Knitting in Seattle/Victoria

My plan was to entertain you all with our voyages and exploration in chronological order, but I have to divert from that plan to insert a blog about knitting on the trip, and the people I met up with.

As always, click on the pics to enlarge them...

I have some anxiety about knitting in public. A lot of it is my own insecurity about being obviously gay in public. Just my own thing. I sometimes knit on the plane, but usually if I'm in a window seat, and I feel safe with the people around me--non-threatening people. I totally surprised myself on this trip, and knit most of the Chicago to Seattle flight! I am doing my first Coriolis toe-up socks using the "New Pathways For Sock Knitters, Book One" by Cat Bordhi. The yarn is from Kenny (part of my "pound of love" box), the Crystal Palace bamboo/merino/silk yarn in browns and golds. Yummy.

Pics: Above right--Jeanne models my first Coriolis sock (sorry, I can't claim the 'legs')
Second from top--my foot in the sock.
At right--Allie and Max

I started the sock with the garter diamond. New technique for me. Really cool. My goal was to do the master spiral, where the band spirals over the instep, over the TOP of the heel, and continues to spiral up the ankle and leg. I screwed up somewhere, and my spiral ran smack into the top edge of the heel! Instead of trying to fudge it and restarting it on the other side of the heel (which would have been an okay fix), i just dropped the band increase, and made up a top: modified 2X1 basketweave, some garter ridges, and ribbing on top, ending with an i-cord bind-off. This was another new technique for me, and I enjoyed doing it.

More Pics: At right--Nigel, Me, Hayley, and Allie at QV's Cafe
Below: Nigel shows off his shawl, below that: closeup of the shawl


I finished the first sock while in Victoria, and started the second sock before leaving Victoria. I even knitted on the ferry back to Port Angeles! I finished knitting the foot on the plane to Chicago, and just finished the heel and ankle since getting back to Vermont. I'm on the ribbing at the top right now, so I'll be done the second sock today.

While in Victoria I met up with Allie (from Victoria) and Nigel (from Vancouver, BC)--both people I met on the GLBT knit list. Allie met up with us, and brought her darling son Max with her on our first night in Victoria! We had a great time hanging out with them, and met the next day with Nigel, and Allie's partner Haylie, for some food and crafting.

Both J and I had a great time, even though J doesn't knit. Nigel showed off one of his shawls, which I also modeled (pics on his blog), and we walked up to the LYS, the Beehive. I bought 3 skeins of yarn.

Pics of yarn: (top skein) Arequipa (65% superwash wool, 20% alpaca, 15% nylon in moss earth colorway;

middle skein: Fleece Artist merino in browns, golds, and salmons;

bottom skein: (suggested by Nigel) Hand Maiden 'Casbah' (80% merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon), in a purple/moss greens/merlot.

I normally don't fall for anything with "cash" in it, as I think it's usually a ripoff with 5-10% cashmere in it, but the hand on this is buttery soft! And it was $5 off....

I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with Nigel, Allie, and the gang. Super people, with fabulous personalities. Hope we all meet again! (Nigel even spent the afternoon with us touring Butchart Gardens, that's another blog in itself!)

I had several contacts for a knitting meetup on our last day in Seattle at the end of the trip. But, unfortunately things fell through (hope all is well with you Z!), but I did manage to get together with Jeanne--that was a blast!

I met Jeanne through Ravelry.com. She metup with J and I at Uwajimaya, the famous Japanese/Asian store in Seattle. This was a scream for me, as it had tea, chocolate, Asian food, and was connected to an Asian food court and a Japanese bookstore! Phew! Way too fun!

Pics at right: Jeanne with her Forest Path shawl, a close up of the shawl, Jeanne pouring tea (all over the table, mind you!) at a wicked cool teahouse near her neighborhood.

Great tea, great conversations, wonderful knitting, and nice uh, accessories to look at...

I'm looking forward to continuing these friendships. Thanks for meeting us, spending time with us, and sharing your love of knitting with me.

Open invitations for all to come visit us in Vermont!

Ciao!