Hi! Remember me?!

You know, when you get very behind in your blog posts it's hard to know where to start. Do you know that feeling? Kind of sucks huh? I mean I want to tell you about so much...

There is travel content
There is knitting content
There is "life in Bangalore" content
Two of my daughters have had birthdays (Happy Birthday my dears!!!!!)
We had a wedding anniversary
We have been in Bangalore for six months (eek!)

and last but not least we have family visiting!

Well, I guess I could just dive in and start, right?

Fine. Will do.

So Let's start with a bit of travel.



In June we went to Singapore. It is such a stark contrast to Bangalore! It is pristine, clean, organized, quiet, orderly... truly everything that Bangalore is not. There were no cars honking and everyone stays in their lanes while driving. amazing. We took to calling Singapore "Merlionland" because it is sort of a grown-up Asian Disneyland-esque kind of place. I had the impression that I was in a Gotham like city, although a very cheerful one.

Singapore Skyline

And then there was the shopping. OMG. Shopping!!! Shopping malls were everywhere, huge, and filled to overflowing with people. Anna and I decided that we would be happy if Bryan took a job there (unlikely- but we can dream...), although I now realize that I don't think I could take a long term assignment there. It is just a bit too surreal for me, as well as incredibly expensive! Bryan has written a more detailed account of our travels that you can read about here.

Here are a couple of my photos from Singapore.

Chinatown in Singapore

Orchids at the Singapore Botanical Gardens

Now, after our weekend in Singapore we caught the night train to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We almost missed the train, and it was my mistake, but thanks to my on-the-spot husband and a bit of dumb luck, we got on just in time. The train ride was uneventful- which is good- and after a bit of sleep we woke up to bad coffee and a sandwich (unidentifiable I'm afraid), and the Kuala Lumpur train station.

Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur is in a different country from Singapore and this was obvious at first glance. While not quite like India, it has some of the same feel. Things are a bit more run down and the city has a bit more more of the chaotic feeling that we have come to love about India. It is predominantly Muslim and everywhere women wore headscarves and long flowing robes. As a tourist, the major contrast between Singapore and KL (Kuala Lumpur) really is accessibility. Singapore had large tourist centers filled with brochures about all of the different areas and activities that were there. KL had... a not so accurate map. So it took us a bit more time to find what we wanted to do. But we did have a good time and again, Bryan has blogged about it a little more here.

KL photos:

Shopping in KL...

Wanna buy a Rolex?

Shopping Center in KL

Batu Caves outside Kuala Lumpur...

Lord Marugan at Batu Caves

After Kuala Lumpur, we travelled to Langkawi which is a group of islands off of the northern coast of Malaysia. Langkawi is absolutely beautiful and I would love to go back there for a week to relax and do little. Nice.

Ahhh...

Then we were back to Singapore for a last evening and day before our return to Bangalore via Tiger airways, thankfully we didn't need to sleep on this flight!



FYI- to see all of my photos from this trip you can go to my Flickr set here.

Next time I will tell you about crafty/knitting things!

When it Rains, it Pours... and Drips

Sometimes you just have days where you have to drive around the city and take care of things. Saturday was one of those days. We had to go to the hospital to get our final Hep B vaccination, we had to go to the furniture rental place to arrange for a bed for our "Summer guest season", (eldest daughter Isha arrives in less than three weeks!!!) and then we had to go to Thom's Super Market and Bakery. Thom's is one of the older expat haven type grocery stores in Bangalore. We can get Corn Flakes there (if we wanted), we can get meat there (even beef), we can get baking cocoa and Betty Crocker baking mixes there (I can smell baking brownies as I type!). Bryan can even get decaf coffee there. As far as we know this is the only place in Bangalore that has decaf, even if it is only Nescafe... but sadly they were out of stock (Monday after 3 it shall be there!) Anyway, Anna came with us today and she was so happy to find these:


I believe that they are actually made in Thailand, but still, to her they are a taste from home!

Here is another interesting sight from the streets of Bangalore.

You often see trucks like these around. This truck is actually being used as a bus. It transports people into and out of the city from the villages. This bus appears to be a little on the empty side as sometimes you will see a full batch of heads inside and a full row of bottoms off the back. As you see they have a rope to hang on to and handles on the side. I think sitting on the back would be a fun view, although I would want to hang on real well through all the bumps on the city streets!
I also saw a guy on the back of a two-wheeler carrying a goat across his lap. A LIVE goat! Sadly I did not get a picture of this one but it was one of those "oh yeah, I'm in India" sights. They were probably headed to a barbeque or something.

