Back

We are back from vacation. For anyone who can swing it, I highly recommend the two week vacation. You feel just about human again at the end of it.

We saw things like this:

and this:

and also this:

We also ate a lot of this:

Really, quite fantastic.

Very little knitting was accomplished on the trip. We actually spent most nights reading, which was wonderful. I finished Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky and am halfway through Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, both of which I highly recommend.

Before I left I did finish the now-christened Square Bear, who was given to Baby J yesterday. I made the legs and body in the round without any seams using a turkish cast-on for the toes (each leg was knit separately and then joined in the round in sort-of accordance with the pattern). When I got to the chest I stopped going in the round and split the front and back as though it were a raglan sweater. I knit one paw in the round and then got concerned with how it would attach to the body so I frogged and knit them flat. It turns out I probably could have made these in the round too; next time. I always feel like my knit bears wind up with a kind of cranky expression, but Baby J's dad seemed to love Square Bear so I guess he turned out alright.

Yesterday I also stopped by Purl and got myself some of these much-discussed Addi turbo lace needles. They are indeed quite excellent! I have a very neglected Peacock Feathers Shawl on the needles and have been bemoaning the inadequacies of my Inox needles. I blame them for a dropped stitch some time ago that resulting in the tinking and reknitting of 16 rows (at close to 200 stitches apiece, it was a bona fide nightmare!). Since then I have not been on good terms with Peacock Feathers. Hopefully these needles will renew my interest in finishing her! Unfortunately I do not enjoy the yarn and the rows are soooooo long and prone to mess-ups, it's just not that much fun to knit. :(

I also have a lot of sewing projects in the wings at the moment too, so I hope work behaves and I'll get some time to get cracking!