Chicago and nearby.

I am going to admit something.

I didn’t want to leave home this time. I miss Joe. I miss my kids, I miss knowing why the middle of the hall floor is sticky and calculating how long this family will have no overhead light in the dining room before someone will go to the corner and buy an 88 cent package of lightbulbs so they don’t have to eat in the dark. (Sadly we shall never know the complete answer to that one, since I snapped last night (day five) and sent Joe over to get one. DAY FIVE. The difference in our priorities has to be the reason I still find him interesting.) Despite not leaving home with the highest possible degree of enthusiasm. Despite the weenie on the plane who made my eyebrow twitch…

I had a wonderful time. Reasons to love this trip?

1. I started the Chicago trip at the Great Lakes Booksellers Association Convention/Trade Show/Thingie. This, by itself was not fun. In fact, if it had been specifically designed to frighten authors they couldn’t have done a better job. You sit with the booksellers while they eat dinner, telling them charming things about you and your book and trying not to say arse or express your deep concern that *no* alcohol was served during this….and then an announcer gets up and tells you to move and you go to the next table and do it again. It’s like speed dating for writers. It’s horrifying. I got some pretty nice tables of booksellers (non of whom are actively trying to be terrifying) and survived neatly. I staggered over to the signing tables, plunked myself down to a really nice writer where upon the two of us were pretty soundly ignored. (Scott Turow was there. We were not surprised.) The moment that made the evening worth it was when I said something to the author beside me and she didn’t reply. I reached out, touched her arm and said it again. She turned, startled and said “Oh, I’m sorry dear. I didn’t hear you. I was busy asking God to kill me.”

I laughed for hours. Sarah the wonder publicist was there…along with Stephanie from Storey Publishing, and I didn’t tell them about that. They seemed like they were having so much fun that I didn’t want them to know I was thinking about sitting in the hotel room closet.

Sarahnsteph

Aren’t they cute? (Note to self: I should immediately cease and desist with standing anywhere near these two. I don’t come off well in the comparison. I’m waiting for someone to ask me if my daughters have been helpful to me on the tour.)

I know you must be asking what would be worth this. (Besides the whole “it’s a job and everybody has one” thing.) Why, if it’s scary, far and weird…why would I go? This brings me to:

2.

Bookishrams

My lovely Rams. Yes gentle readers, our lady of Kalamazoo was at the book thing…and I had lots of lovely time with her. No matter how much you love her on the blog…there is no compare to the live Rams. How can you not love a woman running a convention with a half knit sock in her pocket?

3. The day after the ritual book hazing, Rams and I had lunch. I ordered a sandwich and fries and I asked for vinegar. The Canadians/Brits know what for, but the American waiter was badly shaken, though obedient…and brought me this.

Raspberry

Raspberry vinegar. I laughed and laughed.

(and yes, it was the only vinegar they had.)

4. Later that day Sarah and I took the “L” from O’Hare to the other side of Chicago.

Theel

Here’s Sarah-the-wonder-publicist being rather bemused by the L map. (I am convinced that you need a higher IQ than mine to figure out the “loop” where you transfer.

Loop

If it were not for the kindness of a very nice man who smelled like waffles…we would still be there.) When all was said and done…I really liked the L. I think if you go to Chicago you should take it. It runs about 12 inches past all these old houses and buildings and it seems like a really neat way to see the city.

5. Arcadia knitting and the knitters in it is totally worth leaving your husband (temporarily) for.

A1

A2

A3

click to make ’em bigger. The sock thought (can you tell from the pictures?) that the way this shop was laid out was pretty neat. Never seen anything like it. It moved through the colours like a rainbow. All the blues, then the yellows, then the greens…..

Beautiful. By a lot.

6. The people. Noteworthy (though I’m sure I missed some of you…speak up in the comments!)

Cori, who came from Minnesota, holding the sock…

Cori

(For the record, Cori is not freakishly taller than me. I didn’t stand up to take the picture. She is normal sized.)

Ranadaniel

Rana and Daniel, both the cutest knitters ever. (Don’t you just almost want to give them yarn or something?)

Tamara

Tamara and her muggle husband. In town from AUSTIN to celebrate their anniversary, this man is enough of a peach that when Tamara took him on a little detour, this was the look on his face. Atta boy.

(In case, like me..you are worried that this was their whole anniversary celebration, they did this later.

Annivdinner

I think that it’s lovely that Tamara grasped that even though her needs for romance could be met in a yarn shop…dude might have needed this.)

