New Family Heirloom - I hope

So, I finally bought a carpet last weekend. While we were here last winter, Masha and I (more me than her) were eyeing this one carpet, but I never pulled the trigger. Ever since then, we've had a deal that I could buy another carpet of my choosing. I've been looking, but hadn't found anything I really, really liked until this past weekend. Hope you like it honey.
So, here it is ... drumroll, please...

TA DA!!!! It's 2x3 meters, silk and I love it. The design is a copy from a northern Afghan neighbor. So, while not a traditional Afghan design, I bought here. That's close enough for me. Thoughts? We can put it in front of the yarn wall my wife wants me to build her for her expanding collection.

Now, these next two designs are ones that I love, but right now they are out of our price range. They are both cashmere and demonstrate the four seasons. They tend be larger (these are 2.5x3.5 to 3x4 meters) and more difficult to find. But I showed the pictures to a local rug seller up here and he is going to go and see what the cost would be on the local market (rather than down in Kabul or at the embassy - hello, inflated prices and captive audience). Look honey, they have animals on them, so you have to say yes. :)

Paryan (northern district of Panjshir) Trip

So, I went on a trip up to the northern part of the province earlier and took some scenic pictures. This part of the country is so beautiful, with everyone harvesting, replanting, and making flour out of wheat. Reminds me a lot of Nebraska in some ways and of those pictures in the history books of farming 100 years ago (although there are no tractors in Panjshir; everything is done by hand as it has been done for 500 years).

A field of wheat harvested and waiting to be threshed

Another field, but that area is all the land that that farmer probably has to feed an estimated family of 7.

Don't know why I took this one, but it gives you a glimpse into the life and beauty of Afghanistan. Notice all of the terracing in the background to squeeze out a bit of farmland at 8000 feet. FYI, the gravel road the men are walking on was built specifically for the school (school is literally at the end of the road, which we extended).

We delivered a bunch of school books and toys to a new clinic we were building. This boy couldn't have been more than 8 or 9 and the bag was as tall as he was.

Here is the same boy. Yes, he is Afghan. There are several different races and mixes here. You end up seeing people that look very Mongol, Chinese, Iranian, Turkish, Russia, European, etc. Afghanistan has been walked over and invaded a lot in the last couple thousand years (Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan made it here). So, you have a lot of mixing and people with different features.

More yarn

If Jeremy doesn't post again soon, this may turn into a yarn blog. I apologize in advance, but I really don't have much else to talk about.

Here's the Wollmeise that came in the mail today:



That's two skeins of Brombeere (blackberry) and one skein of Rittersporn (larkspur). The Brombeere photographs pretty true to life, but the color of the Rittersporn in the photo doesn't come close. It's a deep sapphire blue with hints of purple. And now I need to stop ordering sock yarn.

My first shipment of Wollmeise!

My Red Hot Chili Wollmeise arrived today.

It came in this cute little package:



With a little extra skein just for fun ...



And the main event ...



The color really does glow. I am a believer!

More Magical Unicorn Yarn

I was bad today ...



Really bad ...



The top one is Brombeere (blackberry) - I got two of these - and the bottom one is Rittersporn (larkspur).

I have blogged before about the phenomenon that is Wollmeise. My first order is waiting at the post office for me to pick it up tomorrow, and yet, I could not resist ordering more when I happened upon another shop update today. This is sock yarn - and I'm not even a sock knitter! I will probably use it to make baby clothes at some point (no, I'm not pregnant), or maybe a shawl or two. The colors are just so beautiful.

In sadder news, my left wrist has been killing me the last couple of days. I'm terrified of carpal tunnel ... it means no knitting! So I will have to take a couple of days off from working on Jeremy's sweater. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself ...