Beyond Hana

The tour went beyond Hana to the Church where Charles Lindburgh is buried and the Seven Sacred Pools. I have admit, I hadn't worried about where Charles Lindburgh was buried. To be perfectly honest, I found the idea that Hawaiians buried people by piling stones over them more interesting. That rates closer to his plane flight in the Spirit of St. Louis than his grave. Guess, I like know about famous events rather than where the people ended up.

So, here are the pictures of the church area and pools.

The Road To Hana

The road to Hana is a popular driving tour on Maui. Hana is on the less populated 'side' of the island. It is 58 miles from the Kahului airport via road. It sounds like an easy trip perhaps an hour and half, one way. Due to the slow speed limits and and one lane bridges, plan on three and half hours to get there. All very scenic, green, and pretty to look.

These are a few of the many pictures taken on the way to Hana, including a lava tube, a black sand beach, and a couple of water falls.

Surf's Up, Dude

Hawaii had record surf while we there. The news reported 50 foot waves which haven't been seen since the 80's. We don't think we saw any of the 50 footers but definitely saw waves over 30 feet. It is quite the sight.

At least five of the days we were there, the beaches had flags out for wave advisories. These aren't warnings to be taken lightly. Even professional swimmers and surfers should take note. I think they use the wave warnings frequently because the red flags were rather faded. The signs on the poles for the flags were still quite legible which is the important part. The decoder for the symbols can be found in rooms and on large signs by the main access to most beaches. The warnings were all for waves that smash people into the sand with possibly dire consequences. What the signs don't say, is if you stand on the beach, you get to watch the waves crash picturesquely into rocks. Also, the wind whips water off of the top of the wave as mist.

Not everyone stays on the beach. The serious surfers were out in the coves waiting for waves. The waves coming into the coves weren't the 50 footers. They were probably in the 10 plus foot range. With smaller and closer waves, the surfers can swim out to them and ride the smooth waves back into shore.

The big waves cost more. They are far enough out, surfers are dropped off by jet ski or helicopter. It is too much work to swim out to the really big waves. At least that is what we were told.

Being sensible people, we stayed out of the waves and admired them from the shore.

A Sailing Don't

As you can see the Lahaina's harbor has a new out channel marker. This is a recent shipwreck and will be removed. It sounded like the yacht was not insured which I understand is pretty common. So, now people are decide which method to use for removing. Either it will be cut up and moved off the reef or the more expensive method is use divers and a helicopter. The main concern is to prevent further damage to the reef.

A Whale of a Time

From mid December through March, humpback whale watching is big activity near Maui and from several beaches. In January, it is hard not be successful in spotting a whale. We made sure we would see whales by booking a whale watching excursion. They guarantee whales or your money back.

A cheaper method is to go to the recommend lookout points and wait. It definitely helps to have binoculars for this method. The whales tend to be a ways out.

If you want pictures take the boat ride. They are allowed to approach within 100 yards or feet. I forget which. The whales are allowed to approach closer if they desire. Jumping in to swim with the whales carries a $25,000 fine and jail time. The only exception is a certified whale researcher. I keep wondering why I never heard about such careers while attending public school.

The other advantage of the excursion, is you get to learn fun whale facts.
- Like the bull hanging around the mom and calf is the escort and most likely not the father.
- Gestation is around 10 months. They don't know for sure.
- Variations in whale song crop up almost simultaneously throughout the ocean.
- Last year an estimated 4,500 whales hung out between Maui and Lanai.
- Females give birth every 2 -3 years, so that escort is out of luck.
- The calves are kicked out so speak when they are one. Then they pal around together.

Off to Court

Actually, off to Maui, Hawaii and the old Court House in Lahaina. The old Court House was built in 1859 with blocks of coral and lava taken from Kamehameha the Third's palace. Probably a good thing it is old. I am sure someone would scream about using blocks of coral in construction these days. Until I read this, I never really considered that blocks of coral were possible.

