I’m 70% through my reclaimed yarn, and I’m having…thoughts. The fabric is a little loose, and the lovely edging stitch pattern is a little floppy. A tighter gauge would make it crisper.
And then I accidentally made one of the motifs bigger than planned (upper left). I like it better than the smallest motif, which gets lost as the shawl gets larger. I could just continue, and add the larger motifs from here on out, because most of the beginning of the shawl is covered when you wear it. But that plus the loose fabric (which will hang on the bias and stretch) means I should at least try a sample on a smaller needle, with larger motifs.
I really like the bigger motifs; they look airier. And the fabric feels firmer, but not tight.
Sigh.
I think there’s another trip to the frog pond, but I haven’t blocked the bigger piece so I won’t have to soak the yarn again.
Still catching up! I came home from Spain because I had a trunk show at For Yarn’s Sake for Rose City Yarn Crawl. It’s an honor to kick off the crawl there.
Trunk show!
This year I featured brioche, assigned pooling, and brioche plus assigned pooling. That pretty much sums up what I’ve been working on this past year. Also, those are the classes I’m teaching at For Yarn’s Sake, so it was a great chance to promote them.
Dawn Barker of Barker Wool was there with a trunk show of yarns and designs. She’s done so much pioneering work with assigned pooling, and dyeing her own yarns to make her vision come to life. She has also done pooling yarn collaborations with MadelineTosh (and I have used several of those), but this year’s focus was on her own brand.
It’s always fun to see knitters wearing my designs! The Portland Frog Hat (free pattern!) was a big hit this last year. Alison’s hat looks great.
Margaret’s Starstruck is perfect! She took my brioche + pooling class last year, and this is the FO that came out of it.
Not my pattern, but Lisa took my steeking class last year, and then steeked this sweater that she designed. She had been waiting to cut until she took a class.
And Sam came by wearing the hat featuring the pooling stitch that I used on the Scattered Petals cowl I’m wearing. Rhyming!
The day was super busy, so I don’t have any more photos from the crawl. I taught a pooling class last weekend, and I’m scheduled to teach beginning brioche on Sunday April 26 at For Yarn’s Sake.
I taught the same class at Hook and Needle last weekend; we had fun! Come knit with me!
On Tuesday we took Renfe (a high-speed train) from Madrid to Alicante, which is on the Mediterranean Sea on the southern coast of Spain. It’s about a 2 hour ride, at speeds up to 300 km/hour (190 mph, thanks Siri). Very comfortable. Bev & John’s apartment is a 15 minute walk from the train station, easy!
Their 9th floor apartment is on the top floor of the building on the Calle del Teatro. The apartment’s wraparound deck looks down at the Teatro Principal which dates to 1847.
Teatro Principal, AlicanteThe Castillo viewed from Hotel Gran Sol
Castillo Santa Barbara is on Mt. Benacantil behind the city, right up the street. And I do mean UP!
We went to the Convistas bar in the very tall Hotel Gran Sol for drinks and views.
Looking down from Convistas at Hotel Gran Sol
Such a pretty esplanade, and palm trees in February!
Paella for dinner that night, and then a nice meander back to the apartment.
On Wednesday we hiked to the Castillo/Castell Santa Barbara, 166 meters up. (Castillo is Spanish, Castell is Valencian, and signs use both.) The views of the coastline and the Mediterranean Sea are spectacular. Definitely a great place for a lookout, so you could see your enemies coming. The origins of the castle date to the 9th century.
At the lookout towerThat’s the tower where we’re standing, yikes
Just imagine!
We walked back down through the old town.
Loved the art and poetry on this house. I guessed that it was a Time Flies/Tempus Fugit theme, but needed some help. And may I say that Google Translate with Google Lens is a very handy app? Here’s what the house says:
Pretty sure that’s months, not head of cattle, but the paint was slightly illegible on that line.
Sweet!
We visited a modern art museum, and then walked on the iconic esplanade.
It was very disconcerting to walk on; it looks like it undulates in waves from left to right. Can you see it? DH doesn’t see it in 3D, but it still makes me slightly dizzy!
There are a lot of gelato shops in this town. We only sampled two in our four days here. How virtuous!
Mortazza pizza at Scighera
Pizza at Scighera: Mozzarella flor di latte, chopped pistachios, bologna mortadella, burrata, pistachio sauce. Pistachio is the flavor of the moment in Spain. We had it in croissants, gelato, chocolate, pizza.
On Thursday we took a bus to Altea, a neighboring resort town.
Another pretty walkway
We walked up to the square at the top of the town to see the church up there.
Guernica-inspired sculpture by Antoni Miro, and the church behindVenus de Bronzino by Antoni Miro
So much public art, and such beautiful views of the sea. Look at those blues!
In the Mediterranean
Of course I had to dip my toes in the Mediterranean Sea
And also knit a few stitches there.
Aperol Spritz
A late lunch including the beverage of the week before heading back to Alicante. The weather was so nice the whole time we were there; this was late February and no jackets needed.
