SailingKnitter

So...we're just hanging out here in Barra de Navidad watching the crowds thin out and the other yachts sail away to go north. Many folks just cruise Mexico during the winter months "season" and then return to North America - US and Canada for the summer. Some even do the 4-letter word - (work) for a time to get money to do it all again next season. They take their boats either back to the US or up into the Sea of Cortez and leave them in a marina.

There are a lot of choices for full-time, live-aboard cruisers: hop around the Sea of Cortez at various anchorages, or get a slip at La Paz, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, San Carlos, and more. As full-time cruisers, we decided to go to the marina in Puerto Vallarta to secure the boat for the hurricane season. That's just a short sail from where we are now. Thus, we're going to stay put here for a couple of more weeks and enjoy the quiet, post-holiday atmosphere and cooler temperatures (70's) of April on the Mexican Pacific coast.

The cool weather certainly has made knitting with wool a lot more comfortable these past few days. Check out the progress I've made on the Grass Creek Park vest - am steeking along on the armholes now and have started working on the "sky" part of the design. Wool=J&S Jumper Weight Shetland.

Have you heard about Jamieson & Smith's parent company decision to discontinue a large number of their colors of this beautiful Shetland wool? The wide variety of blending colors is one of the features that gives value to this line of knitting yarns! It's not like carpet wools (which is the parent company's main business) where color trends change from year to year and certain colors lose favor with the buying public. We knitters need the gradual color shifts from hue to hue and tone to tone for this artistic form of hand knitting!

My Memories Sock Yarn Vest is growing - I now have the left front done and 1/2 of the back. This is great brainless knitting making these domino garter stitch squares. There seems to be a lot of interest lately in the knitting world in these mitered square designs made with sock yarn! I guess there's a lot of us with stashes of sock yarn leftovers.

And...I finished another pair of leisure socks for soldiers and my 1st pair of BBS (Big Black Socks) for my son's friend in Iraq. I'm loving the KnitPicks Essentials yarn for the black socks - very soft. Oh, and of course I've knit up a few more pairs of baby socks...they make great traveling & hanging out in public knitting.

MLC (Misery Loves Company) update: I found a ball of the missing black Lopi yarn for my fair isle sweater coat project that has been languishing in the back of the closet for almost 10 years. Now, no excuses! Those sleeves will be knit!

Cihuatlan & New Friends: Earlier this week we met Shirley from Canada in one of the lagoon side restaurants. She has been here on vacation for a few weeks and we all (Danny & Deborah on Cyclades and us) had a great leisurely lunch. Turns out Shirley is a knitter and even sells her original design 1-off-a-kind knit hats - very cool. Us gals decided to go explore the nearby town of Cihuatlan the following day - whooo hoooo! bus trip! The guys had to stay behind and babysit the boats as the afternoon winds had been strong and there is risk of the boats dragging anchor.

So here's a pic of new friend Shirley and me in the plaza in front of the church in Cihuatlan. The town itself is your typical Mexican town - dusty, with small dark cavelike stores and no tourist stuff as we were inland quite a bit. Our bus drove through a beautiful agricultural area with papaya groves, mango and coconut plantations and fields of banana trees. Actually, we were more interested in the farm fields than in the town itself. I'd like to find someone local who can show us the agricultural areas up close.

Check out these cool metal benches that were all around the plaza. The detail with the cathedral spires and birds is marvelous! There's such a strong contrast between the tidy little plaza and chuch and the rest of the spartan town.

When it was time for Shirley to return to Canada, we met her for sunset drinks and dinner on the beach. I know, it looks like all we do is hang out at little restaurants and bars watching people and sunsets. Not true! We do lots of other stuff...like watch birds, fishermen, and sunsets from our boat anchored in the lagoon. And I knit...and knit...and knit......