SailingKnitter: Back Home in Guatemala

Friday, November 12, 2010

Back Home in Guatemala

The return trip:

The giant pile of boat parts, special candies, spices, enchilada sauce, brand-name medicine, yarn, turkey baster, books, and more boat parts had to be loaded into 2 suitcases not to exceed 50 lbs. each. Success! Each bag weighed 49.5 lbs.

One of the house cats, Loki, enjoyed exploring the empty boxes and made quite a pest of himself. Now, everything else had to be stuffed in the 2 carry-on bags. Balancing out weight versus bulk was the trick here. Hmm...seeing as I don't need the PJs in the tropics, I threw them out after my last wearing, and then wore layers of clothes for the trip rather than packing them. It's a good thing that I lost a little weight during my visit!

After a shuttle van pick-up in Sacramento at the god-awful time of 3:15am, 3 airplane flights and a 5 1/2 hour bus ride, plus a short boat ride, I arrived safely back to the boat 36 hours later. I left Tuesday before dawn and managed to make it to the marina in time for a quick nap followed by the Wednesday evening all-you-can-eat taco buffet! From autumn in northern California to snow in Salt Lake City to who-knows-what-because-it-was-dark-during-the-6-hours-I-sat-in-the-Los Angeles Airport to nippy high-altitude Guatemala City to the tropical heat of the Caribbean all in one trip. It was a welcome pleasure to be able to relax and enjoy tacos with Jonesy and our many friends here at the marina. The "Hurricane Season" is winding to a close and already some boats have left for their adventures. We will leave on Nov. 27th . . . unless we don't.

So, here are some photos from the Knitting Retreat in Lake Tahoe back in October. That is a whole room full of 60 women talking, knitting, eating, drinking, and knitting some more. I led a "make 'n take" session of my little Ribbon Candy Ornaments pattern. First I had to wind into tiny hanks 4 different colors of fingering weight yarns of 4 differen

t lengths and label the baggies with the color designators (A, B, C, D) for each of the 60 kits. This pattern is now in the "Knitting: 2011 Day-to-Day Calendar" box of patterns which is available at book stores and yarn shops.

These are two Ribbon Candies that I knit and

wore as earrings

just to show everyone what the end product should look like - these can be tree ornaments, package ties, or yep, earrings.

Another knitting event I attended while visiting up in the states was a Lace Shawl Design Workshop taught by Amy Singer, Editor/Publisher/Founder of Knitty.com online magazine. Amy led us through the various shape options for shawls, and guided

us on

stitch pattern selection and placement. Fun stuff! After buying some beautiful alpaca laceweight yarn, I re-read the supplies list for the class and she specified a fingering weight yarn. Oh my! That meant I needed to run (actually walk) down to the nearest yarn shop and buy another shawl's worth of yarn - and a new lace stitch dictionary,

oh, and the right size needles. I DO like to have the correct materials for school.

Here's my feeble beginnings of a top-down, starting at the center-back triangular shawl. The yarn is Melody Superwash wool by Jojoland. So where's the lace you might ask - well, I wanted a solid stockinette top at

the upper back

which will somehow morph into lace. It's the "somehow" that will be the challenge.No, I did NOT wimp out...this is planned. Really.

Guess what I met at the class! TWO pairs of socks

on the feet of knitters made from

two of my patterns! First, I saw the Medallion Cable socks in red, then the light colored Cozy Cables Socks were presented for viewing.

So, here I am with my knitting buddy Sandi, and Amy Singer. In Amy's arms is her electric ukulele. I didn't even know that there was such a thing until then.

I've sent a YEAR'S WORTH of knitting for the orphanage in Kazakhstan to the folks who will hand-carry it to the kids at the end of this month. 36 pairs of socks, plus hats, mittens and gloves. The last pair of socks were a challenge as I ran out of yarn! My knitting buddy Sandi gave up some of her leftover sock yarn so that I could finish the pair. A kid with big feet thanks you Sandi!

These are a new design of mine that was just released to the Holiday Mystery Gifts group - AKKOL MITTENS. The actual knitted mittens were tucked into the boxes I just sent off.

While I was in Sacramento, I knit 10 more 7x7" squares for the guild's afghan project for the VA hospital and two more chemo caps for a local medical center. Just doing my part and enjoying the process.

These next couple of weeks we'll be busy with the final boat projects and provisioning the boat for our adventures. We will first sail up to Belize. This will be new territory for us! Whooo hoooo! Let the cruising begin!

# posted by Terry Sailingknitter @ 10:52 AM

Comments:

Wow, what a trip back to the boat. But glad you made it safe and sound. Miss you already. Great accounting of your time spent with us.... we are all looking forward to seeing what each has done on the lace shawl challenge. You are off to a great start. Take some time for Jonesy and then knit knit knit............

# posted by

Sandra Gardner Benward : 4:40 PM

I know Sandi!!!

# posted by

pennyj : 5:28 PM

I had such a fun time meeting you! Glad you had the opportunity to stop by and hope you get to do it again. Happy travels! -Jennifer

# posted by

Jen : 8:56 AM

Terry, we're all so glad you timed your trip to the States to correspond with maximum knitting with us! You were the star of the show at the retreat -- great stories, fun projects, good lessons, and let's not forget thise winning entries!!! :) Looking forward to reading about more great "yarns" on the high seas.
--Beth C

# posted by

Anonymous : 9:13 AM

Um, Terry, it's time you began putting out feelers for an agent. The posts you have written, along with the photos, and the knitting patterns, would make the most unique book on knitting-while-cruising EVER. And you've got 4 years worth! Seriously, girlfriend, you've got to capture all this in a book!

Deborah in Benicia, who is disappointed that I have not had time to read any blogs for WEEKS to know that you were in Sacramento recently! I'd love to meet you in person someday.

# posted by

Deborah W : 10:13 PM