Happy New year!

 So many things happened in 2022, so many old and new friends, that obviously will not everything and far from everybody will fit here (you know, that you all in my heart, though). The year was so ambivalent, with full of lovely things, great travels, friends, music, events, and still full of tensions, insecurity and uncertainty, so I don't know what to wish for the coming year. May it keep up the good things and improve on what wasn't so good. Thank you for everyone, who was a part of my last year, and here is one to the new one! Happy New Year, my friends!

Desk and socks

What socks do on my desk? Oh, well, a bunch of UFO-s are lying around, and this is just a roundup of what is around my writing desk (yeah, I have a fairly big one.) Note that these are all made from various sockyarn... I guess it isn't just a chance.

Mind you, this is not all unfinished stuff I have, nor these are the only ones I actively work on. I still have stuff in my bags, beside my bed, etc.

Do you want to see them one by one? Shall I tell you what they are? 

This is a pair of fair isle patterned mitts. Over the summer I knitted a crazy amount of solid colored knee high stockings (more on them in a later post), and there was a moment when the urge to knit something crazy difficult, and colorful stuff washed over me. The pattern is from Matthew Gnagy's knitting book, the shape is rather historical, the pattern is also have a romathic mood. The thing is I have no idea, what will happen to it, once I finish it, because as much as I love it, I don't really wear brown and orange anymore (I kept putting around the two balls were pinned together, for years - yes, it was my favorite, when I had the red hair, but is does not go with my silver), nor do I like the mitts that does not have separate fingers. 

This is some socks, from small bits of leftover yarn, my usual stuff, nothing specific. I've started it in the summer, I remember knitting on it in Kapolcs, where there was an art and music festival, but it kind of fell victim of the stocking craze.

This is... well, you all know, I have a fascination with colorful sockyarn. It might have occured that I like to mix and match them. I like to organize them into bunches, put them together in certain order (like the almost rainbow colored circle cardigan, or by colors, like the purplish neckwarmer. I keep looking for ways to use up these bits. I had a run with a "boxy sweater", which was not overly successful, which was entirely my fault, so I decided to give it another chance. Went to my stash, and picked a bunch of pink-ish colored bits and see, where it takes me.

Now, this will be a pair of socks. We've been to the Netherlands this fall, and on the way home we stopped at Prague (shall I write more about those?), and from there a pair of purple boots camme home with me... and you know me, if I have purple boots, I need purple socks. And purple everything. The yarn had no band (yeah, second hand stuff), but it looks and feels awesome, I have a suspicion that it is Opal, or similar. I added puplish blue toe and heel, to have it as high as possible, and I only have one half done, yet.

Beige-y? Sandish? Taupe? Tan? knee high historical soks, only a few rows done.

More historical stockings, this is from mustard colors and will have a clock on the ankle.

And finally, because it is almost done, my usuall crazy-leftover neckwarmer. This is the fourth (I guess) I've knitted, and still not bored of it. Or I am sometimes, but this is what I have in the car for "Blind Knitting", meaning that late night in dark roads, when I have nothing else, I knit on these. I need to sew the ends up and it is done, will post more detailed pictures. 

 Do you love sockyarns as much as I ? Do you use them for other things than just socks? 

Walking

 Now, let's see yet again a try of mine to get back to the blogging groove...

Just for warming up see something that is not crafty at all, and has nothing to do with reenactment, or music, or travel either... just a walk...

From my flat to the market.  It is not the main street, just some smaller streets between two bigger ones, as the old song says "between the Váczi street and Lehel street", in the so called Angel's land part of Budapest. Back, in twenty, even fifteen years ago, I walked this walk often, at least once a week, sometimes many times  week... I often went to the market, and now I admit, I did that often to escape from home.

A week or two ago, I happened to walk that 2 km part again (Though this time definetly no because I wanted to escape from home), but I was struck, how many things changed... mostly new buildings in this short strech...

I will show some...

The indoor athletic practice place for the nearby sport-complex was completely renovated.

A two story storage space and small factory was completely demolished.

