Purls and Pugs

Whew!

Well, I made it back in one piece...and all my souvenirs made it back in one piece, too.

That was one awesome trip. I'll be doing more on what I actually did over there...well, besides drink beer and go to French operas! Since this was a class, we did have stuff to do for that as well.

I have to write a paper, so I better get working on that as well! But I am glad to be back, and can't wait to get back to knitting...and I thought I would have a ton of time to work on that. Ha! I don't even have one sock finished...I guess I tried to cram a lot of stuff into my days...though I did find a yarn store and picked up some things...pics to come...

an der Oper

Today was BMW day. What a great presentation! We had two sales guys giving it who were pretty funny. Who said Germans don't have a sense of humor? These guys were pretty good...they could go on the road.

So, when we got back, we got ready and headed to the Opera. We saw The Opera of Eurydice in French with German subtitles. Yeah...that was interesting to figure out what was going on. I translated as much as I could, but that only got us so far. What would we do without Wikipedia?! Apparently, it is a Greek thing, and we were close to the actual idea, but not quite there.

I will have to say that there was some artistic license taken with the actual play part of it...very odd...very odd. We had the worst seats ever, but it was fun just to be there.  Just to prove we were there, here are some picks:

The rest of the gang sitting on the other side of the theater.
Mona and Tanuja are getting ready for the show to begin.Stacey is excited...can't you tell?

Salzburg

So, today we visited the beautiful city of Salzburg, Austria. I don't know why we only get a day here. There is so much to see, and we barely saw any of it. One of the things we did do was climb the Monchsberg to visit the Hohensalzburg, which is a fortress that was built in 1077. I had to keep my self motivated thinking about how great my butt will look after all this incline walking!! Here are a couple pics from the climb up:

Stacey and me on the way up the mountain overlooking Salzburg. Cody climbing the mountain in Salzburg.

Stacey is a big Red Bull fan, so what better place to enjoy some than in its birthplace. Strangely enough, we were able to find a red bull for her to drink hers next to!

Stacey has wings!

I made it!!

So, I made it. Here I am with part of the group I am with at the Hofbrauhaus after we got off the plane. Yeah, we couldn't wait. It's been going well, and I am having fun. I hope to be able to update again really soon....Prost!!!

I got a little carried away...

So, Sunday I had some time to finally catch up on my TIVO shows and knit a little bit. I had begun the Rusted Root, but realized that I had grabbed the wrong needles initially, so I started over. Well, you can see how far I got while watching 3 weeks of 24. I think I went a little overboard...that is 20 rows, or 2 repeats done. Am I going to have anything to take with me on my trip?! I need to stop.

But I can't. It seems to be an addiction. Maybe I should work on sewing something instead...Maybe. I have this overwhelming urge to Finish! Rusted! Root!

See why I keep myself so busy? When I have free time, I just fly through projects. I think I need to seek some professional help...

School's Out!

Yes, school is out! So, I am now down to 4 classes left in my MBA program! Sorry for all the '!!!!' I'm really excited about being so close to finishing. It'll be a while before I go back for a PhD.

So, I decided that in addition to the socks, I am going to bring along Rusted Root on my trip. I already cast on and started to get the marker placement done. I just have to find some room to pack it...

Time is Moving So Fast

You would think that it being the end of the school semester that I would have a bit more time to relax and get some things done. Nope. Time is slipping through my fingers so quickly...I leave for Germany NEXT WEEK! I have so much to do: pack, purchase things I need, get travelers checks, activate phone cards...too much.

I have however taken care of the most important part of the trip--what I am going to bring to knit. I have decided to start these toe-up socks in Blue Moon Fiber's Soft Rock. These are just a simple 2x2 ribbing on size 0 needles. I actually broke out the Knit Picks needles I bought a couple months ago. The shorter size are perfect for sock knitting. I was afraid the colors would do some weird thing, but I think they are turning out rather nice.

Now, I know that I might finish the pair part of the way through the trip, so I need to thing of a secondary project...more socks? Start one of those sweaters on my To Do list? I'm sure that I'll figure it out.

Tomorrow is the last night of my International Management class. Thank goodness! That class was just one pain in the butt. I was hoping to get a little more out of the class than I did, but what am I going to do about it now? I have a good paper written by my group and a presentation to give. Speaking of which, here is a little Flash movie I put together to illustrate Istanbul, Turkey. I based it off of another movie on YouTube, so I can't take credit for the ideas. I just needed to refine it a bit for the class... Istanbul (not Constantinople) Movie. Flash Player is required, click here if you need to install it. Don't forget to put headphones on if you are at work!

What's Next?

That's a good question. School is almost done for the semester, but the Germany trip is coming up. So, I don't think I want to start anything too crazy before then. I do, however, have a 'To Do' list for the rest of the year:

Sewing
Amy Butler Cabo Halter
Sew U Skirt(s)...we'll see how the first works out
Built by Wendy Pants

Knitting
Rusted Root (Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece 05 Cavern)
Fitted Knits Puff Sleeve Cardigan (KP Merino Style Butternut - Recycled)
Fitted Knits Boatneck Bluebell Sweater (Cascade 220 9453 amethyst heather)
Fitted Knits Elizabeth Bennet Cardigan  (Cascade Cloud 9  114)
Fitted Knits Cozy V-Neck Pullover with Deep Ribbing (Cascade Pastaza 0070)
Chicknits Ribby Pulli (Elann Highland Peruvian Wool)
Self Designed Sweater (Cascade 220 4147 lemon yellow)
Socks, Socks, Socks (Asst. Sock Yarn already in possession)

I figure with school and anything else that might pop up in life, this is a good list to keep me busy until next year. I actually would be ok if these projects fell into next year, too. Webs Anniversary sale is what made me go and buy most of these yarns, and I figure if I can get away with only spending $200/yr on yarn, I am doing pretty well. Well, until Stitches anayway!