Knit one, read two

What I did on my holidays – Part 3 – Almost everything else

September 11, 2009 SusanLeave a comment

Where everything else covers hiking, eating, volcanoes and surfing.

These posts have turned out to be much harder to write than I thought they would so this is going to be a summary of the highlights or I’ll be here until next year!

Hiking

We managed quite a lot of hiking in our two weeks (even on days that had previously been planned as sitting on the beach days).

One of the highlights was hiking on Kauai from Ke’e Beach to Hanakapi’ai Beach and then inland to Hanakapi’ai Falls. It started with scenery like this:

and ended with an amazing swim under the falls themselves. This was our first full day on Kauai, our first ‘proper’ day of honeymoon and we spent the next two weeks saying “Can you believe we swam under a waterfall?”

Eating

We were mainly too busy/tired to worry about going anywhere particular fancy for eating but there are a couple of places that stood out.

Eggs ‘n Things in Honolulu: Brilliant American breakfasts, pancakes, waffles, omelettes and plenty of other stuff. Perfect either before or after a surf lesson at Waikiki beach.

3660 On The Rise in Honolulu: Hawaiian fusion of Western and Oriental cooking at its finest. We had a taster menu complete with accompanying wines and it was the best meal of the holiday, if not the year.

I should also mention Ken’s House of Pancakes and the Garden Snack Club in Hilo. Both were brilliant, in very different ways!

Volcanoes and lava

We spent a couple of days exploring the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and could have spent much longer if we had had the time.

There was more hiking, this time down, across and back up a volcanic crater. The crater in the photo below is 2 miles across. To really appreciate the scale on this picture, take a look at the largest size that I uploaded to Flickr and see if you can spot the tiny little people.

We also did some volcano exploring outside of the park, including a lava tube cave (Steven included in picture for scale)

and a visit to see hot lava entering the ocean. This was fairly impressive even during daylight hours…

…but magical after sunset.

Surfing

There are deliberately no photographs of Steven and I surfing, despite the desperate efforts of the company we booked our lesson with to take some decent ones. We had our first (but definitely not last) lesson on our last full day in Hawaii and it was even more fun than we thought it was going to be. We weren’t brilliant but both managed to catch a couple of waves to the point of actually standing on the board. Now we just need to go back for long enough to learn to do it properly!

A new hobby

September 7, 2009September 5, 2009 Susan3 Comments

Because what I need right now, obviously, is another hobby.

It was my birthday at the end of August and I used my birthday money to buy the sewing machine that I’ve been craving for ages. Actually, I’ve been wanting a sewing machine since my last one broke, which was about 20 years ago now! (It was a toy machine but did actually sew things.)

And here it is:

It’s an Elna 2600 and I love it to pieces. Especially since I’ve just completed my first project on it.

The project is a sock-knitting project bag. I don’t knit socks that often but I couldn’t resist Crazy Lanea’s tutorial and I’m glad I didn’t because the finished bag is one of the most adorable things I’ve seen.

The tutorial was really easy to follow and the whole project took less than 2.5 hours. I even made sure I matched up the stripes:

The ribbons are actually re-purposed hanging loops from a t-shirt. I cut them off because they kept showing when I wore the t-shirt and they turned out to be the perfect colour match for the fabric.

The fabric is all from IKEA. I picked up some bits and pieces when Steven and I were there earlier in the week.

The red and white stripe is called Sofia, the plain white is Lenda and the brown geometrical is Petronella. Between the three lots I ended up with 5.5m for less than £18. The red-and-white and plain white are for experimenting with, I’m going to try and make a more useful container for my interchangeable needle tips, and the brown geometrical is going to be covers for some seat pads for our dining chairs since it matches the fabric table runners that we already have.

Now I just need to work out how to fit in sewing time along side work, studying, knitting, crocheting…..

From shawls to blankets

September 4, 2009 SusanLeave a comment

The weather has taken a turn towards Autumn around here this week and my knitting appears to be following suit.

My oldest friend is expecting a baby this November and since the bump’s grandmother and great-grandmother have already started on piles of shawls and jumpers, I thought I’d make a blanket.

