Calling London

Everyone's comments yesterday made me smile and, truth be told, I'm feeling very zen about the color change in my Jaavesi scarf.  As Marie wrote, I can just tell everyone who asks that it's a design element, or as I wrote privately to a few of you, I like to think of it as an eccentric quirk to a very beautiful design.  The designer, Annie Claire, has expressed such concern, but seriously, I know I'll love this scarf in spite of the dye issue because the yarn and design are so terrific.


Moving on, what am I thinking about today?  With spring in the air, my thoughts always turn to traveling.  I love to travel and whenever I can afford the time and money, I plan trips both to new places and to beloved ones.  Of all the many cities that I've had the lucky chance to explore, London is truly one of my favorites.  We have spent long family holidays in London, and I've been at least a half dozen times.  I never tire of being there and we're due for a visit soon (this photo was taken in 2007).

A big thrill for me during my graduate school days was to travel to London to do archival work at the Victoria & Albert Museum Archives in West Kensington. By that point, I already had two small children so it was hard for me to be apart from them and Mark but it was an opportunity that I didn't want to pass up. I was studying design history and spent every day in the archives reviewing diaries and sketches by a woman potter from the early 20th century. While I loved working on my subject, I now wish that I had focused on knitting and textiles instead since my love for these have grown exponentially over the years.


Still, via the wonderful world wide web, we all have the opportunity to do a little archival work right from our very own sweet spots.  The V&A has a link to their knitting and textile archives -- a dream come true for someone like me.  So, grab a cup of your favorite beverage and take a few minutes to peruse their site.  And, by the way, I love the header photograph!