Memories but no Pictures

I just bought a book online, a collection of essays by Linda Ligon. I bought it partially for the title "This is How I Go When I Go Like This", but mostly because I remember her most fondly from my weaving days. I had a lovely loom and was crazy-happy about weaving in the 1980s-1990s, and Linda was the editor of Handwoven magazine, my favorite of all magazines at that time. When I sold my loom three years ago, it was a little hard to let go (I still have an inkle loom down in the cellar for weaving someday again). And I was also left with boxes and boxes of weaving yarn - some I sold, some I gave away, and some was suitable for knitting (the basis of my current stash). I also sold all my copies of Handwoven. I remember that I loved the way Linda thought and wrote, and I'm looking forward to reading her work again. And such a great title!

Passau, Cobblestones to Steeple

We are on the wider Danube now, traveling toward Passau. This was early in the morning, with a touch of fog.

The old gate guards the entrance to the city. The town hall is decorated with beautiful frescoes on pink stucco.

One of the many churches - this one is a rather playful pink and white.

This is one of my favorite pictures - it illustrates the birth of cobblestone streets. In the foreground you can see the completed cobblestone pattern, while behind it are the stones and the sand. I love these patterned streets and alleys - so much prettier than asphalt!

Here's a typical town square.

And as usual, the cathedral is undergoing repair. There was scaffolding on almost every church we saw.

The inside was fabulous. This is St. Stephen's Cathedral, which has the largest church organ in the world - 18,000 pipes. You can see a part of it in this picture.

Here is another picture of the interior of this glorious cathedral. The ceiling was magnificent.

Next, we visit Vienna, and then our trip ends in Budapest. Almost done!

Straubling and Knitting

We had a short time in Straubling, which turned out to be one of my favorite towns of the trip. Here is a view of the town as we approached it, taken from the window of the coach. It's surrounded by farm fields, mostly flat as we went inland from the Danube. Here's the reason I liked the town so much - the beautiful wide promenade, lined with shops and outdoor cafes, and filled with buckets of flowers. It was a lovely warm late afternoon, and we walked up and down, looking in windows and enjoying just being there.

And Mickey D's was there too!Lest I forget this is supposed to be a knitting blog, this is what I'm currently working on. It's a sleeveless vest, and I'm hoping I have enough yarn. I've shortened it a little from the pattern measurements and will eliminate the pockets, so I think I can scrape by. The pattern looks easy, doesn't it, but I can't tell you how many times I've ripped back because I did a purl instead of a knit or vice-versa. I've finally learned I can't do this pattern while reading a book! This is a project that I had put away for a while, but I'm going to finish it for a friend who has been diagnosed with extensive cancer. There are many knitting projects around for prayer shawls, which are made for and given to people will illnesses or other unhappy events, but I think my friend would rather have a prayer scarf. It will be bright and warm for the next two months of winter, and I will hope she has good healing thoughts when she wears it.

Next town up on the trip - Passau.