Also there was Franklin (for whom there are not words. If you would ever like to meet someone who is kind, clever and only slightly taller than me, you need look no further.)

Susan aka Roggey (who’s parade of morally corrupt behaviour brought her there…much to my delight. I was so stunned that she was actually there that somehow I didn’t get a picture. It’s a wonder I was able to speak.)

Melissa (Charming. Really, really charming, smart too…) Mel (click that link. She’s a smart one too…) Emily (if she is a spaz then I’ve got no right leaving the house.) and Marcy…who very, very generously drove a whack of overexcited knitters to a nearby restauraunt. Very sweet. I know there are more that I have somehow forgotten the url’s of. Speak up!

6. Bonne Marie. This lady

Bonne

(seen here as the centre picture of elegance at a dinner after the event…for the sake of all of us, please overlook the number of glasses on the table. I don’t know why they are there.) Bonne Marie is unbelievable. You know how it is when you have someone that you really admire all built up in your head because you’ve been reading them forever and then you meet them and you worry that maybe they aren’t going to be as good as all that? That’s how it was for me with Bonne Marie. I was so nervous to meet her that I worried that I would arse it up. I needn’t have worried. There isn’t a more genuine person in the world. She is kind, generous, funny, more beautiful than she looks on the blog (which is pretty freakin’ beautiful) … really actually interested in other knitters and I would spend more time with her in a heartbeat and count myself lucky for it .

I’m her biggest groupie, and if you met her…you would be too.

7. The next day had me at Sit’n Knit in South Bend. This shop has free coffee. Free lattes too, if you like ’em. Me? I like my coffee medicinal, but do enjoy knowing that others are enjoying all the foam they would like. It’s a charming shop, with charming (high energy…that’s probably the free coffee) knitters.

Erin with the sock. (I miss dorky’s best friend Carma. She had car trouble. Sniff.)

Erin

Elizabeth with her stunning Tina

Liz

and random rabble …

Sitnknit

In the picture above is my fellow FTer Elizabeth….spinning away and making us all look like slackers, and Kristine in the purple. Completely adorable. A knitter/writer should only wish for such days. Many thanks to Jack and Kim for setting it up.

8. Lake Michigan

Michigan

as seen by a new sock, since these…

9.

Doneopal

roaming socks are done. (Since someone will ask, they are Opal sock yarn color 1016 done on 2mm needles, in my usual boring self-written pattern. )

10. The last reason that it was a good trip.. is that I got to go at all. I get torn sometimes, between my family and my home and the job for the books…and I wonder how I’ll juggle it all. It turns out that you don’t juggle it. You can’t keep all the balls in the air. Either you are doing family life and worrying about your job, or you are doing your job and worrying about the family. This was the trip when I figured out that you can’t do them at the same time. That I can’t run a family from Chicago…no matter how hard I try. You just have to give up a little….celebrate the good things about it. (That would be the knitters) Be glad that I’ve been given the priviledge, grateful that I’m seeing so much…and let go of the laundry and wondering if Sam is doing her spelling. Thanks to all of you for making it a good trip. There aren’t many people who can say they owe it all to knitters, but I can.

Tomorrow.

Pickup

Small sweaters. Picking up stitches. Discovering that I can’t count.

71 thoughts on “Chicago and nearby.

  1. Great images! Thanks again for sharing. I especially like “virtually” meeting all the knitters whose blogs I read. And I LOVE being sent to new blogs!!!

  2. Wow! I almost got to post the first comment! (It’s been a long time.)
    It really was great meeting you in person, for all that we had to dash off afterward. Such a fun crowd of knitters, too!
    (Did you ever think, when you first began this blog, that you’d have so many blog buddies and groupies?)

  3. Your visit to Chicago was great. I am so glad I got to go and meet you and terribly jealous that you got the Waffle man and all I got was a three card monty scam done with checkers and a ball.

  4. Sounds like you had fun! Despite the terrifying publishers…
    I was wondering if I could put a plug in for Blankets for Canada.
    http://www.blankets4canada.ca/
    I found them online and I think you did some work for them a while ago? Well I started thinking that despite how much we don’t want it, the cold is coming, and the rain (if you live in Vancouver). I was going to knit up a bunch of odds and sods I have left over and thought maybe we should alert other knitters who might want to make room for some of their new stuff? For our American Cousins there is a sister site in the US.

