Last hours in Copenhagen

The last hours in Copenhagen were spent walking from one end of the downtown corridor to the other. The day was rainy and cool and I wore a fleece jacket. My favorite climate. Little did I know I would soon be returning to sweltering 90 degree weather in the great Northwest. On the flight home from Copenhagen to Atlanta, I met a US Marine officer who was returning from Iraq to go on vacation in his home state of Tennessee with his wife and 4 children. While the rest of us passengers looked crumpled, rumpled and tired after the almost 10 hour flight, he seemed fresh, crisp, fit and as put together as could be. I was quite in awe of this condition of appearance. Needless to say, I made sure I didn't stand too close to him disembarking the flight or going through customs as the comparison would have been sad indeed. Rumpled as I was, it was marvelous to be met at the airport by Rob and Whimsy. My brother in law Matt travels extensively on business and I share his response when people ask him his favorite place to go - my favorite place to go is "home."

More yarn stores in Copenhagen

After leaving the airport Friday morning I quickly settled into my new, small downtown hotel and then headed back out to further explore the city of Copenhagen. A woman in the airport had seen me knitting that morning as I was waiting to board the Delta flight I never got on. She lived in Copenhagen and was trying to get to Atlanta on a non-revenue ticket to visit her daughter who worked for Delta Airlines. She didn't make it on that flight and took a different route through Paris but before leaving, told me of some other yarn stores in Copenhagen than the one I had visited earlier in the week - Sommerfuglen. Both stores were located on Fiostaede.
Stikkeboden had wonderful corner location and a beautiful window display of finished garments. The store had a surprisingly amount of Noro, extremely neat and tidy yarn displays and lots of Anny Blatt kits. I didn't find the shopkeeper as endearing, however. When I inquired about a particular baby sweater pattern that was in the window she barked that it was a kit and only in Danish. ahhh. I purchased a new Bouton d'Or booklet that I am sure I would "never" be able to find anywhere else and eased out of the store quietly. Just as a swarm of local knitters arrived. Much to the delight of the sales clerk.
Further down the cobblestoned alley was another store called Uldstedet that was located below ground level. Almost indistinguishable as a source of yarn from the street. The displays of random skeins of yarn in baskets and garments on mannequins with a layer of clear plastic to protect from the rain reminded me more of Asian storefronts than those in Europe. I spent an hour in this store. There was a wide variety of yarn for such a small store. The store clerks were very friendly and eager to help if I needed it. I finally settled on some Gepard Wool-Silk blend in a color that could be considered a soft berry or cran-apple red color. Scottie likes to claim this color is "fuschia" but we all know differently, don't we? ha ha The only negative about the Uldstedet store is that it only takes cash or a local debit card. No credit cards. I trotted to a nearby ATM machine to obtain the rest of what was needed to complete my purchase in cash but didn't think to ask for a VAT statement with the receipt. For some reason the shop clerk neglected to provide me one at the time of purchase either, so the likelihood of getting the 20% tax rebated is quite slim. Despite the tax and the exchange rate, I found the yarn in Denmark to be of decent value.

Time in Copenhagen

I landed in Denmark in the afternoon, checked into the hotel and then headed out to Sommerfuglen which is a yarn store at Vandkunsten 3 that carried the Hanne Falkenberg goods which Scottie had requested. My hotel was conveniently connected to the airport which was adjacent to the Metro system. Even though Copenhagen is not a large city, I felt quite brave venturing out with a cryptic map and not a strong sense of where I was to end up. Artwork in the corridor between the hotel and the Metro station aptly captured my mood at the time! I knew this would be the only opportunity I had to venture out on my own since I had a full 2 days and evenings of meetings before I was scheduled to fly home home Friday morning. I figured that staying up until a respectable hour in the evening after my arrival would provide the best way to overcome jet lag anyway. The Sommerflugen was a sweet shop with a good variety of yarns, fabrics, designer kits and buttons. I picked up two kits for Scottie -Tweedie and Pagode. I also choose a Tweedie kit for myself in the same soft, muted colors as Scottie's as it seemed silly to go all the way to Denmark and leave empty handed. Right?


