Knits Now and Then

Armada Hotel in Istanbul

2012-01-26T06:29:00.001-08:00

The Armada was a delightful small hotel on the Asian side of Istanbul, situated between the Blue Mosque and the Sea of Marmara. In the center of the lobby was a fountain, surrounded by turtles swimming around in the water and climbing on rocks. The Armada also had birdcages scattered about - this large one with finches was near the breakfast buffet (seen below).The dining area was situated on the rooftop, with a view of the Blue Mosque in the near distance. On the other side of the dining area was a view of the Sea of Marmara. These two photos were taken in the early morning. A short walk brought us to the rocky shore. A cruise ship can be seen leaving, again in the early morning. Very little graffiti was seen in Istanbul. This is one of the few spotted, more like art than graffiti.This view of the Blue Mosque from the dining area was taken at dusk. We could hear the muezzins calling to prayer while we ate.

Adventures with Vitamin D

2012-01-24T11:47:00.000-08:00

Vitamin D is the (unexplained) name of the cardigan presently on my needles. I loved the pattern when I saw another Guild member wearing it, and I like to knit these kind of structured garments. But I can't seem to do it without ripping it up more than once. So far, I've had to frog large sections of this one.

It's worked top-down and I got as far as the arm split and a quarter of the way down the first sleeve when I thought it might be a good idea to try it on. Conclusion - armholes too tight. So I ripped back the sleeve and put another couple of inches around and tried it on again. This time it fit better, but I noticed I'd make a mistake in the sixth row of yarn-over increases in the back. Could I live with this? Not me! So I ripped up a good two inches around of the whole thing, fixed the mistakes, knitted some more rows, noticed another mistake in the yarn-overs, ripped back again and knitted back up. The yarn-overs still are still a tiny bit uneven but really no-one but me or another compulsive perfectionist knitter will ever know. I can live with it.

Leaving Ephesus

2012-01-22T12:53:00.000-08:00

This is the Pine Bay Resort Hotel, where we spent two nights in the Ephesus/Kusadasi area. our room is somewhere on the fourth level.The view from the ledge near our room. There were two swimming pools, which would have been delightful after a hot day out touring, but they were shut down at 6:00 PM - can you believe!The variety and abundance of food at the buffet was truly impressive - this photo shows about a tenth of what was available. After visiting the ruins of the city of Ephesus, we took a short detour to the sanctuary of Artemis. This was one of the "Seven Wonders of the World", but little is left now. The photo shows some of the excavations. All we could actually see were a few scattered column bases. And one remaining column. This photo was taken from the window of the plane, as we left Kusadasi on our way to Istanbul.

Ephesus Museum

2012-01-22T07:13:00.000-08:00

This museum displayed antiquities which were taken from their original sites at Ephesus. A few frescoes saved, but mostly sculptures.Six statues and two people. This one looks like he just woke up and is surprised to see so many people. The remnants of this frieze are similar to the Elgin Marbles taken from the Parthenon and now in London.Head and hand - one of my favorites.and a sweet small statue of Eros/Cupid with rabbit. This powerful image of the goddess Artemis was spectacular. Behind the museum was a garden with a mosaic floor. One of the adjacent exhibits was of a typical weaving room. And here we are, with all of Turkey on the wall behind us.

Fabulous Ephesus

2012-01-21T12:42:00.000-08:00

I purchased the guidebook on Ephesus, because it's just too huge and overwhelming for a few pictures to do it justice. The site itself has over 5000 years of history, and is said to be the best preserved ancient site in the world. Excavations are still ongoing. The city began to dwindle around 500 AD, as a result of three devastating earthquakes and the gradual silting up of the river that had made Ephesus an important harbor.

We started at the top and walked slowly downward about a mile through the ruins, with our coach picking us up at the bottom. This is the entrance to the temple of Hadrian. This is the entrance to one of the baths.Cats were everywhere - this one is gazing curiously at Steve's hat. Many inscriptions are still visible, including this on the top of the arch.The hillside shows the foundations of sumtuous private homes.The street winds down the hill toward the sea. The crowds began arriving as the day went on. Not a cloud in the ever-present blue sky, and very hot (as was our entire trip).
The two-story facade of the Library of Celsus is still standing. This lovely marble statue is inside the library. A marble carving of a Christian era guardian angel.This is the "theatre gymnasium", a stadium used for a variety of events, with baths on the left.
This street led down to the harbor. Looking back, we can see the stadium cut into the hillside.

Turkish Homes

2012-01-20T07:11:00.001-08:00

This is a solitary homestead I spotted from the coach, high up on a hillside. This one was by the side of the road. Picturesque, but not really typical of Turkey.And now for something completely different, and more typical - apartment buildings in town. Balconies everywhere, as in Greece, also the solar hot water heaters on rooftops. Here's a huge apartment complex, far from a town. And a more colorful one! I don't know the purpose of this building, but it's wonderful - the picture was taken from the coach in passing. Turkey was a land of flowers - this lovely garden was at the center of a a cross-roads.

Zeus, Apollo and Virgin Mary

2012-01-20T06:29:00.000-08:00

We started our first complete day in Turkey with an excursion to two temples. The ancient city of Euromos was one of the most important areas in its day, and nothing much is left except this temple of Zeus, dating from about 200 AD. Although little is left, it is actually among the six best preserved monuments in Asia. Another view of the temple. Greek writing on one of the columns.
Above this hillside of olive trees are the demolished remains of a theatre and marketplace. Between visits to the temples, we had lunch at this charming little restaurant in Didyma. Adjoining the restaurant was a souvenir/antique shop where I bought a necklace.
The ruins of the temple of Apollo were adjacent to the restaurant. It was one of the largest temples of the ancient world, (constructed about the 6th century BC) and was actually never finished. In the center of the sanctuary was an oracle spring. Many of the bases of the columns were beautifully carved, many with faces and animals. At the entrance to the inner sanctuary, guards with time on their hands carved games in the stone floor. The last stop of a busy day was a visit to the alleged location in the hills above Ephesus where the Virgin Mary spent her last days, taken there by Saint John the Apostle, who had been entrusted with her care. A priest was saying Mass near this small stone shrine. People attached their prayers and requests on papers pinned to this wall. There were thousands of small notes.

A First Look at Turkey

2012-01-10T07:58:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken by our tour leader, Alexander, just before we all boarded the ferry to take us from Rhodes to Marmaris, Turkey. This is the catamaran ferry - a two-or-three hour trip to Turkey.The following photos were taken from the coach on our travels from Marmaris to Kusadasi. The white buildings in the center of this photos are a village clustered in the valley.I don't know how people approached this lovely house, high up on a cliff. A larger Turkish town, not sure which one (Marmaris?). Clouds of dust from the bulldozer on top of the narrow ledge - looked very dangerous. Roadside scenery. I love the look of these sleek white wind turbines.We saw acres of these, which I'm assuming are tobacco sheds.We saw quite a few of these outlets, with customers coming in by bus. All the familiar name brands.

A Tale of Two Sweaters

2011-12-30T13:35:00.001-08:00

Carol was wearing the "Vitamin D" sweater at the November Guild meeting, and I loved it. I found the pattern on Ravelry and got some superwash DK wool in lovely shades of blue. It's fun to knit, as you start with 40 stitches at the back of the neck and build from there. This is my living room knitting. The "Three-in-One Split" sweater is my office room knitting. The light is better in there, and it's a little difficult working with the three different yarns - one row of each - and the knit/purl pattern only shows up on one side. I need a strong light to knit this sweater, as the two novelty yarns tend to obscure the bumps of the ribbing. I'm using four stitch markers and that helps.

This Noro scarf is actually finished, but I don't have a photo. I thought this was working out too wide, so I ripped it out and made it 8 stitches narrower. I used the whole skein and the scarf is well over six feet - nice to wrap twice around the neck. This is a pattern I got from Pat, also at the Guild meeting - it's the "One-Row Scarf", and I really like the pattern. But I'm not crazy about Noro. This is the Taiyo blend of cotton, wool and some silk, and it's rather heavy - I think the right word would be clunky. Happy New Year and Happy Knitting, everybody.

Lindos - Town and Acropolis

2011-12-21T15:17:00.001-08:00

The acropolis of Lindos lies above the modern town, a natural fortification occupied successively by the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Knights of St. John and the Turkish Ottomans. (I copied this picture from the Internet.) This is the picture I took myself through the coach window as we approached Lindos.
A closer look at the town, all dazzlingly white buildings set close together on crazy winding streets. It was a long, hot climb to the top of the acropolis. Some tourists chose to go up by donkey - our group all walked. Many of the town women were selling their needlework on the slopes as we walked up. The embroidery was extraordinary but I didn't have time to choose anything or negotiate prices. Hundreds of steps up! And it was exceedingly hot! Approaching the fortification walls. The red dot is a person. My handbag marks the spot where I sat and rested about 3/4 of the way up. I needed the shade as much as I needed to rest my legs. The view from the top was worth every bit of the climb. Here's Steve taking a photo. The acropolis is a jumble of all the different succeeding civilizations who occupied this bit of land. The walk down passed by a number of small restaurants and shops. We stopped to get an orange juice and a beer. It was the best orange juice I'd ever had, and not just because I was so hot and thirsty. The wall of the restaurant held family pictures of the four generations who have owned it. Protection was guaranteed by these two items - a religious icon and beside it, the ever-present blue and white symbol of the evil eye.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-21T13:19:00.001-08:00

Weekend with the Indiana Family

2011-12-16T14:40:00.000-08:00

I spend a long weekend in Indianapolis, visiting son Barry and his family. Grammie always brings a game to play - this year it was Hens and Chicks. Olivia and Sam are concentrating on the next move, while friend Emma looks on. We went to a hockey game - the local Indiana Ice versus a team whose name I can't remember. I actually had fun, and someday I might finally know what they were doing besides just skating around seemingly at random and passing the puck back and forth. (Yes, I know the point is to get it past the goalie.)Here's Barry and Sam in their Scout uniforms - it was Scout night at the game. Barry is Cub-Master. And we went shopping, all the way down to Cincinnati. This is the coolest building in Indianapolis. It's Victorian in the front, Deco in the middle, and a cruise ship on top. Knitting - why yes, I did. I worked on this scarf - made it too wide the first time, ripped it up and made it narrower, ripped it up and tried a different pattern, decided the second version was the best and ripped it up again. It's almost finished now

Rhodes - Old and Older

2011-12-06T14:50:00.000-08:00

Rhodes has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as the city built by the Hospitaller Knights of St. John is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe. After this group of Knights Templar were forced out of Italy, they were granted possession of Rhodes in 1309, and remained for the next two centuries, until losing the island to the Ottoman Turks.
This is the 14th century "Street of the Knights". This is one of the towers of the palace of the Grand Master. Some of the walls of the Knight's medieval city.
The Byzantine-era cathedral has amazing frescoes. And of course, there is always restoration and scaffolding. Our group is huddled in the shade while our guide gives some history. I saw several of these Gypsy children, playing simple tunes and hoping for change. Mostly they looked bored. This one was the sweetest, with her little puppy.Outside the city was an arena where games were played. This view is looking up from the arena floor. And this is the view looking down. On the right can be seen the start of the race track. This is the long straight foot-race track.
And there is always a nearby temple. Looking down at the city of Rhodes, with a large cruise ship in the harbor.

