I Am With My People

My day started all virtuous-like. I went to the chiropractor (where I heard, again, that I'm running sideways, and to stretch ALL THE TIME), went to the gym, then stopped at various stores for those necessities I mentioned.

And then apparently I made a vow to devote my writing time equally between normal writing and parenthetical writing (I think it's working out pretty well so far).

So, I ate lunch, thought about what I was going to pack in my knitting bag, showered, and then had like 3 more hours until I wanted to leave for Oak Brook (I wanted to get there early, but 6 hours before the reading started sounded a little nuts, even to me).

What did I do with all that time?
I made the bed (a rare occurance Chez HookOn, unless I've just changed the sheets)...


... I washed most of the dishes and cleaned the counters and (though you can't see it from here) I even swept and sort-of-mopped the floor (I used a wet paper towel to get all the leftover crumbs)...


... and I cleaned the stove (it was truly horrific. The bowls and protective rims that sit under the burners? I'm not sure if I have ever cleaned them, and I've lived in this apartment for three years. They are soaking in the sink.)


At this point I was feeling quite virtuous, and very deserving of a trip to see my most favorite author. I selected projects to take along to the reading, two of which you've already seen...

the grey bag ends (heh) for the to-be-felted bag,


and the second pair of socks (STR Fred Flintstone, lightweight, 2.5mm needles).

(make note of how much shorter the top sock is than the bottom sock... this will come into play later on.*)
The third project is a headband (the same one that Femiknitter made a while back) that I just started yesterday as I waited to leave for Oak Brook. I'll talk more about it later, because right now it is just i-cord, and you know what that looks like.

I left my house about 4:00pm with my knitting, necessities, water, and camp chairs. Why camp chairs? Because I heard that Borders in Oak Brook was only putting out 75 chairs. Then I heard it was 100 chairs. Foolish muggles -- when will they learn?

Laugh at me if you will, but I get a little nervous driving into the suburbs when I'm going somewhere for the first time. I don't get nervous about the actual driving, but I worry that I'll miss my exit and accidentally drive to Indiana (almost happened once).

I arrived without mishap at 5:10pm. Here's the view I had (from the fourth row... yes!!!!)


I walked in and saw the tell-tale signs that I was not the only knitter there. Shawls on shoulders, knit-or-die t-shirts(no actual picture, I was walking out of the bathroom and, strangely, didn't have my camera ready), felted bags... it was great. I bought some books and while I was in line I saw a woman wearing this great pink cabled sweater (do I have a picture? No, of course not) and I asked her if she made it and if I could touch it AND SHE DIDN'T BACK AWAY! She was a knitter and she understood!



I don't know if this applies to anyone else, but I've gotten the feeling that people (muggles) think I'm working a few beers shy of a six-pack when I walk up to them and ask to examine their sweaters. This is off-putting (to me) and makes me feel like my knitting is this highly un-understandable weird anomaly, and therefore, you know, so am I.



But this! This room full of knitters! I felt completely at home and comfortable. If you know me personally, you might snicker at this, but generally I feel kind of shy and awkward with people I don't know. Especially groups. However, this appears to apply only to muggles. I was all over the place, talking... (turns out my one-seat-away neighbor Renae [Hi Renae!] used to live in DeKalb and demonstrated how to use 2 circular needles to make an in-the-round item [a new-to-me concept]) ...and ogling yarn across the aisle and getting up to talk to the knitter about where she got it and what was it, and having a grand old time. Everyone was saying things like "I love that, what is it?" and "What are you working on" and eventually a wise woman stepped up to the microphone and said "While we're waiting, who wants to have a show-and-tell?" So we all showed off what we were working on. It was amazing. It was like this huge stitch-n-bitch full of happy energy. During the show-and-tell (I think), Nick sent me a text message saying he hoped I was having fun. My return text message said "I am with my people!"

Anna (who has written about all this already) and Heather were there by this point, and we were just looking at each other grinning. Grinning like fools.

