Mothlady

Update

Well. When I wrote in my last post that I don't want to finish Aranmor too soon, I didn't have this in mind. In the last few weeks I've only knitted for maybe four hours. To make a long story short, I had a fun work project but totally underestimated the time it would take. So basically I did four weeks work in two weeks (ouch!), and this week I've been doing everything else I didn't have time to do then (laundry, cleaning up and other boring stuff).

Aranmor looks about the same as last time (only longer), so I won't bother with a picture. But I did finish the first Pomatomus sock.

The remarkable thing is that it fits even though I used Fleece Artist Merino (28st/4'') instead of Shelridge Farm Soft Touch Ultra Fingering Weight (32st/4'').

Either I have bigger feet than I thought or I'm a tight knitter. I'd like to think it's the latter :)

As soon as I finished the sock I felt the first symptoms of Second Sock Syndrome, so to alleviate the pain I started the Sapporo 2007 Nordic World Ski Championships (22 Feb - 4 Mar) project.

It is the Cable-Trim Jacket from Classic Knits for Real Women, I'm using a super soft yarn called Schachenmayr Boston. And because Japan has a different timezone from ours I'm watching cross-country skiing in the mornings (and knitting at the same time), so it's not a bad way to start the day. Although Aranmor will still be my number one project, I expect to finish the jacket fairly quickly because I'm using 8mm needles.

I'm also going to London with a friend in May. After talking about it for 15 years or so, we're finally going to the Chelsea Flower Show! Woohoo!

Holiday snaps

Now that I've gotten over the flu bug (although I still sound like Eartha Kitt) I'm ready to show you some holiday snaps I took while we were away.

The first train journey went okay, but the second was rather awkward because the train was full of people and the weather was extremely hot. To top it all, we had the only window that had no curtains (Somebody had yanked them out and placed them on the top shelf. Gee, thanks a lot!). The third and final journey was the most difficult one. According to my calculations, there were six dogs with their owners - and us. One woman took her dog to Bettina's cage and when I asked her not to do it, she burst out: "Oh, but he loves cats!" Be that as it may, Bettina doesn't love dogs. Of course the weather was hot again and the heat and the presence of other dogs was too much for one poor dog, who kept howling, barking and growling for the whole time. Now, imagine two hours of that... And guess who were the lucky ones who got the roll-up window shade that didn't work? Argh.

Otherwise we had a really fun time. We met old friends, ate and drank well and got some much-needed sunshine. And we spent one day in a spa (a facial and a massage, thank you very much).

Although Bettina is a seasoned traveller, she doesn't like being in a cage (who would?).

"You just wait until I get my hands on you, you dirty rotten..."

The sky was blue...

...the strawberries were sweet and juicy...

...and I even got some fresh peas from the market.

Don't be fooled by this healthy-looking prawn salad, I've eaten enough pizza to last a lifetime :)

As we were at the seaside, there were always a couple of seagulls waiting for scraps.

By now, Bettina had forgiven us. Sort of.

I love old houses and barns, so I spent some time taking photos of them.

And I love flowers.

Seriously though, this was the fourth time we rented this cottage and Bettina recognized it immediately. But it's hard work for a city cat to watch all the birds and chase ants and bugs...

We spent the second week in an apartment that was worth every penny (and it wasn't even that expensive, it was cheaper than a hotel room!). This is the lakeside view from the balcony.

Of course I managed to do some impromptu knitting as well. This is going to be a scarf out of Brooks Farm's Harmony.

And even though we had fun, it's always good to be back home.

Yes, it's vacation time!

We decided not to take the house after all. It turned out that the real estate agent had been rather 'economical' with the truth when it came to certain aspects of the house. No wonder she didn't like it when we said we'd like to take a closer look. It was a tough decision, but I'm just happy we found out before we moved in. Oh well, I guess we'll find our dream house some day.

Moving on to happier things: do you remember the kittens I saw at my sister's? This is what they look like now.

I thought they would be grey, but they're black. And still cute.

I managed to lock myself into a train yesterday. I was waiting on the platform and a train pulled in. It was the end of the line, so all the people got out and I went in. There was plenty of time before the train left, so I started reading a newspaper. After a while I realized the train should have been moving by now, so I looked around. I thought it was unusual to be the only person in the carriage, but then I realized I was alone in the train. It was the wrong train of course, so I decided to get out, but the doors wouldn't open and I couldn't see any conductors outside. It was a hot day and the air-conditioning wasn't on, so the temperature in the carriage was well over 40 C (104 F). I contemplated briefly on yelling and banging on the windows. You know, "Help! Help! I can't get out of this stupid train!", or something along those lines. Ahem. At last I remembered I had my cellular phone with me, so I called the railroad company's service number. The woman who received my call didn't chuckle, but the guy who came to pry open the doors a few minutes later did. Boy, did I feel stupid :D

We're leaving on a two week holiday on Monday morning. The first week will be spent relaxing on the seaside (and without the Internet), but for the second week we've booked an apartment that should have an Internet connection. We'll see how that works out.

Get out and enjoy the summer!

Puttin' on the Ritz

One funny thing about being a high roller is that you end up on all sorts of mailing lists. Every now and then I get ludicrous extravagant invitations in glossy envelopes to classy soirées. Want to hear more? Then read on.

How about a weekend get-away in a nice hotel? 2 to 4 nights, 2 persons? Let's pick a good location, say... London? Hotels are ever so noisy, a private club is much better, don't you think? How about this? Mayfair sounds nice. I was promised a voucher for £75 meal on arrival, or a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne. I would definitely take the meal, because champagne can really tickle your nose. Oh, the cost? Just £299 per night. What? Oh I see, you wouldn't be caught dead seen in such a rathole. I understand perfectly.

How about a good film and a party afterwards? South of France sounds nice, and it's a world premiere to boot. I didn't get much info as they tend to be rather fussy about these things what with the secrecy and all. The film is probably boring as it's got something to do with religion or art or history, but you can rub shoulders with the stars at the party. (Ahh, I just realized what a knitterly name he has! Now there's a conversation starter. Or a killer.) All this for only £17500. No? Bah, I can't stand the paparazzis either.

While I may be rather extravagant with my purchases, I'm aiming even higher. But that's different, right? That's yarn money.