One Extreme to the Other (And Happy Halloween Too!)

About 12 hours after landing back in T.O. from San Juan late last Thursday night we were unpacked, repacked, I'd created and shipped off a Pumpkin Stalk hat complete with leaf and tendrils to Number One Son for his Halloween Festivities at University over the weekend and we were en route to the cottage.

I'm obviously modeling here.but Number One Son affixed the stalk to a dark green toque and I understand wore the leaf hanging down the back so as to step away from the "Fascinator" look the forward position conveys! He paired this with a bright Orange Sweatshirt adorned with Jack-O-Lantern duct tape face and green track pants.

Brrrrrr! Only a couple of degrees above freezing inside the cottage in the morning from just the day before being in tropical heat and humidity!

My last minute dash to the car that morning, yielded a woolly wool rather than Tropical Fiesta "just in case" project that ended up dominating my weekend knitting as I worked my second pair of Twined Knitting Mittens.

This pair are for Number One Son (another request!) so I've changed up the details a bit to yield a more masculine design. I added stripe and texture to the bottom of the cuff...

 Then aside from the thumb gusset its all stripes all the time up the finger tips.

With the technique now clear in my mind worsted yarn made quick work of these. Quite satisfying!

Also satisfying...the muted tones of our late autumn woodlands after the riot of fall colour a few weeks ago. So too the tropical scene we enjoyed last week was lovely but my internal calendar just needs to chill and frankly, eventually feel the freezing part of our spectacular four Ontario seasons. (Maybe the knitter in me needs the cold a bit too eh?)

But what a good outlook for a Canadian "girl"! I mean even the trees seem to be wearing woolly socks around here!

I hope wherever you're reading this from you're enjoying and appreciating where you are as much as I am. So many of our neighbours south of the border are suffering this week my heart goes out to them as they begin to undertake the huge recovery process ahead!

Thanks for dropping by!

Puerto Rico?

Yup. Despite My Beloved's globe trotting business these decades I've never gone along...until last week!

I knew the trip held many solitary hours for me as business would draw My Beloved's attention most of the days. Hence as we worked our way out the door to the airport in the very, very wee hours of the morning we left I was seized by that oft-reported knitter's fear...
"What if the knit project I packed gets finished and I'm left without knitting?!? I'd better take another project along just in case!"
Feigning a need to visit the washroom one last time  (My Beloved's blood pressure couldn't take the true reason for my delay ;) )I instead dashed to the sock yarn basket, grabbed a ball, wheeled around to snatch a pack of sock needles and I was off.

After my whining post the week before about yearning to work with natural, woolly yarn it made me smile a while later that same morning as we taxied to the runway and I was, instead of working on my planned and prepped easy-travel-woolly-wool knitting project, casting on with this...

 for this lurid pair of socks...

...I was no doubt seized by tropical fever before even leaving the chilly north!

Whatever my motivation I was smitten with knitting on that thing until, poolside, I put the first toe on holders to await grafting once its mate is complete. Back home, I recognize it may be the next southerly trip, before I'm drawn to that yarn and project again but it was a great little foreign fling while it lasted!

Its fitting really because the whole trip was a bit of a "fling". No prep or research ahead of time, just decisions made on the fly once I was there as to what I would do with my time in this (for me) most unlikely of destinations.

San Juan is working toward becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site and from what I saw, most deservedly so. By North American standards it is an ancient city evidenced by its lovely blue cobbles. They are about 12" long down into the ground! (Once ballast from European ships)

To its battlements...

Its Spanish Colonial architecture

A onetime Charmelite Convent this building was rescued by the heir to the Woolworth  fortune and now functions as a luxury hotel.

And omnipresent references to "The Church"

There are modern day issues with the rats, iguana and feral cats that were introduced by the Europeans

These trees can hold huge colonies of Rats. Hence most have been taken down within Old San Juan.

'Don't know what I like more about this photo, the iguana or the half suspended tourist!

See the kitty's right ear tip is missing? The feral cats are cared for (spayed/neutered, innoculated and left loose to control the rats) The ears are then clipped to indicate a cat who is actively in the program.

While the island is a Commonwealth Territory of the U.S. it doesn't feel like being in the states at all. Rather its very Spanish with a little bit of Caribbean flavour. Surprisingly to me, the food is hearty rather than typically tropical light and, well,  brown. Yup. Brown. No vibrant salads or starfruit or even an emphasis on seafood. Rather chicken and pork with long, slow cooked plantain and pumpkin. And baked desserts! Lots of them. Traditional Puerto Rican - also largely brown - bread pudding, custards, cakes, tarts. Yum!

And speaking of "Yum" the Pina Colada was invented in San Juan! We dutifully visited its birthplace one evening to try one from the source.  I probably haven't had one in 25 years or so. Wow! That first whiff of coconut rum took me right back to the 80's!

So all in all it was a great little break from reality.

Reluctant traveller that I am, possibly the best part of the trip though, is, in retrospect, knowing we first dodged "Sandy" as it moved north over Jamaica while we prepared to leave San Juan then, that we passed through New York before she could catch up and close all the airports on that portion of the eastern seaboard!

Phew! I had a nice little break but it felt great to get back home! Thanks for dropping by!

University Socks FO

Pattern: (63 stitch) Socks 101 by Kate Atherly

Source: Knitty.com

Yarn: Sheldridge Farm Soft Touch Fingering

Colour: Cornflower

Needles: 3mm dpns

Start: October 13 Finish October 17, 2012

As requested by Number One Son himself (modeled by yours truly)- wool socks! I couldn't believe it when he called just to say "Mom if you want to, you can make me some wool socks". 'Seems the heating systems at University aren't quite up to what he's used to! Whatever, I'm just happy to have a chance to convert him from wearing those hateful gym socks day in and day out!

I try to roast a Pie Pumpkin at the start of each week in October - keeping the mashed pulp in the fridge to cook with throughout the month. I made a double batch of Pumpkin Date muffins today. I'l take a dozen down to him with the socks.

His residence is close to the location of the Downtown Knit Collective meetings at Innes College, University of Toronto. I'll be down there tonight for the October meeting so I may as well dash over to his room after the meeting and drop off the goodies.

BTW the meeting tonight is supposed to be kind of a mass workshop. We're encouraged to bring along shawls (who doesn't have a stack of those these days?) and scarves so we can learn how to put the beautiful things we create to best advantage on our bodies and with our clothes.

Hey I'd better go pack some shawls into my bag too - look at the bottom of the program description!

Spectacle of Shawls – Farooq Ikram (Textile Museum, Toronto)

Farooq Ikram is a textile artist who holds degrees in Textile Design from the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan and Fashion Design Pattern Making from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, NY. He creates one-of-a kind fashion accessories and scarves using non representational forms with varied and vivid colour palettes. His designs are hand rolled and executed on high quality silk, giving a beautiful finish to his line. The accessories are not just functional pieces of fabric, but wearable art. He has worked as an Associate Professor at the National College of Arts and is now employed at the Textile Museum in Toronto. He continues to create and sell his line of one-of-a-kind, hand-painted fashion accessories throughout Canada and the United States.

Audience members are encouraged to bring knitted shawls with them to the meeting, and let Farooq help you display the beauty of the work of your hands. Farooq also encourages everyone to bring fabric shawls and scarves as well– he likes combining colours and textures in his demonstrations.

Maybe I'll see you there! Thanks for dropping by!