Kuwait

So, I've been in Kuwait 2 days short of a month.  How much have I done you ask?  Um well, not much.  I think I've lost a bit of my knitting groove.  What happened?
Maybe it was the moving, or the realization of how little yarn I have with me here in Kuwait,  or feeling dissatisfied with my progress on my never-ending project and the project I really want to work on I left in NM because my friend was/is planning on coming in the fall to visit.

I has a sad.

Anyway, if you are looking for yarn in Kuwait.... go no further than Bakarat in Salmiya.  They have cotton, wool, acrylics, and blends thereof. They also have supplies for needle point, cross-stitch, embroidery (which I am teaching myself), sewing, wood-working, jewlery making, and the list goes on and on.  It is an honest to goodness craft store.

I went there with another new teacher a coupe of weeks ago to get ribbon for my jellyfish which hangs so proudly in my classroom, and right below the shop, because Barakat's is on the Mezzanine level and when you're trying to find the entrance you end up walking around the place the first time, we say Lambourginis and Jags and Porsches being cleaned.  Apparently that's where some of the Kuwaiti elite take their cars to be cleaned.  We also saw this sign.

Part of me thinks this is hysterical, part of me thinks it is so sad that this is what someone is reduced to in order to find a kidney for themselves or a loved one.  

We also went to the Salmiya co-op where we found this fantastic aisle sign.

I didn't know there was a need for obesity. 

Unplanned Yarn Acquisition

I mean, honestly, I didn't go to Spain with the plan to get more yarn.  I didn't even actually go to a yarn store. Shocking, I know. But I still ended up with 3 bags of yarn.

Okay, so the story is that when we go to Spain we always rent a house for a week or two.  This time we rented a house owned by a Belgian couple who relocated to Spain about 20 years ago. They were both very sweet.  Turns out the lady, Mieke,  used to be a knitter.  She showed me just a few of the sweaters she had made over the years... holy crap. She was a prolific knitter and her seaming was invisible, amazing.  *Swoon* And for every sweater she had a matching shawl/scarf. They looked a bit like scarves but much larger.  For you who caught the usage of past tense, yes she WAS a knitter.  I didn't know that there was a way back once we entered this life. But she had to stop knitting because of a racing heart and apparently she would stress herself out when knitting and go very quickly.  (This was gathered from the English/Dutch mix that we were using, so I'm almost sure that's what she meant.) She is now back into painting, and again is a prolific painter.

So, she gave me a whole bunch of yarn that she had just sitting in Spain.  About 40 balls of yarn. And a cone of yarn, I've always wanted one of these.  The coned yarn (which she had a whole bunch more of in Belgium) she got when a factory (I think it was clothing, but again... language barriers and all that) in  Brugge closed.

I'm still going through the yarn. So much yarn. Mostly lace and fingering weights.

Spring Break = Knitting Time

So, doing my student teaching has left me very little time for knitting. Isn't that sad? I am usually working on lesson plans, grading, or writing papers/reading for my other class when I get home and then I go to bed.  I don't have a real lunch break during the day because  there are usually students in the classroom doing make-up work (that's a whole different topic I won't get into here).
So this past week has been Spring Break and I have been knitting up a storm.  I actually got to go to my knitting group this week and saw all those lovely ladies. It was wonderful.

Okay, knitting. Currently on the needles is Viajante by Martina Behm and I am using Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud lace yarn in Garnet Heather.  This is a deep red color that I think will be great for traveling.  It seems functional and fashionable, and the color will go with my travel clothe.

I hope that your Easter weekend is relaxing and full of candy.  It is lesson planning and cleaning for me. Alright, and a bit of knitting.