First Day on Rhodes

2011-11-30T07:53:00.000-08:00

After a short flight from Crete, we arrived on the island of Rhodes. This is the view from our hotel room. The mountains of Turkey (I think) can be faintly seen across the sea. The round tank on the roof to the left is a solar hot-water heater, seen on many Greek housetops. We stopped briefly at the harbor with its ornate fountain and medieval church. These columns mark the entrance to the harbor and the spot where the famed Colossus of Rhodes was said to have stood, around 300 BC.

Behind the yachts, the medieval fort is located on the far side of the harbor, as part of the walls. A romantic view of the city walls and the Grand Master's Palace walls - part of the medieval city built by the Knights Hospitallers (more later). A less romantic view of the city walls. A view of the extensive beach.A closer view of the beach - very pebbly, not for bare feet. The umbrellas are owned by individual businesses and they are rented by the hour. (I didn't know this and was told to move.) A plaza in the modern city.and a downtown street. Pigeons on the tile roof of a beautiful home. Another building with tilework on the walls. Although most of the city seemed prosperous and well-cared for, this abandoned and crumbling home fascinated me as it was just across the street from our very modern hotel. I would have loved to explore it. Another view of abandoned windows.

Christmas Knits

2011-11-26T14:37:00.000-08:00

Since the summer, I've been knitting off and on for Christmas gifts. Here they are. Actually, the first photo is cheating, because I made these last year for a friend, but I made them in exactly the same pattern and color this year too (but didn't take a picture).
Long "One-Row Scarf" for a grand-daughter (pattern courtesy of Pat and the Yarn Harlot). I have finished it but don't have a photo of the completed piece.Earwarmer hat for a grandson. Socks with a bit of Fair Isle for a son.A swap party gift. This is the Dudester scarf, for my Dude.I used some of the cashmere yarn that I unraveled from a sweater to make this scarf for a friend.Baby Surprise for a grand-daughter.And lots of tiny socks to put into Christmas cards.
I've started a couple of things for myself now - a pair of ruffled wristies using sock yarn, and a scarf of wonderful Noro colors.

Rethymnon - Dating to the 16th Century and Beyond

2011-11-23T10:08:00.000-08:00

Rethymnon is tucked in between the sea and the hills. I took this from the coach as we approached the city from above. Rethymnon has a 12-kilometer sandy beach, and lots of vacationers. The harbor was fortified by the Venetians in the 14th century. The port walls they built have been restored. Here's the modern harbor area, with restaurants, shops and dwellings (with balconies, of course). To the west, we have a view of distant hills. These streets had everything a vacationer or tourist might need or want. One of the oldest streets in the city, leading up to the Fortezza on the hill. The fort was built in 1590 to protect the city from pirates and Turks. It may have formerly been the site of a Venetian fort and an even older acropolis. This view shows only a small portion of the extensive walls. The entrance to an abandoned courtyard. What a wonderful idea for an unused doorway! Another terrific lunch in a restaurant overlooking the harbor.
The chef likes to display the seafood specialties.

Knossos - a Minoan site

2011-11-18T06:36:00.000-08:00

Here's a view of the Greek hillside town approaching Knossos. The inevitable tourist shops outside the entrance to the ruins of the Minoan palace of Knossos. Signs in English, of course.I bought the booklet with much better photos than I could possible take, but these are my own, and valuable for that reason. Minoan civilization lasted over 1500 years, from 2600 BC to 1100 BC. Leading to the Labyrinth and the Minotaur, perhaps? The site was certainly labyrinthine, with over 1500 rooms, many interconnected, on several levels. We were only able to see a small portion of the site. The entrance to the Throne Room.And inside the Throne Room, with restored frescoes. The famous fresco of Cretan bull dancing. This is a copy, the original is in a museum.A view from the top. The nearby museum had a collection of antiquities found at Knossos. These are clay figurines. And painted clay pots and pitchers. A sarcophagus with painted scenes depicting funeral rites.
And gold jewelry I would happily wear today.

Gortys, Metala, Phaistos

2011-11-13T13:48:00.000-08:00

Gortys, also known as Gortyna, was the chief city of Crete during the Roman period. The site was large and spread out, as the city walls were said to be six miles long. We visited this Odeon area with a small theatre. The building behind was the Court, and contains the Roman Law Code inscribed on the walls. This is what remains of the Basilica of St. Titus, built in the Christian era AD, and marks the site where he was martyred. This is what remains on the other side of the Basilica. It was destroyed by the Arabs in 824.According to Greek legend, Zeus married Europa under a tree in Gortys, but probably not one of these two, although they were huge.Next came lunch, as a restaurant in the touristy and hippie town of Metala.This is the view from the left side of the restaurant. And this is the view from the right side. Those are caves in the rocks, right near the lovely sandy beach.
A little shopping followed lunch. A visit to the site of the ancient Minoan palace of Phaistos was next. It dates to 1990 BC, and was destroyed around 1700 BC.
The roofing protects ongoing archaelogical research.

This is a copy (which I bought) of a large disk found at Phaistos, with writing still undeciphered.This is a view of the Messara plain, from Phaistos. There are wind turbines on the hill.
Not a cloud in the sky all day, and for most of the two weeks as well.

Thank a Soldier Today

2011-11-11T10:17:00.000-08:00

Today is Memorial Day, and wouldn't it be wonderful if it were a whole day when not one man or woman in the armed services was killed or wounded. It would be even more wonderful if that could be true for every day. I am grateful that my sons never came under fire when they were serving in the Navy during a relatively peaceful time, and even so I worried about them. I can't imagine the anxiety a parent would feel for a child in the Service today. My husband knows I can't even watch war movies on TV. So today my thoughts are for peace, and my thanks go to all those who served in the past and those who are serving today.

Heraklion, Crete

2011-11-09T06:58:00.001-08:00

We're here in the capital and largest city of Crete - Heraklion. Steve is at the Hotel Atrion entrance. Here is the view from our hotel room window - close to the sea if you lean out and look left.The view looking straight ahead. This is a portion of Heraklion's ancient city walls. Under the walls. This seaside fort was built by the Venetians. The Lion Fountain in one of the city squares. I think this is one of the administrative city buildings. A familiar sight in Greece - the kiosk. Another familiar sight - everyone is at the cafe in the evenings - still early when this photo was taken. In the evening, we were driven way up in the hills to arrive at Arolithos where we were entertained by this group of folk dancers.

Acropolis Museum and Sounion

2011-11-03T07:40:00.001-07:00

We started the day with a visit to the Acropolis Museum in Athens, newly built to house the treasures of the site which had been removed long ago, mostly to England, and hopefully will be restored to Athens. There is a full-size recreation of the Parthenon inside the museum, including as many antiquities as they have obtained so far, and representations of what is missing. Photos were not allowed inside, but this is the main entrance. The museum was carefully situated above these excavations of ancient buildings. This work is still continuing. We headed south of Athens, stopping for lunch at another beautiful restaurant. Here's the view from one side. And the view from the other side. Then on to Sounion and the temple of Poseidon, guarding the coast.
These are views taken from the temple hilltop.
This is the last view of mainland Greece, taken as we flew to Crete from the airport at Sounion.

A Full Day

2011-11-01T10:05:00.001-07:00

The second day in Greece started early, with an excursion to the north-west of Athens, crossing the Corinth Canal to the Peloponnese peninsula. We visited the site of Epidaurus, and its fabulous arena. And a few remains of the temple. A small museum contains antiquities salvaged from the site.Next came a brief visit to a Greek ceramics factory and shop. This is the very enthusiastic owner in front of some of his products. Next came Mycenae, a site that's always been in my imagination. The foundations are visible high up on the nearer brown height. We first entered the treasury of Atreus, with a huge interior dome of fitted stone.
This is the fabled Lion Gate. Yes, I was there, and I carried a stone away from the top to prove it.This is what remains of the city of Mycenae. And the countryside below. Some views of the Peloponnese landscape.The ubiquitous olive trees.

First Snow

2011-10-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

Just some pretty pictures of the first snow, and the last autumn leaves.

Athens Archaeological Museum

2011-10-29T07:02:00.001-07:00

This is the entrance to the marvelous Archaeological Museum in Athens. Our group is (mostly) listening to tour leader Alexander.

I bought the Museum's booklet of exhibits, with pictures far better than mine. But following are some of my favorites.
These are figurines from the Cycladic era.These are two vases made from ostrich eggs.
Fabulous gold jewelry

Small bronze figurines. Small ceramic figurines. More favorites.

Acropolis

2011-10-27T13:32:00.001-07:00

This is the Acropolis of Athens, taken from a street below. This view of the Acropolis was taken from the Internet - a lovely view of the entire hilltop, which I could not hope to photograph myself. As we climbed up the hill, this was the first structure we stopped at - the Odeon Theatre, still used today for special performances.
This is the Propylaea (entrance) to the Acropolis. Actually the picture is of the opposite side, or exit.Here's Steve, in front of the Parthenon. On the right is some scaffolding for repairs. The Elgin Marbles which we saw in the British Museum a few years ago were taken from the top of the Parthenon and other sites on the Acropolis. This is the Erechtheum, with the porch of the Caryatids on the left.This grand temple can be seen from the Acropolis. I think this is one of the loveliest sights in Athens. Another view from the top of the Acropolis.

Athens - Beginning the Trip

2011-10-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

This was the view of Athens from the top floor of our hotel (which had a pool that I didn't get a chance to use). The view from the other side of the top floor. This is the best hotel in Athens, where all the diplomats stay when in town. (We didn't stay there.)About the first thing you notice about Athens housing is the balconies. Every apartment and house has them. Athen is also a city of contrasts - here's a modern apartment building right next to an abandoned dwelling, complete with graffiti and broken windows. These were the only two soldiers I saw in that traditional Greek uniform (unfortunately I saw them from behind). A commercial shopping street. The man with the pushwagon was selling icons. Another shopping street - the crowded Plaka, where tourist stuff can be found (and where I bought a pair of earrings). This is the lobby of our hotel, the Divani Caravel.Here's the view from the window of our room.

Worcester to New London and Back on the Train

2011-10-18T05:53:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, a beautiful fall day, we took an excursion train sponsored by the Massachusetts Railroad Enthusiasts, who chartered a few coach cars, a dining car and, of course, an engine from the Providence and Worcester Railroad. We left at 9:00 AM from Worcester, made a circle down through Providence, New London, Norwich, Putnam and back to Worcester by 6:00 PM. Here's the engine and the first coach car - the one we were in. I took this picture at the first "runby". The train did two "runbys". The crew stops the train at a scenic spot, everyone with a camera gets off, the train is backed up, and then runs forward so we can take pictures as it goes by slowly. I didn't get off the train for the second runby, but took this picture of the other passengers waiting for the train to come by instead. Here's the interior of our coach. Following are some shots taken from the train windows, following the Thames River up from New London - not great photography but the best I could do. This is the ferry going under the Groton-New London bridge. Here is the Coast Guard Academy.The Mohegan Sun Casino. The Nautilus submarine exhibit at the Sub Base. One of the piers at the Sub Base, complete with sub.A view of the Thames between Norwich and Jewett City. This follows a road I drove hundreds of times back in the day. A lovely day - I enjoyed every minute (knitting most of the time, too).

