Maybe this should be a Travel Blog

All this travel has kept me too busy to knit. I did start something for a friend who is due any day with her first baby. I finally feel like I want to sit down and work on knitting.

Here's the thing. I've got this knitting blog project hanging over my head. I asked a few questions to a few bloggers who graciously replied. Then I let it go. It's been months since I've touched the responses. I wanted to follow up with personalized questions, but the holidays happened, then work got so bad I could barely move when I got home, then I quit my job, and now I've been traveling.

But the annual American Folklore Society meeting is coming up. I'm on a panel about using the internet for research. I'd like to actually have something to say. So here's my next step. I want to know why. Why blog about knitting? Why not blog about something else we do everyday? I know some people include food posts or posts about reading in their blogs, but ultimately, our blogs are knitting blogs. Why? Please email me. Tell me why.

I'm also thinking of creating a survey, with the hopes that more people will respond and I can have some statistics to share.

View from Fayette Historic Townsite

Lake Michigan


We canoed this part of the Indian River. This was an easy section.

Dan put his new socks to the test. They held up well in the muck, on the fallen trees, and sloshing through the water. He had decided that his shoes should stay dry (they didn't--we just had too much water splashing about), so he wore just these socks. I'm so glad that he actually uses them. The socks did well. Wool is so great for the water. He had good grip on the trees when we had to push the canoe over, though it could have been due to all the sand that collected on them. When we got back to Chicago, we washed them in the washing machine. They came out great, though clumped with sand. I'm glad the sand stayed on the socks and didn't go down the drain. So Dan brushed them off and gave them another rinse. I'm so proud of these socks.

But It's a Dry Heat

Yes, it's hot in Chicago. But it was even hotter in southwest Utah. My sister and I went to Zion National Park on Friday. We were headed to Emerald Pools and I didn't think I would make it--it was hot and sunny! Once we did get there, I was totally rejuvenated by the water. It was worth it. On the way down, we passed a woman who asked us how much farther it was up to the water. Boy, did I empathize.

Visiting my sister was great fun. I got to hang out with her at work--she's more competent than she admits--where I walked dogs and played with dogs and pet dogs. Good stuff.

Just before leaving, I started a skirt for Renée (who else?) and a pair of socks for Dan (who else?). I finished one sock just before I left, and I finished the skirt in Utah. I'll probably finish the second sock tonight.

The socks are a simple, toe-up pattern, using the Turkish cast on for the toe, and short rows for the heel. The cuff is "small herringbone rib" from Stitchionary. It looks the same as a twisted stitch, which would have been faster, I think, but I like the look. I'm using the Claudia Hand Painted Yarns I got on my visit to California in March. It's a nice yarn. I wish it had just a little more yardage.

The skirt pattern I made up as I went. It's in Bamboo from Be Sweet. It's a splitty yarn, but it is so soft and drapey, that I can overlook the splits. I started with the waistband, knit a few rows, threw in some yarn overs, knit some more, then more yarn overs, then garter (in the round), then repeated until the end, where I increased for the ruffle, which is in garter. It's a lovely skirt. Like everything I've made for Renée lately, it will probably be too big right now. Oh well. She'll grow.

I leave for the UP again on Friday, so I may not post for a while. I'll be there about ten days, then an overnight in Saginaw visiting Jen and family, then back to Chicago. I may not post until the very end of July, when I'll have more pictures of the UP and hopefully some knitting progress.