Afterwards I walked up the main street and through the popular city square before catching the Metro back to the hotel. The people in Denmark are very warm and friendly and wandering the city was a pleasant way to spend the evening. I had two action packed days and evenings with work meetings and not much sleep which is typical for me when I travel because of insomnia. Unfortunately the hard drive on my laptop crashed so I was limited to using my Nokia PDA for email and I had no access to the corporate web site or to the internet at all. That did leave me some time to knit in the late or early morning hours. I was scheduled to leave on Friday morning and arrived at the airport early. While standing in line to the ticket counter I was told the flight to Atlanta was overbooked and asked if I would consider taking the same flights from Copenhagen to Atlanta and then Atlanta to Seattle the next day (Saturday) instead, however I would be upgraded to business class. Also my hotel, transportation and food would also be covered by the airline. Hmm... Let me think here. One more day in Copenhagen with time to explore the city at no expense incurred by me? I jumped at the chance. This photo shows my originally scheduled flight leaving without me as the ticket agents prepare my $1000 voucher which I can use anytime within the next year for travel to any location that Delta flies. Whoo hoo!

Layover in Paris

The long stopover at Paris De Gaulle airport brought familiarity since I have been to that airport many, many times. The product group I am in at Cisco develops products for digital media distribution, including digital signage, thus I couldn't resist taking photo's of the flight information display systems at the airport showcasing obvious problems with the PC controlling the content to the display. The products from my organization eliminates an event like this from happening! The train station is downstairs from the terminals and I felt compelled to take a photo of that also. The rail systems in Europe are so convenient, so efficient, so complete. Seattle has struggled with light rail mass transit for decades so I marvel at systems that easily transport people from point A to point B almost effortlessly. I wandered around the shops but wasn't tempted to buy anything more than a paperback book given the truly dismal exchange rate between the Euro and the US Dollar. The paperbook book is Patricia Cornwell's latest novel "Book Of The Dead" and is only available in the US in hardbound, the paperback doesn't come out until September. I don't know why bestsellers come out in paperback in Europe more quickly than in the United States. I suppose the publishers are able to make higher profit by limiting access to the paperback rather than selling the more expensive hardback books. I encountered the same thing years ago when I bought Dan Brown's books "The DeVinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" overseas in paperback rather than shell out $ for the hardcover editions. While waiting for the gate for my flight to Copenhagen to open, I sat near some teenagers from Macau, China. The group of approximately 10 young women and one male were on their way to Portugal without any adults or teachers chaperoning. I wasn't able to discern if they were going anywhere other than Lisbon. They were a delightful group - polite, friendly, full of enthusiasm, curiosity and eager to converse. They shared beautiful singing voices, electronic games and Chinese sweets with me. Here's wishing Regina, Suki, Yan, Rachel, Ryan and the rest of the group a fantastic time on the remainder of their trip!

Heading to Copenhagen

I only had 4 days notice I would be traveling to Copenhagen for a business trip so I had to scramble to get everything ready to go - both from a work and knitting perspective. Gathering up my power converters, passport, maps, addresses of hotels, company badge, work office and customer locations, telephone numbers for co-workers in country is the easy part. Planning ahead for "travel along" knitting takes longer because some knitting projects are much more conducive to travel than others because of limited space to work on the plane as well as limited space in luggage. Now that the airlines have imposed stringent weight restrictions and a fee for checking luggage it is even more imperative to plan ahead. Scottie put in a request for various sweater kits from renown Danish knitwear designer Hanne Falkenberg. Now, I'm not sure how much room Scottie thought I would have in my suitcase to carry "lots and lots" of yarn back from Denmark for her and she was quite optimistic I would manage just fine... but to be on the safe side, I used a larger than normal suitcase and I tossed in some "space bags" to compress the yarn and clothing for the journey back. My itinerary dictated a 9 hour flight to Paris, a 5 hour layover and then a 2 hour flight to Copenhagen. The Air France flight was code shared with Delta and had a wonderful in flight system with movies and music. Like all flights these days, it was packed full but I managed to get a seat in the center section that had only two passengers for 4 seats. So I had an empty seat next to me to put my knitting essentials close by. That is the best! The other occupied seat in my row with taken up by a handsome military pilot from Seville, Spain who was working with the German Air Force in Munich. As a matter of fact, 30% of the flight was filled with German Air Force men and women who had just concluded a 7 week joint military exercise with the United States and Japan in Alaska. I am never able to sleep on flights so I settled in to watch in flight movies and knit. Soon after take off, the cabin lights were dimmed for all the other passengers who are able to peacefully slumber over the northern Atlantic Ocean, however the lighting was too dim for me to read the complex cable pattern I was working on for Project 8 Nihon Vogue. What to do, what to do? I recalled I had a tiny, battery operated reading light from Eddie Bauer that I keep in my work back pack. I took the rubber band off my yarn ball, looped it through the link on the light and through the cup holder above my tray table. Voila! The nearby passengers witnessed a demonstration of ingenuity arise out of necessity and I was able to continue knitting for several more hours.

