Handarbeit + Hobby

I haven't been online for a while because Alex and I were in Germany for the annual Handarbeit + Hobby show. It's where the major European manufacturers present their upcoming lines. I'll be writing about it over the next few days, and telling you about the different yarns that we drooled over...and all the great friends from the States we saw while we were there -- Iris Schreier of Artyarns, Kirstin from Muench, and Linda Pratt from Westminster.

I won't mention, however, the grueling climb I made up 509 stairs to reach the top of the Cathedral in Cologne which, as I suspected, is the tallest cathedral on this planet. Sure, Alex has talked me into climbing up Notre Dame in Paris and the Dom in Florence. But nothing had prepared me for this! By the time I was halfway up, I grew concerned that I'd already died and my body was ascending to heaven the hard way. The only thing that convinced me otherwise was the number of people happily moving in the opposite direction.

I must say the view from the top was utterly fantastic. But when I now say the Cologne Cathedral is breathtaking, I'm not referring to its beauty!