  5. Good stuff, the traveling, trials, tribulations. I will savor the links a little later. Meanwhile, did ya buy any yarn?

  6. I always enjoy reading your blog. You really have a way with words.
    I so like the look of the little cardigan that you’re knitting. Where can I get a copy of the pattern?
    Cathy

  7. It does sound like you had a good time, once you got past that book-seller’s dinner. “Speed-dating for writers,” indeed! And I loved and sympathized with the comment from the equally-neglected author next to you. I mean, sure, Scott Turow’s sold a FEW more books than you, but don’t people recognize greatness when they see it?? Just please, don’t let your maternal feelings let you cop out of going to Rhinebeck in a week and a half–I’m so looking forward to meeting you!

  8. If you are just discovering that you can’t count after all these years of knitting… I am floored. I found out I can’t count on my second project.

  9. Wow! It was great to meet you in South Bend and hear you read from your book. I’m re-reading it, but now I have the voice right! I even got my picture on your blog…sort of!

  10. Looks like a lovely trip and I’m sure Joe made Sam do her spelling. I think it’s a mom’s job to worry about that stuff though, it’s what makes you a good one. What’s this nonsense about counting? You have to count to knit? When did this happen?

  11. bummer I missed you in Chicago, but thanks for the blog today–I have been feeling “you can’t juggle it all” thing quite a bit lately, and it was good to hear someone else feeling it too. the wee sweater is adorable—whose pattern is it, or is it your own?

  12. I have to admit, I was very excited to get to meet you in Chicago (although WI would have been better), but I did feel a twinge of guilt that you were spending so much time away from home. Being away from home is hard on a parent and their children. Enjoy your time home. If I get to see you again hopefully I’ll remember to bring a camera and one of your books.
    What’s this about vinegar?

  13. The way you felt about meeting Bonne Marie before actually finding it how great she is in person is EXACTLY the way I felt about seeing you in person.
    I am as far from a giddy teenager as you can get, but I was awfully excited to see you at Arcadia Knitting. To laugh out loud and nod with recognition at your stories. You perfectly capture the things we knitters have in common.
    Thanks for giving of yourself to the us in the Windy City! I know Joe, the kids and Mr. Washie missed you, but we’re oh, so glad you came.

  14. Wow – sounds like a great trip even though you weren’t with your famly. I have been finding more places here in NJ (mostly near the shore) that have vinegar due to tourists. My cousin brought me the vinegar packs from fast food restaurants so I could have some.
    The bookseller convention sounds scary though.

  15. If you ever make it back to Michigan, I will personally bring you some apple cider vinegar for your fries. The best fries are at the fair, where they have these big ol’ spray bottles full of vinegar. My family always takes one back to the table to spray down the bucket of fries.
    Still seething about you getting to spend time with both Rams and Bonne Marie, but I know you have to make some sacrifices to be there. I will never know how you do it all.

  16. Your vinegar story reminds me of the first time my husband and I went to England. At dinner the first evening, our waiter asked if we’d like some water. Assuming that he was offering bottled mineral water instead of regular water like one gets pretty standardly in the states, we said yes. A few moments later the waiter returned and asked if we wanted out water still.
    Well, of course we wanted our water still! We’d only just asked for it! So we said yes. When he came back, with regular tap-type water, my husband pointed out that we expected a bottle, something with bubbles… you know. The waiter looked at us like we were daft. After much confusion, we Yanks were set straight about still water and bubbly water.
    If we can’t get water right, you really can’t expect much condiment-wise.

  17. Children, do not believe a word she says. The truth is not in her — but what can you expect from a woman who neglects to get a picture of the young and lovely Roggey but scorches your retinas with moi, right after I tried to leave Shangri-La?
    For the record, she was the hit of the convention. I don’t deny that she probably suffered, but every table she sat at in that noisy room (the booksellers knew enough to get their wine and tote it in with them) was rapt, and that inCLUdes the author table she ate at ahead of time (and they ain’t such good listeners.) All the next day people were looking for her, talking about her, quoting her.
    And the author she sat next to? The wonderful Nuala O’Faoilin (Are You Somebody, My Dream of You and now Chicago May,) the epitome of Irish charm. See, they seat the delights together — poor Scott Truro (or whatever) had to put up with drooling groupies. Poor guy.