Then Stephanie appeared. She blogged us blogging her blogging us (one of those infinite cat things... infinite blogger?),

(the Bohus? freaking stunning in person)
and she spoke. And she was hilarious and encouraging and unifying and hilarious and smart and strong and ohmygod was she funny. I saw her two years ago (or thereabouts (I just said "thereabouts." I am my father.)) and I loved that experience, but I had just learned to knit and didn't feel comfortable doing any work while I was trying to listen to her. This time, I had no trouble knitting while she was talking (I knit on the socks only, by the way), and could even look up from my knitting when I got to the stockinette parts! I felt like a real, live, grown-up knitter!

After she was done speaking and taking questions (during which she introduced a seven-year-old knitter to the word "harlot" and some of its meaning, and almost fell over laughing while doing so), we all got in a line to get our books signed (knitters with children first!). Strangely, the three of us all had socks on the needles. A lovely fellow knitter took our picture:


and then I took hers -- blog, meet Rachel. Hi Rachel!

Her sock (that of her second pair ever) matched her knitting bag and her top and jacket ENTIRELY BY COINCIDENCE. She may be the most coincidentally well-put-together knitter I've ever met. (it was great to wait in line with you!)

Then we got to the signing table and I gave Stephanie some wee gifties (from the three of us DeKalb knitters) and I got to hold the sock (!!!)

and of course, we're blurry.

I had the best time.

*(And the socks that were wildly different lengths when I began my tale?...

... I can't tell them apart now!)

The Magic Words

So, this past weekend (that of the 24th to the 25th), Nick and I went to Geneva for a little getaway. I planned the whole thing without telling him where we were going, where we'd be staying... only that we would be going away for a night. Orginally I wanted to stay at a cozy little bed and breakfast with lots of hiking trails and scenery, but holy crap on toast -- those cute little B&Bs cost upwards of $200 a night. Even in off-peak, non-tourist season. Curse them. We ended up staying at a very nice (and well within our price range) chain hotel in Geneva, with a lovely room, and only a short drive up the river to the downtown area.

Some of you who know the area might think that I planned this getaway in this particular location because of a particular store in the downtown area. I did no such thing. My only consideration was that Geneva is close to DeKalb (about 30 minutes' drive) and picturesque (of course I don't have any actual picturesque pictures because the camera has entered its Dada phase, the stupid bastard, and refused to take pictures of anything). My plans had nothing at all to do with shopping.

Right. Yes. So, Nick was all surprised and happy when we got to the hotel and saw our room (it was very nice), and then I gave him his gift (sorry for the stock photo, blame the Dada camera). His eyes got all big and he looked kind of sad and said "Honey, I didn't get you anything, I'm sorry."

And in the same breath he uttered the magic words:

"We can go to the yarn store tomorrow."

And we did, and my husband bought me Koigu for our ten-year dating anniversary.


He helped me choose the color (I love when he has input on my knitting!). I had it down to three different colorways, and he liked this one (after I explained that lots of colors are fun on socks -- he's a solid color kind of guy).


And in case you were wondering, the skeins are sitting on this book, with which I am in serous lurve



This Just In: This arrived as I was typing up this post!


Hooray! The book is here! I'm going to see her on Tuesday and I have the book! Hooray!

Warning: Yarn Pr[0]n Ahead

I'm feeling better. I fixed our home internet connection, the car is better (sort of) and we're looking for a new one, and I'm okay with the cost of our upcoming trip. I'm still weirded out by the ex-boyfriend asshattedness, but I'm going to ignore him.

And I have all of the bounty you see before you here:


Red laceweight, about 900 yards. The ball band is in Japanese except for the yardage. It could be called "Happy Puffy Parakeet Yarny Yarn!!!!!" for all I know.


Sock yarn. Fleece Artist Basic Merino Socks in Marine; KPPPPPPPPPPPM in P822 (it's handwritten on there under "dye code", so I'm guessing that's the colorway number? maybe?). I choose to think of it as lemongrass (there's a bit more yellow in there than is visible in the picture).


Noro Daria, in color #1. Likely destination, Corded by Grumperina. I've been wanting to play with this stuff ever since I first saw it. Mmmm... shiny.


Louisa Harding Grace - Silk & Wool in Silver. It was pretty. It still is pretty. I am in love.


The mystical and coveted Orange Chibi.

