Hello! My name is Tabea Katharina. I started this blog as a place to post about knitting and sewing. It gradually expanded to include the books I read, the food I cook and bake, and my little roof garden.
I’ve been a bad blogger this year, haven’t I? There are reasons for the lack of posts, and I’ll reveal them in time, but for now I want to repost a finished version of this post that went online half-done. 1. Werke in zwei Bänden, Band I – Peter Bamm I was given Peter Bamm’s…
Read moreIt’s sometimes very comforting to repeat yourself. I’ve made this pattern for my uncle many times. I’ve made them with two colours as intended. I’ve made them with one colour, in moss stitch, with a twist at the top. It’s safe to say: I like knitting these socks, he likes wearing them. It’s a win-win…
Read moreLet’s talk about mainstream indie rock in the 2000s! Remember the times when music bands sounded like they had just played around with their guitar in their mum’s garage, looked performatively grubby and smelly, and constructed their name by combining the English article “the” and the item closest to them at that moment? Phil and…
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It’s the last day of 2023. It’s time to look back at my creative projects and the changes in my personal life this year. Honestly all I have to say about 2023 in general is this: Crafting 2023 Once again, I finished only a few projects this year. I knitted socks for my uncle, and…
Read moreStarterities is my downfall. Now that my enthusiasm about a new project (and stripes!) has died down, knitting progress has slowed down as well. Not even the stripes get me that excited anymore … I’m still plotting along, but I’ve finished the bigger front and back pieces in less time than I’ve needed for the…
Read moreI’m still successfully knitting stripes! In my previous post about this sweater I showed you the finished back and half of the front. I took a break from knitting for a couple of days because the edge stitch kept slipping of the needle. I had to go back about four stripes, and I felt slightly…
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Rentals in Germany can be a specific kind of hell. Why? Because they sometimes come without a kitchen. Yes, you read that right. You rent an apartment, and then you have to buy a kitchen for it. Before I go on, I want to say that I love our little cozy nest. We were lucky…
Repairing, and thereby prolonging the lifespan of your garments, is an integral part of a sustainable wardrobe. It should be on every single one of the gazillion How to Build a Sustainable Wardrobe posts, and it’s honestly shocking that it isn’t. I guess it’s probably less glamourous than buying another piece from a trendy, yet…
I think we can all agree that 2022 was a shit year, but in comparison to 2021 it came with a mild upswing in my crafting output! Not that this matters much in a global perspective, but. You know. You gotta celebrate the little things. At the beginning of the year, I finished two WIPs…
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I’ve started working on the Oh Sew Bootiful Winter Flowers embroidery kit. The name alone gives away that this isn’t seasonally appropriate, as do the flowers on the pre-printed fabric, but I figure I’ll at least finish it in time for winter! To be honest, I’ve owned this kit for a while. In fact, I’ve…
Read moreI finished my embroidered strawberry wreath! Since this was basically my first embroidery project, it definitely had its ups and downs. All in all, it was so much fun! However, I struggled in some parts, and I’m somewhat unhappy with the way some of my stitches look. I’m sure I’ll get better in the future,…
Read moreI’m obsessed with embroidery right now. In fact, it takes all my willpower to not buy all the cute embroidery kits I can get my hands on. I love most of the kits by Rico Design, to say nothing of the cornucopia of adorable Stardew Valley cross stitch patterns like this one on Etsy. I…
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Yesterday, I cooked a duck breast that was fucking delicious. I will never make this recipe again. First things first: I’d consider myself a decent cook, but I struggle with menus. To be honest, I lack the executive skill to juggle that many interconnected task at the same time and in the correct order. Then…
Read moreI haven’t been in the right headspace to celebrate or even acknowledge fall this year, but this week I decided to something nice for myself and bake a pumpkin pie. To be honest, it’s only in the past few years that I discovered how delicious pumpkin was in both sweet and savoury meals! We never…
Read moreCheesecake isn’t my favourite. There, I said it. Yet I’m surrounded by people who actually love cheesecake. That means that I bake cheesecake more than my own favourite (marble cake for example). Luckily I found a simple and delicious recipe that I can whip up in no time but still gets lots of compliments.
