Pack Your Suitcase

Getting ready to leave for Hawaii. Aaaaahhhhh...

Leah asked what yarn I'm using for the Union Square Pullover. I did kind of tease and then drop the ball, didn't I? Well, I'm going to be using Misti Alpaca Sport in grape for the body and lime for the contrast. Sounds fun, eh? I'm getting it through Little Knits. They don't make sportweight in lime, so I'm going to experiment with double and triple strands of laceweight to get gauge. The contrasting color is so minimal that it shouldn't be too big a deal, right?

Misti Alpaca is like buttah. No kidding. And Sue has the color cards for all the different weights so you can see all of your options if you decide to use this yarn for Union Square or anything else, for that matter.

We leave on Wednesday morning and will be gone a couple of weeks. I'll leave you with a couple of travel photos from a different part of the world. Last summer I traveled all around eastern and southern Europe; part of my mission was to visit the small village of Komiza on the island Vis in what is now Croatia.

When my ancestors left there at the beginning of the 1900s, it was considered Austria. This is a picture of the family shortly after arriving in the United States. The little boy, who was named Mateo, would grow up to become my great grandfather John. So ridiculous how folks changed their names to sound more American.







His mother, also seen here in this photo where she's enjoying a visit to Vashon Island, was named Tomazina, and was probably Italian.

My mom met me in Budapest and traveled to Komiza with me -- it was her first time abroad. We stayed a week in the Dalmatian Islands, not just on Viz but also visiting the isles Hvar and Bisevo. Here's one of my favorite shots from our hotel room in Komiza.



And below is what the much of the town looks like... very small windy lanes with a little shade (it's HOT there in the summertime!) and little flowerboxes. It's a little bit like what I think Greece is like; the island is very arid and rocky with no real chance for agriculture except for vineyards. The economy depended upon wine and fishing, politics and wars affected this area quite strongly, so over the years, a good number of families left for better oppportunities. The population took a dramatic dip after World War II. The island was used as a military base until pretty recently and tourism has been nil until the last ten years or so. Which was nice because the water and beaches were still pristine. Gorgeous.



Enjoy and I'll post again in a couple of weeks!