We then dropped the daughter off on Brigade road (she was meeting a "friend") and Bryan and I headed home. It wasn't long before it started to get a little dark. Then it got even darker. Soon it was 4:00 p.m. and I was turning lights on inside because it was so dark. Glancing outside I saw this:


I really had the feeling that IT was coming.
Yup, I think I can safely say that The Monsoon started today.

Aaaannnd, we still have a few leaks. Nothing torrential, quite. But the rain is really something to behold. About 20 minutes after the above picture was taken, things looked like this:


and this:
At the top left of the above photo you can see a little shack (click if you would like to see it bigger). This is where the construction workers for the site next to us are living. I think there are four of them, probably all under the age of 25 - if that. Some time later they were out in the downpour trying to fix a leak that they have in one of the corners.

This was after about 30 minutes:

Did you notice how much water is around the motorcycle tire? He's not going anywhere soon!

That's a lot of water. And as mentioned, we had our leaks to contend with as well. Oh, and marble floors, when wet, are really slippery. All things considered we are lucky that more does not come in the house!

Catch the Bullets

It is inevitable that once in a while it is necessary to do a "catch-up" post.
This is such a post.

1. I bought the Charkha. I told my husband it is art. It is beautiful.
2. With the help of a like minded knitter (really she is spear-heading it!), we have started a craft group. Knitters, crocheters, sewers, scrapbookers... Yippee! We have met twice and are meeting a third time at my house on Friday.
3. I am tired of knitting socks. I'm sure it's just like a short term virus or something. I will get over it.
4. I have too many knitting projects in an "in-between, need to think about the next stage" stage. This leads to me wandering around the house wondering what the heck to do. Not pretty.
5. We celebrated Mother's Day, along with a group of Aussie/Kiwi friends, with a brunch at Leela Palace.
6. I am a little tired of going to fancy expat functions. Can't we just meet for cheap Masala Dosa, idli, and coffee?
7. We were invited to and my husband was introduced (and garlanded) as an honored guest at this ceremonial function.
8. I have realized that I am more familiar with and communicate more with the workers in my area than any of the residents in my neighborhood.
9. I found an organic food store 5 minutes from my house. It is the only ISO certified organic store in India. Had no clue it was there. How cool is that?
10. Speaking of cool, last week it was cooler here in Bangalore than it was back home in Silly-con Valley. Who'd a thunk it?
11. The bombings in Jaipur last week were incredibly sad and senseless.
12. We are planning a trip to Singapore and Malaysia next month.
13. There are yarn stores in Singapore.
14. Monsoon Season is coming soon.

We are close to the "June 5" area

Stop, Children, What's that Sound?

Do you hear that?

No, not the buzzing saw from the construction site.
No, no- not the train in the distance.
Nope not the auto rickshaw putt-putting down the road, nor any of the honking cars.

Don't you hear? The loudspeaker?
What is it saying? No clue, still haven't learned Kannada.

So, I think just about everyone in the world is aware that this year will see a presidential election in the United States. Can't miss it. But did you know that it is election season in Bangalore? Yup. If you live here you can't miss it either. There are the processional trucks with the loudspeakers, the gatherings of white clad politicians and supporters that meander in large groups around neighborhoods or just loiter on corners, sidewalks or streets. There are the occasional tents that have sprung up, which may or may not be used for serving lavish feasts in an effort to woo voters. (It's illegal, but they are there and I have heard that it happens.)

It wasn't long ago when Bangalore received a visit from the young, the dashing, Rahul Gandhi.
Despite his seeming discomfort with it, he is India's political poster boy in a Tiger Beat kind of way, being the heir apparent to the Gandhi political dynasty and head of the Indian Youth Congress. His visit was accompanied by large banners, posters, flags and lots of traffic tie-ups.