Knitting in the Lone Star state

During my quick trip to Texas I managed to find my way to Hill Country Weavers on Congress Avenue in Austin. Hard to believe the oppressive 97 degree heat wasn't keeping anyone else from searching for fiber on that day either. The store is a delightful shop in an older house - lots of separate rooms to explore with treasures to find in each one. The welcome porch entry shares space with verdant plants. Inside there was a mild mannered "shop dog", an extensive selection of yarn and fiber, glass buttons, a wide selection of books and patterns from national and international designers. The staff was friendly and helpful and not intrusive. I discovered some Dale of Norway baby design pattern books - Number 8101 which is a compilation of favorites from other publications. Number 191 which has several fair isle sweaters (one is decorated with a crocheted penguin), textured sweaters, and even some crocheted garments. Very interesting that crochet seems to be confronting me at almost every turn or perhaps I am just more "aware" of it as I am the midst of a crochet project for Nihon Vogue. Garment Number 7. It is more complex than I would have thought and I humbly apologize for my past denigration of crochet. More on my foibles with crocheting later....

Dale of Norway Pattern book Number 175 has a variety aran and multi colored nordic designs. I doubt I will make many of the sweaters as there are not many babies in my life anymore but I do find inspiration in the designs and color combinations in the Dale of Norway books. I also found a sock pattern leaflet from Schachenmayr called Kreative Strickideen. Wonderful socks with cables, texture and as little or as much color as you want to add. More projects than I have time for! More yarn than time. Speaking of yarn. .. Yes, yes I did. I smuggled home some yarn from Texas. I chose a silk yarn from Italy in a beautiful pale shell pink color. Yes, just what I need - more yarn! It was a tad pricey, however, I talked myself into the purchase by making note of the fact that since the sales tax rate is less in Austin than in Seattle I was getting "something" of a bargain. There should be a 12 step program for obsessed yarn buyers! I have my sights set on making Evelyn Clark's Leaf Lace Shawl out of the lovely silk yarn. Naomi's steady influence has now got me excited about starting to work on some lace projects. She claims lace is easy to knit because all one has to know is "k2tog" and "yarn over." Easy for her to say since she is an extraordinary knitter! I purchased 5000 plus "several hundred to spare' beads for the Arabian Nights shawl and will be ready to go on that endeavor with Naomi's expert guidance right after Year 1 Nihon Vogue concludes. The Arabian Nights shawl may prove to be overly ambitious for a novice lace knitter such as myself but unfortunately, I have never been one to keep my craft desires in check! I have not had any "contraband" projects as they are called within the class, other than a small baby sweater (that I must, must, must complete by mid August!) so it will be fun to do some projects that are new for me but completely different (no drafting, no shaping, no short rows, no invisible bind off) from what I have been working on for Nihon Vogue this past year.

Nihon Vogue - Project 8

I made some progress on Nihon Vogue Project 8. I did a 2 x 2 invisible cast on and after the ribbing, knit a stitch pattern called "Granite Rib". Despite the time consuming manipulations of the stitch, I really like the lattice like woven look of the pattern. Quite a bit of progress was made on the back piece the last 7 days as I spent a fair bit of time on flights to/from Texas this week. Nihon Vogue class is scheduled for the weekend and I still have to finish design notes for the Round Neck and V-Neck Cardigans. It will be good to have those turned in for Jean's review. Have to run to the bead store to find 5000 beads for my Arabian Nights shawl so I will add more to this when I get back...

