The weather forecast looks mostly good for the weekend, with just a bit of rain on Saturday morning (and I'll just hope that this won't happen after all). My things are almost all packed and only wait for their transfer into the car, and then I will be on my way to Hanau.

I am usually not planning on any projects for a work weekend, but I hope to get started on a new silk hairnet - since somebody pointed out to me a while ago that the spiral is the way to go, I have planned to abandon the hairnet that I started with that is shown here due to a mistake in the cast-on loop count. So for this weekend, I hope to get started with a new, more accurate version of the net, again worked with very fine silk thread - and this time definitely worked in spirals.

Of course, if that should not be possible due to some unforeseen things, I have a few other demonstration craft pieces with me. Whatever happens, I will not be bored - and neither will the people stopping to have a look at my things!

It finally feels as if summer has well and truly come to stay - we are having hot days, warm nights and a good measure of thunderstorms. And we still enjoy the surprises our garden supplies...

There are different amounts of all kinds of plants in the different beds, and most of them have just finished blooming or are about to start. There's some sort of reed-like or grass-like plant that blooms with a slightly purplish blue - but the blossoms open only when it rains or when a lot of dew is still around. There's a foxglove in white, a rose that is still preparing for its heyday, and a few other plants that are about to flower soon. We have an elderberry bush, and the strawberry plants also seem to do nicely and are hard at work making strawberries. In addition to these "proper" plants, we also have a lot of stuff in the garden beds that would usually be classified as "weeds" - but since they are nice, small, flowering plants that cover the ground and look okay, they stay in until something else will take their place. And there are some really, really tough and sturdy plants - the chives that grow no matter what, the dwarf thyme in the lawn that is determined to take over the rest of the lawn too and enters into battle against the trefoil and the daisies, and last but not least some lemon balm that was left in a crack between two stones and is now readjusting to a more normal place to grow.

Sturdy plants and the "it's not a weed if we like its look" approach make for very relaxed gardening, by the way...

I am somehow still struggling to get the heap on my desk a little smaller. Meanwhile, some new ideas and half-finished projects are queing up in my life. Has anybody got a second pair of hands and a second brain to spare? Or tips on more efficiency? Because I think I am in the trap that I despise most: brain-lag time.

Brain-lag time are those days (or weeks, even) where nothing seems to get finished and I have the feeling that I am only dragging my feet, no matter what. All things take (seemingly) all eternity to do or I imagine that they will be no use after all, so they sit and sit around before getting tackled, and there's a bunch of additional stuff that needs to be done that is stacking up and up and up. And letting all that stacking happen is dangerous, because it might lead to that feeling of being totally overwhelmed and not able to cope with all the situation. I know that just saying "aaargh!" and burying one's head in the sand is no help at all, but sometimes it is tempting. I have learned by now that these brain-lag times are perfectly normal and just occur from time to time, but they still make me very, very nervous - especially since they have an awful sense of timing and occur whenever they are worst. (Or maybe they are always worst because of their nature? Just like there's no good time to fall ill?)

So... if you know this symptom and have any techniques that you use successfully to cope with brain-lag time, I'd be very happy to learn about them!

The next medieval event is coming up - I'll be away together with Nobilitas at the Lamboy-Fest in Hanau the coming weekend.

Which means... that the time has come to prepare some more gold thread for sale by winding it on spools. And to check if everything I will need at the Fest is clean and in good condition, and pack all the demonstration stuff as well as the goods to sell.

And probably buy some sturdy nails as additional tent pegs, just in case... because last year, getting pegs into the ground there was not at all easy, and the TGV definitely needs pegs or it won't stand at all. And then I hope that the weather will be fine and that the Turkish club who sold the most amazingly yummy food last year is there again!

My book now has a larger review out - over at huscarl.at. It's a very positive review, so I'm very happy.

If you read German (or just want to have a look at a photo of me), you can go read it here.

I find it amazing again and again - the things that can happen if you hop around on the internet.

Yesterday night, we laughed about a pun involving the Krebs Cycle (citric acid cycle). Then - by looking that one up in Wikipedia - we stumbled over a page that lists biochemistry songs. Folks! Biochemistry songs! With lyrics detailing how the Krebs cycle goes, or the respiratory cycle, or whatever! Can it get geekier than that? I wrote a few filks in my life, but I never thought of doing a science-y songtext.

Needless to say, we went to bed far later than intended. Go waste your time too: Here's the site we found yesterday, and here's a link page to lots of other science songs.
And while I'm at it, if you are planning to write a murder mystery book, here's a hint from author Parnell Hall, also wrapped in a song. With gruesome pics.

The programme and workshop programme for the Textile Forum 2010 are finally finished, and we are happy to present a very varied and interesting week. Topics for workshops range from Stone-Age Twining Techniques to Norwegian Twined Knitting and from Estonian One-Piece Shoes to Filet Netting - many fascinating possibilities to learn a technique or two that you are not yet familiar with. For the evenings, we have planned a panel discussion about the question "what makes a textile?", plus several very interesting lectures. Inbetween, there is of course plenty of time to talk about textiles and textile techniques with the other participants.

The Forum will take place from 6.-12 September 2010 at the Archeoparc Museum in South Tyrol, Italy. Conference fee for the whole week, including full board and lodgings in a two- to six-bed-bedroom (with shower and toilet ensuite), is 350 Euro; workshops cost 40 Euros (plus in some cases a few Euros for materials).
We still have a few places left, so if you would like to have a thoroughly textile week with us, go to www.textileforum.org to register - or if you know somebody who might be interested, please pass this on!