Hawaiian Bees Socks

I went to Hawaii for the first time in September. After scoping a serious sale on Virgin from LAX to Maui, my best friend and I bought cheap tickets in "celebration" of my birthday. By that I mean, a reason to spend a lot of money to go to Hawaii and enjoy ourselves. Is there a bad reason to go to Hawaii? Nay. But this was our's.

With travel comes the need for a travel project. It must be portable, interesting, and definitely take longer than a week to knit (sorry, vanilla socks, you do not qualify in this instance). I was craving an intricate pair of cabled socks, and this pattern fit the bill perfectly. So I cast on these Busy Bees Socks right before I left, using some Stroll Tonal I had in my stash. 

 

They did me well. In fact, it took me much longer than my trip to finish them, since I was interrupted by my Campside Shawl, but I was determined to finish before I started any holiday knitting. I like the finished product - they look amazing - but I do not love these socks. The heel is slightly ill-fitting (and I prefer a slipped stitch heel), and I'm not super in love with Stroll as a sock yarn. It's a bit too hot on my feet, doesn't have much stretch, and felts easily. I'm lazy with my socks, and frequently they end up in the washer and/or dryer. There, I've admitted it. Take me away!

While we're on the subject of confessions, let me also say: I knit in the car. Yes, it's bad, but so is traffic in LA. 

Campside Shawl

This is my stormy Campside Shawl, knit from a free Pompom pattern and 6 balls of Knit Picks Gloss DK in Hawk. I first spotted this pattern a few years ago and appreciated the simplicity, with just enough yarn overs to make the knitting interesting. And it just looked so cozy, you know? 

Shawls were never my thing. I couldn't imagine wrapping myself in what amounted to a small, triangular blanket. I know, I know, as knitters, it is our duty to love shawls. We all took the sworn oath of Shawl Love. But not me. 

So what changed? Perhaps my newfound obsession can really be attributed to living in LA. We certainly do love wearing tank tops in November here, and wearing a wool sweater of any weight is difficult. Plus we have a city-wide obsession with black denim, black tops, black everything, and nothing tops off that type of outfit like a small, triangular blanket. 

So here I am. Swearing my oath of Shawl Love.