Tag Archives: road trip

On the Road Again

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We just got back from another road trip! This time, to Mt Rainier National Park.  My folks came to visit last weekend, and we drove to the mountain and stayed in the lodge at the top (well… the lodge is about a third of the way up the mountain, but it’s as far as you can get with a car).  The weather was… wet… but the park is absolutely gorgeous, nonetheless.

I mean, look at it!  It’s absolutely stunningWe spent the day hiking around, checking out waterfalls and finding tiny wildflowers.  (We even spotted a fox and a few deer-but they were too fast to get a picture.)And, in the evening we hung out in the lodge, playing cribbage and playing the ukulele.  It was absolutely delightful.

Unfortunately, the road to Rainier is narrow and twisty, so I wasn’t able to make that much headway on my Road Trip Socks (dang motion sickness!).  I had hoped I would be able to finish them last weekend, but it looks like I’ll just have to keep working on them at home.  Oh well- we still had a fantastic trip.

Have you spent any time in National Parks?  Which is your favorite?

Road Trip Knitting

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Summer’s Road Trip Season, and this year I’ve got a bunch of trips coming up.  We’re flying to California to visit friends, we’re driving to Mt. Rainier with my folks and we’re going to a family reunion waaaaay up in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan.

Of course, we’re not doing all this at the same time (we do have to work, after all).  But, I want to get ready for all that car/plane downtime.  That means stocking up on Dramamine, filling my Kindle with new books, and planning out some simple-yet-interesting knitting projects.

I’m a big fan of socks as travel knitting.  They’re small enough to fit into a purse or cary-on, but take long enough to fill up a whole week of travel.  And, other than turning the heel, they’re easy enough that you don’t really have to focus on what you’re doing.

They’re the best!

Anyway, I dug into my stash, and found a bunch of little ends of sock yarn.  So, I was thinking of doing something to use up that yarn.  Stripes seem too boring, and colorwork would make me carsick (simple is the name of the game, after all).

I poked around on Ravelry, until I found these beauties!

Broken Seed Stitch Socks by Hanna LevaniemiHer original pattern (it’s not a formal pattern, exactly, more like a design suggestion that I can use with my standard Socks by the Numbers pattern) uses a lovely cream color with a pretty variegated yarn. The little stripes combined with the knit/purl pattern make the colors blend together really nicely.

But, what I really love is the idea that Ravelry User mckr had.  Stripes!  But when the stripe colors are mixed with the background color, the whole thing looks gorgeous and cohesive.So, I picked out six mini balls of leftover sock yarn, and a full 50g skein of a lovely navy blue.  I think they’ll look great together.  (One of the mini-skeins even has sparkles!)

I’m making myself wait until our road trips are officially going before I start knitting these bad boys.  Vacation can’t start soon enough!

Are you looking forward to any upcoming projects?

 

Yellowstone!

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I just got back from a week in Yellowstone, and even though I missed all the Olympic Gymnastics coverage, I had a really fantastic time.

A big group of our friends (9 people!) rented a big ‘ol cabin outside of West Yellowstone.  We spent the days hiking,Beaver Ponds Hike (26)And boating, Boat day (8)And making friends with horses.Wilderness Edge (27)We spent the evenings playing ukeleles (because we’re dorks),Wilderness Edge (19)And playing board games (also because we’re dorks).Wilderness Edge (17)It couldn’t have been more delightful.

We even saw a bunch of sand hill cranes, and three badgers (but we didn’t get a good picture of them).Beaver Ponds Hike (24)And, since we stayed about 45 minutes from the edge of the park, I had a nice long drive every day to work on my knitting (I’m halfway through the collar/button band-just sleeves to go!).

If you haven’t been to Yellowstone, you have to go!  (Actually, if you have been, you should go again.) It’s one of my absolutely favorite places to visit, and I can’t wait to go back again.

Quick Ravellenic Games Update

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I haven’t been updating you on my Ravellenic Games Project, but I’ve been chugging away on it since last Friday. and I’m sure you’re sitting on the edge of your seat, waiting with bated breath for an update.

Unfortunately, I’ve been in a magical land of no internet connection.  Or at least with crummy enough internet to count as no internet.

We took a road trip out to Yellowstone!  It’s my favorite place on earth, and if you haven’t gone yet, Go!  It’s absolutely amazing, every time I’ve been.

