Thursday, July 27, 2006

Successful Smuggling

Thank you for all the smuggling tips... I managed to successfully knit inflight on two trips!!

HONG KONG
I only had one pair of plastic needles (8mm) so I packed them. Although I was pretty confident these needles would be safe, especially after reading reassuring comments from fellow bloggers who have smuggled more weapon-ish needles, I was still a little bit uneasy when my carry-on passed through the x-rays. But I was SAFE!!!

Found some Anny Blatt (Hariana) in my yarn stash to knit the Seaberry Shell from Interweave Knits Summer 2006. I knit the front and back sides of the shell in the round and it was very fast... I was already 2/3 done by the time I landed in HK. Unfortunately, I never adjusted to the jetlag and ended up snoozing on the flight back. Plus, I got stuck on the short rows. The pattern said to start neck/shoulder shaping at row 7, but the yarnovers and k2tog didn't work properly... so, I began the short rows at row 9 instead and it works! The yarn I used is not as bulky as the recommended and thus, I have a shell with more drape. I added a crochet edging around the arm holes to smoothen the decreases/shaping and to reinforce the armholes. I like it!!! Just need some finishing touches before I can wear it. (Please excuse the colors... the colors are a bit on the yellow-side but you can see the cables).

CALGARY
Went out to buy tiny bamboo DPNs to knit socks on the Calgary flight - Sister B's socks with the last remaining Sheepjees in a voilet color. I used the pattern Baudelaire from the new Knitty. I had a bit of trouble concentrating on the flight but did get some progress. I like the lace. It's simple yet pretty... and it's the first time I've knitted toe-up socks. Awesome!

GOODIES FROM HONG KONG
On my Hong Kong trip, I found a Kidsilk Haze substitute (Madil Kid Seta Mohair) that could enable me to knit the cabled sweater from Vogue Knitting Fall 2005. I've been eyeing this pattern for ages since ripping out the pink Rowan Big Wool chunky sweater. It used the exact amount of yarn I had AND I like the simple but not not bulky design with some feminine flair. The front and back are done! (Blogspot has problems uploading photos... so I'll include the pic in the next post).

Being in gadget-crazed Hong Kong, I couldn't resist getting a gadget myself - a ball winder! Gosh, it's so much fun!!

Happy knitting!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh I love that cabled sweater from Vogue too!

Lone Knitter said...

Oh! I envy your in-flight knitting. I think I only did two rows of sock knitting on my flight to Bangkok (from Texas) and then no knitting at all from Bangkok back to Texas. To think I had over 50 potential knitting hours that all went to naught!

opportunityknits said...

Glad you had a productive plane knitting time. Looking forward to see your baudelaire socks

Anonymous said...

Wow, I'm totally impressed by your courage to smuggle needles onto the plane! I was in the same situation on my flight to Cyprus a month ago, and heaven knows I didn't dare bring my needles on board - duh :( Needless to say that I was heavily bored all through the flight!
I absolutely love the tank you're knitting, it looks so good already - what a gorgeous pattern it is! And mind you, I'm looking forward to seeing your Baudelaire socks, they're high up on my "Have to knit" list as well! Happy Knitting!

Anonymous said...

So are you back yet? You should join our August meetup!

shanwen said...

I am glad that you are back into the blogging world.. Seaberry Shell looks beautiful. I would love to visit HK one day too.