You can get a lot of knitting done on a 17 hour car ride

We spent this past weekend on an unexpected trip to western NY because my husband's grandmother passed away last week. She lied in a small town west of Buffalo, and it is a long, long drive to get there from Boston.

The trip was sad, but not overly so, and despite 17 hours in the car with Widget and Kate, my mother in law, I'm glad I went, to see many people I'll likely never see again and to say goodbye to Westfield, which, although not nearly as central to my life as to my husband's, was still a little place I'd come to really be enchanted by.

The other upside to the trip was, of course, the knitting time. When we left, I had a sleeve and a half done on the Pea Pod sweater. When we got back, I had this:



Nearly the entire sweater finished, as well as both sleeves. It needed about an hour's more work on the back, and I wove ends in last night. I'll block it tonight and hopefully start seaming it, and then I'll just need to knit the neckline and finish up the hat.

And a couple close-ups of the lace on the front:





This is a fantastic pattern. I'm knitting it with Rowan Cashsoft DK, which I am loving. It's come together so quickly that I think I'll make another for the newest new little girl in my life (more on that later).

Kate was in town through this morning, so we all decided to take a mental health day and headed out to George's Island (a trip we were supposed to make on Saturday for Wiley's company's summer outing). Kate lived in Boston for years and years, but doesn't get much chance for ocean enjoyment in Roswell, where she's lived for about 11 years now.

We thought a relaxing day on the harbor would be just what we all needed. We roamed all over the fort - Hannah's finally old enough to be really fascinated by all the nooks and crannies of the fort, and then settled in for a rest while we waited for the boat back. The best part was getting to sit and knit with this stunning view.