I spent all day yesterday making my way home from Sacramento where I had a most lovely time teaching and generally enjoying (however briefly) California. This was a really great surprise, since when I agreed to teach there, I can tell you that I quite honestly believed that Sacramento was somewhere in the Midwest. I can't tell you how stunned I was when I booked the flight and figured it out. Now, I know right about now a whole bunch of you are sitting there in front of your computer thinking about what a moron I am, after all - Sacramento isn't just in California, it's the capital of California and how could anyone not know that, but I beg of you to consider what you know of Canadian capitals or geography before you judge my knowledge of American ones. It's not like they teach your state capitals in our schools any more than they teach you ours. My knowledge is gleaned entirely from travel, reading and US sitcoms. Apparently this is a dodgy system. I'll spend a little more time with my atlas.
There were other shocks to the system... like this one. 
I can tell you that intellectually, I knew that oranges grew on trees, but emotionally? I was totally unprepared for them. I kept taking their pictures and only just managed not to confront random Californians by staggering up to them and saying "Dudes! There is FOOD growing on your city trees!' (I may not have managed not to look totally stunned about it to the knitters.) I also got a quick tour of the Capital from Beth (she's really nice) and looked for Arnold.
I didn't find him though. The rest of the weekend passed in a blur of teaching and in that queer paradox of teaching knitting, even though the only topic and priority was knitting, I didn't get a lot of it done. I did finish a pretty pair of socks that have been loitering on the needles for a week or two...
Spring Forward socks , beautiful Sophie's Toes yarn in "Antique". 
but overall, I only had plane knitting time, and as I related in the last post, the long flight to Denver on Friday resulted in nothing but the sad euthanasia of Frankenmitten. She was reborn however, as Daughter of Frankenmitten. (Thanks for that Tracy. Great name.) and got my time on the flight home. 
Daughter of Frankenmitten seen here in San Francisco Airport, shortly before I mis-juggled a coffee - splashed her slightly, and wore the rest of the cup magnificently down my right leg all the way to Toronto. (Why yes, I am an extraordinarily graceful person. Why do you ask?) An updated picture of her shortly, as she's recovering from a bit of a bath and wash up. While I wait for her to dry off, I should be spinning, on account of it's Tuesday, but since I missed Monday in an airport, I'm making today an honourary Monday/Tuesday, and I'm swatching the yarn I spun last week to make sure that it's going to work before I spin more. There's a story behind why I suspect that it won't, but I'll tell you tomorrow.
There's only so dim I'm willing to risk looking in one day, and I've already got the Sacramento thing working against me today.
Love the new mit! Can't wait to see how it turns out.
Posted by: DeeW at September 22, 2009 12:43 PMLove the socks!
Posted by: Terri B at September 22, 2009 12:45 PMI don't know...I'm thinking the cuff is too short...
Posted by: KiminAK at September 22, 2009 12:45 PMok the coffee thing - so something I would do .....
you interested in Sending a Knitter to Antarctica? - this is a friend of mine who is trying to win a contest to go to there - it actually is Send a Blogger to Antarctica - but hey let's make it send a Knitter - she even has a contest where she will knit a pair of socks for someone who votes and places a comment on her blog and is picked I am sure by the random number generator thingy
the contest ends 9/30 and there is a guy from Portugal who is out in front - but his blog wouldn't be half as fun as Eva's -- honestly - plus there would be knitting in Eva's blog
so here is the link - hope I didn't make a boo-boo posting this in comments but look what you did for Doctors without Borders - you could help send a Knitter to Antarctica
http://www.blogyourwaytoantarctica.com/blogs/view/632
I cannot get over how beautiful that mitten is!
Don't get too worked up about not knowing that Sacramento was the capitol of CA. Many (most?) Americans wouldn't know that either!!
Posted by: Marji at September 22, 2009 12:47 PMAm so loving the spring forward socks, with the slightest kiss of green in the yarn. Daughters frequently bring out the best of the parents, so I have high hopes for the mitten now.
Christenned with coffee in an airport, could there be any better signs of success!
Posted by: JanieB at September 22, 2009 12:48 PMLove Franken's new daughter, The socks are just wonderful, someday I will take a sock knitting class. You do seem to have problems with coffee in airports though. Well, I can't honestly say that I remember all the state capitals, fourth grade was a looong time ago.
Posted by: Jane George at September 22, 2009 12:49 PMI love the Spring Forward socks. Aren't they a ball? I think that was the first real sock pattern I did and they were amazingly simple for something that looked so lovely.
