Cruise Wear

Since the only thing I have on the needles is a great big raspberry colored square of cotton, and I haven't been home to actually cook anything or try any new beers, I'll revisit some older projects.

This was to be the week that we prepared to go on our big boat cruise with friends. But we gave that up for our wonderful trip on the Maple Leaf. Now, a cruise through the Carribean in May and a cruise through the Pacific Northwest on a sailboat in April require entirely different kinds of preparation. For the former, spring tops, shorts, maybe even a new bathing suit. For the latter:

As my friend Richael would say, "Woolies!" (And a little microfiber.)

Four of these items were specifically knit to keep us toasty on the trip. At the bottom of the picture are two versions of His Hat, the black and grey one for Geek Boy, the blue one for me. Crime of Fashion was my first attempt at colorwork, another knit specifically requested by Geek Boy. When I saw the pattern and told him about it, he immediately requested one...and then patiently waited through a whole winter season while I dealt with 450 rows of black stockinette stitch. On top, Sugar on Snow, Peek-a-Boo mittens and Lake Park hat. Now, Crime of Fashion stayed home, because Geek Boy always fears losing it somewhere. The rest all travelled cross country with us and were extremely useful on the trip (there is a picture of me with Sugar on Snow around my neck, His Hat on my head (along with two hoods) and the Peek-a-Boo mittens on my hands. I was the poster girl for hand knit woolies!

And I have to say, the Peek-a-Boo mittens were great. They kept my hands warm and yet let me easily pop out my fingers for taking pictures. Geek Boy's latest request is something similar...although he wants more along these lines, with fingers and all.

On books...I'm currently listening to Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point in preparation for a leadership workshop next week. I really like the way this guy writes. He's very engaging, and also very good at reading his own work. It's also interesting to be listening to it with the framework of this workshop in mind. When I read Blink, it was for pleasure. Now, I'm trying to see how some of his concepts can be put into action at work. Should be interesting.

Eye Candy Saturday

A branch on Newcastle Island, Britich Columbia.

Twu Wuv

Here is my most recent finished project. From the front:


From the sides:


And a close-up on the texture.


Just in case you're wondering, I am not a victim of gauge. These are socks that had been requested by Geek Boy. When I first started knitting, I promised myself that I would not force handknits on him. However, when he asks for something, it automatically becomes the next project. So, back around the end of Frbruary, he casually mentioned, "Maybe you could make me a pair of socks?" No problem. I already had the yarn just waiting for the request.

The details:
Started: early March
Finished: May 2
Pattern: my own, basic sock recipe and a texture pattern from a Harmony book
Yarn: Fortissima yarn for main part of sock, KnitPicks Essential for toes and heels--mostly because I was afraid I wouldn't have enough to do two whole socks without changing out the heels and toes.

After the initial request, I spent some time going through all my Barbara Walker, Harmony and Stitchionary books, trying to find a good texture pattern. Not too fussy, but enough to keep it interesting. I don't like doing socks for me that are just plain, no way was I doing men's size 10.5 socks plain (these puppies are worked over 96 stitches). I love my Geek Boy, but there are some limits.

I'm very happy with how they turned out, however, when I turned them inside out to weave in the ends, I discovered that I really liked the wrong side of the pattern better. Oh well.

I did also in the middle of making these, take some time off to work on another pair of socks. Because after a sock and a half of grey, I needed some color. We were also travelling and I didn't want to chance taking a sock-in-progress on the plane. Although I have never had trouble getting my knitting on a plane, I didn't want to lose what work was already completed on these. So...


Sundara Yarns Bird of Paradise colorway...definitely not grey!