  18. Oh, now I’m all homesick for Chicago. I’ve ridden that El line!! I’ve been to Arcadia!! Did anyone give you any Frango Mints? (not made in Chicago anymore, but still a tradition …)

  19. Do not blame America – blame Chicago, or possibly just that restaurant. MOST places will supply you with proper vinegar for your fries. The true way to eat fries, despite my inability to convince my Texas-born husband of this after 9 years together, is with vinegar and Old Bay seasoning… but that’s an Eastern Shore thing. You’ll have to try it at your next MD…. The beaches of Maryland and Delaware have entire shops built around nothing but these fries (I think they sell lemonade, too, but it’s all about the fries)

  20. Rams, she sat next to Nuala O’FAOLain? Magical, and all the more so for that extraordinary woman having asked God to kill her.(Wonder if she would have capitalized God.)(If he did kill her, he’d have some ‘splainin’ to do, Lucy.) (He? he?)(Sorry, I’m a rent-a-nerd.) Stephanie, do you know if she’s a knitter? And when are you coming to Richmond, again? I forget. Or didn’t you say?
    While I’m asking questions, I’m also wondering how you pronounce ‘arse.’ Having grown up in Georgia and spent the last 20 years in Richmond (while technically being a Yankee, having been born in Ohio) (of off-the-boat German parents), I would say “ay-us.”
    Thanks for all you’re doing. You can’t know what it means to god (God?) knows how many of us.

  21. Dude, great travelogue. Sounds like a lovely time. I like the photo of Lake Michigan – I’ve never seen it and never really thought of it as a “beach” but clearly it’s a good one.
    So, what’s up with this new sweater? And did you ever find Rhinebeck?!?

  22. At our house we can non-knitting persons Knuggles.
    Glad you had a wonderful trip.
    I can’t want to get my fingers on bookbookbook 2

  23. 1) this post made me miss my mom, who’s in michigan.
    2) hold on i forgot 2….oh yes…i am totally bummed i missed you when you were at Stash (berkeley).

  24. Steph – I find myself following in your sock steps, knitting both socks though. But pair after pair, with thoughts of taking them everywhere with me (which I do) and taking pictures of them at significant places. I’ve become a Harlot groupie and want to be just like ewe! Do you have your “boring sock pattern” posted anywhere so I can continue in my clonelike (by degree only) behavior?
    I can’t wait to see you at the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival on the 16th! I’m coming on a busload of insane knitters from Stratford Connecticut at 7:30am. I hope we make it to hear you at 11:00! You mean so much to so many folks, thank you for taking the time away from your family to come to meet your fans!

  25. The vinegar and fries thing? Totally done in Rhode Island. My friend Lindsay, due to the fact that our school cafeteria didn’t have non-salad vinegar, found that cheap French dressing has a similar effect.
    Not that her friends, myself included, thought her any less crazy just because she claimed that they tasted the same.

  26. I’m an American, but I live with a French guy, so we eat those fries with homemade, raw egg, mother-horrifying mayonnaise. However, I admit to loving malt vinegar. H.P., to be specific. Relic of a year in England.
    They don’t have that in the States. I sympathise. God, I love Canada…

  27. Hell, did I say apple cider vinegar? Its fall in Michigan, so I have apple cider on the brain. So please excuse me, I meant to say malt vinegar. Malt dammit, malt.
    Oops.

  28. Many restaurants in BOSTON have the malt vinegar right on the table. Just sayin’….
    Stephanie, I think that you could get a book out of this book tour!

  29. rams, burning the retinas? hardly. you’re even better than I imagined.
    morally corrupt… young… lovely… I rock! (And that’s *so* much better than the whole femme fatale look I was aiming for!)
    and to make you feel better, Harlot, I’ll post my link to my photo (http://www.livejournal.com/users/nstynittinnymph/90739.html)- let’s face it, I was at the height of dorkdom when I met you. The photo wouldn’t have been pretty.
    Thanks for coming to Chicago!

  30. Hi again! I am the non-photogenic girl on the left of the “where did all those glasses come from?” photo. I am feeling similar to Rams, though I must say more rightly so (Rams, you look lovely!). I blame the flushed face on being photographed with the likes of Bonne Marie, by you, and of course I blame the wine.
    There you go! I will shoulder the blame for all those glasses. We’ll say I’m OCD and need a new container for each glass my lushness desires.
    It was great to meet you. I’ve been a daily blog reader for months now, and I loved your books. Inspires me to get back to my writing!

  31. The author you bonded with sounds priceless. Good for you for letting go and enjoying the trips. When remote-controlled washer/dryers are invented, you can start worrying from abroad again.

