As The Yarn Turns

A Sock Visits The Grand Canyon

After leaving Sedona, Arizona, the next stop was the Grand Canyon for three days. We stayed in one of the park lodges secluded in a forest. We felt completely immersed in the Grand Canyon atmosphere, completely forgetting about the outside world. The sock was in complete awe of the Grand Canyon. It felt so tiny in comparison to the Grand Canyon.

If you have never been to the Grand Canyon it is worth the trip. No picture can do it justice, and we have hundreds. When you're driving toward the Grand Canyon, the landscape is nothing spectacular, just desert and forest. In fact, you have to get within a few yards of the Grand Canyon before you see it at all and then you are immediately speechless. The colors in person are just as spectacular as they are in the pictures except they change with the time of day and the cloud cover.

While we were taking this picture with the sock dangling over the Grand Canyon, a man asked my friend Sandra what we were doing. Sandra patiently explained that the sock was visiting Grand Canyon and that we were taking pictures to post on the web site. She also had to explain Rick who was taking pictures of his miniature magic illusion at the Grand Canyon, for similar reasons. The man thanked Sandra for the explanation and as he walked away we heard him say, "That's life!".

We visited the entire length of the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We saw ruins of ancient Indian civilizations.

We climbed towers.

Walking away from me on the left is my friend Sandra, nearest, in the denim shirt and Rick in the navy and green jacket in front of her and close to the tower.

We saw wildlife.

Yes, that's a California Condor on that ledge near Lookout Studio. That made my trip complete. It's as good of a picture as I could get with my little camera. I was lucky though. There was a photographer at Lookout Studio who was patiently waiting to get a picture of the condor with his/her wings spread. He let me look at the condor with his binoculars, up close and personal, down to his little Condor toes. We also saw several elk, lots of squirrels, lots of ravens, bluebirds, and the occasional lizard. The crowds weren't heavy at all and the weather was perfect with highs between 70 and 80 F and lows near 40 F. There's just not enough pictures, or server space, to show you how much fun we had in the Grand Canyon.

The sock pretty much felt his life was complete, so I actually have a finished object to report.

In case it's been so long that you've forgotten the details, the sock was knit with Filatura Di Crosa Dolce Amore cotton yarn. It's not a sock yarn, but it wasn't bad to knit at all, and I usually hate to knit with cotton yarns. I didn't even mind the swooshes that the variegated yarn tend to make down the leg and foot. We'll see how it stands up to wear. The design is just a basic sock pattern with shorter than normal cuffs. I carried the ribbing down the top of the foot to compensate a little for the lack of elasticity of cotton yarn. I tell you what, it's good to actually finish a project for a change.

I'm off to work towards finishing another project. Next time we're headed from the Grand Canyon to the Meteor Crater.

by Sydney  |

Los Angeles to Arizona

Now there's a contrast for you. Both are dry but that's about it for comparison. We left Los Angeles for our real vacation, a trip to Arizona. I had spent a tiny amount of time in Arizona before but I never realized until this trip how much there is to see in Arizona. It's an absolutely beautiful state. There was so much I didn't see. I know I've got to go back some day. From Los Angeles we flew to Phoenix, Arizona to meet our friend Sandra, rent a car, and drive to points north. I can tell you right now that at 5 AM the freeways in Los Angeles are still plenty busy and I'm plenty sleepy. Phoenix tried to make us feel at home on arriving by having a really really bad traffic jam. Several friendly Phoenix residents helped us find a way around it, and we were on our way.

There is quite a difference in scenery as you drive north. Phoenix is mostly sand and cactus with its own charm. As you drive north, you start to get more shrubs and few cactus. As you go still more north, you start to get trees and then forests. Then you get here.

This is just outside of Sedona, Arizona. Nope the colors here haven't been enhanced, that's the natural color. I was in awe. Here's another picture, just because I liked it so much. That's my friend Sandra on the right-hand side of the picture below. Isn't nice that she coordinated the color of her shirt with the sky? Sandra doesn't knit. She tried it once but decided it wasn't for her. We forgive her for that because she's so much fun to be with.

