Good things take time. It took about nine months from the idea to the completion of the sweater.
The effort was worth it, as the optical illusion of the elephant looks stunning even as a crocheted piece of art.
My name is Katrin Affolter and I want to let you glimpse into my world. I like any type of creativity. My definition of creativity is a bit more flexible than usually: photography, tinkering of all kinds, natural language and even programming need creativity.
Have fun browsing my creative activities.
Good things take time. It took about nine months from the idea to the completion of the sweater.
The effort was worth it, as the optical illusion of the elephant looks stunning even as a crocheted piece of art.
Wer kennt das Mammut Museum in Niederweningen?
Wir waren da und sind begeistert. Ein kleines Dorfmuseum mit vielen Informationen und spannendem Aufbau.
I finally had another great idea for cute earrings - and the chance to make them.
What do you think of my lucky charm earrings?
Wir haben Anfang September mal wieder die Robben-Fütterung bewundert. Es ist immer ein Spektakel zum Bewundern und Bestaunen!
Ich bin jedes Mal wieder überrascht, wie flink diese Tiere sind.
Es war Mal wieder so weit: Man konnte wieder am Abend in den Zoo Basel!
Einerseits ist es toll im Sommer erst später in den Zoo zu gehen, wenn man nicht mehr verbrannt wird und andererseits sieht man Dämmerungsaktive Tiere so besonders gut.
Per Zufall haben wir erfahren, dass im Schloss Lenzburg eine Sonderausstellung zum Thema "Einhorn" ausgestellt wird.
Wer lässt sich schon eine Einhorn-Ausstellung entgehen?
Ein kurzer Tripp in den Zoo trotz schlechtem Wetter hat sich als ein Geheimtipp entpuppt: Drei süsse Robben Babys haben fleissig Schwimmunterricht genommen - oder eher zwei, der dritte hat zusammen mit seiner Mama vom Trocknene aus zugeschaut.
May I introduce?
My three funny cacti friends!
My cousins and a friend of mine are the reason for these three cuddly cute cacti.
So wie mein Lebensbaum ist auch der Pullover ein "Ich will was mit diesem Garn machen"-Projekt.
Ich musste nur meine bessere Hälfte davon überzeugen, dass er noch ein Pullover braucht.
My latest crochet project is finished:
A beautiful "Red Panda"-sweater!
It's multicolored again, but with a different, thicker yarn.
Ein Zoo Besuch mit ganz viel Geflatter. Nicht nur die Habichtskäuzchen waren fleissig am Fliegen, sondern auch die Storcheneltern, die Enten und Gänse - und die Reiher waren sich am Erholen.
Mein nächstes vollendetes Werk: Der Bringer of Despair aus dem Stoneblade Spiel Ascension Tactics.
Ich liebe das Pferd, besonders die Freihandzeichnung auf dem Schädel gefällt mir sehr.
Have you ever heard of a rhynchocyon?
I only recently lead about their existence, when I was aked, if I could crechet one.
Now I know them, and I can crochet one!
After eight months I can say:
My next work is finished!
This time it's Inox Hatchet from Gloomhaven: Paws of the Lion.
Not perfect, but I think I did a good job!
Die letzten paar Besuche in der Masoala Halle waren jeweils "Gecko arm"... Das wurde bei diesem Besuch definitiv alles wieder gut gemacht!
Ich glaube nicht, dass ich jemals soviele Geckos während eines "Durchgangs" gesehen habe.
After many months of crocheting, I may present you my Celtic Tree Jacket.
This time, I did the tree in a different color as the rest of the jacket. It was not always easy to crochet - and all the threads to darn in - but it was worth every hour of work!
Welches Accessoire braucht man zu seinem glitzerigen Zacken-Rock?
Natürlich Glitzer Stulpen!
Zum Glück liebt meine Cousine Glitzer, und hat Freunde an jedem Stück, dass ich ihr häkle.
Schmelzgranulat zwei Mal schmelzen, und schon ist meine Mutter stolze Besitzerin einer süssen Schildkröte und einem genauso süssen Marienkäfer!
Im Juni letzten Jahres wurde das neu renovierte Vogelhaus im Zolli Basel wiedereröffnet. Seit dem wollten wir wieder einmal in den Zolli und es uns anschauen.
Jetzt hatte es endlich geklappt, und wir hatten viel Spass bei unserem Besuch.
Zu den verschiedenen Schmetterlingen kommen noch süsse Drachen hinzu. Die sind ein wenig aufwendiger und ich komme leider nicht so schnell vorwärts.
Mein erster Drache ist dieser süsse verspielte Kerl.
Aktuell ist im Zoo Zürich eine Sonderausstellung zum Thema Eiszeit: Kaltgestellt
Dabei werden lebensgrosse Eiszeittiere ausgestellt und dazu noch einige Informationen.
