Things I loved in October

Here we go:
1) Our 1982 LARP
It went well, everybody had fun, it was totally worth the effort. What more could I ask for?
2) Everything made from apples
I love cooked apples in every form as baked apples, apple pie, apple sauce, in pancakes and everywhere else. But they are even better when eaten in the appropriate season...
3) Hot desserts
There is nothing better than finishing a good meal with a cooked desert served warm. In October, I actually took some time to make some of my favourite desserts: Upside down Gingerbread (more like a siruppy cake baked with canned pears), White Chocolate and Orange Bread and Butter Pudding, and Apple Crumble with Ice Cream.
4) Watching "American Horror Story"
Yes, it's silly and campy and has some gaping holes in its narrative logic - but it's just so much fun!
5) The Kryptonite Radio Theater
We saw them perform "The Call of Cthulhu" and it was the funniest evening I've had in a long time.
6) Knitting with 6-ply yarn
It's so unbelievably fast.
7) Watching Blackfish
Although I am by no means an animal rights activist, I am always interested in how people perceive and treat animals because it tells you so much about how people see themselves. And this documentary is so insightful in the ways people interact with orcas. Also, it's really suspenseful and almost like a psychological thriller. And i's a good opportunity to eat "Goldfischli"...

Fox Pillow

After all the work with the yarn patchwork, I wanted to do something easy and fast. Luckily I found this tutorial for cute and simple fox pillows. It took me only two hours to make this and it was real fun. (Ok, I guess if you don't know that it is supposed to be a fox it might not be your first interpretation, but I like it anyway.)
 I'm already planning some more foxes, for example a polar fox mode from wool fabric left from a LARP cloak.

Next weekend I am hosting my first LARP since about seven years, so from Friday I will be off to the 1980s... I hope it will be good...

Spectular/Unspectacular Pillowcase

A few weeks ago I wrote that I was busy with a project that was much more work that I had expected.
I fact, it was an attempt to use up all the little scraps of the different Zauberball yarns I had lying around. I got the brilliant idea to make little squares from them, each about 10x10 cm and to sew them together to create a patchwork-like effect.
What I forgot was that this means that I had to knit at least 25 squares for the front of an ordinary cushion alone and so I decided to make only one side of the pillowcase from yarn and to use some corduroy for the back. Otherwise I would have had to buy some extra yarn and moreover I discovered that I really hate to sew knitted fabric together.
Anyway, I like the result a lot and I think the colours look gorgeous on my sofa.

Some of the squares lost there shape during sewing because I had some problems with the right tension, but I think the pillow actually looks better that way. Otherwise it would have been too geometrical.

Fairy Lights

I haven't written for quite some time but not because there wasn't anything worth posting. I have made a number of things and taody I am fianlly motivated enough to start showing some of them.

A few weeks ago I made these fairy lights, based on a LED lights chain. I wrapped the wire in some yarn in different shades of green and brown and I made a little paper hat for every light. I really like the result, especially because it looks not only great in the dark but is also decorative during daytime.

Things I learnt this summer

I haven't posted the "Things I loved in..." list for a few months but I plan to start again soon. However, I believe I have learnt quite a lot of useful things during the summer months so I am just posting a list of them:
1) How to operate a power drill
2) How to make "Maultaschen" (small dumplings, a bit like Italian ravioli)
3) How to make lemon squares (the best cake ever)
4) 3 chords on the ukulele (I hope more will follow soon)
5) That I still like reading
6) That more expensive nail polish is sometimes really better
7) That I can still do a somersault
8) That it is fun to go to a festival in the rain
9) That I am not an awful babysitter (only a not very good one)
10) What it is like to use the Nerobergbahn
11) How to sew leggins
and hopefully some other things which I cannot remember at the moment because they have already becomeso natural to me.

Some Things About Myself

I've been tagged by the wonderful Bronwen and although this whole tag-thing is a bit weird in my opinion, her questions are really interesting and creative and therefore I a cannot help but answer them. If you are not interested just move along...

The rules of this tag are:

1) Link back to the tagger.

