I am really really glad you are coming.(sort of)
No seriously relieved, happy dancing in the barn, dyeing to see you. (sort of)

Oh, I know that feeling, nothing is like your own bed, there is nothing like getting up in the moddle of the night & being able to make it to the kitchen & back in the dark without banging into anything, girl you are homesick, you need a few weeks stuck in a house with teenagers (it's the only cure).

Steph, after 38 years of marriage, I am here to tell you I feel the same way when I leave my home and family. Traveling is great. Accomplishing an incredible feat like the Sock Summit is amazing. Being with a friend who understands the yin and yang of you is lovely. But.....there is something about sitting on your own couch with your two dogs at your feet, stitching up a storm while you watch the trees move with the wind in your yard. Home....there is really no place like it. I feel like I should give you red sparkly shoes to click together and you can go home when you like! I get it.

It may feel like this this time because you HAVE to go,to do more work on SS09,instead of just WANTING to go,to do nothing more than have fun and hang out with good friends.Who knows?Maybe the bad trumpet player will improve while you're gone.(sort of)

I just want to know what he thought you were going to *do* with banana?

Very bummed for your sake that you're traveling again. Hopefully after this next journey you get to stay home for a while? Sending you trouble-free traveling thoughts...

Stephanie your prose is lovely. And I guess it all just comes from having had a lovely time away (the pics were fab!)

Anyone who travels as much as you do, with as much going on at home deserves a longer break!

(but the summit does sound awesome, and I'd love to get there some day) (really! not sort of!)

<3

You know, you have been awfully busy lately. I can't believe how well you've handled barely being home before you have to head out again as often as you have done this past year.
It's not surprising, really, that you're craving home (for a rest....)

Did you try clicking your heels together three times and repeating "there's no place like home..."

oh well, it was worth a shot!
try to have fun anyway.

It's true there's nothing like a summer night in your own back yard with a cool beer and a little knitting. So, once again, we all really appreciate how much you and tina and everyone are doing to make this sock thang happen. Rest assured, your yard will be waiting patiently for your return.

What a lovely post. I hope that your journey is trouble free and happy.

Although I know that you will miss your home and your family, I know also that you will take them with you in your heart.

I like having my own bed too. And I especially like showering in my own shower.
Hope you have a good trip! And I hope the flight and airport parts occur with the least amount of drama. :)

I wish that you could stay home this time and have all of that work done for you. As much as 'getting away' sounds good--it's possible to have too much of a good thing. And maybe you're sort of hitting your limit. I hope that you have a good flight and that you are able to pass through airports with ease and near-invisibility.

A banana? Seriously? A banana? What did you do? I would have just eaten it and handed him the peel.

There's no place like home.

Dude probably just wanted to eat your banana.

The banana thing is hilarious.

Take a small comfort in knowing the laundry will be waiting for you when you get home...

Bless you Stephanie. Hang in there and things will slow down before you know it....

So no banana pudding for the trip, hmm?

There is simply no place like home, sometimes just nothing else will do. Have a lovely stay on the west coast and head for your lovely city and home soon.

Banana, a gel....???? You deserve a medal for keeping your cool. And that security officer needs to go back to elementary school..........

Hugs?

Oh, Steph, my heart goes out to you. Of course you are homesick after all the travelling you have done. Of course you want your own bed and your own pillow and your own garden as the twilight falls. I hope you can be home soon.

Makes me wonder about the banana actually. How mushy was it?

I think said security guard had forgotten his lunch that day and figured a new way to be the schoolyard bully and commandeer part of yours.

Would it help any if I told you how beautifully you wrote this?

That was a beautifully written essay on what you miss about. Now the Homeland Security guy needs to get a life! A banana! And I'll bet your knitting needles went through unscathed.

My dear Harlotta...it is sweet and touching and is not a bad thing to miss your home. It needs no rhyme or reason, it just is (homesickness).

We understand :-/.

Well, it's no wonder you feel that way! You just got back from a fabulous vacation, and one of the best parts of vacationing is realizing just how great it is to come home. Dorothy got that part right, and having to skip that segment is sort of like being slapped with a wet fish. Hope Portland can be fun for you, rather than too "worky".

