I am 85% there as far as preparation for my Camino in April 2024 is concerned. My 5th backpack arrived today. I loaded it up with most of my gear, weighted it – 10lbs with 2 waters – perfect! I can exchange one of the waters for something else about 1lb in weight, but for the most part, I am at or under 10lbs. After adjusting the straps, the pack was easy to carry. I will do a 10kms walk and see where the strains are – I’m hoping not many.
I did have a moment of panic when I went online to check the specs for carry-on luggage. I’m close but just under the wire for height. The weight, width and length are all within the parameters for carry-on. I printed out the specs and put them in a spare pocket of the pack, in case I have to do battle with the airline in April.
The other delivery today was a small envelope with an address in Mississauga. I didn’t recognize it, so of course, I was curious. It was my 4 flags, which will fit perfectly on the back of my pack. The Scottish flag is marginally larger than the other three – so being somewhat obsessive-compulsive, it took me a while to get an aesthetic configuration. Finally I got an arrangement I liked. Pictures soon.
Since the weather is doing it’s usual ups and downs with temperature changes, I decided I needed a hat for the colder mornings…….and since I have more knitting yarn than anybody needs in a lifetime, I decided to knit myself a hat. I had the colours of the camino – blue and yellow in some odds and ends. I found a black ball of lace weight, which I will treble to use, as a single strand. There was also a large ball of grey that was actually three strands of lace weight already plied together. I’m sure I had planned to use this at one point, but I have no idea what I was going to knit with it. To lighten the dull colours I used stripes of pink and mauve.
I decided to knit the hat from side to side in garter stitch and graph the last row to the first row after a provisional cast-on. I didn’t work in the loose ends of yarn, as I added the stripes. They became the pom-pom. So now I can take a little of my life’s work with me on my walk.
Trust a knitter to spend most of a post outlining the intricacies of a particular pattern. Yes, I did sew-on the iron-on patches after I’d spent at least an hour working out the placement of the flags. I promise to post a picture soon!!
Looking forward to meeting other walkers at a Camino meeting this Saturday.
Buen Camino