I suspect this was a very busy building in its heyday. Lahaina was the whaling capital of the mid-Pacific. I can't imagine whalers being absolutely well behaved, mild mannered after spending weeks on a ship. I sure they whooped it up and landed in jail regularly.

Out front is a Banyan tree which was planted in 1873. It is huge and the night spot for hundreds if not thousands of Myna birds. According to the guide books it is 60 feet and covers two thirds of an acre. It definitely shows one of the things Banyans do. When mature, a leader is put down from the branches forming a new trunk with roots.

Toe Up

I took the plunge and am trying toe-up socks. On the third try, I got the toe to look alright. A needle fell out on the first try. Then I did the wrong lean for the increase and it was looking funny. Yes, I know no one wants to get that close to my feet but with only 24 stitches why not try again.

On the third try, TADA, here is a whirlpool toe.

Here are all of the technical details.
- Yarn - Opal Neon Fabre 1973 Partie 1
- using two 24 inch Addi Turbo needles
- following the Spiraling Master Coriolis out of "New Pathways for Sock Knitting" by Cat Bordhi

I was slightly late to knitting this morning because I started working the master numbers for my feet using the charts in the back of the book. Turns out both feet have normal proportions. It gets really close in a couple of spots but normal.

Steekiness

This is what I did on New Year's Day. I sewed the steeks on My Philosopher's Wool Jacket and did the shoulder bind off. Now, I am debating about picking up the first band. I have 119 rows to pick up for a pre-steek length of 22.25 inches. There is some fussy stuff with the bottom 4 rows. They get get knit down rather from the side. The pattern repeat is 10 stitches. The gauge is 21 stitches to 4 inches. Which if I just pick up and go, after fudging one lonely stitch in, means I would need a gauge of 5.118 stitches to the inch instead of the 5.25 with size 9 needles. Going up one size is going to lose more than .132 stitches to an inch. So, I don't think it is worth it.

Now for the second check. 253 stitches divided by 45 inches is 5.62 stitches to an inch. This would result in 21.174 inches versus 22.25 inches. Leading to a a 1.076 inch difference. This might be noticeable and would call for 6 more stitches which doesn't allow an even repeat.

Of course, someone is probably muttering "she is crazy, she is looking at her in the round gauge. The band is knit back and forth." But I am weird and my around gauge is really, really close to my back and forth gauge. I think it is quite handy not fiddling with needles after dividing for the armholes.

A decision will be made sometime this month. No guarantee that it will be the final decision.

2007 Completion List

I believe these are mandatory for crafters. So, I pulled up my word document, combined, and sorted a bit. Here is what I came up with for items completed in 2007.
Sewing
- wolf tunic
- dog throw
- green Christmas apron
Knitting
- 2006 mystery stole
- 18 hats
- Susan shawl
- baby square (26 x 26)
- handspun diamond scarf
- Pie R Squared Shawl
- Stone Wall Vest
- Parrot and something mobius scarf
- 5 pairs socks, two with lace
- 2 shrug one blue and one green
- Red and Black Scottish wave Mobius
- Green and Green/Yellow Scottish wave Mobius
- Light and Lofty Throw
- Red Alpaca with a Twist Baby twist wide Absolutely, Positively reversible scarf
- Gioiello Diagonal Lace Scarf
Spinning
- one skein of Navajo plied dark wool kind of stiff wool
- The Idaho roving (~ 900 Yds)
- spindle of the greenish yarn
- Sparkle blue green yarn (400+)
- 345 yds alpaca
- Cashmere Yarn 358 yds
- 50 yards 3 ply Navajo ply Jacob
Beading
- train earrings
- wood cat earrings
- frog earrings
- rabbit earrings
- Dragon Earrings
- Hearts and lace agate bracelet
- Bracelet with blue/red beads
- Chandelier earrings
- Frog stitch marker
- Bill’s bracelet in purple and pink

And just to be complete here are the unfinished items from 2007.
- Philosopher's Wool Sweater
- Oregon shawl
- Vintage Velvet Scarf
- the greenish roving being worked on the spindle
- several cut out items for sewing, I am not going to go make a list of these.