A banana is a GEL? Too funny. :)

There's no place like home. And when you are away from it as much as you are...of course it is hard to leave again. Be safe. Don't let it get you down. Try to enjoy yourself. You'll be home soon.

I hope you have a great time! Are you going to be able to come home again before SS09? Missing your home and family has to be tough. I've always wished for a job with a lot of travelling, but it seems that it's not always all it's cracked up to be. Hang in there!

Okay.. now you've got to tell the banana story and how a banana can possibly qualify as a "gel" of any size?????

We so appreciate your traveling, what you do when you get there, your reports of your experiences and the way you write. Really, not sort of. Well put. Have a wonderful time and a wonderful sock event. I plan to knit socks in solidarity.

That ache in the heart can be bigger at times.... it's a strange thing but it makes you who you are.

Your homecoming will be that much sweeter.

You know what? You've just been away from home too much this year (so far). Can't you not be the harlot for a month or so - stay home, reacquaint yourself with the cat, your stash, Mr. Washie's replacement, the dishwasher that works, Joe's junk all over the dining room. It will feel good for a couple of weeks, and you'll emerge feeling like you might wanna get out of Toronto, just for the weekend...really.

I have nothing but complete and abject sympathy and understanding for this post, because I feel the exact same way every time I get on a plane to the States. It is so undignified and yet so necesary. And I hope you and Tina have a good week together. I think of you two often and have complete admiration and awe at the work you are doing. Never have I wanted to bring people baked goods on a daily basis, quite this much! I hope you have a steady stream of hugs at Sock Summit.

This is exactly how I feel about every business trip I have ever taken.

And even some 'vacations'.

I do love to travel, but I think I love the comforts of home and family just that much more.

There's no place like home! Don't get to travel much and haven't been on a plane in many years, but am away enough to appreciate being home.

That was eloquent and so beautifully poignant. (NOT sort of.)

Also may your time at work on the SSummit be fruitful, fulfilling, fun, fast, and...

don't forget to put 'Goddess(es) of the Knit' on the wall and your name badges.......

I'm a long time reader, but I don't think I've ever commented before. This post though, this one really spoke to me.

I moved to Japan two years ago and am preparing to move back to the States in less than a month. I too consider myself a good traveler, adaptable, ready to make a home just about anywhere with whatever is available. But now, as I look around my tiny Japanese apartment, the place that I have called home for 2 years, I know I will miss it and I wish I could take it all with me, even the crappy plastic dresser drawers.

You can be absolutely great at travel, enjoy it, and still burn out on it a little from time to time. Try to treat yourself a bit gently, even amid the madness of Sock Summit!

Very... true. Just so you know, I totally admire how much travel you do and how much crap you must have put up with from the airports. Seriously. I don't fly that often, and I'm glad I don't. Have a safe flight!

Oh.
There's no place like home.

Thank you for doing this for our Sock Summit. But I know there is no place like home. Sorry. At least Portland is a nice place, not sweltering, not rainy just not... hey I know have you ever considered moving? Just kidding Canada would never let you go.

Hugs.

I know the feeling. You haven't been home enough, lately. I hope you'll get some good at-home time between now and SS. It's going to be great fun for us; I hope it's not all work for you.

Thank you for doing it even when you don't want to. I know it's partly a way to pay the bills, but it's also because you love us. Sort of.

Apparently, pasteurized processed cheese product,in velveeta form, counts as a gel too. My friend had to argue with the airport workers over it. She wasn't about to let go of it because you can't find it anywhere in Sweden and she'd made a special trip to our American store on the base to get it. Luckily, she won.

Thank you for sharing the lovely pictures from the trip with us. I hope I get to cross that river in the tram someday.

Also, thank you for traveling, writing, and doing everything you do for the site.

I'm only guessing, but it seems like your periods being able to enjoy your garden and spring / summer are rather short in your neck of the woods. Maybe it is easier to leave when the weather is truly rubbish and you know you'll see a rose at your destination. But right now, your home is at its most glorious. Makes the tug to stay at home stronger. Or maybe, I'm full of bull.
Hope the trip goes well.

