Back Home; Knitting

My post yesterday may have given the impression that the Florida trip was perfect, and I can't say that that is true. We never saw a great sunset; I got some itchy bug bites; and I got too much sun* on Saturday, leading to some discomfort that is only now passing. Other than that, though, it was pretty much perfect.

*In the same way that I don't really think I could eat too much chocolate, but my stomach sometimes disagrees, I don't really believe there's such a thing as "too much" sun, but my skin disagrees.

And now I'm home again. And, to reassure any who thought I might be hermitting completely in my newly unemployed state, I would like to announce that I have been out of the house every day this week, with plans for tomorrow and possibly Friday as well:

• Monday I went to stitch and bitch, then stopped at Petsmart, Trader Joe's, and the gas station before going home.
• Tuesday I met a friend in a nearby town and we walked for about 3 miles. We're going to do this 2-3 times per week. Sigh. Exercise. But it's much more fun doing it with someone than alone, and I'm only kind of achy today, not too-stiff-to-move, so call it a win.
• Today I ran some errands (library, post office, Staples, and Target, to be specific), then met a blog-friend and knitted/chatted for a few hours. Fun, and now Mary Ellen has The Red House Mystery!
• Tomorrow we're walking again.
• Friday I plan to pick up my shoes at the shoe-repair place (I tried today, but he was at lunch), and then am swinging by my old workplace to pick up a pair of shoes I accidentally left there. When I cleaned out my desk, I forgot to look under it!

So far, I have no weekend plans, other than watching the Bruins game Saturday afternoon. And tonight I will do the same! I missed 3 games in 4 days while I was away (and they lost 2 of them, darn it), then they didn't play Monday or Tuesday. I'm in Bruins withdrawal!

One thing I'll do tomorrow is call unemployment (over and over, if necessary, and I expect it will be), and one other thing I want to do tomorrow is photograph the shells, which I rinsed out yesterday (they were a little sandy), so photos to come. What I can show you today is the result of unemployment plus travel on knitting progress.

On January 24th, I started the shawl that I am now calling the sunset shawl, which is the Carol's Clever Little Shawl pattern using the BFL I got at Rhinebeck. By the 29th, I was photographing it at this stage:

Pretty cute! And I was intrigued by the little pocket.

And three days later, I had four points done.

After the trip, I was up to 7+, and today I passed ten. Flying! (I'm going to try to use up all the yarn, so I don't know how many I'll end up with. Not all that much more.)

Meanwhile, I started the latest socks (Claire pattern, which I'm calling Do the Twist) on January 27. (AKA the day I was laid off.) January 29:

February first:

February second, starting the trip:

Turning the heel on the beach:

And by today, of course, it's further on. We may be going for a new land-speed record!

Or just having fun. One or the other.