Surprise Business Trip

Sorry if blog entries are either short and pithy and/or too few this week, I found out last minute that I had to go to Zurich to make a sales presentation.



Yes, I'm in Switzerland
I ended up flying out on Monday night (Memorial Day), and I'll be flying home this Friday morning. Actually, I have seen nothing of Zurich so far, and probably won't have much time to explore. Here is the view from my hotel, on this cloudy, rainy week in Zurich.



Current Knitting
I had to come up with something to work on during the long flight and during sleepless nights as I get used to the time change. I didn't want to start a new/complex design, and lately I have been in the mode of finishing up things, as opposed to starting on multiple new projects.


How many of you remember the bed blanket/coffin cover I started years ago using the Andean kid alpaca that I got for practically nothing?



This project takes little or no thinking. Working on it, is more like fidgeting rather than knitting, so it has been a perfect project to work on during the varying lengths of knitting time I've had. Here's a closeup of the simple pattern, for those that are newer to the blog.



I know, the color is ghastly, but I eventually anticipate dyeing it some lovely deep crimson, or perhaps a smoky teal color.

Either way, it will look lovely as a lining for my casket.

Current Reading
If you're the kind of person that considers books to be things of great value, then I think you will truly enjoy this rather odd title that my sister-out-of-law recommended to me.



Outwitting History, by Aaron Lansky is the story of how a young college student decided that as Yiddish stopped being spoken by many of his contemporaries, the libraries of their parents and grandparents were being disposed of and destroyed at a pace that alarmed him enough to do something about it. I got totally wrapped up in Mr. Lansky's autobiographical adventure of trying to save the Yiddish culture encased in the Yiddish books he collected. I know the book sounds odd and possibly even boring, but the story is vibrant and alive and highly pertinent to the lives of many.

I've always thought that Yiddish was one of the most expressive languages. Kind of like the onomatopoeia of emotions, rather than sounds. Mr. Lansky brings this expressive language alive in his story.

A reverence for books and culture is a requirement for enjoying this jewel of a book.