A friend of my sister once took a box of peaches(lovely sunny South African peaches) back home to the US with her. When she landed in the US the customs/security people would not allow her to take the peaches with her. She promptly sat doewn on the floor and ate the whole box of peaches then and there! I would've eaten the banana and given the peel to the security guy.

Isn't nice to know that as much as we may complain about our family and home occasionally (mountainous laundry, the drudgery of figuring out what's for dinner, getting groceries, mowing the lawn, shoveling in the winter etc.) that home is still our favorite place to be. I hear ya about the sweet peas, garden and all. I spent 30 minutes yesterday just sitting on the porch watching all the birds come to bird feeders. (Of course that was after mowing the lawn.) We have a feeder that is filled with black oil sunflower seeds and one for the hummingbirds. The hummingbirds are my favorites this time of year. They are so tiny, yet they're so beautiful and fierce all at the same time. We have a few birds that have been coming for a few years and it's so much fun to see them bring their babies to the feeder. Summer is so short up here, and this summer seems even shorter with all the rain, I can certainly understand why you want to stay home for just a bit, especially since you were just away for a few days. I bet it will get better once you get to Tina's and have a beer. Isn't it nice to know that you'll be able to go home after that and look at your garden again! Safe travels!

As with many others here this post really spoke to me when I read it this morning. I, too, always imagined myself to be the kinda gal that was up for all sorts of exciting travel at the drop of a hat. Well. I live in Ireland, so if we want to get pretty much ANYWHERE there is plane travel involved. And do you know what it is? It is so undignified. I think we were all fed this line that air travel was somehow glamorous at some point in our lives and the reality (especially these days) is so at odds with that that it's a shock to the system, every time. I never get used to it, and I fly to London every six weeks or so for work. It's also the one time when a weird kind of OCDness breaks out in me and I don't even want to breathe in the air on the plane, or touch anything. I'm normally happy living in a not-exactly-germ-free house, so I can only assume it's part of my horror of plane travel generally. Then there are the strange hotels ...

I have now accepted that I am a Home Bird. And remind myself that we humans were not really made for travelling vast distances in short spaces of time - I'm not sure if, evolutionary-wise, we have caught up with our clever airplane invention yet.

(Also, your post reminded me of a fabulous line from a song by lovely punk rockers Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine - 'You only get homesick when you get home'. Sometimes having a quick break at home from travels makes it worse when you have to turn around and pick up again.)

At least you will be in a (sort of) home from home with your friend Tina, and working on something you are passionate about. This Sock Summit sounds like it's going to be an incredible thing and I'm going to look closer at the Rav post to see if there's anything I can do in terms of a knit along to feel like I'm cheering you all on from here in Dublin.

And an Irish blessing for you as you travel - it's one of those ones that, no matter how many touristy tea towels it turns up on, still has meaning and isn't completely hokey!

(Maybe substitute 'sweet peas' for fields! I'm also not a believer, but this prayer always gets me, because it's about home and travel and love - and everyone needs some benediction now and again.)

Good luck!

Go n'eiri an bothar leat (May the road rise to meet you.)

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be ever at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rain fall softly on your fields, and until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

PS And you know this - but holding some squishy yarn and engaging in the soothingly repetitive act of knitting means you can bring a little piece of home with you wherever you go. Bring your favourite shawl with you and snuggle up in that damn airport!

I live in Iceland and we too can't go anywhere without an aeroplane (the ships aren't really an option any more)The Irish travel prayer is absolutely beautiful.

Dear heart, that was a very sweet, if melancholy post. Homesickness, I have felt it too, and sometimes I have been home while feeling it. Just knowing that I will be away (even just at work) can bring it on out of the blue.

Try to schedule yourself some extended home time when all of the SS09 madness is done with for this year.

I know the first Sock Summit is still yet to be,
but you know, maybe the next one (ssshhhh, shhhh,
it's okay) could be in Toronto?

I know what you mean - I love to travel, but I love coming home even more.
I wish I could go to SS09, and I know it's taking over your life through August, so maybe we can do Aurora in September this year. Hopefully you will have recovered by then...
that is, if you still have room in the schedule.

I fully understand and not sort of. And some days I feel like the main character in Anne Tyler's "Ladder of Years", and want to run away from it all....except the yarn, needles and a good book.

