Soooooo…long time, no see. Sorry, work has been sucking the life out of me and I don’t really have much energy left to do anything, not even knitting. But don’t get me wrong, I actually love my work and especially the Fashion industry.

So, my work decided to put up an event in Ellington Hotel in Berlin as a starter to the year and for us to go to the tradeshows Bread and Butter 2011 as well as to Premium 2011.

So, it wasn’t my very first foray into the fashion scene, but it was my first time being in the middle of it. All I could say is that it was very interesting.

I liked the hotel we were staying in. It was the first time I had an open bath in the room…it’s kinda cool, but I’m not really a fan of it. I still like some privacy. :-p Besides, it does get chilly taking a shower like that. :-p

The first night, we had our event in the hotel, with our clients invited as guests. So after having talked to quite a few people on the phone, it was great to actually finally meet them in person. Although I have to admit that since I had been working there for only three months, I didn’t exactly know that many people yet. Nevertheless, it was great to meet some new people and be able to put real faces to the voices.

The next day was spent at Bread and Butter in the morning and then in the afternoon we went to Premium. Now the Bread and Butter is in the old Tempelhof Airport. Pretty cool…and huge. Apparently, the Tempelhof Airport is the biggest connected buidling in the whole of Europe.

Bread and Butter was divided into different sections…I won’t go into the details though. Suffice to say, I didn’t get around to see all the sections, let alone the stands. But here are some of the impressions:

On the evening of the first tradefair day, my boss and I went to the Escada Sport show – and missed it by the beat – and the after-party, which was kinda okay.

The highlight for me was the last day in Berlin actually. Because that was when I got to go to the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week and went to see the Laurèl Fashion Show. Got to spot some celebs, like Boris Becker. :-p

The Laurèl Show had a live band playing the music throughout, which was really cool. I sat right behind the singer (thank goodness I wasn’t sitting behind the band on the other side, because I would have been sitting righ behind the drumset. I was observing the girl who got that seat. She wasn’t happy at all…got her fingers in her ears the whole time.) I actually really like the music and found out that the band was a Swedish band called “The Sounds“. Ended up getting one of their albums on iTunes. :-p

Interestingly enough, I have always thought of Laurèl being somewhat old-fashion. But the stuff that was shown on the show told me very differently and I actually liked it. They got some nice cowls on those girls.

After the show, I just went around Berlin checking out some stores before heading out to the airport to come back to Munich.

So, that was pretty much what happened in Berlin. Sorry about the somewhat disjointed report, but it’s been a while since the tradefair and quite a bit of stuff has happened since then. I just didn’t have the time to update.

I also went to the ISPO in Munich last weekend out of my own curiosity and to meet a couple of people there, but there isn’t much I could really tell about it.

Then I’m going to Paris this coming Tuesday for work. (Woohoo!) But it’s just for 2 days before I come back to Munich again. But perhaps I might be able to blog a bit about it when I come back….assuming I’m not totally destroyed after the trip. :-p

What I’m looking forward to right now is my first ever real vacation in March. So, you can definitely expect a long report about that, since I’m going to be away for 8 days.

That’s all I have for now. Wishing you all a great start to the coming week!

Start: 12th September 2010
Finish: 5th October 2010
Needles: 5.5 mm Addi Turbo
Yarn: Wolle Roedel “Soft-Merino”; 100% Merino superwash; 100 m / 50 g; colour #393, lot #220; 6 balls
Pattern Cabled Cowl from Lion Brand Yarn
Name: I decided to call this “Prorsum” (lat. “forward”) as a kind of a wink to “Burberry Prorsum”, since a lot of commercial cowls out there that I have seen and like are pretty much from Burberry.

I disappeared again. I know. But I’m still here and with an FO – even though it’s a small one.

Since the fashion world has been introducing cowls (or as they like to call it: Loop-Scarf *gag*) to the general audience for this Fall/Winter 2010 season, I reconsidered my stance on cowls and decided to knit up one for myself.

I knew what I wanted: A big, oversized cowl that I could pull over my head (without ruining my hair – heh, yeah, I know I’m vain sometimes), that will spill out of my coat and show its fabulousness…but more importantly, I didn’t want a cowl that would hug my throat and strangle me (with a scarf, I could always loosen it).

