There's No Place Like Home

No matter how much fun you have when you go away, there is always something comforting and nice about going home. This is especially true if your vacation is just visiting the family, not because the visit was bad, but because it isn't the same type of trip as, say, going to the Virgin Islands. Isis and I settled immediately back into "home" mode, which basically means, complete relaxation, for a time. For me, this total relaxation didn't last long, a friend mine from Baltimore came up yesterday. While this friend of mine knits, she really isn't what I would call a "knitter" if you know the difference. If you aren't sure of the difference, let me put it this way: last time I visited K in San Diego, we hit at least 15 yarn shops, in several cities, including LA (we went to at least 6 in LA proper) in a one week time frame. If you are reading this blog, chance are that either you have done something like that before, or that a trip where you do that sounds like something close to a dream vacation. I can't see Baltimore friend being up to that kind of challenge. I did talk her into agreeing to go the Circles party on Sunday, now I just need to plan what to bring!
My friend is a crafty person, and is a late riser, so I expect to get some more knitting done this weekend. My goal, though probably not a reachable one, is to get the sleeves done for Lace and Tuck. As you can see, I started them. In case "the case of the stupid second sleeve" (i.e. grandmom's sweater) didn't prove it to you, I have some problems with second sleeves. Therefore, at some point this past spring, after finishing grandmom's first sleeve, I began the process of knitting both sleeves on the same needles at the same time. My wisdom has now grown to include putting the skiens of yarn for the sleeves into baggies to keep them neat. My skills have grown (in Augustish) to include the ability to knit backwards, taking the stitches from the right needle and placing them onto the left. What, you may ask, does this have to do with knitting both sleeves at once? Am I merely a braggart? I don't think I am, but sometimes we don't see ugly qualities about ourselves. No, this is being mentioned because often knitting 2 sleeves on the same needles at the same time results in a tangled mess from turning the needles repeatedly. I am avoiding by taking my new skill and knitting (or more accurately purling) the ws rows backwards. Viola, yarn neat because it is in baggies, and untangled because I am not turning the work. What this will do to my gauge is anyone's guess.