Category: Travel

More Williamsburg!

We’re still here on vacation, and I’ve managed to take hundreds of photos. There is a ton of stuff to see and do here, and we’re making a grand attempt to take it all in. Today is our last full day here, then we drive back to the DC area for a day, then home.

I did manage to find the yarn shop, and even bought a couple of things. Now there’s a surprise!

I also found some lovely sheep. These are in Colonial Williamsburg. They keep them in the pastures around the old reconstructed town. They shear them every year, and you can buy their wool in the shops. John drew the line at me buying a fleece and trying to stuff it into the overhead bin on the plane, so I settled for some finished wool. I’ll show photos of the loot in a different post when I photograph them. The sheep are Leicester Longwool, an 18th century breed from England.

This next photo might be familiar to those of you in the medical profession who use digoxin in your practice. This stuff (foxglove) grows all over the place here.

The nice thing about having a timeshare is that we have a kitchen. Even I can get tired of eating out for every meal. We tend to have lunch out, then cook dinner at “home”. That way we can have wine with dinner and nobody has to be the designated driver. Here I am stirring the stew pot.

Notice that like any good Colonial woman, I’m doing two domestic chores at once.

Speaking of spinning, I found the weaving and spinning cottage in Williamsburg yesterday. John gets the award of the week for standing patiently while I took photos and asked the very knowledgeable women every question I could think of.

The last place we toured yesterday was the Decorative Arts Museum, which has a fabulous collection of Colonial (and some later periods) furniture, pottery, quilts, and other household decorative items. I could have spent days there alone. The museum is on the site of the former Public Hospital, which was an insane asylum in Colonial times. A corner of the museum has a display of some of the items from the hospital. Here is John, demonstrating that perhaps I have driven him crazy after all.

Today we take the ferry across the James to the Smithfield area. It’s supposed to be hot and humid. The weather here makes me appreciate the Pacific Northwest. If I don’t melt in the heat, I’ll be back again with more photos next time!

Vacation!

We’re off on another adventure. This time it’s to Colonial Williamsburg. We’re using a week of timeshare as a base of operations. After a bit of a hectic week at work, I raced home, packed in under an hour, and we headed for the airport, where we spent the night. We got up Friday morning to catch an early flight. Here we are, starting the morning properly.

We went to the Jamestown Settlement yesterday and spent most of the day there. There’s a terrific museum that gives a very good overview of the Colonial period, and a reconstructed fort. We also visited the full size replicas of the ships that brought the colonists from Europe, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. I surprised the nice young man stationed on the Susan Constant by asking for his photo. I’m pretty sure nobody has ever handed him a partly-knitted sock before. He was a good sport, though, and smiled like this is a normal activity.

As you can see, it was a beautiful sunny day yesterday, even if it was a bit windy. I’m pretty sure that crossing the ocean on any one of these ships wouldn’t exactly be like a cruise. I never did find the bar on this one.

Our friend Byron lives near DC and is here for part of the week with us. Here he is with John and another friend we met along the way.

We’re off for another fun day. We’re heading back to Jamestown today to see the original historical site, then to Yorktown. I’ve already scouted out the yarn shop in Williamsburg, but don’t let the boys know that. I’m keeping that as a surprise for them.

Sunbreak

We’ve had another of those weird spring days here. Cold, pouring rain, grey, and then all of a sudden, bright and sunny. That didn’t last, but it got me outside with the camera to try to get a decent photo of the color of my Evenstar shawl. This will have to do, since it’s pouring rain again. At least it’s raining in the front yard. The sun is still shining in the back yard. Weird.

That’s the best it’s going to get. The inside photos of this color just look pale grey-blue. In real life, it’s a pale clear aquamarine color. The yarn is a cashmere silk 2-ply light laceweight from Colourmart, for those of you not keeping up.

Oh, good, now it’s a downpour out back too, that was worrying me.

I never did show any photos of our trip out to Whidbey Island for the spin-in and visit with Dorothy. Here are a couple of Deception Pass, probably the most photographed spot in Washington. Click these to embiggen.

Here’s John, as usual, not following directions:

And here are a couple from the spinning day:

There were some serious opportunities for fiber stash enhancement, and I did not pass many of them by unheeded. Here’s one, already on the spindle.

This is a blend of deep red, blue and purple wool, along with some firestar sparkly stuff. There’s about three ounces of it total, and I think it will be a light fingering when I’m done with it. We’ll see. I think that would make a pretty little neck thing, either a scarf or a cowl.

I’ve been spending much of the last few days that I’ve had off trying to organize my fiber office. Fiber Office, that sounds sort of official, doesn’t it? Much better than the Pit of Despair, which is what it usually looks like. Now that it’s a bit more organized, I have discovered that I have way too many WIPS and UFO’s than my usual comfort zone allows. I really need to get knitting on some of them. Hopefully you all will see some progress soon on things.