Walking on the Path

2011-10-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

This morning, I went for one of the "Walktober" walks, a series of dozens of themed walks in the Eastern Connecticut area, sponsored by "The Last Green Valley" organization. The designation was given because our rural stretch of Connecticut and some of Massachusetts is the last mostly undeveloped area in the corridor between Washington DC and Boston. From space, it's the only mostly dark area at night.

Anyway, this morning I walked a portion of the "Connecticut Path", which was the main road between Boston and Hartford in the 1600s and early 1700s. The early settlers followed an Indian trail, gradually widening and improving it for carts and horses, although it was a simple walking trail at first. Some of it now is paved (parts of Route 44), some of it is still dirt roads, some of it is overgrown and forgotten.

It was fascinating to me to consider how many people over the centuries had trod that same ground. Part of the trail we walked was also the main road between Woodstock and West Woodstock, and the very religious West Woodstockers had petitioned the government for many, many years before they were allowed to have their own church, so they wouldn't have to make that long walk to the Woodstock Church every Sunday. This was one reason why Connecticut has 169 towns, some big, some small - it was so difficult to get from one place to another back in the day.

It was a beautiful fall day today. We are not seeing much foliage color yet, although it is almost the middle of October. I guess because September was so wet and rainy, and it's still quite warm. We need a few crisp autumn days to pull the color out, but it may be too late. We'll have to accept that brown is a color too.

I just got my developed pictures back, from the trip to Greece and Turkey. I have them on disk and also in the computer, but I like to see hard copies as well. As soon as I get more organized, I'll start posting, beginning with Athens.

Home Again, and Still Knitting

2011-10-04T08:38:00.001-07:00

We've been back a couple of weeks now from an fascinating and exhilarating trip to Greece and then Turkey. We saw lots of sites like this (that's Hubster in front of the Parthenon). And this - the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, lighted up at night - the view from our hotel terrace. And this - a crowded beach (those are beach umbrellas), white houses nearby on the left and the blue Aegean Sea.And of course, I was knitting - this is the Wakefield scarf - a free Knitting Daily download. I had it on plastic circulars and was able to pull it out for a few rows when we weren't traipsing around ancient ruins, and on a boring flight across the Atlantic. I'll be blogging my pictures of the trip beginning in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned if you're interested.

Woodstock Fair - Labor Day Weekend

2011-08-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

The Woodstock Fair is coming up next weekend. I plan to enter these four things in the Craft division.

Last year, I got two blue ribbons, a red ribbon and Best in Show. I'm hoping for at least a couple more blue ribbons. The judges can be quite picky (which is actually a good thing). Friday is my day to go to the Fair, and Hubster and I will be making milkshakes for the Lions Club booth on Friday evening.

Timing is tight this year - the only time to pick up craft items is Monday evening, and we are leaving for Greece the following day, so I have to be sure to remember to get them! Monday is packing day for sure, with a bit of paranoia thrown in. My packing list gets longer with every trip I take.

Loving This Book!

2011-07-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

I'm halfway through this book, and reading slower and slower because I don't want it to end. It combines two of my favorite things, England and knitting. The author, Gil McNeil, has such a down-to-earth funny way of writing, with those unique turns of phrase that you only hear in England. The plot is simple - single mother of two young boys inherits yarn shop in small coastal British town and becomes a part of the community, with some bits about movie star glamour thrown in. I'm loving it.

What Can I Make From This???

2011-07-09T07:52:00.000-07:00

I blogged about this project a few weeks ago, but now it's finished and it's blog-worthy again. This is a 100% Talbot's cashmere sweater which I bought for $8.00 in a second-hand shop. I unstitched all the seams and then unraveled the whole thing - you can see the back and a sleeve here, and also the first ball wound. I decided it would be best to wind it into skeins first - here they are - 5 of them. Then I washed the skeins in Eucalan and hung them to dry.

Next, I wound them into balls. The yarn was so fine that I then rewound them, doubling the strands. Knit, knit, knit - from sweater to scarf. I decided on the Flutter scarf, hoping that the lacy pattern would hide some of the inevitable knots. This pattern required a provisional cast-on, so the scarf could be knit from the center outwards to the ruffle at each end. I had a terrible time with that, ripping out the cast-on and reknitting at least 5 times to get the lace pattern correct at the center. However, here's the finished result. And I still have enough cashmere for another project!The second what's-it project is the Baby Surprise sweater. It was fun to knit this all in one piece, which looks like absolutely nothing at all --- and then fold it into an actual sweater. I had two skeins of this pretty yarn, and this is all I had left. I actually had to leave off 3 rows on the center front and make crocheted-loop buttonholes because I was running so low on the yarn.

Scenes from a Baptism

2011-06-08T16:27:00.001-07:00

Sunday was the New Jersey baptism of the newest member of our family. Mom and Dad (my grandson) are on the left, and baby Liliana is being held by Mom's sister (who looks exactly like her although they are not twins).And while lots of people were mingling and chatting, look who is sound asleep! It's big brother Lucas. Four generations.Here's Lucas at the reception, walking around and around and around that stone wall. (Nothing beats a good nap!) Here's a closeup of the baby, in Grammy's arms. Talk about cute!

Mockingbird Nestlings

2011-05-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of our front entrance (and the only entrance/exit we ever use), and on the very left you can see an evergreen bush. It's 1/4 dead and has lots of bare branches. Somewhere at the top of this bush is a mockingbird nest, with three little nestlings hatched recently. Whenever we walk too close to the bush, or walk too slowly past it, we are dive-bombed by mother and/or father mockingbird. I haven't actually seen the nest, but Hubster braved the mother's wrath to move a branch aside quickly and spotted the little ones. The parents are very vigilant and protective of their small brood. They will sit on the flagpole or the roof or a nearby tree, and keep watch. It's rather scary to be threatened by these birds - they are quite large and fly just above our head with wings outspread and flapping. I tend to rush to the door now, murmuring 'It's OK, it's OK".

Vest Times Two

2011-05-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

I titled this blog entry "Vest Times Two" because I nearly knitted the whole thing twice. This was made for Hubster, and I did all the right stuff at the beginning - I knitted a swatch and measured it, I measured Hubster as well, and I picked the right amount of stitches to make the knitting match the man. So I got the back about 80% finished, and I pinned it up to his body, and wouldn't you know - it was way too big.

So I ripped out the whole thing and started over with fewer stitches, got the back done again, and one of the fronts. I pinned them together, and pinned it back on Hubster, and wouldn't you know - it was now too small! Well I wasn't going to rip it up again, so I got creative. I finished the second front, sewed up the shoulders, and knitted the buttonhole and neck bands. And here's the creative part. Can you see the cable band going up the side seam? That's a two-inch panel I knitted separately to join the backs and fronts together, one for each side. I put in a cable to match those that travel up the center fronts, and as you can see, the vest now fits perfectly. But I can't believe how I got that size so wrong twice!

Brimfield Flea Market

2011-05-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

Last week, I did my "antiques dealer thing" and set up to sell at the huge Brimfield flea market. If you've never been to this three-times-yearly event, there are thousands of dealers in a dozen fields strung out along Route 20 in Brimfield, Massachusetts.

This is one end of our row - we were only four tents down from one of the entrances. This is the other end of our row, looking toward the back of the field.

And here is our set-up. I do this show with my friend and fellow dealer, Janice. If you look closely, you'll see Janice taking a few moments to relax and read in the shade.And here's my relaxation - I knitted quite a few inches on this lacy scarf over the course of the five days. I'm using the cashmere yarn from the sweater I unraveled, and it's perfect for this project. That's waste yarn you can see at the bottom - the scarf is knitted from the middle out to each end.

Cheers for the Royal Couple

2011-04-29T05:45:00.001-07:00

I'm a little sleepy right now at 9:00 AM because I've been watching television since 5:00 this morning, with my cup of tea, of course. I loved every minute of these four hours. Good news seems so rare these days that it's wonderful to celebrate a happy event.

The Abbey was beautifully decorated with greenery and trees, the ceremony was beautiful and properly British, William was handsome, Kate was beautiful, the gown was perfectly elegant, and the crowds were so joyful and enthusiastic. And the hats! The hat industry in England is certainly thriving - the bigger and more outrageous the better. One usually thinks of the English as reserved and perhaps a little snobbish, but that opinion goes flying out the window when you see the costumes and headgear and makeup worn by so many people in these huge crowds.

So after I have another cup of tea and maybe a short nap, I'm heading out to the British Tea Shop in Woodstock to perhaps buy a scone and a souvenir mug.

Cable Error - Oh No!

2011-04-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

A year or so ago, our Knitting Guild had a meeting in which each member present told the group about a trick or hint that they used in their knitting that they had found helpful. The one that struck a chord with everyone was from Anne, who said that the best thing she could suggest was to stop knitting every couple or inches or so, and look over what you had done. By doing this, you could find mistakes and correct them before you had gone too far. I wish I had remembered this when I was knitting the front side of Hubster's vest.

Can you spot the mistake in the cable? It's halfway down, near the turquoise marker. It probably wouldn't be noticed except by another knitter, but it means that I have to frog half of this piece and reknit it, being extra careful this time not to screw it up again.

I pinned all the pieces together and Hubster tried it on, and we both agreed that it should have more positive ease. Believe me, I'm not going to reknit the whole thing. I had the bright idea to knit a 2-inch panel and insert it in each side seam, but what makes this a brilliant idea is that I will incorporate a cable in each panel. I am loving this idea - I hope it works out the way I envision it.

Adventures in Cashmere

2011-03-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

I purchased a 100% cashmere sweater at a local antique shop for only $9.00, simply to rip it up. I thought I'd be able to use the yarn because I didn't like the sweater all that much. So I carefully pulled out the seam stitching and started frogging.I ended up with 5 balls of yarn, which I turned into skeins using Debbie's swift at the Knitting Retreat. This would have been a real project without that winder (thanks again, Debbie). Next step, wash the skeins to take out all the crinkles.Then rewind them into center-pull balls. I should have stopped at this point because the yarn was looking pretty good, but I decided that this cobweb-weight yarn was too thin to knit with so I decided to double it, using two balls together with the yarn-winder. Big mistake. There were quite a few knots overall in the yarn (couldn't be helped) and they tended to tangle up when unwinding, so I ended up with lots more knots in the final 2-ply yarn. This is the scarf, I'm planning to knit, which I think will be perfect for this blue cashmere. This may not happen for a while, as I have several other projects in the works first. Final note - this will be the last sweater I frog for yarn! Well, maybe I might unravel another one, but only if it were a heavier yarn - no more of this cobweb stuff for me.

Spring is Coming, Isn't It?