  32. I love reading about your travels — you always make everything sound so interesting and funny! I wish I had made it to one of your book signings when you were here in Northern California, but I can always hope that you will return, right? =) Hope you’re enjoying your time at home.

  33. I’m a US citizen — born here — and it irks me to no end when a place serves french fries but lacks the decency to also serve malt vinegar. I’ve received plain ol’ white vinegar and balsamic, with the question, “Is this close enough?”

  34. Hey – I think I’m the first kid in Seattle to get a hold of (and read in an afternoon) your new bookbookbook! It was truly lovely. Truly. I especially loved your story about the blue sock baby and Lene’s stash – you are such an awesome writer, even (maybe even especially) when you’re not writing (pure) comedy!
    Weaving Works now has a stash of book-cubed-2, for my fellow Seattle-ites, and I got mine by asking – they hadn’t yet put them out on display as of 3 PM today. Woot.

  35. I’m a new poster here, and just wanted to let you know that I look forward to reading your blog everyday. You help me cope with MY life in a humor that goes on in my head everyday, and one that no one around me understands. YOU ROCK!

  36. Amazing knitters you meet. But seriously. Chips without vingear? That’s like knitting without swearing! Americans: you can be a little weird, you know! 🙂

  37. Steph, you need a trip to Australia. Great food, great wine, vinegar on your chips, whatever you need. We need you to take a trip to Australia. A couple of months should do it. Bring the family!

  38. Habitues of Irish pubs also know why order vinegar with fries. Don’t ask me how I know.
    Pretty cool to get to hang out with Nuala O’Faolain!

  39. Awesome post as usual. I’m officially travelling the States vicariously through you since I don’t think I’ll ever have the chance to do my road trip… but I digress.
    And vinegar on french fries are sooooo good. Way better than ketchup.

  40. I spend 2 months in MI this summer, a few days in Chicago, and I come back to MN and miss you. This is not a win-win situation.
    So sorry about the vinegar. I have tried to enjoy it, and I can’t. But I DO understand how other people love it on their fries. We have an irish pub in town, and they serve it automatically.
    And Nuala O’Faolain????? Oh. Wow.
    Glad you had a good trip. Be sure to get lots of snuggles in before you have to go again.

  41. We put vinegar on our fries in Maine, too. I thought everybody did it!
    I love reading about your adventures, and as a fellow Bonne Marie groupie, I have to tell you I am green with envy!

  42. We Northern Vermonters (although I live in NJ now, I grew up a stone’s through from Quebec) know what the vinegar is for. My mom keeps a shaker of white on the table.

  43. It was so good to have you in South Bend, Stephanie! I intend to post a very hilarious (I hope) blog post about it soon. (My computer died over the weekend… *sniff*)

  44. I love your books, I was just wondering if they will ever be audio books as I love to listen to books that I have read before?
    I totally understand what you mean about missing your family my husband has been on the road for the past 4 weeks because of the hurricains in Mississippi and Lousiana so I have have seen him maybe 5 times over that period of time.

  45. We do so have HP malt vinegar in the States. Well, i’m in NY, so I’m spoiled. But you can get it in most any supermarket in NY or NJ, and most restaurants have it too. But I digress: what a wondrous trip! Bonne Marie and bloggers galore! And Nuala O’Faolain!! Wow. I totally empathize with your homesickness, though. I miss home and my kids like mad whenever I go anywhere. BTW, I love, love, love the new book. A few of the essays in it just broke my heart. You are a wonderful writer, and I look forward to reading your work for many years to come.

  46. Holy Crap, Stephanie – my little pencil-neck is too little to hold up the Head You’ve Placed on It this morning!!!
    Right Back ATCHA!
    I bow to your excellence, wit, and grace – please come back to Chicago ANYTIME and mix it up with all of us again…
    The Vinegar Thing: I am embarrassed for my folk – some of us eat vinegar on da chips all the time – gotta keep it in your purse though… 🙂

  47. Glad to know I’m not the only one who can’t count. I’m starting my first shawl (you inspired me, Stephanie!) and quickly realizing that scarves, hats, purses, etc. have nothing on knitting with laceweight. So many little stitches!

  48. I adore that you’ve co-opted “muggle” to mean a non-knitter. However, upon deep, and long consideration, I’d like to propose the term “knuggle” instead…
    And congrats on realizing that you can’t do two jobs at once. It seems to take *years* for 9-to-5 working moms like myself to figure that one out!