One last thing. I’ve been looking at my blog stats. The funniest three search strings that got people here lately are “big stonking circular shawl”, “clean knitters stories”, and “goofy knitting”. I’m not making that up. I’m off to knit…

ETA: “pee blog knit”. One silly person actually got to my blog by typing that into Google. If you’re that person, please comment and explain exactly what you were looking for.

Free Yarn!

Now that ought to get everybody’s attention! First, though, thanks to everyone who sent fine birthday wishes, and also for putting up with the endless travelogue in the past few weeks. We made it home safely, though I’m still not quite recovered from the time changes. Even the switch to and from daylight savings time messes with my head, so an eight-hour change is really doing it to me. I’ve been waking up at 4 AM, which wouldn’t be so bad, but I’m a zombie again by about 6 PM.

I just downloaded all the photos off my camera this morning (after I woke up at 4 AM in the middle of a Halloween-slasher kind of nightmare). There are over 700 of them, and all I can say is thank God for digital. John has his own camera, and I suspect an equal number of photos. He’s in charge of photo selection and album content, and once he gets them weeded down to a reasonable number, I’ll provide a link to the online version for anybody who hasn’t seen enough already. I might post one or two here and there, just because I can.

OK, here are a couple before I get down to the business you are all really interested in.

One last Guinness:

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We found this building in Kinsale. Read the sign over the door. I might need to join after 16 days of Guinness, wine, and Irish whiskey. Click to make it big enough to read.

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Here’s that sweater that several of you asked about. As we rounded Slea Head on the Dingle peninsula, we had to make a stop for the “facilities”, and found a nice craft shop. A lot of the “craft” shops in Ireland are full of cheap trinkets, what I like to call “rubber tomahawk” shops, but some are quite nice. They had some lovely Aran sweaters that were labelled as hand knit, and were pretty inexpensive if they really were handmade. I couldn’t resist. John thought it was pretty hilarious buying a wool sweater when I’m a knitter, but I was cold, hadn’t found any yarn as of yet, and there it was.

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It’s quite warm, too. I more or less wore it for the rest of the trip.

OK, now the moment you’ve been waiting for, the free yarn. I found this in a craft shop in Leenane, which I blogged about while we were on vacation.

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As the label says, it’s Aran weight tweed, 100% Donegal wool, in a lovely blue color with little tweedy speckles. There is no weight or yardage listed on the labels, but it’s all one dyelot, and each weighs 50 grams. This would be enough for a hat, and perhaps hand warmers as well. It’s labelled as “A Green Product”, and “Natural Feeling”, which I find amusing. Once again, click to embiggen and get a better view of that electric blue.

One of my lucky readers will win this yarn, along with perhaps a tiny surprise or two. This is simply shameless promotion on my part. Since I moved the blog, my RSS subscribers have dropped from over 700 to 38. The competitor in me finds this a bit demoralizing, so one of the purposes of this contest will be to get you to subscribe. Just hit that button over there that says “subscribe”, pick your blog reader, and Bob’s your uncle. Of course, I won’t really know which ones of you are subscribing, so here’s how you can get a chance to enter the contest. Leave me a comment on this post, telling me about your absolute favorite place to travel. If you don’t have one, tell me where you’d like to go, if time and money were no object. I’ll let the random number generator pick a lucky winner. The deadline will be, oh, let’s say Thursday, the 15th, at midnight my time. Good luck!

They Say It’s My Birthday!

Well, yesterday to be exact. I was having too much fun last night to finish the post, so you get it early this morning.

We’re in Clifden, on the west coast in County Galway, and yesterday was just a glorious day.  We have friends in England who warned us that this was a horrible time to visit Ireland due to the weather, but we’ve had just grand weather. (Notice how I’m starting to talk like the locals?) We had one day when it just plain rained, and we’ve had a couple of windy days, but mostly it has been sunny for at least a good part of each day. It’s been cool, but that I can live with. It gave me an excuse to buy a nice little sweater while I am here.

So how did I spend my 53rd birthday? We drove around the Sky Road west of Clifden in the morning, with glorious views of the ocean and the many (300) surrounding islands. Then we drove to Leenane, stopping at Connemara National Park for a little hike. In Leenane, I finally hit pay dirt.

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I finally found yarn! There were four kinds, all of them Aran weight. My sweetie bought me enough pretty yarn to make a sweater. The prices actually were quite reasonable. Here’s what I got.

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The color of that is all wrong, but I think you’ll have to wait till I get home to take an outdoor photo in natural light. I already get mighty funny looks just for knitting in public. I can’t imagine what the locals would do with me if I started taking pictures of yarn in the parking lot.  There are roughly 2700 yards of that (not marked on the yarn itself, but I measured the hank, counted strands, and did the math). It’s a pretty, tweedy deep forest green. It will make a lovely sweater.

