Storm Watching

This is the best reason to go to Tofino in the late fall or winter. Storm Watching!

Tofino is a little town on the extreme west coast of Vancouver Island. It is about as far west as you can go and still be in Canada. Vancouver Island protects the mainland from the impact of the open Pacific Ocean, but Tofino has no such protection. Tofino, affectionately known as "Tough City," braves the wild temper of the Pacific on its own terms. Doug and I arrived Monday evening after six hours of travel. You take a two-hour ferry to Nanaimo and then drive four nearly four hours across a winding island highway. A huge storm was brewing as we arrived, and the next day we got to watch.

If you want to learn about Tofino or check out vacation possibilities, this is a good site. Be sure to click on the links for awesome photos.

http://www.vancouverisland.com/regions/towns/?townID=28





We stayed on Chesterman Beach at a lovely bed and breakfast house. We had a large, totally contained suite all to ourselves. It's like having half a house to live in.

I've been to Tofino several times in the last four years -- twice with Doug and some friends of ours, once on my own for a week, once with a friend, and this time just with Doug. We plan to take the kids in January. This time around, we hatched dreams to live there one day.

Check out Todd and Lynda's place at Chesterman Beach. That's where I always stay. Beautiful house, wonderful hosts, amazing beach.

http://www.chestermanbeach.net/



This is Chesterman in a calmer mood. Later that day, the tide went out, and the waves settled down a bit. Chesterman is a massive beach. That's Frank Island framing up the sunset. I mentioned yesterday that you can walk out there when the tide is out. There are houses built on that tiny island. Imagine watching the storms from there!



Yes...I did some knitting. I knit on the ferry and on the long drive. In Tofino, we don't have a TV, and we listen to the roar of the ocean for our music. I knit in the mornings and in the evenings. On the first evening and morning I made the mate for my fingerless glove of a few weeks ago. Turned out I needed those gloves all trip, so I'm glad I did that early.



Then the gloves and I did a little photo shoot, cuz why waste such gorgeous scenery??



I also worked on a second bag using my contest pattern, but of course I'm not showing that here. I mostly worked on this very long sock. I'm calling it a "Wellington Sock." I want long socks that I can wear in my Wellingtons (rubber gum boots), so that the lip of the boot does not rub on my leg. This one is made with some Lion Brand Magic Stripes yarn I bought sometime last year. It's a bit blotchy quality wise, but the colour changes were a lot of fun, and I'm mostly a beginner sock knitter, so not a bad practice yarn. It's a nice wooly blend, just not up there with some of my stashed sock yarns.



Still getting questions on my SWS slippers. This one's for you SK: I used 8mm (US 11) DPN's, and cast on 36 st. for the smaller pair and 42 st. for the larger pair. My feet are size 8 (9 1/2" long). If your feet are longer, you'll want to work a few more rows in the foot length. And don't fall asleep while felting! :)