A Tribute to Bulgaria and their Knitters

DS {Dear Son} and DIL {Daughter-in-Law} spent a month in Bulgaria this summer. DS met his in-laws for the first time, DIL caught up with relatives she had not seen in a few years and the month went by way too quickly for them. When I told them I was going to blog a tribute to Bulgaria, DS posed for a picture in the neat jacket he purchased while in Europe.

They were able to travel all over DIL's birth country. Christianity was adopted as the state religion in 865. Monasteries were built as literary, cultural and artistic centres. This arch is on the road to the Bachkova Monastery, which was built in 1083. Bachkova Monastery, the 2nd largest monastery in the country and also one of the most visited, is 189 km from Sofia.

The monastery survived the first round of Turkish invasions, but later was looted and ruined. Bachkova was restored in the late 15th century.

This beautiful fountain is on the monastery grounds.

Here are some more scenic photographs, including one with the traveling couple in the mountains.

While visiting DIL and DS after their trip, DIL pulled out this neat hooded sweater that an outstanding Bulgarian knitter had knitted. This looks like it was a work of love ~ Check out the detail!

Before DS and DIL left for their trip, they asked me what I wanted as a souvenir from their adventure. Naturally I said "Yarn!" {Was there any doubt?} While in Levski, they picked up some fancy Kan Kan yarn for me to make a scarf or shawl. Here's a picture of two of the skeins they picked up for me. The third skein of Kan Kan is a different colorway and will be used for a yet-to-be-determined project. Another time I will show you the beautiful yarn they bought in Turnovo. {It's a secret project, so I can't say any more at the moment.}

I decided to make a shawl with two skeins of the Kan Kan yarn and I'm calling it "My Bulgarian Shawl." Since it is my first shawl, I am doing a simple pattern. {It did not take long to learn knitting shawls can be addictive!} I am randomly alternating between the two shades of yarn. Here's a picture of the shawl on my size 13 Denise needles with 52" blue cable {they now have pink cables in awareness of Breast Cancer ~ read the story on their website}.

The picture below was taken on my parents' beautiful dining room table. I have temporarily set the shawl aside to work on a birthday gift {will show in future blog}, but will be eager to resume work on it soon.

I wanted to close this blog with a photo of my favorite Bulgarian knitter. DIL loves to knit in between college studies and work. She doesn't have much spare time, but enjoys the moments she is able to grab. I wanted a picture of her modeling her first scarf for my blog. She has made a number of scarves since this pic was taken.

Carpe Knitting and Happy Thanksgiving!
KZ

P.S. As with any of my blogs, click on photos to view only that picture, click on underlined text to links for more information.

P.S.S. My apologies for the long delay since my last blog. I have had fits with my computer. I finally upgraded operating systems {OS} and installed a non IE internet browser, only to discover it's best not to do that. Then I bought "name brand" antivirus software and learned the OS does not like it because it's not by OS's company. Sunday my hard drive will be reformatted so I can start fresh, leaving off the software aforementioned OS does not like. Yet another reason to save up for a Mac!