The last time I posted, I was in Geneva, wishing for warmer weather. Beware what you wish for! Shortly afterwards, I ended up making an impromptu trip to Tucson, where it was 43C. Ouch! That is hot. Boiling hot. After seventeen years in England, I have clearly acclimatised to cooler temperatures (and lots of rain).
Doug and I used to live in Tucson, and now my mother and stepfather, Stuart, live there. Stuart, who is 90 years old, broke his shoulder in February. He has been recovering slowly. Then he and mom got covid again, and he ended up back in the hospital. Mom, too, although briefly. I had hoped to visit them in the autumn when it was cooler out there, but decided I needed to go right away. I’ve just returned from a 9-day trip out there. It was great to see them. Stuart is very frail, but hasn’t lost his sense of humour and lovely smile.
I also got to see my two step-sisters, Jocelyn and Alison:
Jocelyn had just finished knitting a small blanket (literally finished the day before I saw her) and of course, I had to take a photo:
You go, Jossie! She has already started working on her next project, a temperature blanket. Funnily enough, she and my sister, Romi, who lives in New York, discovered that they were in the same temperature blanket group on FB. (Romi’s blanket will be massive; I’ll show you a photo when she’s done.)
And, of course, I got to spend a lot of time with my mom:
The above photo, and the one of me with my stepsisters, were taken by Ben Weissman.
Despite the stress, and the heat, not to mention getting covid again, which I know from experience can really take it out of you, mom is looking great:
As always, when I am travelling, I spent most of my packing time trying to figure out what knitting projects to take with me. In my last post, I had cast on the Hør no 19 tee, in a rich blue linen by Kalinka. A linen tee is a pretty good project for hot weather knitting, so it went in the bag. Mom and I spent the first part of my trip glued to Wimbledon in the early mornings, which made for some good knitting time. You can see that I am making some progress. This is a fun project to knit, with a very intuitive pattern, and some interesting shaping.
I didn’t think it would be good for airplane knitting, however, so before I left I did some stash diving for a very small, lightweight project which could be easily carried in my handbag and knitted on the plane and in crowded airport lounges. I remembered that some months ago I had purchased a kit from Loop London to make the Osaka shawl. I ordered the colourway called London Blues. This shawl is so lightweight and sheer and gorgeous, and makes for good travel knitting:
Despite being knitted in silk mohair, it is also suitable for hot weather knitting, because it weighs almost nothing.
I am now back home, and feeling a bit jetlagged and travel-punched. I figure that gives me the perfect excuse to spend the weekend knitting. I had planned to continue working on the linen tee, but last night I had a knitting idea. It was one of those ideas which may turn out great and may be completely crazy. I am going to settle down now for some serious swatching, and will report back to you later.
If you are somewhere hot this weekend, keep some cool summer knitting close by.
Nice pics… The shawl is gorgeous! Sadly, my business has taken me away from my blanket and despite the fact that I started way before Jossie, she will finish way before me! 😛
It’s a good thing that crafting is not a race! It’s all about the doing. (It’s also good that business is good, even if it keeps you from crafting at the moment.)
Romi, Don’t be so sure about me finishing before you. I had knit about a month and realized some things that needed to be changed (like I would never weave in ALL those ends) so I started over. Going the fringe route now.
That’s so great you had a chance to visit your mom and Stuart! They look remarkably well despite their recent health struggles. Hope you have a lovely relaxing, restorative, cooler weekend ahead xoxo
It’s certainly been cooler, Joanna! I had a lovely week with my parents; it was great to see everyone.
Your mom looks fantastic. It is humbling how long it takes to recover as we get older. My father was capable to live on his own until he was 95. Finally got him to “try” an assisted living facility as he was sleeping through is meals and lost 20 pounds!!
She is looking great, isn’t she? I’m glad your dad was able to age well and be independent so long.
What a nice visit to your family! It’s always good to spend time with your parents and sibs when you can. Looks like a wonderful time with everyone, even with the heat 🙂 Your top and shawl are both lovely – can’t wait to see your new project idea!
Thanks so much. I have just split the front and back on the linen top, so it is coming along fast.
Thank you for inspiration again! I loved that Hør nr 19 tee and have been on Ravelry. Also found some nice midnight blue Lino yarn. Just a question: I’ve experienced that linen twists when knitting round. Is the recommendation of bamboo needles to prevent twisting or just to make the knitting comfortable with the quite hard linen yarn? Read your last blog too, lovely designs!
Hi Liv! It’s so nice to hear from you! I do hope you enjoy knitting this design. I would love to see it when you’ve finished. In my experience, too, linen often twists. I have found that it twists a lot with stockinette stitch and less when using textured patterns with combinations of purls and knits, so I am hoping that twisting won’t be so much of a problem with this pattern. I did knit a swatch and block it, and it blocked straight (although that was not knitted in the round).
I think that the bamboo needles are more for comfort; knitting with linen can be hard on the hands. As long as I don’t knit too many hours per day, I find that my hands are not having too much trouble with this linen.
Good luck! – Kelly
Hi Kelly. I’m a little late to the party. Thanks for the shoutout and the knitting tips! It was wonderful to see you and have the chance to spend some time with you. So glad you were able to visit.