I didn’t stop there, always thinking of my readers. There’s more.

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Those are both  Aran weight Donegal tweed, about 200 grams of each color. One of these colors will go in a big blog contest when I get home, so stay tuned later this week.

But wait, there’s more! There was a little spinning and weaving museum attached. The lady who normally is there giving demonstrations was out, but the woman running the shop saw my dejection and let me in.

Here are just a few of the wheels that were on display.

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After we left Leenane, we headed for Westport, where we walked around and then had a couple of pints in Matt Malloy’s pub. The bartender bought me a Guinness when he heard it was my birthday.

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We drove through some more fabulous scenery, getting back to our hotel just in time for cocktails and dinner.

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Back at the hotel, one of the owners, on discovering that it was my birthday, bought me champagne, and at the end of dinner, a birthday treat and singing.

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And I got to knit! What could be better?

We’re in Clifden again tonight, then we head back towards Dublin tomorrow, then home on Thursday. We’ve been gone long enough that I actually am ready to be home, though I’ve enjoyed every minute of this trip. Well, maybe not the parts where we’ve been nearly run off the road by tour buses going 100 km an hour, but all the rest of it.

There may or may not be another post before we head home. Someone else thinks I’ve been hogging the computer, so I have to give it up. Remember, check back later this week for a contest post!

Pretty Much Random Irish Photos

We’re in Doolin, and have enjoyed a couple of nights of “good craic” in the pubs here. We met a couple of Irish women last night, Maeve and Martina, who pointed out that “good craic” in American English doesn’t mean quite the same as it does in Irish English. Here the term means good fun, in NYC, it might get you arrested. At any rate, we’re still having a great time, and here are some photos to prove that.

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Fuschias were imported here some decades ago, and now grow wild. The hedgerows along many of the roads are about eight feet tall, and mostly fuschia.

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There are a lot of sheep here. I still haven’t found yarn shops.

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The Catholic Church is still here. There’s been a bit of a resurgence in the old faith with the economy tanking. There’s a surprise.

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Megalithic tombs, standing stones, ruined castles. There are a lot of them here. If you’re lucky enough to have one in your pasture, you can charge admission.

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Am I the only one who thinks that the Cliffs of Moher are really  the Cliffs Of Insanity from Princess Bride?

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Just a pretty photo to prove that there was actually a bit of sunshine today. We’ve actually had remarkably good weather for the past two weeks, though today it was blustery, with showers and enough wind that we could hardly stand up straight to take photos up on those cliffs.

We head to County Galway tomorrow for a few days. You know the drill. If there’s internets there, you’ll see photos!

Mostly Photos

We’re now on the west coast of Ireland, in a town called Kenmare, on the road to the Ring Of Kerry, which will be today’s adventure. Here are some photos from the past few days.

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I was a little nervous about touching the standing stones, but didn’t go anywhere*.

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There are lots of sheep here.

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And a druid. I think he wanted to knit.

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And some yarn, finally. I haven’t seen one yarn shop since I’ve been here, despite seeing flocks and flocks of sheep.

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We’re off for the day!

*If you’re an Outlander fan, you’ll know of what I speak.

Kilkenny & Cashel & Kinsale, Oh My!

We’re on the road, having left Dublin after a three-day stay there. In every place we’ve been, we easily could spend a whole vacation seeing the sights and enjoying the local people and customs. But onward we go. It’s impossible to see everything in one vacation, even a relatively long one (16 days total for us).

Kilkenny was our first stop after Dublin. This is a very attractive medieval town with winding narrow streets and a huge castle that dominates the landscape. We took the castle tour, wandered the streets, and had a pint or two in a local pub.

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We only spent one night there, then hit the road in the morning, headed for the Rock of Cashel. Driving in Ireland, on the “wrong” side of the road, is quite entertaining. So far, John hasn’t trusted me to drive, so he drives and I’m the navigator and map-reader. All I can say is thank God for Jill, the GPS lady who came with us on the trip. We’ve finally learned to just listen when she shouts “turn!  turn!”. We took the little winding back roads for this part of the trip, which was a bit hair-raising. The N roads are the wider roads, just wide enough for two cars to pass without taking off the side mirrors. The R roads are a bit narrower, and when you meet another car, you have to make a choice. You either stay where you are and lose the driver’s side mirror, or you pull over and put scratches in the finish on the passenger side.

The non-N, non-R roads are what we drove yesterday. Mostly they are big enough for one car, and you just pray that if you meet someone coming at you that they are not going the posted speed limit of 100 km/hour, and that it’s not on a blind curve. So far we still have mirrors and most of the paint on the car.