2) Answer their ten questions.

3) Think of ten questions yourself.

4) Link back to ten more bloggers with less than 200 followers. 

I can't think of ten more questions and ten more bloggers, so I will only use five...

But first about Bronwen's questions:

1. Do you like stargazing? If yes, what’s your favourite constellation?
I am a bit ashamed to say that I am not interested in stars whatsoever. Although I can be enthusiastic about almost everything, stars are just not my cup of tea. I can admire them as some form of nature's background decoration but that's it.

 2. What would be your house in Hogwarts? Sure, it’s a question asked hundreds of times, but I’m still curious.
I'd like to think of myself as Ravenclaw, but I suspect that I would end up in Slytherin or Hufflepuff. Especially if the Sorting Hat catches me before breakfast I'd be put into Slytherin. After some coffee I'd make a good Hufflepuff.
 
3. How came your blog name to be?
I love the word "stuff" or "Zeugs" because doing stuff can mean everything. When I started this blog I was not really sure what I would do here thus I used a more unspecific title. I used my nickname first when I joined the Natron&Soda Forum. Since this used to be a place for people from the goth community and I am not one of them, I wanted a nickname that made this clear. Otherwise I would have felt like an imposter, so I chose the most un-goth nickname I could think of.

4. When you were little, what was it that you wanted to become when you’re grown up?
Lots of things. At one point I wanted to drive a garbage truck.

 
5. “What would you be if you were an animal?” is an old question. What would you be if you were a folklore creature?
Since I am a really optimistic person, maybe a phoenix. But I am not one for great gestures (like bursting into flame and being reborn from the ashes), so maybe I would be a Wolpertinger. 

6. What’s you favourite time of day, and why?
For things I want to do by myself like reading, crafting or even working it's morning, mostly between 8 and 12, because then I feel like the whole day with all its great opportunities is still in front of me. For socializing I prefer evenings when I have done all my daily chores and can spend as much time as I want with my friends. 

7. Hollywood or Broadway?
Hollywood.  

8. Nearly everyone has a field they’re sort of a specialist in (silly as it may be), if only in their circle of friends. What is yours?
As an English teacher, I am considered an expert in proofreading. If my friends were interested in knitting, they would know that I would gladly answer all their questions about it, but they aren't knitting so they will never know. Also, I know a lot about "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

9. Big headphones or in-ears?
Neither.  

10. Do you like rainy days?
If the overall temperature is below 20 °C, yes. I like rainy days in Autumn but I detest the hot, humid summer rains.

Ok, I guess know it's my turn.
My questions are:
1) Which historical person would you like to meet? And what would you do if you met him or her?
2) Which superpower would you like to have?
3) Would you tell people about your special power or would you keep it a secret?
4) Did you ever watch a movie or read a book which you regretted afterwards? Why?
5) If you could choose among all places in the universe, fictional as well as real, where would you like to live?

I feel a bit uncomfortable with tagging people since I am not especially active in the blogging community, therefore this selection is rather random:
I tag
Agnes
Hana and Nria
Telfe
Morgain
and that's it....

How to make Sirup

And here is the recipe for the blackcurrant sirup I made on Monday. I found several totally different recipes on the internet and in the end I just improvised. So the numbers in this list are by no means definite, I guess the amount of sugar influences how long the sirup will keep but since I don't intend to store this for years it is not that important. Too much sugar, however, could turn the juice into jam instead of sirup.

I used 900 gr of blackcurrants, about 500 gr of sugar and the juice of two lemons.
First I cooked the currants in a large pot together with 200 ml of water until they were soft and mushy. Then I used the "Flotte Lotte", a useful gadget which presses the berries through a sieve in order to get the juice out, but if you don't have one you can pour the berries through a sieve lined with cloth. In the end I got about 700 ml of juice. I added the sugar, the lemon juice and 150 ml of water and cooked it for about 10 minutes without a lid.

The sirup tastes great if you dilute it with water (1 part of sirup to 4 parts of water) or you can eat it with icecream or pancakes. Have fun!