2011-03-07T13:43:00.001-08:00

When we walked into the Convention Center in Worcester for the annual Flower Show, the scent of spring flowers and moist earth was so welcome. Daffodils, tulips, azaleas, crocus - just breath-taking. And then I came home, and I'm still seeing what's been on the ground for weeks. My crocus and grape hyacinths are under this, and I don't think they'll be seeing the sun anytime soon.We here in Putnam still have a lot of snow on the ground - this is my pachysandra shrub just poking a few branches out beside the front steps.

West Coast Travels

2011-03-01T15:41:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I left this snowy scene. . . .. . . and arrived here. Flowers everywhere, sunshine and warmth in Los Angeles. A visit to the beautiful Getty Villa Museum. I even saw my first actual yarn-bombing. Someone had knitted this tree a cabled sweater. Here D2 Diane in her cute Mini Cooper - the larger size. And here's me and GD5. Looks like Grandma needs a haircut. Maisie doesn't need anything - she's adorable. And now for something completely different. Here's Washington, where S1 Tod lives. Picture-postcard views everywhere. On one beautiful day, we drove up Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic Range. This picture was taken about halfway up. And here we are at the top. The trees were completely covered with snow and ice. Look at us - we're on snowshoes! First time for both of us. Reminder - keep your feet pointed straight ahead when walking on them - if you cross your toes you fall down (don't ask me how I know). In between California and Washington, I stopped off in Tacoma for the Medrona Knitting Retreat. This was a disappointment, not only because I didn't get any of the classes I wanted as they filled up immediately (and I do mean immediately!). I thought the Market would make up for it, but there were only about one-third as many vendors as at Stitches East in Hartford. I did buy these two silk Mawata "hankies", but since I couldn't get the class which the Yarn Harlot taught on this technique, I still don't know what to do with them. But aren't they pretty?This photo shows the start of the socks I made for Maisie. I completed one while I was in California, and the other back home in Connecticut. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture before I mailed them. And this is the knitting I did on the plane. It's the Wakefield scarf, and I'm using a lovely blue/green yarn. I got it at a yarn swap without a label and I think it's a cotton blend. It will form a diagonal when it's off the needles.

Going from Snow to Sun

2011-02-07T19:36:00.000-08:00

In four days, I'm flying to California, where I hope it will be sunny and warm (at least warmer than here, for sure). This is what I'm leaving, including the world's largest icicle. Although some of this is very pretty indeed, I've had enough winter for a while. And it just goes on and on - the following pictures were taken the day after I originally posted this blog entry. Another snowfall!!!Mama and Papa Cardinal don't seem to mind.This is the knitting I'm taking with me. The Wakefield scarf will be my airplane knitting. I'm using a very beautiful blue/green yarn I got at a swap, without a label. I think it has some silk in it, and it is perfect for this lacy scarf.This will be my California knitting - it's socks for GD5 Maisie. She really liked her Christmas socks, and I'm hoping she'll like the colors of this yarn. I've started with a ruffle at the top.
So here's hoping that if there are any more big snowstorms in our future, they all happen while I'm gone (not that I'm wishing any more for the folks back home).

Helsinki

2011-01-31T14:25:00.001-08:00

This picture was taken through the window of the coach, on the outskirts of Helsinki - it's modern apartment buildings, with an unfinished playground in the foreground. Not everything in Scandinavia is picturesque.Our tour leader told us we were lucky to see this on this drizzly day - apparently it's the custom for men to wash their rugs here - the platform was specially created for this task. There is a man with three or four rugs on the left side of the platform. This is the entrance to a famous church in Helsinki - the Church in the Rock (literally). It was within walking distance of our hotel. This is the interior - it is quite stunning. The walls are the ledge rock, with a domed ceiling outlined with windows.

This museum was across the street from our hotel (but I didn't go in). It's a good example of the 19th century architecture. A downtown church - again, I didn't go in.Stockman's is the Macy's of Helsinki. Typical 19th century housing.

This is the Design Museum - I actually did go in. The exhibits were completely different from what you would expect from the exterior of the building, with gorgeous modern glassware, pottery and furniture by Finnish company Iittala and others. No pictures allowed, unfortunately. One room was devoted to an exhibit of splendid little birds created by artist Oiva Toikka. A pedestrian shopping street. I purchased a purple print skirt on special sale for about 20% of listed price! This stunning monument was in a small city park - it's dedicated to Juho Passikivi, President of Finland in the 1940s and 1950s.

And this is where our tour leader took our group to dinner on our evening in Helsinki. Very good food, and not all Italian. This sign shows the complexity of the Finnish language. Muumi was everywhere - it's a cute white hippo, and the equivalent of Mickey Mouse in Finland.

And on that silly note, this tour of Scandinavia is complete.

Two Illustrious Native Sons

2011-01-31T13:54:00.000-08:00

This is the monument in a park dedicated to Jean Sibelius, composer of many symphonies and other musical compositions based on Finnish folklore, including the Kalevela which is the Finnish national epic. His background was actually Swedish and he spoke Swedish all his life. The monument appears to me to evoke the ups and downs of a musical motif. He was apparently a rather stern looking man.

This is Hvittrask, the home, now a museum, of Eliel Saarinen and his family, plus two other architects, Herman Gesellius and Armas Lindgren. The rooms, rugs and furniture were designed by Saarinen, including the beautiful tiled fireplaces and stoves. This is the children's playroom.

Wow - That's a Lot of Snow!

2011-01-28T10:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's "storm" was really what I'm calling a snowfall, because it wasn't stormy with gusts and wind howling, it was just quiet snow falling hour after hour - actually very pretty. I measured about 18 inches of actual fallen snow on our deck, after Steve had shoveled a path to the birdfeeder. This picture was taken through the kitchen window (through the screen). That's our garage behind the snowbank the plow created in our lawn. A view from the front entrance. Looking up the driveway. That green spot is my car. Note the huge icicles. A path was shoveled through to our steps, just wide enough for one person. I try to have him leave some seeds for the birds, but squirrels are hungry too.

Hoodie Struggles

2011-01-25T15:52:00.000-08:00

I thought this "Hooded Vest" pattern was perfect for my 8-year-old granddaughter, but after I read all the negative comments about the directions in Ravelry, I searched for something else similar. Couldn’t find anything else I liked better, so I decided to see if I could interpret this pattern. I knew I could just do standard decreases if I couldn't handle the decreasing cables. I had to do the cables over a couple of times - the pattern called for starting on the wrong side, but it came out much better by starting on the right side. That also made the K’s and P’s reversed, but after some struggling, I really like the result. I hope the front and hood will go smoothly. I plan to make the hood smaller as some of the comments said it was too full and large.

Turku - Oldest Town in Finland

2011-01-24T12:24:00.000-08:00

In addition to being an important trading center and settlement in the 13th century, Turku was also for a time the capital of Finland. Traveling from Naantali to Turku, we ate at the Daphne Restaurant buffet style - delicious! It was lightly raining when I took this picture - note the sailboat in the glass structure behind the restaurant. These are streets and houses in the old section of Turku - charming, with many flower gardens.

And of course we can't visit any town without seeing the church - this is the Turku Cathedral, now over 700 years old and the mother church of the Lutheran Church of Finland, and a national shrine. It doesn't appear very imposing from the outside... ... but the interior was gorgeous.I took this picture to show the changes through the centuries - on the right is the older Norman arch, and the left the newer Gothic arch. There are also changes to the wall above that are still visible.

Medieval Church in Naantali

2011-01-23T15:55:00.000-08:00

This church and the churchyard behind it are all that remains of a large medieval convent, monastery and church complete with many farm outbuildings and gardens. A modern representation of one of the nuns. This is the back of the church, with a portion of the churchyard cemetary, with large iron crosses on the graves. Inside the church, this was painted on a side wall. Impossible to get a good picture of the whole interior, but I love these arches and columns.

Coach Views and the President's Gardens

2011-01-23T15:18:00.000-08:00

We traveled every day from the the folk school to other areas, and these are a few views taken from the coach along the way.
There's lots of water in Finland!Green fields and farms. A manor house and outbuildings. This is the summer residence and gardens of the Presidents of Finland. A beautiful retreat from the city. It's near the town of Naantali.

Paasikivi Opisto Folk School in Finland

2011-01-22T09:38:00.001-08:00

This is the main classroom and administration building at the Paasikivi Opisto Folk School, on the island of Kakskerta near Turku. This was our tour headquarters in Finland. Another view of the classroom building.
The entrance to our ldormitory lodging. The building next to this had a sauna and pool, which we were able to use one evening - wonderful after a long day of touring. Some people find garbage removal fascinating! This is the Finnish equivalent of a dumpster. The shore of an inlet of the Baltic Sea was about 1/4 mile away from our dorm. A beautiful day.
Like dandelions in Norway and lilacs in Sweden and Denmark, lupines were everywhere in Finland.And here's my footprint in the shore of the Baltic Sea. The photo I lost of my footprint in the North Sea looked pretty much the same. We had a special Finnish dinner on the third evening at this folk school, served in a boat. And acapella harmony entertainment.

Overnight to Finland

2011-01-22T06:51:00.000-08:00

This is the Silja Oy Ab cruise ship ferry, our hotel overnight from Stockholm to Turku, Finland.Here's the passenger gate entrance at the ferry terminal .It was a looooooong wait. Steve and I made ourselves comfortable with a glass of wine and a book at the bar nearby. Our last view of Sweden.These views were taken of the Swedish archipelago as we left the harbor at dusk. These little islands were everywhere between Sweden and Finland.

And these views were taken about 2:00 AM - it never got dark.
The first view of the coast of Finland, early morning.Turku harbor.

The Best (and Worst) Morning in Sweden

2011-01-12T14:56:00.000-08:00

This was a delightful morning in Sweden - a walk in the woods all by myself. The rest of the tour group were listening to a lecture, but it was a beautiful day and I wanted to explore a path I'd seen the day before behind our dormitory. The path wound through rocky woods for about a half-mile, then came out on a cliff overlooking an inlet of the sea (or maybe a river, I don't know). I sat on this rock for quite a while. Doesn't this look like Maine?This is the view from my rock. Farther down the trail, the inlet widened, and houses were seen at the far end.It was also on this walk that I inadvertently re-programmed the disk in my camera and lost all the previous pictures I had taken. PANIC! Steve found a program on-line when we got home that recovered almost all of Denmark and Sweden, but Norway was lost because I had over-printed those with pictures taken from this day onward.

Yes, I Have Been Knitting Too!

2011-01-09T09:08:00.000-08:00

Most of my postings have been about our trip last summer to Scandinavia, but I'm taking a break today and showing some of the things I've been knitting.

