Fiesta Feet at the Beach
For this vacation, I did something remarkable. I got all the things I needed for the vacation in my single suitcase (which is small enough to be carry on when I am on a business trip) and a tote bag. I limited myself to one book to read (never touched it), one book of Sudoku puzzles (did a few) and one knitting project (made many stitches). On the way back, there was still a little room in all of our suitcases. I consider it an ironic victory that we were able to travel lighter with a baby than when we travel on our own. Maybe just knowing that we weren't going to be going out any place fancy with a 7 month old in tow was the key. Who needs fancy shoes or clothes that have to live on hangers when you have to find a restaurant that is tolerant of a small child spreading saltine cracker shards everywhere?Ms. Z did travel very well and I think we were impressed with both her and ourselves when it came to our airplane trip. My best advice for traveling with a baby? 1) Pack some juice. And then take twice as much as you think you need. Take offs and landings can take longer than you think they will and liquids are the perfect way to make a baby swallow so they can handle the pressure changes. 2) Toys. Lots of them. Sacrifice your own potential entertainment for that of the kid. As we learned, you might get lucky and get a short nap, or you might get an active baby. An active baby means that you won't be reading that third book you brought (or knitting) anyway.
By limiting my own entertainment options, I actually made my vacation better. One sock project is easy to schlep around without feeling over loaded. My usual regimen finds me with much more day-to-day luggage because I worry that I won't feel like working on any given project. This time, I just had one project to focus on, and, as a result, I got quite a bit accomplished. Nap time when you are on vacation is just pure bliss time to do whatever you want, even if you can't leave the condo.
If I was only going to take one project along, I decided it was going to be a good one. I bought my Fiesta Feet sock pattern and Soft Touch yarn from the folks at Shelridge Farm at my first MS&W. Looking back, I'm not sure what I was thinking because while I have always been intrigued by color work knitting, I had relatively little interest in doing it. And when I got the pattern home, I remember looking it over, thinking it looked too complicated (without really reading it over very well) and putting everything into my stash.
With the start of the color work projects for Z, I got to thinking about what was in my pattern library that might be fun for me, and remembered this pattern. This time, when I looked over the pattern, I realized that it's no where near as complicated as it looks. In fact, until you get past turning the heel, all of the knitting is done using either one or the other color. Once you get past the heel, every other row is a single color, and the two color rows are straightforward, easy to memorize. In fact, I'd argue that this is a very nice project to "learn" two color knitting on. And all the different techniques in the cuff and leg of the sock make it impossible for you to get bored.
I'll talk about those different sections in my next post -- this sock really comes to life under a macro lens!
With the start of the color work projects for Z, I got to thinking about what was in my pattern library that might be fun for me, and remembered this pattern. This time, when I looked over the pattern, I realized that it's no where near as complicated as it looks. In fact, until you get past turning the heel, all of the knitting is done using either one or the other color. Once you get past the heel, every other row is a single color, and the two color rows are straightforward, easy to memorize. In fact, I'd argue that this is a very nice project to "learn" two color knitting on. And all the different techniques in the cuff and leg of the sock make it impossible for you to get bored.
I'll talk about those different sections in my next post -- this sock really comes to life under a macro lens!
Right you've got me all inspired to dig out fiesta feet and the wool I dyed for them ... THANK YOU it was just what I needed.
I LOVE the Fiesta Feet sock! I've been interested in learning colorwork and this just might be the project I learn it on. Thanks for sharing.
That sock looks great. I can't wait to see the detail shots. It's nice to hear that I'm not the only one who carries multiple projects because you might not feel like working on one of them. I do that all the time. I'm sure it has a lot to do with my achy shoulders.
That was good advice on travel. For my day-to-day car trips (errands & visits to restaurants, etc.) with my son, I quickly learned that the best place for the diaper bag was in the car trunk, and I would stuff one diaper, a thin travel size of diaper wipes, and a bottle in my small purse. I'm glad you had a nice vacation.
What a fun sock pattern; I like the colors.
Sounds like you had yourself a great vacation. I hope Baby Z wasn't the only one who got to nap.
The sock may not be as complicated as you thought it was when you bought it, but it is still a sock to impress! It's fancy enough even to wow the muggles.
Another great travel trick, especially for toddlers, is to gift wrap a bunch of little toys and snacks (they can be new toys or ones you have around the house that the child hasn't played with in a while) and put them in your carry on. When the kids starts getting antsy, you give them a wrapped do-hickey to unwrap and play with or eat. Keeps them busy for a good 15 minutes each.
One of the reasons we found that we were traveling lighter is the realization that neither of us had purchased any clothes since our guys were born....but they were decked out in the finest...priorities change and kids clothes and handknits are so much cuter that grown up clothes ;) Happy vacationning!