I had a similar incident with fruit and Homeland Security. I begrudgingly gave up my banana but fought for the apple which they obhected to because they didn't know it's country of origin. It's a MACINTOSH. We 'invented' them. Rather than make more of a fuss I sat on his desk and ate it!

steph, I don't travel nearly as much as you do but I know exactly how you feel.

I cross the border every day to go to my J.O.B. (just over broke). While the indignities that I endure on a daily basis are nothing compared to those at an airport, I do sympathize. Personal interpretations of Federal regulations can be quite.....er......interesting, eh?

There's nothing like home and home stuff to keep you grounded -- so much so that I am spending my vacation at home this year.

I wish you a fair wind and a following sea.

Wow, Steph, it sounds like you are really tired. I hope this trip will be more of everything (fun, productive, restorative) than you feel like it may be now. I've often wondered if living out of a suitcase gets old or not. I rather imagined it did. Portland is a fine city though (my daughter lives there)and a really beautiful place to visit. If you have a chance try to see the Rose Test Garden and Japanese Garden (it especially can rejuvenate one's soul). Here's hoping your travels will be wonderful! Cheers!!

Thank you for that lovely post. I'm prepping to head back to Norway to see the family (fly out Tuesday). I cannot wait, and am so excited it practically moves me to tears, but I'm sad too. I'm going with my Mum, but leaving dearest husband at home. It's just two weeks but I'm going to sorely miss him. I'm going to miss watching our house come along. When in the states I'm homesick for Norway, when in Norway I'm homesick for the states. But, I will have a wonderful time, as you will too. Hopefully you can spend more time home when you get back.
Safe trip; safe return.

It's okay - isn't it funny how we appreciate all of the little, ordinary things about our lives so much more when we have to be away from them. I know that I do not always value them when I am home for days at a time. The best thing is that they will be waiting for you when you get back.
Take care.

Maybe you could make it so next year everyone has to come to you. Toronto sounds lovely, and you're cool enough that I'm sure you'd be able to convince the knitters out there that they need to make the trip.

That is the beauty and pain of traveling. you get to see new places, meet new people, eat new food, feel different weather, deal with different traffic. But you also have to do all those new things. and sometimes all you want is your pillow, your food, your people, your weather. I love traveling, but I also love coming home.
R

Your home sounds like the kind of place I wouldn't want to leave either (sort of).

As many sites as you've seen, they just don't compare to the wonderful place that is home. I think you need a good two weeks at home dealing with the cat, the kids, the husband, the laundry, the cleaning, the work . . . counterbalanced by the sweet peas, the garden, the quiet and the friendship at your LYS.

I don't know how you do all the travel. I miss my home, my alpacas and my barn (yes, even my barn!) when I'm away for even one night. And I usually have my husband with me, so I don't have him to miss -- that just might be too much for home-body like me.

If you need good beer and don't already know about this, go to any McMennamin's. If you need good chocolate and don't already know about them, go to Moonstruck or Papa Haydn's. If you need good coffee, walk outside, look down the street and you'll probably see five coffee shops.

Steph, This is the same feeling, I am having about traveling via airplane/airports..I had the same adventure in Belfast Ireland...the were looking for scissors..detained me 35 minutes..no scissors..almost missed my flight..then all my belongs were dump im a basket.
Hang in there we are going to have the GREATEST SUMMIT ever..

Oh Steph, this post has spoken to me in ways indescribable. I, too, traveled a lot for work in the past two years and my most recent trip, and the days leading up to it, brought out all the same feelings for me.

There comes a time when I've been away Too Long. I want my home, my life, my friends, and the ability to decide that I want to just sit at home and .BE. Dinner is a boiled potato if I want, the 'fridge is there for the raiding and I can wear any piece of clothing I own.

I won't say "this, too, shall pass" because I don't know that it does. In the mean time, you're lucky to have goodness around you when you travel. My homesickness translates to productivity and coming home on time - I hope it works for you, too.

I'm so sorry you're feeling down about traveling. I don't travel much and think I would miss the little homey things after about a week. Distance makes the heart fonder, eh? Always thought that was a cruel saying.