I finished this Concentric Vest about a month ago. I started it at first with two strands of yarn held together, but realized about half-way through that I didn't have enough of the grey mohair I began with. So I ripped it up and started again with another yarn - a lacy fuzzy grey acrylic blend. The main yarn was a shaded very soft wool. After some trial-and-error on the curving cables, I'm really happy with the way it came out. And this cowl was finished just in time for our first snowstorm. Again, it's a shaded soft grey wool. I think it was just a little bit too heavy for this pattern, although the gauge worked out right. I'd like to make it again with a thinner yarn which would be more comfortable around the neck.
This is going to be my second dress in this pattern. The first one was made in white baby yarn and given to a friend for her son and daughter-in-law's first baby - he was one of those late starters that you think will never get married and produce grandchildren. So Melissa was a very welcome grand-daughter. The yarn in the picture will be for a new baby in my own daughter's family - a girl due is February or March. The pink will be the yoke and hem, with the pastel shades in the middle. This is a "coffee clutch", made for Carol, a woman I work with every other week or so. It's made to be placed around those cardboard cups that coffee comes in at Starbucks or DD. She's never without that cup early every morning. Carol like this so much she wore it around her wrist all day after she finished her coffee, so when I saw this pattern for wrist cuffs, I knew just who to make them for. They'll be a surprise next time I see her (I don't have to worry that she'll see them here, as she never reads this blog.)And this was a Christmas gift for my 10-year-old grandson. I think it's especially hard to find things that a boy that age would like, but he's a Colts fan, so I think he'll relate to this scarf. I did the horseshoe logo in intarsia, and these are the Colts colors. This is the Helleborus Yoke cardigan (for me) from a recent issue of KnitScene. I'm loving the way the yoke cables are worked in short rows. But now the fun is over, as I have to pick up stitches around the neck and add the collar, then pick up more stitches for finishing the short sleeves, then pick up even more stitches for the edging around the hem and button bands. If I had read the entire pattern first, I think I would have been discouraged from starting. Next in the queue is a sleeveless button-front vest for Hubster, but he hasn't chosen the yarn color yet.

And I'll close this entry with my cardinal. He sat on our feeder for a full 15 minutes, just looking around and being pretty. No other birds dared to come near him while he sat there - he owned the joint!

Millesgarden

2011-01-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

The famous sculptor, Carl Milles, is well known for his commissioned monumental sculptures and fountains in many European and US cities. He and his wife became US citizens in 1945. His home on the island of Lidingo near Stockholm, where he died in 1955, is now a museum, with many small-scale examples of his work and some copies of the larger sculptures. This statue appears to be saluting one of the large ferries which took us to Finland later in the day.The house was low and rambling, and surrounded by walls and ponds, so it was difficult to get a photo of the entire building. I loved the color of this wall with its arrangement of small scupltures.

Here are some of us listening to the guide giving us a brief history of Mr. Milles and his home.

Back near Stockholm, I took this picture of an elegant balconied house. And this house had everything I like, including the ever-present lilacs and a Swedish flag. But not everyone lives in beautiful homes, there are plenty of ordinary apartments.

Stockholm and Its Spectacular City Hall

2011-01-03T12:56:00.001-08:00

Approaching Stockholm in the coach. You can see a small boat in the water across the street from the buildings.The central square - very busy. There is a fountain in the center - a few teenagers were splashing around until a police officer made them leave. Another view of the central monument with a high-rise behind it. This was an open-air market - lightly raining. I took the picture from the porch of a city building, with this sculptures just in front. A portion of the shopping street - no traffic allowed. This is part of the inner courtyard of the Stockholm City Hall. As you enter the building, you see this room first. Nobel Prize ceremonies were held here. Nothing prepared us for the beauty of this large room - filled with golden mosaics and paintings in the Moderne or Art Deco style. A close-up of one of the mosaics. And a corner of the painted walls. It was the summer of love in Sweden. Princess Royal Victoria was being married the week after we were there - images of the bride and groom were everywhere. This very large portrait was hanging on a building near our coach pick-up, with a huge video screen nearby with commentary and pictures of the royal family. The Royal Palace doesn't look very grand - it's near downtown Stockholm.Just some pretty flowers. School was out for the summer, and throngs of graduates filled these trucks, roaming the streets, singing, waving and shouting. Lots of them had small trees, but at least some greenery seemed to be necessary. I knew I'd see my mother's name somewhere, but didn't expect it on an electronics shop.

Uppsala Cathedral

2010-12-31T13:27:00.000-08:00

In the same day, we went from the small medieval parish church in Old Uppsala to the soaring Gothic cathedral in the city.

Here is the gorgeous gilded pulpit. And one of the side altars. I assume this is the tomb of a Swedish king and queen, but I don't know who. They're peacefully sleeping with their gold crowns and sceptres. In the park nearby, we saw this Viking rune stone.

Hammerby - Carl Linnaeus' Home

2010-12-15T15:53:00.000-08:00

In the early 1700s, Carl Linnaeus developed the classification of the plant and animal kingdom still used today. We visited Hammerby Manor, built in 1762 a summer home in the country for Linnaeus and his family (plus tenant farmers, servants and students). Some plant species planted by Linnaeus still thrive today in the same spot, some 230 years later.

Here's some of our crew in front of the main house.

Note the sod roof on one of the outbuildings, and some of the original gardens. Lilacs were everywhere in Sweden. An ancient tree. Just a nice view of a roadside farm with the town's church behind the trees.

We were entertained in the evening by a husband and wife team, Katerina and Patrick Svedberg. Her voice is as beautiful as she is.

Vasa Ship Museum, Stockholm

2010-12-13T13:51:00.000-08:00

The Vasa Museum displays the only almost fully intact 17th century galleon that has ever been salvaged, the 64-gun warship Vasa that sank shortly after being launched to great fanfare in 1628. Sweden's King Gustav had ordered this highly ornamented ship to show his power and control the Baltic Sea. A wind blew Vasa onto its side, allowing water to pour in through the open gun ports. The ship lay in the mud at the bottom of the harbor until the 1960s, when it was resurrected and restored, a process that took 17 years.

This is the museum exterior with some of our tour members approaching.

This is the Vasa.

It would originally have been brightly painted, like these recreated carvings.

Indiana Weekend

2010-12-08T09:42:00.001-08:00

I traveled to Indianapolis last weekend for a few days to visit with middle son and his family. I usually bring a vintage game with me, and this year's game was Clue. Grandson always liked to be Colonel Mustard. We actually played one game where everybody guessed wrong. Another highlight of the weekend was a visit to the Indiana State Museum for the Titanic exhibit. Here we are at the bottom of the "grand staircase" holding our boarding passes (of actual passengers). My character was Rosalie Straus, whose husband owned Macy's in New York. Unfortunately, I died. Can't go anywhere without a knitting project, and so I took along the makings for a scarf for the Red Scarf Project, for the Orphans Foundation of America. They collect red (or near-red, or having some red ) scarves which they give as a show of support to college students who are foster children. It has to be in the mail by the 15th, so I have to finish it this week for sure.

Betsy Bloomingdale's Couture

2010-11-29T10:46:00.001-08:00

I traveled up to the Lowell Textile History Museum on Saturday for the exhibit of Betsy Bloomingdale's Haute Couture clothes. Don't miss it - it was wonderful. There were about 40 marvelous gowns and a few dresses, all made for her in the 1950s-1970s by those fabulous French designers such as Dior, de la Renta, Galanos, etc. She really had great taste - there weren't more than 2 or 3 that I wouldn't have loved to have for myself (if I were tall and thin like she was, and actually still is). There were some videos of interviews with her, talking about the clothes and the designers, and pictures of her wearing the gowns at parties and events. She still looks great, even in her 80s. Well worth the trip, and the entire museum is interesting as well. Sorry they wouldn't allow photos.

First Day in Stockholm

2010-11-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

Our folk school lodging was about a 20-minute drive from Stockholm, and we started our first full day there with a trip to the oldest part of Stockholm, actually located on an island called Gamle Stan. The coach parked as we approached and let us take pictures of the city across this inlet of the Baltic Sea. These houses were on the other side of the bus stop.But we couldn't park too long - "No idle running" in four languages. This is one of the government buildings near the central square, with a new addition peeking out behind it.This is steel lace-work.This church was built on the site of the oldest church in Stockholm, begun in the 13th century.And we were just in time to see the changing of Guard in front of the Royal Palace. Guards of a different century.Yes, she's on her cell phone.I love the colors of the buildings on the side streets.This man has actually conned someone into trying to guess the hidden coin.

Traveling to Sweden

2010-11-14T07:17:00.000-08:00

This is the Copenhagen train station, the start of our journey to Stockholm. Not a happy start to the journey, as a distracted or stoned traveler fell off the platform (fortunately no train was arriving), and one of our tour friends had a bag stolen from her seat.Some photos of the Swedish countryside, taken from the train window. This shot is very similar to an old black-and-white photo that my grandmother had of her childhood home in Sweden.These are the fabulous bright yellow rapeseed fields, seen everywhere in Scandinavia. The other end of the trip - the Stockholm train station. And our final destination for the day (and the next few days), the Tollare Folkhogschola.
Our room was on the top floor of this dormitory.

An Evening in Tivoli

2010-11-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

On our one free evening in Copenhagen, Tivoli Gardens was the place to be. It was a short walk from our hotel. The beautiful park is full of restaurants, shops, fountains, statues, flowers, and ponds. Yes, that's a wooden ship on the right.One of the fountains. In the background of this statue, you can see part of the roller coaster. Other death-defying rides as well (not for me!)Copenhagen's famous Little Mermaid statue near the harbor was traveling elsewhere this month - this is a smaller reproduction on a pond in Tivoli. This is the restaurant we chose - we were seated three tables to the left of the entrance, seen here.

And here is my chicken dinner.

A Day in Yarn Heaven

2010-10-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

I spent yesterday at Stitches East, at the Convention Center in Hartford. I didn't go to any of the classes this year, except the free presentation by Gwen Borland about her new book on entrelac. Someday, I plan to make an entrelac scarf just to try the technique, but it's not a technique that I would feel enthusiastic about using for sweaters, hats and bags, even socks, although her designs looked great.

Of course, I forgot to take my camera so I could take photos of all the fabulous colors and textures seen in every booth. I do have pictures of what I bought - a grey mix of soft wool and 5% silk in shades of grey, to make a cowl/hoodie to wear with my red winter coat; and 2 hanks of merino in shades of pale blue just to add to the stash.

I also bought a cute pattern for a little girls ruffled top, and the designer, Suzanne Stewart, was pleasantly astonished when I asked her to sign it for me.

I have instructions for the Caps for Good, which are preemie caps for babies in African countries. A few tables with yarn and needles were set up so shoppers could rest and knit for a bit, and maybe even finish a tiny baby hat.

I brought a Christmas novel written by Debbie Macomber to Stitches - she was signing books at the Woolpack booth. This is the second book she has signed for me - the first one was at Foxwoods a couple of years ago, where she gave me a free copy of one of her pattern books and cautioned me not to tell anyone (I'm now a fan for life). She lives just a few miles from S1 Tod in Washington, in a little town called Port Orchard, where she has her own yarn shop - we've been there twice now. She also has her own brand of knitting yarn this year - I checked it out at the Universal Yarn booth, and it does seem to fit her style - pretty colors, soft and cozy, nothing too fancy - just right for settling down with a cup of tea and a muffin.

I also checked out the Craft Cruises booth - I'd love to take that cruise to Hawaii some day!

I stayed all day until the market closed, then drove through heavy traffic back home. Nice to have a Manhattan and Hubster's cooking waiting for me.

