T is for Traveling

Man alive my life has been consumed by work-related travel as of late, and there are no signs of it letting up. Not that I'm complaining mind you (although my brother is FURIOUS that I have somehow managed Northwest Silver Elite status and am having my ass upgraded left and right. Sorry sucka!!!), but the traveling is a. hard on the digestion (because I seem to eat corn at every meal) and b. despite airplane knitting, not so great for the craft that keeps this blog going. I have finished one paltry item since last posting, and believe me, it ain't that impressive in the whole grand scheme of things. N.B: The t-shirt above is brought to you courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign shop in Dupont Circle, Washington DC.

Specs
Pattern: Textured Shawl Recipe by Orlane
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino, two skeins of Smoke
Needles: Size 8
Time: A week or two, off and on.

This is a great concept--I only wish that mine had turned out to be like 2.5 times bigger. After blocking it's still a smallish triangle, which is fine, it's just that I have more than a few shawls this size. I suppose the answer is to wear it as a scarf and forget that it has 'shawl' in the title. Once again the Malabrigo Silky Merino is a giant winner of a yarn--the color and sheen are stupendous.

Unfortunately the junior crew will not be making blog appearances for the next month or so--they are visiting their dad, step-mom and baby sister in NYC and are thus unavailable. This makes me sad but also frees up the day for extended cocktail hours, insures that my life will be 100% Twilight free and means that I can listen to Lady GaGa without anyone telling me to turn it down. Also, it means that I get to make the Curmudgeon model my garments--this fact alone might make me finish what I have in my queue.

While in Louisville I stopped by one of my fave LYSs around, the Knit Nook. I love that shop and the friendly ladies who knit there. I bought the pattern for Rusted Root and more balls of Calmer (to add to the ones I bought there last year ) and am now on my way and am almost ready to divide for the sleeves. Fun pattern! Love that lace panel! While there a Louisville author stopped by to work on a sock--can you guess who it might have been? [Hint: the title of this post.]


Above you see an in-progress Amtrak shot, a train ride that held many surprises, including the joy of knitting in the Quiet Car (sshh!! no talking or cell phones, please) and sitting across from an Amish boy reading a book about bullets. As I joked on Twitter, that must be like Amish porn--so forbidden.

I am hoping to finish Rusted Root and the Diminishing Ribs cardigan before my next slate of travels begins next week, as I don't really fancy lugging sweater-quantity batches of yarn around in my suitcase. Not that it matters to a Silver Elite traveler, as I check my luggage for free:) Brucie that comment is just for you...