But we'll take note of this post for the next time you fuss about arguing with the child about going to the village, how the sweat peas are taking over the joint and your pillow smells "funny" because you've pissed the cat off (so to speak).

I'm flying to Tulsa today then Portland on Monday. I have to say that Portland is my favorite Airport as Airports go, don't forget to take time to listen to the live music they have in the lobby. Houlton's Bakery rocks if you get a chance.....
La Hapy (in Portland) is a great Crepe place with vegan selections and good drinks........
27 days.........

Three random thoughts: 1) I'd rather have the cat piss me off than the cat piss on me. 2) The only place in the world where bananas qualify as a gel is on my kitchen table. 3) Apparently there's no place like Toronto in the summer, unless it's my own back yard.

Making progress on wearable art sock #1. Need more yarn for sock #2 because I decided to invert the colors. Silly me.

*sniff* What's that I smell? Could it be...burnout?

The whole SS09 team has my sympathy; I bet you guys are exhausted. Hopefully you won't be fed up with the whole affair by the time it arrives. Hopefully the team will have a chance to really enjoy the event since you all have worked so hard to make it happen. Hopefully the current time with the team will make you forget how heartily sick to death you are of working, working, working, all the time to put together a frickin' sock convention, for gawd's sake! Hopefully something about SS09 will piss you off enough this week that you will completely forget that you miss being mad at the cat. Nothing can make up for time away from your husband and kids, but hopefully the fact that we are all counting down the days, like kids waiting for Christmas, will give the team some sense of pride in a job done well thus far.

And if all my other hopes for you are dashed on the rocks. . . hopefully the team will be comforted by the fact that in 30 days it'll be over!

Repeat to self...Portland beer and Voodoo donuts

Not to say that Toronto doesn't have equally good foods...but we are looking for guilty pleasures (sort of).

And having a soul mate who enjoys what you do...that expands the pleasure!

Have fun, tina and steph...even if you do have to work on Sock Forum (sort of)!

I've just returned from a trip wherein I tried to bring a jar of homemade strawberry jam to my husband (we live in different states), and the TSA man said I couldn't take the jam, as the amount exceeded four ounces. I replied, "I didn't realize that jam is a liquid". He deferred to the "gel" category (gel is NOT one of the three states of matter recognized by physics and therefore totally up to interpretation, I am now realizing).

but a banana?!??

It wont be hot as hell here when you come (unlike last weekend) if you Tina, and Rachel find time, check out the Tugboat. It's in downtown Portland, just off Broadway, by Mary's (the big flashy/trashy strip bar) It's the oldest microbrew in Portland. Their beer is good, they dont care if you knit, and they have jazz music on the weekend. MashTun over on 21st and Alberta is good too. There is a tiny house of yarn across the street. Beer and yarn! Could you ask for more. We all appreciate all the work that is going into SS09.

Faced with the impending task of uprooting our home and moving to another city because of my husband's job, I deeply understand what you are saying. When we find a house and get moved and make it a home, I will be feeling much more myself instead of this worrisome, anxious person I have been the last two weeks.

Let's be real. That security guy was hungry. Pretty slimy way to get a snack, if you ask me...

Which airport is the banana thief in?

Haven't the convention center people heard of tele-conferencing?

Will you be able to fit in a jaunt to Sauvie Island to fetch farm fresh fruit and veggies? The marionberries should be showing up by now.

Travel and being away from home can be hard, but I feel most sorry for the trumpet player. Let's hope he or she doesn't read your blog and find out that you think they "sort of suck." That's the kind of comment a musician might have in their head for the rest of their lives!

Ohhh, those security people! One more story. Last month while we were traveling to Seattle, we'd already passed through regular security unscathed, when the wandering "wand" crew worked me over for chuckling at them "wanding" another totally innocent looking grandmotherly woman. I'd muttered to her out of the corner of my mouth, "You do look exceptionally suspicious." That's probably verbally assaulting an officer. I had the satisfaction of saying to them, "Welcome to the Fascist State." I'm probably on an FBI surveillance list now.

that is sort of sad and sweet at the same time, and I can totally relate. I want to watch my zuchinni grow, and the plums ripen, and dorothy said it best 'there is no place like home'.

You need to invest in some ruby slippers!

