Casting On in Paradise***Caution, Contains Nudity (not Me)***

You'll have to look further down the page for the nudity.


Okay, now that I have your attention, I'll continue..... Both my son's and I arrived in Kauai around 8:30pm, which was about 10:30 AK time, and were greeted by my brother, mother and my 6 year old niece Kayla. They had come in much earlier in the day,from San Francisco, with the rest of my brother's family, and decided to meet us at the airport. I'd planned on just driving out to the house that we were all staying at on the north shore, using a map I'd printed up, but my brother was very concerned that we'd have trouble finding the house, way over on the north shore. Very nice surprise. After picking up the luggage and my rental car, a very cute white Saturn Vue, I followed my brother to the house. It was well after 10pm by the time we arrived at the house and all were exhausted. The next am, I decided to round up my cashmere and get ready to cast-on out on the Lanai(porch).

Turns out, I'd left my size 7 circulars (addi turbos) on the airplane. As mentioned earlier, I'd been using them for a cable needle while working on my socks. Bummer! I guess I'd have to pay a visit to the only knitting shop on the whole island of Kauai. Can you believe how lucky I was that this shop was only about 3 miles from us, in Hanalei?

So after hitting Tunnels Beach for a few hours in the am, I jumped in the car,with my eldest son, age 10, to Hanalei.

The shop is called Strings and Things, and is a combination knitting store and Ukelele Shop. I was able to find/replace my needles with exactly the same needles. Very happy I didn't have to buy straight needles. I have been using circulars several years, for most of my projects. I find it much more comfortable to knit this way.

The shop very charming and had a great selection of yarns, none local, though. Also, the owner was very helpful and friendly. Somehow, I left with only my needles, oh, and a cool guitar pick my son picked out. He'd brought his guitar along to Kauai, so he could learn some new songs with his uncle.

So, a little later that afternoon, I was all set to cast on. Everyone was eager to get back to the beach, so grabbed my knitting and headed off with the family. Turns out, there were several women at this public beach going "European(topless)" at the beach. One of which even decided to do the "Full Monty", that butt-naked for you non-movie goers. As Americans, we tend to be on the prudish side. And, believe me, the kids really thought it was funny. So, here I am having a discussion about how the human body is nothing to be ashamed about, as my boys giggled away.

After snorkeling for a while, I decide to cast-on at Tunnels and have my mother take a picture of me with the Na-pali coast in the background (picture at top). No sooner had she taken the first picture, when these ladies decided to take a dip in the ocean. How could I resist? I had my mom take a few more pictures of me from the opposite direction, which was where the ladies were. They're over my head in the first two pictures. I guess I'll have to add the next picture for full affect.


Now, just for the record, this was a very public beach, and in the USA, it's illegal to sunbath topless or nude, in a public setting. I, myself, have visited the South of France and sunbathed topless at a private beach, and I really didn't mind that these ladies were at Tunnels. But, how could I resist taking these photos. I mean, really, it was my first day in Hawaii, I was taking pictures for my blog and it was a public beach. So here's the last photo I took of the ladies.

Thank you ladies, whoever you are, for giving the whole family many hours of giggles during the rest of the trip. Can't say it was the highlight, but definitely memorable for all!

I'll be posting more about the trip soon....