Perhaps I will not give up knitting.
But I came close. For weeks I have struggled with a lace pattern scarf, ripping again and again after ending a row with too many or too few stitches. My feelings about the project did not improve after reading Ravelry comments about how easy the pattern was to follow, how wonderful the chart was, how boring it was to be on the 22nd repeat. (I was still trying to get past row 9. Of the first repeat.)
Suddenly (touch wood here!) I am on a third repeat, with no errors. And a lifeline inserted so I never have to rip all the way back again.
Going up one needle size made it easier to see the stitches. Now I'm looking forward to that boring 22nd repeat - and possibly a lacy scarf I'll be pleased to wear!
I even took the project along as travel knitting on a month-long fall trip, anticipating a couple of leisurely European train trips. Unfortunately, the train trips turned into one long day in a small van, and a short airplane ride, thanks to major work on Hungarian and Turkish railways. (The plane trip from Bucharest to Istanbul was definitely a better idea than an overnight train trip - and not much more expensive.)
The trip - another journey to Transylvania, in time to join in Thanksgiving celebrations (the last Sunday in September, at the end of harvest) and participate in an international gathering of Unitarian women.
This is Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureş) where one of the pleasures of the conference was a session that took place in this lovely building, the Culture Palace, built early in the 20th century, at the height of Art Nouveau.
Then a sojourn in the Danube Delta, a completely different experience from the river voyage of four years ago.
From the Delta I went to Istanbul, for an intense week in which skilled tour guides worked hard to give our group a feel for this crowded, infinitely historic, often overwhelming city.
Best guide to Istanbul is any book by Orhan Pamuk. (I've read three since returning home.)
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