Have Knit, Will Travel

Ah, travel.  Staying in new places and not worrying about cooking dinner, doing laundry or domestic duties in general.  Except when it' s not a new place and it's not with your loved ones.  And it's for work and you're answering emails and stuck in a hotel feeling bloated because you maybe made too much merry at happy hour.  To soothe my unrest at these times I, of course, knit.

My Version of the Apple Dishcloth by Bernat/Lily Sugar'n Cream

As I get ready to travel for work next week, I am browsing through my stash of patterns and ideas trying to select a good travel project.  Travel is also a good time to check out the yarn silk road and do your own little yarn crawl along the way.  I try to keep my travel projects fairly simple, as I know it will be what I do in my spare time and I will be coming back to it repeatedly vs sitting and enjoying a leisurely afternoon of X-Files reruns whilst I click away on my needles.  Ahh.  Mulder.  An unrequited love.  

*snaps to*  I also tend to veer towards projects I have already started so I can actually enjoy and not do the cursed initial cast-on, yarn selection and possibly math.  These things involve lots of squinting and mumbling and possibly a padded room for me. 

I am going to the hotbed of culture, Dayton OH. Yes.  That was sarcasm.  They do, however, have LYS!  I'm looking forward to checking out Strings Attached if I get the chance, and possibly Fiberworks.  On the drive home I usually hit up Riverwools in Terra Haute, IN.  I have a visit to Arkansas the weekend I get back for the Apple Festival and hoping I find some fiber artists there as well.  On this visit I need to gift an aunt for her help with a relative's move and she loved the Ball and Band dishcloths I made for mom, so I'm going to make her a "fruit" set to include the Apple and Pear patterns and a handsoap. I am a bath product junkie so always have new soaps and lotions on hand.  A handsoap or lotion bundled with knitted cloths makes an awesome impromptu gift for housewarmings, hostess gifts, or just a simple thanks.  Free patterns, 1 or 2 skeins of yarn and a handsoap, I'll have money for the yarn shops along the way.  Booyah!

Take some time to check out yarn shops and fiber stops on your next adventure, you won't regret it!

Some of my favorite free dishcloth patterns:
Chinese Waves - On Ravelry
Ball and Band Dishcloth
Per Orla
Double Bump Dishcloth
Christmas Tree Dishcloth
Just Like Honey

Hey, Dish Towels!
Chili Pepper - On Ravelry
Bubble Up

Homecoming week = Jester. . . . . .?

My son is a senior this year so we're trying to make sure each event is memorable and unique.  Rather than running cross country this year, he has opted to do more afterschool activities, which involved being part of a float for the Homecoming parade.  Now, about two weeks ago, he DID tell me he might need a jester hat and he would let me know.  Fast forward to Monday this week, 6:00.  In the AM.  



Me:  Oh hey, you never told me what was going on with the parade.  Do you still need a jester hat?
Son:  mumble-mumble-eye-rub-headshake-zombie breakfast mode
Me: Hey.  Did you hear me?  Do you need that hat or no?
Son:  Oh, yeah.  I do.
Me:  So when is the parade?
Son: This Thursday.
Me:  *sigh*  Ok.

(Insert frantic pattern searching here)

After figuring out the picture in my head didn't quite exactly match anything I could find quickly, and by quickly I meant by lunchtime on Monday when I could run to the store and get the right colors of yarn, I figured out I would need to probably just 'do it' and figure it out as I go along.  Two straight days and nights of working then coming home and knitting and ripping and making notes and erasing and rewriting said notes until 1 in the morning and by Wednesday night at a normal bedtime, we had what the doctor ordered.

The Jester of Intarsia was born.  He was quietly pleased in the manner of a reserved 18 year old.  I, however, am blasting it out everywhere because I'm a spaz.  Enjoy!