Jewelled Steps Socks Update...

Here are some pics of the Jewelled Steps socks I'm working on, from Cat Bordhi's "Pathways" sock book. For some reason, my brain just can't figure out the instructions for readjusting the stitches prior to working the heel.

I have the hardest time doing it! Maybe because I'm left handed and right-brained. For the Coriolis socks it was an agonizing 1.5 hours. For this sock last night was an hour. I think I am doing the reverse in my head. The pics of the needles is backwards for me. I have to look at the knitting from the view as I am knitting them, so moving the markers to the left would be to the right for me. I basically just gave up and put the marker 10 sts to the left of the steps, then added 15 for the wings.

Click on pics for larger view...

In the top pic you can see the expansion stitches nicely fan out on the inside (left side) of the right foot sock. Nice.

In the middle pic (I just updated this post with the new pics), you can see the steps, and the expansion section clearly. I like how this runs on the inside left flank of the right sock. Hopefully this will be mirrored in the left foot sock!

I decided to add a 3x2 rib on the cuff, but only in the back of the sock. The steps continue on the front half.

Some other thoughts, the wraps for the steps are pretty small at sock weight yarn. I'd do 4 stitches and maybe wrap 3 times. And, it's way easier to do the wraps by putting the stitches on to a short cable needle, quickly wrapping the yarn around twice, and then knitting the stitches.

Just Pics...

Oympic Peninsula Drive Pics...

Top: drive out to Lake Crescent

Middle Row Left: drive to Lake Crescent

Middle Row Right: view through the pass

Bottom Row Left: the lake

Bottom Row Right: snow on the peaks

Oympic National Park and Beyond...

To recap: we landed in Seattle on Tuesday, spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Seattle, hopped on the ferry from downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island on Thursday, and drove up to Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula, where our journey continues...

Pics at the right are from the Lake Crescent drive. No captions needed! Click on for really great enlargements.

Port Angeles was kind of a dive (sorry to offend anyone from there!), but we took Rt. 101 out to Lake Crescent, which was one of the most beautiful drives we have ever been one--bar none. The mountains loomed, the valleys were gorgeous, and Lake Crescent was stunning! The road hugged the south shore of the lake, and there were ample opportunities for vistas and snapshots. We stopped at just about every turnout, as the angles changed dramatically, and the views were truly breathtaking.

We stopped somewhere to take a, you know, rest stop--I think at Granny's Diner or something. It was a cute little place, full of antiques--really homey.

We made it about 1/2 way up the length of the lake, and made a little excursion to see some waterfalls, but the map detailing the hike said it was about 2 hours, which we didn't have. Check out the pic of the deer outside the warden's hut!

We headed back to Port A, and decided to go out to Ediz Hook to check out the rocks. Remember, Wendy of the S'Klallam tribe told us we should go out there to look for jade, agates, jasper, etc.

The drive out to the spit took us past the Nippon Paper plant. It was kind of weird. The road goes right smack through the middle of the buildings! Then, it's a cool drive way out into the bay, and ends up at the Coast Guard station. The views from out there were dramatic. I took more pics...some of the pics are the same as I took on the ferry from Port A to Victoria, but being on the spit, you're literally standing on this thin strip of dirt and rocks in the middle of the bay!

I decided on this trip I'd try to take some unusual pics. So I took closeups, pics from ground level, closeups of rocks, trigs, grass, trees, etc. Note that I did not rearrange anything. All objects were just as I saw them.

It was very windy out on the spit, and getting a little cold. Luckily I had an LL Bean Gore-Tex jacket with me! The view looking back at the mountains was just simply amazing! The mountains are, I believe, looking south at the Olympic Range.

We were both eagerly searching for rocks: I'm a rock-hound--I collect them from every beach, park, mountain, lake, city, etc., that we visit! I have them from Brighton, England; London, the gravel beneath the Eiffel Tower (really), the Cliffs of Dover, Chartres; outside the Taj Mahal, all the palaces in Jaipur, Rajasthan (in India), and tons of other places.

I believe in the spirituality of Nature. I love the Earth! And I enjoy collecting all the varieties of rocks I can find.

