Luna de Miel

I mentioned earlier that my husband and I are about to embark on a 3½-week honeymoon! Yay! (They always say not to say things like this on the internet, but since we have a housesitter and two protective guardcats, I'll take the risk.)

On our trip we will be visiting California, Oregon, Nevada and Hawai'i. The flight to LAX alone takes 17 hours! Not to mention hours upon hours on the road as we drive along the West Coast. This naturally begs the question: what to knit?!

After much contemplation, I settled on the Carnaby Street Pullover by Melissa Wehrle (at left). The pattern was published in the Fall 2009 issue of Knitscene and it is also available for purchase on the Interweave Knits website. My poison of choice is Novita Florica (100% wool) in 080, which is a muted purple/mauve shade.

To be fair, I am not entirely convinced that the neckline will work with my... erm, ample bust, but I lovelovelove the waffle-like pattern and the off-center buttons. I'm making the 36½" size even though it's supposed to be worn with negative ease - my gauge is likely to be tighter than required and the neckline may sit better that way.

One of the deciding factors was that even though this is knitted in Sport weight yarn, the needles are large enough for me to use my Denise set (the smallest of which are 3.75 mm). I did not want to risk losing bamboo or metal needles to fickle airport security staff.

My secondary travel project is a pair of Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts (at right). I may not have disclosed this before, but I suck at colourwork. I always pull the travelling yarn too tight and my gauge goes all over the place. Therefore I'm surprised to say that I have already finished one! (Not the one in the photo, I haven't gotten around to taking photos yet.) I'm using Rowan 4 Ply Soft (100% wool; discontinued) in 397 Teak for the main colour and Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Silk Solid (52% bamboo, 43% superwash merino wool, 5% combed silk) in 3204 Natural Ecru for the contrasting colour. The Crystal Palace Panda was leftovers from my wedding garter, so it seemed appropriate for a honeymoon project.

If everything goes to plan, these mitts will have a very special role to play soon. But I'll tell you more if/when it happens.

It is currently 12.30am and I'm biding time until we leave for the airport at 4.30am. My suitcase is nearly packed and I'm starting to feel jittery. Weirdly enough, the older I get, the less I enjoy flying. I used to love it. Now I get nervous. Luckily I have Tristan to hold my hand - plus as a hobby pilot, he knows to give me a heads-up if something really is going awry!