It can appear that Sonia Gandhi's Indian National Congress party (INC) is in an election battle with The Bharatiya Janata (BJP) and the other major player in Karnataka politics, Janata Dal Secular (JDS) but truth be told- I really have no clue! Election day is on the 10th of May, and while I will state again that I in NO WAY have any in depth understanding of Indian politics, I do think that this is a pretty big election. Since October, the government of Karnataka (the state that Bangalore is in) has been governed by "President's Rule". I believe that this was an effort to cool things down after there had been some political turmoil between BJP and JDS and disagreements about the coalition government that they were supposed to be running.

Don't ask me what the different parties represent, stand for, or any of that. Again, I have no clue. I did see one ad in the newspaper that had been taken out by BJP that listed all of the woes that are affecting India (and the rest of the world) at present such as higher prices for food stuffs, grains, petrol and gas, and implied that the Congress party was to blame since they have been in power for such a long time here. It is surely a simplistic explanation, although I know that this sort of thing happens in politics all over the world. Of course, luckily for Indian politicians, Bush has stuck his foot in his mouth again and they think that the US is now blaming India for higher food prices world wide. So nice to have a diversion.

Political campaigners parading and handing out leaflets

It is interesting to see all that is going on here though and yet also feel a bit isolated from all of the politicking in the US. Yes, we hear about it in the news, but it is always the after-effect, the reporting of the event that we hear about. We are not able to participate in such an intimate way. So I am trying to at least understand the process here. It does seem that people are passionate about voting and elections in Bangalore. Lalitha, my housekeeper came late the other day so that she could get her voter ID card and she reported that there was a huge line and crowd with people jumping line and the police had to come to control the crowd. When did you last hear about that happening in the US?

Campaigners and candidates

Well, I just hope for a peaceful election. No strikes, no riots, no trouble. But maybe the US could take a lesson from Indians and at least DO something if things don't turn out the way they should. It would be nice if we were able to actually elect our next president. For real this time.

In the meantime, I am just hoping that the local politicians will address the trouble with sidewalks.

Mysore and Mayo

I told you that the 1st was a holiday, right? So both my husband and daughter had Thursday and Friday off. We had actually intended to get away for the weekend, but tried to make plans too late- so instead we decided to head to Mysore for the day! Mysore is .... (below out take from Wikipedia)

"Mysore (pronounced /maɪˈsɔɚ/ in English (listen); to be renamed Mysuru) (Kannada: ಮೈಸೂರು) is the second largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division and lies about 140 km (87 mi) southwest of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. The name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha. Mahisha stands for Mahishasura, a demon from the Hindu mythology. The city is spread across an area of 128.42 km² (50 sq mi) and is situated at the base of the Chamundi Hills."

Manju arrived at about 7 am and we headed off...


Mysore is, according to all of the guidebooks that I have read, approximately four hours from Bangalore. Well. Hah- what do they know! We arrived in 2 1/2 hours on the button. Of course, part of this improved time may have been the new 4 lane (meaning they could fit six cars across if needed!) road between Bangalore and Mysore. This is easily the nicest road I have been on thus far in India! We did share the road with vehicles of all kinds, including ox carts loaded up with sugar cane, but we made good time and arrived in Mysore nice and early.

We decided to start with the Palace since they are actually open early. I had heard from a friend that they have guides inside and have their rates pre-printed on a card for all to see (of course there is nothing to prevent them from having more than one card in their pocket with multiple price sets!) Whatever- we found a guide and began our journey- oh but first stop- the toilet. Now, I am sure that you have all heard about squat toilets, right? Well, believe it or not, I have thus far been able to avoid using one. Bangalore is pretty "Westernized" for good or bad- and I have never been faced with a squat toilet being the only option. Well- not here. Squat toilets they be. Not too clean, but not too dirty either, and I had to go. I do actually have a picture ( No! Not of it in use! geez...) but decided against posting it here out of respect for those of you who are "squeemish". But I came, I went, and I survived. Really, it's not bad. Now, on to the Palace!

Mysore Palace

The palace really is pretty magnificent and I wish, oh how I wish, that they would have allowed me to take pictures inside. But it is not allowed. The Mysore Palace was the abode of the Mysore Royal Family (the Wodeyar family) and seat of the Kingdom of Mysore. They have lived in the area for many hundreds of years. The current royal family (king I think?) still has a private area of the palace for his use, but if I understood correctly the Mysore Royals actually live in Bangalore. It sounds like the Mysore Royals were pretty good - they sponsored many social projects and seem to be well respected to this day- of course this is all according to our guide! There is far too much for me to describe here. The palace contains some beautiful stained glass, spectacular mosaic floors, and incredible halls with ornate colonnades. I was really saddened to see graffiti in some of the areas though. The palace could do with a bit of a face lift as the Indian weather and moisture takes a heavy toll on the best of constructions. Well worth seeing though!