Oh! On this day it was Jeff's birthday! We headed back to the hotel and were trying to decide on a place to eat where Jeff could have his Pacific Northwest Salmon, or something dramatic like that. I was just about on my last leg of energy, and getting a bit bitchy. I just wanted to make a pot of tea and rest. We scoped out the restaurants on the route back to the hotel, and couldn't really find a place where we wanted to eat.

My mom had secretly given me some cash and a card for Jeff's birthday, which I stashed away in my carry-on. We both were kind of beat, and we ended up just getting carry away (take-out) from an Italian restaurant within walking distance. We thought we'd save the "birthday dinner" money for someplace more romantic or rememberable.

We sacked out, as we had to be at the docks really early the next morning for the ferry to Victoria....

Knitting Project Update

Okay! I finished my first pair of Coriolis socks! Just a quick post with some pics.... the yarn is from Kenny (the boi who knits, blog link below left), the Crystal Palace bamboo merino blend.

And, I started another pair of socks. I decided this will be Chris's Official Stashbusting Summer of Socks! Yeah, I know--not so original. Tons of people doing various versions of it. But, with over 84,000 yards of purchased yarn, I gotta use it up!

I think I'm going to do the Jewelled Steps socks from the "Pathways" sock book. I did the whirlpool toe, which I love, and this toe is rotatable (is that a word?). So, hopefully I won't screw these up like I did on the spiraling band on the Coriolis socks. I'm using Lorna's Lace 80/20 superwash merino and nylon, in Purple Iris colorway.

Pics of our baby:
Just had to add a couple little things. Here's a pic of our darlin' kitty, Tigger, as he was sackin' out on the screened in porch yesterday! We love him.

And, I just heard a bit of a noise outside, looked out the window, and here's what I saw!

Click on for a larger view... Enjoy.

Knitting in Seattle/Victoria

My plan was to entertain you all with our voyages and exploration in chronological order, but I have to divert from that plan to insert a blog about knitting on the trip, and the people I met up with.

As always, click on the pics to enlarge them...

I have some anxiety about knitting in public. A lot of it is my own insecurity about being obviously gay in public. Just my own thing. I sometimes knit on the plane, but usually if I'm in a window seat, and I feel safe with the people around me--non-threatening people. I totally surprised myself on this trip, and knit most of the Chicago to Seattle flight! I am doing my first Coriolis toe-up socks using the "New Pathways For Sock Knitters, Book One" by Cat Bordhi. The yarn is from Kenny (part of my "pound of love" box), the Crystal Palace bamboo/merino/silk yarn in browns and golds. Yummy.

Pics: Above right--Jeanne models my first Coriolis sock (sorry, I can't claim the 'legs')
Second from top--my foot in the sock.
At right--Allie and Max

I started the sock with the garter diamond. New technique for me. Really cool. My goal was to do the master spiral, where the band spirals over the instep, over the TOP of the heel, and continues to spiral up the ankle and leg. I screwed up somewhere, and my spiral ran smack into the top edge of the heel! Instead of trying to fudge it and restarting it on the other side of the heel (which would have been an okay fix), i just dropped the band increase, and made up a top: modified 2X1 basketweave, some garter ridges, and ribbing on top, ending with an i-cord bind-off. This was another new technique for me, and I enjoyed doing it.

More Pics: At right--Nigel, Me, Hayley, and Allie at QV's Cafe
Below: Nigel shows off his shawl, below that: closeup of the shawl


I finished the first sock while in Victoria, and started the second sock before leaving Victoria. I even knitted on the ferry back to Port Angeles! I finished knitting the foot on the plane to Chicago, and just finished the heel and ankle since getting back to Vermont. I'm on the ribbing at the top right now, so I'll be done the second sock today.

While in Victoria I met up with Allie (from Victoria) and Nigel (from Vancouver, BC)--both people I met on the GLBT knit list. Allie met up with us, and brought her darling son Max with her on our first night in Victoria! We had a great time hanging out with them, and met the next day with Nigel, and Allie's partner Haylie, for some food and crafting.

Both J and I had a great time, even though J doesn't knit. Nigel showed off one of his shawls, which I also modeled (pics on his blog), and we walked up to the LYS, the Beehive. I bought 3 skeins of yarn.

Pics of yarn: (top skein) Arequipa (65% superwash wool, 20% alpaca, 15% nylon in moss earth colorway;

middle skein: Fleece Artist merino in browns, golds, and salmons;

bottom skein: (suggested by Nigel) Hand Maiden 'Casbah' (80% merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon), in a purple/moss greens/merlot.

