Scot's gone to bed (we have to be out the door at 7am tomorrow) and Jenifer is sitting on the couch behind me... knitting! I am so proud. This evening she's done many inches on her scarf/shawl in a yarn that is not so good for beginners, but she's made an excellent start of it. We figured, why start out with a yarn that doesn't thrill you? My first project was done with a simple worsted weight wool, but it was in a fabulously vivid purple.
Of course, I only finished of of the learn-to-knit first project simple slipper, but that was because I was too eager to move on to a sweater (the whole point of knitting, for me. that is, until I found socks). Same thing as why I quit my childhood ballet classes - I wanted to move on to en pointe and they wouldn't let me for I would now have ruined my feet. Thankfully, my jumping into complicated knitting only fed my burgeoning addiction and didn't ruin my feet.
We went to a yarn shop today (proof that they are good friends, to be enthusiastic about going to a yarn shop). The Little Needle (I don't remember the Russian name). It was so much more than I expected. The woman who'd recommended it said there could be found mostly a selection of lace-weight yarns; so much more did we find. Jenifer bought some lovely black and red acrylic novelty yarn that has a black center strand with tiny curlies of red and black springing out all around. I bought some purple/goldenrod/orange sock yarn. Yes, it sounds terrible, but it is good. I wanted something reflective of how I see Moscow - a crazy mix of colors and fashion where you can get away with anything (though I've yet to see a tutu, it is barely spring weather here) and make it work by attitude.
After the yarn shop, we headed to Sparrow Hills for the view. From the top you can see six of the seven sisters skyscrapers (the seventh is behind you - the main Moscow State University building), the Kremlin, Novodevichy Convent (more on that another day). The clouds were off in the far distance, so we were able to linger and enjoy the view of much of Moscow.
From the viewpoint, we crossed over to the grounds leading up to the Moscow State University building. Huge. Massive. Grotesquely beautiful. And it keeps going. Begin your approach and you see the a large building with a tower. You think, wow, that's big. The approach continues and you then get close enough to see over the trees - there's more. There's a section that connecting large wings with the central section. The main section is but the center with at each of the four corners.
Wow.
We finished our walk by cutting through the outer buildings of campus (past the language building) and headed to the Metro and home. Where, after dinner, I sat down with Jenifer to knit. She had once tried teaching herself, but it didn't take. A visual learner, perhaps, for she was knitting within minutes. I'm thrilled.
As we knit, Scot played for me music that I hadn't heard. Some of it his own, some by bands I did not know. It was a good evening. A nice way to close out my visit.
Tomorrow, Scot will go with me to the airport; thankfully, they didn't take me at my word that they could just write down what I needed to look for and send me off on my way. I think I could do it, but I feel so much more comfortable knowing Scot is coming with me. I look forward to going to Amsterdam to visit with Annemarie and Martijn and the boy, but I will miss Jen and Scot. And maybe even Moscow. Just the teensiest bit.
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