2:09 pm - October 3, 2013 - AngelaH

Bonjour Burrard

Finished! Burrard is officially a garment, and I am so, so happy with it.

L wasn’t home so I took the tripod and did a bunch of fancy selfies.

I actually cast off two nights ago, but things never feel properly done until all the ends are woven in, which is what I did last night, as well as sewing on the buttons. I tried it on and it got the thumbs up from L’s sister, who’s staying with us, and it felt great. But. But, it didn’t feel quite right. The shawl collar was sitting funny and the buttons felt just a little out of proportion with the cables. This morning, I took off the buttons, and undid the cast off, and re-cast off with a larger needle and sewed on slightly smaller buttons (from the Wooden Artist) and yes, now it is finished (except the buttons bands need proper blocking, but there’s time for that).

This is only my second finished sweater, and my first with seams and set-in sleeves, and I was a little nervous. I did a lot of holding pieces up to my body and trying to determine how they would look at the end (which is pretty much a waste of time). Once I had it all seamed, I tried it on and was pretty glad it fit, although the fit was off since it didn’t have a collar or button bands, and thank goodness those worked out the way I thought they would.

I should probably trim those button threads…

I didn’t really change much about this pattern, to be honest. It was clearly written, with lots of pictures of various parts of the sweater that reassured me I was on the right track, and aside from the mis-crossed cable incident, and the ripping out and re-doing of the cast off, this was a knit without major incident. And I got to learn how to seam and set-in sleeves and do a shawl collar, and I love learning new things, so that is a major bonus to an already excellent experience.

One thing I will keep in mind when knitting future sweaters, though, is to add some length. I am tall and busty, and (mostly to do with the latter, I think) an extra inch or two in the torso would be good. I actually quite like the length of this cardigan, but it’s something to think about going forward. The sleeves, though, are perfect. They’re the right length and knit with about zero ease, which makes them fitted but not tight, and certainly roomy enough to let me wear long sleeves under this in the winter.

I didn’t quite make the ssKAL deadline, but I have a lovely new sweater to wear, and it’s finished before the cold sets in, so I don’t care. I pretty much have to turn to gift knitting now, but I’m already planning my next big knit (I’m thinking pullover), bolstered by the success of Burrard.

Details
Pattern: Burrard by Glenna C.
Yarn: Cascade 220 in Liberty Heather
Needles: 4mm and 4.5mm
Mods: I did two extra body increases above the waist, since my bust and hips are the same measurement. I decreased the extra stitches in the armhole, which also ensured I had a comfortable amount of ease at the top of the arm, where t-shirt sleeves tend to bunch up. My gauge was a little off, with my stitch gauge slightly tight and my row gauge slightly loose, so I did a little fiddling to make everything work out. I also added two additional rows to the button bands before the buttonholes, and then made six buttonholes to mitigate the pulling across my chest. All the details, etc. are ravelled here.

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: Burrard, ssKAL

10:35 am - October 1, 2013 - AngelaH

October is for socks

Can you believe it’s October 1? That seems crazy to me, but since I can’t do anything about it, I’m going to go with it. Bring on Socktober, this year, I’m ready. Besides some finishing up, this month is going to be all socks, all the time. I’m not great at monogamous knitting, so I’ll have a few pairs on the go at a time, with the goal of knitting two complete pairs and finishing at least one other. That may be insane, but we’ll see how it goes.

Stepping-Stones, being knit in Indigodragonfly Superwash DK in Fringe Over Troubled Water

My first plan is to finish up these Stepping-Stones for my mom. I cast them on in April, knit three inches and then put them down for six months. It’s starting to get cold again, though, so it’s time to finish them up. I picked them up the other day to stash in my bag as after-work knitting and I’m almost done the gusset decreases on the first sock. I’m knitting them in DK-weight yarn, which is coming out looser than the other pair I knit, so maybe they’ll end up being layering socks. Either way, they’ll keep her feet warm.