The pattern is the Teddy Bear Baby Blanket and is free from Crystal Palace Yarns. The squares are clever combinations of stocking stitch and reverse stocking stitch to form the bears and the seed stitch border is perfect for pulling the whole thing together and stopping it curling.

It’s knitted with two strands of DK yarn held together which means that it is also a very quick knit. I cast this on over the weekend and am already two-thirds of the way through. I guess I’ll have plenty of time to knit something else for the baby before it arrives!

I also hereby declare my intention to finish my Double Vision blanket before the end of the year.

It is half complete and the strips get shorter and easier from here on in. Also, exam season is approaching rather quickly and I’m feeling the need of some relaxing brainless knitting. All I need to do is find where I “tidied” all the unused yarn to.

It’s shawl go around here

September 1, 2009 SusanLeave a comment

(For the record: I don’t really like puns but sometimes they get stuck in my head, particularly for blog titles, and I just have to let them out.)

I have two finished shawls to show off today. The first is the River that I knitted for my grandmother, being admirably modelled here by my wardrobe. I finished knitting this back in June (in time for her birthday) but was terrified of blocking the Kidsilk Haze so put off doing it until this weekend. In the end, I blocked it the same way I block everything else (soak in cold water and then pin out on towels) and it was fine. This really is a gorgeous shawl when it is finished and blocked and it was hard to part with. I have enough yarn to knit another one for me but the pattern is quite boring to knit and I don’t really like Kidsilk Haze so it might be a while before I get around to it.

I got a phone call from my Gran last night to say that the shawl had arrived and was “really lovely” so that made it all worthwhile!

The other shawl is my finished Adamas, which was finished and blocked in record time because I was so keen to wear it. It was knitted using the Knit Picks Gloss Lace that I brought back from Hawaii. It turns out that this is a fantastic everyday laceweight yarn. It is 70% merino wool and 30% silk and I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t softer/silkier to the touch when knitting. However, it’s nice and soft to wear and unlike my silk lace shawls feels like it will stand up to some heavy wearing. (Ignore my strange wind-swept fringe in the photograph, I need to get my hair cut.)

This is my first triangular shawl and has completely cured me of my fear of looking like a little old lady when wearing them. I foresee many, many more in my future.

Q: What’s round and beige and goes on forever?

August 5, 2009August 2, 2009 SusanLeave a comment

A: The Bell Curve skirt that I’m knitting.

I love the pattern, I’m even liking the way the Sirdar Just Soy yarn is knitting up (which I was worried I wouldn’t), I just wish it was done already.

When you get right down to it, it’s acres of stocking stitch in the round in beige yarn with the only excitement being the star stitches every fifth row. (Just between you and me, I don’t even think they look like stars; they’re pretty and I like them but I don’t think they look like stars; shells, maybe.)

Fortunately for my sanity, my other active project at the moment is another Celestine. It’s quick and interesting and definitely not beige! At the moment it reminds me of some of the orchids that we saw on Hawai’i.

What I did on my holidays – Part 2 – Astronomy

August 1, 2009 Susan1 Comment

I’ve been fascinated by the stars and space since a school project that I did at about age 7. The fascination stayed with me, even surviving my astronomy degree, to the extent that our wedding present from my sister was a telescope. Fortunately, Steven shares my fascination (especially considering the wedding present!) so we took some time to indulge it while we were on Hawai’i.

Mauna Kea on the island of Hawai’i is quite possibly the best place on Earth for making astronomical observations and since the 1960’s several of the world’s most advanced land-based telescopes have been built on its summit. The summit itself is at around 14,000 feet meaning that, while it’s possible to take a day-trip up there, it’s not really convenient or comfortable thanks to low temperatures and thinner air.

Fortunately, there is an alternative in the form of the snappily-named Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Visitor Information Station. The station is situated on the slopes of Mauna Kea at around 9300 feet and provides all the information you could possibly need on the mountain, the telescopes, weather and road conditions. Every evening, their volunteers provide a free star-gazing session including guidance on the best place to watch the sunset, a tour of the constellations and other objects that are visible with the naked eye and several high-quality telescopes that they will set up to view the most interesting things visible that night (or anything else that you ask them to).