I’ll tell you more about that later, but I wanted to give you a quick update on the sweater, and I briefly have internet (we’re still on the road- we just stopped at a coffee shop for a little bit of WiFi and caffeine).

The my Campside Cardi is coming along great!  It’s perfect car ride knitting- just interesting enough to keep cabin fever from kicking in, but not so interesting that I have to watch my fingers.IMG_0652I’m well into the eyelets in the bottom half of the sweater body, and they’re surprisingly fun.  The pattern changes subtly every few inches, which keeps me on my toes.  But, it’s not so fiddly that if I zone out for a few miles I ruin the sweater.  Perfect!IMG_0667And, it’s fun playing with my new camera.  Artistic knitting shots ahoy!

I’d better head out- we need to get back on the road if we hope to make it back to Seattle by dark!

How’s your Ravellenic knitting going?

Inspiration: On the road again

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I’m on the road again.  Somewhere between the Shell gas station and the Wendy’s on the side of the freeway.  I’m having a great time hanging out with my extended family and I’m getting tons of time for knitting. Win-win!

I can’t stop at any yarn stores (which is probably good, since my suitcase is already full), but all the hours in the car have made me think about all the other road trip knitting I could be doing.

This beanie is just too perfect for words, after all it’s a “Road Trip Hat.”  I love the interesting, minimalist use of cables  I could see this becoming a favorite for years and years.

Road Trip Hat by Emily Williams

Roadtrip-cover-rev-600px_medium[1]Of course, my perennial favorite, the Hitchhiker Shawl, would be perfect for knitting on a road trip.  A simple, easily memorized pattern and acres and acres of garter.  I can’t think of a more perfect pattern to work on while staring out the window, watching the scenery go by.

Hitchhiker by Martina BehmCIMG7885And, if you’re looking for something a little more practical… maybe a pair of driving gloves?  You could wear them to keep your hands warm while the A/C is blasting.

Men’s Driving Gloves or Fingerless Gloves by Tara Smolinski

IMG_0163_medium2[1]But, really, if you want the perfect road trip project, it doesn’t get any better than this adorable road cowl.  Cute!

Road Trip Cowl by Ping Woodvalleypat550.550.zoom.1_medium[1]What do you work on when you go on a road trip?

Road Trip!

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I’m taking a road trip later this week with my in-laws (Hi, in-laws!).  And that means one thing:

Dramamine? Car games? Eating at McDonald’s?

No!  It means an excuse to go yarn shopping and start some new projects.  After all, my sweater project is getting too big, and I’m out of purple yarn…

I stopped at a lovely yarn shop over on the other side of Lake Washington, Serial Knitters in Kirkland.  I’ve only visited there once before, years ago, and I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to get over there again.  It has a fantastic selection of local and national brands in some of the most gorgeous colorways I’ve ever seen.

Two skeins came home with me:  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe lovely, subtle gray-blue is Madeleinetosh Tosh DK in Cloud Dweller, and the over-the top rainbow of exuberance is Knitted Wit Victory DK in Fairy Garden.  They’re both squishy, but firm, and I can tell that they’ll knit up into great hard-wearing accessories.

(And, I can’t help but smile when I look at the Victory DK colors… so gorgeous!)

I’m thinking, since I’ve only got one skein of each, I should use them to make little accessories.  The Victory DK is slightly thinner, so I’m thinking mitts or gloves.  And, I don’t care for variegated yarn knit into simple stockinette (weird, I know), so they’ll have to have some sort of texture.  I’m thinking these gloves might be just the ticket (and they’re an excuse to use some of my buttons).

Ringwood Gloves by Rebecca Blairringwoodbiggreen_medium[1]Wouldn’t they be just the funkiest, most cheerful winter accessories?!  I’m excited already.

The cloudy blue Tosh DK is just as beautiful as the hyperactive Victory DK, but in a more grown-up, classy way.  I’m thinking the subtle color changes would work really well with cables.  Something with a lot of cables.   Maybe a hat.  Maybe this one:

Antler Hat by tincanknitsiain-5-1024x682_medium2[1]Unfortunately, my yarn is a smidge smaller than the yarn called for in the pattern, but I think if I go up a size, I should be able to knit up a lovely hat as I while away the miles.

What do you think?  How should I use my lovely new yarn?