My other plans are holiday-related, so I have to keep things a little vague. I’m planning to knit Saltburns for my sister, using this delicious bright-blue.

Jill Draper Makes Stuff Splendor Sock in Cobalt

And, for L (who has finally come around to hand knit socks) I’m going to knit a simple 3×1 rib in this warm brown. I figure I’ll go basic for the first pair, and if he likes and wears them, I’ll knit something more fun.

Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock in Mushroom Hunting

If by some miracle I get all of this finished (or, if I finish the first two and then need something interesting to balance out the ribbing) I’ve got my second pair of Daphnes to finish up. I love these socks – the colour is perfect, the pattern is fun, and the only reason I put them down was because I needed something more mindless to balance out Burrard. They’re more of a summer sock, but if I finish them now they’ll be ready and waiting next year, which is okay by me.

Indigodragonfly Bleats, Shoots & Leaves in Baldersquash (everything about this yarn is amazing, including the name.)

Are you knitting socks this month? Please tell me you have crazy Socktober plans so I feel less like a maniac.

Category: Knitting Tags: planning, socks, Socktober

9:24 am - September 27, 2013 - AngelaH

We’re sorry, Burrard can’t come to the phone right now

I really, really thought I was going to have a finished sweater to show you today. I finished seaming Burrard last Thursday, before we went camping, and that just left the button bands and collar to do this week and I really, really thought that was a realistic goal. And then, well, this week rolled around and it was a day short (because we didn’t get home from camping until Monday night) and then I had long days because I was filling in for a special section at work, and before I knew it it was this morning and I’d spent about three and a half hours with Burrard and, well, yeah.

It’s not so bad, really. I’m four rows into the button band, which means I’m one row away from putting in the button holes, and since I’ve already more or less mapped out where they’re going to go, that’s a snap. And that means I’m only two rows away from starting the short-row shawl collar, and once that’s done I’m only a few rows from binding off, and then it’s just weaving in ends and I’m done. Practically nothing! Except my sister is coming to visit this weekend, and the weather looks good, so we probably won’t sit around the house talking while I knit like a maniac. But by the next week? Yeah, by then I should have a finished sweater to show you.

In the meantime, how about some finished socks? These were my everywhere socks. I carried the first one with me around Boston and grafted the toe shut on the plane on the way home. The second sock took longer, but I every night on the way home from work for the last couple of weeks I’ve knit a couple of rows (including a few while camping), and wouldn’t you know it, they all added up and now I have a finished pair. This is the kind of stealth knitting that surprises even me. All that time, feeling like I wasn’t making any progress and then all of a sudden I was dividing for the heel and then, before I knew it, decreasing for the toe. It wasn’t fast, but it was exactly what I needed.

I kind of love the weird way colours pool around a flap heel. It should bother me, but it’s so unpredictable I almost look forward to it.

I am a big fan of this pattern (Simple Skyp Socks, which has been knit by everyone I think) and this yarn (Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock) and I suspect to see both in my near future. If you, like me, are late to the Skyp Socks party, I say don’t wait. They’re addicting in the way that patterned socks can be, but also mindless enough that you can pick them up and put them down and not worry about wondering where you are when you get back to them. They’re perfect for social – or transit – knitting, and the pattern includes a range of sizes. Even better? They don’t gobble up much yarn. I have size 9 feet, and knit the leg longer than normal, and still had 32 g left over.

I’m still working on the whole selfie-sock-photo thing. I’m getting better though.

Holiday knitting is right around the corner, so I might not finish another pair of socks for myself for a little while, which makes these even sweeter. They’re the first cashmere blend socks I’ve knit for myself, and even if it takes a few months for a repeat performance, at least I know my feet will be cozy and warm in the interim.