Worldwide Knitting In Public Day

Today was Worldwide Knitting in Public Day. My son scoffed at the idea when he heard about it but I was bound and determined to get out of the house with my needles. Rather than drive downtown and battle for parking near the Seattle Sculpture Park, I ventured up to Crossroads Mall on 156th Street. The day was sponsored by the Eastside Knitting Guild which I had not been involved with previously because I hadn't ever been able to "find" them. I was informed they meet on the 4th Monday of every month in a conference room near Sears. I met several wonderful people today at the event and was quite impressed with two young women who were simply enchanting. Molly is a computer science student at Gonzaga in Spokane and newly home for the summer. Molly learned to knit in high school and taught her younger sister Emma. Molly had a clever design for a shrug that she was close to finishing for a wedding that she was going to hours later in the evening. Hours later. Not days. Hours. Can you believe it? Not a drop of sweat on her brow. Sweet girls - it was so fun to spend some time getting to know them. Emma was working on a baby blanket with boucle yarn for an "as yet to be identified" recipient. I also met Trish who was working on a fuzzy, soft yellow baby sweater. We had a wonderful conversation about her recently trip to Greece (I want to go!), her Technology MBA program at the University of Washington and her days once upon a time at IBM. I had a brief encounter with Samantha "Fiber Adventurer" who had on a gorgeous Shetland Triangle shawl by Evelyn Clark that she knit in SeaSilk. I coveted that shawl. It was a work of art. I never thought I would be interested in lace but after seeing that shawl and remembering the work that Melinda and Naomi do with lace I am beginning to lean in that direction more and more. I am constantly on a quest for new knowledge and learnings around knitting. The challenge of the unconquered drives me, not the idea of having one more sweater in my bedroom armoire! See Samantha's fun blog at http://www.knitquest.typepad.com/ for more about her and the shawl. If you are not a knitter, photo's of her darling children are worth a visit to the blog alone. Samantha gave me a tiny business card with her web blog and Ravelry name. What an idea! How fun! Both Trish and Samantha are women who I would love to get to know more. One thing I find ever so fascinating is that like myself, so many women in technology immerse themselves in arts - fiber, fabric, paint, glass. I know so few other computer scientists or engineers but of the ones I do know - most of them are knitters. It can't get any better than that ;)

Marla visits, Alaskan halibut for dinner!

My dear friend Marla was in Seattle for a conference and came a few days early to stay the weekend with us. She used to live in Seattle and moved to Houston about 18 months ago. We met a on a flight to California. She was assigned the seat behind me and we bonded immediately because we were both knitting! She is from Canada and was taught to knit when she was a child. She is a phenomenal knitter, spinner and seamstress. We went to Nancy's Fabrics in Queen Anne to look for buttons and also to Hilltop Yarn which was a fun excursion into the city. Whimsy accompanied us on the trip but had to wait in the car for us while we were in the shops. I am in awe of the detailed, "every stitch is perfect" Nordic style fair-isle sweaters Marla produces. She is working on a beautiful sweater from Dale Garn NR 138 pattern book, however the directions are entirely in Norweigian which thankfully she is fluent in. I introducted Marla to Ravelry.com and we discovered two other knitters who are working on the same sweater pattern. Marla showed me how to strand 3 colors on one row but it will take some practice for me to master the technique. It would have come in handy on the ladybug sweater I am knitting since I have now resigned myself to duplicate stitch the spots on the ladybugs. Saturday night Scottie and Arlene came over to meet Marla, enjoy dinner together and knit. It was wonderful weekend made even more so by having it shared with friends. Rob's mom came over and was as sweet and helpful as always. Rob whipped up a magnificent meal of salad, asparagus, risotto and halibut. This recipe is one that we have enjoyed many times since my friend and co-worker Judy prepared it for me a few years ago.

