I Didn't Get to Rhinebeck

...but that doesn't mean that I didn't get to spend the weekend with some sheep! John and I were out doing a little shopping this weekend and one of our stops was at the Expo Design Center where I found these little guys on sale:

Weekend Sheepies

Normally I'm pretty good at saying no to things that need to be dusted, but I just couldn't resist these pudgy ceramic sheep. So now they will be sitting on my night stand helping to ensure pleasant fibery dreams.

And speaking of fiber, I did get a little knitting done as well. I should have been working on trying to get off sleeve island, but those Margaritas that Becky brought over (how did she know that margaritas are my greatest weakness!) left me unable to do much but lay on the beach and soak up the sun.

While on Sleeve Island, I've also been monitoring the Chicago weather report. The news for October? Cold weather has arrived -- but not weather so cold that I need the arctic insulation of a heavy wool sweater. Instead, it's perfect fancy scarf with my denim jacket weather. So it was Clapotis and my mulit-directional scarf that got the most attention. In fact, I actually made it to the point in Clapotis where I got to start dropping stitches. Take a look:

Clapotis Soaking Up the Chicago Afternoon Sun
Click Here to See The Dropped Stitches Up Close

I think Clapotis is going to be something of a big, bulky girl, but divinely soft. The Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb is too soft for words -- and not the least bit itchy when I put it near my skin. My only complaint? She's still quite a bit of knitting from completion. I'm still early in the second skein. And all the twisted stitches in the knit row slow me down a great deal.

I was hoping to announce the winners of my "Where in the World?" contest, but over the weekend my trusty home desktop computer decided that it did not like the new graphics card my husband was trying to install for me so I could have a better experience with Myst IV Revelation. The motherboard more or less up and died. Fortunately, the harddrives are fine (we think). Unfortunately, I can't tell you who's getting that sock yarn in the mail, because I don't have all the entries on my lap top. I can tell you that there definitely were a couple of people who got all the answers right, I just can't tell you exactly who they are right now.

So just where in the world was I?

Well, those of you living in Europe definitely had an advantage in this contest! My trip started in Frankfurt, Germany, courtesy of Lufthansa. After a bit of a drive, I ended up in Constance (Konstanz), Germany -- just on the border of Germany and Switzerland. This area was a lovely location, but the grey cloudy weather meant I didn't get to see it's real beauty. The next day I spent the afternoon in Lausanne, Switzerland (the Lake Geneva area is truly magnificent) before driving back to Germany so that I could be in Ludwigshafen am Rhein in the morning. I added a third country to my European tour by spending the night in Zeist in the Netherlands. I also got a short trip through Cologne before arriving back in Frankfurt for my return flight home.

It was a really lovely trip -- even though I was there on business, it was hard for me not to fall in love with Germany (Swizterland and the Netherlands were lovely, too, but I wasn't in either one of them long enough to form too much of an opinion beyond enjoying the scenery). Certainly it made me wish I could rememeber some of my German from high school.

The terrain in the part of the company that I drove through reminded me a great deal of Michigan and Wisconsin. I think it goes without saying that I drank my share of excellent beer as part of the trip. No yarn stores, though. As you might imagine from my description, I spent most of my time in the car. Would I go back again? Absolutely! I'd really like to see Berlin and Munich and go back to the German wine country when the weather was a little nicer.

Tschüss!