I've been waiting to use that terrible pun my entire vacation. In fact, I finished my Opal Rodeo socks just in time to go up to the top of Haleakala (where it gets quite chilly, since it is over 10,000 ft elevation) and then left them in our bungalow. How sad. At least I brought the pair I was working on for John, so I had something to knit on on our way down the mou ntain (it was dark and there wasn't much to see). It was going to be my only shot of actual knitted garment in the wilds of Maui, complete with bad pun. Instead, you get the bad pun and the table on my back porch. And a picture or two of Haleakala later in the week.

Hale-sockalas

They did get worn before the shoot (on the airplane ride home... now that I make my own socks, I can't get on an airplane without wearing a pair of nice wool socks... airplanes are always so chilly) but they're not too much the worse for wear. They are based on the Timberline Toes socks from Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks Warm Feet (you should feel sorry for this poor book -- I've taken it with me everywhere and have not been gentle with it -- that just tells you how wonderful a sock knitting reference it is). They have a tubular cast-on top and garter stitch short-row heels. The toes are just in garter stitch. They are identical twins except for the heels, which are different because I just started from the opposite end of the ball from the main yarn and didn't want to waste any yarn -- the pattern repeat is pretty long in these socks and I wanted to make sure that the main body of the socks matched. So fraternal heels it was.

So I did better on this trip than I thought I would. On pair of socks finished and the first of a second pair almost finished. I did just a little bit of knitting on my handspun scarf, and none on the other lace scarf... just too much brain activity required for lace knitting. And Maui is one of those places where you don't want to miss the scenery while you're knitting on something complicated.

This sock did make me realize one thing. I love trying new things with socks, but I also don't have the patience for sock knitting that I can't do from memory. I have a feeling it's going to be back to my old standard twisted German cast-on, dutch or afterthought heel and regular stockinette toe from here on out...