Motorcycling and KIPing to Mississippi and Back

Old Natchez Trace north of Jackson, Mississippi

Pat and I just returned from a 5 day vacation, from August 28 to Sept. 1. We rode his Honda Pacific Coast to Jackson, Mississippi, visited family there, then took the Natchez Trace north and worked our way back to Kansas via Arkansas and Missouri. We may have been the only tourists caught among a host of folks from Louisiana running before Hurricane Gustav. We didn't quit seeing Louisiana tags until Sunday in Russellville, Arkansas.

Bike travel means traveling light. We had a couple of pairs of jeans each and several t-shirts, and our toothbrushes, but I managed to bring my yarn with me! It was safely stashed in the backpack purse I wore. I wasn't ready to knit while biking down the road at 70 mph, but I did bring it out every time we made a serious stop -- for cold drinks, for a meal, for the night.

I am working on socks for me. This is the first pair where I've tried to work a lace pattern on the sock. (Cables I have done, but never lace.) It's a mixed success. I've mastered the pattern, but I have sport weight yarn, not fingering weight yarn. It doesn't look as delicate as it should. Ah, well, they will be warm. I'll need that in our 100-year-old house come winter.

I was disappointed that we didn't find any yarn stores along the way. I'm sure there were plenty, but I didn't search the net for them before we left, so we didn't know where to go for them. Next time, I'll know better.

We did stop at the Mississippi Crafts Center a bit north of Jackson, just off the Trace. I talked to a woman who was spinning silk. Small world that it is, she used to live in Midlothian, Texas, just south of Grand Prairie where I lived for over 20 yrs! She was a regular at Scarborough Faire, the Renaissance Faire outside Waxahatchie, Tex. and she knew of Steve's friend, Bull, who works at Excalibur Swords. Now that's just getting weird...

I was fascinated by the lady's spinning. She has one of the small spinning wheels like some of my Kansas friends have. I really am going to have to learn to spin. It does look interesting.

Talk about a yarn stash! I can't knit all the yarn I have now. What would I do if I started spinning my own yarn? Hm... Well, I'd have the right weight yarn for my lace socks, that would be one thing. And fingering weight would pack even smaller on the next bike ride. Gee, that does sound promising!