The Rock of Cashel is an old fortress/cathedral that is in ruins, and highly worth the trip.

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We didn’t sleep in Cashel, but drove on to Kinsale for two nights, which is where we are now. No photos yet, but you can be certain there will be! This is a lovely little harbor town, with a lot of historical significance, so we’re off for the day to tour the village and see the ruins of the Fort. I also had no clue that the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk right off the coast here, so that was an interesting factoid.

John’s clamoring for his turn with Minnie* so I’m off for the day!

*Minnie Dell, of course. What were you thinking?

More Dublin

We found some other fun things in Dublin besides Guinness. Here I am, checking out the lunch options.

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And then there was dinner:

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In case you think we’ve done nothing but eat and drink, that’s not true. In between those things yesterday, we saw the National Gallery, the National History Museum, and last but not least, the Book of Kells and the Long Room Library at Trinity College. For a bibliophile, the Long Room was fabulous. We also got a nice nap in there somewhere.*

I’m posting from a tiny mini-Dell (named Minnie), with a tiny screen and somewhat sketchy internet access, so answering comments may be a bit limited while we’re here. I also have to share Minnie with John, who seems to think he gets equal computer time. Thanks for all your comments nonetheless!

We leave Dublin today, headed west. Our first stop will be Kilkenny. On to the adventure of driving on the wrong side of the road!

*Not in the Long Room. It was pointed out to me that the way I wrote that sentence made it sound like we took a nap in the Long Room.

And We’re Off Again

This time we’re off on a two-week vacation to Ireland. We leave tomorrow morning, so I’m frantically going through all the knitting bags to get stuff sorted out. Of course I have nothing else packed, but damn, I have the knitting ready. Here’s what I’m taking with me. This will also serve as sort of a mini-Project Update as well. Cool! Two posts in one!

First, here’s the spinning portion of the blog. If you don’t give a hoot about spinning, scroll down. I finished some pretty pretty yarn this week. A few months back, I scored a couple of Abby’s Batts. Here’s one of them all spun up. As usual, click to embiggen.

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The fiber is 69% merino, 30% tussah silk, and 1% firestar (aka sparkle!). This is roughly a light fingering, and there’s about 600 yards of it, enough to make a pretty shawl. That’s not coming to Ireland with me, though. The color name is Green Green Grass.

I’m still working on John’s True Blue sweater, and am partly through the first sleeve. The front and back are both done. This will come with me on the trip. I transferred it from straight needles to circulars, to make stuffing it into a travel bag a little easier.

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And I’m still working on the Peony socks. These will go in checked luggage, because of those wicked sharp Signature double points. I’m not crazy enough to try to get those on a plane.

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Last but not least, some green yarn for another pair of socks, just in case I finish the Peony socks. This is one of my treasured Wollmeise skeins, in the color Lowenzahn.

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And I have a suspicion that I might find some yarn while I’m there. At least I can hope. If not, I’ll drink lots of Guinness to drown my sorrows. We leave in the morning, and will have a mini-computer with us, so there might be an update or two along the way. Otherwise, I’ll see you in a couple of weeks!

 

A “Real” Post

With “Real” Knitting!

Well, maybe only partly real knitting. I’m still working on that baby thing. The secret thing. Yes, I know, the baby’s almost a month old. What I’m knitting won’t be usable for a few more months anyway, since it’s very heavy wool. Which is why I’m not done with it. We’ve had an unusual heat wave in the Pacific Northwest, and knitting with a ton of heavy wool in my lap is just not fun.

If your name is Janet, go do something else for a few minutes. You’ll see it when it’s good and ready.

Here’s what it looks like at the moment.

OK, it still sort of looks like crap. It’s in the round, so it just looks like a bag of wool. Trust me, this stuff is squishy and warm. I want a king sized bed version of this, except I’m already sick to death of feather and fan.

I’ve discovered that when you’ve got nothing for the blog, post photos of loot. On the Alaska trip, I managed to find a few yarn shops. One in every port, as a matter of fact.

Here’s the shop in Ketchikan:


Cool, eh? My husband has no idea how I manage to unerringly find yarn shops where-ever I am.

Here’s the loot.

All of those are local, except the one on the far right, which is laceweight from Estonia. It’s prettier than it looks in that photo. Oh here.

That still doesn’t do it justice. It’s just gorgeous.

And I need more lace yarn. I didn’t blog this before, but while we were on the ship, someone made off with my Langsjal Jóhönnu shawl. I had it at dinner one night, and had it across the back of my chair. The next day I didn’t have it, and nobody ever turned it in to lost and found. If you see it on anyone, grab the damn thing off her back and shoot me an email.

Here’s a photo to memorialize it.