten! She sent me

• 2 packets of gorgeous coffee beans from Whole Foods (Espresso Sierra and French Roast) - those beans are almost too perfect and beautiful to grind
• 2 hanks of wonderful Blue Skyes Alpaca in a 50% alpaca, 50% silk mix which is incredibly soft, in a rich emerald green
• beautiful stitch markers in a matching green
• 2 little packets of white beads (after all, I'm planning on making Grumperina's Odessa some time)
  
• a coffee mug
• shortbread cookies
• chocolate chunks
• scented candles
• a postcard with a sheep

Thank you so much Tigerduck, you're the bestest pal ever! I hope to post pictures some time, you might have to wait till my (next) exam is over. Hope you received my packet by now!

On the knitting front, I started the left front of my alpaca cardigan (the one that I didn't show you yet... like so many other things) and I just turned the heel on the first sock for my Dad for Christmas (I started that last week or so). I probably won't get much knitting done over the next few weeks (due to the e-word) and definitely none or not much tonight as K and I are going out to a fancy restaurant (Thai) for dinner because today's my birthday. Happy birthday me!

Going...

to a land Down Under! The tickets are booked for the last week of Feb until mid-March. Yay! I had wanted to take a picture of the tickets and post it here, but the tickets are E-tickets and the travel agent is going to mail them three weeks before we go. Plus, the camera software is still not taken care of on K's computer, so you have to be patient with me.
Today it turned out that my laptop's hard drive is pretty much bu**ered and that I have probably lost all data of the past 4 years. I knew that I would have to buy a new computer, but to lose all that data... I hope I can find a solution to recover at least some of it.

I hope to post again soon, but right now I'm burried in books (again).

I like coffee!

I'm in Knitters' Coffeeswap Three (sorry, sign ups are closed!), and I'm answering some swap questions for my pal to be. So, here they are:

1. Whole bean or ground?
Whole bean! I have a grinder at home. And it should be espresso beans, I only have a little espresso machine (like the ones in this photo)

2. Fully-loaded or decaf?
Even if I drink my milk with a little espresso inside, only fully-loaded is the real deal.

3. Regular or flavored?
Regular.

4. How do you drink your coffee?
I usually drink a very milky coffee, like a latté.

5. Favorite coffee ever?
Latté macchiato! (That's like a latté for those outside Germany)

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do?
I'm not very fussy. As long as it's good beans. ;-)

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee?
Sometimes I put syrup in the coffee, like caramel or chocolate. Any kind of cookie is good, too!

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences?
I like my coffee hot... but that's not really something my pal could influence.

9. Yarn/fiber you love?
Anything that feels nice!

10. Yarn/fiber you hate?
Acrylic and any other yarn that feels cheap. (Sorry, I'm somewhat of a yarn snob!)

11. What's on your needles?
An alpaca cardigan for myself, and I'm just finishing a baby hat and a sweater for my boyfriend.

12. Favorite colors?
Oh... this is a though one. I love bright colors (as opposed to muddy colors)... maybe it's best if you check out my pictures on Flickr (there's a link in the sidebar).

13. Allergies?
No yarn or food related allergies.

14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest?
'Nuff said!


I'm still working on the computer/posting-pictures problem... I hope to find a solution soon!

Getting there...

Finally, the finish line is getting closer: I handed in my thesis yesterday!

Now, there's "only" a 4-hour written exam in early December and 3 oral exams some time in January. But then I'm finished for good, have a full-time job (most likely) waiting for me and I'll be going on holiday to Melbourne (the one in Australia) in late Feb! Which will be my first holiday in 2.5 years by then... so I'm really going to need it!