After the palace we were all ready for a bite to eat. When we said to Manju that we needed some lunch, he immediately took us to a local nice hotel. It wasn't exactly what we had in mind, but we really can't blame him as most of the time when he drives us somewhere to eat in Bangalore it is usually located at one of the many nice hotels in town. We do actually eat at other places- it's just that he isn't with us at those times! Anyway, we had an okay but overpriced meal and then decided to head to the local market area. We really didn't want to do a lot of shopping this trip, but we were curious to see the market area. So we roamed around, were offered lots of fruit (which I would have been tempted by if we had had a cooler or something) and I think I saw more bananas than I have ever seen in my life. We did find and stop by Guru Sweets, supposedly the place to get Mysore Pak (good stuff that!) and bought far too much as I am still figuring out that 1 kilogram is actually a good amount of something.


Well- we were soon done with the market and Anna really wanted to see Saint Philomena's Church. It is a Gothic style church and really is not what you expect to see in the middle of Southern India!

We were dutiful Christians and wandered around. Bryan quizzing me on just who exactly is St. Philomena. When my memory of Catholic saints and their iconography came up blank he had to resort to other methods...


Anna posed in St. Philomena's Grotto while Bryan is trying to look her up on the web. Here is the Wiki page if you are interested... Apparently she was dropped from the list of "celebrated saints" on the liturgical calendar in 1961. That must be why I didn't know who she was.



But enough about that. Today is Cinco de Mayo! I have to say that I have been craving isolated Mexican foods lately. The one thing that you just can not find anywhere in Bangalore is real corn tortillas- nor can you get Masa Harina that would enable you to make your own! I absolutely love corn tortillas. I grew up in a very Mexican neighborhood you see, so the things that bring back memories of my childhood are Mexican pastries, (not only the fluffy pink ones, but also the molasses flavored ones that are shaped like pigs! Yummmm) Mexican folkloric dancing, (always loved the endings where the man leans down over the woman with his sombrero covering the two of them- always wanted to know which ones were really kissing!) and fresh corn tortillas. Many an afternoon of my childhood was spent enjoying these tortillas, made by my friend Mark Gonzales' grandmother. We could eat them as fast as she could make them and to this day there are few foods that can compare.

But here we have to make do:

Yes, a taco kit. We ate them all up and they were really quite good. No, we didn't have sour cream. No, we didn't have guacamole (no "butter fruit" in the store these days- butter fruit=avocado) But we did have tacos in real corn tortilla taco shells and they were yummy.


And yup. That's Fosters.

CccrRrrraaAAAcckkk!!!!

gggrrRRrrruuummmmbbbbBBBBbbbllllleee

You can always tell it's coming. The light changes. It gets darker. Then a little yellow. (Yes, yellow- the air takes on a golden glow and despite my many efforts to capture this it seems impossible to do so!) You see the flash of light, followed by the grumble of thunder. Then a few minutes later... the rain.


We had this weather almost every afternoon in March. But most of April has been dry. Then hot. Really hot. Yeah, I know I already told you about that, but I have learned that I do actually sweat and it can drip down my back when I am standing still. The rain cools things off but it does get a bit more muggy. They call rain at this time of year "Mango Showers" or so I have heard, but apparently the March rains really messed with the mango crop and since it is now Mango season, the prices are said to be a bit higher. Still yummy though!


Knitting? Well, I am out of Sock Madness. Round 4 was started and I just did not have a lot of energy , so I didn't push myself the way I had in previous rounds. I was knitting away last Monday afternoon and as I was checking to see who posted their finished socks on Flickr I saw my undoing pop up. I put down the sock, sulked for a few days and then picked them up again. I am done with all but the heel on the 2nd sock and already started on the Round 5 sock- but I will wait to show you the socks until they are all done (hopefully this weekend). I must say that they really have some beautiful patterns this year! I can't wait to show you! Okay- I give ... here is the first finished sock from round 4:


Tomorrow is Mayday. If we were home we would be waking up early, heading to a dear friend's house for a dance and sing around the May Pole followed by strawberries, whipped cream (or ice cream!) and shortcake for breakfast.

sigh.