I just returned home from being gone too long, being home is the best.

Having traveled a lot for work, I totally sympathize. Now I know what it was that never felt quite right-I missed my Chessie thumping her tail in the morning to wake me up and DH snoring away (sort of) and all the little daily routines.

That being said-I'm sooo excited for Sock Summit. You guys have done an amazing job and I know it will be an awesome event. But, I will miss my Chessie and the DH (sort of).

Wait, I'm still back at your not caring where you eat ... so the total lack of vegetarian options in US airports is no longer a problem? Good to know.

Actually, I suspect this was a tactful post to allow me to feel good about being able to stay home, even though not getting to SS09. Today it works, and thanks. Come the event, however, I'm going to have some serious denial issues. It could get ugly. (Maybe if Rachel autographed the Clipboard of Power and gave it to me afterward? Maybe then?)

Oooh, I know that one well. I've changed my life somewhat to minimize travel, but time was I was on the road one week out of four, and I hated it. My refrain: "I miss my dogs, I miss my sweetie, I miss my stuff, I miss my big soft bed, and I WANNA GO HOME."

A friend who did too much traveling used to bring her pillowcase along, to put over the hotel pillowcase. Seems silly, but it helped maintain the connection between heart and home, and she slept much better when on the road.

I second the Marionberries and add Rainier cherries to the list.

You couldn't have picked a better weekend. Nice weather is in the forecast.

Hit the Rose Garden if you need a pick-me-up. The views and roses are beautiful and the smell is divine!

I have noticed that I get rather itchy to go travel if I've been home a long time. I like seeing new things, eating different foods than I can cook, feeling the sun in a different city. But I also know that there comes a point in every journey or series of journeys when that's enough and I'm done with the trip. Something inside me says "Go HOME now, girl!" From that point on all my thoughts are on getting back to where I started. It may take a week of driving and I can still enjoy the trip, but it's the going back instead of going out that makes the difference.

It sounds like you've heard the little voice telling you to go home. Just keep in mind that it won't be much longer before you will be able to heed that voice and go home and rest.

AWWWW. Poor Harlot. I'm far away from home right now too, at a voluntary summer school with kids from around the world. Even though it's exactly what I love, I miss my mom & family & dog tons and tons. And no one here knits... (that's probably because most other teenagers don't)

Stephanie- would some chocolate help? I live just down the road from Scappoose. Just let me know...Thank you for all you are doing to give us all an amazing experience at Sock Summit.

I am getting ready to move and already miss home, while I pack it up and prepare to sell it. I can feel your pain.

I think even the most inveterate travelers feel like that at least sometimes. I just got back from a week in California, visiting my DD & 3 grands (you have a photo of her & the youngest on the blog from when your were in Chicago a couple of years ago) - they are 4 of my most beloved folks (I have another DD & a SO [who was with me].) I have missed them ferociously since they moved the beginning of the year & hated to leave. But still. I was sooooo happy to be back in my own bed! "A trumpet player moved in down the street and he practices at night, and I want to sit in the heat and dark of the city at night and listen to his music waft down the street, even if he does sort of suck." That just epitomizes city summer living to me. When I was in my 20's, couples (usually more than one) would hang out in darkened rooms in the summer & listen to jazz while box fans whirred - trying to pull in some (slightly) cooler night air.

As half of a "travel for work" couple (the half that stays at home) I can say it's tough on everyone. For my part, I'm greatful (not "sort of" but rather "for the most part") that my traveling partner has meaningful work that supports the household but would rather have that traveller home (for the most part).

And my own pillow, on my own bed doesn't smell the same without my travelling half. I'm guessing Joe feels the same.

I'm also guessing the pillows will smell that much sweeter to you when you get home.

Have fun and safe travels

"There's no place like home." - Dorothy

(You'll be back before you know it. Take care of the ruby slippers.)

I get this... the home thing. I think in Canada the sweetness of home on a warm summer's evening is also especially vivid. Maybe because we get less of it. And the sun is shinging today.

[BTW, glad to see the Tricoteuses are now over the 600 K mark. Whoo hoo!]

Dorothy was right. I guess there's a reason that's one of my favorite movies.