Halibut Steamed with Oranges and Tomatoes

The fish steams directly atop the gently simmering vegetables in this flavorful and very easy dish. Market tip: choose Pacific or Alaskan halibut rather than Atlantic halibut.

3 large oranges

3 T olive oil

3 Cups thinly sliced red onions

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 1/2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes in juice

1 Cup dry white wine

1/3 Cup sliced, pitted Kalamata olives

6 halibut filets 5-6 oz each

3 oz drained feta cheese

3 Tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Cut off peel and white pith from oranges. Cut oranges between membranes to release segments. Heat oil in heavy very large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; saute' until tender and just beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes and wine. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 3 minutes. Gently stir in orange segments and olives (if desired - I am not wild about olives so they are optional for people to put on top of the fish after serving). Sprinkle halibut fillets with salt and pepper. Arrange halibut in single layer atop vegetable mixture in skillet. Cover and simmer gently until halibut is just opaque in center, about 12-14 minutes. Place halibut on plates. Top with vegetable mixture, feta cheese and chives.

Bon Appetit - January 2003

Because Naomi wanted to know....

The rules: Are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago I was preparing to move back to Seattle from Sugar Land (Houston, TX area). I was transferring with Cisco and going to take over responsibility of the Microsoft account in Redmond. I was training my replacement in Houston to take over the worldwide Exxon account. Rob and I were getting the house we had built ready to put on the real estate market and doing all tasks associated with moving cross country. I purchased a new Lexus RX300 which was going to be waiting for me in Seattle when I arrived in July. I still drive it - 98,340 miles on the odometer.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today- not in any particular order?
Drive Marla downtown and drop her off at her hotel, order Arabian Nights shawl kit, take Whimsy for a walk, complete my expense reports, check my flights to/from Austin to determine if I have half a chance to escape from the middle seat I am currently assigned on the return trip home next week, finish the swatch for Project 8 Nihon Vogue.

3. Snacks I enjoy?
Trophy Cupcakes from Wallingford Center in Seattle, Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches, salted almonds, artichoke dip from Costco

4. Places I've lived?
Fort Walton Beach, FL, Duluth, MN, Adak, Alaska (for most of my wonder years), Milwaukee, WI, Anaheim, CA, Ridgecrest, CA, Bremerton, WA, Whidbey Island, WA, Grand Coulee, WA, Pullman, WA, Seattle, WA, Sugar Land, TX, Mercer Island, WA, Bellevue, WA.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire?
Give it away to worthy causes

6. What are some jobs you've had?
Babysitter, sales clerk, waitress, painter, electro-mechanical drafter, tutor, graduate teaching assistant, Marketing Representative, Account Executive, Global Account Manager, Manager of Business Development

People I am tagging now, hmmm have to work on this one... To Be Determined
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Nihon Vogue - Round Neck Cardigan DONE!

I am delighted to report that the round neck cardigan can be declared "complete". It was the 5th knitting project for Nihon Vogue. This one was a good first design incorporating cables and calculating the different gauges involved. In future designs I plan to decrease the square footage of moss stitch/filler stitch and add more varieties of cables. This particular cable design is from a book by Annie Maloney titled "The Cable Knitting Handbook - 101 Original Stitch Designs". It has some fun "knots" at the intersection of the cables.

15th Wedding Anniversary

On this day, June 5th, 15 years ago - Rob and I got married at Highland Park, overlooking the Space Needle and the skyline and waterfront of Seattle. My son, Aubrey, Rob's mom Marilyn, his brother Mark, and my friend Karin were there to witness our wedded union under the rainy skies. 15 years later has seen us moving to Texas and back, my son growing up into a young man, the addition of our furry companion Whimsy to the family, a few company career changes and increased focus on friends, family and recreational pursuits. Tonight we are going to Canlis to celebrate our anniversay. Canlis is a restaurant in Seattle with a history of providing over 50 years of the best dining and service ever.