A new building is rising on the previously mentioned sport-complex.

The roof of the basketball hall (that is at another part of the previously mentioned sport-complex) is taken down, probably as a part of some rebuilding effort.

Here there was an old building that hused some company selling /distributing medical aid / supplies, and a "Curves" sport club among others, but now a completely new, and a lot bigger (many times the original building's size) office building was build.

An old factory-turned officebuilding, that got fully renovated...

And yet another new office building

A house with flats

A playground, where I often stopped with my son, when he was little, now, half of it is taken by new buildings..

And some more new buildings.... 

Well, thi sis it for now. Next time, I will bring something more colorful.

In medias..

Lecsó is the hungarian dish with lots of fried pepper and some tomatoes.. kinda the Hungarian raratouille. Anayow, we have a saying that let's hit the lecsó, meaning that let's just leave out the unimportant stuff, start in the middle. I have no idea, how far it will go, how long I can keep this up, we will see, the intention is there. 

I think I felt sorry for myself enough, I turned into a finding-my-way mode, so the random will me randomer than usual, style, regurality, content-wise. 

For first a few picture of me mindlessly spinning in the big craft fair, just incidentally like it is the worlds most natural thing. I only went out there without my spindle and spinning once, and everybod was onto me about where the hell did I leave my spindle... never again. 

And the result:

Pictures: Norbert Varga  / Bodeszphoto

 

Crap, indeed

I should write something. I am putting on -at least- the sixth version, and before computertimes my room would be full of crumpled papers each with some texts, somewhere between  1 and 30 sentences... 

Yes, I van see that I've been here, with a certain hurray-optimism, about what a big blogging will be around here, just keep looking.

And then there was none.  

I became a taxevader with 450 thousand others in this country, and I fill my days with trying to get up, not despair (more than I am), not trying to hide from reality (more than as a reenactor and concert-going fan have my summer organized ahead), all the wwhile I am trying to work , and figure out what to do, how to do, but I just cannot. Also, smart and trusty accountants considering tiny small entrepeneurs as a client are welcome here. 

I've got trough COVID and the related mess, relatively unschated, at least workwise, though I had been terrified from th efeeling of "our lives will never be the same again", and I was right. Only I had no idea, how right I was. But at least I had work, insurance, tax-plan, and now I have none of those. 

So sorry, I will be back, but I need to feel sorry for myself, for a little while.

Oops, I did it again...

 I mean the dissapearing act... Things just got all jumbled up, and life became a bit jumbled up...

Its not like I do not think ever so often about this poor blog, but thats my life... I wouldn't be able to live according to a stict schedule to save my life, so I gave up trying a long time ago... 

I do have a few things to post about, and I kind of wondering, what should be the bets way to go about that... Do you want to see last years new year sweater? (Yes, I did knitted that, Yes, we photographer it, even if a few months after its completion). Some -mostly- handsewn 17th century accessories? Norbert in all the 17th century glory? 16th-17th century lace? Pictures of costumed events? Handmade footwear? 

Shall I go in timewise order? Or totally random? 

Help me out here... Tell me. At least, of you reply, I know there is someone who does still read this blog.

(Me, waiting for your answer... Photo: Norbert Varga, Bodeszphoto )

London

Every so often I wow to myself, that I write some stuff about our travels, but rarely get around to it... 

And even so, I guess this is a post that starts... and continues I guess in a rather familiar way...

So...

Ever since we know each other, we've been talking about going to London (and to England in general, but London in particular). I have been there with Christopher twice already, N. have been there with his collegaues, even only for a short time, so the place wasn't totally strange to neither of us but with all our travels, we've never been together. 

First we had other travels (Croatia, Pragua, Germany, Italy), and then Covid happened, that severly limited the traveling possibilities. 

However, this year things got easier, and there were vague talks between again about London... Very vague. However, when our faborite band put out a post that said they are going to London, we looked at each other and asked, "when if not now?" A quick look around about tickets and hotels, we realized that with the discount airlines and such, it does not cost much more than if we'd go to a city at the edge of our country... besides, yes, those plans. So I worked day and night and some more nights to finish up my work, packed up my backpack, and there we went. 

