Two Goals

Taylor and I leave in one week on our Grand Tour.  I've got two goals to accomplish before then:

• Learn to post efficiently on my blog using a new piece of equipment.  Since it's been 3 years since I've written on the blog, many things have changed.  In addition to Blogspot changes, Taylor and I bought this ASUS tablet that I am trying to master.  It's got a tiny little keyboard - thank goodness, because the touchscreen seems very cumbersome to me.  The touchscreen is kind of cool, but not for typing.  Everything is a little different from using my PC laptop.  The tablet doesn't have a slot for my camera's memory card, so I've had to figure out how to download photos using a cable.  I didn't even know I had a cable - that's the reason to keep the box that the camera comes in.  I guess it's good for old brains to learn new things. Here I go, I just downloaded three photos to the tablet, and now I will try to get them onto the blog.  Wish me luck. Well, it didn't work.  I found the photo, downloaded it and it's gone.  Try number two.
  

Success!!!

• Audition and select a knitting project to take on the trip.  Here are the two finalists:
  
  This is the Summer Flies shawlette, by www.hollyandellaknits.com.  The yarn is a hand dyed yarn by nerd girl yarns. This color is Caterpillar.  This is a smallish project with enough interest to keep me from going out of my mind, but not so difficult I will make mistakes. I can also picture myself wearing such a cheerful little shawlette while strolling through the alleys of Barcelona or Madrid.
  
  

The other finalist is Kate Gilbert's Clapotis.  This is an elegant drapey scarf made of blue heron yarns  rayon and gold metallic yarn.  Kate Gilbert said on her  knitty.com pattern that this is a perfect scarf/shawl to wear while in Paris.  I won't be going to Paris, but I like the idea of feeling elegant while travelling around Europe in my tourist togs. The ball of yarn is somewhat large, and the finished project will be larger than Summer Flies.  It also is extremely boring to knit, so it could be good to be trapped on a airplane with it.  

I've got a week to finalize my decision.

 I've come to the conclusion that knitters are a different breed of people.  We are the only ones who spend so much time planning knitting projects as a part of travel..

Preparing for the Grand Tour

In less than two weeks, Taylor and I will embark on our Grand Tour of Europe.  We will visit Spain, Morocco and Great Britain.  We are both very excited and have made "To Do" lists, and checked off most of our items.

As a knitter I have my own list of what to do to prepare to leave home for a month.  The first, is to complete the projects that I have on my needles.  I'm making good progress on this front.

This set of baby hat, socks and onesy is in the mail to welcome William Michael Roeder to the world.  I did not make the onsey.  This set is hand dyed by the The Twisted Sisters.  I love the way the Oracle yarn and onsey are dyed to complement each other.

This is the Gnarled Oak Cardigan designed by Alana Dakos.  It's in the Coastal Knits book.  I've been working on it since last fall.  I made a tiny version for a baby, and fell in love with it.  The yarn is Madeline Tosh Sport.  The pattern was very well written, so there are no problems to report with this.  It is a Once Knit sweater.  The yarn was a pleasure to work with.   I'm pleased with the way it turned out.  It's a warm sweater so it is ready for next fall.

My final project on my "To Do" list is this pair of two at a time, toe up socks.  I started this project with a group of new knitting friends at my local yarn shop, Yarntastic.  A handful of regulars decided to learn how to make socks two at a time.  As an additional challenge, we added the toe up technique.  My socks are not finished, but they are close.  I'm actually on the second pair of them (remember, this blog is Twice Knit).  The first pair was too tight - I couldn't get them past my ankle.  So.................I unravelled them and started again using more stitches to start.  I'm past the heel and gusset now, so it's possible that I might be able to finish them before our trip.  It would be nice to know that I don't have to come home and continue working on them.  I'm definitely getting my money's worth out of this lovely yarn -Manos Del Uruguay Alegria.

There is one more knitting item on my "To Do" list:  I have to audition and select the project that I will take with me!

Catching Up With the Times

So many things to do before Taylor and I embark on another journey.  In three weeks exactly we will be on an airplane headed for Barcelona, Spain.  Plane tickets and train tickets are purchased.  Hotels and bed & breakfasts are reserved.  I'm anxious to finish up a few knitting projects so I can select the project that I will take with me on my trip.

 It turns out that one of the biggest challenges to preparing for the journey is figuring out how my blog works.  It seems I've been remiss in posting for 3 years!!!  Well, a lot has changed here in blog land.  I've been on my new device for about an hour, and I have just now figured out how to get into my account and actually write a post.  Now, we'll see if I can publish this.  Here goes!