I love the Daughter of Frankenmitten! It's lovely! Glad you had a good trip. :)
Posted by: Katie at September 22, 2009 12:51 PMI love the mitt, but I loved the other too. I would have worn it mistakes and all but I understand the perfectionism it just hits me other places. I completely understand the Sacramento thing the majority of Americans would tell you LA was the capital of California.
Posted by: Heather at September 22, 2009 12:52 PMI had no idea that Sacramento was the capital of CA until spouse traveled there for a conference a couple years ago. Like you I think I had vague ideas that it was in Kansas or Oklahoma. I am both from the U.S. and have several higher ed degrees, and they let me teach other people important stuff. No doubt this indicates bad things about both my personal lack of geographic knowledge and about the U.S. education system.
Lest you believe that it's just CA geography that is mystifying, as a grade schooler, I somehow got it into my head that Toronto was the capital of Washington state. I lived in Wisconsin, so both locations seemed quite remote.
(Re: Knitting - Daughter of Frankenmitten is even prettier than original FM, though I admit that when I read your last post I felt that if FM was mine I would have been quite gleeful at how lovely it was turning out.)
Love your Spring Forward socks. I started a pair of them last yer but the yarn was too busy for the pattern and I am still haven't found the perfect match.
DoF is gorgeous!
Posted by: Karen at September 22, 2009 12:58 PMI hate lace socks. Except for those. WANT.
DOF looks lovely. She vaguely suggests flowers, pine trees, and dragons. Very Scandinavian.
Posted by: Lucia at September 22, 2009 12:58 PMoh no! coffee mitten!
when i was in kindergarten, we learned a song that helped me memorize the states in alphabetical order. google 50 nifty united states.
I'd also recommend
this
to learn the states and capitals and for we americans, to learn the provinces.
I had the same experience when I saw orange trees in Florida. Wow!! Oranges on trees!!
Posted by: Jennifer at September 22, 2009 1:01 PMOranges on trees blow me away every time. I was taking pictures of Tuscon's city trees on my honeymoon.
Very nice mitten and socks, BTW.
Posted by: Shelly at September 22, 2009 1:08 PMI absolutely LOVE those socks! And the colorway!
And now, I am inspired to go and learn some Canadian geography.
Posted by: Kim in VA at September 22, 2009 1:09 PMOddly enough, we did have to learn the province capitals of Canada in the sixth grade. Of course, this was Ohio in 1965, but we did learn them. We learned US capitals the year before. Neither has been a marketable job skill, nor has it made me taller, thinner, or knit faster. I did, however, complete both the fifth and sixth grades, which would have been out of the question without learning them, so I suppose it was worth something.
Posted by: leslie at September 22, 2009 1:11 PMLove Frankie Jr! I knew you'd pass through the stages of grief (denial, anger, frogging, acceptance, and casting on) in record time. Love the socks too.
Posted by: Violet at September 22, 2009 1:13 PMThe petite daughter is so much more attractive than her mother, and yet there's still a remarkable resemblance. You could wear them when you next pick oranges on Sacramento's busy streets.
Posted by: Wool Free and Lovin' Knit at September 22, 2009 1:15 PMI want those socks. I'd also like some of the time-warp that your computer or blog seems to have...it's posted as Friday September 18th. I could use another weekend on a Tuesday.
Posted by: Jaquie at September 22, 2009 1:17 PMYah, I learned the provinces in seventh grade (a friend and I made up the mnomic "Three new B.C. princes sassed a man, Al, on Quebec." But I've heard rumors that you've dinked with them since 1964, and I deeply resent it.
I'll forgive you,though, for reminding me how much I love Spring Forward, a notable addition to my Lazy, Vain Woman's Anthology of Patters Which Look Much Harder Than They Really Are.
Posted by: rams at September 22, 2009 1:18 PMDon't feel badly about the capital thing -- how many Americans could name all of Canada's provinces and capitals? Come to think of it, how many Americans not in grade school could name all the US state capitals? And you don't even want to know what I thought the "Commemoration of the Great Upheaval" was all about, until I checked in on Wikipedia. Mis-locating a capital is a trifle!
Posted by: Erica at September 22, 2009 1:20 PMLove the socks and new mitten with its name. Is your blog in some type of time warp?? Your post indicates it is Friday evening???
Posted by: LorieH at September 22, 2009 1:20 PM