Random Monday

I’m starting to really feel the love for this Random Monday thing. Here it is, the beginning of a busy week and I don’t even have to pretend to have any sort of a cohesive structure to a blog post- which is a relief, because I don’t think any was forthcoming anyway.  So here we go.

1. I’m packing. I hate packing.  I wish you could just type the location and event you were going to into a computer on the side of your suitcase, and it would just walk around the house putting everything you would need in it.

2. I’m going to Portland because it’s just about a year until the next Sock Summit, and that means that Tina and I have to start the endless string of meetings and in-person organizing that has to happen so the thing flies. 

3. I have bought new post-it notes to make sure it goes well. I suspect Tina has too. 

4. I finished spinning the latest obsession.  Four skeins of yarn that are now ready to be dyed – all to match.

5. I still have no idea what I’m going to make out of them, but I’m starting to think that the woven scarf experiment might have triggered this, and maybe I’m supposed to make another woven scarf. 

6. I guess this is another trip where I try to put a loom in my suitcase.

7. My loom is pretty little, so I don’t mind doing that, except for that moment at security when I have to explain what it is and why I have it with me.  I can tell by their faces that I’m yet to find a way to do it that sounds sane by their standards.

8. Their standards are weird.

9. Megan turned 19 yesterday.

That means that now I’m the mother of another person who is old enough to do everything there is to do in Canada, from driving to voting to drinking- and to do it without my permission.

10.  I’m still working on how I feel about her being able to yell "You’re not the boss of me" and have an actual point.   I bought champagne for her anyway.

133 thoughts on “Random Monday

  1. I think you’re on to something with the self-packing suitcase! Because I put packing off to the last possible moment, I inevitably forget something essential.
    Happy birthday to Megan!

  2. 19. I have so many fond memories of when I was 19. She and Joe look so happy. What a great photo.

  3. OK, Now I can post (had to get that random first in there 😉
    Congrats on Canada’s newest voter! She’s been raised very right – oops, make that correctly, not right vs left.
    Lovely skeins. I am perpetually jelous of your talents.

  4. My reply to “You’re not the boss of me” was always a variant of “When you want to move out and be independent and on your own, you are welcome to. But for now: my house = my rules.” I suspect, however, that you’ll rarely (if ever) have to use that. You’ve raised some pretty amazing young women.

  5. Happy birthday, Megan! And anything you do with that yarn is going to be gorgeous, because it already is. I want to squoosh it through the screen.

  6. i LOVE that yarn. it looks so pretty! enjoy working with it. 🙂
    i love your first woven scarf, another one would be swell!

  7. Your yarn is lovely now. I’m curious to see what color you dye it and then to see what project you make with it.

  8. We use: “when you are the head of the household, you can make your own rules” quite a bit with our Eighteen. Who will be legal to enter contracts next year (Alabama is odd) and may well be invited to go find her own contract, if she can’t follow house rules, aka decides the current one isn’t to her liking.
    Corollaries: “When you make the supper”, “when you buy the groceries”, “when you balance the budget”. All said with an apparently maddening reasonableness.
    If she ever actually does any of these things on a regular basis before the parenting situation ends, I will have to do more creative thinking. While dancing a jig.

  9. Your child will always be your Child, no matter what age. It’s nice when they come to ask your advice about stuff, not your persmission…shows you have done your job.
    Happy Birthday to both of you!

  10. As a new spinner I’m jealous, look at the amount of yarn you made! I still think that you do not sleep.
    Happy Birthday to your daughter! We share birthdays!

  11. You never cease to amaze me! You talk about a possible idea for spinning up 400 meters of yarn, and !blammo! 3 days later there it is!!!
    I have fiber that I have been deliberately spinning for weeks and still have yet to ply even one bobbin!!
    Safe travels- I am excited for the next Sock Summit as I may even have a chance at attending.

  12. Happy birthday to Megan! Congratulations to you and Joe on getting her there! It seems like you’ve done a great job. 🙂

  13. can’t wait to see what you weave. will you split each skein so dark to light can happen in both the warp and weft?

