A Need for Socks

Last week I swore project monogamy to a lace sweater about which I haven't had a chance to tell you.

However, since knitters plan and G-d laughs, that all went out the door Friday morning.

On Friday morning my mom called to tell me she was in the hospital because she might have had a heart attack the day before but they were still waiting for test results to come back. She assured me she felt fine and not to bother coming down.

That was a relief on all counts since it's an 8 hour drive. Of course, by the time I got out of the shower I'd come to my sense so when my older brother called to make sure I was up to speed I was able to assure him I was packing.

The final word is that she did have a mild heart attack and had had a silent one sometime in the past. They determined that she did not need a stent because her heart had grown new veins to bypass the blockage.

Despite these amazing regenerative powers she assures us she is not a Borg.

We were able to take her home Saturday afternoon and informed her that it was a hell of a stunt to get me to come down for Mother's Day.

I ended up staying the weekend and coming home Monday. It was a very nice visit in the end. It would have been a better visit if it hadn't been for a health issue and if I'd been able to bring Hubby and the pups along. (Hubby had school duties and the puppies would have added to the chaos anyway so I left them all behind.)

Road Trip!
About a hour into the eight hour drive I began wishing I'd made Hubby come along, mainly so he could do the driving. Then I began wishing I'd followed his suggestion of taking the train. I thought it would be inconvenient on the other end, but it turns out my brother had the day off and my mom was in a hospital across the river from Philly, so it would have totally made sense.

But I drove.

On the way down I was happy to see that my intense dislike for the Garden State Parkway was both undiminished and still justified.

On the way home I followed the GPS suggestion to take the George Washington Bridge. Famou last thought, "It's mid-day, how bad can it be?" Actually, it wasn't any worse than the Tappen Zee and the Garden State Parkway combination, but the toll on the GW is $8 which I was totally not expecting and I'm pretty sure made it a more expensive option. (Oh! I just checked my EZPass account online and it looks like I got a discount so the GW was only $5.90.)

In the end the drive both ways was fine and I made good time, so I guess I can't complain (much).

What Does This Have To Do With Socks?
Despite the jarring phone call and the rapid pace at which I packed I had the precense of mind to realize that a sweater which was all lace all the time being knit with lace weight yarn held doubled was not an acceptable project for the situation.

I will remind you that she sounded fine and perky when she called so worrying about which project to pack was a legitimate activity. If you don't understand that you are obviously not a knitter or crocheter.

I realized that the situation called for a pair of plain old socks. Small, portable, and mindless.

With that goal in mind I threw open the dining room credenza to fish out some sock yarn.

I was after this blue and purple Seacoast Handpainted Sock Yarn that I bought over Columbus Day weekend in 2010 and never told you about.

But when I opened the cabinet doors the first thing I saw was the brown/yellow/pink Aussi Soxxi yarn pictured at the top of the blog. I bought that yarn at Rhinebeck in 2009. The age and the extreme brightness of it made me decide to go with the Aussi Soxxi instead.

I figured I would need something cheery and obnoxious to knit with to combat the potential gloom of the weekend.
I didn't get much knitting done, but it seems to be moving along quickly.

The first night I was knitting, Saturday, I was a bit nervous because I thought I felt my fingers tingling like they do when I have an allergic reaction to some yarn. But the sensation didn't come back the next night so I think I'll be fine.

The question now is do I abandon the new socks for the lace sweater or try to juggle them?

Because project rotations always work out so well for me. ha!

Packing Decisions

We are going on a trip.

This is not unusual for us.

What is unusual is that we are taking nine high school students with us. Or is it they are taking us with them?

Anyway, it's a ten day educational (snicker) tour covering London, Paris, Florence, and Rome.

Now, you know I've already been to Paris. And I spent a weekend in London when I was in England for my Junior Year Abroad. I've never been to any part of Italy.

Don't get me wrong. I don't at all mind going back to London and Paris. But I'm really looking forward to Italy.

And the Chunnel.

What does all this have to do with knitting?

Why, I have to pack projects, of course!

Now a normal knitter would tell you that a 10 day trip needs an ungodly number of projects.

But, as we've established, I'm not a normal knitter.

My plan is to take my active project--Lucy Neatby's Sea Lettuce Scarf in her Cat's Pajama Yarn in Honey Pot that I've had for ages--and one back up project.

For reference, when we took a 10 day trip to California last summer I took four projects and basically only worked on one. Although I finished it and started a new one on the trip home.

The point is, two projects will probably be rather adequate based on past behavior.

The second project will, not surprisingly, be a sock. They are still tops for travel projects because of their portability.

But as I pawed through the dining room credenza trying to decide on which sock yarn to bring, a little voice said, "There are plenty of stockinette stitch sweaters you want to make. Why not bring one?" However I dismissed it since I wouldn't want to track multiple skeins of yarn.

That is another advantage of socks, generally a single ball is required.

As I was making my decision I first reviewed my Ravelry stash and was reminded I have a staggering amount of sock yarn.

Then I pulled it all out and put it on the dining room table, confirming how much there was, and confounding the situation because it's all so pretty!

There was a moment of panic when I realized I couldn't find one of the yarns I bought at Rhinebeck last year, which led to me realizing I couldn't find any of the sock yarns I bought at Rhinebeck last year.

After a few minutes of turning storage places over I realized they were in a bag next to the china cabinet. phew! Nine skeins of sock yarn would have been a big investment to go missing.

With them all laid out before me decision making could begin in earnest. I was debating taking a known quantity, like Jitterbug or Indulgence, that I could just cast on and go since I'd used it before. I also wouldn't need to carry multiple sets of needles.

But I also thought taking an older yarn that's been waiting for a while would be good.

After sorting my Ravelry stash half a dozen ways, I settled on the Dream in Color Smooshy Sock Yarn that I bought back in 2009(!).

It was a pinch battle between that and the Seacoast Sock Yarn I bought in 2010 that is so soft and pretty.

Basically, the Smooshy won because it was already balled.

To solve the needle dilemma, I paused the Sea Lettuce Scarf this afternoon and went ahead and swatched. My US 1.5 Darned Pretty Needles seem to be doing the trick.

With my projects settled, I just have to worry about packing clothes now.

The irony of all this is that I'll probably just work on the Sea Lettuce Scarf the entire trip and won't have to pull out the back up project at all!