Cruise knitting (3)

3.  Project Headband/Earwarmer:  I already blogged about this on October 30.  When the weather turned cold in Southern New Zealand, and there was no head protection in my baggage, I turned to my trusty friend, the Possum!
Then there was the...
4. Europa Shawl:  I don't know why I packed this. It consists of a horizontal two page un-traveler-friendly chart, with one redeeming feature that I wish upon all charts:  Numbers written in for those long plain knit/purl rows.  So you have xxxoxo 42 xoxxox.  I was very pleased to not have to count those 42 knit stitches on the chart. This does not mean that there weren't 42 little empty boxes in that row, in case you wanted to count them, but I liked the numbers! (Maybe it's me, but I had never seen that on a chart before.  Comments?)
Here, again, is the picture of knitting projects at the beginning of the cruise. At the very top is the cowl (project #2), clockwise: My Peruvian knitting project pouch, Skew sock (which I didn't touch, because I didn't want to think--I would have to think to get that one going again), Blue Top with fancy border (more later), and above that the Europa shawl (gray) at the "nupp" stage.

Have I complained told you about the "nupps"? (Rhymes with SOUP) P was right; she usually is... The more I did them the easier they got.  The caveat is that I adjusted my tension, and I turned stitches around, and I used my stiletto 000 needle to dip through the 7 wraps for each nupp.  I really don't care if they show or not.  I'm past the section of nupps and say "good riddance"!!

Here we are with ball of yarn in netting, pulling into beautiful American Samoa.  I really never did more than a partial row at a time, and every time I started, I had 5 minutes of "where am I in this pattern?" before I could do a stitch...  It was pretty frustrating, especially when I messed up, which seemed like ALL the time. Twisting stitches, and TBL's (through the back loop), and my nemesis, purl through back loop, made it easy to look elsewhere for something to do. (A swim? Play Trivia? A cookie? Listen to string quartet? A sock! A movie, a lecture, a playdate in the Fun Zone with a little girl...) There was a lot of competition for my knitting.
I managed to complete the nupp section and go on to another annoying bit that looked horrible, but when I got it home and stretched out, I think it's salvageable.  I put in a lifeline and will continue...at a later date.

Ahh. American Samoa (Pago Pago)

Possum

How can I describe it?  A furry animal that seems a bit evil:

Opossum: A marsupial with a ratlike prehensile tail and hind feet with an opposable thumb.

In New Zealand, it's a pest.  Hunted by the gajillions just to get rid of it.  Making a killing in more ways that one... now used up to 40% in various yarns in combination with merino wools.  Get your souvenir Possum Fur Nipple Warmers here!
In Australia, it's a protected species!  (I didn't declare my yarns at Australian customs for fear of starting a protest.)  Can't touch the hair on their heady-head-head!
Worldwide: Available at Etsy.


 After a chilly walk around Auckland in great contrast to the South Pacific islands I hastily picked up needles and planned for some ear-warmth by our next stop.  The rest of our cruise would be in the colder southern climes. My little bit of heaven made from Touch Possum Yarn, merino wool 60%, Possum Fur 30%, Nylon 10%.  My fashion design and toasty.  (I could tell others were envious.)

See previous blog for modeling on-site (NZ).