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I could eat pasta everyday. It’s so versatile! I love classics like bolognese or carbonara, or the ever-so-slightly objectionable puttanesca. Mmmh, puttanesca. I was recently absolutely obsessed with simple spaghetti alio oglio pomodore e prezzemolo (spaghetti with garlic, oil, tomatoes, and parsley). However, I also love off-beat recipes that aren’t classically Italian. One of my…
Read moreGardening is something I love and loathe at the same time. I loathe it because I don’t even really have a garden. I just have a terrace garden, an urban garden, call it what you will. That means there obviously isn’t much room for gardening. Little space and plants growing in pots sadly means that…
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We’ve arrived in midsummer, the time were it’s simply gorgeous to spent time in our roof garden. Now that I’ve repotted all my seedlings, I mostly have to maintain. That means watering and fertilizing the plants, cutting dead leaves and sweeping the floor every once in a while. Thankfully we didn’t have any major plant…
Read moreThese are sad times. I’ve been working overtime to use my coping skills so I can keep it together. It isn’t helpful for anyone if I’m stressed and overwhelmed. I try to keep away from obsessive and negative thought patterns – we’re doing everything we can to help Marchesa, but many things are obviously out…
Read moreMay has been so rainy and cold so far that I’ve been procrastinating working on our roof garden. Additionally I felt demotivated because most of my herb seedlings didn’t make it this year. 🙁 Curiously, the veggie and fruit plants have been thriving. On the top right of my raised bed you can see the…
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I have a lot of books. Some (cough, mom, cough, MIL) might even say I have too many books. They’re wrong, of course. However, I promised Phil when we moved in together that I’d keep my book hoard contained within three bookshelves. It’s not like I never let go of books! In fact, I put…
Read moreThis month I read some really weird shit. Well, I guess it was only this one book really, but it contained enough weird shit for several lifetimes. But hey, I’m really close to my goal of reading 52 books in 2023! 43. Justine – Marquis de Sade [CN: sexual assault, child abuse, violence] Surprisingly, this…
Read moreI’m back from my unplanned break from this blog! I don’t believe in toxic positivity so I’ll just say that I’m in the middle of a bad depressive phase. I’m not okay, but I will be again some day. That said, I read a couple of very interesting books in the meantime, so without further…
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’tis the time … when everyone and their mother posts about their Spotify Wrapped on social media. Obviously I have to jump on the bandwagon! My Top Songs and Artists 2023 Ruby Ibarra has been my at the top of my song list with “US” and “Taking Names” for years. She and Rocky Rivera are…
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There was one thing our vacation needed to be this year, I told Philip: relaxing. I started a new job, I’m on the finishing line of my PhD, plus our cat’s sickness has made for one very stressful year so far. In a nutshell, I need rest. We had been thinking of doing a city…
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Phil and I created a summertime themed playlist together, and here’s why: As a couple, doing projects together strengthens the relationship. We’ve been under a lot of pressure lately taking care of our sick cat. She’s somewhat stable now, and we’re thankful for every day we can spent with her. Obviously, it’s been an emotional…
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We’re back from our vacation in France. It was truly magical! I fell in love with the wine region Beaujolais and its tiny villages scattered among vineyards. The region isn’t very touristic except for people who visit specifically for the wine, so it’s really quiet and peaceful there. Perfect for us! Living in a chateau…
Read moreMy mom recently came back from three months in the Philippines! She’d attended an huge family reunion she’d organized with a few cousins and renovated her late mother’s house. Even though she was busy as a bee, she still took time to find some beautiful gifts to bring home to us. We’re so excited about…
Read moreWelcome to the second part of my Vienna travel diary! You can find the first part here and the post with my initial plans for this trip here. This post is about cake, second hand shopping and two huge splurges! LET ME HAVE CAKE If you visit Vienna, you obviously have to go to the…
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May your days be filled with happiness and peace, and bring you new adventures and good fortunes! We’ve had a quiet New Year’s Eve at home. Honestly, I’d have loved to go to a New Year’s Eve party, but I absolutely will not leave Oscar alone on that evening. Luckily he’s really chill about the…
Read moreYou were the best kitty girl, Marchesa. You were the ray of sunshine on the darkest days. You were a fighter, neither Oscar’s grumpiness nor your sickness could stop you from taking on the day. Every insect and bird that made the mistake to cross the borders of your kingdom regretted it for the nanosecond…
Read moreEndings and beginnings are hard for me. I’m a sentimental and very anxious person. But I handed in my notice at my minimum wage job at the afterschool daycare, and I started a new parttime job in Stuttgart. Between financial worries . are we going to be able to afford our upcoming utility bill? -…
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