nope, no cuy* for me!

So, I leave for Lima in just 4 days, and will sadly have to abandon some of my knitting for nearly 2 weeks. Dark days indeed.

The Henley will stay home. I cannot imagine trying to grapple with the lace on the plane, or after a long day of meetings, plus, aside from the one I’m currently using, none of the requisite skeins have been wound into balls. (Maybe by the time I get back, the birthday fairy [aka Josh] will have bestowed a much-needed swift and ball winder upon my humble home!)

I’ve started the armhole decreases!

Let me confirm that I absolutely cannot wrap my head around increases and decreases in lace. I'm sure there's some math to be done, plus and minuses to be tallied up, which, when done correctly, will tell you exactly how to decrease without throwing the whole thing out of whack. But this rational method is just not for me.

My current tack is to knit the 2 edge stitches, decrease, then peer at the row below to try to figure out where I should start the pattern (fortunately this isn't an especially complicated one). Is this a foolproof method? Certainly not. But it's working so far, and that's all I ask for. Until it fails completely, I'll stick with this method.

Tangled Yoke, the favored child, will come with me to Peru. The complicated part of the pattern is, well, the tangled yoke, and I’m still miles (ok, inches; possibly feet) away from it. I’ve knit about an inch past the garter rib, and just started increasing again.

Because of it’s size on the 40” circ, it’s a bit unwieldy and may not be ideal for the plane, though, so I may also bring some of the beautiful yarn my spoiler sent me and knock out a couple hats on the trip. Or at least try. (Based on the assumption that my needles won’t be confiscated.) Then I can destress with some Tangled Yoke knitting in my hotel room in the evenings. Yes, yes, I should be out exploring, meeting people, socializing, etc., but I really don’t think this will be that kind of trip. Too much work, too many long days. Plus, spending so much time with my coworkers during the day, I suspect I will need to escape them at night—which would leave me to wander the streets of Miraflores alone.

Ah, yes, and the reason I really haven’t accomplished much with these 2 projects (excuses, excuses): I’ve been knitting little goodies for another swap package.

This time it's the Knit It Forward bath-themed swap. It seemed as though some participants were just bursting at the seams with all kinds of fantastic bath-related project ideas, but this one kinda threw me for a loop. I just didn’t feel like knitting a bathmat or another set of washclothes. So I put a little mix together: headband, for holding hair back while washing face (something I am constantly without; note to self: knit second headband); soap sweater, because it’s cute and functional—and smells good!; and a little felted bowl for catching all those knick knacks that seem to accumulate in the bathroom. I knit them all with yarn leftovers, so I get a great sense of accomplishment in using up perfectly good yarn that’s just been collecting dust. Hopefully the recipient will enjoy them, I’ll be shipping them off this week before I leave--and will hopefully remember to snap a picture before I do (I would take one now, but the bowl's not exactly felted yet).

Don't forget, tomorrow is October 1, so I give you all permission to start eating pumpkin things! I don't have time, unfortunately, to bake and eat anything pumpkin-y before my trip, but I'll definitely be stopping at Starbucks on the way in to work for my pumpkin spice latte. ;)

*Cuy is guinea pig; Peruvians are terribly confused and think guinea pigs are food, rather than pets. Barf. Even if I weren't a vegetarian I wouldn't try it. And I don't want to hear that it tastes like chicken!