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Travel Knitting

I am one of those people that looks at the clock on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and thinks woefully "Gee, if I sit down now, I'll only have six hours to knit." Yet, if you put me in a car or on a bus, train, or plane for more than an hour I'm a friggin' Mexican jumping bean. On my own I'm quick to find a couch, but once I'm cooped up with no choice of movement, I'm a ball of nerves.

Recent discoveries in technology have changed all that. My hubby bought me a portable DVD player two years back and it's therapeutic benefits are consistent. I can now face being cooped up with aplomb, as long as I'm well stocked with movies. I can look forward to the five or six hour plane ride with thoughts of productivity, not hysteria which is good because in the last few years my Christmas tradition has taken on the form of travelling across the country to see my sister and her family in one of the least Christmassy of locales, the American southwest. It's a five hour plane ride one way and a six hour plane ride the other way. I can never remember which way is faster but the important thing is I have to decide on the knitting I'll be bringing.

With this in mind I thought I'd take on another Yarnissima sock pattern as my plane knitting and if this fails me, my backup will be my Project Stole and maybe a simple sock using some STR mediumweight I have in my stash. The stole has the added benefit of being big enough to keep me warm on a drafty plane.

I only just finished collecting the items I will need for the Yarnissima socks this weekend:



It was drooling over Yarnissima's sock patterns a few weeks back that made me realize all I really wanted to knit were socks. I am intrigued by her patterns, all the while knowing that they are not the kind of thing I would wear. I'm a practical woman that wears practical socks. I have no interest in wearing lacy confections or delicately ribbed socks. My one deviation is for those practical socks to be in vibrant colors.

So what possessed me to purchase the PDF of La Digitessa almost two weeks ago is not yet to be fully fathomed. I barely made it out alive, and with my dignity intact, knitting her Firestarter, and that was with the help of Peaknit's knit-a-long. All I can say in my defense is that I am drawn to her patterns.

I am going to try to to knit this on size US0s in a solid color to better showcase her fabulous design. The hardest part was finding the yarn to use. I really wanted to find a superwash yarn that was luxurious because I know I'm going to be hating on this pattern at more than one point so a soft and wondrous yarn between my fingers will be needed to ameliorate the frustration.

An early release from work last week gave me the opportunity to find the yarn. I purchased two skeins of Lana Grossa's Meilenweit 50 Seta/Cashmere. I've never worked with this yarn but it's fiber content of 65% merino, 15% Silk, 16% Polyamide, and 4% cashmere fit the bill.

Comments

Unknown said…
I love Yarnissima's pattrns. They are so intricate yet they look do-able. I can see you getting completely involved in the sock and forgetting that you are traveling at all. Solid yarn is definitely the way to go.
peaknits said…
I so want to try this pattern, I keep hoping it might be in my stocking? :) Yarnissima is pretty amazing! I think a solid would be a grand way to showcase all of your efforts - it's ineveitably going to be a drag at times as you suggested - I'll send you good knitting vibes - I'll need some in return when I tackle this one!:)