46 hours

is how much time I have at home in between book gigs.

I offer this by way of explanation, for you’re getting a late blog today, but I’m sure you understand that I’d like to spend as much of that 46 hours with Joe, the ladies and Mr. Washie as possible.

From the look of the house, Mr. Washie has missed me as much as I missed him. Poor guy. Luckily for him I own so few “book worthy” outfits that this pitstop has to involve him or I’m going to do book appearances in Chicago and South Bend with this tee-shirt on…

Quizkids

(If you’re not from here, don’t mind us Canadians. It’s an inside joke.) I listen to the radio a lot and It has occurred to me wearing only this tee shirt for weeks until I hear Shelagh again might be appropriate. Sort of a “wear-in” to get my CBC back. As much as I love the BBC World Service…that and the bizarre re-run documentaries are just not working for me anymore.

When last I saw you, my knitwear was leaving Atlantic City and taking a plane to the beautiful Adirondacks…

Adsock

It’s lovely there. I’d been to Lake Placid once before on a climbing trip with Ken and my only memory of the place consisted of a moment when, while I was high on a ledge, clinging to a rock with my fingertips and my will power and I suddenly thought to ask Ken the name of the route we were on. Ken paused (surely pondering the value of honesty) then replied… “Pete’s Farewell”.

I’ll never forget that moment, the trees and lake swirling below me, the rock feeling smaller suddenly under my gripping fingernails…possessed of an urge to check all the ropes attached to my harness and all I could think was

“Holy *&^%$#. What happened to Pete?”

I admit that facing this crowd at Adirondack Yarns was a better moment.

Adyarn

If you ever find yourself anywhere near this shop I’d make time for it. The owner is charming, half the place is a coffeeshop, they have Fleece Artist, and for the first time in a long time (I’ve been working on my resistance) I had a yarn accident. (It involved Dale of Norway. I’ll tell you later when the shock wears off.

I was travelling with three other knitters and they were good company, completely enabling and between the four of us, the trunk was, well….

Knittrunk

full of yarn. It’s so good to be understood. Whenever I travel with non-knitters I always feel like I have to try and explain how one woman could need so much yarn at one time. (I think they sort of get why I would want so much of it….It’s why I need all of it with me all the time that’s hard to understand. Knitters totally get that you need one project for when you are talking and one for when you are watching tv and another one to knit on the plane and then a couple more for if you get bored with those first ones.)

Tuppersign

This is for my Uncle Tupper. (I realize that this will hold little interest for the non-tuppers among you, but I thought he would like it. Humour me.) I took it in the town of “Tupper Lake”. Who knew?

Onwards…laden with yarn and good intentions we arrived at the Brewer Bookstore at St. Lawrence University where much to my delight I spotted this book in the wild.

Knitlit

It’s Knitlit the Third and I thought that the first time I would see it would be at Willow books on the 18th of October for the big party. (By the way? It totally cracks me up that the website advises us that it’s “B.Y.O.Y.”)

Brewer

The friendly knitters….not at all a scary crowd. As a public service announcement I’d like to let you all know that Brewer Bookstore has a knitting book section to be impressed with. Usually big bookstores are sort of a downer in the knitting book section (I can’t be the only knitter infuriated by discovering that in a huge chain bookstore, one with 34 books on worm composting or 52 books on how to organize lumber, that *I* have a better knitting section in my bedroom.) but this one is really good. (Note to bookstores: Quilting is not Knitting. Neither is Crochet or Beading or Plastic Canvas or anything that has “Mile-a-minute” in the title. While these are fine and decent crafts, you should not label a section “knitting” and get us all excited when we see how many books are in there. It angers the knitters when they run over and find this book sitting above the “knitting books” sign. This is also the precise reason that you keep finding this section of your store completely rearranged, but I digress.)

Back home (after a flight in which the lady in the seat behind me prayed loudly during take off and landing “Help me Jesus” and I wished that the heavens would open and shoot her a Xanax.) I discovered my lovely Joe, a cat who is pretending not to know me, a complete hairtie emergency and the cups (naturally) the wrong way up. (I am beginning to find this comforting.)

Most strikingly, upon my return home I discovered a little ray of sunshine in the kitchen. Something that erased all previous memories of stickiness and disaster…something so exquisite that my love for my husband was renewed and multiplied. Joe had bought a mop. A real mop. This impressed me so much that I almost wept in the kitchen. To discover that a spouse who until recently gave no indication that he was aware that floors needed washing has now not only acknowledged that this is a valid task but has also bought tools to enhance his floor washing experience? It’s a fine and touching moment between lovers and one I will treasure forever.

I leave for Chicago in 19 hours where I will wear ironed clothing, embrace the Great Lakes Bookseller Association with the fullness of my being, drink beer with our loverly Rams, meet a Chicago blogger so famous I can’t decide what sweater to wear, read and sign at Arcadia Knitting at 4:00 on the 1st, South Bend knitters on the 2nd at Sit ‘n knit in IN, at a rare morning appearance…10:00am. (I shall be drinking plenty of coffee..glorious brown elixir of life.) The South Bend appearance is a last minute add on….details, as always, are on the tour page.

For now, I have time for my girls, my man….and considering that my stay at home is so brief…

Smallsweater-1

A very small sweater.