That's Life

This trip was supposed to be uneventful, as most trips to London are. Literally, we fly in, we visit various museums, we shop, we fly home . . . nothing major. This trip was a little different from the word, "GO!"

The Flyer cashed in miles and we went for the upgrade (merci beau coup, baby) so we at least arrived slightly rested. For some reason, I can't sleep in a moving vehicle. For most people, it puts them right to sleep, but not me. Maybe it has been years of training with a mother who falls asleep while driving or it could have been watching the Flyer falling asleep on a drive home from college, but I don't sleep in cars, trains, or planes. We walked around for several hours before deciding to see Tony Blair's last appearance as Prime Minister at No. 10. Lots of "hurry up and wait," but in a flash it was over.

On Friday, we had plans to take the Eurostar to Brussels, so we hurried to the Tube only to find it shut down. Odd, we thought (and I panicked as I do when things don't go precisely according to plan), but a quick cab ride got us to the train station on time. Nothing for this side trip was easy: tickets wouldn't work, almost missed the train, ATM was down, couldn't get into the city center, got lost in a seedy neighborhood, got lost some more on the cobblestone streets. The only thing easy was the beer and the chocolate. That was the highlight. Even the knitting in Brussels was fraught with disaster as I made multiple mistakes on the trellis shawl. Maybe the lace was not lace enough for the country with some of the most beautiful lace in the world; I didn't make a single mistake once we were out of Belgium.

It wasn't until we got back to the hotel that we discovered the car bombs left in London. Mom called and left a frantic message asking if we were alright, but we still didn't know what had happened. Needless to say, the police presence in London was odd. Luckily, yarn shopping was still a go and I picked up several balls of lovely Wensleydale Yarn as well as some sale Jaegger and Misti Alpaca. The Glasgow attack on Saturday was a bit disconcerting so we opted not to visit Bunty's Wools as we didn't know the neighborhood that well and wasn't sure how to get back to the hotel if something happened and shut down the Tube.

The trellis shawl from Victorian Lace is a fairly easy pattern to follow, and I didn't really have any problems (when I was out of Brussels) with it. Still not sure if I like the variegated yarn with the pattern, but so far it is staying with me. I am not so sure about the London Shrug. Trust me, I was happy to have it as the temperature was chilly and the rain was a plenty this trip, but I wasn't prepared for the stretch of the pattern. It most have grown eight inches on the trip and much of the ribbing was lost. There will be photos of it soon so you can see for yourself the evolution of the shrug. I might frog the damn thing and re-use the yarn for something else (still loving Hush, by the way).

I'll post pictures of the yarn haul later this week. I love the Fiddlesticks yarn that I bought at Stash (fast becoming my favorite yarn shop in London), but my favorite is the Sea Silk Handmaiden yarn. I just don't know what to do with it.

Ava

PS - That the hell is up with the crocheting, Lola? Honestly, are you making waffles and adopting cats now too? Oh, and the lovely hair-do and slapped cheek look that I am sporting in the picture is pretty much what I looked like all week. And apparently we are rated "R" for the use of the words 'hell,' 'crack,' and 'shitty.' Fuck that!

Comments

I did think about you while you were here! Glad you got something out of the trip at least! We were on our way to the Travis show when my friend's parents rang EIGHT TIMES to see if she was okay (we were in the country so there was spotty reception).

Posted by: Shannon | July 03, 2007 at 10:46 AM