Post-Vacation Blues

I haven't been keeping up this blog very well. I didn't even mention about finding a book I wanted, Mason-Dixon Knitting, at Michaels and using a 50% off coupon to buy it. (The book was still relatively expensive, because it was at Michaels, but at least it was there. I did not have to order it online. I did not have to drive half an hour to a bookstore in another city. It was there for me to buy.) This happened just before we went on vacation.

Ah, vacation.

We had a wonderful trip to Hawaii.

I didn't take any knitting with me. I was too afraid I'd lose it to overzealous border guards.

You wouldn't think a trip to Hawaii would offer an opportunity for yarn shopping, but it did! I did my research and visited Sue at Isle Knits. What a wonderful place! So small, but packed full of lovely, lovely yarn. I even bought handmade knitting needles there. Aren't they cute?



I also bought some lovely Araucania Nature Wool (which felts beautifully, according to Sue, who showed me some of her sample items) and some very extravagant Pandora Shadow, a high-end novelty yarn in a beautiful silver-grey colourway that will make a luxurious scarf.



But before I had the opportunity to shop for yarn, I was feeling so deprived I signed up for a craft session put on by the hotel for making Hawaiian leis out of eyelash yarn. My son was so entranced he had to make one too, so we signed up together for another session. Then we had to deal with rainy days when he and I were supposed to be soaking up sun at the beach, so we signed up for a lot of these craft sessions (also pukka shell necklaces, which he really enjoyed). Thank goodness they were available! What wonderful rainy-day activities. Anyway, here is what a lei made out of eyelash yarn looks like.



And this is what it looks like to make one.



Actually, this is a photo of my son using his leftover yarn to make a bracelet-sized lei on a Starbucks straw. The real leis are made using a strong plastic dowel that's available in kits throughout Hawaii. (There are other types of leis made with different novelty yarns. Apparently, making leis is one of the chief uses of yarn in Hawaii, so most craft stores carry a selection of novelty yarns, whether or not they carry anything else that would be useful to knitters.)

Well, that's it for this entry. I have to go and get a start on the mountain of post-vacation laundry.