Knitting in N-Zed

Well, we made it and are happily ensconced at Mr. N’s parents on New Zealand’s Kapiti Coast.  We had a bit of a luggage scare — my precious bag of yarn (along with, less importantly, the entirety of our checked luggage) was lost for our first evening in New Zealand, but, much to my relief, all the bags made it to us the next day with nary a ball of wool harmed.Since then, I’ve been settling into a nice routine.  Wake up early (the perks of jet lag!), run on the beach, knit a few rows, and start work for the day.  Mr. N’s parents have two lovely dogs: Bramble, a springer spaniel puppy with bundles of energy, and her older sister Purdy, a black lab who, at nine, begrudgingly tolerates Bramble’s rambunctious play.  At mid-morning, we take them out for a walk on the beach, then have lunch, more work, and out for another walk as the sun goes down.  I could certainly get used to this schedule!  It’s been over three years since my last visit here, and I’d forgotten how stunningly beautiful this place is.  Raumati Beach, just a few steps from our temporary home here, is so scenic, filled with unfamiliar plants and birds and an endless supply of driftwood that I find enormously appealing.  I’m looking forward to sharing a bit of my exploring here over the next seven weeks!

In the end, I didn’t get much knitting done on the flights — because of the way we spaced the trip, almost all our travel was overnight, so I mostly slept, read or stared into the distance in an only semi-awake daze! I managed a small bit of work on my socks.  I’ve finished the foot and inserted my scrap yarn to unravel later for my afterthought heels.

Evenings — typically my prime knitting time — have been a bit sleepy due to jet lag.  But I have done a bit of work on my Islay.  Both fronts are finished (they went super fast!) and now I’m onto the back.  I’m still really enjoying working on the sweater and the fun of doing it as part of  KAL.  It’s so much fun checking the forum on the Shetland Trader’s Ravelry group and seeing the progress that other knitters are making!

How’s your midweek knitting going?