From The OC to The NC, Part I

When I make plans for a trip, I get excited about my destination and the people and places I will get to see while there. But I have to admit -- I also get pretty excited about the trip itself.

I firmly believe that a knitter was on the design team of the modern commercial aircraft. Free movies? Ear phones? Seat-front pockets to hold your yarn? Belts that keep you seated for hours on end, requiring that nice people bring drinks and snacks to you? It is none other than Knitting Paradise!

The right airplane project(s), however, must undergo thorough screening before being allowed to board:

• Lightweight
• Small
  
• Quick and easy to take out and put away
• Requires no pattern, or have long stretches of easily-memorized sections to minimize the amount of time referring to a pattern
• Not require double-pointed needles (I am more skilled at losing them than knitting with them)

The following additional criteria is nice but not mandatory:

• Requires minimal finishing
• Requires little to no blocking
• Can be worn during the trip

So what fits the bill? Socks! I received some beautiful Koigu Kersti Merino Crepe for my birthday this year and it has been waiting until just the right airplane trip to make its transformation into a pair of socks for me-all-me.

Vacation Day 1: Layover in Washington Dulles Airport
Start a short-row toe. Overhear guy whose flight to New York City had been delayed make an angry phone call to United, tells United rep that he's missing has bachelor party because of the delay. At first feel pity for him then decide he's just smarmy enough to lie to weasel a free flight out of them. Shake my head and return to sock toe.

Vacation Days 2 & 3: Hipp In-Laws' Home in NC
Zip along on foot. Decide to add 1x1 ribbing at the arch for a super-huggy sock.

Vacation Day 4: Drive to Raleigh to Meet SIL's New Beau
Turn heel using toe-up heel flap method adapted from Widdershins socks. Become very excited. Force others to share excitement with me. (By the way, SIL = Sister-in-Law.)

Vacation Day 5: Hipp In-Laws' Home in NC
Work on ankle of sock while watching "Cool Hand Luke" in TV. Decide Paul Newman was once The Cutest Man in America -- he was relegated to second place, of course, in 1996, when Mr. Hipp turned 18.

Vacation Day 6: Drive to Lenoir to See Friends
Finish sock #1! Spend remainder of day showing sock to anyone within arm's length. Tell a 2-year-old that it's a "Magic Sock" in hopes of planting the seed for a future knitter.
Truth be told, I actually also brought the entrelac scarf to work on. I did make some good progress on it from LAX to Dulles, but it still basically looks the same as the last time I posted about it, just a little longer. C'mon, that's not nearly as interesting as a Magic Sock!