I have a new major project: "Ornaments" for the many empty plant supports in my mother's garden. I have decided to work with melting pellets and polymer clay.
My first piece of art:
Butterflies.
Nicht ganz so spektakulär wie mein letztes Projekt, aber dafür mit umso mehr Glitzer:
Ein Zacken-Falten-Rock für meine Cousine!
Mein keltischer Lebensbaum ist einem mitternächtlichen Geistesblitz entsprungen. Der Pullover hat viel Zeit und Geduld in Anspruch genommen, und ich bin wahnsinnig stolz auf das Endergebnis. Für mich ist es mein persönliches Meisterwerk!
Meine Mutter hat ein Jäckchen für meine Cousine gestrickt - und ich habe die passenden Knöpfe dazu entworfen.
Das Endergebnis? Eine sehr glückliche Cousine!
Im November sind wir endlich am Rhein entlang den Skultpurenweg Trun entlang spaziert.
Wunderschöne Landschaft, interessante Skulpturen und ein süsses Rotkehlchen haben es zu einem tollen Ausflug gemacht.
Dieses Mal habe ich gefragt, über welches Motiv sich der Nachwuchs freuen würde.
Dinosauriers sind aktuell ganz toll.
Jetzt läuft irgendwo ein süsses Mädchen ganz stolz mit ihrer Dinosaurier Jacke herum!
Wir waren wieder zu Gast beim Park Seleger Moor. Dieses Mal erstrahlt der Park in wunderschönen Herbstfarben - und zusätzlich noch eine Kunstausstellung.
Wie immer bei Kunst: Ein Teil fanden wir toll, und mit dem anderen Teil konnten wir wenig anfangen...
As a winter jacket, the theme "dinosaurs" was requested. This includes four cute dino appliqués.
A bit delayed, I am now introducing my Triceratops. Cute, isn't she?
As a winter jacket, the theme "dinosaurs" was requested. I am currently working on that. It includes four cute dinosaur appliqués.
Today, I would like to introduce my version of a Pterodactylus.
As a winter jacket, the theme "dinosaurs" was requested. I am currently working on that. It includes four cute dinosaur appliqués.
Today, I'd like to introduce my T-Rex lady.
As a winter jacket, the theme "dinosaurs" was requested. I am currently working on that. It includes four cute dinosaur appliqués.
First, let me introduce you to my Brachiosaurus.
Am letzten schönen Herbstwochenende sind wir noch einmal in den Zoo Zürich.
Wir wurden mit Bären auf Nahrungssuche, störrischen Elefanten, einem neugierigen Hyänen-Jungen und süssem Stachelschwein-Nachwuchs belohnt.
Wishes and ideas mentioned in passing can quickly come true. At least if you express it to the right person.
Once my cousine mentioned a cute idea for earrings, a few weeks later I was able to surprise her with them.
in a nutshell:
I wanted to make my cousin happy so I made her Totoro earrings out of Fimo.
For Christmas, there was Ghost Chess, and for his birthday, Dragon Chess as a T-shirt - drawn with a lot of love and patience.
I find the two dragons really cute, and my father was very happy too.
And once again: my next completed work!
This time, it's the axe of Inox Hatchet from Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion.
Small but mighty, and I think, I did a really good job!
A very summery motive, fitting for the current heat: A cute elephant with three ice creams. He seems to be very happy about having a trunk to carry even more ice cream.
We wanted to see the snow leopards before the Zurich Zoo starts its renovation. The weather has been a bit unpredictable lately, so despite the forecast, we gave it a shot... The forecast was accurate and it rained to whole time...
My mother has supplied me with new t-shirts to paint on - of course, completely selflessly.
I returned the first t-shirt on her birthday, painted with a cheerful baby elephant and lots of colorful flowers.
My latest creation is a flower meadow jacket for the next generation. Both the flowers and the inhabitants of the meadow are all appliqués.
So you could say: I sewed just as much as I crocheted and stitched many more threads...
made by me
I am currently crocheting an adorable children's jacket that depicts a flower meadow. Of course, it also needs special buttons!
I have modeled my own buttons out of Fimo: cute ladybugs 🐞
Newborn among the seals: On the 28th of June, a little seal was born, and two weeks later, we admired it.
He is a total cutie, an excellent diver, and also a bit clumsy while swimming!
At the beginning of the year, I "persuaded" my cousin to let me crochet a summery flower dress for her. It consists of a light blue skirt with flower lace and a sleeveless white top. Additionally, it has a deep back and the entire neckline is also bordered with the flower lace.
Switzerland
In a newsletter about "places to see in your region," we came across Kaiserstuhl AG: a small, charming village with a beautiful old town and a castle on the other side.
