Enjoying Friendship and New Sock Yarn

Last week I was vacationing in Matlacha, Florida with my friend, Deanna. It was for this purpose that I was knitting my Ogee Lace Skirt. The skirt was finished the night before we left to drive the 16 hours down to Matlacha. I did wear it the first day that we went to the beach, but it was then that I realized that I was completely right in thinking this was NOT the right yarn for this skirt. I used what I had in my stash; something I for which I had no project idea. It just wasn't the right choice. I love the pattern and the knitting wasn't difficult. It actually knit up pretty fast. I'm thinking I'll get some Cotton Classic and reknit the pattern for next summer. We'll see...

Matlacha is a small community close to Fort Myers on the west coast of the Florida peninsula . It is about 40 minutes from the beaches on Sanibel & Captiva Islands, and the driving route each day included going over two bridges. Since we both were up early every day, we saw some beautiful sunrises just about the time we got to the second bridge. As De said many times through out the week, watching the earth wake up over the water was always beautiful! These clouds promised rain by the time we got to Captiva on Sanibel Island, and so two of the four days we drove over, we saw rainbows over the palm trees when we stopped to get our coffee at the local Sanibel Bean.

After our coffee stop, we drove over to the beach. Our favorite last week was Blind Pass where the sea shells were plentiful and the waves were constant.

I had never been to a beach before that had so many shells. The very first one I picked up was a nice sized Sea urchin. After that most of the shells were of the Calico Scallop type (they look like the Shell Oil sign), but among those there were several varieties of color. We found a few of the Lightning Whelk, Sailor's Ear, and many Auger Shells. When we left Blind Pass and drove down to Sanibel Lighthouse beach, we found Fig Shells and more Sea Urchins. But the water wasn't as clean on the Lighthouse beach so we didn't stay long.

Before leaving home to head for Florida, I did what every avid knitter does - I went on line and looked for knit shops in the area. I didn't find any that were reasonably close to where we were staying (I didn't expand the search much since I wasn't driving). However, there was one store that we passed the first day that showed promise. It was called the "Three Crafty Ladies". Upon investigation we learned that they no longer carried knitting yarn, but they were happy to point us to the "Jeez Leweez" Needlework Shop. The shop was quaint with a modest supply of yarn in the front and a good supply of needlepoint supplies in the back. To my delight, the shop was having a sock yarn sale. Ok, so I had taken 3 different sock yarns with me, but couldn't decide what pattern to use with any of them. I've been knitting lace socks, but didn't want to have to pay close attention to a pattern while on vacation so the yarns I took were out. "Jeez Leweeze" had some self patterning Trekking so I grabbed up a skein of it (not really grabbed. It took me 30 minutes to pick out one skein - not too bad!) I cast on some simple ribbed top socks that night, which was two nights before I had to leave for home. I made some progress, however, and will post the details on Ravelry.

But the shop also had some beautiful colorways of Cherry Tree Hill, so I had to go back a second day. I got a skein of Green Mt. Madness colorway. I don't know yet what I will make with this beautiful yarn. Maybe a shawl, hmmm..... Christmas is coming on fast, so we'll see...

What I haven't said yet is that this trip was a birthday present from my husband, made possible also by my dear friend, Deanna, who invited me to go with her to her vacation home in Matlacha. The trip was wonderful, but the best part, by far, was spending time with De. We've known each other for several years, but this trip made us realize how much alike we are. It was a phenomenal gift of love and friendship, seasoned with lots of natural beauty, discoveries of similarities, and laughter that just kept coming! WoW! What a birthday!

Until next time ...

b