Ice Queen and My Week So Far

I've taken on what I thought would be a real challenge. In an effort to use up my stash before buying new yarn (I didn't go to the Zwolle event), I have been letting my stash dictate what I make next. (When I said that to one woman, she thought that that was my modus operandi for all of my knitting projects. Rest assured it is not. However, with a few shoe boxes full of wool - and wool blends - I just want to see what I have and get through it.)

So I decided to make the Ice Queen featured on Knitty.com Winter 2007. I had the wool. I'll find the recipient. It's been a very nice experience. This Rowan Kidsilk Haze is pretty wonderful to knit with. My first experience was a knotted mess. (You can't rip it out.) But this has been just fine and I like the results. (See picture above.) I'm not a fan of the color patterning, but it's sort of nice its own way. Notice the little beads I bought (at twenty eurocents a pop). Putting them on has been an interesting experience. It's done with a bit of fishing wire. You don't have to string them on at the beginning, thank goodness. You can read all about it on Rosemary-go-round.

After this (and a few other projects) are finished, I'm going to invest in some more Rowan Kidsilk Haze and make a shawl. I saw a few on Monday evening that were quite inspiring. There are lots of patterns that are frilly and lacy - and the finished product can be drawn through a wedding ring, if that's what you're into.

Anyway, on to my week so far.

Monday and Tuesday were interesting days for me. I had new experiences both days, which for me is something good. I like doing new things. Years ago there were lots of new experiences that I was willing to jump into. Now, I've either done most of them or I'm smart enough not to.

On Monday, after teaching three lessons (something I'm obviously not smart enough to avoid), I rushed off to Stitch 'n Bitch at Cafe De Jaren. There are always new people there. Monday had two women from Utrecht, Carla and Hilly. They'll be teaching a twined knitting workshop in April that I agreed to attend. They also mentioned that an NOS crew would be there at our little knitting evening to film us and talk to some of the participants.

It didn't occur to me until the boy journalist said it, but I was the only man at the table. So he wanted to talk to me. When he sat down, I asked if we could do it in English. He said if we did, he'd have to do subtitles, which would take more time. "So let's just try it in Dutch and see how it goes," he said in Dutch. So there are about five seconds of me in this little Dutch special interest story about our knitting group. It's also got a lot of footage at the end - of the interviewer being cute. You want to hear me speak Dutch? Follow the link.

On Tuesday morning I was back at De Jaren to have coffee with my friends, Cindy and Ann from the Explorer book. It was a particularly beautiful morning. The sun was shining and we sat on the terrace. I even took my coat off. I'm not really a fan of the sun, but it was nice to see the sun and to be outside and feel warm.

Then I was off to my first facial ever. I got it at Cyber Salon from Ashley, the daughter of a colleague of mine. What a great experience. I'd heard about facials for a while, and I've done a lot of other "pampery" things in my life, but never this. If you live in Amsterdam, the salon is running a special until the end of February. It's normally €55, but for the next few weeks, it's only €30.

Of course if you're Scottish, there's a good possibility that that just made your eyes bug out and you thought, I could buy groceries for a week with €30. Yeah, if you're not Scottish, it might have also done that as well. But to me, it was worth every penny. Being pampered is important. Do something nice for yourself today.