On a beautiful day, we went to the zoo. The Gelada baboon young were playfully romping around, and the red ruffed lemurs were busy eating in the Masoala hall. It was an exciting trip, with a slight sunburn as a souvenir.
I crocheted a basket with a red panda face on it for the laundry room. Now it happily hangs on the towel rack, watching us while we work.
nursery rhyme
I came across the idea on Pinterest to crochet a cute summer jacket with honeycomb patterns and bee appliques.
I think: the jacket turned out absolutely adorable!
A bit of sunshine and lots of animals: T
he spectacled bear foraging for food, the coatis waiting until he was gone, the little panda observing us just as we observed him...
Simply a beautiful morning at the zoo!
made by me
I am currently crocheting a children's jacket in a honeycomb (hexagon) pattern. Of course, it needs equally cute and special buttons to match the jacket.
So, I made sweet daisy buttons out of Fimo and added a little bee on half of them.
I've tinkered a bit here, crafted a bit there, and improved things all around.
Do you like what you see? Then leave a comment - it's a new feature I've added!
First visit in 2023! The weather is very changeable these days: first it was okay, then nice and sunny, and in the end it was wet and windy...
The animals were also rather sluggish, understandable. I would also prefer to retreat to a tree and snuggle into my fluffy fur!
I bought a plain, light-colored T-shirt to paint on again. As a motive, I chose a cute dragon cuddling with his cat.
I tested a lot of new markers and I am thrilled with them. The colors have held up after washing!
You probably already have heard of lactose intolerance and know a bit about it. But did you know, that lactose is added to powdered condiment and spice mixtures? That "lactose-free" on a product does not mean zero lactose, but that it contains less than a certain threshold someone defined?
Something new for the next generation:
a fun patchwork jacket!
I often see patchwork jackets, but I had never tried making one myself - until now. I'm happy with the result and it was definitely fun to make.
My next completed work: The Samael from the Stoneblade game Ascension Tactics.
The first monster figure from the game! Actually, it's the second figure I've painted, but the skulls for the base took a while to arrive...
Apart from a Christmas star that blooms at Easter, we have no Christmas decoration.
With our newly set up crafting corner and my rediscovered joy in Fimo, I started crafting a polar Christmas diorama in December.
My latest creation:
a cute panda sweater!
I am allowed to crochet as much as I want for my friend's daughter - or until I run out of good ideas. Not happening soon!
My next completed work: The Reactor Monk from the Stoneblade game Ascension Tactics.
He is the second mecha figure. I really like what I did with "himself". His strange flame and his weapon are quite good, but could definitely be better.
I made a personalized ghost chess set for my father using Fimo. They turned out really cute and my father was overjoyed.
Of course, we had to play a round right away, and as expected, he won!
To get familiar with my new camera, we often took walks along the Reppisch to the Marmoriweiher.
I didn't like uploading individual pictures, but not showing the pictures at all is also not great. That's why there is now a review of the whole year!
My mother loves elephants, and she thought my pandas were so cute. So I made her own version: elephants as chopstick holders!
And of course, I wrapped the whole thing as a Christmas present - if you have a good idea at the right time of the year, make the most of it!
Again, we were incredibly lucky, and we got to see the adorable snow leopard cubs being fed.
Actually, these cute bees and ladybugs are the reason why I started working with Fimo again. When we planned our crafting corner, a magnetic and blackboard wall was also part of it.
Of course, for that, we needed magnets, and not just any magnets!
My next completed work: The Water Djinn from the Stoneblade game Ascension Tactics .
I am particularly proud of the waves and the Djinn's body. The eyes have once again turned out zombie-like... practice makes perfect!
Our panda brush holders are such a success that we would like to have something similar for the bathroom, where we clean our brushes. The big difference is that there are a lot more brushes lying around in the bathroom. So we needed something bigger: A Tatzelwurm!
Beautiful weather lured us to the zoo. We had lunch at the Lewa Savanna and were able to observe it.
My second attempt at painting miniatures is Kor from the Stoneblade game Ascension Tactics.
I've decided that the monster Kor is riding is a rock creature and tried to paint it accordingly.
When we needed brush holders for our craft corner, it quickly became clear that I would make something for us myself.
In the end, we decided on cute pandas in different poses to hold our brushes.
My first attempt at painting miniatures is two horses and their riders - from the Lord of the Rings tabletop game.
The horses were a lot of fun, the riders were significantly more difficult. I know what horses look like, medieval riders less so...
Our last trip during our vacation was to the Vogelpark Ambigua (bird park).
We had a lot of fun trying to identify which birds were curiously observing us, and we were followed by the cockatoos, which I naturally took advantage of to take flight pictures of them.
During our vacation, we also visited the Walter Zoo. It's a cute zoo, especially for families with young children.