Copenhagen for a Day

2010-10-30T08:33:00.001-07:00

Gosh, you can't go anywhere in Scandinavia without seeing Vikings, even right on the shopping streets of Copenhagen. This one looks very welcoming!

The people on the streets look like almost any other city in Europe and the US, but the architecture is strictly Danish.The central city square, with municipal buildings.

You can't walk very far in Copenhagen without finding a waterway. This is the Queen's yacht. And this is the new City Hall (I think). Friday evening in Copenhagen - the streets start getting crowded around 4:00 PM. By 7:00 PM, you can hardly walk down this street. It's full of cafes and bars, and everybody is out for Happy Hour (and maybe for the rest of the night). Had to have this picture of a vintage clothing shop.

Last Evening in Askov

2010-10-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

Our Danish hosts at the Askov Folk School prepared a special and delicious multi-course dinner for our last evening. A little bit of entertainment, including my reading of "The Princess and the Pea" - thankfully, one of Anderson's shortest stories. Harriet gave a lovely little speech using the Danish word "hyuggely" (my phonetic spelling) - meaning something like a warm, happy and comfortable feeling with friends and family. This is the musician and teacher who led a half-hour of singing every morning before breakfast. He treated our group to several folk songs and their stories. I like to think the lady in the portrait behind him is also listening happily. In the morning, we boarded the coach for Copenhagen. On the left is Ulla, our Denmark host/leader, who always wore the most amazing and dramatic artisan silver jewelry.

Mitten Disasters

2010-10-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

These mittens were to be Christmas presents, but life didn't work out that way. (The picture shows the first one of each pair, unseamed). After I finally got over my "second mitten syndrome" and went to work on the second of the two pairs, things didn't go well. Since the mittens were made flat and then seamed, I couldn't try them on during the knitting and the curled stockinette edge added sizing confusion. And then I inadvertently (not paying attention!) knitted the second one of the peach pair in a larger needle size than the first one, so it came out about an inch bigger, but after seaming up the larger one, I realized it was still too small for the person it was intended for. So since I had two different size mittens, and even the biggest one of the pair was too small, they ended up in the trash. (I really hated to do that, but even a rummage sale couldn't use them.)

So then on to the green pair, which I actually made both in the same size (yay!). But they still ended up too small for the intended giftee, so this pair will be going to the next rummage sale - at least some tiny person will get some wear out of them. Several lessons learned, and it was fun to knit the different colors and the ribbed cuffs.

Danish Peasant Village Recreation

2010-10-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

This recreation of Danish country life in the 19th century is called the Funen Village. The homes and farm buildings, which were moved here from other locations in Denmark, show the living conditions of both small farm families and more prosperous citizens. Typical construction had both the dwelling areas and the farm buildings surrounding a central courtyard.
Barns are large and half-timbered, like the houses. Most buildings have thatched roofs. I loved these colors. I think this is a tavern. The round building has a large mill-stone in the center. You can see here past the wooden gate to the courtyard behind. This is a gardening shed with a well in the front. to the right is a vegetable garden.

I love this bright mustard yellow wall.

A beautiful painted cupboard - very typical.Sleeping quarters for the children. The flax room of the weaver's barn. My great-grandparents in Sweden had a barn loom like this.

Shades of wool yarn using natural dyes.

And knitting!

Walktober: Bison and Wolf - in Connecticut!

2010-10-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

Walktober is the name for a group of walks in the northeast corner of Connecticut, sponsored by the Last Green Valley organization. It started 20 years ago with a few weekend walks, and has grown to well over 100 throughout the month of October. The focus is to provide walkers with historical information about this area of the state, as well as an appreciation of our beautiful natural environment. This weekend I went on two of the walks. The walk on Sunday took us around the Creamery Brook Bison Farm. The first picture shows the lovely mid-1800s farmhouse (note the unusual corner columns and eaves. The farm buildings were a different story - the roof blew off the barn last year and hasn't yet been replaced. Since there are only a few cows and the bison stay in pasture outside all year, this wasn't too great a disaster.
These animals are cow-size, but not nearly as docile as cattle. We were told that moving them from one pasture to another can be tricky and involves a lot of timing with gate openings and closings. They are susceptible to a parasite which requires the animals to be wormed at least twice a year - not an easy task. Bison can run 30 miles per hour, and can jump over 6-foot fences, and they often go only where they want to go. The walk this morning was led by our state archaologist, who always has a lot of great stories. We walked in Mashomoquet State Park, on rocky and hilly trails to view the cave where Israel Putnam (Brooklyn farmer and Revolutionary War general) tracked and killed a wolf who had been killing farm animals locally. I had heard this tale since I was a teen, but had never actually seen the site, so this was a treat. We kept on the trail for about another 1/2 mile to the Indian Chair - just a rock with a natural split, on a cliff overlooking what is now forest, but once was farmland. Of course then we had to walk back over the same rocky and hilly trail to the parking lot - not an easy stroll by any means. But it was a beautiful day and I was happy to be out in our gorgeous woods for a couple of hours.

Wandering Kolding Castle

2010-10-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

This is the Koldinghus. a medieval castle in Kolding of lovely old pink brick. It is a rough square with an interior courtyard - this photo shows only the side you approach from the parking lot. It has been partially restored (the brown area), and much of the building is a museum for Danish furniture, pottery and silver with simple white plaster walls. We have a few hours of free time in Kolding, and I spent most of mine just wandering around the castle - I think I covered every inch. The entrance is through a gate on the right side, and these are views from near the gate looking down at the river which the castle guarded.

This is the courtyard seen from the other side of the entrance gate. And this is the courtyard view as seen from one of the towers.
I love this picture - it shows the way they have incorporated modern architecture to complement the original walls. This section is behind the brown portion of the exterior (seen above), and they have not replaced the floors, so this area is three stories high.

Another view of the partial restoration, with wonderful lighting. The dungeon, way down below!

The stairs going up one of the circular towers.

Two views from the tower, looking down over the town of Kolding.

I watched a video for a while of an artisan creating a tall silver bowl, starting with a flat piece of sterling - amazing!. This was my favorite piece in the silver room of the museum. You can even see me in the reflection.

A Day with Hans Christian Anderson

2010-09-27T15:31:00.001-07:00

Hans Christian Anderson was born in the town of Odense. Incidentally, it's pronounced Oonts (or something like that). It seems Danish words are never pronounced like they are spelled. I asked a young American who was studying the Danish culture and language at the folk school where we were lodging about that, and he said Danes don't pronounce about half the letters in any word, and the trick in speaking the language is to figure out which ones to skip.

This is the Anderson house - it was very small when he lived here, and it's now been enlarged and incorporates a very nice museum. There was a life-size statue of the man, and one of his suits of clothes - he was very, very tall. In addition to telling stories, Anderson liked to amuse children with paper cutouts - below are a few samples of his work. Some were intricate and others were just silly. These are some nearby streets in the older section of the town - colorful buildings and narrow cobblestoned streets. In the modern new section of the city, there's a statue of Anderson surrounded by restaurants, clothing stores, tourist shops, etc. There's also this wonderful sculpture nearby which children (and teenagers) love to play on. No city square is complete with its church.And from the sublime to the ridiculous, this is where I got an ice cream cone (right near the Anderson statue). And to round off a wonderful day, we found a flea market set up along the waterway, and I got to shop for an hour or two.

Antique Show on the Sutton Green

2010-09-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

My pal Janice and I set up on Sutton Common on Saturday with about 25 other antiquers. I haven't done a show in about a year, but Jan wanted a partner and the price was right. The weatherman predicted sunny skies and warm temperatures, but he was wrong again. It was overcast most of the day and quite chilly - I never took off my sweatshirt. But my two goals were achieved - I had fun and sold a few things. And we even enjoyed music from an old-timey group who played in the gazebo for three hours.

This is our space.And here is the musical group, playing folk songs, sea shanties and Civil War tunes. Next, we're back to Denmark and Hans Christian Anderson's home (if I don't get sidetracked again.)

Viking Center in Ribe

2010-09-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

The town of Ribe, located in Jutland, is said to be the oldest city in Scandinavia, founded according to their town history between 704 and 710 AD. Ribe will celebrate its 1300th anniversary in 2010, and they are proud of their Viking heritage. below are pictures of the Viking Center, and this museum recreation is actually located near the original settlement site, which eventually grew into the town of Ribe. I pulled these photos off the Internet, because all mine were lost. The barn below was HUGE! And yes, the roof did curve like that. Vikings were everywhere!Here is a weaver at work using a simple card loom, with dyed wool hanging from the shed timbers. This little picture is similar to one I took of a girl doing handwork called "naalbinding", a kind of knotted finger-weaving. She was making round hats using this technique. This is our whole group, in front of the Viking Center entrance.

Denmark - First Day

2010-09-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

We took a large and comfortable ferry (we were actually in the "Comfort Section") from the port of Kristiansand in Norway to Denmark across the Skagerrak waterway to Denmark. I snapped this picture of a Danish town from the coach taking us across Denmark to Askov, where we boarded at the Askov Hojskole (folk high school).These are the classrooms at the folk school - our lodgings were on the other side of the green and back - about a 10 minute walk back and forth. Our first excursion was to Ribe, the oldest town in Denmark. These are a few views of houses and streets there. The interior of the Ribe Cathedral, and a tiny picture of the exterior (taken from the internet). The lovely old house below is where four of us had dinner with the owner, a woman named Tonsie, who was a splendid hostess and cook for an evening. She took us for an auto tour of the countryside, answering all our many questions. She had lovely gardens and a sloping backyard, and she told us that territory line of Germany in the 1800s was actually on the opposite hill. And she showed us the absolutely gorgeous Christening gown she had sewn for her grand-child. (Unfortunately, these photos were lost.) There were lilacs in full bloom everywhere in Denmark, lining the country roads, in people's yards, in parks - just beautiful.

Woodstock Fair - Best in Show!

2010-09-04T12:11:00.001-07:00

First things first - this was the Pearl Buck Jacket which I finished last fall. Can you see the ribbons? - on the right is a blue ribbon, and the big rosette is "BEST IN SHOW" for knitted garment. Yippee!!! I got another blue ribbon for these self-striping socks, and a third blue ribbon for another pair of socks - lacy pink ones. Here are some views of the Woodstock Fair. It's a tradition - gotta go Labor Day Weekend. A little bit of concern about the expected hurricane Thursday, but it was no big deal after all. This is the second or third year for the sand sculpture people. They keep working on their structure most of the weekend - refining and redoing different parts of it.
Always have to see the giant pumpkins. This year we also have a giant green thingie up on the board above that 800 pound pumpkin. And here's the giant cabbage.I always have to pick up one of the newly hatched chicks. A little boy next to me was excitedly watching one break out of its shell - couldn't get a picture through the incubator screen. This is my favorite bunny. And I love this little old truck. Needs a little work. I'm thinking Son #1 could restore it and then give it to me.

Lovely Flowers Today

2010-08-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some views taken last month in the Minnesota Botanical Garden, mostly the rose garden, which was in glorious bloom. Almost every time I've visited the Minnesota clan, we've taken a walk through part of the site - it would take almost the whole day to tour it all.

