CHC to AKL to LAX to PHX and Back Again

If you have trouble keeping up with my global itinerary, you are not alone. Even I am having trouble keeping track of myself!

I just returned to New Zealand after five weeks in Apache Junction, Arizona...smack in the middle of summer. My Gramma had a hip replacement and I went there to help her through it. 'Weren't you just in Arizona...like, a month ago?' you ask. Yes, I was and I had to turn right back 'round and go back out there. But nothing could stop me really...my Gramma was in trouble and I needed to be there for her.

While I was gone I missed the big Christchurch earthquake that rocked our little town to the tune of 7.1 on the Richter Scale. Luckily our house survived without so much as a crack, but Antz was without water for 3 days.

During my month in the Valley of the Sun, I developed a serious addiction to air conditioning and Jamba Juice smoothies while obsessively hunting for the ever-elusive shady parking spot. Of course the interior of my rental car was dark grey.

One thing I love about Arizona is that a lot of the eateries have outdoor patios with overhead misters that put out a fine, cooling mist that gently floats down to cool you on even the hottest days. Wonderful!

Admiring the unique southwest architecture.

To keep sane during some pretty hellacious days in which my Gramma was in so much pain that the maximum doses of morphine still didn't quite do the trick, I knitted for hours, often in a dark hospital room.


I knitted the other sleeve to the Ariosa sweater.

 

I knitted a hat of my own design.

This was made with Noro Kureyon and another coordinating Peruvian Highland Wool. In retrospect, I ought to have chosen more contrasting colors, but I kind of like the subtle design and texture. Due to the scratchy-ness of the wool, I will have to line this hat with something.

I knit another pair of French Press slippers with Cascade 220 in 'Thunder.'

They look a bit Franken-slipper at the moment, but they still need to be felted in the washing machine which will shrinky-dink them down to a perfect pair. Just you wait and see!

Only home a couple of days and I've already lined the hat.

I cut up an old sweatshirt that I wasn't wearing anymore and used it to line the hat. You can see I sewed in a tiny green 'tag' on the seam that lets me know at a glance where the back of the hat is.

I was going to use windblock fleece, but from experience a Fair Isle hat that has two yarns running along the inside plus a layer of windblock fleece is just a smidge too warm for the summer season in Antarctica (oh by the way, did I mention that I am keeping this hat for myself?). So I thought if I lined it with this cotton sweatshirt material, it would still be warm, but not quite as warm as with the fleece...and it would breathe. The cotton material is really comfortable to wear too. Usually cotton is not recommended for cold weather gear, but the thick layer of wool on the outside should be sufficient for insulation, even if I am working outside. There's nothing worse than a sweaty head down on the ice. Or frozen ears. We shall see if I am right.

Spring has sprung in New Zealand and my favorite flowering tree, the Magnolias are in the middle of their very short but exquisite blooming season.

Six-Week Socks

I've just returned from a 6-week trip to the States, visiting family in California, then taking a trip with my husband up to Alaska, ending up in Vancouver, flying back to Orange County California, then finally a week-long side trip to Arizona to visit more family.

What a whirlwind! I took enough yarn for two projects, but with all that was going on, I quickly realized I'd be lucky to complete the pair of socks that I began just before leaving New Zealand for the trip.

The socks went everywhere I did and I found bits of time here and there to work on them.

Here is the first sock near Denali Park, Alaska.

Anthony took the time to take some time-lapse photos along the way. Here he is waiting for Anchorage's famous 'bore tide' to come along the inlet called 'Turnagain Arm.'

We drove all the way to the end of the Kenai Peninsula to a town called Homer. I hadn't yet had a yarn fix and was jonesin' for sure. A local man told me about the 'Yarn Yurt' and we hurriedly made our way to the location.

To my horror, the Yarn Yurt was closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays and we were in Homer for one day...you guessed it...a Thursday. It was painful.

After a week of driving around seeing the sights, we hopped aboard a cruise ship to take us from Seward, Alaska down to Vancouver, BC.

In between eating, which is a 24/7 endeavor on cruise ships, I found some time to knit.

Starting the second sock...

Lovely view of (first) sock and Alaska's gorgeous coastline.

I was finally rewarded with a yarn fix in Ketchikan at Mission Street Arts & Fibers. I was looking for some unique yarn, preferably something made locally and I found this...

This hand-dyed colorway from Raven Frog Fiber Arts in Sitka, Alaska is called 'Tapestry.' The colors are inspired by the climate of southeast Alaska and the Russian influence there. Apparently to keep houses warm in the winter, the Russian immigrants would hang heavy tapestries on the walls to insulate them.

There is an additional skein laying on top of it that is in the same colorway but is a fancy yarn. I have no idea what I will make with it, but the colors are intoxicating. I have 550 yards of the main skein...maybe enough for a vest, or perhaps a hat/scarf combo?

On a side note, Anthony and I were dumbfounded at the number of penguin souvenirs in Alaska. It is shocking how many people think penguins live in Alaska (when in fact, they don't...they live in Antarctica and a few other places, but definitely NOT Alaska). This kind of marketing, especially to kids, just perpetuates the myth and frankly, annoys me.

I continued working on the socks when we were in Vancouver for five days, and then when we returned to California. We then rented another car and drove to Arizona to visit my Grammie. The socks were getting so close to completion.  Working on socks in 110-degree temps is an act of sheer dedication.

Here they are hanging out on a fence off the Apache Trail near the Superstition Mountains in Arizona.

While in Arizona we happened to find ourselves in downtown Mesa. The place looked so familiar for some reason. Then I realized with my 7th knitterly sense that I had been down this way before...TO A YARN STORE! And sure enough, moments later I spotted the giant pink chair which heralds the spot of a great little yarn store, 'Fiber Factory,' that I had visited on my last trip.

My husband Anthony has the patience of a saint, as I parked and left him in the car with the engine and air-conditioning running and told him, '15 minutes.' Of course I could have spent longer, but one has to be reasonable, especially when people are waiting. So I perused the yarn store for something special and found these lovelies...

Ah, I just want to lick them, they look so good. This is Mirasol Yarns 'K'Acha' from from Peru. It is a kettle-dyed single ply of 60% fine merino, 25% Suri alpaca and 15% silk. A portion of each purchase is dedicated to the funding of a school in a remote area of Peru. So I can feel even better about buying this yarn.

The brown ball is so unusual in that it looks almost purple in some lights.

Well that's me all caught up to present. We are back in our house in Christchurch, New Zealand and I have already started a new project, a vest sweater with cap sleeves in a bulky 'clay' colored yarn. I'll post about that next time.

Oh, and by the way, I finished the socks the night before flying back to New Zealand. I wore them on the plane. Yay!