We were lucky with the little panda, as on our fourth pass by the enclosure, he was finally visible - and very close too!
For my birthday, I received tickets to the Vogelpark Steinen. One of the reasons for the tickets were the two bird shows. Now we can say that the bird shows are really great! It was especially nice that several birds were allowed to fly at the same time.
One can hardly believe it, but Facebook pointed out to us that there are pumpkin exhibitions to be seen at the Jucker Farm. I took a closer look and that's how we decided to visit the artworks - and buy pumpkins.
We accidentally found out about the ArtWalk in Bremgarten - apparently this is already the sixth!
Anyway, we thought it was a cool idea, so we took my parents and walked from artwork to artwork through Bremgarten.
The tred pandas are now three: Ting Tang has been busy exploring her new surroundings. During her rounds, she was watched by her colleagues up in the trees.
As a housewarming gift for her new room, I painted a bath towel for my cousin too: Not fruit Pokemons, but flamingos!
This time I used fun flamingos by wooster and Marina Karavaeva as a template.
I’m working on a application called "photo enhancer". Because I have two computers, I shared the SQLite database through Dropbox. As number of pictures stored in the DB grew, I needed a better database and switched to MySQL. In this post, I want to share my solution of how to setup your MySQL to be shared through Dropbox.
I recently discovered the fruit Pokémons by @mojgonv and finally found the perfect canvas for them!
Now, four corners of the bath towel are decorated with cute Pokémons: Banana-Evoli, Watermelon-Relaxo, Strawberry-Bisasam, and Grape-Tangela.
At my birthday we visited the zoo for a short time periode. The animals must have heared about it, then they were particularly active!
We love the zoo night: at dusk in the zoo implies a lot more activity of the animals!
I’m often asked what I do with all the photos I take, where do I store them and how do I organize them.
In the past, it was more a topic between (hobby-)photographers, to find out the best way to handle our photos. Today, with smartphones, everyone will ask this questions at some point.
May I introduce?
This is my "Schlangeweile" (a pun in German, meaning "snake-boredom") from the book "Das NEINhorn und die SchLANGEWEILE" by Marc-Uwe Kling.
I did not follow a specific instruction and my own notes are unfortunately too sparse to create a tutorial.
On the way back from Lausanne, we stopped in Kerzers to visit the Papiliorama. I love the butterfly dome and the toucan in the tropical dome. If it weren't so hot - and if my feet had held up - I would have stayed for hours.
As mentioned, we were in Lausanne for three days. On the second day, we not only visited Aquatis but also explored Lausanne itself.
My stamina is not yet back to normal, and Lausanne is situated on a hill... I only had enough energy to visit two of the parks, but they were really beautiful.
We were in Lausanne for three days. In the morning of our second day in Lausanne, we did go directly from the hotel into Aquatis - only a few meters.
The aquarium was designed with great attention to details and displays animals that I have never seen before.
We were in Lausanne for three days. Our first stop during our trip was the Tropiquarium and Zoo in Servion.
The Tropiquarium is currently famous for the birth of an albino turtle.
We saw it and it is so cute!
Above of Disentis you can find some quite cute waterwheels at the stream Clavaniev besides the small town Clavaniev. They are built from one of the villagers and were not promoted. Now, you can find them on Google if you search for "Wasserräder Clavaniev". If you are nearby, check them out - we think, it’s worth it!
The Swiss monastery Schönthal has a collection of art. Some is displayed inside the old church, others are arranged outside on the fields and in the woods. If you are not used to Switzerland’s up and downs, I reconstructed our path on geo.admin: 94 meters height difference. My six months of couch potato didn’t like it that much.
May I introduce?
Amy Pond from Doctor Who! I love her story, from the kitchen scene until her final decision to be captured by a weeping angel to follow Rory.
May I introduce?
One of my favorite characters of in Doctor Who is River Song. I love her story and how sassy and charming she is - even at the end.
I think my version is quite cute. If you like her too, you can try to follow my pattern.
May I introduce?
This is my cute version of a "weeping angel" from the Doctor Who universe.
I tried to write down my pattern. So if you like it, you can make one yourself.
Regensberg is a small village near-ish our own home. We drove a few times through it, but never stopped to look at it.
Now, we finally did it! We drove to Regensberg to play tourist and stare at the castle and the historic view.
May I introduce?
This is Nestor, the monster of Loch Ness, from the book "Magische Häkelfreunde" (magical crochet friends).
I am completely in love with him! He can express himself so well and has already won a place in my heart with his smile.
May I introduce?
This is my attempt at a cute Niffler. I was asked by the next generation if I could crochet one for them. I think he turned out to be a sweet little guy who is already looking forward to his new home.