The town of Sedona is a fun town to explore too, although you keep getting distracted by the surrounding scenery. We spent the day there browsing the shops and buying a few touristy items. We also had a nice Mexican lunch overlooking the countryside. It's on my list of places to visit again.

Knitting, you say? Why yes I did manage to knit on this trip. The EZasPi Yahoo Group started a Shetland Lace Workshop right before I left. So I downloaded some of the files and started on a Shetland Lace Scarf.

The pattern is the fircone pattern. This was a spur of the moment decision. I didn't want to miss out on the start of the workshop and I needed something to knit on the plane. So I grabbed some spare sock yarn, the instructions, and a circular needle before heading out the door for the trip.

The next stop was the Grand Canyon but you'll have to want until next time for that.

by Sydney  |

Where Has Sydney Been?

Yes, I still do exist. I've just been on vacation for a couple of weeks. I had every intention of blogging while I was gone but there just wasn't enough time during the first half of vacation and there was no Internet access for the second half. So to make up for it, I'll spend the next few blog entries covering my vacation. I've got literally hundreds of pictures but I promise not to bore you will all of them.

My iPod Mini is almost always with me. So right before we left I decided to whip up a sock for the Mini so I could hang him around my neck. Besides I have lots of little bits of my beginner handspun yarn waiting to be used and I really wanted to try out Meg Swansen's Turkish Cast On that is in the Fall 2005 issue of Vogue Knitting.

I cast on about 10 stitches using the Turkish Cast On with my handspun yarn. The yarn is about 11 wpi, or worsted weight. Then I basically knit with size 7 circulars until it was long enough for my iPod Mini. I inserted some yarnovers for a cord to go around my neck and ended it with four rows of ribbing. The cord is just braided yarn in another color. After using it this way for a couple of weeks, I'm thinking about adding a pocket onto it. I made it a little longer so I could stuff the headphones on top but a pocket seems like it would be a little more convenient, and stylish. I'm really happy with it and I liked the Turkish Cast On. Once I got the hang of it, it went really fast.

Now for the actual vacation. The first stop on our vacation was a trip to the Los Angeles area where we could surprise Rick's Aunt and Uncle for their 50th wedding anniversary. Now Los Angeles isn't my favorite place to visit. Rick loves LA but it's just not my style. Rick's family is great and I always have a good time but I never quite feel at home in the city. Kind of like a shoe that doesn't fit. We managed the stay busy and have quite a bit of fun though. The anniversary festivities were a success and very much a surprise for the guests of honor. We also made a couple of trips into Hollywood to visit this place.

That's the Magic Castle, right behind Hollywood Boulevard if you can believe it. You could almost miss this Victorian house in the midst of more modern architecture if you weren't looking for it. If you're interested in stage magic at all, and great food, try to visit some time and allow yourself plenty of time. I had one of best meals I've had in a long time. Much fun was had by all. In fact, we also had so much fun, we went again on Sunday so we could take Rick's little cousins to the shows. Children are only allowed in on Sundays.

I did manage to make a quick trip to a yarn store, The Enchanted Unicorn, and the only yarn store visit on the vacation.

It's a nice, friendly little yarn and needlepoint store not far from Rick's cousin's house. I succumbed to the siren call of Kid Silk Haze and bought a few balls. Yes, that's right. There's another shawl in my future. I also stopped in a bookstore and bought A Dyer's Garden: From Plant to Pot Growing Dyes for Natural Fibers by Rita Buchanan on the trip. Dollar for dollar you can't beat this little book. It covers planning your garden, dyeing techniques, resources for plants and seeds, and color pictures of dyes on various fibers and with various mordants. It doesn't cover all natural dyes, just plants you might want to grow in your garden. I've been wanting to try my hand at natural dyeing though. This gives me something to plan for next year.

Next stop is Arizona.

by Sydney  |