yeah, we’re traveling this evening . . .

Posted on Posted in lace/shawls, projects

heh. we haven’t flown anywhere in over six years, preferring to take the car on most expeditions (it’s greener, and less hassles).
but this time we decided to fly. or we will if this storm ever stops. which it’s not supposed to do til way later tonight.

yesterday it was 40 degrees and somewhat sunny. today it’s a mess. if you look carefully, you can see that even the doctor’s parking lot behind our yard is abandoned, which means that they all expected to get stuck at work if they stayed around.

hmm. the clues are mounting.

well, what can we do? we’ll just sit and wait to see what happens.

and when i say sit, of course, i don’t really mean sitting down. i haven’t even packed yet. and there’s always tons of knit stuff to do.

so, this week i had a brain twister that turned into a veritable brain meltdown. hee-hee!
i was writing up the last bit of the snow shawl pattern and the triangle version requires that the edging be worked from the edges to the point in opposite directions. normally not a big deal; i just reverse the pattern. but for some reason this one was giving me fits. it’s not hard, i just couldn’t get my mind to function in mirror-mode (i am completely useless at cutting and/or styling my hair in the mirror too. oh yeah—you knew that.).

anyhow, i finally did solve the puzzle after several days of charting and switching this and that.
i think the problem was that i insisted on doing it all on paper first, then testing it in the knitting (i’m lazy, and terrible about stopping every stitch to write down what i’m doing, so i prefer a chart, even if it’s wrong at first.)

i now have identical edgings that point in opposite directions.
this is one of those tasks that i just never breeze through—i often spend almost as much time on this one thing as on the whole rest of the pattern (or it feels like that anyway). it was the same with irfa’a; i agonized over the edging charts and there was a ton of trial and error.

i wish i could connect with my mirroring gene a little better. heck i’d settle for some good brain exercises on the subject. i’m wiling to do the work. i need a lightbulb moment with this concept.

i ran out of yarn for the snow shawl and am awaiting another skein from michelle, so that project is on hold til i get back from texas. even if i had the yarn i wouldn’t DARE take that one on a plane (shudder), or within a thousand yards of my brothers kids. i mean i love them dearly and they are really good kids, but why tempt fate?

so, i have been gathering a host of socks and possible scarf projects to tote along . . . we are going to have a lot of airport and plane time on this trip.

here i have the makings for four socks. pavé 2 is almost half done and i think i can finish that up on the first leg

mmmm. can’t wait to be wearing these. and then i have to start the mate for tesserae.
and, i started a new sock just in case

this is knit from araucania ranco sock, colorway #120, midnight. i bought some of this before christmas for guy socks. it’s a lot like lorna’s laces sock; about the same twist and diameter, and it has the same fiber content. i like a bit of nylon in the guy socks so i though it would work well. it feels slightly different in my hand than the lorna’s does, but not much; that could be a difference in dye or something. it definitely not as lush as some other yarns i’ve been working with lately (thanks deb!, thanks chris, thanks kim!!), but it will do.

i’m also taking along this, which i haven’t touched yet, even though i’ve been keeping it on the coffee table as my carrot.

i might or might not have quiet time to start the next little nothing scarf while i’m away. i always think i’ll have more knitting time than i actually do; we tend to get swept up in playing and chatting with the kids (they are fascinating to talk to) and running around a little more than i ever expect, but that’s why we’re going . . . it’s great to be able to hug and tickle and horse around with them!

i also have a super-secret project that i’m working on behind the scenes this next month so other knitting might be scarce—it’s a big project and there’s a deadline. hopefully it will make very little difference in what i have to talk about and show you.

ok, then. i have a suitcase to pack and i still have to figure out how to cram all that knitting into one tote bag. next blog will be from (hopefully) sunny austin, TX.

34 thoughts on “yeah, we’re traveling this evening . . .

  1. Have safe & fun travels! Definitely drop me a line when you are ready for a test knit on that little nothing scarf, I’m tired of unpacking and ready for a something fun & new!

  2. You lucky girl! Have a safe trip. Oh! A secret project, eh? Yippee!! I love those.

  3. Have a great trip, and enjoy your time with the kids! I’m going to see my brother’s kids this weekend too, I’m very excited about it!

  4. Oog. Good luck getting out. At least if you get stuck at the airport or your flight gets canceled you can just go back home. Better now than on the return flight. But have a great trip! Say hi to the sunshine for me.

  5. While the weather might be inconvenient, it sure makes things very pretty in your neck of the woods! You’ve given me yet more envy … that green lace weight is so very lovely … can’t wait to see what you create with it.