Here it is a worker's holiday (including our driver and our housekeeper) so I expect that we will sleep in, and try to figure out what to do with ourselves for the day. Maybe I'll put on some fiddle music or something to help us feel a little better.

Lastly, I spotted this yesterday and am sorely tempted to buy it! Do you know what it is?


What do you think? Should I get it??!!!

All Sock Madness... All the Time!

I am really trying to not have this blog turn into a 24/7 Sock Madness news channel.

I had intended to do a nice interesting post for you this last week, but I was so busy doing "stuff" that it just didn't quite materialize. And now I am online waiting, waiting, waiting for the next pattern to be released.

Enjoying the hammock as the air starts to cool

It is Summer here. It is hot. Not unbearably so, but somewhat uncomfortable and we are now using the AC at night -hot. I am very grateful that we live in Bangalore (average current temp. 36-37 C./ 98 F.) rather than someplace like Delhi (40-41 C./ 104-105 F.) Ugh. I'm good thanks! It also doesn't get as humid here so it is still somewhat tolerable. The cats, particularly Benny, have taken to lying on the floor, tummy up, underneath the ceiling fans. It really looks quite ridiculous, but I will leave it to your imagination and try to preserve a bit of Benny's integrity and respectable image.

We spent the last weekend getting plants for the outside areas, moving furniture around (family members can insert laughter here), and hanging things on the wall. It felt like a productive weekend and I am starting to feel more comfortable in the house... it doesn't feel empty anymore. It is actually starting to feel like a comfortable home!

Ok- I give up. Things are going wonky on my computer and I want to post before the next round of Sock Madness starts. Will check in again soon!

View from the hammock before the mosquitoes come out...

Oh yes, I have also enabled word verification in an effort to reduce the comment spam that has been popping up on my blog lately... hopefully that will be enough and I won't have to go to comment moderation. But please, if you see any comment that says "See Here" with a link- don't go see it!

Round 3 done!

Just a quick post- I did finish the Round 3 socks for Sock Madness last night, approximately 39 hours after the pattern was released.

I was the first one finished in my division, but I know that the benefit that I had this round will not be there every time! The pattern was released early in the morning my time, so I had a good long day to knit. I finished the first sock on the first evening (Friday) and was able to get a start on sock #2 before I went off for a bit of sleep. Even though I went out for a couple of hours with my daughter on Saturday, I still finished the second sock last night at a reasonable time.

I know- this isn't really so interesting. but the point I am trying to make is that I know I will not win this competition. There are faster knitters out there. I have reached my goal of making it further than I did last year (I was beat out in the third round) and I still hope to make it a bit further. But there are some speed demons out there who I have no chance against!

Without further ado, the socks...

Slippin' Stripin' Socks

yarn: Merino Lace from The Knittery in Moonlight and Warm Pink colorways.

It was a great pattern and I am quite happy with the outcome! And, I will be in Round 4 whenever it starts...

Slippin' Stripin' sock #1

Slippin' Stripin' sock #1
Originally uploaded by SnidKnits

One down....

Casting on #2. Later!

India Post

I have some dear friends, Mary (aka Spinnity) and Janice (aka Bogie) who gave me a very sweet present before I left the States. Knowing that decent yarn is difficult to find in India, they gave me a gift certificate to Webs and yes- Webs ships to India! Well, after a little hmmming and such I decided to use my gift certificate to order some yarn. Lace yarn. Valley Yarns Merino/Tencel. 2 cones of it! Yippee! I perused the site and sent in my order March 3rd. I also ordered some other lace yarn the following day from The Knittery in Australia. Turns out I also really needed some Superwash lace for one of the Sock Madness patterns. The Knittery yarn arrived in about one week, but then it took about one week for them to notify me and for me to figure out exactly where I needed to go to pick up said yarn. With me so far?

Anyway, back to Webs. Finally this week I decided that I needed to try to track down this package. It had been a month after all! I sent an e-mail to Webs and they assured me that it had left the country. So I knew then that I had to go bug the people at India Post. I have by now heard many horror stories about missing packages, missing items from packages, packages that are damaged beyond all recognition, etc, etc...

Great.