Oh my goodness

Oh my goodness....

I was hoping to just add my latest books and movies to my blog and here I am confronted with an entirely  new format and I can't figure out how to edit those lists that I've got going on my blog.  So, now I'm distracted and want to figure out how Blogspot works, but I have to leave the house in 10 minutes.

Suffice it to say, I'm back from China and the Road to China Shawlette is finished and it's a great reminder of our trip.  Here it is:

And now I can report that it is possible to write something, and post pictures in less than 10 minutes.  Let's see if this actually gets posted.  If it works I will say that Blogspot has made some improvements.

Road to China (Preliminaries)

Taylor and I will be on the road to China in a few days. We are going to Taiwan for a few days to celebrate David and Chia's marriage, and to meet her family. Then we are going to the mainland China for 12 days by ourselves.


This trip has taken many months to plan, and we've read guidebooks, explored the internet and talked to everyone we know who has ever been to Asia. It seems like the preparations have been endless, but we think we're ready. We've had many dollars worth of shots. We have medicine for avoiding Malaria, and medicine if we get Traveler's Diarrhea. We have Visas. We planned an itinerary. We bought gifts for David's in laws. We have each assembled a collection of clothes that are lightweight and easy to wash. We each have our reading materials ready. We have airline tickets, hotel reservations, guides, drivers. We have money to tip people. All seems to be in order. We know we may encounter glitches, but we can do it!


But there's one final item to check off: what knitting project to bring?


For this intrepid knitter, the decision of what to knit is a major consideration. In Mexico I made socks. On car trips I've made scarves, sweaters, shawls. But what to make in China? It needs to be something smallish. It needs to have interest to keep my attention. It can't be too complicated. It has to be something that I actually want to make. The yarn has to feel good.



Ah ha. The perfect project came to mind thanks to Peggy at the Liberty Bell Knitters Guild. I have decided to make the Summer Mystery Shawlette designed by Wendy Johnson wendyknits.net. The yarn I'm going to use is Road to China. My color is Light Peridot. The yarn feels so soft and scrumptious it's all I can do to keep myself from knitting it all before it's time to step on the plane. The yarn is Baby Alpaca, Cashmere, Camel and Silk. Thanks to this yarn, and our final destination, I'm actually looking forward to the 14 hour flight to Taipei.

Audrey's Lacey Cardie

Isn't this the cutest photo ever? Baby Audrey is in her "Welcome to the World Baby Girl" sweater that I knit for her.

Knitting baby sweaters is an activity that I do for myself. It's my way to welcome a new personality to the planet, and to congratulate the little one's parents. However, I know that there are people out there who don't really get what a hand knit gift means. Therefore, I choose my yarn and pattern carefully, so I get the most personal satisfaction out of my knitting time and energy. The parents and grandparents of this baby definitely appreciated the gift. So I got two rounds of happiness with one project.

I love this little cardigan. It's made of Baby Bamboo, from Sirdar. It's cotton and bamboo and is gloriously soft. The pattern is from one of their books, and I chose it after seeing the sweater made by a customer at Garden of Yarn in Chadd's Ford. I fell in love with the yarn and the pattern. I especially enjoyed learning to add the lacey trim midway up the sweater. I will keep the technique in mind for future projects.

Learning My Lesson

I have never knit to make money. I have rarely knit for other people. I have learned over the years that, with the exception of my mother and my cousin Maren, my other family members tolerate my knitting and frequently lose the objects that I knit for them. Therefore, I knit for myself and that is that.

Until recently.

My friend Pat has a friend who has been looking for someone to knit a Christmas stocking for her. She already has three stockings and wants a fourth for the new daughter in law. Apparently, this friend has asked in knitting shops all around the Hilton Head area and hasn't been able to find someone to produce for her. Well.......................my friend Pat said to her, "My friend Jamar could knit this up in no time." The friend contacted me asking if I could knit a stocking. I replied that I could (thinking that I would not like to do it), and before I knew it I was committed. I neglected to discuss price with the woman. Big mistake.

The friend gave Pat her three stocking so I could look them over, and sent me the pattern. As I suspected, the socks were made from acryllic from Michael's. Being a yarn snob, it was difficult for me to make the transition to yarn that doesn't feel or look good. However, since I said I'd do it, I purchased the yarn and knit the stocking. Actually, it was kind of fun to do an intarsia project, even though I had a bad attitude.

The question now is, how much to charge? I spent $25 on supplies. I actually kept track of my time: 20 hours, including shopping, graphing the name and knitting. If I had a time clock it probably would add up to more than 20 hours. How much is a knitter's time worth? What a quandary.