The Holzkorporation Dietikon celebrates their 175th anniversary. For this occasion, the forest on the Honeret and Guggenbühl was made available for an woody art exhibition. We walked most of the forest tour on the Honeret and admired the different masterpieces.
We visited Park Seleger Moor again and this time, everything was blooming in different colors, especially the rhododendrons caught our attention with their big bushes - very different from our last visit when we came much later in the year.
May I introduce?
This is my sweet coven: herbal witch, magician, sorcerer, evil witch, good witch... The herbal witch is of my own making, the others are made following instructions from Jonas Matthies.
Today, the wolves were in the enclosure of the tiger - and we were lucky to be in to zoo too!
The last few months were exhausting. After years I was finally diagnosed with adenomyosis. Today, I want to say “Thank you!” to all the amazing people around me who supported me and lent me their strength. In this blog post, I wrote a little bit more about the different ways how they supported me.
Ever wondered how you would know when you are fluent in a foreign language?
Since a few days, I know I’m fluent in English.
May I introduce?
This is Hamish, the hippogryph, from the book "Magische Häkelfreunde" (magical crochet friends).
He has settled in well with the group and has found new, magical friends.
May I introduce?
This is my version of the Pokémon "psyduck".
I find him quite cute, so if someone wants to try to follow my pattern, be my guest.
May I introduce?
This is Raiko, the Raiju from the book "Magische Häkelfreunde".
He is a cute cuddly dog with floppy ears.
May I introduce?
This is Yeti Junior from the book "Magische Häkelfreunde".
His hair took around three hours of work, but it was worth it. Overall, he's a little lanky - and adorably cute!
May I introduce?
The dragons Devon & Devin have welcomed a new addition: Deven.
Devon & Devin are in my cousins favorite colors and have safely arrived in Italy.
We don't get snow very often in the "lowlands", so we quickly packed our camera and headed to the zoo to admire our favorite animals in the snow.
May I introduce?
This is Madremonte. After I could only finish her upper body at first, she is now, in the new year, finally complete. She struggles to stand alone, but she is happy to be with us.
This summer, I had the opportunity to borrow a Sony α 7R IV camera from a friend and try it out, along with a macro lens that I used to take photos of my crochet clique.
While I was impressed with the camera's performance, 61 megapixels is a bit too much for my needs...
We were also in the mountains quite often this year - but I definitely forgot the camera at home too many times... Nevertheless, thanks to the pretty good iPhone camera and a few visits with the camera, there are also some pictures to admire this year.
My cousins surprised me with the crochet book "Magische Häkelfreunde" (magical crochet friends).
The book contains 14 charmingly cute patterns. I will definitely be crocheting at least 11 of them! So, I will be busy with this sweet gift for a while.
May I introduce?
This cute Grim Reaper is based on a pattern by Jonas Matthies. He will soon be getting some companions: a few skeletons, Baron Samedi, and perhaps he will also get along with the vampires?
May I introduce?
Bulbasaur! Now the Pokémon trio is complete.
The pattern is made by me: the body is great, the head is not entirely "Bulbasaur", but it's still super cute
May I introduce?
This is Squirtle based on a pattern by Jonas Matthies. He has already made friends with Charmander. The two are excited to see if they will have more friends soon.
Once you try Cashseta Linea Pura, always Cashseta Linea Pura!
After making a cozy sweater, I had to make a second one. The yarn is great to work with and incredibly comfortable to wear!
The sweater is finally finished and even more impressive than I had hoped!
Ever wondered why German speaking people do not understand each other?
You can compare this issue to the difference between British English and American English - just worse, because usually neither part of the conversation knows about the issue and both think they are speaking «proper» German.
May I introduce?
This is Charmander based on a pattern by Jonas Matthies. Currently, he's alone, but soon he'll have other Pokémon to play with.
The treetop walk has been on our list of places we would like to visit for a while. However, it's not easy to find a day in autumn when we have time and the sun is shining - the weather is a bit unpredictable.
We have one or two common buzzards here that fly close over our roof and whistle.
Usually, it ends with me trying to grab my camera in time. Finally, it worked because he took a break!
May I introduce?
This is Cthulhu, following a pattern by Jonas Matthies. Along with Gratch, this cute guy is responsible for me looking at the different patterns by Jonas.
On Saturday we spontaneously decided to visit the Skulpturenweg (sculpture path) in Reinach again. Besides the beautiful sculptures, we also saw many great birds, including a kite sitting on a flagpole in the allotment gardens.
May I introduce?
These are Kara and Kora. Kara was crocheted following a Hoooked pattern and Kora was crocheted following a pattern by Jonas Matthies. Both were made using the same Munja yarn.
In late September, we took a short trip to the Skulpturenpark Steinmaur (a sculpture park). Here, various artists showcase their works.
May I introduce?
This little teddy bear is called "Bear" - I'm not very original when it comes to names of bears...
