Back to our regularly scheduled....

Program, Blogging, Knitting....Life. Yup, back to the routine. Hubbs is off mountain bike racing this weekend in Decorah and I have a weekend to myself to relax and get back to the norm. After my disappointment with the X-Large Clessidra, I started over with less stitches (68 vs. 76, which increase to 98 vs. 110 initially). So far, it looks as though it will work. Comparisons, anyone? I think blocking will smooth out the cables.
Remember the lovely Golding that my sis got me for Christmas? I am slowly getting the hang of it...I think. Although, I don't have much to show (in quantity). My spinning is a more worsted/bulky....and short in length. I will have to keep practicing! This Golding makes just about anything I do look good, it is so lovely.
Right now I think my main "issue" is keeping the fibers to draft, which I think means that I have my hand too close to the fiber supply.

It is either Romney/Coopworth Wool Roving that I have been practicing with. Supposedly it is easy to spin. I am not quite sure if it is my misconception of spinning that expected the yarn to just "flow" into spinning more loosely (I just imagined my spinning dropping to the floor in a spin), or the type of fiber. I am more convinced that it is my inexperience :)

I need to practice "setting the twist". For now, I will keep spinning my little bits and see if I can get them to be longer.

I am thinking about getting a wheel this Spring. When I told Hubbs about it, he asked me if it meant that my habit would be less expensive...i.e. spinning and dying your own yarn would save costs......hehehe. I told him that was unlikely, and it was more for the fiber and creative enjoyment. What kind of a wheel do you have? I am leaning towards the Majacraft Rose. What online store do you use for your spinning needs (wheels, roving.....)?

Nice was nice, sort of

Nice was our least favorite destination, but who can complain when you are in France on the French Riviera? The only reason I say "least favorite" is because we were met by lots of renovation work in the area we were staying. Many fountains were covered and getting around was a bit of a hassle. Oh well, the city is trying to maintain its beauty...we just happened to be there in the "maintaining" stage.

We enjoyed the best pizza of our trip at Pub Opera and managed to catch some Futbol on t.v. Hubbs had the Chef (mozzarella, mushrooms, ham), while I had the Dub (mozzarella, and a cured ham similar to bacon). The Dub was the best pizza we had in France....nice crust, and great flavor.
Russian Cathedral
The main port in town, lots of sailboats & yachts
I had to put this pic up for Knotty Mouse...after admiring this ship from a distance, hubbs read in the local newspaper that this is an old restored ship that came to port from Norway/Sweden (can't remember which) and was in port in Nice for people to go aboard and look around and really get a good look at this ship. Little did we know when we were over by it that we could go aboard! Oh well, lovely picture anyway. Argh, Pirates!

Round two, Menton

As I think I have said, over and over again as I have run the play-by-play of our trip....Menton was fabulous. Just about a mile or so from Italy on the French Riviera, there was beauty in the buildings and in the scenery...charm all around.

Buildings and homes in MentonStairs up to old church squareView from old church square towards ItalyPastry love---Eclair Cafe (coffee flavored eclair) & Apple Tart

The water of the French Riviera along the Cote d' Azur is the most amazing shade of blue. What more can I say?

Next stop, Nice :)

Ooh la la

Ah, Paris in the spring. Isn't that enough to break into song? Work has been a little hectic since my return from France, hence the delay with the pics. Flew to Chicago on Monday and then back to town late last night. Lots of pictures were taken, but I thought I would share a few favorites. These are all from Paris. Menton & Nice to come later this week :)

Notre Dame---Hubbs favorite Paris siteRose Window at Notre DameFountain by the ConcordePont Neuf- one of the oldest bridges on the Seine where the famous artists would sell their goods back in years pastThe Eiffel Tower sparkling away at night. Our first night in Paris, we walked to the Eiffel tower and watched the sunset.....got an ice cream cone and enjoyed the view!

I really enjoyed the neighborhood of Montmarte, where the artists such as Picasso and Van Gough lived....how inspiring!

We totally got a kick out of all of the compact cars and scooters....how about those Smart cars? I hear they are coming to the U.S.!