And that's my haul from Wool & Co. back on Friday, September 1st. Enormous thanks to Anna, Heather & Sandi who gave me a big fat gift certificate (of which I used every bit). You ladies rule.

(Yes, all the yarn is for me. Yes, I did intend to purchase yarn for Nick's sweater. Yes, I'm a selfish, horrible woman. I don't care. I have pretty yarn for me.)

Where the wild yarns are

Okay, so Stitches pretty much kicked my new-knitter ass.
But in a good way.

I rode in with Sandi, and we got there about 9:40am (we made pretty darn good time, I think. Nice driving, girlfriend).


Of course, Heather and her friend Shanelle (visiting from Indianapolis just for Stitches. Wouldn't you?) got there before we did and were second in line, waiting to go up the stairs to say hello to the waiting yarn.

(When the door guarders finally allowed us up the stairs, Heather charged up the stairs trying to outpace a very charming but highly competitive grandmother. I was laughing too hard to snap a good picture.)

At one point we saw some yarn that we know our LYS carries and Heather, being Organization Queen of The Day, panicked--what does the Yarn Exchange charge for this yarn? And dammit, we can't call them from here!

Oh yes we can, said I, exhibiting my geekitude by announcing that I had our LYS on speed dial.


I made my first purchase at Blue Moon Fiber Arts, getting some delightful colorways (Sherbet, Azurite, Ruby Slippers).

After that, my "budget" kind of got taken hostage by beautiful and seductive yarn. What can I say? It was my first huge yarn event. I'll know better next year, and start saving in March like some people.

Somewhere along the line someone (probably me, but we'll pretend it wasn't) freaked out because the ball band on some fabulous yarn gave only meters and we, being the anti-metric heads that we are, couldn't figure out yardage (why thank you, American educational system!). And this was when I fell in love with my new phone.

It has a unit converter. You darling, darling little thing. Thank you.


At lunch, we took a much-needed break and put yarn on our heads. It was with this stroke of genius (Heather's) that we met Heather's Knittyboard people.


And this lady, who let us share her lunch table and who probably thought we were off our rockers. But she played along and looked like a princess in her yarn tiara.

My dear, I didn't get your name. If you are reading, let me know who you are!

We met up with Anna, who mysteriously bought nothing but drove all the way to Rosemont to do it, and by 2:30pm Sandi and I were experiencing massive yarn overload--it got hard to distinguish between fibers and there was nowhere to look that wasn't covered in yarn. It was amazing, but we had to go. I could have been given Red Heart and told it was beautiful and I might have bought it (...maybe).

Heather and Shanelle, on the other hand, were going strong. This is where we parted ways:

They still had their sense of touch. (and look at them... don't they look blissful? I love this picture)

Sandi and I packed up and went home, tired but happy.
This is what came home with me:

The red/pink is Hot Foot superwash merino from The Village Spinning & Weaving Shop. It's going to be the Hourglass sweater, I think. Or I'll just pet it a lot.
The grey on the cone is alpaca/silk laceweight from Valley Yarns (Webs' house brand) in the light grey colorway. It will be a masterful lace shawl. As soon as I learn how to knit lace. Right.
The blue/purple is microfiber ribbon from Tess Yarns (feels like silk, drapes like a cat on linoleum in July, and the color is stunning), and it wants to be a sexy tank for glamorous parties where people will compliment me on my top and then fall down in disbelief when I tell them I knit it myself. Because I plan to go to so many of those kinds of parties.
The green is Nature Wool from Araucania Yarns (caveat: animated home page, may take some time to load), purchased from Webs. I think this yarn wants to be a cabled sweater for me.
And the sock yarn is Socks That Rock and I added the Fred Flinstone colorway just before I left stitches, because I still had a twenty dollar bill and for some reason I needed to spend it. And I needed autumnal socks, too. She rationalized.

I loved every minute of my shopping at Stitches (no classes, just shopping). It was great to feel all these amazing yarns that we don't normally get to touch, and it was awesome to be with my girlfriends who understand the whole yarn addiction. I would have been even more lost without Heather, who plotted her path along the aisles like she was stalking big game. Thank you, my dear, for your enthusiasm.

And yes, I will start saving up my pennies early on for next year's Stitches.