So off I went looking for a pattern in Ravelry when I came across this particular free pattern for a cable cowl that didn’t seem too busy for the pattern and wouldn’t be boring to knit.

The knitting part was pretty straightforward and I got the pattern memorised by the first repeat. It wouldn’t have taken me so long to finish it, but well, other things got in the way….like a new job.

Yes, you heard it right. I disappeared for a whole month because I started a new job.

When I was made redundant, my now ex-boyfriend (yeah, that’s another story, too) and I started looking at all executive search companies out there on the market, both in Munich, nationally and internationally. I remember coming across this one particular company and thought that their website is pretty neat and that it looks like a great place to be working in. Unfortunately, they weren’t hiring, so I kept looking.

I signed up for a job letter over at a well-known German professional networking portal and promptly got suggestions for possible positions. Most of which I applied for but didn’t get far. Until one day that I found this one advertisement for a position as a Research Consultant in the fashion & lifestyle industry and I thought to myself that that would be quite interesting and would fit me a lot better than the automation & automotive sector I was doing before. And so I applied, thinking all the while that I probably will just receive a decline.

When I went to look at their website, it turned out to be that particular place I gushed about before….what a coincidence!

Anyhow, to my surprise, I got invited to an interview, which went down pretty well. Then I got invited to a second interview, doing all these tests bordering on the Mayer-Briggs stuff and the results of which I pretty much knew. Then I got invited to the last interview with the last CEO (there were three of them and one was present at each interview). The last interview – because of the nature of that particular CEO (he’s from the north) – totally made me insecured about getting the job and provided me with a very fitful and sleepless weekend.

However, as you already know, I got the job….and I totally love it. The people there are great, the place is great (the name is pretty well-known in the industry around here – even though we’re not that huge). Work has been pretty stressful lately, but I’m having fun and doing well at it. So, yes, my life in that area seems to be settling down again. (Best thing was that I was effectively redundant only for 2 weeks. Not bad at all.)

But with that came another change. I won’t go into too much details except to only tell that I’m back to being single again. I just got sick of being left on the side too much because he had to deal with himself; I got sick of having to listen to him criticise other people and me on everything – thinking that he is the best in everything -, but at the same time, can’t stomach even the tiniest of criticism himself, etc. etc. There are other things, too….but I don’t think that I want to dish them all up here. Suffice to say that I just got sick of it and decided to go tabula rasa and put everything that was bothering me out in the open. Of course, he just said that I went too far with it and shove everything back at me and blamed everything on me and try to make me feel bad about myself. Oh well, that was his true colour….

…sure I might be doing the same here, but hey, at least I do take the criticisms and try to do something about it.

So, yeah, I’m single again….but thank goodness for my job, it really keeps me busy and keeps my mind off things.

Apart from that, I also took up a new hobby and started learning Irish dance. :-p I thought that since I won’t be so mad like some people and go out jogging in winter, the Irish dance would be a good alternative for my cardio workout.

I’ve been doing that for about four weeks and so far, I just got the basic reel down and not very well even. Seems I just don’t possess that much coordination in my legs. But I’m keeping at it (hey, I already paid) and besides, I’m actually having fun.

And so, the title of the post, “Prorsum”, which is the name I have given to my cowl and which also means “forward” has quite a meaning for me at this time.

Well, that’s all for now. I think that you’re now pretty much updated on what’s going on in my life. Hopefully someone still reads this sporadically updated blog of mine and would have a heart to say hi. :-p

Take care and hopefully I won’t be gone for too long again for the next post.

Start: 14th January 2010
Finish: 21st August 2010
Needles: 3.5 mm and 4 mm Addi Turbo
Yarn: “Saphir” by Bernetta Wolle; 65% new wool, 15% super kid mohair, 20% nylon; Colour #438.02 (beige/natural), dye lot #9006381
Pattern: “Terry’s Pullover” by Carol Feller, from Interweave Knits, Holiday Gifts 2009
Modification: Knitting the sleeves in the round. I really cannot fathom why the designer knitted the body in the round and knitted the sleeves flat (she said it’s easier to join)…but I think that it’s kinda nonsense and seaming down the sleeves totally beats the purpose of this otherwise wonderfully seamless construction….because it’s obvious that it can be done seamlessly.