I normally don't fall for anything with "cash" in it, as I think it's usually a ripoff with 5-10% cashmere in it, but the hand on this is buttery soft! And it was $5 off....

I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with Nigel, Allie, and the gang. Super people, with fabulous personalities. Hope we all meet again! (Nigel even spent the afternoon with us touring Butchart Gardens, that's another blog in itself!)

I had several contacts for a knitting meetup on our last day in Seattle at the end of the trip. But, unfortunately things fell through (hope all is well with you Z!), but I did manage to get together with Jeanne--that was a blast!

I met Jeanne through Ravelry.com. She metup with J and I at Uwajimaya, the famous Japanese/Asian store in Seattle. This was a scream for me, as it had tea, chocolate, Asian food, and was connected to an Asian food court and a Japanese bookstore! Phew! Way too fun!

Pics at right: Jeanne with her Forest Path shawl, a close up of the shawl, Jeanne pouring tea (all over the table, mind you!) at a wicked cool teahouse near her neighborhood.

Great tea, great conversations, wonderful knitting, and nice uh, accessories to look at...

I'm looking forward to continuing these friendships. Thanks for meeting us, spending time with us, and sharing your love of knitting with me.

Open invitations for all to come visit us in Vermont!

Ciao!

Part II: The Odyssey Continues...the Olympic Peninsula

Note: This is part of a series of our travels to the Pacific northwest. Posts are in reverse chronological order. To start at the beginning go to the first post, Chris and Jeff hit the...

As our intrepid travelers continue their journey in the Pacific northwest... Okay! I thought I'd turn this into a novel, but then I'd get all confused with first and third person narratives. Lol. Anywho, to recap: we flew into Seattle on a Tuesday. Dinner at Bahn Thai was that evening, and J took a walkabout to the Space Needle.

Wednesday was the SAAM and the Japanese gardens, and we both walked over to the Space Needle together. We were at the top for the sunset, and got tons of great shots of Seattle neighborhoods and night shots of the Needle on the way back to the hotel.

Thursday we had to rise early for the ferry to Bainbridge Island, and our day trip to the Olympic Peninsula. The ferry was a fun trip, but the drive was pretty uneventful until we got to the visitor center for the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe! This was THE highlight of our trip! We had both heard so much about Pacific Northwest tribal culture--both U.S. and First Nation--totem poles, potlatch, weaving, knitting; that we envisioned being smack in the middle of a rich source of cultural information and heritage. We weren't disappointed.

The visitor center was pretty new, and there seemed to be an organized effort to have this as the "gateway" to the tribal area. The highway ran right through it, with the visitor center on the right going north, and a short distance away was a large store with food, meals, groceries, gas, etc., and a casino a bit further on. (We ate at the store on the way in, and later on the way back to Seattle. All the food was homemade and fabulous!)

In the souvenir store, which had carvings, CDs, jewelry, paintings, and various garments with tribal symbols, we met Wendy, a tribal member, who was full of information about the tribe, and eager to answer our many questions about life as a S'Klallam member. (I apologize if I am not phrasing things in the correct way, I have no intention of insulting anyone by referring to things in an incorrect manner.)

I told Wendy about my interest and habit of picking up rocks and crystals from every place we visit. She gave us a tip for finding some jade, jasper and other stones on a secret beach in Port Angeles. Okay, I'll pass on the info: it is at Ediz Hook, just west of the ferry landing in Port Angeles. Follow the main oceanfront drive, and go through the Nippon Paper plant (which we heard is closing soon), and drive way out on the spit, to the beaches near the end. J was the hero in rock searching! I didn't find one green stone--he found tons! Although I found lots of red ones and some that looked like flint or agates.

Note: on the way back to Seattle, we stopped by the shop again, and lo and behold, there was Wendy! I proudly showed her our bag of "prospecting" and she helped sort out the rocks into what she thought were jade and agates. Now we just have to get our hands on one of those Ronco Gem Tumblers! (remember those?!)

The Peninsula
After a great chat with Wendy, we stopped at the tribal store and had a nice lunch. Then we set our sights on getting to Port Angeles and out to the mountains. Port A was....well, let's just say that it was not too interesting. We drove through it and headed out to Lake Crescent... (more on this later)