A Second Hitchhiker, with Beads!

This weekend I flew to North Carolina to pick up my older son and his car, then drive back home together. The son formerly known as Tuba Boy in this blog (who should now be known as Mandolin Boy) did a 10-week internship in the Chapel Hill area at the place where his stepmom works. It was a great experience for him, and I am so happy he had the opportunity!

It also gave ME the opportunity to visit my own stepmom, who I had not visited since Dad's funeral trip. I was rather anxious about going back to where Dad used to live, but the memories were mostly good (she did get me a bit weepy when she kept trying to force memorabilia on me. But it was good to see my family and many of Dad's old friends.

Most important to THIS blog, however, is that I took along my Beaded Hitchhiker, since it was small and would fit in my small luggage. I enjoyed the conversations that the project started on the plane and in the airport. A couple of nice elderly women described complicated projects they used to make, and one assured me that arthritis had not stopped her, though she now crochets mostly. That's good, too!

I got to the end of the first skein while on the plane, and continued on while chatting with relatives until I had 42 points on the shawl. That's how many the original instructions called for, and sure enough, it was a good size with 42 points.

I then decided to add a sawtooth border to the cast-off edge. I didn't have any knitting books with me, so I made one up. I'm sure it's very similar to a lot of patterns in books--I am not THAT creative, but I did make it to where each edge had a bead on it. I will write down the pattern at the end of this post. Anyway, here is how the two edges compare. They aren't the same, but they work well together.

The two edgings on the shawlette. Left is part of the original pattern, right is what I added. Each has a bead at the tip.

 Of course, even with figuring out the pattern, it didn't take too long to finish the edging, so on Sunday I realized the WORST had happened! I finished the ONLY knitting I brought with me! I was glad I brought my Kindle. But I sure could have gotten a lot of knitting done on my 12-hour car ride yesterday (Mandolin Boy drove yesterday, and I drove today, only 8 hours or so).

Finished product, folded in half

So, here is the finished item. The colors came out oddly when I took the picture at my stepmom's, but I tried to correct it. At the end there were some pools of orange, but I like them, so i kept them. I didn't straighten out the points, oops. Let's see, how about another picture?

Here is is outdoors and more spread out.

I like the way it looks with more points on it, at least from a distance. You can't tell the size difference so much. I am very impressed with how this particular sock yarn worked out in the Hitchhiker. It really made a nice even blend of the greens and oranges. And the two colors of beads I used also were perfect. They were the same muted green and orange. Really love this item and can't wait to wear it. 

What does it look like on, you ask? Well, I think I will be wearing it a LOT this fall. I happened to have on a coral outfit Sunday, so I put it on.

Suna looking haggard, but with a nice shawlette and a shiny shirt.

Wow, those wrinkles, that giant nose, those droopy eyes (another thing I inherited from my Dad is sagging eyelids), those bunny teeth--I was obviously pretty darned stressed out and not at my shiny, perky best, even with the shiny shirt on. But, isn't the Hitchhiker nice? I love the way the edges curve, and I love having the points on two sides. The smooth edge makes a great side to aim at the neck, too. I really look forward to wearing this often!

What's Next?

Well, I need a big project, since I finished the Shadow vest, and I need a small project, since I finished this one. I have things all lined up, or mostly.

My big project will the the beautiful Reine from the Brooklyn Tweed Wool People vol. 3. I've already got the yarn, Loft by Brooklyn Tweed in the Snowbound Colorway.

Yarn and pattern

I am sure that most "connected knitters" already know about this pattern and this wool, but if you don't know, the wool is from American Targhee-Columbia sheep and spun in the US in an old mill. I love that. It has nice irregularities and flecks in it. The cardigan has cabled edges along the front and pockets. There are really simple but classy looking purl ridges along the cuffs and on the shoulders. I'll be honest. I just want a bunch of cardigans to wear.

I also want more of these little drapy scarves. I ran across a pattern on Ravelry that I thought would be cool. Little did I realize at the time that half the people on my Ravelry friends list had already bookmarked or were making it (or so it seemed), including most of the people I used to knit with. Oh well, I may be the last on the bandwagon again, like I was with Hitchhiker, but I will make it anyway. It's Unleaving from Knitty's First Fall edition. It is also garter stitch but with a nice lace edging. I now just have to decide which sock yarn I want to make it with. I might just pick one of the ones with silver in it. Not sure, though. I will have to chase zillions of young adults out of the yarn room to find something! I do know I want a semi-solid, but don't want to use my brown one due to planning to use it as an edging on the fall shawl I am also still plugging away on.

Now that I am no longer "competitively" knitting, I don't know what's popular with all the knitters who hang out together or spend a lot of time reading blogs, hanging out on Ravelry, or participating in email lists. I realize that I am just fine with that--I am knitting what I want to, when I want to. I am not trying to make the fanciest or hardest thing--I am making things I think I will enjoy making and use when I am done. Whew. I think I have attained my own "gold medal" for knitting enjoyment.

And yeah, I am watching the Olympics, even if I am peeved over the "Ravellenic Games" thing. I just am no longer into competitive knitting!