New trip, new WIP

Mirrored from The OEconomist. You can comment there or here.

A few weeks ago I got a fairly sudden invitation to travel to Europe and speak at a conference. I decided to spin out the trip and spend 2+ months touring around while I was over there. And so for the last little while I’ve been madly running round trying to get everything ready and do all the things I need to do before I leave.

It’s meant that the sewing phase I was heading into was abruptly arrested just as I was finishing the red dress I was working on.

Still to be hemmed when I took this, but looking okay.

It also meant I put down the woolly shawl I’d just started working on, and cast on something light for the European summer, using some yarn I picked up from a pop-up yarn shop on Lygon Street a couple of weeks ago. Although it had no label, I think it’s Avril linen-cotton slub in colourway “00″, a natural bone sort of colour.

The pattern is Shaelyn, a fairly easy triangle shawl using a variation on feather-and-fan lace. Easy enough to knit without a pattern, but with a bit of interest so I don’t doze off completely. It’s going far slower than I hoped it would despite the swathes of plain knitting; it’s been weeks and I’m only just finishing the first 50g ball! Still, I’ll take it with me on the plane, and hopefully finish it not too far into my trip.

About 1/3 complete, I think.

I’ve often found that hotel room carpets are great for blocking non-fiddly shawls, in any case… the weird velcro texture of them is enough to hold the shawl in place if you spread it out into shape, and the air conditioning (assuming there is aircon) dries it in no time. When I used to do a lot of business travel, I’d often take unblocked shawls and a little bottle of wool wash with me for that very purpose.

Anyway, I guess this is just to say, don’t expect any cooking posts between now and October. I suspect there’ll be a few knitting updates from on the road, though.

New trip, new WIP

A few weeks ago I got a fairly sudden invitation to travel to Europe and speak at a conference. I decided to spin out the trip and spend 2+ months touring around while I was over there. And so for the last little while I’ve been madly running round trying to get everything ready and do all the things I need to do before I leave.

It’s meant that the sewing phase I was heading into was abruptly arrested just as I was finishing the red dress I was working on.

Still to be hemmed when I took this, but looking okay.

It also meant I put down the woolly shawl I’d just started working on, and cast on something light for the European summer, using some yarn I picked up from a pop-up yarn shop on Lygon Street a couple of weeks ago. Although it had no label, I think it’s Avril linen-cotton slub in colourway “00″, a natural bone sort of colour.

The pattern is Shaelyn, a fairly easy triangle shawl using a variation on feather-and-fan lace. Easy enough to knit without a pattern, but with a bit of interest so I don’t doze off completely. It’s going far slower than I hoped it would despite the swathes of plain knitting; it’s been weeks and I’m only just finishing the first 50g ball! Still, I’ll take it with me on the plane, and hopefully finish it not too far into my trip.

About 1/3 complete, I think.

I’ve often found that hotel room carpets are great for blocking non-fiddly shawls, in any case… the weird velcro texture of them is enough to hold the shawl in place if you spread it out into shape, and the air conditioning (assuming there is aircon) dries it in no time. When I used to do a lot of business travel, I’d often take unblocked shawls and a little bottle of wool wash with me for that very purpose.

Anyway, I guess this is just to say, don’t expect any cooking posts between now and October. I suspect there’ll be a few knitting updates from on the road, though.

Mirrored from Chez Skud. You can comment there or here.

The Itinerary Of Dooooooom!

Mirrored from Infotropism. You can comment there or here.

Okay, I think I’ve got it together enough to post. Here’s where I’ll be in Spain, France, and the UK between July 24th and October 8th. If you’re in any of these places and would like to catch up for a beer/coffee/meal/tourist adventure, let me know. If you’ve travelled in any of these areas and have tips, let me know.

(Exceptions to request for tips: yes, I already have a Eurail pass; yes, I know about booking British tickets well in advance via thetrainline.com; yes, I know the Olympics are on at that time and know about getaheadofthegames.com.)

Summary:

July 24th-August 7th: Spain, including Madrid, A Coruña, Cordoba, Barcelona.

August 7th-21st: France, including Avignon, a friend’s place nearish to Lyon, Strasbourg, Paris.

August 21st-September 30th: England and Scotland, including the south coast from Dover to Portsmouth, London, York, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Bristol, and Cornwall, with shorter side-trips along the way to various stuff.

October 1st-8th: Back through France and Spain to Madrid, and fly home.

More detail

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