  49. When we came home Sunday evening, our 14yo daughter asked what was my favorite part of the trip, and I said it was the yarn shop and meeting you and Bonne Marie. 🙂 Even my husband enjoyed it – honest! It was all part of the adventure. And he totally gets the holding-the-sock thing, because when we went to Hawaii this summer, I took sock posing pictures everywhere! And I don’t even blog. Oh, and we also took pictures of our food at that fancy schmancy restaurant. So the kids could see, you know.
    Loved meeting you, Bonne Marie, and everyone else. Really lovely finding my own kind in Chicago. Total bonus. And Sarah the wonder publicist is soooo cuuuute.

  50. Amie is right, vinegar & Old Bay are delicious. But anywhere in Maryland or DC you’d be able to get malt vinegar for your fries, yum.

  51. I was one of the first ones to get a book signed and was a bit speechless about meeting you, Stephanie. Wow! You were hilarious, more hilarious than your blog. A knitting friend who rode up to Chicago with me told me it was definitely worth the three hour trip.

  52. Stephanie,
    I knew it was too good to be true! The travel gods were not with me on Saturday, so after missed connections, a lost bag, and rental car hassles we finally got to our hotel in Chicago at 8 pm (we were supposed to get in at 2 pm). I was most disappointed to miss your talk. I hope to one day see you in person. I love your books and my only comfort was having bookbookbook 2 with me on the plane. Sounds like you had fun!
    Kristin

  53. It was wonderful to hear you speak in Chicago. Being around that much yarn and that many knitterly-minded delightful people completely made my day (despite my crochet tendencies!). I now have the means to postpone *any* argument I’ll ever have with my fiance–thank you!

  54. Loved the raspberry vinegar thing. I laughed aloud about it. Thanks for mentioning. 🙂

  55. Ooh I empathise with the signing queue thing – I’m a children’s book writer in Australia and the one thing we *ahem* more niche writers *ahem* hate is being put anywhere near spitting distance to Paul Jennings, Andy Griffiths or Isobel Carmody. Their signing lines wind around whole conference centres, down and back up flights of stairs and kids stand there with unheard of and previously unseen patience. Nothing is more guaranteed to make me think of different career choices – cleaner, bee keeper, museum tour guide operator….Love the blog, by the way – and love At Knit’s End, too.

  56. Seeing you in Chicago was awesome! My sister from Wis. came with me and we followed our usual form; forgot the books to get signed, forgot the CAMERA, forgot how to talk when it was our turn in line. We suck at this book signing event thing! But you rock!! You are funny, charming, a natural public speaker and totally yourself in every way. Thank you for coming to Chicago, but I hope you go to Wisconsin sometime so that my sister & I can try this all again and maybe get it right.

  57. Just another (former) East-Coaster here to say, yes, we did the vinegar too, at the Jersey shore. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. I can see how the trips are getting tiring, but they look very fun!

  58. Great story! I also enjoyed hearing you at Stitches East a couple weeks ago. Do you know anything about that gorgeous shawl Tamara is wearing in your photo of her at dinner with her husband? It looks wonderful!

  59. I just started reading your blog. I love it! I’m a friend of Melody Johnson, and she mentioned YOU on HER blog. I don’t really knit, I just collect yarn and needles and books. I have yet to finish anything, but I make quilts. I was reading your piece on flying to Chicago from Canada with knitting needles. At the time, I was sitting in a hotel in Kelowna BC, getting ready to fly home to Chicago, with quilts and beads.
    I beaded on the plane, which was half empty. One of the flight attendants sat down next to me and I taught her how to do peyote stitch, gave her my card and the name of the nearest bead store, and let her keep the tiny sample.
    I noticed that the shop you visited in Chicago is ONE MILE from a condo we just finished fixing up so we could stay there once in a while instead of my husband having a two hour commute to work from the suburbs. I can’t wait to see the knitting store and get started on something I might actually finish.
    I also had to laugh about the vinegar, because I was offered vinegar with my fries in Kelowna and blurted out “That must be some Canadian thing….”
    Thanks for your blog, I’m really liking it.
    Robbi

  60. Great blog! Thanks for coming to Chicago- it’s full of knitters! By the way, there is another great knitting shop in Chicago called “Sister-ARTS Studio” at 721 W. Wrightwood – chech it out! Thanks for the visit, and please come back again!

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