I am always hesitant to post before an event as I am sure I will want to share something once it is done. This time is no different. I apologize to be so late in the posting but now that we have arrived home safe and sound, I am free to share with you the latest adventures.
Since the last posting, I have traveled, traveled, and traveled. The first excursion was my own personal holiday. At the last minute, kind of, I was asked to join a dear friend in Hawaii while she was there on business. Her generous gift of sky miles made it possible if I could manage to get stateside. Luckily, there was a Space A hop right outside my back door and I could take it. So take it I did. 28 hours later, I found myself on a beach in Waikiki, Hawaii. So far from the -3 degree gray weather that I constantly was pinching myself. One full week was just not enough time to soak up more sunshine. I laid on the sand, snorkeled in coves, swam with Giant Sea Turtles, watched Giant Whales breach the surface, and sailed next to Spinner Dolphins. Of course, I did manage to get a bit of knitting done as well. But if you can see the big black ship over my right shoulder and can guess that it is indeed the 'Black Pearl' from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series, than you would be guessing correctly. Cool, huh?
On the flight over, I cranked out a Ruffle Bandwagon Scarf. I call it that because right now it is the craze here with EVERYONE having at least 2. Plus, they are stupid easy. It is not really even knitting. At least in the traditional sense. And quick. So those of us with ADD, have no fear. Your scarf will be done before you can even think to become bored. Bonus- only 1 skein needed.
The second leg of the journey, I managed to start and finish a Potato Chip scarf. Rightly named due to the fact you rarely can knit just one. The problem I had with mine was, I didn't really like the yarn. Too much acrylic. Worse- I only purchased 3 skeins. That might seem like a lot of yarn, but each skein had only 87 yards. Bulky yards. And I was in Hawaii. I purchased the yarn in Aachen. It turned out VERY short. Done. But not at all what I wanted. So, no more potato chips for me.
(I thought I had a photo ready, but alas- I don't. Instead, here is a better picture to hold its spot for when one is done. Thank you for your patience.)
Remember me telling you about my visit with Meg in Saarbrüken? I had just finished my Ice Queen Wimple and she fell in love with it. But blue just doesn't do her justice.So, I took it back. Promised her a green one (with a yellow tint). Well, don't say I don't keep my promises, because here it is. And even better than the first. I'm really quite pleased with the second even more than the one I am keeping. I chose a dark emerald green with gold foiled lining as the accompanying beads. That I think is what makes the cowl. I've already mailed it to her, I'm just awaiting confirmation that it has been received.
All that knitting was done in Hawaii. But what I have done since then? Let me tell you. We drove down to Heidelberg to visit Dude's grandmother. At almost 91, the decision was finally made to move her into a Senior Assisted Living Home. I really do think it is for the best, but it was very difficult for the brothers to make the decision and then find one that her doctor will still attend to. As we drove down, of course, it was my opportunity to begin a new project. And I did. And I finished it as well. A wonderful new cowl from Dream in Color and their February Dream of the Month yarn. The pattern was fantastically written and the yarn perfect accompaniment. Knocked it right out of the park. I must say, photographing red is proving to be a bit difficult. You cannot rightly see the wonderful cables that pop in person.
Once we returned from Heidelberg, it was crunch time. Our flight for the next week was o'dark hundred Saturday morning and I'd five people I needed to pack up for. Flying Ryan Air is always an adventure and I wanted to minimize the trauma of such chaos by packing extremely light. The week of course became one of the craziest it has been since moving here. I began teaching again so I had classes three days that week on top of all the other regular scheduled activities. No knitting for me was done. But planning I did. And packing I did. So I packed what I planned.
While in Italy, we managed to hit several of the highlights: Pisa, De Vinci's home, Rome, Montalcino, Chiusi, and the highlight (at least for me) was going to Narni (in Roman times the city was called Narnia. Yes- THAT Narnia was indeed based off of THIS Narnia. I'm still so excited to have actually been there.)
And while I was looking out windows and riding trains, I was knitting a wonderfully easy pattern called Owlie Sleep Sack. It's a newborn contraption. NOT for us, but for our landlords who are expecting another grandchild. New babies are great to knit for. That was started and finished on that trip.
So, dear friends, you can see that I have not been slacking on posting for lack of content to share, but only out busy making content to share. And on that note, I will leave you with a couple of photos to show you what great times were had.
Keep Knitting.
P.S.- I spoke of this knit in my last post but had not included photos of the finished item. Well, here it is. The Dipped Infinity Scarf Find Me A River kit from Sunshine Yarns. Dani does a fantastic job. I knit it up and donated it to the American Spouses Club Charity Auction. I believe the final bid price was 65 Euros. Not bad....