  14. One more grrl to go! Beautiful yarn. Have a wonderfully happy time in Portland, and may this second SS go even more smoothly – with the first under your belt, there is hopefully not as much bewildering new ground to cover! I envy you guys so much the adventure.

  15. Happy belated birthday to Megan.
    The spinning looks great.
    Good that Tina is your friend and you can avoid packing a loom if you choose to.
    As to the “not the boss of me” thing Megan would have to move out and be living on her own before that line would truly work with me. Of course lots of the rules that fit when they were underage and living at home have been renegotiated.

  16. I would suggest something useless regarding the loom, so I’ll not bother suggesting at all. That being said, congratulations to the kidlet for reaching 19 – that’s always a challenge. 🙂

  17. Happy 19th Birthday Megan! Best of everything to you. Steph, you and Joe are wonderful parents. (Wish you were my parents!)

  18. Happy birthday to Megan!
    And a friendly reminder to triple-check the set-up of your loom before winding… 🙂

  19. Happy happy to Megan and family!
    Am I the only one thinking “no, don’t dye that gorgeous chunk of natural beauty!!”?! You’ve spun it up so lovely I’m itching to see it woven just like it is. Could I persuade you to mail me this natural set and to do another dyed set for yourself? You do spin so quickly after all… *sheepish grin*

  20. I was going to suggest a backstrap loom as a solution. But then saw your concern was not over the fit of the loom in your suitcase but for the fit(s) of the security personel. Seriously though, don’t you enjoy tweaking (um, educating?) the muggles? Maybe just a wee bit?
    The most interesting experience I’ve had with airport security happened years ago when my father and I had parachutes as our carry-on luggage. I suspect that would be much harder to explain these days.
    Can’t wait to see your dyed yarn.

  21. Happy B-Day to Meg! You are really on the downhill slope of this whole parenting thing!
    Also – that yarn is SO PRETTY. Are you sure you want to dye it?
    Not that I’m questioning Her Harlotness…

  22. Happy 19th Birthday, Megan!
    Congratulations, Harlot & Joe, for getting another one raised up right. Two down, one to go.
    Awesome spinning! I wouldn’t dye it but that’s just me. Can’t wait to see what you do with it. Have fun in Portland.

  23. Belated happy birthday to Megan!
    And that suitcase comment? I’m having a Jetsons moment here — I can just see some hi-tech suitcase wandering around George’s place, packing shoes and briefcase and Astro (who emits his trademark Who-ho), because Astro is always essential to any trip!
    Or possibly I’ve had too much coffee.

  24. I can see that suitcase in a future Harry Potter movie! Maybe in Ron’s house.
    As several have already commented, the yarn is beautiful just as it is. I can picture it knit in a strong cable sweater of the Irish flavor.

  25. Another vote for *not* dyeing that lovely yarn!! It’s so perfectly chocolate-and-cream right now, and I can see it knitted/woven into something scrumptious. But hey, your creation, your choice. Whatever you do will be lovely.

  26. WOW 19 in Canada…My son has to be 21 here in Texas and can’t wait till October. At times I still think he is too young but what am I just his mother for heaven’s sake. Hope you had a great party. I love the handspun yarns…very beautiful and would make a lovely scarf.

  27. I’m now leaving work early to go home and spin. Or at least am sorely tempted. Yum!

  28. I look at your work, and know that I HAVE to learn how to spin someday.
    Congratulations to you on Megan’s majority – you and your husband seem to be in the group of parents who can successfully raise up children to be adults.

  29. Heck! I want to yell, “you’re not the boss of me!” on a regular basis, and I’m considerably older than 19.
    The yarn is going to be amazing. Can’t wait to see what it becomes!

  30. Love the self-packing suitcase concept – a bit like spinning a room full of straw into gold overnight (an analogy I often think of when faced with a huge physical task).
    About Security – wouldn’t they go along with it by the way you are dressed? More ‘knitterly’ than ‘power dressing’ don’t you think.
    Happy birthday to the happy 19 year old. What sort of pie did you cook? Was it her favourite? Only a mother’s love would go that far.