Details
Pattern: Simple Skyp Socks by Adrienne Ku
Yarn: Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock in Admiral Benbow
Needle: 2.5mm
Mods: None, really. I forgot to knit a purl row after the ribbing, so I left it off the second sock too. The only other tweak I made was when dividing for the heel I arranged my stitches so the instep would be symmetrical, with one purl stitch on each side. Otherwise I just knit as the pattern directed me to. Ravelled here.

I knit both of these socks from the same skein, but they looks totally different. Somehow, the second half of the skein had way, way more of that rusty orange colour. I love that about hand painted yarns, especially with a pattern like this one.

Categories: finished, in progress, Knitting Tags: Burrard, socks

9:50 am - September 24, 2013 - AngelaH

Wool in the wild

It’s weekends like the one was just had that make me so, so glad that I’m a knitter. L and I, and our friends Sam and Carmen, went camping in almost-Northern Ontario (almost northern because we didn’t go as far as, say, Sudbury or North Bay, but were north of Barrie – this will mean nothing to you if you aren’t from around here, but if you’re curious about where we were, here it is on a map). Basically, it was far enough north to already be fall, which meant it was not exactly warm.

It rained for most of the first day, but it wasn’t too hard, and there were some breaks, and it was warm-ish rain, so none of us really minded. The temperature dropped quite a bit over night, though, and it can’t have been warmer than 8 Celsius the next morning (that’s about 45 Fahrenheit). It was cold and still overcast when we set out for our second site. By the time we got there (about an hour of canoeing) Carmen and I were freezing. It was quite windy and the site, while gorgeous, was very exposed. We set up a windscreen and put up the tents and then L and Sam (impervious to cold) went for an afternoon paddle while Carmen and I tried to warm up.

Here I am, trying to start a fire (with great success a few minutes later). For the record, I’m wearing wool socks, hiking boots, two pairs of pants, a wicking t-shirt, a wool base layer, a medium-weight base layer, a fleece jacket, a rain coat, my shawl, and mitts – and I was still cold.

Luckily, I brought a lot of wool. In addition to a wool base layer, I brought four pairs of hand knit socks (one for each day and a fourth for sleeping – my sleeping bag is rated up to -25 Celsius, but I still need wool socks to keep my feet warm when then temperature drops to single digits); my Sweet Street shawl, which was lightweight and warm and wrapped snuggly around my neck twice, and was basically perfect; and a pair of Camp Out Fingerless Mitts that I decided I really needed about 36 hours before we left and finished in the car on the way there – I will never go camping without a pair of these mitts again.

I was in a rush when I cast on and didn’t read the instructions properly (what is it about simple-looking patterns that makes me think I don’t have to read the directions?). Anyway, I cast on nearly three-times as many stitches as necessary for the cuffs that go around the fingers. This part is knit sideways, though, so they didn’t end to too big, just very long. I was a little annoyed about this (I only had a few hours to knit these and three times as many stitches means three times as long) but when I put them on I realized it was one of those happy accidents. At full-length, they were kind of like open-ended mittens, which made them warm while still giving me the full use of my hands.

Rolled-down, they were the perfect fingerless-mitts height, and also doubly warm around my palm. That easy convertibility meant I basically didn’t take them off for three days. They’re a bit felted now (I wore them while paddling) and could use a good wash, but they were exactly what I needed and I’m already planning to knit another pair with a couple of other mods (the main one being to pick up stitches around the thumb and knit three or four garter ridges up, since my thumb did get a little chilly).

This pink sky at night did indeed portend a sailor’s (or, canoeist’s) delight the next day.

Our last day, yesterday, was absolutely gorgeous. It was that perfect fall day when the sky is a deep, endless blue, and the wind is low so the water is just slightly rippled, like antique glass. It was warm in the sun and our paddle out was perfect. It’s the kind of weather you hope for, and I’m glad we got at least one day of it; even if it was our shortest, it was the perfect way to end the weekend.

