Time Lapse

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Toronto to Vancouver, five hours, and I know how to amuse myself.

I knit in the cab to the airport.

I knit while I watched a movie.  (Mission Impossible nineteen, or whatever.)

I knit while I watched a show on my ipad. (Primeval .)

I knit while I read a book (The Golden Compass )
I’m only in Vancouver, so maybe there will be a whole sock today.

Instead of writing here,  today I blogged at Cari’s place,  as part of her Writer: with kids series.  Be sure and read the other authors too.  It really is wonderful.

72 thoughts on “Time Lapse”

  2. Hi Stephanie – Love the pictures of your sock knitting. I’m going to ask you a possibly crazy question – do you ever just get tired of knitting and want to put it down for awhile and do another craft?

  3. Hee hee, I do the same thing. Restaurants, traveling, reading, I am normally knitting everywhere I go, lol.

  4. no one can say you don’t make good use of your time.
    I usually take lace because it takes so long.
    BUT since it is sock camp
    Have a GREAT trip
    How is the scarf???

  5. Lovely sock! I wish I could knit half as fast as you do. I’m one of those pokey, slow knitters & I carry the yarn in my left hand.

  9. Gotta love those ipads! My only complaint is that I have to stop watching netflix to look at my pdf patterns. But then I remember that I am watching a movie and reading a pattern on a tiny little thing no bigger than a magazine. The future is now!

  10. Love the “Writer: with Kids” blog post!
    I’m actually not a writer OR a parent, yet I agree with the sentiment wholeheartedly. You see, I work from home–which must mean that I get to sleep in every morning, work as much or as little as I want to, wear my pajamas all day, and of course I’m free ANYtime to watch your kid/go out to lunch/drive you to the airport, right? (Admittedly, I do wear my pajamas most days. But the rest is all wrong!)

  11. Isn’t The Golden Compass great? That sock is zooming along. I’m so happy to be able to read and knit (stockinette). Really enjoyed your piece on Cari’s blog – the same holds true for those of us trying to be knitwear designers: “You can knit anywhere! That’s just great.” Yes, but I can’t grade a pattern across seven sizes with a bajillion cables running through it at the playground. Some days I dream of buying work clothes and going to an office again 🙂 But then I wouldn’t be so self-righteous about making home-made blondies at 10:00 the night before the bake sale. I’d buy the completely artificial cupcakes at the grocery that the kids are always begging for.

  13. The flight to Vancouver always seems way longer than I expect it to be – must remember to bring my sock next time! (but alas, I have no iPad – must get on that. I’m a librarian – I should experiment with ALL forms of reading device:-B and if it facilitates knitting, that is just a side benefit:-B)
    http://bronwenreads.wordpress.com

  14. Hee! I do the same thing.
    Just had vacation and had a lovely long train/flight/flight/train to hook up with my family. Showed them the sock with verbal footnotes. Train to Boston: toe, Boston to Amsterdam:foot & gusset increases, Amsterdam to Zurich: heel turn & decreases, Zurich to Lucerne: a bit of leg. It’s a wonderful way to mark time!

  15. Those self pattern sock yarns are so much fun, it also makes people do a double take, till they see that the yarn is doing all the work.
    There is a BIG craft store chain in Australia called “Spotlight”, they have about 7 different yarns like this with samples knitted up to show the result,so I am sure US and Cananda would have craft stores that have this.

  16. Off topic, how are you enjoying the book? I, for one, loved the series and have been pressing my nephews and nieces to read them also.
    *pets the sock and names it George*

  17. I’d been meaning to catch up with Primeval for quite a while. Finally dug into it about a month ago on netflix and positively inhaled the entire run!

  18. You are amazing and I always refer to your cheat sheet for socks from ” Knitting Rules”. Enjoy Vancouver. I wish we were allowed to knit on planes !! Oh well.