  31. Suggestion for down the road . . . why don’t you have the sock summit in Toronto? Then Tina can commute to you and sock knitters can be lucky enough to visit Canada at the same time as the summit. Just sayin’.
    Beautiful yarn and daughter.

  32. I’m sad this yarn has to be died because of its lovely brownness. I love a lovely brownness like no other. So there. But enjoy the dying nonetheless if dying you must do. And happy post-it-note. Also, lovely spinning job.

  33. Beautiful yarn – just what you described wanting.
    Of course, you still have the “as long as you live in my house” thing in your back pocket but I get your point. Congratulations to her and a pat on the back to you and Joe for doing such a good job.

  34. Congrats on another little birdie leaving the nest!! Bittersweet, I am sure.
    However, no matter how old your little girl is, she has to go along with your program as long as you are supporting her and/or she is in your home. In a way, she is not accurate when she says you are not her boss anymore. I assume that you are a pretty practical mom, and are not threatened by your children becoming independent adults. You seems to like your daughters taking charge of their lives. So, adult or not, she should follow your guidelines.
    You seem like a very pragmatic bunch, so she will see that 1) if she is not coming home, she needs to let you know, so you won’t wonder if she has been abducted by aliens. She needs to tell you when she is coming back. This is a courtesy that any people living together do. 2) You home has not become a resort for her just becuase she is ‘legal’. You did not become her maid since she is an adult. She can clean up after herself and do her share of home chores, just because she is someone who lives there. 3) If she leaves school, she needs to have a plan to be self-supporting within a reasonable amount of time and implement it. She cannot retire from the world before she is 20. 4) It is your home, and she needs to get preapproval for any ‘functions’ of hers that will be happening at your house. 5) She does not have veto power over your plans or your home just because she is an adult. ‘Mind your own business’ comes to mind. 6) You are her mom and she should show you respect. Not because she is an adult, but because she will always be your kid.
    These are small, normal courtesies that any people who live together should offer.

  35. I’m thinking shawl. Maybe a big triangular shawl, that doesn’t need to end until the yarn does.
    Oh, and I know about the customs thing. They looked at me so funny when I flew back from a visit with my dad when I was 14 and I declared a weapon. It was a sword – I was studying fencing!

  36. Happy Birthday Megan..
    Our youngest Grandson just turn “21” Moved out..got married..at his reception..He told me it was so great to be free..I chuckled..then.. he yelled to his Sister get something for him out of his car..I chimmed in..to remind him he was on his own..damn he had to do it for himself…

  37. Do I get credit for the woven scarf idea this time ’round? I’ll just imagine I do. 🙂
    I have to say, having seen the colors, I don’t know that a dye job is in order. Just the gradient weaving would create a beautiful, earthy scarf.

  38. Huzzah to Megan!!
    And the yarn looks delightful – why dye it? It’s gorgeous the way it is!

  39. Megan has, what I’m guessing in person is, a truly infectious smile. Takes up her whole face! Those August birthday girls are super special (not that I would know–wink, wink). Good luck with the meetings. Hopefully they will be productive and not the sort where you are wishing you were in the 9th level of hell instead.

  40. I cannot imagine what on earth dying could do to add to the beauty of those colors just as they are.

  41. I really wish that there was a suitcase like that, that would make packing so much easier! I hate packing too!!!
    Yarn is lovely, cant wait to see it dyed. I would still knit Lloie’s Jerkin..by Elizabeth Zimmermann *thinks for a minute* wait if you don’t then I will! Hahahahaha!
    Happy birthday Megan!!!

  42. Happy Birthday to Megan!!
    Happy travels to my neck of the woods (I live about an hour South of Portland. Hope your Sock Summit planning goes smoothly and fruitfully – can’t wait to attend again. 🙂

  43. When you get that self-packing suitcase/computer that packs your suitcase for you thing figured out, please share with all of us. I hate packing with a passion.
    But you’re a much nicer mom than mine. When I turned 21, she didn’t buy me any alcohol…and still hasn’t-more than a year later.