Details
Pattern: Camp Out Fingerless Mitts by tante ehm
Yarn: Cascade Eco+ in Lake Chelan Heather (shade #9451) from my stash
Needle: 4.5mm
Mods: Mainly just casting on too many stitches initially. I also shortened the hands/arms because I was in a hurry, and added four rows of 1×1 rib to the bottom. When I knit the next pair, I’ll add a couple of garter ridges to the top so I can pick up a few more stitches for the hand. I’ll also knit up the thumb a bit and, before the bottom ribbing, I’ll cast on a few stitches just to make the bottom a little stretchier. I pulled these on just fine, but even with a loose cast-off, they were tight coming over my hands. I’d probably knit them longer too. Ravelled here.

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun? I brought my Skyp socks with me, but didn’t manage to knit more than a few rows while we were camping (and a few inches in the car on the way home).

Categories: finished, Knitting, Out and about Tags: camping, mittens

8:58 am - September 17, 2013 - AngelaH

First things first

Before I say anything else, let me just say that fall has arrived. At least in Toronto. Today is one of those glorious fall days with a wide open, deep blue sky and a true crispness in the air. It’s definitely chilly enough in the morning and in the evenings to wear a warm sweater and wish for mittens. It’s Toronto, so we probably (hopefully) haven’t seen the end of warm days for year, but still, it’s nice to be excited about the temperature dropping.

I was never this excited about cooler weather until I started knitting. It’s exciting.

Down the Rabbit Hole mittens, photo Audry Nicklin, from Ravelry

Also exciting: Kimberly Wepplo (commenter #11) is the winner of the Lit Knits giveaway! Congratulations Kimberly! Please let me know how to get in touch with you so I can pass your contact info on to Audrey. You’ll have to let us know what you cast on for first.

This was my first giveaway and I just wanted to thank you all for your enthusiasm! Your comments about the book and its patterns were so much fun to read, and I especially liked that you encouraged each other to try patterns you liked that were a little out of your comfort zone. Audry has put together a gorgeous book, and if you would like your very own copy of Lit Knits, you can buy it either on her website or on Ravelry. There’s still time to get the sweet pre-order deal, that includes both a print and an e-book version – it’s only available until Sept. 25, so now is the time to scoop it up. (There are also still giveaways you can get in on. The blog tour list is here.)

In other news, Burrard is in its final stages, which is perfect, because I could really use a big cozy sweater right now. I blocked the body on the weekend while I was finishing up the arms, which I blocked yesterday. Now I’m sewing in my sleeve caps. These are my first set in sleeves, so I did a lot of reading about how to ease them in, how to seam, etc. If you too are wondering about seaming and/or setting in sleeves, the best resources I found were this Vogue guide to seaming (which covers a ton of different seams, with illustrations) and this Berroco video, which Cassy linked to a few weeks ago. My seams aren’t perfect, but you know what, they aren’t bad.

Half-seamed set-in sleeve. So far so good, I think.

I’m hoping to finish the sleeve caps and get started on seaming the body tonight, but even once all the seaming is done, I’ll have the button band and shawl collar to pick up and knit. I was all set to pull this one out in time for the SSKAL deadline, but then I realized that we’re going camping this weekend (backwoods, canoe-in camping) and since there’s no way I’m bringing an unfinished sweater with me, I may have to resign myself to finishing a few days after the deadline. Since this still means I get a finished sweater by the end of next week, I’m not devastated, but it would be nice to make the deadline. Maybe if I don’t sleep quite as much? We’ll see.

So, any tips on seaming or setting in sleeves? Do you see a horrible error in my photo that my novice eyes didn’t catch? Please tell me! I promise a photo of a fully-seamed sweater later this week.

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Burrard, giveaway, Lit Knits, ssKAL

9:33 am - September 10, 2013 - AngelaH

Lit Knits Giveaway

Oh my, am I excited about today. I am a knitter, there’s no question about that, but long before I ever picked up a knitting needle, I was a reader. I was the kid who would rather sit and read than do most other things and would often go through multiple books on holidays and camping trips (something that caused me a lot of anxiety when packing because, what if I ran out of books!?).