  21. This is my first post to you. I’ve been reading your BLOG for a few weeks. I read your current post then have been going back to your first post in 2004 and am “catching up” I actually began purchasing your books before I found the blog. Love the books. I was chuckling while reading in bed and woke up my husband.
    I want to thank you for making me laugh and sharing your humor and your life. I’ve only been knitting for a few months now (very late bloomer) but feel good to know that even a seasoned knitter still makes mistakes and needs to frog it.
    Great article over on Cari’s blog, love the perspective.
    Love the socks.

  22. Stephanie, I’m awed by how fast (and well) you knit. My inflight knitting would be around a third of that. My hand-knitted hat is off to you!

  23. What a lovely sock! All the stripey colors look wonderful. I am not nearly as fast…
    On a totally unrelated note, I just finished Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, and all of the knitting references in the book made me really happy. Did you have something to do with that? 😀

  24. wow, you knit fast. I also liked your Writer with kids blog post. I don’t have kids, although i telecommute, so i get some of the same eye rolls. People think i laze around all day, eating bon-bons. Um, okay. So that would explain why i’m on a conference call at 2 a.m. my time because i’m the only person on the project who’s not based in Europe…

  25. I forgot to add that I LOVED the piece on writing with kids. It goes for all kinds of other work-from-home jobs, too.

  26. I loved the movie Golden Compass but my brother said it pales to the book series, I wish they would make another, but too many people got stuck on magic and daemons. I also desperately wish I could knit that fast.

  27. OMG, that’s only 5 hours work? Seriously?
    I knit WAY too slowly. I think my last pair of socks took about 24-30 hours total (if I add up all the time)

  28. My dad worked from home, from when I was 9. We still had a nanny until I was 16 (my sibs were younger and I had too much to do myself to be childcare). Even after that, or on days that the nanny wasn’t there, it was absolutely a Fixed Rule that you Did Not Bother Dad in his office unless there was copious vomit or blood or a broken bone (none of which ever happened, fortunately).

  30. Hi are you able to post the pattern for the cute garter stitch baby sweater that was in you blog dec 2010 jan 2011? or do you have the name of pattern and ot the book? I would love to make it
    Thanks so much!!!!!

  32. Kandace @5:54 speaks for me! I left a post for you on the other blog. Bravo, Stephanie.

  33. How do you knit for so long without your hands hurting?? I can never manage to knit for more than thirty minutes before my hands start killing me. 🙁

  34. I loooove that yarn.
    Hope you took a few glances out the window, too, at the Great Lakes, Prairies, Rockies and Coastline.

  35. This is why we think you warp time.
    (I remember when you knit that sweater.)
    Thanks for the thoughtful post of working at home. Very helpful to more mothers than you know.

  36. I really wish you wouldn’t do that to me. I feel like some paleolithic proto-knit-being, stuck in time. It takes me a MONTH to get that far, IF I dedicate every free second to a sock….
    You’re just disgusting. 🙂
    ps..nice yarn 🙂

  37. I love reading on my iPad so much. Between being backlit and staying open while I read, instead of flipping shut like regular books, I feel like it’s been a missing piece of my life (until last Christmas, anyway). Nice sock 🙂

  40. You are insanely fast!!!! I have definitely spent more than a day full of hours on these socks I am working on…and I am only starting the heel flap now!!!
    What are you doing here in Van?! Are you doing a book signing or something that I could GO TO & MEET YOU!??! 🙂

  41. Oh, hell. Now you’ve got me depressed. If I even tried to knit that fast, for that long, with that size needles, I’d have to undergo emergency crappy tunnel surgery. So, do you also leap over buildings in a single bound?

  42. Why do airplanes always look so clean in your photographs? It’s quite surprising!

  43. If there was a sock knitting olympic event, you would BLITZ it my friend! As is, I’m struggling away in the Knitted Dress marathon…

  46. I LOVE the wool and oh yeah, you are a speed demon with those needles! I so appreciate your inspiration to knit at every chance you get…… I try but I get so fractured in my thoughts and organizational skills that I end up leaving my knitting bag by the door and not realize it till there is dead time and I reach for it and it is not there!
    You are the woman of the hour!

