Yes, I am back

Jet Lag is a funny thing. Yes, I was tired when we arrived in Prague, having missed a whole night's sleep, but I recovered quickly and slept well the whole trip. Now, I have been home since Tuesday and I haven't had a decent night's sleep since leaving Paris. Mom is in worse shape than me, since she has come down with a respiratory crud, probably from being out in the cool rainy weather.

I spent last evening trying to label my photos and only got about a quarter of the way through so I will post the best soon.



We did have fun and the pace was just about right for Mom. Once we got on the River Boat, she could choose whether to stay on board or tour with the group. She did a bit of both, and she is mad that I sent her back to the ship one night in Rudesheim, Germany, instead of taking her with us to have yet another glass of wine at a weingarten! In Paris, she tired early and we cut the day touring on foot/Metro short as she was starting to come down with the crud by then.



There were several knitters aboard and it was fun encouraging them. They were very impressed with my Kauni sweater, and the fact that I took my sock knitting everywhere. I did have one disaster. In Denver International Airport as we were waiting to board (of course we had an hour and a half to wait), one of my Knitpicks harmony needletips broke completely and the rest of my knitting was packed away in my checked luggage. ARRRRRGHHHHHH! It was a 10 hour flight with no knitting at all! Boy, was I antsy the whole way. I read a little and tried to sleep, but to no avail. Once in Prague, I asked the concierge of the hotel if there were any knitting stores nearby and she directed me to a mall near old town. After wandering lost for a while, I finally stumbled upon Fillium. There I found an addi circular, different from what they sell in the states because there was a plastic cord and gold colored tips. My knowledge of metrics isn's so great but 80 cm long looked similar to the length I was using for the magic loop socks.
This is the label on the back of the needles:

There is not a single recognizable word to me on this Czech label, but at 99 Czech Korunas, it seemed like a pretty good deal. Together, with the yarn I bought, the total price on my credit card was under $20, so I guess I did ok. Most of the exchange rates in Europe were awful.

I transferred my Booby Socks to this new needle, but found that it was hard to count the pattern stitches while touring on the boat or in a bus, and put it aside til I came home. The needles are 2.5mm, slightly larger than the needle that I originally started these socks with, and I think it is working out better. I started anew and am now making some progress on it.



I was so greatful to find the addi needles in Prague, I bought some yarn as well: Fortissima Colori Socka Color yarn color 2412- a brown tweed self striping yarn and actually labeled made in the Czech Republic. I started these socks and got one whole sock done, and 7" of the top of the second sock. I used the basic sock pattern I usually use and used the knitting to practice my continental knitting. It is becoming more comfortable, but once I arrived at the heel, purling feels like I am all thumbs again.

There were a half dozen of us on the boat who scouted for knitting stores in each small town we toured. In Volkach, I bought 3 balls (100 grams) of regia sock yarn and 1 of Lana Grossa. These balls averaged under $10 per ball, so I feel I did ok again. Luckily for me and my credit card, the other stores I saw were closed when we passed by.

More to come on the trip later............