Airport Eyre

I am flying back to Washington today for the holidays. (Actually...I am bouncing all over for the holidays...Canada, Oregon, etc.) This means I need airport knitting. And, I actually need more airport knitting than normal.

I plan on arriving at the airport at least an hour before my flight, then there is the nearly 2 hour flight to Vegas, then the 3 hour layover in Vegas, then the additional 2 hour flight to SeaTac, then the nearly 2 hour drive from the airport to my parents' house...which comes to roughly 10 hours of knitting...and that is just on the way there!

After much thought and deliberation, I decided my best bet was the Eyre Wrap. It requires no pattern looking, and there is no way on earth that I will finish it and need to start another project.

The Eyre Wrap is my own adaptation of the Bridesmaid Wrap in Suss Cousins' book Wedding Knits. The pattern called for a very thin yarn to be knit on very large needles. I tried it. I tried it 4 times over the past 3 years or so with different yarns. I really did not enjoy trying to knit lace on size 11 needles. What should have been a fairly brain-free knitting project (1x1 rib for forever and a day) was horrid...also, the pattern called for the sleeves to be knit flat and seamed in. As anyone who knows me may remember, I hate seaming things up! The pattern kept going back in the queue and the yarns were repurposed.

Sister gave me a craft store gift for my birthday (thank you), and I found some Caron Simply Soft in Pagoda. It was the exact color I was looking for to make a drapey wrappy cardigany thing. Since I was gonna make it up as I went, I didn't want to spend a ton on yarn...so was willing to go with an acrylic. (I have used this yarn before for experiment projects...reasonably priced and nice to work with.) When I was drawing up the design, I kept coming back to a version of the Bridesmaid Wrap. The yarn's gauge was the same as the patterns, only the yarn was thicker so it wouldn't be a pain like the lace. This wrap should look similar to the original pattern, just less airy and lacy. (And I was actually wanting a cozier wrap anyway.)

But what about the piecing? Well, thanks to Wendy Barnard and her book/blog/patterns, I am confident in my ability to pick up the sleeves from the armscye and knit them down in the round...so we will see how that goes.

Packing...as usual

Normally I have a hard time packing for trips.

But for this trip to CA I am keeping it simple:

Commission socks.

That's it.

So proud of me.

Technology Failure

I didn't want to lug Custom Knits up here to WA with me...but I didn't have a chance to photocopy the pages I needed for the skirt I am working on.

That's fine. I have an iPhone. It has a handy dandy notepad feature. As you may recall from an earlier post, I had previously typed the pertinent parts of the pattern into my phone. And by previously, I mean over a week ago.

Epic fail.

By the time I got past the first notation for decreases, I couldn't remember whether or not the number of completed pattern repeats I had listed were cumulative. The first decrease came after seven repeats. Then I had written 10 repeats, second decrease. Did this mean that I needed to knit 10 more repeats before the decrease, or that I needed to decrease after the 10th from the cast on?

ARGH!!!

Luckily I have a tendency to overpack knitting-wise, and have other projects to work on.

Maybe I will get a chance to glance at a copy of the book at a store today or tomorrow.

If not, I just hauled 7 skeins of yarn across 2 state lines for nothing!

Flight Delays

I went out of town Sunday-Tuesday. Specifically, I went to Texas. More specifically, I went to Abilene. On my way, due to late arriving planes and subsequent maintenance issues, I got stuck at DFW airport. My total layover was originally scheduled for an hour...this quickly, or actually gradually, extended to over 3 hours.

I was fine. I had knitting.

I am working on the skirt from Custom Knits. It is an easily memorizable stitch pattern, only 13 stitches and 6 rows to keep track of. Rather than take the book in my carry on, I significantly abbreviated the pattern in the notepad function on my iPhone.

As I knit away, around and around, a twenty-something guy across the row from me kept staring. I politely ignored him, and continued people watching. Eventually he caught my eye. I paused my audio book, and pulled out one of my ear buds.

"Sorry to keep staring, but what are you doing?"
"I'm knitting."
"But you aren't looking."
"It is an easy stitch pattern."
"Wow. That's cool, cause it doesn't look easy."

I smiled, and returned to my knitting and watching. A few minutes went by, and he caught my eye again. I again paused my audio book.

"So...is that going to be a sweater or something?"
"No, its a skirt." I held it up.
"I didn't know you could knit skirts."
"You can knit pretty much anything."
"But, what are those hoop things."
"They are stitch markers. They tell me where I am in the pattern. This way I don't have to count higher than 18. And the purple one tells me I am at the beginning of a new row."
"Cool. You don't mind if I keep watching you, do you?"
"Nope, I am pretty much immune to staring."

I went back to my audio book.

As time dragged on, and the delays piled up, I heard another passenger mutter to her husband: "At this rate that girl is going to be able to finish that skirt and wear it to Abilene!"

I didn't quite get it done. But I did do a LOT more than I should have been able to!

Fun in Florida

I am on another vacation...

This time I met my Dad in Florida for a lectureship at Jester and Blondie's college. So, rather than my usual 2 hour flight, I had approximately 8-9 hours of flying/airport waiting both ways.

Woo-hoo! The opportunity to finish an entire audio book AND a portable project or two...

There were some tough decisions to be made...

Which book? I ended up loading two onto my phone. I went with Sunrise over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers, and Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer. (The Myers book is for the Teen Book Club I coordinate...the Colfer book is just for fun.)

Which project? I packed 2 felted purse class samples, Beret pour Moi, Gotham socks, and Cornrows. All of the projects are fairly small/portable, but they take varying levels of concentration. Also, none of them required me to bring a pattern...just a few notes typed into my phone.

It's Been Too Long

I haven't seen BFF since September of 2005. We keep in touch, and are pretty good about calling and writing, but it just isn't the same!

I had a vacation scheduled to go visit Sister in KY, but that ended up falling through. So, with Southwest offering insanely low prices, I decided it was time to go to Denver. (We all know how much I LOVE plane trips...so much knitting time!)

I got in Thursday afternoon, and it was amazing. It was as if I had seen BFF just yesterday, nothing has changed between us.

What HAD changed was Blessing, BFF's daughter. There is a large difference between a nearly 4 month old and a nearly 4 year old.

Blessing was shy at first...it is weird to have your mommy's invisible friend turn out to be a real person...so I did what I normally do:

I woo-ed her with handknits!

I had knit a felt-able purse for her (same pattern as Angel's). I used a chunky yarn that was uncolored. Then we made quite a mess dying it with kool-aid Friday morning while BFF went to a doctor's appointment. We followed the method I got from Knitty. When Blessing had it colored the way she wanted, I sewed on the bangle bracelet handles, and we felted it!

Why I Love Grad School Residencies

1. I get a plane ride, plus all the lovely airport waiting time, in which to knit.


2. I get to visit new and exciting yarn shops that have opened since the last time I was home.


3. I get to buy stuff.


4. I get to knit DURING classes, and all the lovely breaks in between.


5. I get to visit yarn shops I have missed.


6. I get to buy stuff.


7. I get to spend time with former knitting pupils...


8. ...while knitting.


9. I get yarn as Easter presents.


10. I get to go to baseball tournaments, during which I can knit.


11. I get another plane ride back home, and all the lovely airport waiting time, in which to knit.


12. And I make a lot of progress!