So, I spoke to my driver and he said we needed to go to the GPO (General Post Office). We drove into the city and pulled up to this grand old building surrounded by many lush plants and the always constant traffic. I walked up to the building, saw a window that said "enquiries" and headed that way. Within a few minutes a man called on me and I explained that I was looking for a package that had been sent from the US. He then told me that I needed to go to the FPO (Foreign Post Office) in the even more congested part of Central Bangalore. Goody. Luckily my driver knew where it was (since the gentleman's directions were "St. Mark's Cross Road, near the State Bank of India, ask someone- Second floor" and actually those directions probably would have worked just fine~)

We headed over to the FPO and I walked up the stairs to the second floor (reminding myself that it is actually the third floor) and I entered a room that was filled with large burlap and cloth bags containing packages. They were everywhere, piled, tossed, and helter skelter. I stepped over a couple of bags to get to the desk that someone pointed me towards and approached a wary looking woman. I explained my predicament and she asked if I had the package number. Argh. Well, yes- but that would be in the e-mail that I had received from Webs. Did I think to write it down? Nope. Okay- she said that without the number I could look through this book... and she hands me a register book that is filled with page after page of handwritten entries. These are all of the packages that had been received in the last couple of months. Each day has 2-3 pages of entries. Fantastic. But, then she says, "You could also check here" and shows me a folder with some computer printed entries and low and behold I was the second one listed! That's me! I say and she eventually tells me that the package left there office on the 1st (one week ago) to go to my local post office.

Of course!

So, back to the car and we drive to the local post office (not the LPO!) and I walk in the door, a man looks up from his desk and says, "Ma'am, your package has arrived."

He knows me. Okay. Guess maybe I stand out or something. Anyway, I paid the import duty and brought my package home. While it took almost two hours, I was actually able to get my package without too much of a problem! The Indian Post works. And here is the result...

Package with the requisite heavy twine and sealing wax. It has been inspected.

Yarn!

Thank you Mary and Janice!!!!!

Now this is my last post before the Madness kicks in again. Yes, that's right, Round 3 of Sock Madness starts tomorrow. I have swatched with the lace yarn from The Knittery, have balled my yarn and I am ready to go. There are now 20 of us in each division (down from 50 or 60) and the first 12 done in each division will move on to Round 4. Wish me luck!

Harshakala

Okay, now that the second Sock Madness round is done (for me at least!) I can get back to our regular blogging! I am going to tell you about...


So, I of course love textiles and I was thrilled to be able to go to Harshakala, the National Handloom Expo. There are really few words that can describe what these pictures can, but it was awesome to see. There was a very large tent filled with row after row of vendors displaying silks, hand printed fabrics (silk, cotton, etc...), carpets, wall hangings, clothing, even wool socks (mine are better though!) All of these items are fashioned by hand and are beautiful to behold.

Now, they do use some machines. This is a Jacquard loom that is being used to make a silk Jacquard fabric.
The shuttle zipped back and forth as he pulled on the knob (just next to his face in the picture), but the thread was so incredibly thin it was difficult to see! Silk has some amazing properties in that way. It is an incredibly strong fiber and can be spun very, very, thin (I know - you spinners already know this!) This particular loom had a pneumatic function which I believe makes it a little easier to operate (less muscle power needed).

This is the upper part of the loom and those green things hanging on the left are hole punch pattern cards of some sort. Each card has different holes in it and this will then effect which of the things to the right are used , which is what makes up the pattern. I know, this isn't a very good description, I just am not finding the right words. But dude, it was cool.

Here are some more of the pattern cards:


Here is what the silk fabric looked like:


There was also a display about silk and where it comes from, complete with live silk worms and all. We used to raise these every Spring when my kids were little, although we never used the silk itself. This was a cool, and traditional way of holding the cocoons:


We always used egg cartons, but this is a lot prettier!

I spotted some silk thread (couldn't really call it yarn) and was examining it to see if it was plied in any way when a man came up near me and was talking on his phone. As he hung up I asked him if he worked here...
He didn't, but we got started talking and it turns out that he owns a business that makes and distributes silk yarns to the EU and N. America! Wow. I could not believe my luck. And actually, he is the one that makes the base yarn for Tilli Thomas yarns.

Did he say Tilli Thomas?!
Tilli Thomas, one of the most expensive yarns I know of?

