The Other Travel Project

You can never travel with just one project. (You wouldn't want to be stuck if you, totally hypothetically here, broke a needle or something.) In addition to the Hourglass socks, I also took along my Super Scarf.

We visited friends with children (2 boys about 5, and a boy about 3) the first weekend and they were totally intrigued with my knitting. (Ok, for completeness I'll tell you they also have a baby girl, but she couldn't care less about my knitting and doesn't feature in this story.) The boys were a bit skeptical at first that I was really making a scarf. The conversation went something like this:
3-yr old Ben: What are you making?

Me: A scarf.
B: No, you're not.
Me: Yes, I am.
B: No, you're not.
Me: Yes, I am.
B: No, you're not.
Me: Yes, I am.
B: No, you're not.
Me: Yes, I am.
B: A thoughtful silence.

The older boys were a little quicker to believe me and one of them (Andrew, in case you know them) started quizzing me on other things I had made. Did you ever make a shoe? Did you ever make a blanket? Did you ever make a chair? etc. I was surprised at how many yeses I could give to his questions and took that as a sign that he had a pretty good idea of what sorts of things a person could make.

At one point, I put my knitting away because I had made an error in the colours two rows back and had to go down and fix it. I didn't feel up to it with all the hustle and bustle going on. Ben asked what I was doing and I said I was taking a break. NO!! He was very insistent that I keep knitting. I think he has replaced David as my knitting coach. (Reference here.) Sorry, David, but he was really good; and dang, if I didn't pull it out a couple minutes later, fix the mistake and knit some more!

By Monday night, I had the first word done and had started the second side:

I had to re-graph the bottom letters ("XLVI") on the trip because I had originally graphed out XLV, which would have been correct for this year's Superbowl. Thankfully I realized my mistake before I knit it into infamy. The second reason was to make the letters curve around the place I am leaving for the patch they are going to sew onto all the scarves. (Probably so someone sneaky like me won't knit themselves a blue and white scarf and try to sneak into the Superbowl as a volunteer. Yeah, don't think I'm the only one who's considered it!!)

I asked in a couple places and eventually got an answer on Facebook on what size the patch is going to be. It should fit perfectly under the XLVI. Yeah!

I had been mostly knitting my sock, but once the needle broke I had no choice but to work on this scarf. Besides, I am getting a little anxious to have it done and sent off. Last night I finished the second set of letters:

Now I am working on the middle part which will join the two existing parts. I stopped double knitting and have started a textured stitch which I will stripe in blue and white.

This will keep me from running out of yarn too early (I hope) and make the scarf less bulky around the neck. It's going pretty well so I hope to finish soon!

___________________
We took a walk on Sunday and I did not knit while walking. For one, there was quite a drop off along the narrow path. And for two, Ben told me to "told his tand."

Worst Fear Realized

Whenever I make socks, I have to try on socks.

Whenever I try on socks, I leave the needles in the stitches. I try to put in as many needles as is practical (preferably five, but at least four) to minimize long straight lines and the resulting pressure on the needles. Every time I pull the sock over my heel, I wince inside thinking of all the force acting on my thin wooden needles.

But it has finally happened:

SNAP! Oh, I was very sad.

Especially as this is the size I only had four left (out of six). I am now knitting with three of the right size and one needle which is one size bigger. I don't think it'll make much difference.

I may, however, still "need" to stop in at the knit shop listed in the brochure...

Kentucky Check In

Yes, I am in Kentucky and having a good time. Not coincidentally, I'm working on some good driving/vacation knitting!

One project I brought along is socks I'm making with the wool I just got on my Ottawa trip. I'm doing the Hourglass pattern from knitty.com. I tried to get them going before I left (navigating doesn't always leave a lot of room for paying close attention to your knitting) but the first start was way too big. I went down a needle size and it was still too big. So when I restarted in the car, I took out a repeat of the pattern (10 stitches). I maybe should have gone up a needle size at the same time, but didn't think of it. Wool stretches...it looks like it'll be fine.

Once again, red is nearly impossible to photograph, so you'll probably have to squint a little bit at that picture. As feared, the yarn is a little busy for the pattern, but I'm just going to go with it. I really like working with it and the colour is really pretty striking.

By the end of the evening, I had the heel turned and finished. Now I have to work the hourglass pattern all the way around the leg. I'm converting this sock from cuff-down to toe-up, so that is taking a little time as well. (Part of the time is simply recording what I did so I can repeat it on the second sock.) The design is completely reversible top to bottom so it is a pretty easy conversion.

We stayed at the lodge at Natural Bridge State Park last  night. Great views from the rooms. (Great park.)

I also have a new knitting bag I am trying out for this trip. I picked it up at Goodwill a couple weeks ago. The red handles are leather and it's still in good shape. It's also Etienne Aigner. That's some quality stuff!

It has three inside pockets: two on one side that each fit a piece of paper folded in half (perfect for patterns printed on my printer) and a zippered one on the other side for things you don't want floating around the bottom.

It's a nice size as it's not huge yet still holds my sock project and my Super scarf project comfortably. (More on that later.) And since it is a purse, I can easily carry it as a purse and not look like I'm carrying around a knitting bag. So far, it's getting a good grade!

All for now. Time to drive off to the next location!