Paris

We had a beautiful weekend in Paris, I never knew how relaxing it is there. One of the prettiest places is the Ile de la Cite, and the stunning cathedrale Notre Dame.



I love the 'flying buttresses' and all the greenery.




I think picturesque is an understatement! The Montmartre area is touristy but gorgeous, and the Sacre Coeur...



...gets very busy because the views are amazing. We did plenty of sightseeing, and eating, and window shopping. I can report that hidden in the top of Bon Marche is a small-ish 'drougerie' with a fair-sized amount of yarn ~ Plassard, Rowan, Elle Tricote and several other brands all arranged in floor to ceiling wood cabinets. Somehow I didn't buy anything but there's plenty of haberdashery to drool over, buttons in jars, Liberty fabric and tons of embroidery supplies. I searched Printemps for something similar, but there is only a very small (read: cupboard) yarn section entirely devoted to one brand (and I can't for the life of me remember which one). The designer haven that is the glorious 3-building Printemps has one particular unmissable feature - Ladurees - patisserie heaven. And of all the hundreds of cafes in Paris I liked this one the most...

I've discovered the joy of magic-loop socks!

I haven't knit socks for a year or so, because I just couldn't get on with dpns (fiddly, painful) and knitting socks back and forth and seaming them up the sides creates bulky, unneccesary seams, ugh. So you can imagine my joy, pure lightness of heart, when I came across Quietish's Phineas pattern (I can't help but browse gorgeous sock patterns) with directions to Knitty's step-by-step guide! I can't think why I didn't think about learning this before.

First I attempted the seamless toe-up cast-on, but my increases were a bit messy, so I used a false cast on to knit a short-row toe, then picked up the stitches and discarded the waste yarn, and commenced basic stripey magic loop goodness.



And for once I'm not using the R-word. Instead I'm stash-busting with some creamy Sheepish sock yarn I bought in York, and some Sunbeam 4-ply in slate blue.



No seams! None at the toe, none at the sides, woohoo!

I want to go here...

100% Pure New Zealand? I'm sold...so, have started saving for the most awesome trip, lets see how long it takes...it began now.