  44. Happy birthday to Megan! I remember how strange it was to have my eldest turn 21 last year (legal for everything down here).
    Have a great trip to Portland. It’s hot here today and tomorrow, and back to blessed perfection after that. May all your meetings be highly productive…and quick.

  45. Look at that thousand-watt smile. Congrats, Meg!
    (And isn’t it just too bad that your girls are too old for my boys…at least right now. Give them time, eh?)

  46. Congratulations on raising another amazing adult. I hear it is quite hard to accomplish. I just reread your previous weaving post & it finally makes sense to me. I just started weaving last week, with chenille. Would not recommend that for a first project, but learned SO much and it created quite a beautiful scarf.

  47. Very happy birthday Megan. Stephanie, I can’t imagine dying that lovely yarn. What colour are you going to go to ? Have a great trip and for goodness sake don’t forget the post it notes.

  48. I love the yarn the way it is. I sort of wish you wouldn’t dye it. I can’t wait to see the color you choose.

  49. It’s hard to fathom that anyone would think to offer you advice on parenting or yarn! Congrats & blessings on Megan and the rest of you.
    doreen

  50. Packing.
    I’ve got a two week business ‘trip’ that takes me about an hour from home–two hours or more in real terms (gotta love that LA traffic). Having to be civil to people at a time when I’m usually still sleeping means I move to a hotel nearby. And yet I can’t seem to get there without packing half the yarn I own (well, if we’re honest, it’s nowhere near half, but it’s still a carful) just in case what I REALLY want to work on is the project I left behind. Never mind that if push came to shove, I could easily pop home to pick up anything I needed. Add to that the vagaries of this summer’s weather, and I wouldn’t even know what to program the self-packing suitcase for.
    Autonomy of one’s offspring.
    Though impractical, one defense is to foster a love of the finer things in life. If your little ones are accustomed to drinking good beer, you probably don’t have to worry about them overindulging. They’ll either run out of money buying the good stuff or not be able to stomach enough of cheap swill to get drunk. (But your girls seem to have pretty good heads on their shoulders anyway.)

  51. Happy Birthday Meghan!
    as for the “you’re not the boss of me”…. the response to that is the old “so long as you’re under my roof…” I suspect that it’s easier to control boys (3 of 5 are grown and moved out… all boys..) with that one than girls… add to that the drinking age here in the states is 21….

  52. Happy Birthday Megan! There’s still one thing she can’t do though. You have to be 25 to rent a car in Canada.

  53. Don’t sweat the loom. My daughter just came down for the weekend to cater her brother’s wedding rehearsal dinner, bringing only one carry-on bag…that held 72 shot glasses for the cold mango-habanero soup, plus pajamas and one change of clothing. The TSA guys were taken a bit aback, but sent her on through with a smile.
    Of course, she did rent a dress here for the wedding, since guests were asked to wear 1880’s period gear, and you can imagine how much space a Victorian dress and hat take up.

  54. Loom in security sounds fun :). My hubby brought his sister in England an antique clock in his carry on once. Those folks just hate to see anything mechanical.

  55. I adore the look of pride on Joe’s face! Made me a bit weepy (& I don’t do weepy). Congrats to Megan! She sure hit the parental jackpot!

  56. Not sure why you want to dye that lovely yarn. Many lovely things could result if you leave it as is!

  57. Ah, but Megan’s still a teenager. Well, for one more year, any way. I think their operations manual requires one “You’re not the boss of me” scream per month or so, or they lose their teenager permit. Or something like that.
    You’ve done well with her so far, so she’s not about to run off the rails on you now.

  58. My response has always been “My house, my rules!”
    It works no matter what age the kids are.

  59. Congrats to Megan. Power is an illusion, we never were their boss anyway. My son turns 21 in 77 days, just popped out of him yesterday, I stand corrected 76 days…21 is the “big” number in the states…for growing up so fast, we just invested in house #2 to “move him and his older brother” out.
    Roommates…in the next town over. Hey…give me a glass of champagne. Loved being their mom. (please note the past tense.)

  60. Forget the self-packing (or fish-packing) suitcase – I want to see the Star Trek version, where you go where you want to go, and then every time you need something you type it into a computer, and that computer finds it inside your house, disappears it, and re-appears it wherever you decided to go. No luggage ever!

