I love Germany. One set of my grandparents came from Germany to the U.S. when they were in their 20’s, and lived here the rest of their lives. I grew up with family picnics full of German-speaking relatives (although they all learned English very well over here.) Being in Germany with the accents and language, reminds me of many fond memories of my heritage and from my growing up years. It’s always fun to be over there. Even more so, because I love visiting Claudia and her family! Here’s a picture of Claudia and her husband Andreas. Their town has a Folk Fest each year after the Hops Harvest is over, and we went over there for dinner the first night I was there.
There were plenty of places serving good food and providing fun entertainment.
My favorite thing to do when I visit Claudia? I love going to her workshop and seeing the whole dyeing and finishing process. All that beautiful Wollmeise yarn! (And her very sweet employees, who do their best to understand my English.) I packed up a few orders – hope I didn’t mess any up. I also love visiting her store and usually find reasons to “need” to go there almost every day that I’m in town. 🙂 Here’s the outside. It sits next to a little Turkish grocery.
Inside, the cubbies are full of all colors of Wollmeise. Here’s the Pure/Twin wall.
And the “We are Different” and DK wall.
The cubbies in front have the lace yarn.
Claudia’s store is open 2-3 weekends per month, and she typically posts the schedule for the whole year at the beginning of the year so that people can plan ahead. She has so many shoppers come from out of town. (Are you heading to Germany any time soon? Can you plan a trip to her shop in Pfaffenhofen? It’s so worth it! Less than an hour’s drive from Munich.)
We also took a day trip for shopping in Rebensberg, where I found a few fun things. Then we had coffee at a little shop called “Anna, Who Loves Bread and Coffee”. How could you not stop there?
I think Germany is such a pretty country to fly into. The entire place is GREEN and lush looking, and most of the houses have red roofs, which really pop in all of that green. So pretty.
Claudia and Andreas have a new kitty named Xaverl and he was fun to play with while I was there. He has the run of their back yard during the day. Their yard is gorgeous – like a huge garden, complete with paths and ponds. Xaverl was always chasing or pouncing on something back there, and having a ball.
I did bring home a bit of yarn. It’s not possible to be in her shop and not pick up some skeins for yourself. It just calls out to you. Loudly. And I was so inspired by all of the knitters in her shop who were wearing handknit sweaters. We have a lot of shoppers come in with scarves or shawls they have knit, but not as many come in wearing sweaters. It seems like almost everyone I saw in Claudia’s shop was wearing a handknit sweater. It really made me want to buckle down and make some sweaters. I know my history in finishing them isn’t so good, but there’s no reason that can’t change, right? So Funky Grandpa is at the top of my list. (Gabriele was there knitting one of the days I was there, wearing hers. It was beautiful. And wow – I was just looking at some of her other projects. Look at this sweater she made. I need to knit sweaters.)
While I was gone, I shared a blog post with the Nuvem I had made out of Wollmeise Lace, and offered someone a skein of Spice Market lace to make their own. (Already wound. And with 1700+ yards in a skein of Wollmeise Lace, that’s also a gift! Ha!) I used the random number generator and the winner is: Claire P. in CA. We’ll get this shipped right out to you, Claire!
So, should I finish the second Nuvem I have going (out of Wollmeise Lace Oohm), or the Infinity Cowl I started in Germany (out of Wollmeise Lace in some teal/green color that means “beetle”) before starting in on my sweater? That would be the responsible thing to do. But then I’d have 3 different projects in current progress. I probably need a Camp Loopy Challenge where I just knit the sweater for a month.
Good news – we were notified that we made it to Round Two in the quest for a Super Bowl ad! We have a few things to complete in the next three weeks for them. Voting is open again. We’ll keep you posted!
Sheri reallyonlyloyaltooneprojectatatimeduringCamp.
That’sprobablynotgoingtochange.
Wow! Be Still My Heart! Look at all that Wollmeise. What a glorious sight! I would most certainly come home with … a few…… DOZEN! Customs would look at me like a nutcase.
Glad you had fun and glad you are home safe.
Yay on round 2!!
How fun to spend time with Claudia and her husband and kitty in Germany. It looks simply wonderful there. My daughter just started studying German so maybe we’ll have a reason to go there sometime.
Do a DK sweater! There are so many good ones out there.
Sheri,
How about a kit for funky grandpa?
Please 🙂
The pictures of your trip are beautiful! I love seeing sweet Claudia and her husband. Now I wish I were Xavier! That is one lucky kitty! Someday would love to visit the shop in Germany. I would finish the project you have started then to Funky Grandpa! Focus!
My only comment on works in progress is that does appear to be a correlation between number of works in progress…and the speed at which they are completed.
Yay! Voting every day. Congrats!
Great idea to do a Funky Grandpa kit! Love!
Maybe a sweater challenge after the Holidays? I notice you collect kitty friends wherever you go. >^^<
I’m going to vote daily going forward. I really want to see you win!
There’s the elusive Claudia! Nice to put a face to the famous name and brand.
Our local knitting group was planning a trip to Germany round about this time but the whole outsourcing of Schengen visa application threw a spanner in the works and now we can’t everyone’s schedule to align.
There’s always next year.
I’ve missed your blog. Not having Google Reader has messed up my blog reading.
AWESOME! I would love to go to Germany just to see Wollmeise HEAVEN!
I think you are inspiring to add Funky Grandpa to my list of must knits! My suggestion is to start it and then have these smaller projects to work on when you need a little break from the big project.
Need details about the gorgeous knit scarf Claudia is wearing in her picture! Awesome colors.
I caught the ‘2nd round voting’ button and have been using it daily. Good luck! And yowzah about those walls of Wollmeise…. Lucky you!
Hi Jennifer – that’s the Nuvem that inspired me to make my own! But I can’t remember which color of Wollmeise Lace she used for that.
Jocelyn – I know what you mean about losing Google Reader! I switched over to Feedly.com and it has been working very well for the blog I read.
We went to Germany two years ago. We drove from Munich up to Trier and through the Mosel to Frankfurt. It’s our favorite vacation in history. I kick myself for not finding out about Wollmeise until after we got back. I was sooooo close!!
Your photos have inspired me to make gloves from my precious stash of Wollmeise. I love listening to the German language because the sound of it is similar to my Native language of Lakota. I was in Germany years and years ago (before the wall came down), and loved it. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to visit again.
Oh, meant to add: Congrats on Round Two!
Your pics are so tempting and I would love to see it all in person. Hey, Sheri, how about sponsoring a tour? Hah,hah,
Making a sweater is awesome. Pick one that you really like that’s withiin your ability. Use the gorgeous Wollmeise DK. How could you not want to finish?
Why don’t we have a sweater challenge? It’s the time of year to start.
Sheri: It looks like you had such a fun time in Germany. Funky Grandpa went into my queue. I often feel that I queue sweaters rather than knitting them. I still haven’t started the Grace that I bought the lovely String Theory fingering for at Spring Fling. How about a challenge that is just a personal challenge to us “pretend” sweater knitters. Going from, say, October 15 to Christmas. No prizes or work on The Loopy Ewe’s part except for some cheering on. Pick a sweater pattern and actually knit it. How novel!
You mean you “only” have 3 projects going at once??
I am leaving on a trip to Germany in November and found your info helpful. I really was looking for the yarn I would find in Germany, Thanks for the info.
Linda Robbins