Knitting on the Beach… The Needle(s) has landed…
Despite my love of for this area and my deep appreciation for the sea and the beach, I must admit to having less than stellar feelings about cold water, sea or not. Although we are on the East Coast of Africa , hence a much warmer current (Indian) than the West Coast (the freezing Atlantic), the water here is wayyyyyy too cold for my liking. So it happens that every year, I need to psych myself up to brave the frigid waves and do my annual “swim”. The verb “swimming” is used here with a great deal of artistic licence, my foray into the great blue being more of an attempt to stay upright against crashing waves as I slowly advance ….one numbing foot after the other. Gerry and Aliki use wetsuits to keep out the cold, but Emmanuelle has no cold temperature sensors in her skin, and will dive headlong in, rain, shine, hurricane, icebergs…. regardless. As I mentioned before, the sea is very treacherous here, and a rip can take you out towards Australia within a heartbeat. Yesterday, despite the presence of several lifeguards, it took my friend Pete and his daughter being towed out rapidly , to realize that there was a powerful current and that people were getting stuck way out, unable to make their way back in to shore. Pete and Emma were fine…he grew up on the beach, so these things are taken in his stride, but the lifeguards had to go in an rescue several people.
I have made a rule about our kids swimming…we always have a lifesaver bouy or two and a pair of long flippers when we go to the beach.
So, back to my swalk (:) *swim/walk)… I went in as far as my neck , patted myself proudly on the back for a job well done! and went and sat wrapped up on a deck chair on the beach.
Now for the good bit…my knitting 🙂
Remember when I wrote about the Knit Companion App?…I have modified and set up a charted pattern for Poppy Socks, and all I needed on the beach, was my iPad and knitting….happy as a pig in mud! The Poppy socks started with me seeing a colour scheme that I really liked…a sky blue/turquoise/greeny variegated blend with scarlet next to it…so I dyed up some sock yarn and fiddled with the pattern for a bit. I started with a plain toe, but changed it so that the poppies start straight away. Hopefully this test knit will be fine, and as soon as I am done, I will put the charted pattern up on Ravelry. I have been using the Red Lace Chiaogoo’s…these are fabulous circs! Go out and buy yourself a pair as a New Year’s gift…you’re worth it 😉
Yesterday I went for a long walk along the beach. It was still fairly early and there was a light breeze and some cloud cover….lovely stuff! I was just thinking about the New Year…it’s responsibilities, planning, debating…I feel like it’s always a time to start something new, set yourself a challenge, try something different…Not really a New Year’s resolution necessarily, just a new outlook on things…
I have been thinking that perhaps I should do a Project 365…perhaps a photo a day? Do you have any plans/ideas/challenges?
Enjoy the day folks!
♥Heidi
