SpaceMika

I wrote this during my ridiculously long stopover at LAX (I was overly generous in allotting myself time for immigration, baggage claim, customs, re-depositing baggage, re-checking in, and security).

Being in the US again is really strange, yet comforting. The PA announcer voices are so nasal they sound like someone mocking the American accent. People speak Spanish, not Italian.

After getting spoiled by all-fancy-coffee-drinks-for-the-price-of-filter in Melbourne, I couldn’t bare to pay a premium for a coffee-based drink and got something tea-based instead. It was downright startling to realize tax wasn’t included in price, and I swear the American $5 bill has been updated since last time I saw one.

I’ve had quite a few pleasant conversations this journey so far. The man next to me for my long flight was mostly incredibly quiet, but we started talking when he asked for help reading his customs form (he spoke fluent English, but was more comfortable reading in French). He, too, is heading home after 6 months in Melbourne (with side trips to Sidney) where he was visiting extended quasi-family. We shared a giggle over noticing the absence of green visa-cards in all the rows surrounding us and the heavy use of “eh” and concluding we were a pack of misplaced moose heading home.

I’m falling into a practiced swing of explaining my journey, I’ve been asked so often. I’ve been in Australia for six months, exploring the country, playing with rocks, and meeting my boyfriend’s family. I had a great time, but I’m very excited to be home again, and to see my family. The gate staff for my final flight leg sympathised with my desire to get home, and seated me as far forward in the plane as she could, on an aisle seat, so I can be one of the very first ones off and through customs and get home those few minutes faster.

I’ve had some funny conversations with the customs officers. One was deeply curious as to why I was travelling with cleaned rocks of no economic value (“I’m a geologist! Collecting rock samples is what we do!”), another admired the handwriting on the address label of my box, and one wished me and my Monkey a safe journey.

My small plush Monkey is causing quite a stir. He’s been traveling by poking his nose out of my knitting bag, hands carefully tucked through the handle of my laptop case to prevent him from spilling out unnoticed. When I departed the Land of Oz, Elka commented on his pose being that of an exceptionally well-behaved child. On my intercontinental flight, he spent most of it perched on my lap, and at one stage attracted the cooing of a flight attendant who pet his tiny nose before moving down the aisle to attend to her duties. While checking in for the last leg of my flights, an elderly gentleman in line behind me asked permission to introduce himself to the Monkey; I think his poor eyesight may have deceived him into perceiving an actual small child or animal poking out of my bag. Un-dissuaded by the realization of Monkey’s plush nature, the elderly man called out a goodbye to us as we left the line for the upper reaches of security check-in. Finally, as I settled myself in my gate’s lounge to get some work done in the remaining five hours of my layover, an elderly woman initiated conversation with, “So, what’s the story with the monkey?” We then chatted about computers (she left the workforce right as they were being introduced, so knows nothing of them), knitting (our mutual dissatisfaction with the knitting-needle ban, and showing off finished objects), and the economic crises (particularly with the modern demand for her former profession, Collections).

Everyone is commenting on my hats. Some staff are asking why I have so many hats, others think the two-layer stack is one highly unique hats; most fellow travelers give me a double-take, then a nod of recognition as they figure out it’s a hat-transportation method. A lovely Canadian woman responded to my “classically Aussie” self-depreciating comment on the jarring style of my hats with my outfit by telling me that I looked lovely and it was a unique style. This was later reinforced by another staffer, who declared it would make people notice me which was always a good thing. I started a side conversation with fellow-travelers about how I didn’t think it was necessarily a good thing to stand out in a crowd, especially when airport security is concerned…

I knit up a fish hat while on a coastal geomorphology field trip.

Then I got people to try it on. Bwahahahaha!

I picked up possum-yarn when I was in New Zealand, but didn’t get around to knitting it until recently. I agree with the knitty review to some extent. I didn’t find it split at all, but that might be the amazing (also NZ) Quill-brand needles. It tears incredibly easily if you give it a yank, but doesn’t break while knitting.

I am finding the possum a bit itchier than I’d anticipated (again, departing from the knitty review). All the advertising calls it ecologically responsible fur because in New Zealand, possums are a pest killing all the endangered flightless birds, but at the same time I can’t quite wrap my heart around moral-fur, so that also rubs me a little wrong about the yarn.

The gloves are a simple-knit, just a ribbed tube with a thumb stuck on, but are very warm and comfy. Pattern: co 30 on six 6 needles, k2p2 rib for a while, k2tg x2, knit flat for a few rows, mk2, rejoin in circle, knit a bit more, cast off. Pick up stitches along the thumb hole, kit in a rib in the round for a while, cast off. Done!

The hat is equally simple — co 120 in one colour, knit next row in main colour, k10, p2, k6, p2 rib, decrease by a bit each row (I did k2tog & decs on either side of the k10 blocks until they were down to k4, and on the k6 blocks until they were down to k2), then keep pattern for a while. Alternate colours by 1 row, main colour for 1 row, 5 rows, main colour for 1 row, 1 row, return to main colour and continue on. To decrease at the top, I did some k2togs & decs until all stiches were knits, then k2togs until only 5 stitches remained, cast off, and wove the end in.

The scarf is the only item without any of the possum-wool. I photographed it before, here

Greg, in his newly-knitted hat.

The hat is a flat-variation of Swell from Knitty in 100% wool. The hat took three days to make, and I liked it so much that I’ve bought some yarn to make a more colourful variation for myself.

The hat is inspired by the Knitty pattern Swell modified to have a straight rib brim (6 rows) instead of earflaps.

My excessive knitting can be taken as either procrastination or a sign that I’m working really, really hard. Either way, there are lots of tasty hats!

This is a detail-photo of Greg

This hat was knit up on 4.5mm (US size 7) circular needles with three balls of the Eskimo wool (I have half a ball of each colour left over). The variation to make it flat with a ribbed brim instead of ear-flapped is:
Cast on 77 [88, 99] stitches
Knit one row
*K2, P2* , repeat to end of row for 4 rows
Knit one row
then continue with the regular pattern starting with the 2nd line of directions in “Hat” (ie, ” K 12 rounds.”)

…can you tell I love this hat? Mine is going to have one colour for the brim, and try to fit in a full three bands of waves instead of two, all in different colours.

Gran in Magic

This hat is inspired by the yip-yip martians from the Muppets and is a variation of that Furry Fury hat I’d made before. Once I watched the skit, I just knew I had to knit one up for Magic. Later my gran saw it, and decided she liked it far better than the 100% cotton lavender cap I’d knit for her.

In the words of cousin Sarah, she’s a druid! Or maybe a fuzzy blue marshmallow!

My roommate borrowed my yellow fuzzy hat for skiing last winter, and liked it so much that he asked me to knit him a similar hat in red. It’s double-layered and thickly ribbed with a full back (to keep the neck warm), all designed to keep out the biting winds of a Montreal winter.

Josh modeling his hat.

The hat pattern is mine, an improved version of my yellow fuzzy hat that I knit during the EOS Grads ski trip in winter 2006. The hat was knit during the Rock Mechanics Conference in Spring/Summer 2007.