Trip to Lyon

Well, we spent a nice few days with my husband's family in Lyon. It's a nice city. Of course, for me, living in the country probably makes any city seem nice to visit from time to time. It even snowed. That was great, since none of us had seen snow in the past 3 years. The kids loved it. They made and destroyed a little snowman. I also took a nice (childless) trip into a shopping district to visit a yarn shop called La Droguerie. It's a national chain that has okay yarns and lots of fun accessories for making everything from felted slippers to jewelry. There is one in the city I live nearest to, but the last time I was there was a couple of years ago. With my two little ones and the fact that they're making Montpellier into the largest pedestrian city in Europe (punishment for those who must drive in and park), trips into the city are about as fun as getting a bikini wax. So, being surrounding by potential babysitting family members in Lyon, I jumped at the chance to go to a yarn shop. This was both a good idea and a huge mistake. I actually stood in line for an hour and a half (apparently, it's always like that in there), and there wasn't even a Disneyland ride at the end of my wait (on the bright side, imagine such a wait with the kids). I was patient, and got several fun yarns for new projects I've been wanting to do (not to mention an enormous urge to make jewelry). Of course, all this means I need to finish those that are still on needles.

The blue hubbie-sweater-most-likely-turned-my-sweater is almost done. I meant to finish it in Lyon but left my extra skein at home. I did get some cute little socks made for my 1-year-old son. For my first attempt at socks without a pattern, I was pleased at the outcome.

Getting home yesterday afternoon, I found a package awaiting me in the mail. How exciting! It was a Christmas present from my sweet mommy. She sent me a set of Denise Interchangeable Needles. If you don't know what these are, you must find out. Click on the link on the right side of this website for their page. I haven't been able to use them yet, but I will soon need to in order to do the neck on that blue sweater. I'll give a full review after trying them out, but they look great so far. A very original idea and something that's been on my wish list for a while.

In other fun knitting news, I did an experiment of dyeing some strands of natural merino wool with food coloring. I'm really happy with the results. I used mostly green with a couple drops of yellow and came up with a vibrant limey green. We don't have Kool Aid or Jello here, so straight food coloring is the way to go. I'll have to find myself a source of some thing other than the red, yellow and green available in the cake decorating section of the supermarket.

Check below for pictures of the new additions to my stash. And, though I could ramble on a while longer, my daughter is dying to go ride her new Christmas bike. And, anyway, do you really want to read more of my lengthy ramblings?