One of my favorite salads of all time is from this historic, extraordinary restaurant:

Canlis Salad - serves 4-6

SALAD:

1 large head Romaine lettuce

1 to 2 peeled ripe tomatoes (Joni - I'm too lazy to peel the tomatoes)

CONDIMENTS:

1/2 Cup chopped green onion

1/4 Cup freshly gated Romano cheese

1/2 Cup very well one chopped bacon

4 Tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 Cup croutons

DRESSING:

1/2 Cup olive oil (Joni - I use only 1/2 to 2/3 of this amount of oil)

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 coddled egg

Ingredients Notes:

You can't use too much mint. The best Canlis salads use olive oil that has been flavored with garlic cloves or you can also rub the inside of a wooden bowl with garlic cloves. (If you don't have a wooden salad bowl, you can add garlic powder to the dressing mix.) With the coddled egg, pour boiling water into a cup and put a whole egg (in the shell) in the hot water, let sit for 2 minutes. You may substitute a pasteurized egg mixture. Canlis makes its own croutons. Butter and Italian seasoning.

Directions:

Wash individual lettuce leaves in warm water, drain and dry in colander then chill in refrigerator. Don't ever, ever toss a Canlis Salad with warm wet leaves!

Into a large bowl place the tomatoes, cut into eighths. Add the Romaine lettuce, sliced into 1 inch squares. Then add green onions, cheese (reserve some of the cheese to sprinkle over top of the salad), bacon, oregano and half of the mint.

Dressing: Put the pepper, lemon juice, egg and other half of mint in a bowl and whip vigorously. Slowly add olive oil, whipping constantly. Pour over salad and toss thoroughly. Add croutons and remaining Romano cheese.

Nihon Vogue - V Neck Cardigan Progress

The Nihon Vogue VNeck cardigan has been progressing nicely. I went down 3 needle sizes from the body to the garter stitch ribbing to get the gauge to match up. Last week was fairly productive to get this sweater close to finishing. I completed knitting the sleeves, sewed the seams and joined the sleeves on to the body by a slip stitch crochet method we had learned in class. I sewed the garter stitch button band on both sides of the front up the neck. This was done using a pick up ratio by comparing how many rows are on the body of the garment and how many are on the band and making adjustments accordingly for a smooth line up. There was also a specific way to sew up the decrease stitches on the diagonal V neck edges that Jean explained during last month's class. We will be shown how to finish the last 8 inches of sewing the band to the sweater neck edge during the June class so that will remain unworked until then. I am not wild about the button band being completed in this way - sewn on versus picked up because it seemed like a lot of work with supposedly unpredictable results but now that it is almost done - the end result looks quite nice after all. So silly of me to not trust that Jean would have a far superior method compared to anything I would have experienced before! For this sweater I still have to weave in a few more yarn ends, wash, dry and block the sweater and then sew on buttons & backing buttons. So far I am pleased with the style and fit of this sweater and am looking forward calling Project 6 "done" soon.

Gnomiejo comes to knit!

Fellow Nihon Vogue classmate and friend Naomi braved the bridge to come over to the east side of Lake Washington to my house so that we could tackle button bands together. Naomi is working on a stunning round neck cardigan knit up in a pale carnation pink Louet yarn. The stitch pattern is depicted in book 1 of Nihon Vogue and includes a small circular cable stitch and a dolphin tail lace stitch. I am enthralled with that sweater - the color, the detail, the texture. It is exquisite. You can see more at http://www.gnomiejo.blogspot.com/

Naomi also brought what she calls a contraband project (meaning not Nihon Vogue!) which were some fun and feisty socks still on circular needles. I have done a few pairs of socks but only on double points so am anxious to upgrade to a new technique. I envy Naomi and a few other students' ability to work on other projects in addition to the Nihon Vogue assignments. I am barely keeping up with that demanding curriculum and, with the exception of a small baby sweater, I have taken no opportunity to knit anything but Nihon Vogue projects for the past year. I had to laugh when she modeled the sock. I do recall trying to instert my foot into a sock that was still on double points and the needles falling by the wayside. I anticipate I will become quite fond of the circular method once I learn it. To get me inspired, she brought over a delightful bundle of fiber as a gift. 100% Superwash, Handspun merino in color Potpurri. Delightful. I can't wait to try it!