Steven and I enjoyed our first evening up there so much that we went back a second night while we were there, even though it was a 3.5 hour round-trip from the town that we were staying in. The sunsets were amazing (there are a couple of pictures below, some more in my Flickr set and even more that I haven’t uploaded yet), the volunteers were friendly and knowledgeable and the night skies were like nothing I’ve ever seen. The combination of being above the cloud level, as seen in the picture below, no light pollution and the thinner air creates the ideal viewing conditions. Also, because Hawai’i is much further south than London, we got to see constellations and objects that it is just not possible to see from home. We saw Saturn and some of its moons, the Jewel Box open cluster (not visible from the UK) and many, many other things, including the best views of the Milky Way I’ve ever seen.

If you have any interest in star-gazing at all and you get the opportunity to visit Mauna Kea then you absolutely must. Don’t take one of the tours however. They’re very expensive, especially compared to the cost of petrol to drive yourself to the information centre, and the observing from the summit isn’t actually as good as the observing from the information centre thanks to the fact that your brain is much less good at processing information at 14,000 feet than it is as 9,000 feet and to the fact that the information center have better telescopes than most of the tours carry.

Another must-do if you’re interested in astronomy is the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai’i in Hilo. They try to combine Hawai’ian cultural traditions with modern-day astronomy. The mixture doesn’t always quite work but they have an excellent planetarium, some interesting information on Polynesian celestial navigation and great exhibits. Their hands-on exhibits are fantastic and had Steven and I running round like kids to see what we could play with next. Our guidebook described it as being so good that you shouldn’t necessarily wait for a rainy day to go, which was absolutely true. However, since statistically it rains in Hilo two days out of three, you probably wouldn’t have a long wait anyway.

What I did on my holidays – Part 1 – Yarn

July 20, 2009 Susan1 Comment

A series of posts coming up on some of the best bits of our recent honeymoon trip to Hawaii. The first and last posts are even going to be craft-related!

I had decided before the start of the trip that I wanted to bring back some souvenir yarn and my plan was to buy a couple of skeins of laceweight to turn into a shawl. Since Hawaii isn’t known for its yarn production, my only preference was for an American yarn that isn’t readily available in the UK. I checked KnitMap for yarn shops in Hawaii, compiled a list of possible options and then promptly forgot to take my list with me.

Fortunately, Steven had his laptop and we found a wireless connection that I could use and towards the end of the trip, while we were staying in Hilo on the Big Island, I managed to squeeze in a quick trip to the Bernina Yarn Basket. It wasn’t the most attractive or best-organised yarn shop that I’ve ever been to (I still have no idea if there was any system behind where the yarn was stored or if it just got stuck wherever there was space) but I did find a couple of yarns to take home with me.

First up were two skeins of Knit Picks Gloss Lace in colour Chipotle.

Closely followed by three skeins of Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Lace in the snappily-named colour 2055.

I’ve added so many shawl patterns to my Ravelry queue since bringing these yarns home and I still have no idea which ones I’ll end up using. Watch this space.

We heard a great story from the sales assistant in the yarn shop when she found out that we were Scottish. Apparently, her husband’s grandparents were Scottish and emigrated to the States in the early 20th century. They were booked to be travelling out on the Titanic but her husband’s aunt (who was 4 at the time) caught chicken pox the week before they were due to travel and his grandmother refused to travel until she was better. It’s not often chicken pox are considered lucky.

Another amusing story: as we were driving away from the yarn shop, Steven asked if I’d bought enough yarn. I launched into a long explanation of why, even though it was much cheaper than in the UK, I didn’t want to spend much money or have to carry lots of yarn back in my suitcase, etc., etc. When I finally finished justifying ‘only’ buying 5 skeins of yarn, Steven carefully explained that he was only checking I’d bought enough of the ones I wanted to actually make something. Oops!

How time flies

June 18, 2009July 4, 2010 SusanLeave a comment

There hasn’t been a lot of knitting going on around here recently but I do have a couple of finished projects.

First, my evening socks for a young lady.