  61. Megan is lovely! Looks like she had a great day. You on the other hand do not look old enough to have three grown children. I mean that, no false praise here. Regarding the spinning – that yarn is lovely! Don’t dye it – the colors are simply beautiful. Not that it’s my business of course, but I thought I’d throw that opinion out there. Enjoy Portland – I’m looking forward to coming next year – partly because it will allow me to jump on the train and take a visit to my home of 21 years Seattle.

  62. Thanks Caro. I was going to ask about the car rental age in Canada.
    I graduated from vet school at 24. I had to drive 10 hours to take a state license exam because I was too young to fly there and rent a car. They’d give me a license to be a doctor but renting a car – too risky! LOL.

  63. Oh, how I remember 19, and all of the cocktails that came with it. And how I moved to Michigan a year later, and then had to wait 9 more months before I could (legally) have cocktails again.

  64. Happy Birthday to Megan! How exciting to be just beginning. I have no doubt that she is well equiped with a happy childhood in her pocket, and a loving family at her back.
    Hope your travel tomorrow goes well. Can’t wait to hear if you packed the loom and what the reactions are at the airport.
    I’m voting for not dying the yarn – it’s so lovely just as it is!

  65. O my, how I LOVE packing!!! I love the getting together, the editing, the last minute oh wait, I might want this after all.. I just spent the day packing for a 2 week road trip that eventually culminates with a 5 day yoga workshop with Patricia Walden. Along the way, I will visit family, 2 friends and close on a condo. Talk about serious packing. Of course my favorite part is deciding what yarn/knitting to bring. I’ve also planned visits to yarn shops along the way. That took nearly as much planning as the rest of the trip combined. Ah- travel. and the call of the open road. Vroom.
    Deb.

  66. I assume that she’s living at home and going to school? As long as she is, to some degree, you still are the boss. I think this system is designed to ease the transition for parents 😉
    My DDs and (older) DS are all about 6 mos younger than yours…

  67. the purpose of suitcases is to hold looms, spinning wheels, fleece and yarn. if there is any space left, pack some underwear and maybe a change of clothes.

  68. Yay! Happy Birthday to Megan!!!!
    I am so excited to tell you that I took my first trip in to Canada last weekend. We went to Upper Canada Village. They have sheep and a whole barn set up with soooooo much roving, and spinning equipment. There is a woman there who’s job it is to weave blankets and other such wonderful items! I was wandering around the gift shop on our way out and I found they are selling a single copy (which means the others must have flown off their shelves!) of one of your books. I just thought you’d like to know. =) I loved my time in Canada. Very beautiful country, we will be back for another visit!
    PS I was even able to cast on and finish a baby cardigan on the trip! success! =)

  69. Happy Birthday Megan! Now that you’re legal, remember to go buy your mother’s favorite beer to have on hand for her return. (Hey, planning a sock summit makes one powerful thirsty. . .)
    The yarn really is beautiful as it is. If you really do dye it, I’d recommend just the palest of shades, something that would enhance the yarn’s natural colors instead of overwhelming them.

  70. Seems a shame to change such beautiful colours, but it will be cool once you’ve done the deed.
    Happy Birthday to Megan! She’s a beauty and I hope Joe has the proverbial (if not literal) shotgun primed with rock salt and ready to go on a moments notice.

  71. I have literally already put next year’s Sock Summit on my calendar and will be there no matter what! I’ve never been to Portland before and I simply can’t wait for the awesome excuse to go . . . hope that planning is smoother for you this year!
    Oh and happy birthday Megan!

  72. Random Monday comments: 1) Somehow I doubt that you get “You’re not the boss of me!” very often – seems like you raised some pretty good kids! 2) Seems a shame to overdye that lovely natural brown yarn! What color do you think you want to make it? You do notice that they all go very nicely together now, right?

  73. Ah, yes. What you want is The Luggage, as described by Terry Pratchett in one of his early Discworld books. Perhaps a less ominous model than he describes, but along those lines, definitely.

