Another reason to crochet

As a more or less direct result of my crochet, I have had a number of interesting conversations with people this trip.

This is not a big surprise - it's generally a good way to strike up a conversation. For example, at Woodford a couple of years ago, I had quite a few people come up and talk to me because of the crochet, including a few occasions when they'd seen me crocheting earlier ("you're that knitting lady, aren't you?").

The best conversation so far has been a long chat with a woman at a craft shop in Exeter who cards, spins, dyes and knits or weaves wool - that is, the whole process from fleece to garment. She had some lovely Jacob wool in black and white, plied together, that made me think of aniseed humbugs. She also had some great stories, including having to climb over a big bag of wool that her shearer mate dropped in front of her door once. And we discovered a shared delight in yak wool.

The most difficult conversation so far was the one in the British Museum, conducted in German, with two Dutch women (or maybe they just came through the Netherlands). That's why it was difficult. Apart from the obvious limitations given my very basic level of German, I had not been expecting to need to try to speak it, and have not heard it for a while. But I dredged up enough words to communicate a bit, including the shape I intend to make the scarf I'm working on at the moment. I could not remember, however, how to say that I had lived in England, but 10 years ago, although I think I got the point across eventually.

Of course, I remembered how to say it more directly (and clearly) as I was walking home.