Switzerland

This past weekend I visited the parents of my sister-in-law Barbara in Switzerland. In all the time I've spent in Europe, I haven't seen much of Switzerland, so this was really a great opportunity to do that. Barbara's parents were wonderful, and the scenery was amazing! Above is a picture of the Oberhofen Castle on Thun Lake, not too far from Bern where Barbara's parents live.

Here are the Swiss Alps as seen from the town of Thun.

Above is the castle in Thun. For more pictures from my visit, click here.

A New Way to Knit Socks

This odd-looking item is a sock, knitted from the toe up, rather than from the cuff down to the toe. Knitting from the toe up has become quite popular recently, but like many things in knitting, I doubt that it's really new. I'm sure knitters have been doing it this way for centuries. I am enjoying it so far because it seems faster (not sure why that would be), and I can try it on as I go along. I also figured out that my guage on my last few pairs of socks has been too loose, and the socks don't fit as snugly as I would like. So for these I am using smaller needles and I cast on fewer stitches than usual. So far, they are nice and snug. The yarn is a self-striping, fingering weight, wool blend called "Meilenweit Merino," and the pattern is "wendy's toe-up sock pattern," found through ravelry.

Recently Read

The Old Devils (1986) by Kingsley Amis. A long, rambling and kinda crazy story about a group of Welsh friends who meet up again when they are getting on in years. I thought about putting this down several times while reading it, but I love Amis's humour, and the ending made it all worth it.

A Handful of Dust (1934) by Evelyn Waugh. I didn't remember that I had read this before until I was well into it, but it certainly was worth a re-read. It's one of the great ones! It chronicles the story of a young British couple in the 1920s. It's fascinating how modern their lives sound.

Das Wochenende (2010) by Bernhard Schlink. Schlink wrote the best-selling novel The Reader that was turned into a movie. In both novels he presents difficult moral issues that the characters struggle with. I appreciate what he tries to do, but I don't think he does it very well. Somehow, I don't find the situations he sets up to be believable, or maybe it's the characters that aren't believable.

Dreamers of the Day (2008) by Mary Doria Russell. I have been reading a fair amount of historical fiction lately that is really good and quite believable. This belongs to that category. I loved it. It's a beautifully told story about the Middle East in the days of Lawrence of Arabia and Winston Churchhill (between the world wars).

Romeo and Juliet (1597 (first appeared)) by William Shakespeare. What can I say, it's Romeo and Juliet!