The pattern is again from Jonas Matthies.
May I introduce?
I named this cute dragon "Gratch." I found the pattern on ravelry and it is designed by Jonas Matthies.
This summer, one had to actively search for the sun... When it finally appeared in all its glory in the sky on September 18th, we decided to take a short trip to Bremgarten to stroll through the beautiful old town and along the Reuss.
May I introduce?
This cute guy's name is Pepper and is based on a pattern by Hoooked.
When sewn together, it measures about 20cm in length and 15cm in width.
We spent a few short hours during twilight at the Zurich Zoo.
May I introduce?
This big guy is named Heinz and is again based on a pattern from Hoooked.
When sewn together, he is about 50cm long and 30cm high.
This summer, the weather was unpredictable and often rainy... Today, we were lucky to take advantage of the few hours of "sun" and visit the zoo.
May I introduce?
This cute hedgehog lady is named Ida. The instructions are from HeArtDeco and are simple and easy to understand.
When finished, she is cute 5 cm small.
Today, I want to tell you how difficult it can be to order food. "Paprika" and "Peperoni" have reversed meanings if you cross the border between Switzerland and Germany.
I didn’t know about the difference until I was in my twenties and had always awk-ward conversations while ordering food.
The situation has improved, but traveling abroad is still not particularly enticing. Luckily, during our last fall break, we discovered a small oasis of well-being that we used as a starting point for our short vacation. This led to three varied days at lake Thun.
The Zoo Basel is located in the middle of the city and is easily accessible. It was opened in 1874 and has been fascinating visitors ever since.
My personal favorite part of the zoo is the Vivarium right near the main entrance.
May I introduce?
This cute donkey is called Joe and is based on a pattern from Hoooked.
When finished, he is about 16cm high and 14cm wide (with ears).
May I introduce?
This cute dino is called Lino! The pattern is from HeArtDeco and is written in an easy and clear way.
Once sewn together, he is about 16cm high, 10cm wide and 12cm long.
The big unicorn sister "Elena" was happily received by her new best friend - but she didn't want to go in the bathtub with her.
On the first visit to Onza per Onza, I had admired the yarn "Cashseta Linea Pura" by Lana Grossa: it is super soft to the touch!
After a long back and forth - with myself - I finally convinced myself to buy the wool and crochet a cozy sweater for myself.
«Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache»
German language is a difficult language.
Yes, German is difficult and a lot of fun!
Today, I want to share how "Urinsekten" can refer either to two or six leg creatures and/or something normal or gross, depending on how you read it.
On May 16th, we explored the Freiämter Sagenwegen near Waltenschwil for a few hours during "sunshine". It is a well-designed path with twelve different art installations, each representing a different legend. The text of the legend is displayed next to the artwork.
I wrote a small review of this great and well written Python book "Fast Python - master the basics to write faster code" by Chris Conlan.
I really enjoyed reading it and learned a few thinks while during it. Therefore, I recommend it to anyone who is interested in this topic.
May I introduce?
Sir Octus and his brother! The pattern was designed by Sarah Hearn.
If you prefer German, you can switch. I asked and Sarah allowed my to publish a German version.
The set of jacket and pants was finished after two weeks - it only took a month to upload to my blog... That's what happens when I finish crocheting in the middle of the week and don't upload the photos immediately.
By the way, the yarn was still really fuzzy after I finished crocheting everything!
Interestingly, we always manage to observe some animals during feeding time. This time, we were able to see the otters, although not while they were eating, but playing instead.
May I introduce?
This cute turtle is named Jake and is one of the "starter kits" from Hoooked - and the instructions are error-free!
When fully assembled, it is about 18cm wide and 22cm long. The shell has a diameter of about 12cm.
May I introduce?
These magical unicorns are named Pink, Bubble Gum, Nara, and Nora and were crocheted according to a pattern from Hoooked.
Once they were fully sewn together, they are approximately 14cm tall and 13cm wide.
Outside it is snowing and in our apartment, the black-pink lumberjacket is being finished. The yarn for the jacket was organized through a pick-up service during the lockdown.
Fortunately, we were able to go back to the store and browse all possible buttons.
What does a woman do when she has freezing cold feet all winter long?
She crochets a pair of socks, then another pair two sizes bigger, fills the space with filling material, and sews it all up. Voila, the super-duper-warm socks are ready!
How often have you read in a pattern that you should mark a stitch or row? I think I haven't had a single pattern without at least one mention of these markers.
In this post, I want to show you the types of markers I know and explain what I appreciate about each of them.
In the cold months of the year, I noticed I do a lot less photography than in the summer. But, does that mean I’m lazy in the winter? Probably, but still, I do a lot of creative stuff! I love to crochet and painting and other creative stuff. And since this day, I will share my projects with you - and hope you enjoy them as I do.