A Very Harlot Saturday

Alright, I'm finally able to talk about last Saturday. Not only was it the day that Nick passed the bar (still in total puppy-wiggle mode over that one), but it was also the day of Yarny Goodness.

I took my friend, co-worker, and knitting instigator Donna with me to Arcadia Knits in Chicago. From the get-go it was a lovely time, driving with very little traffic (I didn't have the intestinal fortitude to take blog pictures while driving), then driving with lots of traffic down Lawrence Avenue, but we got there in plenty of time (a first for me!) and we saw this:



The whole store was set up in rainbow colors (you smart Arcadia Knitting cookies, you!). It was great. I walked in and I immediately saw red yarn, orange yarn, yellow yarn... I was completely in yarn-induced bliss. It was great.

What was even better was seeing/hearing Stephanie speak. (This was my first author reading/signing/thing, and I have liked this woman from afar and I was so excited that I'm amazed I didn't pee my pants. I'm such a dweeb.) After being assured that she would mock me just a little for being a crocheter, I brought crochet projects to work on during her talk, but was having too much fun to stitch. Nice power--the power to stop and start others stitching just by speaking!



There I am with The Harlot. Proof of my very awesome adventure in Chicago involving scatterbrained driving, geeking out on yarn, and meeting some very excellent people.

That is so close to being a Hallmark card. Does Hallmark make yarny cards? For sympathy when your favorite yarn is discontinued, or for congratulations on finishing that afghan you've spent 3 years of your life working up, or for "just thinking of you" including a set of 5 dpns? I think they're missing a huge market.

Anydarnhow, I had an absolutely fantastic day (thanks, Donna!) and received lots of advice on how to integrate my fiance into my yarntastic crafty life. Pictures of the swag tomorrow.

(tonight is Sleater-Kinney Night at the Metro!)

Zenning Out

Mmmmmmm.... Be the mohair, be the mohair


You are Mohair.
You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with
others, doing your share without being too
weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely
refuse to change your position once it is set,
but that's okay since you are good at covering
up your mistakes.

What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

It's kind of spooky how Mohair I really am. Perhaps this is a sign to get off my butt and work up the Grey Mohair. It sits in my stash, waiting patiently for me to find the right pattern and stitch combination. Soon, my love, soon.

This week feels extra weird. I think it may be that my hours at work have changed a little this week. Or I've been staring at the computer for 7.5 hours straight. Or the space-time continuum is warping and will snap back so hard it'll fling me right off this planet, Donnie Darko-style (you don't know--it could be happening right now). I'm pretty happy that tomorrow is a 9-5 day (sometimes I work 12:30-9pm) and that I don't work over the weekend. Joy is in the little things, my dear.

Joy is also, apparently, in ripping out the baby blanket that one is making for the baby due in November.



It looked really nice, except... I got about 18 rows into the blanket when I noticed for the first time last night that the sides were warping (much like the space-time continuum) and there was nothing to be done but to rip it out and start over (dammit!). So, I took a few deep breaths and a few pulls from the Michelob AmberBock and began to rip. it. all. out.



I have come to terms with the blanket. I realized that I was asking something of the blanket which it did not want to do. Instead of being worked in rows, it wants to be worked in rounds, thus:



So, I have become one with the blanket and am blissed-out pretty hardcore (that phrase probably shouldn't exist, but does, thanks to my bizarre little brain) because I have worked this particular pattern before. So I know how it all turns out in the end. And I can freak out slightly less now. Zennnnnnn...

Joy also exists in getting a new kitty, as my good friends Margaret & Wade did last night. Their new fur child came home last night, is a beautiful grey calico/tortoise-shell girl kitty (9 months old) who likes to lick Margaret's eyelid and is named Sabaka. It means "dog" in Russian. My friends are funny that way.

Joy is also in joining a

set up by Cara (Hooray!). I'm all excited, as this is my first group crochet/knit-along. Scarves are pretty much always my go-to project when I need a break from whatever larger UFO I'm working at the moment. Scarves are good people.

There, I've found joy in four things today (well, two, if you don't count the sarcastic finding of joy). That's more than average (is there an average?) and I'm going to celebrate with malt liquor. Give it up for King Cobra.