July 25, 2006

Rapid Fire from Chicago

(I'm actually already in Oklahoma, but there was a shortage of internet at the airport to post this. Just pretend.)

I love Chicago. I decided this sometime yesterday (I only got 17 hours in the city, so I had to make up my mind fast. Luckily, in a city this neat, it only takes about 10 minutes.

1. This is how much sock you can knit waiting in lines, (customs, security) and in taxicabs going from Toronto to Chicago.

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2. This is exactly how long the flight is.

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Adamas shawl by the really brilliant Miriam Felton. (She did Icarus too. I'm loving her stuff.) in KnitPicks Shadow. Colour is "Campfire".

3. The combination of heat (which I'm used to) humidity (which I'm used to) and WIND (the confouding variable) was enough to completely put my hair over the edge while I was here. My apologies to anyone I knocked down while turning my head.

4. I don't know what this is...

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But I LOVE IT.

5. That thing is in Millenium Park, which is a brand spanking new bit of spectacular in Chicago. There's also this fountain to play in.

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The faces blink and look at you and they are wonderful and creepy. There's a man and a woman facing each other. (I think this one is Sylvester Stallone. I have no proof.)

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6. I ran from there and met some of the funniest, cleverest knitters in a long time. Here's what it looked like to be me.

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(Well, it's sort of what it looked like to be me. These knitters were way less blurry in person.)

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7. This is Paula . She cracked me up, by telling me the best knitter story of all time, which she has graciously allowed me to share with you.

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In a shining display of knitterly priorities, displaying a dedication and love for the fine game of knitting that eludes that of most of us....Paula told me that some time ago when she ran short of money for yarn, (brace yourself) she went off her birth control (and opted out of activities that would require same) to supplement her yarn budget.

8. Yo! Erin!

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(Thanks for the chicken. She's still cracking me up.)

9. Meet Laura.

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Laura reduced me to a hopeless fit of giggles (I was a little punchy by then) during a conversation about Argyle socks. The lady in line ahead of her was showing me some really beautiful ones, and I inquired about whether or not she had seen Julia's fabulous Argyle chart with the scull and crossbones on them. I quipped "They are pirate argyles" and without missing a beat Laura said (with an absolutely perfect imitation of a pirate) "That's Arrrrr-gyles."

This amused me so much that I called Julia long distance to tell her the joke, cracking up so hard I could scarcely speak. ("Julia....Arrr-gyles! Get it? Get it! Arrrr....") only to be met with stunned chortling on her end. Turns out that it's what she named the pattern. Still funny. (Arrr...me mateys. I be knitting those on talk like a pirate day.)

10. Proving that serendipity really works, and good things come to those who wait all in one go...

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Lorinda turned up bearing a gift from her and Susie Grogan. I have, for about 4 years now, been stalking the perfect yarn to knit the Peacock Feathers shawl in. It's one of the only yarns I truly hunt as I journey over the world. I've been unsuccessful thus far, despite numerous expensive attempts, and there is much "almost peacock" in the stash. Stuff I thought was peacock that turned out not to match the idea I had in my mind. Enter Lorinda and Suzie, and the perfect peacock. It is, in personcompletely iridescent.

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The photo in no way even begins to do it justice. It glows and is far more subtle than it looks here.

Dudes. Thank you so very, very much.

11. Finally...I got to have a drink with my Chicago buddy Franklin,

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who (even though the poor little baby was fresh back from Meg Swanson's Knitting Camp. Lucky dog.) managed to stagger his first sock knitting self over to the hotel. We had a lovely time. Lovely. Franklin's one of those people who isn't as good in person as he seems on his blog. He's better.

I'm in Oklahoma City now, getting ready to do tonight's event, which is promising to be a smashing do.
See you there.
(PS. Oklahoma City is really flat. Big sky. Very beautiful.)
(PS again...Amanda and Megan...good luck on your exams. Study hard.)

Posted by Stephanie at July 25, 2006 8:39 AM