Category: Travel

We're back from Ecuador as of late yesterday. This was a contender for one of the best vacations we've ever done. I've got the first load of laundry in the washer, but other than unpacking haven't gotten much productive done, such as download photos from the camera. So another major Ecuador post will have to wait. John is planning on doing posts on his blog One Eclectic Guy, so I might just leave it to him. I do have some fiber tourist photos though.

I found yarn shops in both Quito and Cuenca, but nothing was inspiring enough to take up suitcase space for the ride home. Most of it was fairly brightly colored yarn in big unlabeled skeins, so it was tough to even identify fiber composition. Here are a couple of photos. The one with all the yarn was in the back of a clothing shop.

The one souvenir I did buy was a woven shawl from a tiny little weaving shop we stopped at on a day trip out of Cuenca. It is a family run operation, they dye the yarn with natural dyes (those photos are on John's camera), then weave it and make shawls with hand tied fringe. Here are a couple photos.

The blue shawl I'm wearing in that photo is the one I bought.

That yarn was in a big basket in the shop. It wasn't for sale.

I am sort of discombulated today after a long travel day home. We left our hotel in Cuenca about 6:30 PM Thursday night, and got home from the airport aroung 2 PM yesterday. I have gotten some knitting done this morning on my Peace Fleece Toboggan hat though. I am making good progress on this. I took some photos of the technique for changing colors, but I'll save those for another post. Here's the hat.

I have lots more mini skeins in many colors to choose from for stripes!

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I haven’t done one of these posts in awhile. There’s a reason I had all my projects out on the floor of my office, which I’ll get to later. First here’s what’s up in my knitting world.

The sock in progress. Slow progress, but I do have one finished and the second one started.

Douglas Fir Hap for Harriet Lorette shawl. I finished the increase section and now just knit straight on until I have a about a third of the yarn left then decrease again. I was struggling with this until I decided to change needles. I started this on Knitter’s Pride straight needles, and I have to say, I really wasn’t enjoying knitting with them. It didn’t help that the needle body is made out of some kind of black carbon fiber composite, and made it almost impossible to see what I was doing unless I was in bright light. I switched to my Chiaogoo circulars and am having much more fun with this.

Hawk Affection. The Seahawks finally won this week, so I guess this won’t have to get burned in the back yard after all. That’s a good thing, this yarn is Hazel Knits Divine, and it really is divine. It would be a shame to burn it.

Rogue! I’m having a blast with this one. The pattern is as much fun as the first time, and of course I love Peace Fleece. If you can’t figure out what’s going on in that photo, the sweater is knit in the round to the underarm shaping. You start with ribbing, then purl a turning row, then knit more stitches, then turn up the hem and stitch in place. Then you knit a few rounds and put the main body on a holder while you knit the pocket. The cables at the sides are more fun than a barrel of monkeys. And this time I get to knit this using Knit Companion, which is a whole lot easier. This pattern is well written, but it is a bit on the wordy side, with about eleventy billion pages. Knit Companion lets me just see the parts I really need.

And a new project! This is a hat. A Toboggan hat, to be precise. The original pattern was written with 2 color wide stripes and a rolled brim. I hate rolled hems on anything, so I did ribbing. I then got the bright idea to buy a million little mini skeins of Peace Fleece in many colors and do mini stripes. It will be a stocking cap with a long tapered end and a braided tassel. And I’ll probably have enough leftover mini skein-lets to make more of these! Or, I know, a sweater! I have a whole sweater’s worth of that grey that I did the ribbing in, I could do a sweater with one row stripes of many colors!

When I get a minute I’ll show you the neat trick I learned to change colors exactly where you want it to change, while weaving in the ends at the same time. Remind me if I forget.

Last but not least, this one is in time out.

This is the Ruby Slippers Cathedral Stole. It’s a fine pattern, with gorgeous yarn. I just had too many lace things on the needles. Once I finish the Hap shawl, this one is next in line.

So, back to the original question of why all my knitting projects were out of bags and on the floor of my office. The exciting news is that it’s time for our big fall vacation extravaganza. This one is John’s trip, he is having one of those big birthdays this week (sssshhhh, he turns 70 on Friday), so he got to pick the trip. We are going on a cruise, but not just any cruise. Wednesday we fly to Ecuador, spend a few days there, then fly to the Galapagos Islands where we hop on the Silversea Silver Galapagos for a week. We will spend a few days back in Ecuador then home.

I do have the knitting projects packed. I’m taking the first three projects in that line up. Because I’m delusional an eternal optimist, I have a spare ball of sock yarn packed as well. I also, uncharacteristically, have everything else packed as well except the last minute stuff. I get to work Monday and Tuesday, and we leave for the airport Tuesday right after work, so I need to be ready. I’m sure I’ll pack and repack a few times before then. Who knows what the internet situation will be once we get there, but if we are wired, you will hear from me along the way.

I’m off to find what else needs to go in my suitcase!

We’ve been in Hawaii all week, but I just haven’t gotten around to posting about it. I have been taking photos, though. We’ve had a great time, it’s good to get out of the gloom that is the Pacific NW this time of year. We leave for home and reality tomorrow. For today, I’m going to enjoy every moment of this tropical paradise. Here are some photos.

A nice sunset, one of several.

That’s a monkey pod tree. I think the canopy against the sky looks like lace.

John just having fun, drinking something that looks radioactive.

Jurassic Park! Actually it’s the Allerton Botanical Gardens, but this is the tree in the movie where the little girl found the dinosaur eggs.

The Spouting Horn.

And of course some knitting! Aloha!

Yes, I think I’ve used that title before. Oh well. We’re still on vacation, but I thought I would show you just a few photos (if the wifi allows!). We had a couple of very nice days in Quebec City, then took the overnight train to Halifax, where we’ve spent the last few days.
Pretty flowers!

John posing with statues.

They make wine here!

A school in the little town of Lunenburg. This was the town public school, but it’s now closed. The building is up for sale. Anybody think this would make a fine yarn shop? Of course the top floor is haunted, but I don’t think ghosts knit, so we’d be OK.

More churches!

They make beer, too! A fine spot for knitting!

Sunshine! The Atlantic Ocean!

This is the Old Burial Ground in Halifax.

The lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove just outside Halifax.

Part of the Fairview Cemetery, where 121 of the victims of the sinking of the Titanic are buried. Many of them were never identified. It’s a very sobering place.

On a cheerier note, this guy was playing outside the lighthouse and let me get a photo.

He also was kind enough to stand still for the obligatory photo with the sock. I don’t think he even rolled his eyes.

And the answer to that old question “what do Scottish men wear under their kilts?” was answered at last:

Hand-knit socks, of course.