Back from Vacation!

Joe and I arrived safely from our long drive yesterday evening.  Joe's a teacher and had a week off for Spring Break, so we decided to close up shop and go out east and visit some friends and family.  First, we drove to the Philly area to visit one of Joe's best friends, Rick, somewhere in Bucks County PA.  We hadn't seen Rick and his family since Joe and I got married three years ago; now Rick and his wife have a BABY and we got to meet him.  His first birthday is in a month, and I'm considering knitting him a little sweater.  If you all have any suggestions for sweater patterns you love for an 18 month size, e-mail me!  Then we drove to Conshohocken, where my sister lives, and ate at some great restaurants!  If there is one thing I love (other than knitting, of course) it's tasty food!  One place we went was Morimoto's.  He's was one of the Iron Chef's from the Food Network show.  The food was amazing and the place itself was beautiful.  The decor of the restaurant was very simple- the coolest thing was that the Lucite booths had lights in them that changed colors every 5 or 10 minutes!  There's pic of the place on the site, if you want to see what I mean.

We also took a couple days to drive to the Jersey shore.  My first job out of college was working for the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, NJ.  I hadn't been back there since I left to come back to Fort Wayne, so it was nice being back on the shore- even though the weather was a tad cool and windy!  Definitely NOT kayaking weather like I was used to!  Here's a pic of the sock I'm currently working on, on the beach in Margate, where we stayed while there this week.  I'm currently knitting a Jaywalker sock (for ME!) using Interlacements Tiny Toes in the colorway 219-Scottish Lichen (shown at right).  I think this sock, with the vivid blues and greens will look great with jeans.

Since our vacation included plenty of driving time, I also finished my Sockapaloooza socks!  My pal has small feet, and likes pinks, grays and browns (you can see the color variegation better by clicking on the image).  I chose this yarn, Fleece Artist merino in Ivory, b/c our most recent handpainted shipment included the Ivory tinged with pale pink and pale gray/blue.  I really hope she likes them.  The pattern was a really interesting knit, the Embossed Leaves sock from the Winter 2006 Interweave Magazine.  I think once these socks are washed and blocked the pattern will look even nicer- right now its kinda crinkly.  While Kira was knitting me a pair of these for the Blooming Feet swap, I liked 'em so much that I started these.  And, Kira, I have worn the socks you knit for me 3 times already and they fit nicely into my shoes and are wearing very nicely.  So it's good to know that the socks I knit for my Sockapaloooza Pal will hold up through long wearings, since it's a somewhat lacy pattern.

Comments

[amanda]

Sounds like a relaxing trip with good food. Perfect in my opinion.

Your new Jaywalkers are lovely -- love the colors!

[Aija]

The embossed leaves in Ivory look great. And I dig the striping action of the Interlacements too :)

[alison]

Oooh, those sock pal socks are gorgeous! I love that color. And what fun jaywalkers too.

[chawne]

Your sockpal socks are beautiful! Congrats!

[Diane]

That pattern looks so classy in that colorway. You should be very proud.

[Mandy]

The colors in the Fleece Artist merino look so nice with the Embossed Leaves pattern! And picked especially for your sockpal. I'm sure she'll love them.

[Laura]

I'm really loving the light ivory toned socks right now. The light colorway makes this pattern look so so so feminine and dainty! Glad to hear it holds up well. :)

[Jen]

Working on the Embossed Leaves socks myself in Sundara Sock yarn colorway "Fern". They are a quick knit. Love yours, and I'm sure your sockpal will too.