My family recently returned from a vacation to Washington, D.C.  Although there are many things to share about our trip, this post will be related to my fiber.

First, just before I left, I won this gorgeous skein of hand spun yarn from Sharon of Knot-Cha-Cha!  I can’t tell you how excited it was to receive this beauty upon my return!  I admire hand spun yarns since it requires a skill I have yet to learn.  I don’t think I have ever possessed something so uniquely beautiful!  Any suggestions as to what to make with it (115 yds)?  Check out Knot-Cha-Cha Etsy shop for beautiful hand made accessories.  I love this Parrot Green Beaded Beret!

As we set out from Cleveland, I had three projects tucked away in bags.  I pulled out the second Swirl sock and happily knit along until we reached Pennsylvania and I noticed a hole. 

Now the swirl sock is not a hard pattern:  yo, knit 2.  But I am not very good at fixing mistakes in anything with holes!  I tried to drop down and fix my mistake but did not succeed.  So I ripped back, fiddled for an hour and was back on track.  I merrily continued my knitting until I was getting ready for the heel – somewhere within an hour or so of DC.  That’s when I realized I had knit the one leg two inches longer than the other!  Sigh….my knitting remained until the return trip because it now became a project that I could not easily pick up and knit.

Luckily, we hit some traffic on the way out of DC, so I was able to focus on fixing the problem, knitting the heel, which seems so easy in this pattern, and finish!  These are for Annie. I do love socks for trip knitting!

 

One of our Smithsonian stops included the National Museum of the American Indian.  It housed the most fascinating art by Brian Jungen.  He “uses mass-produced goods to make sculptures that are simultaneously fake and authentic, playful and political, common and extraordinary”  For example, he used sports jerseys to create this blanket: