So I took two skeins of yarn with me for our week-long camping trip. I remember I was wondering if I should just take one, because I'd probably not really have time or the inclination to knit due to all the laying around I planned to do, but as it turns out. I needed two.

And it wasn't because I knit very much, because I didn't. In seven days, I knit maybe half of one sock. That's right. I just knit half of one sock.

When I was a little girl, I remember reading a book about a family who would always put an extra seat or plate at their dinner table in case someone who was hungry needed a meal. Now I know this sounds weird, because yarn isn't food (well, for some it's like food, right?), but the other day, as I was thinking about our trip, I jotted down: "An extra skein is like an extra seat at the table."

We camp with another family each year. There is a young lady who is Girlfriend's age who is always there with us and this year, as I sat and knit for a bit, she came over and asked me if I would teach her to knit. As I contemplated handing her my green sock in progress, I realized that I had brought an extra skein and a set of extra needles and ran to our tent to grab them. 

So I taught her to knit with two small double point needles and teeny tiny sock yarn.

And she sat there for hours, knitting back and forth on those needles, left-handed.

It occurred to me, that from now on, if I can and have room, I will always have an extra set of needles and yarn on hand. 

The green yarn in the pic is some new stuff by Opal. It's called Opal Light. The yarn itself is about 25% lighter than the usual Opal--which wears like iron, but BEWARE! I glanced at the ball band and noted that the gauge was smaller than usual at 9-10 inches per inch and I kinda ho-hummed in my mind and just cast on 72 stitches for socks for me instead of my usual 68 or so, thinking it'd be straightforward. 

Not!

Instead, I knit and knit and knit, mostly after I got home because what you see in the picture is all I managed. And once I was done with one sock and weaved in ends and fixed all my dropped stitches (don't laugh; it happens to me constantly), I popped one on and it didn't fit. It is teeny tiny. So, instead of ripping it out, I cast on for the second and finished it. I figure there will be a time when I can give the pair away.

BTW: I'm still knitting socks and more socks. It is a sickness, I tell you. Oh, and that's Girlfriend feeding a deer. At dusk every night, they'd come out. At one point, we were able to hand feed them blueberries. It was wonderful.