totally focussed on surfing

Yesterday and today are all about surfing. I promised Gavin that we'd head to Lawrencetown Beach in Nova Scotia without any consideration to knitting or yarn shops or anything to do with wool fibre. Because the other five days of the vacation have seen a lot of that.

So just quickly - while he's out of the room - I'll let you know I finished the first sock as we crossed from New Brunswick to Nova Scotia. And I cast on the second sock last night. Very comfy from what I can tell.

And - sorry to whisper now - there is a Hand Spinning Artisan's Studio just up the highway a bit from the beach where Gavin will be surfing today. So if the waves look good for a couple of hours, I might make a run for it. Shhh!

thinking Norwegian

While curled up watching a DVD last night, I made lots of progress on the first sock. The heel decreases are done - and done correctly now - and I'm well into the main part of the foot. And it looks pretty good. With K2P2 rib across the top of the foot and up the leg the fit should be be very comfy and accommodating.

The Garnstudio Drops Design pattern is translated from Norwegian ... which makes for some pretty interesting instructions. I'm guessing that by "K the last 2 st twisted tog", they mean Slip-Slip-Knit (SSK). And when they say "knit" they often mean work in pattern instead of actual knit stitches. I really have to read ahead to get it right.

And I'm quite motivated to get moving with these socks. Because I can already hear the siren call of all the lovely yarn waiting for me when we go to Briggs & Little this aft.

better and better still

At 7:30am we were parked at the Service Bay of Starkey Ford in Kittery Maine hoping they had a tire to fit our rim and that they'd squeeze us in. And I had an overwhelming urge to knit ... just to calm my nerves, because there was nothing I could do about the rest of it.

So I did knit. And they did have a tire that fit. In about 25 minutes we were on the road. So it's all good. During the morning's drive I knit a bit more. But when I messed up the heel decreases, and had to rip back to where I started, I thought I'd better put it away for a while.

And sit back to enjoy the scenery. Sun, sky, mountains - it doesn't get much better than that. Until we came upon Briggs & Little - the oldest yarn mill in Canada - just 45 minutes south of my brother's place in Fredericton. That really is the icing on the cake.

new challenges

The fact that we left the driveway at 6:15am instead of 6:00am was totally my fault - I'll admit that. I was a bit flustered. Completely understandable really. 5 hours of fitful sleep after spending hours searching for the passports which I had carefully put in safe place. Just 15 minutes late after all.

And okay, I messed up the route and we ended up just outside Boston at 5pm. Which makes rush hour on the DVP and 401 look fast-paced. But I'm totally blaming that on the British lady in the GPS ... we turned where she told us to.

But the tire blow out on the I-95 was totally not my fault. I'm blaming CTC for that one. And right in the middle of a row of my heel flap, if you can imagine. But Gavin got to the shoulder and changed the tire without any more drama. And I didn't drop a stitch.

getting carried away

I'm in the honeymoon phase with these socks. Stitch by stitch, round after round, they get better and better. As I knit, I pause to stretch the ribs around my hand and imagine finished socks. Should I buy up every ball of this yarn in Ontario? And knit a pair of socks for every day of the week? Make matching socks for all my friends for Christmas? The colours go with everything I own - wouldn't it be great to have a sweater in the same yarn?

But who's kidding who! There's absolutely no chance that I'll be knitting an adult sized sweater on tiny 2.25mm sock needles - that's crazy! And as much as I love the colours, on the needles the yarn feels a bit scratchy. They'll look great, but I'll have to wait to see how comfortable they are. So I'm trying not to get ahead of myself.

Although, if you'd be disappointed Christmas morning to find socks under the tree, you might want to start giving me hints now. Just in case.

only a couple of sleeps left

First thing Friday we're heading out - across the 401 to Gananoque, through the NorthEast US to Maine, continuing Saturday to New Brunswick. We're off for just over a week of summer vacation. Hurray!

There've been suggestions that I'm "knitting obsessed", a "knit-oholic", that Gavin is a "knit-widower". I'll admit, I was knitting morning, noon and night for the Ravelympics - but I was racing, it was a competition! And I have been knitting a lot lately - more than ever before - but I'm enjoying it.

The house is clean. The laundry is done. The cat is fed. The days before vacation are hectic, but things are under control. It's true that casting on a new pair of socks was given higher priority than checking cat food inventory or arranging Blue Cross coverage, but everything is ready now. Only two more sleeps 'til we're on vacation!

disconcerting in a good way

Monday morning I woke up with nothing on needles. My Breeze socks are done. My Ravelympics bag is done. And the next Sockalong won't post for a couple of weeks yet. Which, by my calculations, leaves me a couple of weeks to start and finish another pair of socks.

With the Regia Bamboo from SpinRite, I've made a good start on a pattern from Garnstudio & Drops Design - a pair of comfortable ribbed socks. On the GO train to work and back I cast on and knitted a gauge swatch, then cast on the first sock at home after supper.

I guess I didn't know what to expect from the variegated colours. So far the colours haven't pooled or done anything odd. But I expected more of a striped effect, not the undefined blotchy texture I'm seeing so far. It's okay. I like the way it looks, but it's a bit disconcerting - this curious unpredictability. Because I normally think of knitting as a controlled exercise.