Life, Knitting and the Pursuit of Roller Coasters

We covered a lot of ground last week, driving through at least 10 states, putting almost 3,000 miles on my car and adding some new coasters to the counts. It was a blast, it was exhausting, there were a few hurdles, but for the most part everything went smoothly and we had a great time.

Holiwood Nights was an incredible event for the second year in a row and we had a blast hanging out with all of our friends who were able to make it there. Camden Park was a little scary, but a lot of fun. Dollywood was crazy busy and we were glad this was a repeat visit for both of us, as we wouldn’t have gotten a great impression of the park this time around. Busch Gardens was amazing as usual, and we took two days to take it all in at a leisurely pace. Six Flags Great Adventure was also crazy busy, but we managed. Clementon was a quick stop, Memorial Day traffic around Philly was a nightmare and an unplanned last-minute overnight with friends in Pittsburgh gave us an excuse to swing by Cedar Point for their new coaster’s opening day on the way home. All in all, a great trip.

Now, one doesn’t put nearly 3,000 miles on a car without finding a little time for some on-the-road and in-park knitting. The purple stockinette sock got some quality time at Holiday World, including a start to the heel. I did get some strange looks and comments knitting in line, and took the dorky walkback photo posted a couple posts ago during the “backstage” tour of the Voyage. The first sock in that pair is just in need of a little more work on the foot and a toe before it starts to gain a mate. Had I realized Maverick at Cedar Point had bins for stuff in the station, I wouldn’t have left the camera and knitting in the car, and the sock would probably be finished. Now I know for my next visit in a couple weeks.

My in-the-car knitting was primarily the Aran Sandal Socks, and while Mikey was sound asleep from Dramamine in the hotel in Williamsburg, VA about halfway through the trip, I finally put the toe on my second Aran Sandal Sock and wore them in the park the following day.

What can I say about this pattern? The appearance makes them look so complex (then again, what cable pattern doesn’t look complex to the uninitiated?) but really, 3 relatively simple cable patterns spaced out with some twisted ribs are all that make up this pattern. It was a little tricky figuring out how to go from in the round patterning to back and forth for the heels, more so on the smaller cable pattern that trails down the heel than on the main diamond pattern though. And the row counting gets a little trisky with different mismatched cable rows, but once I got into a groove it wasn’t that bad.

And I absolutely adore how they came out. Squishy, attractive, practical, bold, subtle, comfortable. There were a few cool clever details to keep things interesting. The pattern continuing down the heel while a little tricky to devise, is by far my favorite feature of these socks. The seed stitch gussets that continue down the side of the foot just add one more textural element for added interest.

These have definitely boosted my confidence for other cabley patterns, and now that the needles are free, I’m ready to dive into those Austrian Socks for Sockapalooza.