Despite being a really enjoyable knit, these are a little disappointing as finished socks. One of these days I will start listening to my instincts when they tell me that socks are going to be too short and too tight around the calf. I may unpick these from the top and knit a new longer, stretchier cuff. In future, if I want knee-high socks they’ll be knitted toe-up.

They look great though and the 5-row pattern repeat made them very quick to knit; it ends up being ‘just one more repeat’ rather than ‘just one more row’.

I’ve also finished my River although it still needs blocked and there’s no point trying to photograph an unblocked lace mohair shawl! Just picture a black amorphous blob here.

There hasn’t been much progress on the crochet baby blanket but since I’ve just head that one of my oldest friends is pregnant with her first baby expect a lot more baby knitting to come.

Conquering crochet

May 19, 2009May 18, 2009 SusanLeave a comment

There hasn’t been much posting here recently, which is at least partly due to there not have been a lot of knitting going on around here.

One of the reasons for the scarcity of knitting was pain in my upper arms due to an excess of writing while studying that knitting appeared to aggravate. Since I really need something to help me relax between study sessions, I decided, hesitantly, that I would give crochet another try.

Crochet and I have had a strange history. My first attempt at crochet happened when I decided that I wanted a new cardigan to wear over the dress that I had bought for a friend’s wedding. Since there was only a week before the wedding, I decided that it would have to be crocheted rather than knitted, despite having never crocheted before. So, I picked a pattern, bought some yarn, a hook and an introductory book on crochet and proceeded to start crocheting. One week later, I finished sewing up the cardigan on the train journey to the wedding and wore it to the wedding.

It’s been two years (almost to the day) and I haven’t finished a single crocheted item since.

My problem with crochet (and it is my problem and not crochet’s) is that I’m just not as good at it as I am at knitting. I’m continually having to check what pattern abbreviations mean and then having to check how to actually form those stitches. Until recently, I hadn’t found a comfortable way to hold my hook, resulting in some very awkward arm movements.

But, since I couldn’t knit and desperately needed some form of relaxation whilst studying, I decided that was I just going to have to learn to crochet properly. So, I picked a simple project and, using some bamboo yarn that I had in my stash, started a baby blanket. (The original pattern was for a cushion cover but I really don’t need pastel cushion covers!)

Shortly after I started the project, I came across this passage in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice:

“My fingers,” said Elizabeth, “do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women’s do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault—because I will not take the trouble of practising. It is not that I do not believe my fingers as capable as any other woman’s of superior execution.”

Of course, Lizzie is talking about playing the pianoforte and not crochet, but I’m taking the lesson to heart and keeping practising!

Geeking out

May 18, 2009 SusanLeave a comment

I am an enormous geek but, even for me, this was an unbelievably geeky weekend.

Steven and I took a trip out to Bletchley Park on Saturday.

During World War II, Bletchley Park was home to the codebreakers working to crack the Axis codes, including the famous Enigma. Today, it bills itself as the National Code Centre and has an amazing collection of cypher devices and memorabilia from war-time actitivities there. The most impressive exhibits though are the rebuilt bombes, which were the electromechanical devices used to decipher Enigma messages and the rebuilt Colossus, the first programmable electronic computing device.

A BOMBE

COLOSSUS

As well as all of this, Bletchley Park is also the site of the National Museum of Computing. The museum showcases the history of computing from the war-time code-breaking activities at Bletchley Park, all the way through to modern day. If you have any nostalgia for older computer systems, you’ll feel right at home here. The collection includes lots of things that you’d expect, like the Apple Lisa and the Spectrum ZX-81, and some things you might not expect, like the control system for a nuclear power station, installed in the 1960’s and in constant operation until it was decommissioned in 2004.

Both museums feel very much like works-in-progress; there appear to be nearly as many workshops as exhibits but the sheer love and enthusiasm of the people behind them more than make up for any lack of polish.

Then, because the day hadn’t been quite geeky enough yet, we went to see the new Star Trek film. The film does a brilliant job of setting itself free from 40 years’ worth of established history while staying true to the characters and atmosphere of the original. I enjoyed it so much that almost the first words out of my mouth when we left the cinema were “Can we go see it again?” (Just don’t ask me to comment on the astro-physics!)