  74. Hurray Sock Summit!!! I want to come!
    Great yarn!!!! Can’t wait to see it dyed!
    Happy Birthday Meagan!!! Sigh…they grow up too fast, don’t they?

  75. Love the random Monday posts. I may have to borrow that idea next Monday 🙂 Have a fabulous trip! Can’t wait to see what you and Tina have up your sleeves!
    And it looks like she’s willing to share her loom…have fun!

  76. Don’t worry… you can still trot out “As long as you live under my roof…”
    Unless she’s going away to school?
    It’s weird for me to contemplate your stage in life. I’m only 3 or 4 years younger than you, but my 3 (boys all) are only almost 9,5 and just turned 1. I can’t imagine what it will be like so far down the road. Of course… that could be just a coping mechanism… you know, just put your head down and keep trudging on. (Having 3 boys is well… not exactly easy)

  77. Oh please don’t dye that beautiful yarn.
    Its gorgeous and I love how you’ve gradiated it. In fact I am going to make a note of it so I can try my own attempt in the future….
    Its hot chocolate and whipped cream in yarn form!

  78. You can always use ‘Because I’m your mother’!
    Is explaining a loom in your suitcase easier or harder than explaining bolt cutters?

  79. Security people are rubbish and clueless, in the UK they wont let you take knitting on the plane even!
    Happy birthday to Megan!

  80. 1. Happy Birthday to Megan. And, she may be “legal” but you are still the boss of her. You changed her diapers, that makes you the boss.
    2. Oh the yarn is lovely as it is and the colors all coordinate.
    3. I have been buying Post-it notes like crazy because they are on sale. But believe me when I tell you, I have no need for more post its. I just can’t seem to help myself. School supplies are my downfall.

  81. Happy birthday, Megan!
    Do you get excited every time you have to buy office-supply type things like post-its? I have loved it since I was wee and got to buy back-to-school supplies. One of those little, albeit quirky, joys in life!

  82. Happy B-day, Meggers! I suspect, smart girl that you are, that you are privately pretty content with the mom you drew in life.
    Not to say she can’t be unreasonable but cut her some slack. She’s old. >:-)
    Love the yarn – leave it alone. It doesn’t want to be colored (it told me…) It’s clearly chocolate sundae yarn.

  83. As previously mentioned, you need the Luggage, as written by Sir Terry Pratchett. Not only will it hold all you could want, it will follow you around on hundreds of tiny feet, and defend you to the death.

  84. I just reread your woven scarf experiment. Because I now HAVE a loom, and that was what originally drew me to the idea of weaving. I think this newly spun yarn will make a fantastic shawl/scarf. And now I’m going to try to figure out how to warp my loom, without a resident weaving expert. Sigh. Have a great trip. After Meg says “you’re not the boss of me” – you can pull out the tried and true “while you’re living under my roof…..”.

  85. Congratulations on both daughter and yarn. Take no yarn-liberate some from Tina, because she has a bigger stash than anyone. Of course, if you don’t count sock yarn as stash, then there might be someone else eligible for the title. Amidst all the work, remember to have fun and enjoy each other’s company(I KNOW you’ll do that). Cheers and red wine, Hazel.

  86. You’re Megan’s mom. Ergo, you’ll always be the boss of her. That’s what I intend to tell my little guy, anyway. I’ll let you know if it works 30 years from now.

  87. Were I any level of code monkey at all I’d put into the action the brilliant idea implied in #1. A computer-generated packing list. Put in location, mode of travel, length of stay, type of dress and up comes the list. Of course, when it says “casual pants and matching t-shirt” you still have to pick it out. But how cool would that be? I wonder if it already exists somewhere?

  88. Happy Birthday to Megan! And to the person who forgot pajamas when she was packing…You’re not the only one. Went on a trip to Virginia Beach and totally forgot to pack pajamas. Ended up in a shirt shop buying an ‘I love Virginia Beach’ shirt to sleep in.

  89. Another reason to love the USA – I get to “be the boss of them” for a couple years longer! 🙂
    Happy Birthday, Megan.

