Holiday Knitting

Whenever I go on holidays I get stupider. Seriously. Things that are normally easy for me I suddenly can’t get my head around. That’s the best explanation I can come up with for the sewing up of the Circular Vest With Sleeves. Oh, the straight arm seams were easy enough, but getting those sleeves onto the body took at five or six attempts. No matter how carefully I measured or counted stitches they’d end up off centre.

But eventually, one afternoon when I finally had time and good natural light, I managed to finish. And all the effort, unpicking and resewing (and cursing) paid off:

But this does present me with a dilemma:
1) machine knitting produces pieces of knitting that have to be sewn together
2) I hate seaming

Still, this hasn’t put me off machine knitting. Instead I’ve been trying to think up ways to avoid seaming on machine knit pieces. All I can say is ‘watch this space’.

There was sock knitting, too. I started one of my Socks For Others socks in the Air Canada lounge, using Lang Jawoll yarn and the Anastasia Socks pattern. I was feeling immensely smug about finally being able to knit on a plane.

After boarding, I was then pounced on by two flight attendants, both of them fascinated by what I was doing and lamenting their own lack of knitting skill. At first I thought they were going to confiscate my needles. Then I was relieved that they weren’t. Then I was pleased and flattered by their interest. Then I kind of wanted them to go away so I could get some knitting done.

I finished the socks a few weeks later, having knit them in a plane, the back of a hire car, walking around a historic town, and in hotels and b&bs. The swirl is simple enough to knit while travelling, though if you forget a yarn over or drop a stitch it’s not so easy to fix.

When they were done I considered what to knit next. More socks, I decided. Trouble was, all the sock yarn I had at that point was in skeins. So I chose one and looped it over the back of a chair. Our travelling companions came in the room and immediately one of them picked up the skein and held it for me. I’m definitely travelling with them again!

I’ve been wanting to knit the Butterfly Socks pattern from Socks Socks Socks again, since the ones I’d made from Jitterbug had felted and shrunk. I didn’t have the pattern with me, though, so I fudged it from memory. Being able to look at photos in Ravelry helped a lot.

I don’t think I’ve got it exactly the same, but it’s close enough. And they sure knit up fast. In a little over two weeks I had a sock and a half done. Still, I don’t ordinarily have lots of hours in a car or airport or plane to fill with knitting, so it’s not surprising I was making such progress.

They should be finished soon. Then I can select my next parcel in my Socks For Others club. I wonder which recipient will be next…

2 thoughts on “Holiday Knitting

  1. I LOVE that shaw pin, it's so much bigger than what it looked like in your other post. Hey, what's that tube looking thing you have on your butterfly sock? And one more thing, where can I get the patterns for both these socks, I'm frantically working on my own socks for others for Christmas. I need new ideas!

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