adding colour to the city

Alerted to what might be a memorable event by someone on Ravelry, G and I hied off to the Place de la Trinité this afternoon.

As part of the festivities for the Toulouse Carnival, a group of intrepid sewers and others decorated the square with large quantities of fabric.

pi(e)

On Monday, I saw something on a website somewhere that reminded me that Wednesday would be Pi Day.

So I said to G (who was home sick, which he would very shortly give to me...), "Pi day is coming up.  I'll have to think of what I'm going to make."

G looked at me with a look of vague bewilderment.

"You, know, Pi day.  Like, 3.14.  Pi."

The look of bewilderment acquired an edge of concern (possibly for my sanity).

points

A while ago, I made a beautiful purple shawl (a couple photos in this post). I've been wearing it a lot as a scarf, just kind of bunched up (which doesn't show off the lace well, but it's warm, if a touch scratchy). I've been thinking, pretty much from when I first blocked the shawl, that I should have blocked it so there were double the number of points - but when I looked at the photos provided with the pattern, only the points below the hearts (though they look like tulips to me) were pointy. So that's how I blocked it. However, it really looked to me like there was enough fabric to bring down intermediate points as well.

food

I appear to be an extremely delinquent blogger.  From day to day, I do not feel that anything that has happened is blogworthy (or perhaps, one small event might be blogworthy, but certainly would not make up an entire blog) and I have thus completely avoided the question by avoiding the blog.

Clearly, this is not a workable long-term solution for keeping a blog up to date and interesting for anybody (including me).

Therefore, I give you food.

fifty pounds and five thousand six hundred ninety nine miles

Actually, it's 100 pounds (plus whatever the carryon weighed).  Plus however many miles it is from Frankfurt to Toulouse.

I have now successfully arrived in France.  Since, according to the United Airlines website, there would be a $200 fine for having a piece of checked luggage that weighed more than 50 pounds, I spent most of the day and night prior to my flight trying to get my two pieces of checked luggage to be under fifty pounds.  It turns out that both my parents' old green hard-shell Samsonite suitcase and G-'s suitcase-sized rolling duffel bag thing that he left last time he was in the States close easily when their contents are less than 50 pounds, but they do not close easily when 54 pounds.  Interesting, especially as the Samsonite was probably made prior to all these super-strict luggage rules.

packing

The last bit of packing prior to a move is always the most hectic.

The last bit of packing prior to a trip is always the most hectic.

I'm sort of doing both - going to France for a semi-indefinite period of time.  I am starting with packing the *things* - the books (in English) that I'll miss, my knitting supplies, my favorite teapot and mug, my US measuring cups and spoons, my favorite spatula for cooking with, various nick-knacks.  I will follow this with what clothes fit.  Unfortunately, there are strict weight limits and suitcase number limits on planes nowadays.  I will fit as much as possible into my viola case - it will be carryon.  My new nifty laptop messenger bag (thanks sister!) doesn't seem to fit quite as much into it as I'd hoped, but it ought to fit my computer, important papers, and things to do on the plane.

I also have to do some last-minute chores - go to the bank, pick up my new glasses, mail things to people that I've been uncovering over the last few days that don't belong to me, stuff like that.  Ideally I'd do my taxes before I go, but I kind of think that's not going to happen... however, I do believe that I can file my taxes online, so that should work.  I hope.  In addition, I've got some furniture and random other stuff that I've brought back to my parents house for storage and/or getting rid of (sorry, sister, who is living in this house right now, and gets to deal with the aftermath).

I foresee a rather sleepless night.  I'll just have to sleep on the plane.

they make their music with their mouths

Rockapella is possibly one of the best live shows ever.  Not that I've been to a lot of live concerts other than Rockapella and things like the San Francisco Symphony.  But seriously, I don't know how it could get more awesome than this.

public knitting

Knitting in public, it turns out, is a variable thing. Most of the times I've knit in public have gone apparently unnoticed. Today, while waiting for my doctor's appointment and later' for my blood draw, I had at least four or five people ask about it or conment on it. I got to hear about makinh afghans (blankets), sweaters, sewing projects, and reminiscences of relatives working needlecrafts. It certainly made the 2-3 hours I spent waiting pass much quicker!

catchup

Well.  Since I procrastinated so hard on finishing the road trip blogs, I more or less failed to make any new posts between then and now.  Stuff has happened.  Knitting.  Thanksgiving.  Christmas.   New Year's.  Sending my cats to France.  I think this is where I post a whole bunch of pictures and pretend that I wrote some fun, interesting posts.

Home

When I got home last night, I noticed three things:

- I'm pretty darn sure I made my bed prior to leaving, and it was, uh, no longer made. The cats like to crawl under the covers, so it was probably their fault.

- There was a former ball of yarn that stretched, in clumps, from the front door to the back of the bedroom. Don't think that was there before I left either.

- The apartment smelled like stale cat litter. I suppose this is a consequence of keeping an apartment closed up for roughly three weeks.