Getting ready to travel

Lloyd and I are planning a 3 month trip to New Zealand and Australia, November 27 to March 3. While he has been occupied with flights and car rentals, I have been debating what knitting projects to pack! No surprise to regular readers, I can't be without a knitting project or two while away from my studio. For the past couple of years I have found double knitting to be the most satisfying because it's slow. This year I have settled on two...

1. Lucy Neatby's True North Socks (first published in Sockified, and now available as an individual downloadable pattern http://www.interweavestore.com/true-north-dk-socks-pattern). Here are my yarn choices....I am thinking of the orange on one side and the green and purple on the other probably as random stripes.

And

2. The Cathedral Windows double knit lace shawl from Vogue Knitting, spring/summer 2015. My yarns are a couple of very lightweight cottons that I have had for a while, purple and green. This will be reminiscent of eggplant! I started with a tubular cast on and have knit almost one pattern repeat. It took a few rows to truly understand how best to twist the yarns in the yarn overs but now I am away to the races! I am using bamboo circulars and I will also insert a "lifeline" just in case I have another obstreperous airport security agent!

The green side

The purple side