The Innocent Abroad

Nothing exiting exiting happened last week. I finished the triangular scarf (again) and continued on the striped set.

Two more weeks and I'll be in Stockholm.

Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it.

There was some exitement getting to Ireland. The flight from Helsinki to Stockholm was late. So late that we landed when we were supposed to be at the gate for the Dublin flight. Fortunately the pilots had notified the other crew and they were waiting for us. It still wasn't fun to speedwalk from one end of the airport to the other. Flight to Dublin was late too, but it didn't matter for me, I was done.

The weekend was uneventful, apart from ripping up the triangualr scarf. I tried bigger needles, but that didn't work either. When I tried to knit two Novita Nalle Colori colorways together, it worked. Both yarns have the same colors — blue, red, green and yellow, but one of them is muted. On 6mm needles, they make a beautiful combination.

The first day at work here didn't start very well. Sure we had computers, but no accounts and we had no headsets. Half of the day was spent waiting. I did get some work done once I got my PC set up.

There will be no Internet access at the house at least until Christmas. I have no faith in getting it so fast. I have to continue at the Internet Cafe and bury the WoW disks deep that I wouldn't miss it so much.

This is our last week here. I am getting exited to go back to Ireland. Sleep in my own (sort of) room, begin rollerblading, work in IBM office, watch Time Team, go to Dublin SCA meetings... (Insert a dreamy sigh here.) Can't wait.

Yesterday I visited a local Hucca weekly meeting. It was fun to discuss clothing, textiles and bookbinding again. Also it was very nice to meet old friends and make new ones. I wish I had known they met so close to the hotel, I would have gone to the meetings earlier.

R's scarf was finished on Wednesday. I cast on for a blue Raita scarf for myself right away, but I've been ripping it more than knitting. I was just not pleased with how it was turning out so I tried different stitch counts until I got what I was after.

R's scarf is 1x1 rib and mine is 2x2. I wanted my scarf to have common elements with a hat and mittens I'm planning, all knit from different colors of Raita. The hat will be red, the mittens light blue and the scarf is darker blue. The mittens and hat will be mostly stockinette with some 2x2 rib, the scarf is 2x2 rib throughout. Hopefully the whole thing will look somewhat like a set when I'm done.

This weekend went as well as the last one. The flights were fine and there was no stress getting to the airport or to the plane this time. I met a few SCA friends at the airport who were going to Crown Tourney. There was much catching up on the way to Stockholm and back. R and I didn't go to the event, but spent the time together.

Ursus has grown, he looks more adult now. Other than that he is just as cuddly and fuzzy as before. Mao is also his lively, climbing self. They used the opportunity to the fullest and slept on me or beside me both nights. As you might imagine I didn't sleep much or well, 'cause I was afraid to squash them. It is going to take a while to get used to sleep with cats again.

I finished the triangular scarf from Novita Nalle. It is not as big as I'd hoped it would be, but as I ran out of yarn I ran out of needle space too. One more reason not to use straights. Ever. I had left all my circulars in Ireland so I had to buy needles here and they didn't have 4mm circulars.

As I was knitting this scarf I became more and more convinced that variegated yarns are difficult to make come out right. You have to find just the right combination of stitch count and pattern for the yarn to display it's beauty. This Novita Nalle Colori is fabulously beautiful in skein, but becomes a mess as it's knit. In the future I will try to remember this and if I buy a beautiful variegated yarn, I'll have it to look at, not to knit with.

Striping yarns are another can of worms. They are not as difficult to manage as the variegateds with short colors, but they too need some care choosing the right pattern. I bought a grey Novita 7 Brothers Raita thinking to make a sideways garter stitch winter cap. Didn't work. Two of the greys are too close in value so there is not much distinction between the stripes. Now I'm knitting a narrow 1+1 rib scarf for R and it works. This scarf is going to be narrow, but super long so he can wind it around the neck many times. I have 150 grams to knit and 10 days to finish it.

The weekend trip to Tallinn was very nice. The weather was very cooperative and most of the things went like they were planned.

On Saturday and Sunday we went shopping with Mum. I bought some things I needed in Ireland, that were cheaper in Estonia. For example knee, elbow and wrist protectors. I am planning to fetch my rollerblades from Stockholm next weekend and begin to skate regularly in Ireland. I didn't have time to go to any yarn stores so I'll stock up here in Finland.

On Saturday night we were puppy-sitters for my brother and his girlfriend. The puppy is a two month old short-haired Labrador and totally adorable. She has very sharp teeth, though and she chews on everything in sight, including people. I took a few photos, but I have no way to put them on the web. When I'll get a PC in Ireland, I'll swamp you all with pictures.