Someone pinch me. This can not be happening! Well, I immediately asked him if I could come by and see what he has, and yes, can I buy some? I am not in the US or the EU at present. I am here and would love to be able to get some decent yarn!!!! He gave me his card, asked where we lived, said he has a place nearby there and yeah... Made my day!

So, I will leave you with a little slide show of what I saw and maybe even some of what came home with us (Bryan helped too!)

Sock Madness- Reversai Pair done!

Reversai Pair done!
Originally uploaded by SnidKnits

Not the prettiest pic- but I am done with the Round two sock for Sock Madness. And now? Off to bed!

Greener!

Just had to let you know that I have transformed a UFO into a FO!*

Introducing.... Greeners!


These are in honor of my oldest daughter' school, Evergreen State College and yes, that color is pretty accurate.

Sock Madness, round two starts soon -so more sock knitting will be coming up!

* non-knitter translations...

UFO: UnFinished Object
FO: Finished Object

Goan Goals Gone

Well, Friday was a bit of a wash (ha ha), but we were hoping for an improved Saturday. We started off by deciding to take a walk after breakfast since it was nice out. We started out down the beach and enjoyed exploring some of the sites along the way. It really is a lovely beach, even for us spoiled Californians.


We did notice that the skies were darkening as we walked on though. Anna and I decided to turn around at one point while Bryan wanted to walk on a bit further. We soon realized that we had turned around just in time, for as we got back to the hotel it started to rain. Pour. Pelt. We got wet. But nowhere near as wet as Bryan did. It eased up a little bit and we retreated to the hotel room to dry off and get ready for our outing! Yes, It was Saturday and time for Ingo's Saturday Night Bazaar. I suspect that any tour book on Goa will say something about it...

"... firmly established on the tourist agenda that Saturday night means Ingo’s. ..."

"...Ingo's saturday night bazaar has come a long way to be a jewel in the crown ... The best tourist market of Goa."

"Every Saturday after the sun goes down People make there way to the Mother of all Indian night Markets"

This is going to be so cool! I had been saving up my shopping all week for this! So we called the driver who we had used on Thursday and headed North.

This is what a lot of the sites of Goa looked like for me...


On the way there I did want to stop by a place I had found listed in the Rough Guide to Goa book, Sangolda. Sangolda is a shop housed in an 200 year old Palacio and it contained the most beautiful furniture, housewares and artifacts that I have seen in India, all priced accordingly. Wow. But check this out:

This is a quilt that they had hanging in one of the corridors.

Pretty cool huh?

Well, look closer...

That isn't fabric. It is stitchery. Embroidery. Are we impressed? I sure was.

Okay, back to the plan. Ingo's here we come. We fought our way through the Saturday night traffic. It isn't nearly as bad as Bangalore, but being that it was Holi, the crowds (highly colored ones at times) were out in force and it felt like a big party scene. Which Goa has a bit of a reputation for. But, back to Ingo's we finally get through and.... it is empty. closed. not there.

So... we tried another market. Ditto. We were never really able to get clear as to whether it was the fact that it was Holi, or the night before Easter, or just the continuing rain, but there were no markets open.

BUMMER

So, our driver felt sort of bad and took us to see Baga Beach.

Glad we weren't staying here!

So, the tally so far. We left the hotel at about 3:45pm, it is now about 6:30 and we have seen one shop and a very crowded beach. Perhaps we should just try to find a nice restaurant to have dinner at. Well, our driver pipes up that he knows a nice restaurant and so we start to head South. It really is a long trek, but we enjoy the scenery buzzing by outside the window and 1 1/2 hours later we get to the road the restaurant is on and .... it is blocked. We can't get through.

At this point I am starting to think that someone has it out for us. But our driver turns the car around and after a momentary pause, during which he is seen to be drumming his fingers on his lips and muttering "hmmmm", he says he knows of another place. He drives us, drops us off and we proceed to enjoy one of the best meals I have eaten on any vacation. Goan cuisine, with fresh fish (this restaurant has their own boat) is absolutely divine.

Believe it or not, it was all worth it.

Easter Sunday was spent enjoying a last bit of Goan fresh air before we returned to Bangalore.


Now we are "home", although it is a bit strange because now that we are back I realize that it doesn't quite feel like home yet, but regardless the cats were very happy to see us!

Someday I hope to return to Goa again, although I think we will not go during Easter week next time!