Lit Knits by Audry Nicklin

When it came time to go to university, studying English was a no-brainer, and I remain a voracious reader, and while I’m discerning, I’m not a total snob. I read a lot of new books, but one of my favourite things is to go back and reread books I loved as a kid, and thanks to Audry Nicklin’s new collection Lit Knits, I have added 10 classics to my bedside to-(re)read pile.

Deep Sea Wanderer, photo by Audry Nicklin, from Ravelry

Chances are, you recognize Audry’s name, either because you read her blog or because you’ve seen her designs pop up on Ravelry (among many other things, she designed those incredible pie-shawl star maps, Celestarium and Southern Skies). Her latest collection is ten designs, each inspired by a classic children’s novel – including Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Anne of Green Gables and Wind in the Willows. Clearly, Audry and I had similar childhoods, because with the exception of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, I’ve read (or been read) all of her inspirations.

Sail to Treasure Island, photo by Audry Nicklin, from Ravelry

Knitwear inspired by literature is growing genre, but Audry’s take on it is different. Rather than creating garments that are mentioned in the novels, or intended for a specific character, she is inspired by the novels, which makes her designs stories in themselves. For example, Sail to Treasure Island is a blanket that is also a map to the treasure. The border is the ocean, followed by the beach, the forest, and the mountains, and in the middle, X marks the spot. This is the kind of design I imagine wrapping around a child right before bedtime stories. Of course, I also imagine it knit in a lighter weight yarn and wearing it as a shawl while curled up in a chair reading. It’s a beautiful and versatile design, full of thoughtful details that would make it both interesting to knit and a pleasure to wear.

Motoring Madness, photo by Audry Nicklin, from Ravelry.

I also love the Motoring Madness fingerless mitts, inspired by Toad’s awful driving in Wind in the Willows. I have been meaning to make myself a pair of fingerless mitts for over a year now (every fall and every spring I wish I had a pair) and these are perfect. Simple enough to be a quick knit, but still stylish and fun. I even have some Acadia yarn in my stash, so it’s clearly meant to be.

Lit Knits is a really comprehensive collection, including socks, shawls, a scarf, a cowl, mittens, a blanket, and an incredible hoodie (that most of these designs are unisex just adds to the possibilities). But not only is there breadth in patterns, there is also a range of design elements. Audry uses lace, cables, twisted stitches and stranded colourwork, offering up a little of everything. Even better, she includes detailed technical instructions, which makes Lit Knits a great collection for knitters looking to expand their skills as well as more experienced knitters. It is so good.

Black Beauty Rides On, photo by Audry Nicklin, from Ravelry

Lit Knits is available in both e-book and print versions, but from now until Sept. 25, if you pre-order the print book you’ll also get a download code for the e-book. I love having both a physical copy of a book to flip through and a digital copy for easy chart printing, so clearly I chose this option. Both versions of the book are available on Audry’s website, and through Ravelry.

As a bonus, Audry has offered to give away an e-book copy of Lit Knits to one of my readers! This is an incredibly generous offer given how much work and time Audry has put into this book, and I think it’s awesome. To win, just leave a comment telling me what your favourite pattern in Lit Knits is (bonus points if you’ve read the source material) by noon EST on Monday, Sept. 16. I’ll post the winner next Tuesday! (edited to add: please include your Rav ID of another way for me to contact you in your comment.)

Avonlea, photo by Audry Nicklin, from Ravelry

To read more about the inspiration behind each pattern, head over to Audry’s blog – she’s doing an excellent series of posts with photos from the book (and photos that didn’t make it into the book) and stories about each pattern.

So, what would you knit from Lit Knits?

