Sunday, October 07, 2007

The Tale of Two Needles

What an adventure! Between all of the sight-seeing, eating, and sleeping I did on my honeymoon, I had surprisingly little time to knit my Jaywalkers. Of course, for most of the trip, I did not have anything to knit with! Let's just say that I'm lucky to have returned from Europe with half of a sock.

I was doing really well at the beginning; I completed most of the cuff during the bus ride to Chicago O'Hare and even managed to start the heel before falling asleep on our overnight plane to London. But then, Heathrow happened. Apparently, airport security in Europe is more strict, especially about knitting needles. And Knitpicks Options DPNs don't exactly look harmless. So there went TWO sets of Options and all my stitches were left to wander free in my bag.

Progress on the specimen before leaving O'Hare


Luckily, I spotted 2 yarn shops in Siena, and the proprietress of one (who was definitely smoking inside her shop) spoke enough English to sell me size 2.5mm needles. Of course, they were straight needles. Great. Still, I was able to pick up all of my stitches and save my knitting. I even managed to turn the heal on our train ride from Siena.

The specimen on one straight needle


But trying to work in the round on straights, after turning the heel, proved to be my downfall. I think that I finished 3 rounds, and I will be lucky if I haven't connected the two sides. Sigh. And when my straights bend and poked a hole in my travel bag, I called it quits. So I packed the knitting in my checked luggage, and am now on the hunt for some new DPNs now that I am stateside again.

But then again, I have a few other things that I can work (that I actually have needles for) now that I am home.