The blog will be traveling back through Denmark after this stopover in Minnesota.

A Break for Family

2010-08-26T06:50:00.001-07:00

Taking a break from blogging about the Scandinavia trip (Denmark is next), here's some pictures of a long weekend spent with the kiddies in Minnesota.

The Minnesota clan just hanging out in the back yard. Visitors from California, too.We played miniature golf - everyone's a winner.We went to a music fair in the park. The restored steamer Minehaha gave rides all day. Cousins Maisie and Emma with fabulous face-painting. And without face-painting, intent on some candy.

Grammie taught Emma how to knit and bought her some yarn and needles. She picked it up the technique fast - wish I could be there to help her finish that headband.

Beautiful Norway Beaches and More

2010-08-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

There are miles and miles of lovely and lonely beaches on the western side of Norway. The Jaeren beaches have dunes, gentle surf, beach grass and a lighthouse in the distance, reminding me a great deal of Cape Cod. The entire area is protected by conservation regulations. and we visited a nearby information center and museum. The photo below was pulled off the Internet (again, my photos were lost). This is the only photo of the beach taken by Steve.On the drive back to our lodging, we passed by this beautiful and very still lake. The reflections were awesome. Here we are with Jonny, our ever-so-friendly and helpful leader. who helped make Norway so delightful.

Photos I wish I still had: Fields of yellow rapeseed; Small older houses painted red or yellow with white trim, contrasted with newer housing in 1950s style; Small farms, rocky fields, stone walls, dandelions and sheep; My footprint in the North Sea sand; Klepp church with gravestone of original Mr. Klepp; Viking grave mounds in farm fields.

Up and Down at Fjord's End

2010-08-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

This is a view looking down at the far end of the fjord, with our ferry boat still at the dock. the picture was taken from the window of the bus as we climbed up the mountain. A view of the valley beyond the dock and the fjord's end.

This is the steep and winding road we traveled to get to the top of the mountain. The same valley as in the photo above can be seen in the distance. A beautiful day, crisp and clear.

This restaurant was about three-quarters of the way to the top. A very nice lunch, great views (including the one of the road seen above).

We traveled for a couple of miles along the top of the mountain. There were hundreds of little stone cairns everywhere along the side of the road, assembled by tourists and travelers, many of whom were hikers or bikers. The bus driver took a picture of me beside the one I made (unfortunately lost to posterity when I inadvertently reprogrammed by camera).

Coming down the other side of the mountain, we followed this rocky stream for many miles through the Sirdal Valley.

Fabulous Fjord

2010-08-03T09:00:00.001-07:00

One of the highlights of the whole Scandinavia trip was this cruise up the Lysefjord. Here you can see our boat approaching. This was actually a ferry which carried vehicles as well as people. I think the trip took about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. The lower portion of the fjord was edged with relatively low hills - they got progressively higher as we went along. A waterfall tumbles from the cliff top to the green water below. This isolated farm was situated in a relatively level field between cliffs.The fjord ends rather abruptly at a narrow valley between high cliffs.
This is the dock at the end of the fjord. Our coach awaits on the right. We traveled from here up a steep winding road to the top of the cliffs - stay tuned.

Two Evenings of Folk Dances and Songs

2010-07-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

Folk music, dancing and beautiful ethnic costumes made one great evening. These people do this as a hobby, meeting every week or so to dance, get together and have fun. They performed six or eight Norwegian dances for us, then tried to teach us a few simple moves. My two left feet kept tripping up. These pictures show just a few of the group - I believe I counted 16 dancers, plus the two musicians. These costumes were all hand-made by the women wearing them. The floral embroidery on the hats, shawls and skirts was gorgeous. They also had special silvery necklaces and belts. The skirt and shawl fabric is black wool, and I heard a comment that they were a little too warm for a spring evening. The men's costumes were also hand-made (by the women, of course). One woman told me she made her own outfit, two more for her daughters, and also her husband's suit (similar to the one on the left below). I mentioned that the suit must have been the most complicated and difficult and she replied "Sixty-two buttonholes!". A piano and violin provided the music for dancing - check out the beautiful custom-made violin below. On another night, we were treated to a chorus - again of an amateur group (the Blandakoret Vivace) who perform for the pleasure of it. They sang a few folk songs and also some show tunes, but the hit of the evening was their rendition of a folk song our fearless leader Jonny had taught us "Per fiddler, he had but the one only cow - he traded his cow for a fiddle right now...." Of course, they sang it in Norwegian and as a round - wonderful! Topping off each of these evenings, most of the performers stayed for coffee and cake with our group. They were as interested in learning about us as we were about them, and we had some friendly and lively conversations. It was no problem communicating, since all Norwegians know at least some English and enjoy practicing it. It is taught as a second language in all elementary schools.

Coming up next - a trip up (or is it down?) a fjord.

Knitting and Sunflowers

2010-07-24T07:55:00.001-07:00

I'm throwing in some knitting content for this entry in the blog. This is a military helmet liner made of grey wool, which eventually will be going to Afghanistan or Iraq. A few months ago, our Knitting Guild had a Charity Knitting swap, and this was the project I ended up with. What with one thing and another, I didn't get to knit it right away, but unfortunately those wars keep going on and on, so it will still find it way to some soldier's head. On a lighter note, this is a field of sunflowers (actually, one of several fields) in nearby Preston. The profits from this farm's sales of sunflower bouquets go to the Make a Wish charity. I had read about it, but was really prompted to go see for myself by Blogger Audioknits. Since we got there just before lunch, we didn't treat ourselves to the ice cream, although that looked wonderful too. I've also started knitting for Christmas gifts, but since members of my family who might be the recipients sometimes check out this blog, I'm not giving any details or pictures.

Norway - Homes, Museums, Churches

2010-07-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

This is the home where Arne Garborg, one of Norway's greatest writers, lived in his youth, kept as it was circa 1870. It looks small (and it is small), but we were told that this is actually about twice as large as the average home of that era. Picture my grandmother and her 15 brothers and sisters living in a house half this size! This is the view from the side yard, looking down into the valley.
Two pictures of the interior. This is Utstein Kloster, an Augustinian monastery constructed beginning in 1260. It was difficult to take a photo, so I copied this one from the brochure.
Two photos of the peaceful interior, with the beautiful painted pulpit (and half the altarpiece). On the following day, we traveled by coach to Stavenger, first visiting the Petroleum Museum -Norway has a huge petroleum industry, and the government is wisely investing the bulk of the profits for a reserve when the oil runs out. Again, this photo is copied from the brochure. This is the view from the outside of the museum, looking down at the harbor of Stavenger. We took a short walk through rainy streets, cobbled and twisty, but with the inevitable MacDonalds. This is the City Cathedral, dating from 1125, and the only cathedral in Norway which has preserved its original medieval design and been in continuous use.

A choir of schoolgirls was rehearsing, and we were able to listen to their lovely harmonies for a while. On the ride back to Klepp, we passed this monument to King Harald, who conquered warring factions and smaller kingdoms and united Norway in 872. Note the bird on top of Harald's sword.

Scandinavia Vacation - First Day

2010-07-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Scandinavia covered all four countries - Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, for almost three weeks in May/June. I've winnowed down my hundreds of pictures to a reasonable few that I'll be showing on this blog during the next few weeks.

We started off in Norway, with a Lufthansa flight arriving in Stavenger (which I learned I had been mispronouncing - it is Sta-VEN-ger, with a hard G. Hazel Hilliard (tour leader) and Jonny Fosse (Norway site coordinator) brought us down to Klepp, a small town near the western coast, where we were to stay for the next four days at the Jaeren Folkehogskule. Folk schools are an option in Scandinavia for the fourth year of high school, where students can specialize in a great variety of programs.

A walk to the top of a nearby hill gave us some great views of the town and an inlet of the North Sea in the distance. This is a monument on that same hill that was erected to commemorate the 2000 millenium- it's placed on top of an unexcavated bronze age burial mound. That's me taking a photo of some sheep - we soon learned that these are everywhere, as are stone walls and rocky fields (even more of these than in New England).

Scandinavian Vacation Knitting

2010-07-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

Of course I took knitting with me on the Scandinavia trip. I was a little nervous that needles wouldn't be allowed on an overseas flight, and I didn't want to use my Denise interchangeables in case they would be confiscated. So I obtained plastic circulars from wonderful Jen of our LYS Woolworks and I packed an extra pair in my checked baggage in case I had to give up the plastic ones, but not to worry - I got through Security just fine and knitted my way across the Atlantic - twice! And here is the result - I knitted about 3/4 of this top overseas, and finished it up back home. It was knitted by unraveling Flat Feet Foursome fabric, which is simply double the size of the Flat Feet fabric sold for socks. Since it comes out "curly" when it is being knitted, it looks much smoother when blocked.

This is what I have left. It was fun to watch the different colors emerge in the knitting and disappear from the Flat Feet fabric.

Avalon Now and Then

2010-07-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

I visited Catalina Island and its little town of Avalon back in March and took the photo on the right. This week by chance I found a postcard (left) that shows the town as it was about 100 years ago. The hills are still there but now the houses are climbing steeply up them.

Pictures Saved!

2010-06-30T06:33:00.000-07:00

I was in shock on our last day in Sweden, as I had inadvertently re-formatted my camera disk and deleted all the pictures (about 400) of Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Thinking all was lost anyway, I kept taking more pictures on the disk (the only one I had) - another day in Sweden, and then 4 days in Finland. We all thought that reformatting had completely erased the pictures beyond recovery.

When we got home, Hubster went on the Internet, and found a couple of programs that not just recovered deleted pictures, but also recovered re-formatted disks. He performed a miracle (actually the program did), and got all my pictures back (except the ones I took in Finland over the first hundred or so on the disk, so I actually did lose my Norway pictures). More good news though - Hubster was also taking pictures on his own camera, so he shared his Norway pictures with me. He has a different attitude toward traveling and photo opportunities than I do, but at least I have some views similar to those I had taken myself. Isn't technology wonderful!

Two lessons learned: Don't by any means reformat camera disks when there are pictures on them, and don't put all the pictures on a single disk.

Hooray for Boston!

2010-06-14T16:16:00.000-07:00

Hubster and I just returned from 3 weeks (almost) in Scandinavia, and we landed in Boston earlier this afternoon. We had a shuttle ride through the center of the city because another passenger had to get to the Hilton Hotel. We've been to many European cities in the last three years, and I was especially struck by how beautiful Boston was today, especially compared with the European ones. The city was clean and green, and there were flowers everywhere - in all the parks, in front of city buildings, hotels, restaurants - all neat and trimmed and colorful. I noticed only one spot of graffitti during the drive - amazing! The city is blessed with great architecture, grand hotels, wonderful restaurants - we can truly be proud of this splendid city.

And just as beautiful was the ride home to Connecticut - how lush and green everything is today. Let's keep our New England just as clean and green and lovely, and be glad every day that we live in such a wonderful land.

