The trip to Montréal was a smashing success and I'm not just saying that because I got my kid back and I finished a pair of socks, although both are true. Besides that, I spent a lovely time with my husband, just the two of us, and we actually had some of those... er, what do you call them? Damn its been so long. What's that word? Oh right. CONVERSATIONS. I had some conversations with my husband. We've both been working so much lately that our communications had sort of been reduced to the essentials. We talk about bread, money, toilet paper (and the lack thereof) and the girls. We ask each other to do things (go to the bank, water the garden, pay a bill, find the cat) but we haven't had a ton of time for just enjoying each other and talking about ... well. Whatever we wanted. We saw some wonderful things, walked a million km, went to La basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal - 
Walked by the river...watched the locks work,
We drank wine in vieux Montréal and stayed in a hotel. 
We had a wonderful mini-holiday, and I even remembered a lot of the stuff I really like about Joe. (Not that I'd forgotten, I just hadn't really had time to keep it in mind.) It was grand, but I suspect you care more about Megan and the socks, so -
Megan and team knit rolled into Montréal on Friday afternoon, all three hundred riders pouring up the street with a police escort, no less. 
Unlike last year, when it really seemed like they were all so stunned at what they'd done, this year they were absolutely celebratory. Joe and I have always thought that doing hard things really changes kids, really gives them confidence to try to be exceptional people, and this year you could see it on them. Ken was about the same (he was exceptional to begin with) but Pato and Meg were absolutely more confident and grown up than last year. (Again, Ken's already a grownup. Not that we don't think he gets better every year, because he really does.)
There was legal beer drinking (Pato and Megan won't be of age in Ontario for a few more weeks, but they're of age in Quebec) 
There was hugging: 
There was hoisting bikes and metaphoric chest beating. 
Julie was too tired to hoist her bike by herself. Joe helped her. 
Pato showed off his wicked tan lines-
and Joe and I laughed and laughed, not just because these people are really, really fine people and it does the world good to know that there are 300 people willing to look out for their fellow human this way, but also that we know three of them so well- and that means we're having a pretty good life, you know? We're proud to death of the lot of them, Pato and Meg for being so young and so brave and decent, and Ken for enabling them to find this out about themselves and ride with them all the way. Pretty outstanding.
Also outstanding is the extra pair of socks completed this month - though as pretty as they are they don't hold a candle to Team Knit. 
These are Flabella, the January RSC pattern designed by Christina Bain - in the actual yarn that came with the club. (I know. It's stunning that I totally went along with the whole thing.) 
The colour is "Happy go Lucky" and I don't think the pattern or yarn is for sale until this coming January. (Exclusive sock club thing.) 
While I'm usually pretty fiercely anti-bobble, these ones are somehow charming.
Charming bobbles. Who knew?