I’m so glad I’m a knitter!

Once again, I’m so glad that I’m a knitter!

I’m writing this blog post from the foot of glorious Mont St. Anne, QC.  My husband drove, and I knit, through a huge east coast storm as we traveled from Nova Scotia only to arrive here in Quebec, our ski destination, in a warm torrential downpour! Knitting kept my mind and hands occupied en route, and I have a partial sock and bit of blanket to show for my day.

We set out from Moncton, NB yesterday morning and within a few minutes (much sooner than predicted) we motored into snow then freezing rain. For those readers in other geographical areas, an explanation is in order: I describe this precipitation as “Comes down liquid, goes on solid.”. It is the scariest phenomenon.

If you are on the road it manifests itself rather like drizzle on your windscreen initially, but when you apply the wipers, nothing happens: it’s stuck on, solid ice. At this point you need to start applying massive quantities of heat to the windscreen to hold this plague at bay. Now of course, the super-cooled rain doesn’t restrict itself to solidifying on the ever diminishing windscreen. What do suppose it is doing to the road surface? Makes it very scary to drive on. Pulling off the highway is even riskier, as the shoulders of the road are not salted or kept even moderately clear by traffic; once you’re on this surface the car becomes a decoratively painted curling rock. It gives a whole new meaning on the term ‘slippery roads’.

From my perspective in the passenger seat, once the daylight dawned and the danger was evident, I quickly transferred my next test sock from my lovely stiletto-pointed Signature dpns to my old favorites, Crystal Palace bamboos, as in the back of my mind I surmised that these might be slightly less damaging to flesh in the event of disaster!

As we slithered our way westward, I made significant progress during this unbroken block of knitting time on my new test sock, using yet more lovely yarn obtained at the Sock Summit from Gypsy Girl Creations and our good old Cat’s Pyjamas as the background yarn. I’ve added a fifth size to the range of the Pinstripe pattern now, and wanted another test sock, so this was an ideal opportunity to make one.

Pinstripe Double Knit sock

So you may well ask: why am I writing a blog entry rather than skiing today? The hill is closed to preserve what is left of the snow. I’m so glad that I’m a knitter! Rather than tear my hair out in frustration, I can knit, and have brought several good books* ; so I will patiently hunker down and wait for the weather to cooperate. Who knows, I may go to Quebec City this afternoon to find a yarn shop!

Thank you all for your long and thoughtful responses to the pattern pricing dilemma. I’ve really enjoyed reading them; I’ll get back to this subject and comment as soon as time permits.

*Books: I’m reading a couple by M.M.Kaye (her books are always a good bet in a sweet old-fashioned way), who led a fascinating life and used her experiences to set her novels . The other is an audio book, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson, that has me positively riveted. It’s a detective novel but refreshingly different (has a few rather graphic scenes, but they are necessary to the plot). I rate this one highly.