Boomsmas in Europe 2

These are the representatives of Scenic Cruise Company waiting at Schipol airport to drive us and 3 others to the hotel. 

Here's our hotel - Doubletree by Hilton - rising out of a sea of bicycles. The cyclists sail around serenely without a helmet between the lot of them. 

After a welcome hot shower we headed out amongst the bicycles for the obligatory walk in sunshine and resetting of time clock. Best attempted on water so we grabbed the last two places on a canal tour - so peaceful with quiet electric motors and commentary through earbuds. 

Love the mix of 16th century houses and houseboats. 

Boomsmas in Europe 1

We left the cats at Fur Family Pet Resort: Mallory was highly indignant and refused to emerge for a goodbye photo

I have heard from Ann since that they are perfectly happy and we can relax. 

Travel is NOT relaxing - the combination of hyped-up security, long waits and boredom is mind-numbing. We endured 14 hours from Melbourne to Doha in Qatar in an Airbus 380-800 which holds 517 passengers and it was nearly full. When we landed at 5.30 am there was a massive wave of people going to the restrooms and cafes. We had a drink in a nice cafe in preparation for the 6 hour leg Doha to Amsterdam. I knitted - wooden knitting needles seem to be ok though it's a bit like knitting with toothpicks. 

The most cheering sight of travel is seeing your case heading along the carousel:

and some welcoming faces outside waiting to drive you to the hotel in a Mercedes limo. 

Great wool from the UK

for Alison

still socking

I haven't posted on this blog for ages but I'm still knitting socks.
Last winter I even knitted for money! A lady at bridge admired  my socks and asked wistfully if I could knit her some. Not really wanting to I named a high price of $35. "Yes!" she said "I'd like five pairs!" "Could I have a pair too?" asked her friend. So there I was committed to knitting six pairs of socks. I had fun getting the yarn, as they both wanted cream, blue and brown to match what they usually wear and Regia yarn produced the perfect thing - Ozon in 75% wool and 25% nylon. Sadly it is discontinued and I had to scour England and the US to get enough.
I finished the six pairs in a month and then made a bonus pair with the left-overs.

Ozon by Regia

Then in October 2011 on our trip to Nova Scotia two more ladies on the bus requested socks which I was happy to do as I had extra cash to buy more yarn - so everywhere we went I sought out the yarn shops to see what goodies were on offer. October is a good time as they all had new shipments of very desirable yarn.

David now has 24 pairs but the green Maizy socks are wearing thin at the heels - and I don't do mending. Maizy too is discontinued which is a shame as David loves them for summer - not so hot and don't attract grass seeds. I bought tencel to see if they will be an acceptable substitute.

tencel socks

knitting for the Library

This is Libeary, the Mount Gambier Library's teddy.
He has 500 brothers who need a scarf each, knitted in the Library's theme colour of bright red.
It's easy: 6 stitches in 8 ply yarn on size 4.5mm needles, knit stocking stitch for 60 cm and cast off.
So the committee of Friends of the Library and anyone else who can knit or do Knitting Nancy (aka tomboy stitch) are all knitting madly to be ready for the Teddy Bears' Picnic on November 16th when Libeary will meet his toddler fan base.

knitting on Kangaroo Island

Watching pelican-feeding at Kingscote jetty.
Sockology went to Kangaroo Island with American friends.
It was cold and sunny and the long trip there and back meant plenty of time for guilt-free knitting.

Tofutsies!

Excellent fun to knit and what an interesting yarn - it's a blend of wool, soy, cotton and chitin. Chitin is made from crab shells and is claimed to be antibacterial. Hmmm. Anyway, Hannah likes them.

David might have enough socks

He has enough hand-knitted socks so that I can wash them once a week and there are still some left in the drawer for him to wear.