Sunday, April 08, 2007

We're Lost, but We're Making Good Time

One thing I’ve come to acknowledge, over the years, is my hubby & his family’s penchant for debate. Call it discussion, exchange of ideas, or out & out informing (whomever) of factoids, they’re way into that. So I found it quite amusing to listen to my dear hubby express his insights and differences of opinion to “Lucille”, our newly acquired Garmin Nüvi device which, when installed in our vehicle, is supposed to give us directions to wherever we are going. It appears that Lucille takes into account only distance. . . not scenic routes, and definitely not which particular bridge, in crossing the Columbia River, would appear to be sturdy enough to bear the weight of a diesel truck hauling a travel trailer. So we proceeded, with Doug having an ongoing conversation with Lucille, instructing which routes might be better choices for our trip. I was happy to be out of the loop and enjoyed my knitting time. Lucille spent a lot of time uttering the word “recalculating”.

As for knitting projects on the road, I’ve given up on lace knitting altogether. That requires a stable setting with good light, at least for me. Socks are out of the question, too, taking into account the small needle size, fine yarn & the truck’s frequent bounces & turns. I need something with larger needles, larger yarn, and uncomplicated pattern while traveling. So, I pulled out some Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride from my stash, and some handspun ditzels of yarn and voila, we’re doing modular knitting.

The square that I’m doing in varying configurations is 11 stitches per side, plus one corner stitch (in the center). I’m doing mostly garter stitch, but once in awhile throw in stocking stitch to show off a pretty color. Double decreases are done every other row on the wrong side, using the center three stitches each time. That leaves one less stitch on the outsides with each decrease row, down to the point where there remains only one stitch on the needle. At that point, I pick up stitches on the right side along an edge of the square, again, having 11 stitches + 1 corner stitch, then cast on the remaining side of 11 stitches. For the smaller squares, I use six stitches per side, and for the larger rectangles that are composed of two squares, 11 stitches + 1 corner stitch, + 22 stitches + 1 corner stitch, + 11 stitches = 46 stitches. For the units of 3 squares, the total stitches cast on are 69. Just thought you might like to know. :-) And by the way, if I were to do it again, I’d probably choose to start with 12 stitches per side since I’m enjoying throwing in a few of the smaller squares (and half of 12 is 6). My squares are turning out to be about 3 1/2".

After we took some time to visit the areas surrounding White Salmon, Washington, we headed south into Central Oregon seeking a few days of sunshine. I’m happy to say that we found sunshine, and weather in the high 60’s & low 70’s. We also found spectacular mountain peaks, and for those of you who live in different parts of the country, we don’t consider them to be mountains unless they are covered with snow and/or periodically erupt. It’s a Pacific Northwest kind of thing.



I hope you enjoy the photos. This is a beautful part of the country & we’ll definitely be coming back. . . hopefully some year to catch the Sisters Quilt Show It’s the second Saturday in July).

Happy Easter everybody!

6 Comments:

Blogger LavenderSheep said...

Your squares look really awesome!

I quite agree with you about Oregon being just gorgeous. My husband and myself went all over taking pictures of Mt Hood and all of the trees bursting into blossom. It was really wonderful. I'll have pics up on my blog soon, I hope =)

10:34 PM  
Blogger Dorothy said...

My husband has discussions with "Jane", our Tom-Tom navigator. I can highly recommend the Sisters show. I've only been once, but it was glorious! And that part of Oregon is so beautiful.
dswaite@mac.com

7:15 AM  
Blogger sarah / knot another hat said...

I love that modular piece - just beautiful. And I second your "mountain" definition!

11:43 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Then there's Ira who won't even turn the navigation system on! He thinks it's a sure way to get lost. :)

d2

9:04 AM  
Blogger Leigh said...

Your travel photos look like picture postcards. But it's your modular knitting that I think is gorgeous!

6:55 PM  
Blogger Tina T-P said...

What lovely pictures - we followed that route for vacation a couple of years ago - just beautiful. Didn't you love the Stonehenge replica? How fun to get to go to Knot Another Hat & meet another blogger - I read her blog frequently.

What did you do with the kitties while you were gone - or did they come with you?? Your knitting was beautiful - I can't crochet while I'm riding - (it makes me car sick) so it makes me envious.

Hope you are having a great spring! Tina

11:06 PM  

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