Back in the swing of things

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Thank you all very, very  much for your comments on Joy and Marianne!!  I ended up taking neither to Australia because I just didn't want to stuff them in the luggage. Five people using two suitcases equals very smushed and smelly clothes, and I couldn't do that to my handknits, at least not until they get worn a bit.   BTW, can you tell by looking at the two pictures from the last post how I benefited from the horizontal 'stripes' on 'Joy'?  :-)

Australia was great fun for the whole family, a truly enjoyable surf n turf vacation!

We took a Great Adventures trip out to Norman reef. The husband went crazy with the coral pictures. There were a myriad species (and live at that!); I can only imagine the 'untouched' areas of the Great Barrier Reef would be even grander.

The sheep at Melaleuca Station, near Gold Coast, were the closest thing I got to yarn.  There was a false yarn alarm when I saw 'The Wool Shop' in Cairns town center, but it turned out to be a shop selling jumpers. boo.

A spot of night fishing and crabbing.  (There were some otherworldly, venomous mosquitoes out near the mangroves where we threw the crab cages. We were all bitten through our clothes!) Hehe, that's the smallest fish I caught; the camera battery died before I caught the largest fish, which was really, REALLY ginormous.  I only reeled in two, but using a fisherman's ruler, that fish would be close to  a meter long! :-D

Sugarcane fields and a blue sky...

Non native wildlife hamming it up on a fine sandy beach on Gold Coast on the left, and getting close to native wildlife on the right.

One day in Sydney, which reminded me of Vancouver, cosmopolitan and laid back at the same time, but with better weather.  If you enjoy seafood, I highly recommend a meal at the Fish Market, where you can get cold or hot mixed platters of fish, calamari, prawns, oysters, and lobsters at reasonable prices.  BTW, am I the only person who thought that the Sydney Opera House is one big building, instead of several smaller structures?

Warner Brothers Movie World at Gold Coast. We tried most of the rides, but wimped out with Superman Escape.

The knitting? I didn't bring any on this trip (!) as I wanted to give my hands a vacation too. My right thumb had been hurting for a while and it finally got some rest. When I returned from the trip, I started my second April Project Spectrum sweater, Syncopated Ribs (IK Fall 2004), using some orange Filatura di Crosa Zara Plus I had in the stash.

There's not enough yarn for the smallest size, so I'm going to shorten it for one of the boys.  The appeal of this knit is that it's done in one piece, starting from the bottom front, casting on stitches for the sleeves, and then knitting down the back.  Instead of a slit neckline that the pattern calls for, I will modify the front neckline so that it curves around the neck.  Chances are I wouldn't finish this by the end of the yellow and orange month, but  since I've got only one knit set for May, I'll use  next month to finish up some wips such as  Saltwater and Smoulder... remember those?

Comments

[lyn]

What a lovely getaway... looks like your boys had a blast!

[Purly Whites]

Oh! looks like soooo much fun! Thanks for posting the pictures. Your boys are so cute!

[Angela]

Sooo fun! I thought the opera house (singular) was also one building.. =)

[Paula]

beautiful sweater!

[thuy]

wow australia looks beautiful and seems like you guys had a really great time. i am definitely jealous. and i like that color of zara. it's so bright.

[Yuvee]

Looks like lots of fun! And isn't Sidney Opera House one big building? I always assume it is....

[mimi]

Sounds you had a great vacation. The first photo with your boys snorkelling is so cute!
Somehow, i often think that my knitted garments give me a fuller look. :(

[Siow Chin]

The skies in your photos look magnificent! I'm glad to hear you've had a wonderful trip. See you on Saturday!

[erin]

Oh Joy, I just love, love that first photo of you (?) and your youngest(?). Tell him he's very brave. Do you have one of those cameras that can take photos underwater? Thanks for sharing with us your holiday adventures, great middle of the week perk-me-up!

[Eva Shiu]

I love to see "blue sky, white cloud" pics. We seldom has it in HK !

Your new project looks interesting. With your speed, I guess you you will finish it in a week !

[Vicki]

Looks like an awesome family vacation!! Love the color of they syncopated rib sweater - that orange is perfect.

[Barbara]

I thought the Sydney Opera House was all one building. So it is really the Sydney Opera Houses! LOL. Looks like you had a wonderful time on your trip. The syncopated rib sweater is a lucious color. I will be very interested to see a finished picture of it on a real person (as opposed to a model). I find the way magazine photographers pose the models very frustrating, because they often distort the lines of the sweater. I was attracted to this sweater too, but just wasn't sure what it would look like on someone who wasn't leaning and sticking her arm up in the air.