For Mom

A birthday for my mom? That means another opportunity to knit a gift :) My mom is one who always appreciates my handknits and puts them to good use. She wears them and enjoys them...what more could a knitter ask for? So, I whipped up a shorter version of Blue Sky Alpacas Opera Scarf with some Classic Elite Fame (a Silk-Rayon blend).

Perfect for wear with a jean jacket or light summer top! Oooh la la

Utter cuteness

Don't you just love blogland? Ideas abound! I stumbled across the cutest pattern, these little Korknisses.

Good Little Granola Girl did a couple back in February

And Elliphantom Knits did a whole village!

I love them in multiples, I think I need a fleet of my own. For what? Just for utter cuteness!

Here is my start:
Thanks for the corks, Knittripps, let the village begin!

Learnings

I moved over my Clessidra to Size 1 circs, and tried them on.....argh. They are tree trunks! Going down a needle size won't be enough I fear, I think that I am going to have to modify the pattern. The pattern gives instructions on how to make them bigger, but I am going to have to do some tinkering to adapt for smaller. Lacking motivation.....

Stumbling through blogs and pics, I came across this on Spincycle yarn's gallery: Knitting tattoos...hehe...who knew?
http://www.spincycleyarns.com/gallery/view/?i=512

Home again, home again

Well, we made it home after long flights and lots of time on airplanes. Traveling is really draining, but who can complain when are in a place as beautiful as France? Little knitting was done except for on the plane and train. I am sure you understand how busy I was eating up all of those tasty pastries and such in Paris, Menton, and Nice. :)

I am doing the KAL for Clessidra and that has been my main project lately. Here are a couple pics of the progress (you can see the background of France from our hotel in Menton in the first pic):

I really want to move this sock back over to 2 circs but am nervous about changing my gauge. I think I will try it anyway, 2 circs has ruined me....it seems as though the dpns are making progress sooooo slooooow.

As for more pics from our travels, I will be sharing them with you throughout the week! Time to check out my favorite blogs, I have been suffering from a small amount of blog deprivation :) Funny how blogs and your usual reads become part of your life!

Progress

Well, I have officially mastered my first pair of socks on 2 circs. I did the basic ribbed sock pattern out of the book, but think now I could use the technique on most sock patterns. The yarn I used (Plymouth's Sockotta) is yarn from my stash that I had also used for a pair of Crusoe's last year. My sis gifted me 2 balls of this yarn, and let me tell you, after knitting 2 pairs of socks, I think that I still have enough yarn to do at least 1 or 2 more! Talk about yardage. Score! It isn't the softest sock yarn I have worked with, but the blend makes it durable and light for spring/summer socks. I like to call this color, sock monkey :)The trip to France is approaching and I was starting to get a little worried about having my yarn in time. Today there was a ring at the door, and the mailman handed me my mail with a box from KnitPicks! I think that Gloss is going to be a nice yarn to work with. And I love the color, Pumpkin! These should be some sweet socks. After all of the good advice from my last post (I love knitbloggers, so helpful), I will be taking along my wood dpns for these (and maybe a self addressed stamped envelope just in case). Thanks everyone for your suggestions, I feel better about traveling with my project already! Now, I need to get to winding so I can test out my size 1's with the pattern.
Hubbs had a mountain bike race today in Omaha, Nebraska. This is the first m-bike race for the Nebraska series. He is hoping to get some more regional racing in this year with his move up to expert. We have gotten another blast of cold here in the Midwest, which doesn't make for good spectating. Oh well....there will be many more races to watch this year!

What to knit....

I have decided what will travel with me to France to knit: Clessidra! I ordered some Gloss from KnitPicks, and hopefully it will get here and through the ball winder before I leave. After hearing horror stories in the blogosphere about needles being confiscated at airports, I couldn't bear the thought of loosing any precious Addi's or any of my Denise Interchangeables. I have sevearl little sock needles, the cheap-o metal variety being the least important to me. I really don't like knitting with them, but could manage to part with them if need be. So, no socks on 2 circ's for Clessidra.

I am all about the international sock knits (apparently). Friday Harbor socks made it to Trinidad & Tobago, and these will be world traveler socks #2.

Hooray for portable projects! And yes, I am totally diggin' the cables on Clessidra. And guess what? There is a KAL!