I once took a 2-week vacation and didn't go anywhere. At all. I parked my car out front when I got home on Friday afternoon and didn't start it again until I drove to work after it was over. And the only time I walked outside of my house was to walk the dogs. It was one of the best vacations I've ever had.

I love home.

"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."

Enjoy your trip, and enjoy your homecoming.

POST-IT NOTES: I tried to get my daughter-in-law to run some out to the airport for you (she could have paged you to come back the security gate to pass them over) but, unfortunately, she cannot leave her clinic duties, as much as she would have loved to do this for you. She is in Van. and I am in Victoria --- see you at the Summit in a few short weeks......

vaya con dios. and returno con dios, in safety.

I am glad your home has been built up by your own hands to be a sanctuary for your soul.

ari

Now I'm all melancholy.

One of the (many) great delights of SS09 for me is that I get to go to that fantastic event, and NOT have to travel! I get to play with knitters and wool and take classes and probably buy way too much yarn and go home every night to my own bed and my own cats. Can't wait!

I am sitting here, a 15 minute drive from the YVR (Vancouver Airport) wishing you a good trip and a Happy (productive) time. I hope all your good karma catches up with you and you and Tina have ab-so-lute-ly no kurmudgeons to deal with At. All.

I have no idea how you travel so much, even with your explanation of your character. Travel flattens me. Being there is lovely, but the travel? not.

I am glad beer works. ; )

Reading your comments about super-controlling security personnel at the airport made me want to click on the "agree" button about a million times. Just make a list of absolute rules regarding what can and cannot be allowed through and stick to it, for crying out loud! Is it that difficult? Really?......sorry for the rant, hit a sore spot. ( Do you think I'm spending too much time on ravelry when my first instinct is to hit your "agree" button? Never mind. I think I know the answer to that one already. sigh)

You've been gone away so long! It's not a surprise you don't really want to leave. I'm cranky about leaving the house sometimes on the weekends from just the time away during the week.

Hopefully Portland will be beautiful and productive and you'll be back soon!

Is that security guy still alive? If so, you deserve to have him personally deliver to your door each day an enormous box of high-quality cashmere yarn. (In addition to, not instead of, an excellent medal.)

Once upon a time I traveled on business a fair amount, and I loved sitting in my hotel room at night knowing that I had no one but myself to deal with, nothing to clean, no laundry to do -- but not as much as I loved coming back home. There were two separate stretches of travel of about a year each. You've been at this gig for, what, almost five years? I'm not in the least surprised that you sort of want to stay home.

I can see why you'd want to be at home, but I can't complain that you are visiting my home state! This time, is your ticket in the approrpriate order? Silly homeland security rules. I can't believe the banana bit! Okay, I can, but seriously?

I remember reading on Boing Boing that some TSA staff claimed ice was a liquid.
The Boing Boing headline read "TSA changes laws of physics, declares ice to be liquid".
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/08/24/tsa_changes_laws_of_.html
Lisa R-R

Next Sock Summit - Toronto.

I want to be like you when I grow up. You DO deserve a medal. A banana?? I'm ashamed to admit that I cried when New Zealand security took away my brand new Addi Turbo circular knitting needle. But I sucked it up (sort of) the next year when the "head" flight attendant took my dpns away at 36,000 ft, AFTER I went through NZ security.

I digress. Travel is always exciting but going home is even better. It's great that you have all that to look forward to when you get home. Have fun in Portland.

Cheers, from Lynn currently in Ecuador, heading for home next week.

oops! I wrote the wrong URL. Should be http://knitsonice.blogspot.com

Hi Chick, you should try this without knitting. Welcome to flying in Australia.

I was just reading the Chicago Trib online & came across this article & video about a Canadian musician & the sad tale of what United did to his guitar at O'Hare. thought it might bring a wee smile to your face: http://tinyurl.com/mapqgu (I still think O'Hare is no where near as bad as SFO). And, for a more pleasant experience flying, I'd recommend Southwest if they go where you need to go. They are so much nicer than United or American (I seesaw as to which of those I hate more.) I think it's because they are unionized & treat the employees as valued members of a team. Anyway - they are very, very nice & friendly - we were actually offered beverages & snacks FOUR times ona roughly 4 hour trip from Chicago (Midway) to San Francisco.) As a bonus, Midway Airport is much nicer than O'Hare although it is freaky flying into it (because it's so small.)

