Tropical Knitting

It's taken me several years, but I think I finally understand how to choose a project for a tropical vacation.

2009 - Hawaii
I know I checked the weather before I left. I think I even knew it would be hot. I brought a shawl project because I figured I'd have a hard time finishing a whole shawl in a week. I started a Seraphim out of some beautiful Briar Rose Angel Face. I did not complete it in a week. In fact, it was rather gross to knit with in Hawaii. Don't get me wrong, I love the shawl and the yarn. But Alpaca yarn, even lace weight alpaca yarn is not the best yarn to knit with in 80 degree weather. I pretty much only knit in the room before bed or on the plane.



2011 - Cruise to the Bahamas
My needles were almost taken from me. Not just any needles, all of my Addi Clicks! At the last minute a different TSA officer came over, realized what they were and let me get on the boat. I brought all of those with me because I was planning on knitting an Ishbel with beads. I think I did manage to get all of the beads threaded onto the silk/cashmere yarn, but I think that might have been all I accomplished on that trip

2012 - Orlando, Disney World
Honestly, I know I brought a knitting project with me, but I don't even remember what it was or even knitting on it.

2014 - Jamaica
After our wedding, I was really excited to go to Jamaica and to do absolutely nothing. I remember reading a book on the beach, and I think I tried to finish knitting a pair of wool socks, but had the same experience as in Hawaii. It's pretty gross when your fingers start sweating.

2015 - Jamaica
This year, I got a bit smarter. I knit a sock of wool, silk, and a strand of sparkle. It made my fingers sweat a lot less, which was good. However, I guess they don't really need socks in Jamaica because the cabana boy was completely confused when I told him I wasn't knitting a bag!



2015 - Orlando, Disney World
Yeah, there was a lot of travel last year. I brought a hat with me to knit and really enjoyed knitting it, but finished it rather quickly. I also brought a sock with me this time, so i was fine. I managed to knit quite a bit while waiting in lines. It didn't seem as though we waited in as many lines in 2012. I could be misremembering, but I think it was busier there this past year than in 2012. I feel like I would have remembered knitting more.



All this leads to...

2016 - Jamaica
We're about to head back to Jamaica tomorrow morning and I think I've figured out the perfect project to knit on while there. This past summer I knit a couple of tees. I really LOVE the Flex I knit. The Kestrel from Quince and Co is so breezy! So instead of just bringing it with me to wear while I'm there, I thought I'd bring yarn and knit another to wear this summer. Kestrel is a knitted linen yarn and is rather affordable. I remember this to be a rather quick knit, too, so with any luck I'll come back with a whole new shirt (unless I get distracted with comics and Clara Parkes' Knitlandia...

2011 Knits

Every year I post a list of the projects I completed the previous year. I'm a little late on this one, but I think it might still be relevant sometime. A goal of mine this year is to post a bit more. I haven't been writing much recently, and I'm thinking that's a skill that falls under that "use it or lose it" deal.

2011 Knits

1. Day Glow Robot
2. Baby Bobbi Bear for Colin
3. Silver Ishbel for me to wear at my brother's wedding
4. Lobster Pot Red Livias
5. Star Tank
6. Hurricane Irene V-Neck
7. 2 minna key covers
8. Mini Sock for Maude
9. Whale Watch Hat
10. Silver Beaded Ishbel for Aunt Pat

There was a rather large project I was working on that took up quite a bit of time. I just finished that, so it'll be on the 2012 list next January. The strange thing to me is that there's only one pair of socks here. I think that's largely due to the fact that I could knit bigger things on my commutes to work from Staten Island. I'm hoping that I can fix the sock situation this year. Some of my older ones are starting to get holes in them.

The big epic project this year is going to be a Christmas Tree Skirt for our Christmas tree this year. I'm hoping to knit a few Christmas Balls too. I just got 55 Christmas Balls to Knit and it looks like a fun time.

Also, I signed up for some classes this year already. A sewing basics course at The Sewing Studio in an effort to figure out how to do that kind of craft.

My grandmother gave me one of her old 8 shaft table looms for Christmas and a Warping Wheel. I'm insanely excited about weaving, and signed up for a class at the Textile Arts Center. My classes start in february!

Good news!

I did manage to finish the gift for Illanna! I'll post a photo of it tomorrow.

I have the yarn and everything ready to go for my next project, Ishbel by Ysolda (Ravelry Link). Bummer is that while swatching today on size 3 and size 4 needles and somehow, though my gauge recently has been looser than...well, let's say it's been looser than loose...my gauge with these needles is actually too tight! I will probably be swatching at the party!

In other news, I think I've figured out what's been going on with my gauge. Since maybe February, my gauge has been super loose. I wasn't exactly sure what this might have been until recently. I think I used to wrap the working yarn with my pointer finger on my right hand around the needle. Doing so used to tighten the stitch before while working the current stitch. At some point, I think I actually cut my index finger. Perhaps it was a paper cut even. While I only vaguely remember this, I think I might have started using my ring finger to wrap the yarn around. I don't think that tightened the stitch before the working stitch like wrapping the yarn around my index finger did, which then made my gauge all together looser. I've started being more conscious about knitting with my pointer finger instead of my ring finger, and I think it's made a difference. Mystery solved!