return from limbo

Limbo: the week between school ending & summer activities starting. I work - well, normally you'd call it that- out of a home office. Which means this week, I call it SURRENDER. We hit the road to hang out on the beach in Delaware, one of my favorite spots on earth. With some of my favorite people: my parents, a niece & nephew. Sun, sand, crashing waves and the annoying habits in close quarters cherished company of family.

I finished the back of my simple sleeveless tank, and am loving this yarn. That 1% stretch gives it a jellyfish-like quality, you can mush it into any shape without distorting it. And its soft and airy while looking nubbly. Here's the see-through view:
That nubbly quality made me worry that the cable up the front will look like a big vertical sneeze, but so far, a couple of twists in, its looking well defined. I'll show it next time.

I'd have knitted more on the beach but a tetherball pinky injury slowed me down. Remind me that I stink at all activities with the word "ball" in them, please! That didn't stymie me. I read a whole book one day. And we amuse ourselves endlessly together.

What did stymie me: my niece, seen here at solataire, watching me knit and saying "oh, I can see you wrapping that yarn around. I don't knit like that, I knit like Granma".

This stopped me cold. My mom is an amazing knitter. She's fast, she twitches her index finger like a bobbin, you barely see it move, over the needle points. When I was a kid I thought it was magic that knitted fabric appeared, like she was waving her finger as a wand. But many people do that. The truly amazing part is she knits ambidextrously, knitting across and purling back without turning the needles and knitting around. And not just in stockinette, in any stitch combo. Without looking. I have tried, and tried, but I can't do this. No matter how hard I stare. It makes the hair thats still inside my scalp tingle. I'm sure its good for your left-to-right brain but you try it.

And if you can do it, don't tell me. That goes double if you're good at beach tetherball.