  48. The one thing I have long lamented was not being able to read and knit (two of my favorite things in the world) at the same time, because it is impossible to hold a book and turn pages while knitting. However, your use of an iPad just made me realize that I do have a Kindle now, and perhaps I could challenge myself to give it a try! Of course, I’m still I pretty amateur knitter, so I probably couldn’t do anything other than stockinette, but it’s worth a shot!
    Also, I’m going on vacation next week and considering not brining my knitting because I’m only bringing a carry-on and was scared they might take away my needles at security, but I think you’ve convinced me to risk it!

  49. bee-YOO-ti-ful sock! pattern name? enjoyed the other blog postings too… yours and some of the others i scanned are the type of writing that requires reflecting before posting a response. so much to mull over… That means it was good and meaningful writing! 🙂

  50. Woot woot on the yarn. I recognized it from the first picture before I scrolled down. My socks started in the same place. It knits up beautifully and looks great!! Cheers, you!

  52. Lot’s to be said for travel/knitting time. What’s the yarn? It’s working up beautifully.

  53. Your sock, your sock knitting prowess, and you are inspirational.
    YikesImustcastonasockrightnow!
    Wouldn’t the wavy dot pattern on the seatback in your 2nd sock-in-progress photo make for an interesting knit project? waves of yarnovers in a field of garter stitch? or dotty waves in two shades of blue on stockinette? hmmmm . . .

  54. How can you read and knit? Gosh, I wish I could do that! I hate having to make the decision between my two favorite things.

  55. I hope you’re liking ‘The Golden Compass’, I thought it was a wonderful book and one I’ve read at least three times now.

  56. I love the socks and am insanely jelous that you are allowed to knit on planes, over here in Oz it is still banned and I sit twiddling my thumbs :o) Enjoy Sock Camp.

  57. So I am travelling today (in Canada), and in the airport (Castlegar, BC, with Air Canada Jazz, after security) I saw a sign of “forbidden” articles (ie. articles to be checked). Along with scissors etc, they had a picture of knitting needles! Not sure what to make of it… Do you know anything about it?

  58. Hello,
    Lovely fast sock. About the work at home/parenting thing, as long as your spouse gets it, the rest of the world just needs to hear “No” when appropriate. I know the “No” thing is hard for you, but it is the real cure.
    Hugs,
    Julie in San Diego

  59. To Elena at 4:16 – Audiobooks!! I read while I cook, weave, sort laundry and so forth. I do not read while I drive, however, as I discovered that I am just a slight amount distracted and I believe it is not safe. But if I am going to be in the car waiting for a ferry, or extra time between appointments, out comes the “book machine.” There are lots of audiobooks out there both free and for a fee.

  61. Kirra @8:38… Yes! Do give it a try! I’ve had an ebook reader for 3/4 years now and one of my favorite things about it is that I can knit while I read (other favorite thing is that it remembers where I was when I inevitably fall asleep reading). Only stockinette though, anything more complicated is TV knitting (at least for me).

  63. Sunidesus- Haha I know what you mean about losing your spot when you fall asleep reading. I do that all the time. Good thing I don’t fall asleep knitting!

  64. Auntie just visited from Boise, airport confiscated crochet hook! I live in San Diego.

  66. ahhh…. a woman after my own heart. Primeval – LOVE IT! A great fun show to watch. The Golden Compass, I am such a geek that when the movie came out, I knew what it was 10 seconds into the trailer. My kids thought I was odd, but I love that series. May have to go back and read them again this summer.

  67. Golden Compass is a wonderful book! Be sure to read the other 2….GC is really just a set up to the rest.

  70. Just discovered your blog–though I’ve been reading your book on my kindle for a couple of days now and thoroughly enjoying it. This is totally inspiring me to start knitting again. I’ve got yarn, I’ve got needles, but I got bored making hats last winter and didn’t finish the last one. Of course, that means I can’t start a new project until it’s done. However, I’m going to tackle it tonight so I can get back to socks and try out that lovely shawl. Yay!

  71. “I knit while I read a book”
    Seriously?!?
    I bow to your superior knit-fu. I am not worthy.

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