May I introduce?
This cute cow is named Kirby and is one of the "starter kits" from Hoooked - if you need help with the instructions, read on!
When finished, it is approximately 19cm tall, 17cm wide and 14cm deep.
Especially with large crochet projects, you often have to repeat the same pattern over several rows, for example, R1-10: 1sc in each st.
What method do you use to keep track of your progress? I know and use three different methods.
A little heart in his arms shall increase the cuteness factor of Elephant Mo - after all, we want him to make a good impression!
I wasn't satisfied with any pattern I found online. After some experimenting, I now have a pattern for cute little hearts.
If you have ever worked on a larger project, for example a sweater, then you surely know:
yarn ball one, yarn ball two...
balls of yarn everywhere!
I was asked to write some general blog posts about different NLP topics. This is the third one:
An overview how machines are translating human speech into written text.
I was asked to write some general blog posts about different NLP topics. This is the second one:
A non-technical explanation why we would love to have natural language interfaces for databases, and why we are not there yet.
This year, I went to the mountains more often than usual to keep my great-aunt company - although the circumstances are sad, the visits were always a happy occasion.
May I introduce?
This cute elephant's name is Mo and he's one of the "Starter Kits" from Hoooked.
When sewn together, he's approximately 23cm tall and 18cm wide.
I was asked to write some general blog posts about different NLP topics. This is the first one:
Why it is important to have a customized model if you are using machine translation in your company.
Beautiful fall weather with colorful foliage and blue skies drew us to the banks of the Limmat.
While the walk was on the shorter side and the start along the highway a bit noisy, it was worth it and provided a lovely respite.
We had a wonderful autumn day at Zoo Zurich. Luckily, we were able to watch the snow leopards being fed and there was plenty of animal activity going on.
This year everything is different, even the vacations. Fortunately, Switzerland is such a beautiful country and there are so many beautiful places we haven't visited yet.
While having the car checked, we explored the area and then head towards Lake Thun!
May I introduce?
The cute zebra on the right is named Zizi and already has two siblings.
When sewn together, they are about 14cm tall and 18cm wide.
During my studies I was told that a good lemmatizer uses PoS tags (and vica versa). A few weeks ago, I saw first hand what the impact is if the lemmatizer does not use PoS-tags in German.
Because it was a quite interesting finding, I wrote a blog post about it!
Python provides two different ways to create a dictionary: dict() and {}.
I prefer dict() when creating empty dictionaries to improve readability.
In this post, I want to check the performance across different usages and not only initialization.
Finally, a new NLP blog post!
This time I wrote about the challenges of lists of compositions: a great invention to shorten your lists, but really painful during automated analysis.
The built-in functions all() and any()are nice and if the comparison is small, they are easy understandable. But how do they perform? Should we use them at all if our code needs to be fast?
Let me share my findings when I did some performance tests.
In the last two years, I didn’t do much on my page - sorry for that!
The page was only focused purely on photography, something I wanted to change for a long time. Now, some nice side effect of Covid-19, I had finally time for a do-over and introduce this new version with new possibilities!
Europe is slowly getting a grip on the Corona situation, but it is still better to stay in one's own country.
However, everyone still needs vacation time, and Switzerland is a beautiful country! That's why this year, vacations will be spent close to home.
The Bruderhaus Wildlife Park is located in Winterthur and has an interesting selection of animals.
We had a lot of fun and recommend it, but definitely only for early risers, otherwise all parking spots are gone!
The Vivarium Tablat is small and very beautiful. It focuses on the diversity of native amphibians and reptiles.
First visit to the newly opened Lewa Savanna and we were very lucky:
The rhinos, giraffes, and zebras were very close!
I always thought that medical reports have a clear language and use certain, highly specific terms.
Now that I work with radiology reports, I’m amazed with the creativity used to describe a single pathology.
Very, very short visit to visit our favorite animals, the red pandas.
I started working with radiology reports at Balzano Informatik AG.
I wrote my first NLP blog post where I explain what our task is and which challenges we will have to solve.
The Zoo Zürich is the zoological garden of Zurich. It was opened in 1929 and is located above the city on the Zurichberg.
2020 was our first year with annual passes - and many short visits and great little moments.
One year, four visits to Disentis and the surrounding area.
I love the Swiss Alps, and especially this area.
When is the ideal time to go on vacation in Japan? Apparently, two days after the most devastating typhoon in 60 years hit the main island of Japan...
At least we knew afterwards that I needed a new rain jacket - always look at the bright side of life!
We have decided to take a long weekend as a "trial vacation" in Scotland to find out if we really like the country, and behold, we do! Even though Edinburgh can be a bit touristy...
After many years of break, it was finally time again for a photoshoot with Nyctea!