Friday was my last full day in Alicante, so we explored the town a bit more.
The Mercado, 2 stories of food, flowers, and more
We visited the Mercado, which is a beautiful 1921 building with 290 stalls of the most beautifully presented wares.
SeafoodFruitOlives!VegetablesMeat and cheese
Oh, jamón! The Spanish love their ham, and it is delicious. Even the Mercadona grocery store had a display like this.
After the Mercado, we wandered through town back down to the waterfront for a walk along the beach.
Sailboats on the MediterraneanNot even high season yet!
So much public art and beautiful architecture.
Even down to the faux needlepoint on this restaurant, where we had a very nice dinner.
Saturday I took the train back to Madrid, because it was time to go home. Brandi Carlile and the Rose City Yarn Crawl were next up on the agenda!
Brandi Carlile at the Moda Center
I’d love to visit Spain again. I think DH would love it. Someday?
So much to catch up on! My friend Sharyn and I went to visit our friends Bev & John who are staying in Spain for 2 months. They came to meet us in Madrid before we all headed to their apartment in Alicante on the coast.
Madrid is a beautiful city. The architecture is so much older than west coast USA.
Baroque doorway at Museo de Historia de Madrid
This museum was in the neighborhood where we stayed, right by the Tribunal metro station. (The metro is efficient and easy to use.) The doorway dates from 1726.
Doorway detail
Fancy!
We took a bus tour on the evening we arrived. It’s a good way to start to figure out where you are, and doesn’t take a lot of energy from the jet-lagged.
The moon makes a cameo appearanceCity Hall and the Cibeles fountainAgriculture building
Do I remember what all these buildings these are? No, but they’re gorgeous.
Julia by Jaume Plensa at Plaza de Colón
I did recognize the work of Jaume Plensa, having seen some in Chicago. We followed our tour with dinner at 10 pm, as one does. So continental.
On Sunday morning we headed for Puerta del Sol, a big lovely square full of people enjoying their day.
Churros and dipping chocolate, and café con leche, breakfast of champions!
The bear and the strawberry tree (madrone) are symbols of Madrid, and this statue in Puerta del Sol had lots of people waiting to take a picture with it. And kids were getting a kick out of 67 (is that still a thing they say?).
This ornate building was across the street from our churro stop.
Not to be outdone, the one attached to it appears to have bobbles on it.
Even the less fancy buildings were still quite lovely. We went to El Rastro, the famous open-air flea market, but it was pretty overwhelming, so we didn’t stay long.
Sharyn and I spent 3 hours in the Prado Museum, admiring the paintings of Velázquez, Goya, and many others. We could spend a week in there! No photography allowed, which is probably a good thing. My favorite painting there? Las Meniñas (Velázquez).
In the metro station on the way home, this Velázquez from 1660 was featured: The Spinners or the Fable of Arachne. How did I miss that in the museum? Easy, it’s a huge museum and we saw just a fraction of it.
Fiber arts are everywhere, right?
We had another fashionably late dinner that evening, this time at Cafe Commercial around the block from our apartment. Great vibe, and the olives…
Plaza Mayor
Monday morning we headed for Plaza Mayor, the main square in Madrid; it dates to 1619. The buildings surrounding the square are uniformly impressive.
Felipe III
A bronze statue of Felipe III from 1616 is at the center of the square.
On the way to the plaza, we came across El Gato Negro, the yarn shop. It was a quick trip through, but the most interesting part about it was that you’re not supposed to help yourself the yarn. Let them know what you’d like to see, and they’ll show it to you. No pawing through the wares!
There’s a hang tag for each section of yarn, but the skeins weren’t individually labeled. And there’s a scale because you purchase by weight. This sport weight cotton yarn was 7 euros/100g, which is really quite reasonable. I’m looking forward to playing with my two hanks…eventually!
In the afternoon we visited the Almudena Cathedral and the Royal Palace.
Almudena Cathedral
The cathedral was begun in 1883 and completed in 1993. The interior is a mix of old and new styles. Note the modern stained glass windows above what looks like Byzantine-style paintings just below.
Royal Palace
From there we headed to the Royal Palace. It’s…a lot. A bazillion chandeliers and marble and porcelain and paintings on walls and ceilings, and…very beautiful.
Enter here, and feel your insignificanceDon’t forget to look up!an early 19th century piano, and several instruments by Stradivarius in this room
This piano has five pedals for registers such as bassoon, drum, or bells. Or so my translation app tells me!
Throne roomTable for 120, if you’d likeCollar of the Order of the Golden Fleece (ooh, fiber adjacent!)
Tuesday, the next day, we were off to Alicante on Renfe, the high speed train. More later, but I’ll leave you with one more building to enjoy.
Adios Madrid, city of architecture, fountains, art, statues, olives!
PS: The NY Times came out with a “What to do in Madrid” article after I came home. Here’s a gift link if you want to know more!
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