Kninja Knitter

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been home a week already, but that’s the case. I’ve been working on “catching up” on my sleep, though I know that’s not really a thing. Still, I came back with a random cough caused by a persistent tickle in my throat, but no other symptoms of anything. My Oura ring did register that I wasn’t myself though, but as of Thursday, I’m back to 💯! I tried to get this done on Thursday, but somehow it’s Saturday already!

Travel Tales

When I disembarked from the ship on March 19, we headed to our final excursion: Valparaiso, Chile. Our guide was Luis, a local boy with a fondness for the word “special.” But as I’ve heard before, if everything is special, then nothing is. I sat with a fellow knitter from our group, and we began a day of silliness. We had a fake drinking game, so every time Luis said “special,” we pretended to take a drink. Later on we got her husband in on the fun.

The city has a long history as a major port before the opening of the Panama Canal, and still serves as the capital city for this region of the country. Our first stop on the tour was to Villa Victoria where we learned a lot about the history of the city. The presentation was a bit cheesy, but still informative.

After we left the Villa, we headed to the city center for our next stop. In the Plaza Sotomayor, we saw a ceremony at their monument honoring the Chilean sailors who fell during the Battle of Iquique and the Battle of Punta Gruesa.

We made our way across the plaza to take one of the city’s funicular lifts. It’s been a while since I rode one.

And of course, the view from higher up is outstanding!

Our next stop was Baburizza Palace, former home of Pascual Babaruzzi Soletic who acquired a number of masterpieces during his visits to Europe where he was treated for tuberculosis.

We walked to a nearby hotel for “lunch” – I had a cup of coffee, as the salmon sandwich and berry pastry were unappealing to me. Afterwards, we returned to the funicular to descend to the plaza steps.

We took a drive through the city to see a number of murals for which the city is known, and then we headed to the airport to return home. I have more photos I could share, but at this point I need a refresher (and access to my DSLR memory card which isn’t handy). I will revisit when time permits. I will share, though, a couple fun photos of my penguin friend at the airport:

The return journey was long, as you would expect. And I’ve already booked my next cruise for next summer (2026).

Stitched or Still-in-Progress

I took photos on Monday, as usual, but was still catching up on my rest, so I neglected to post.

My penguin, now named Ash, still needs feet and to have his flippers attached.

In that week, I finished the third strip and started the fourth. Almost done with this colorway…

Cast-on Conversations

I have one project that I started during the cruise, another test knit for our “cruise designer,” Laura Nelkin. The pattern should be released later this year!

This is a Year of Projects post. Officially the Group is in its 14th year, my first. If you would like to find out more about the Year of Projects Group on Ravelry, please check it out; it’s a very welcoming group!

Knit on. 🧶