I love to travel, but your comments about the homeiness of home really struck a chord. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

Hubby & I both hope you filed a complaint about the officious Homeland Security guy.

Enjoy your trip, and know that home is waiting for you.

A banana? Seriously? That should definitely be listed at the top of the "Stupid" list. What, pray tell, did he think you were going to do with the banana? I hope you told him what he could do with the banana. Cripes, there's no such thing as "common" sense. I need to walk away before I pop an artery. (stomps off to eat angrily eat a banana and stew over airline employee stupidity)
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/United-Breaks-Guitars-a-Smash-Hit-on-YouTube.html?yhp=1

Wait a minute, Rams didn't get into SS09??? Not even as a minor assistant yarn holder or something? Wow, you're a lady of some principle.

Rams, I'd suggest we organize some sort of Sock Slump '09 for the same time, have all sorts of activities, some contests, great prizes....but I can't come up with anything the least bit enviable and I suspect I'll just have to avoid large portions of the internet when people start reporting the fab time they're having there.

...if you hadn't included the part about the banana I'd still be sobbing into a tissue! If you kiss the doormat when you get home, just dont let the rest of the family see you...

Peaceful, fruitful, yarnful travels!

Thanks for hanging in there. It is a very wonderful thing that you already miss your home and all those in it. If you never did, that would be far sadder.

I always take my own pillow with me where ever I go. It gives me the comfort of home (sort of).

Just another BIG thank you for all you do... and do without...for the Sock Summit. Just think-this time next month it will all be over... and you and Tina will be celebrating!

btw I'm reading The Blog and sending this with my new Kindle! Fun toy!

Great writing, Stephanie, and I get it. I like HOME a LOT!

And I also think someone should organize a "Sock Slump 09"! Go for it, Maureen! What a great idea for those of us who can't make it to your sure-to-be Fabulous Sock Summit 09!

Off the topic, but so funny.

A highway patrolman pulled alongside a speeding car on the freeway. Glancing at the car, he could see that the woman behind the wheel was knitting.
Realizing that she didn't see his flashing lights or hear his siren, the trooper cranked down his window, turned on his bullhorn and yelled, "PULL OVER!"
"NO!" the woman yelled back. "IT'S A SCARF!"

This was listed as a lame joke in the column I read, but I laughed my head off.

I hate airports but love to fly. I find most of the new flight safety rules to be completely divorced from reality and is just a band-aid to appease the masses. I also wish they would stop whacking me with that stupid wand!

Stephanie,

Some time while you're in Portland we'd love for you to come see us at Acorns & Threads! We're a stitching shop, not yarn, but you have lots of fans there. I'm sure we could find something for you to knit!

Laurie D.

I want to know what your "wicked series of eccentricities" are!

May I do a suggestion: try to take your own pillow on your trips. Use a vacuumbag or something, to take the air out and make it as small as possible. And at night, feel it/smell it as if you were laying in your own bed!

I more than sort of agree! There really is no place like home--even if the house looks like crap and the laundry is neck deep, it's home. More than sort of. Totally.

mmm I just got home after a two-week trip, I was so homesick and it's so good to be back, even though I was on holiday!

Home - is a very good place.

(this said after only 3 days of being gone from home)

This is exactly the way I feel, have felt, for the past few years. Although I know that I need to travel occasionally, deep down I always really want to be at home.

Hope you have a lovely trip.

have you ever thought of writing a pattern for a chemo cap? As a mother of a young daughter who just finished treatment for a brain tumor I will tell you we struggled to find her hats during chemo. Winter hats are too hot, baseball caps area annoying and most patterns written miss the mark. The caps have to be machine washable/dryable. no fuzzy yarns nor embellishments,nor seams and preferably fit like a glove w/o lots of decrease rows.Kids live in these 24/7 so comfort is key, not cuteness, although both would be appreciated! Most hand knit hats are too loosely knit showing too much scalp as well.I have been trying oodles of patterns to find one so I can churn out some caps for disribution at Dana Faber, but to no avail.Any thoughts or ideas???