  90. Yeah, you will always be the boss of her. If my mom comes to visit, she gets to boss me (some).
    Our oldest son just turned 19. I expected the going out to clubs n’ stuff, but the gambling on horses caught me off guard! (Please don’t lose all your school money, please?)
    Megan looks lovely. She’s a shining star.
    My friend has made a list of everything she has ever packed for a trip (sunscreen, batteries etc)
    and now just consults the list for packing. I did one for camping..it’s brilliant. No thinking.

  91. Happy Birthday, Megan! They who pay the bills make the rules…
    My son’s civic teacher handled out a great pamphlet called “Now That You Are Legal”, explaining the laws that now impact you and how it would affect you if broke them. While it was done a bit tongue-in-cheek, it made a serious point (he ended with “If you get in trouble, do not call your former teacher for legal advice. Get a lawyer.”)

  92. “Hey nineteen … no, we can’t dance together..” — Steely Dan
    But that’s only because I live so far away. Congratulations! — Dez
    P.S. — Tell yer Mum the socks and the gradient yarn are loverly. I love spinning gradient yarns.

  93. YOU SAID: “I’m packing. I hate packing. I wish you could just type the location and event you were going to into a computer on the side of your suitcase, and it would just walk around the house putting everything you would need in it. ”
    I laughed so hard I actually slid off the chair. Now, dusting myself off, here’s a serious tip. I have a friend who goes to a LOT of seminars as an instructor. She owns a special set of wrinkle resistant “travel clothing:” specifically, one skirt, one pair of pants, one jacket, three tops, and they all mix and match. When she returns from a trip she washes them and hangs them all together in an inexpensive suit bag in her closet; all she has to do is fold and drop them in the suitcase when it’s time to pack. She also has a travel set of bra, undies etc. in their own ziplock bag, which are laundered and returned to the suitcase when she arrives home. And a set of travel toiletries. She doesn’t have to run around at the last minute. It’s glorious system. All she has to pick out at the last minute are shoes and a few accessories, and whatever she wants to add that’s appropriate for the season she is travelling in. her current sock project, of course. Best of all, all of her basic stuff fits in one carry-on. Her knitting, sweater for winter weather, bathing suit for summer, and incidentals all fit in her purse/tote so she easily meets the carry-on limit.

  94. I still remember (mumble years later) that when I came downstairs to breakfast on the morning of my 18th birthday, my father looked up from his newspaper and said, “Happy Birthday — and, by the way, congratulations.” My kid brother naturally asked “What for?” and my father responded, “Well, among other things, she can now get married without her parents’ consent.” 😉

  95. To the airport goons: how about, “I am an internationally-known fiber artist. I knit, weave and spin. I’ve written books about knitting that have appeared on the NY Times Bestsellers List. This is a loom, I weave on it, and yes it is in my suitcase. Any more questions?” Big grin, batting eyelashes.
    To Megan: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
    On yarn: Gorgeous! I think a poll is in order, to determine whether it should be dyed or left au naturale.

  96. You are going to dye that beautiful tweed yarn??? And if you do…what color will you chose?
    Maria

  97. I cannot wait to see what happens with your lovely yarn. It is beyond my imagination. I was thinking a vest with darker color on the bottom. Do you have enough yarn? It certainly has to use it all up to look it’s best.
    (Loved the weaving last summer, so you could easily do that!)
    And here’s for a different opinion: I think we strive every day to raise our kids to be the boss of themselves. We have given them every value we have found valuable, we have let them learn as many lessons as painlessly as possible, we’ve listened and smiled and bit our tongues, we have made suggestions and hoped we were heard, but in the end they have to live their own lives, in their own world, and be their own boss.
    Happy age of majority, Megan.

  98. It’s ok, they changed driving rules in Canada. So she still can’t have any alcohol in her system and drive until 21.

  99. A belated happy birthday to Megan!
    Totally dye it. I would dye it purple, or possibly a deep cherry red. (What shade of purple doesn’t really matter with me as long as it’s purple.)

  100. Can you please tell us the dates of the next Sock Summit so I can tell my husband when I will be leaving him again for the city of my middle and high school career and the home of my mom?

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