Category: Knitting Tags: giveaway, Lit Knits

9:32 am - September 9, 2013 - AngelaH

Marriage mittens

A little while ago, I read Nancy Bush’s Folk Knitting in Estonia (yes, read; there’s a lot of front matter on customs and traditions before you even get to the patterns) and I was amazed by the role mittens played in Estonian traditions, especially marriage. For example: by the time they were brides, women were expected to have at least 50 pairs of mittens in their dowry chest. And not just regular mittens, either, fancy mittens they could present as gifts to their wedding party and their groom and his family and the guests. Mittens were also traditional gifts for an Estonian bride because, as Nancy Bush says, in Estonia people would often go through three or more pairs of mittens a winter.

I read all this after having knit a pair of mittens as a wedding gift for my friend Carmen last year. They were the fanciest mittens I’d ever knit and, for reasons I couldn’t quite express at the time, seemed like a perfect wedding gift for an October bride.

This October, my good friend Jacq is getting married. I knew I wanted to knit her a wedding gift, and after reading Nancy Bush’s book, I knew that mittens would be perfect. She is someone with a deep appreciation for tradition, especially where women’s work and wisdom are concerned, and I knew she would appreciate not only that the mittens were hand knit, but also that they relate back to marriage tradition – albeit, one from a country and culture that neither of us are related to.

The trouble was, of course, what mittens to knit? There are a lot of patterns out there and I wanted them to be pretty but also suitable for everyday wear. Jacq often walks to work, so they needed to be warm (Toronto winters can get cold), but not so thick that she couldn’t easily hold a coffee cup or use her phone while wearing them.

I looked at a lot of patterns before remembering how much I liked Rachel Coopey’s Chamomile mittens and hat set from last winter’s Twist Collective. I knit them up in Classic Elite Fresco, which is a blend of wool, alpaca, and angora, making it lightweight and super warm and perfect for stranded colour work. The pattern also suggests traditional lace edgings to me and, although I have not yet seen the wedding dress, I just know it’s going to feature lace detailing.

Jacq’s bridal shower was yesterday; she didn’t open any gifts during the shower, but she e-mailed me this morning to say she opened the mittens last night, and, in her words, “they’re perfect for me.” Her wedding is in October, and while I hope it isn’t yet cold enough for her to need the mittens, I hope they keep her hands warm and cozy through the first few winters of her marriage, and, when they wear out, I will happily replace them.

Details
Pattern: Chamomile by Rachel Coopey
Yarn: Classic Elite Fresco in Cornflower and Parchment
Needles: 2.5 mm
Mods: I knit the pattern almost entirely as written. My only real change was to rechart the middle row of the colour work (between the “lace” borders). As written, the charts would make mittens to fit my hands perfectly, but I am probably 7 inches taller than she is, and her hands are thus proportionally smaller than mine. I took nine rows (!) out of each colour work repeat, which shortened the whole mitten by about two inches and the finger area specifically by about an inch, which was perfect. It took me a few tries to figure out a mod that I liked, but after that, the knitting flew. Ravelled here.

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: gift knitting, mittens

9:32 am - September 5, 2013 - AngelaH

Something new

In the interest of being organized (and keeping the house clean, since we have a ton of house guests coming over the next few months), I bought a basket. I love baskets, and this one is big enough to hold not only all my in-progress knitting, but also all the associate yarn (so, not just the parts of the sweater that are being knit, but also the many skeins of yarn waiting to make it to the needles). It is perfect.

Ganymede included for scale (and also because she was curious).

I actually saw this basked at the end of June, and then didn’t buy it (why? I don’t know). The shop had about sixty of them, so I felt no pressure. Last weekend I went back expressly to buy a basket and this was the last one! And you know what, I would have been so sad if they’d sold out, so I am quite pleased with this purchase.

Interior.

Having all these knits in one place does force me to realize that I have rather a lot on the go, though. This basket is currently holding: three pairs of socks, two sweaters, a cowl, and a shawl (the secret knitting is next to me on the table, almost finished!). In light of this, I may not cast on anything new for a little while – well, at least not this month.

