Zig-zag drive doobrey.

I managed to get some knitting done last night! I got home from work later than intended, and in a grumpy mood. However, I played around with my iPod and the new drive doobrey (I’ll explain in a moment) until dinner. Then we went to Body Pump (though it was only a 45 minute one).

So, yes, knitting.
I’m now on my second “zag” of the Zig-zag-bag. I’m also on the fourth colour. I’m not doing quite the same colour sequence as in the pattern, it’s similar though. It goes a bit like this:
1 1 1 1/2 2 2 2/1 1 1 1
1 1 1/2 2 2 2/1 1 1 1/2
1 1/2 2 2 2/1 1 1 1/2 2
1|2 2 2 2|1 1 1 1|2 2 2
3 3\2 2 2 2\3 3 3 3\2 2
3 3 3\2 2 2 2\3 3 3 3\2
3 3 3 3|2 2 2 2|3 3 3 3
3 3 3/4 4 4 4/3 3 3 3/4
3 3/4 4 4 4/3 3 3 3/4 4
3/4 4 4 4/3 3 3 3/4 4 4

I’ll change back to colour 1 once I get to the end of this zag. it basically means I’m going to have a pink-and-orange zig-zag and also a purple-and-green zig-zag, unless I can think of a way to put the pink in at a different point. I’ll try to remember to post a progress picture sometime before my holiday. It is more than two stripes wide, and could probably be done in more than two-colour sets. If I like the finished item I might make more. I intend to line the bag too, so that it is useable. If I also line the strap then it doesn’t stretch so much, though lining a knitted strap might be difficult. We will see.

The new drive doobrey is pretty cool, actually. We ordered this thing where you can plug an old drive into a box, and then connect this box via USB to our new PC, thereby getting at all of the old iTunes that I thought were stuck on the old and incompatible drive. This is probably the coolest bit of kit I’ve seen in a while. It also means that I now have the various new songs I bought on my new PC and can therefore put them onto my iPod before I go on holiday!

Holiday preparation is underway now. My waxing appointment is tonight, my haircut and tan are on Saturday. I also need to try to get my phone unlocked and buy an adapter for US-to-UK plugs so that we can charge phones, cameras and use my travel hairdryer!
My travel hairdryer is really doody actually (considering that it was bought as an emergency replacement when Leon knew that my parents were scheming to get my swanky posh one for my birthday) because there’s a switch thing you can twist round to make it work on different current (like in the US) which will be useful. Gayle’s apparently bought some American GHDs, so if I need to straighten my hair I may borrow those – though not while I’m in Clearwater because she’ll be elsewhere at that time.

So, the packing is done, we even weighed the big case, which is less than the small one! It was about 11kgs I think. (I’ve forgotten already!) I still need to find my baseball cap. We have to sort out and charge our iPods on Saturday and do the last-minute panics. The other thing we’ll be doing on Saturday is taking Aston to his holiday-home with some friends of ours. I will have to warn him to behave himself, he’s been a bit bitey recently. On Sunday we’ll have to un-plug everything we don’t need to leave on (so only the digi-recorder will be on, pretty much) and then we’ll be off. I am still considering taking a cab to the station (it’s only a 15 minute walk, but that’s a long way with heavy cases!).

Hopefully the Hilton will provide us with a cab to the hotel, though we’re arriving pretty early. They have gym and pool facilities there, which we might make use of, depending on the tan-care (we’re having spray tans) and on whether we want to go into Manchester for a potter around. I don’t know what we’re doing about lunch that day either, as we’ll arrive just before lunch. We’ll see.
I’m soooooo excited! It’s really starting to sink in that I'm jetting off to Florida in 4 days time, that I'm off to stay in the Hilton for a night before I go, that we’re going to see my aunt, uncle and cousins after almost 10 years! I’m looking forward to all of it, everything. Even the enormous portions! Hopefully if there’s a pool at the villa I can make use of that and get some exercise! We don’t know what there will be on the complex, maybe golf (!) or a gym, could be anything.

I hope that I can get my phone unlocked, and that it will work over in the USA. I do need to call Orange and get them to enable international calling, just to be on the safe side. I still need to call the bank(s) and let them know that I'm going abroad so that they don’t cancel/stop my card (how embarrassing would that be?)

Okay, I’ve gone on too long. Happy knitting, happy holidays, happy Hayley!