And here you go, a few totally random pictures.

Satisfaction?

Of finally writing a post after more thana month again... Well not really.  

I mean the feeling of satisfaction one feels, when from her seemeingly endless stash of yarns, yet another bit of leftover yarn ball/skein is finished, and the next piece is tied on... I get those feelings with those projects of mine that are knitted of those small bits of leftover sockyarns, like the colored neckwarmers, or the circle sweater.

Now we finally managed to photograph the boxy sweater that was my car-knitting for fairly long time, as we can agree in one thing, knitting a boxy sweater, especially in my size, from sockyarn takes a long time, even if I use needles sized 3.5-4 mm (instead of my usual 3 mm). 

A couple of years ago I already knitted a cardigan, that never got photographed (and who knows why I forgot to take it with me this time), and I actually loved how I managed to put the small bits of sockyarns into an order where it darkened toward the bottom, and so I did that now as well. 

No actual patterns just out of my head.

I've started with a lot of stitches, knitted bottom-up, on the round for ever so long, then increased some stitches for the sleeves, separated for the armholes (on the two sides, and knitted back and front separately.  Then separated at the middle of the front, knitted left and right side separately, while decreased for the V neck. The shoulders were done up with three neede binding, picked up stitches around for the armholes, and knitted the two shortish sleeves.

And finally picked up stitches around the neck, knitted a couple of rows with garter stitch edge.  Thats it. No sewing up. But a lot of ends to weave in. Wherever a bit of yarn ended, I simply knitted on the next bit. Except I halved the small balls I choose for the sleeves, so they would be similar (if not fully symmetrical or identical).

What would I do next time? well, as much as I like the idea of the boxy sweater, and as much as I like them on others, I have to accept the fact that it is not for my current shape. It wasn't when I finished it (probably that is why I haven't pushed photographing it, even though it was satisfying to use up a bunch of sockyarn-bits. 

Also, I would do the V neck deeper. Otherwise it would be a fun sweater to wear, especially in a sporty way, but I will need to loose more weight before I would comfortably do that. 

Yarns: various sock-yarns.

Needle: Knit pro 3,5 and 4 mm. 

Photo: Norbert Varga. 

Difference

 As I was looking at the picture of our event at the Vigadó, something kept nagging me at the back of my mind. So much, I made a couple of comparisons pictures to see. 

Now, tell me, if I am hallucinating, or I really look like 10 kg (12 lbs or so) less in the new dress. There is about a month between the two pictures. and I am sporing quiet a large extra weight on both, I know (thanks thyroid), but sill. 

And since it can be seen from the back as well, its not only the fact that I felt better in that dress shows true. There is something about the cut, the placement of the decoration... Maybe the white insert at the front I left out? Maybe the "oversleeves" or whatever those sleeve tabs should be called.  Maybe the tabs around the waistline, that were added at the first place, because the bodice was cut too short.  maybe the deeper V of the waistline? Or maybe the fact that the new bodice is properly boned?

In all honesty, I am not exactly sure of the answer, and that also tells, it wasn't entirely intentional. 

I knew there were some things I did not liked in the old dress and wanted to change them in the new one, like this line:

Don't get me wrong, I know it is historically correct, many examples of Hungarian dresse, including Sisi's coronation gown have it, but I still dislike it. And/or does not suit me. However, since the "Hungarian dress" is a really wide generic term, with lots of variations, we can choose what suits us. 

I guess, the conclusion, is that even though not all changes were intentional, my instincts were right. I kind of new instinctively that the old dress does not do for me, as well as it could, and also instinctively found some right changes. 

Skating

Running into an old friend on tramline 1:

"Oh, hi, long time no see!"

"Hello, lovely to see you."

"Where are you going?"

"To skate with friends."

"Dressed like this?"

"How else? 

On the pictures with me Anna Erdei and Dani Dala.

In Budapest, the Óbuda skating ring.

Photos: Norbert Varga @Bodeszphoto