Category: Knitting

4:24 pm - September 2, 2013 - AngelaH

Back at it

There is nothing like a long weekend to help you regroup. I don’t know where July and August went, but somehow it is now September, which means we’re heading into my favourite season. Whether it’s the product of canny marketing or just the subtle change in the air, September always feels like the start of something new, which drives me into a frenzy of organizing and cleaning and taking stock.

This long weekend has seen lots of that, and – hooray! – lots of knitting too. After nearly three weeks off (how did that happen? where did those weeks go?) I got back to Burrard. I finished the back this morning. I have another little project on the go, but I’ll wrap that up this week and then start the left front and the other arm. Everything will feel quick after the back, so I’m hoping that a few good knitting weeks lie before me and I’ll get this sweater done just in time for the air to turn crisp.

Did you enjoy your (long) weekend?

Categories: in progress, Knitting Tags: Burrard

8:58 am - August 29, 2013 - AngelaH

I did not get lost in Boston

These globes (each one meant to demonstrate green living) were everywhere. I loved that this one is wearing a rooftop garden like a jaunty hat.

Well, no, I did, but I made it back okay. Readjusting to regular life post-holiday has been a little crazy. It’s always a struggle, but for a bunch of reasons (including an angry little cat who refused to let me sleep), this time was harder. As a result, I’m behind on a bunch of things, but most especially I am shamefully behind on thanking you all for your excellent suggestions about where I should go and what I should do while in Boston! One of these days I’m going to write up little travel pages for each place I go, just so your trip advice won’t get lost in the archives.

One thing I learned by walking everywhere: Boston knows how to do window boxes.

Boston was an excellent city for solo travel (L was with me, but he spent most of his time doing conference things). Apparently the week we were there was the best weather they’d had all August, which meant bright and sunny and hot days – it was glorious. It was so nice, in fact, that I didn’t go to a single museum (I would have, but then L wanted to go see USS Constitution, which I’d already seen, but it was his only free time and how could I argue?) Basically this just means I’ll have to go back, and I’m pretty okay with that.

Freedom! (as long as you follow the path)

I sort of told you about Monday already, but on Tuesday I took to following the red brick line of the Freedom Trail. It was the hottest day (at that point – I think it got hotter later in the week) that Boston had had all August, so I slathered on the sunscreen and bought some water and went at it. I started in the Boston Common and took a guided tour as far as Faneuil Hall. It was exactly the kind of thing I would have hated as a teenager (our guide was dressed in period costume), but as an adult, I loved it. It has been a long time since I took American history, so all the extra details were both fun and helpful.

So tempting.

After the tour ended, I wandered around Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall for a bit before continuing on my way, which let me past the fabulous Mike’s Pastry, through Little Italy, and over a very serious bridge to the USS Constitution and from there, up to the Bunker Hill memorial: 294 steps are, it seems, no problem to get up, but after descending my legs were shaking so much I had to hold on to stay standing. And then I had to walk all the way back. It was a slow and painful walk (and my calves hurt for days), but it was worth it.

View from the end of Fan Pier. I love that waterfront architecture.

The next day, still in a bit of pain, I went over to Fort Point and poked around some of the little shops and restaurants. I also walked Fan Pier, which was lovely and offered a totally different Boston skyline than the one I’d become accustomed to seeing.

See what I mean about the window boxes?

I did do some shopping in Boston, but sadly had no way to get to Webs. I did find one yarn shop, but it was so expensive ($69 for a 100g, 400-yard skein of 80% merino, 20% cashmere?) that I just left. I actually knit very little while I was away. I finished the first of my Skyp Socks on the plane heading home, and although I cast on for the second one, it’s one week later and I’m only two inches in. (After Boston we went to Ann Arbor for a wedding, which didn’t allow for much knitting either.) Luckily there’s a long weekend coming up and we have no plans at all.

So, what did you get up to last week? I’m still catching up on all my blog reading and e-mail responding, so if you get a barrage of comments/replies, that’s why.

Category: Out and about Tags: Boston, photos, travel