First, this scarf. I decided 4 feet long was enough, leaving enough yarn for a hat or mitts. I tried to make a hat with the same stitch, but after 3 tries gave up. The pattern is too flexible, I think - all my attempts to make the starting circle turn into a hat shape just gave me a bigger flat circle, so I rolled the yarn back up and simply made 2 rectangles to sew into fingerless mitts, leaving a hole for the thumb.
The yarn is merino, colorway Wisteria, from Morehouse Farm. It wasn't as smooth as most merino, and felt almost like cotton. I finished these in Florida, except for sewing up and weaving in. So I patted myself on the back.
Second project for the trip: this cowl. I had one small skein of brown alpaca that I didn't think was enough for a project, but at $13 a skein I hesitated to buy more, knowing that sometimes the bids for an item don't cover the yarn cost. But when I saw the same vendor at the NJ Sheep and Fiber Festival, I bought a white skein of the same type to combine with the first. I like how alpaca farms usually tag each skein with the name of the actual animal from which it came. Their critters don't get eaten, so they are around long enough to be friends. I thought maybe I would make something striped, but then I found this pattern. I finished this after I got home. I worked until the white ran out and bound off with the brown (loosely - I looked at Jeny's stretchy bind-off, but didn't have the patience to try it). All done except for the blocking and weaving of the ends, and very soft and thick. The brown bind-off isn't as neat as the white cast-on, but I needed to make sure it would stretch enough to go over a head.
Trip project #3: these yoga socks. I was down the cuff, past the opening, and ready to make progress on the foot when I thought to try it on, and dang if it was too small. I didn't do any gauge testing, and I think the original was made with thicker sock yarn. So I pulled it all out and started over with more stitches and this is where I am. It's a little boring, K2P1 ribbing for most of it, but it requires little thinking or extra tools, so a good project for travel.
Obviously not done yet, and another to go, but a good project for watching TV.
Before I left I started Nessie, so when I got back I finished her body, once I found where I had put the pipe cleaners that needed to go into the neck. Now I just need to add flippers. What a cute pattern, and so well designed. Her head looks like a fruit bat's.
But the rest of today is probably going to be cooking, to use up the CSA from this week. 3 quarts of plum tomatoes, 3 pounds of other tomatoes, a quart of various cherry tomatoes, plus potatoes, eggplant, squash, yellow beans, kale, raspberries, and probably some stuff I forgot. The potatoes and beans are cooked and cohabiting with pine nuts, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese. The eggplant and squash are stewing with Amish ground sirloin, garlic, basil, mushrooms, and Ragu (yes, from a jar). I'm in the middle of skinning the tomatoes to make sauce and thinking it's a good thing I only get a half share. Later today or tomorrow I'll wash and tear apart and cook the kale for the freezer. And because I'm delusional about how much we will eat, I picked up a cauliflower and some green beans while I was at the farmer's market for the meat. Taking a share in a CSA means you have to be ready to process a whole lot of raw vegetables. And my compost pile feeds a whole bunch of vertebrate and invertebrate critters and countless microorganisms. But I do my best not to waste anything. Alas, the chard from 2 weeks ago was not a keeper once I got back from Florida.
Back to skinning tomatoes, and then maybe time for a cup of tea and another flipper.
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