Never Say Never

2010-06-07T12:05:00.000-07:00

I'm traveling in Europe these past two weeks (and one more to go). Before I left home, I had a brainstorm and printed out all the blogs I wrote about my trip last year - the river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest. It was a wonderful way to capture all the comments I made about the pictures I took. So traveling around Scandinavia I decided to do the same thing about this trip. So many wonderful places we have visited in Norway, Denmark and Sweden (and soon to visit Finland). So I will document the trip in my blog, probably beginning in June when I have things sorted out and the photos printed. So if anybody is still checking this out (which I doubt), stay tuned for Scandinavia.

And I have bought yarn here - two ball of variegated blue\green sock yarn in Norway, and two kits for knitting little Danish houses in Odense. And I brought my knitting along, and have done a lot of work on a tank top made from the Flat Feet fabric, which is really fun to do. I can't post pictures of this now, but maybe later.

Some other people need to use this computer now - we are limited here at the place we are staying and many people besides me need to check email. So I'll sign off for now and get back to the blog in June (or maybe earlier).

Goodbye

2010-04-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

It's time to put an end to things when they become a duty instead of a pleasure. Of course you can't do that to most things in life (laundry comes to mind), but I am putting an end to this blog. Hasta la bye-bye to those few who have actually viewed it.

Budapest - Vacation's End

2010-03-08T05:50:00.000-08:00

This is a city street in Budapest - a typical city street, you might think, with traffic, 24-hour supermarket, people, colorful signs.

Well, maybe not so typical - a few blocks over. This is Heroes Square, constructed in 1896, to mark the millenium of the Hungarian conquest of the area. And I think this is the Parliament Building, but these pictures were taken from the coach and the guide was a little difficult to understand. So many of these elegant buildings were damaged, whether from warfare or simple neglect (or both). We noticed bullet holes in many walls - you may be able to see one or two in this photo.The Hungarian language is amazingly complex - I think there are 42 different characters, and you can see most of them in this sign. The Danube flows between Buda (on the hill) and Pest (the flat side). Our boat is docked near the bridge connecting the two parts of the city, with Castle Hill on the far side.

One of the oldest streets in Buda. Castle Hill has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Here's part of the castle, with a statue of St. Stephen.

The ubiquitous church, undergoing repair. We were not allowed to go inside.

The beautiful tiled roof of St. Matthais Church.

Castle Hill at night. I'm quite proud of this photo.

The next day we flew home - a long tiring trip ending a wonderful vacation.

I'm going on another trip next week - this one to the West Coast to visit family (that would be D2, GD5, S1, GD1 and in-laws), and also do a 5-day program on the Queen Mary, which is docked in Long Beach. I'm not sure when the next posting on this blog will be. I hope you'll check back once in a while.

Traveling Through Hungary

2010-02-24T06:09:00.001-08:00

Actually, this first picture isn't Hungary - it's Slovakia. We passed by this town around midnight, the only bit of Slovakia on the Danube, so I had to take a photo, even though it didn't come out at all. The boat was moving, and it was dark, so all I got was a blur of lights. Kind of pretty, though.

The next day, we took a coach trip to a farm about 20 miles from Budapest, and I snapped some pictures through the window, mostly fields and trees. This is a small Hungarian farm. And this is a street corner in a small town.

At the farm, we had a ride in a cart through the countryside - this is a small shrine by the side of the dirt road. This is a breed of Hungarian sheep. They always clump together tightly like this - it was funny to see them walk around their small corral. I never got to take a picture of a face.

And these are long-horn Hungarian cattle.

Lunch was in the restaurant at the farm (which was really just set up for tourists, but interesting nonetheless). We were treated to a concert of Hungarian melodies.

And folk dancing too.

The horse show was amazing - these young men and their horses worked as a team. The grand finale is below - he is riding four horses. He also did five at once, but I couldn't get a picture.

Vienna, My City of Dreams

2010-02-04T09:05:00.001-08:00

The title of this blog is the title of a song I used to play on the piano when I was about 10 years old. I found myself humming it as we rode in the coach down the famous Ringstrasse in Vienna, looking at the beautiful buildings and elegant shops. (Much of Vienna was like every other large city, with its share of graffiti and clutter).
This is the renowned Vienna Opera House - the main entrance. It is so large it covered nearly a city block. I had to take a picture of the stage door entrance!

And this sight fascinated me - the men are pushing a huge truck (scenery, maybe?) into one of the back entrances of the Opera House.

And of course, here's the cathedral, covered with scaffolding as usual. This one was different, though. Can you see on the right where the scaffolding is covered with a tarpaulin with a graphic of what the restored steeple will look like?

Here's the interior of the cathedral, with the elaborate pulpit on the left, and most of our group on the right.

This is a different church - notice the wonderful tiled roof with the Austrian eagles.

This fountain pretty much captures the essence of old Vienna.

But Vienna is modern as well. This photo contrasts the old and the new.

This is one of the elegant hotels on the Ringstrasse - the Imperial. No, we didn't stay there.

We were so close to some of the famous Lipizzaner horses that we could have touched them.
They were being taken out from their stables for exercise and practice.

This is the house where Richard Strauss lived and wrote his beautiful waltzes.

And this is where Hubster and I had lunch, dining under the umbrellas at the Cafe Mozart. Orson Welles' film "The Third Man" was filmed in Vienna - about a month after we got home, I happened to discover a vintage sheet music of the "Cafe Mozart Waltz", which was played in the movie and had photos of the stars on the cover. A very exciting find!

And here's another outdoor eating spot, not quite as elegant as the Cafe Mozart, but great if you're homesick. I had to take this photo for D2 Diane, who can't go a day with a visit to Starbucks. Now she knows she can get her fix in Vienna. And I got my casino fix here. The single room was dark and gloomy, with only two poker machines, in German of course. But I won 10 euros! I think there was another back room, but I didn't dare go in there.

So that was Vienna, not exactly the "city of dreams" of days gone by, but there were remnants of glory if you knew where to look.

Memories but no Pictures

2010-01-26T12:14:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-23T09:38:00.001-08:00

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

2010-01-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

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.

The Tale of a Dog

2009-12-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

Hubster's daughter Debbie (I guess that makes her SD1) was with us for Christmas. Here we are on Christmas Eve, eating shrimp and unwrapping presents. My favorite was a big gift certificate to the local yarn store - Hubster knows what I like. Deb is holding the Aran-style sweater I made for her dog - she was absolutely over the moon about it, but it didn't make a hit with Max (the dog). Here's Max, wearing his new sweater. He stood like this for at least five minutes, unmoving, wearing a pitiful expression "What have you done to me, why am I being punished by wearing this strait-jacket?" This from a dog who normally won't stand still for an instant. At least I got a good picture. When we took it off, he rolled back and forth on the floor for a few minutes, as if he couldn't believe he was really free.

I can now post some of my Christmas knitting - I didn't want to spoil the surprise in case the kids checked my blog. I made three pairs of these cute slippers for the grand-daughters (and I plan to make a pair for myself also).

This is the Koolhaas hat, made for S1 who lives near Seattle. The pattern is named after the architect of the Seattle Public Library, and resembles the structure of the building. It was a real challenge to get all the crosses straight, especially at the top decreases, and it took quite a while to knit. I absolutely couldn't read while knitting this. But I do love a challenge and I'm rather proud of this. (It looks kind of weirdly narrow and tight, but it's really stretchy and it fit me well - I do hope it fit S1 also).

I made a few other small things but didn't take pictures, including some headbands, and little mittens that were enclosed in Christmas cards. Hard to believe Christmas comes and goes so fast, when you spend so much time preparing for it.

It's Snowing, So Let's Go to Germany

2009-12-20T13:37:00.000-08:00

We've had about a foot of snow today, my car was almost completely buried in a drift, the shop didn't call me in to work so I'm assuming they closed for the day (good choice!), and I just woke up from a two-hour nap. Time to re-visit Regensburg.
Regensburg is an old town, originally a Roman garrison town guarding the Danube. Here's an ancient wall, with a more "modern" wall above it. Here's Hubster - not quite as old as the arch he's standing under. I love seeing these bits and pieces of antiquity absorbed into the modern town. There are several of these towers below built in the 14th century by medieval merchants anxious to protect their wealth.

And of course, here's the beautiful Gothic church. The main body of the church was halted in the 1500s, and the two spires at the front were actually not added until the 1800s.

Here are the gorgeous medieval windows - the colors are breathtaking. This tower is all that remains of the original Romanesque church built on this site, and it's incorporated into the newer Gothic building. (Use what you have!) Notice the scaffolding - I don't think we saw one church on the whole trip that didn't have some repair work going on.

I had to take a photo of this great iron door.

And of these old windows with tiny panes of glass and their flowerboxes.

This plaque was on the house that OsKar Schindler lived in (you remember the movie).

That's all for today - see you in Straubling next time. And one of these days, I'm going to have to post some knitting context. I Netflixed "Julie and Julia" last night (I really enjoyed it), but I'm not hoping someone will want to make a movie of this blog. Maybe I can think of some knitting challenge that will take me a year to complete - how about all the designs of Elizabeth Zimmerman, or my travels through lace, cables and Fair Isle. Never mind.

Weltenburg Monastery on the Danube

2009-12-14T15:13:00.000-08:00

On the twelfth day of our trip, we spent the morning at the Weltenburg Monastery. This is the oldest Benedictine Monastery in Bavaria. These are the ancient plastered stone walls that surround the buildings. This is the beautiful baroque church of the monks. But the exterior didn't prepare us for the splendor of the interior. It was breathtaking. The domed ceiling was amazing, but too bright for me to get a good photo. But monks still have to make a living, and this is how they do it - beer! This is the logo of the Weltenburg Brewery - I had to take the photo through a glass window, but the scroll below the shield reads (translated from Latin) "for Mary and Jesus". You can probably make out a crown and sceptre at the top of the shield. We watched men loading up beer trucks in the courtyard.

We next took a small boat to travel through the Danube Gorge, miles of high cliffs on either side of a fairly narrow river at this point. We're on our way to Regensburg and Straubling.

.... to be continued.

Visits with the Kids

2009-12-02T14:56:00.001-08:00

This is my Indiana group - S2 Barry, with GD2 Olivia, GS2 Sam, and the matriarch of the family, me! The Colts sweatshirt is a giveaway that this is Indianapolis - everybody there seems to be Colts crazy, even the ladies in the Curves exercise studio that I used one morning. (It's a football team, in case you didn't know.) We visited the Indiana State Museum - very well done with lots of fascinating exhibits. I especially like the huge globe lit from within which showed the succession of changes which formed the continents. The picture below was taken outside the rear of the museum, showing a partial skyline of Indianapolis and a canal. Here's Sam, with his wonderful impish face. Yes, that's a little rubber ducky on his head.

And speaking of wonderful impish faces, this is the newest member of the family, six-month-old Great-grandson Lucas (I guess he's GGS1). He's sitting in the 100-year-old rocker/high chair I bought a few years ago, and he's wearing the socks I knitted for him.(they didn't stay on long).

Four generations - it doesn't seem possible.

Here's Momma and Poppa with baby Lucas (a handsome trio but a little out of focus).

I'll be getting back to the European cruise next time.