What a whirlwind week! Ben and his girlfriend didn’t arrive on time because there was a problem with her visa. It seems the American embassy didn’t tell them that she also needed a Canadian visa, even though they were only changing planes in Vancouver. So they weren’t allowed to board the plane. It was a tense 24 hours while we waited to see if they would be able to come at all. But after a night in London and an hour standing out in the rain in front of the Canadian embassy all was resolved and they were able to catch the same flight 24 hours late. We had a wonderful time while they were here with just the right mix of sightseeing and sitting around the house relaxing and visiting. We laughed ourselves silly making an angel food cake with the cute egg separator Abby sent me:

Before they left, the happy couple invited us to their wedding! They had been waiting to set the date until they talked to us and found out when we could come. Tentatively the wedding will be sometime in the fall somewhere in the U.K. I offered the bride my (as yet unfinished) Mediterranean shawl for the wedding, but since she is from China they are considering a more Oriental theme. That’s ok (really, Abby, it is!!) because I could finish the shawl for me to wear. OR – I could start something new! I can always use an excuse to start something new!! I have been itching to make something from Koigu. Anyone have some ideas for a Koigu shawl?

And, since I don’t have any new projects to show off (despite a whole basket of sweaters just waiting to be sewn together – can you guess what my least favorite part of knitting is?) – here is a picture of a Dale of Norway sweater I completed this Christmas. Of course it is attached to a delightful young lady named Gracie. This was my first official Dale sweater although my first Norwegian sweater was done about 10 years ago. I wrote my own pattern using the guidelines in Elizabeth Zimmerman’s “Knitting Around” book. Not knowing any better I made it out of fingering weight alpaca. But it was a huge success and remains one of my favorite sweaters.