This time, the desired theme is "Vikings".
I've been to Japan in the winter and during cherry blossom season in the spring. Four years later, it was time for summer: from Osaka to Hiroshima, then to Kyūshū, and finally Nagasaki and Huis Ten Bosch.
And yes, the weather was pleasantly warm!
The Papiliorama in Kerzers is known for its butterfly dome: Inside the dome, over 1,000 exotic butterflies fly freely around visitors in a lush tropical garden.
I become like a little child in a candy store every time I visit!
Student life has its beautiful sides: another long weekend to travel!
This time the trip went to Leipzig.
Zoo Leipzig is one of the best zoos in Europe and the best zoo in Germany. And with a size of 26 hectares, you can walk your feet flat.
How did my mother convince me to take a second vacation to Iceland?
With puffins!!!
And yes, she really had to convince me, the sulfur smell in Iceland is not my thing...
Thanks to the SBB offer, another short trip over the weekend, this time to Venice.
This small, hidden butterfly house is basically the mini version of Papiliorama and is definitely worth a visit!
With an InterRail pass, we embarked on a 10-day city trip from Nuremberg to Prague to Vienna.
Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna is the oldest existing zoo in the world. We visited it during our city trip and found it really great!
My parents took us to Essaouira to celebrate my successful Bachelor's degree. We didn't get to sleep in, but it was still an interesting and relaxing vacation.
What you discover when you have visitors and want to entertain them... That includes the Skulpturenweg Reinach sculpture path in the neighborhood!
A short weekend trip to Bellinzona. On the first day, we climbed up to the two castles, and on the second day, we made a detour to the falconry in Locarno.
A small reenactment group called "Die Bannerlosen" (the bannerless) asked me to take some photos of their group - of course I said yes!
A day trip to castle in Laupen was the plan, but it turned into more of a visit to the village with a stop at the castle.
The weather was also on the stormy side, but fortunately, we didn't get wet.
Crazy day trip with my parents to France to visit the construction site "Guédelon".
Definitely interesting and highly recommended!
Few months after my first trip, I immediately set out for Japan again:
Cherry Blossoms
My first trip to Japan. A beautiful country where I felt really comfortable - of course, I also had a very special tour guide!
The weather was surprisingly good, except when the cold wind added to the cold temperature, it became a little uncomfortable.
What happens when students pay attention in class?
An Ophelia photoshoot at the river!
The aquarium of Genoa is the largest in Europe. We visited it during our long weekend in Genoa, Italy.
A rather spontaneous, long weekend in Genoa, Italy - thanks to a summer promotion by the Swiss Federal Railways. Both Genoa itself and the aquarium were worth visiting.
A short day trip to the Rhine Falls. The Rhine Falls are already very impressive, but we were there at a time when there were additional masses of water - so strong that certain viewing platforms were "undermined."
After the group shooting with the LARP group "Amaroqianer," I stayed in touch with one of the members, and we arranged another photoshoot. This time, the theme was "post-apocalyptic."
I was asked if I was interested in a cosplay photoshoot. Of course, I was!
It was definitely something different, and I am happy with the end result.
Together with my mother and a travel group, we went on a hunt for the Northern Lights. We were lucky: the first day had moderate activity, so we could learn everything important without missing anything. The following nights were when it really started happening. And during the day, we hunted for other things...
Last minute change of plans, not by our own doing, but due to an issue with the SBB:
Instead of riding the Glacier Express on our way to the destination, we ended up zigzagging through Switzerland and missing every single connection - all because of a small issue with the tracks near Dietikon.
A full-day photoshoot with the LARP group "Amaroqianer".
Shooting in the snow in December. We were lucky, it was foggy but "in the background", which actually added to the atmosphere of the pictures - plus there was no freezing wind, so we humans were also happy.
Before the first snow arrived, there was one last autumn photoshoot with a cute Tinker horse and its owner.
Photo shooting with a beautiful Friesian horse and its wonderful owner! The weather was beautiful, so the shoot took up the whole day.
My last short trip before a long period of studying for my exams begins. Together with my mother, we drove along the Rhine and explored various castles - we even stayed in one - until we reached the Burger Zoo at the top in the Netherlands.
In theory, we wanted to see the famouse lavender fields. Unfortunately, we had the kind of luck where we heard "they have already faded" and "they are yet to come" at the same time.
Nonetheless, it was a beautiful weekend in Provence!
Our trip was supposed to be for a single week. A few days for a conference, some days afterwards to enjoy the USA and then back home.
Well, iceland had other plans: We had to add additional days in Bosten. They were cold, wet and unpleasant...
My first trip to Iceland! Our first journey followed the Ring Road, so we saw "a little bit of everything" - with ulterior motives to learn what we like best, for the next time.
However, sulfur fields are definitely not one of them...