  6. It was 82 sunny, gorgeous degrees in Austin last Saturday! We arrived home to SW PA late last night, just ahead of today’s storm. Have a fabulous time!

  7. I live in NE Texas, not Austin, and our weather has been highly unpredictable. Yesterday while visiting in Ft. Worth it was snowy, cold and blowing — miserable stuff. There was snow here this morning, but it is sunny and dry right now. Take at least a heavy sweater with you or you might be unpleasantly surprised, Ann.

  8. I second Carla’s statement– I live in Austin, and the week’s weather has been like so:

    One day: Sunny, but breezy. The next day: Overcast, and insanely windy. The day after that: Sunny, then ominiously overcast leading to wee sprinkles of rain, then build-an-ark time, then damp cold overnight.

    Of course, now the sun is out, and birds are going “tweet”, and all. *eyeroll* A sweater or some light layers are a must, and perhaps some ballast to better combat the high winds. 😉

    Safe journeys to you two!

  9. I have the very same skein of Superfine Alpaca from Deb, which I want to make into your Gust scarf for my mom. I’m so excited; that yarn is delicious, and your pattern looks like fun. 😉

    Safe travels!

  10. Have a wonderful trip! As for the mirroring gene, the only one I know who has it is my husband. I love all the socks and I am very excited about seeing the shawl finished and the new secret project.

  11. good luck in getting to austin. or the airport for that matter. we were given permission to leave early today, but deadlines (alas) dictated otherwise. and i’ve even gotten two “help! the plotter’s not working!” calls since i’ve gotten home. however, no work tomorrow!

    have a good trip and we expect sunny pictures!

  12. I’m glad I’m not the only one who has a hard time writing down every stitch as I design!
    I do well for a few rows…then whoosh… I forget for awhile, and try to reverse engineer something deft and tricky…
    No wonder I don’t publish more.

    I will try this chart first thing…

  13. I hope you have a wonderful time! I love all your knitting projects. I’m gonna have to go searching through your old blog posts to figure out where some of those yarns are from. I can’t seem to keep things straight in my head lately.

  14. Oohh…secrets ARE fun now and then, aren’t they? I can’t wait to hear more about it when you can tell :-).

    I hope that you do not have too many delays and wishes for safe travels are headed your way….have fun!

  15. Hope you were able to get out and had a safe trip! Enjoy visiting with the family and we’ll look forward to more progress pictures of socks, scarves, shawls…!

  16. Anne- We’re getting hit with it as well. When you get home, some of it might be melted, of you’re lucky.

    Enjoy Texas.

  17. Hi Anne, I know you are treveling, but I just wanted to say ” hello ” since I have access to the Internet.
    I am sitting in Antigua/Guatemala drinking local iced coffee on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
    I am in an inspection tour from the Yucatan Chiapas, Guatemala up to Costa Rica, where we will be participating in a Peace Conference starting this coming Monday.
    .I have not knitted in almost three weeks since I don’t want to take something that I would feel very bad losing and I don’t do wash rags and similar things just to pass time.
    I miss your blog….mostly because I had no computer access…but enjoyed catching up today

    Have a safe trip…..

    Angelika
    ussually from Mexico City

  18. You MUST go to Hill Country Weavers!!! I spend most of yesterday afternoon there, and it was just terrific. Tell Suzanne “hi” from the lady there watching the weaving class and knitting a sock!!

  19. I hope your plane took off on time! (I guess a little more airport knitting time isn’t the end of the world, but it’s never fun).

    I have the same problem with mirroring knitting, and I really don’t know why. I’m usually very good at working in a mirror (much of my work is done under a microscope, where everything is mirrored in odd ways), but for some reason it just doesn’t click in knitting. It took me several repeats of the Irtfa’a edging before I could trust myself to follow the mirrored pattern, and I /had/ a chart! If you find the mirror secret, I’d love to hear it…there must be a trick to it…

    Have fun in Texas. =)

  20. I also have problems with mirroring, and I have to make some physical (usually paper) representation that I end up pasting into a chart or model. Even when I try to do this on Knit Visualizer, I sometimes screw up.

    Enjoy your vacation.

  21. The lovely green alpaca seems just the thing to knit with snow outside. At home, I hope, not Austin.

    Have a great family trip! Amazing how much kids cut into knitting time. They want to interact! Imagine!

  22. *tapping my fingers on the table* ya back yet?? geesh, I mean JUST how long are we all supposed to share you?? Ok, well that’s it, if you aren’t home in 24 hours, well then damn it, we’re coming to get you!!

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