I want to knit!

I’ve just seen the mid-season knitty pattern called Emerald Seas. It’s labelled “Tangy” which is “Tired of rectangles? Ready for something more challenging? Try these. - Fun things with zing. A twist, even.” Which sounds less complicated than the secret project I tried which was lace and shaping. I found it hard. So hard, in fact, that it has become my first UFO (UnFinished Object).
I have switched to a (hopefully) quicker knit which should serve the same purpose. I still need to finish it before my holiday – you’ll see why! I’m fairly sure that the recipient doesn’t visit my blog often, but they just might.

As Britknitter mentioned, I don’t have vast amounts of knitting time at the moment. I'm managing to squeeze in about an hour or two every night though. As the secret project is still fairly challenging, I have made a choice not to carry it around with me. The main issue is the sheer number of stitches on my slightly-too-short needles! I’ll make sure to pick up some circulars before I try this one again! That does mean that I’m not getting to knit in my lunch-break (if I get one) though. That said, other than the mad shopping day on Saturday, my weekend is free, so I might be able to spend some time on Sunday knitting! I reckon that I should be able to have finished the secret item before Saturday though, despite the fact that I’ll not get home until about 9:30 tonight and tomorrow I might be even later.

It’s a shame that I can’t knit on the flight, or even when waiting for the flight (my hold luggage will be checked in quite early). I was considering getting some little plastic needles which don’t matter to try to sneak onto the plane ask the man at passport control about and post home if necessary. However, it might be possible to crochet. I’ve had a go, and I’ve made three granny squares (towards my “Teeny Blankie”) in some nice variegated blue yarn. I think that three more in that colour and then six in white will make a nice blankie, four squares wide, and three squares long, alternating colours. Depending, I might make it even bigger, though I do prefer to knit.
I do also have the dilemma of what knitting to take, considering the risk of bag-loss. I might take my gypsy-socks (still not cast on) to do, which are small, portable, and not too complicated. In the other case (in case of single case loss) I will probably take some bits for the squares for the sudoku throw. Though that is a big risk, if just some squares went AWOL, so I might go for something a bit less risky, like the mittens I intend to knit, or possibly a scarf (simple and sweet). I may be crocheting a scarf on the plane with my plastic crochet hook (that is another thing I need to buy!) too. I have purposely not opened my copy of Simply Knitting for this month so that I have that to read on the plane (that’s a half hour or more taken up) and I may buy some other knitting magazine too, if the fancy takes me. I will probably buy some gossip mag too (though I know I shouldn’t) and I hope to by something in WHSmith in the airport to read on the plane/beach. I must remember to put my glasses in my hand luggage!

I always plan loads to do on long plane journeys, and then I usually just sleep for most of it! We’ll probably get fed twice because we’re taking off after lunch and landing at tea-time. Okay, so I am starting to be excited about it now! Not the long flight (though it’s all part of it!) but the holiday should be fab! We’ve put togther an itinerary to make sure that we do everything we want.

If anyone knows of any nice (and preferably not too expensive) hotels in Clearwater or that area in Florida, drop me an email! That’s probably one of the bits of my holiday which I’ll enjoy most as I’ll get to spend some time just with Leon. I am also looking forwards to seeing my family, though with a little more trepidation! It’s been a long time. I don’t know whether I have changed much (it’s hard to tell when it’s yourself) or whether it matters. I know I’ve grown up, but more than that, I dunno. We will see.

Anyway, I have work to do, as well as a shopping and packing list to write!
Happy knitting!