Owen Sound is where?

Owen Sound is where I spend the weekend, signing books and celebrating knitters at “Knitterday” at The Ginger Press.

(I also spent much of the weekend obsessing about having said “arse” during the Knitcast Interview with Marie. I did. There’s just no controlling myself. You can hear it for yourself, on the off chance that you wonder what I sound like. There’s a spot or two on the podcast where I sound quite odd to myself, due mostly to a weird echo I could hear while Marie was recording. It turns out that the only thing that can shut me up is…well. Me.)

Sally

Beside me in the picture is Ted. Ted is worth mentioning because he is knitting a lace shawl from his own handspun. The handspun is so fine that I feel like a serious slacker just sitting near it. (Psst…Sally in California? I’m signing your book in that picture. Say thank you to Vicki.) If you’re still looking for a signed book and are convinced I’n not coming near you… The Ginger Press has a few and is happy to do mail order.

Sound

The sock enjoyed the view, Owen Sound sits (not surprisingly) in a Sound that looks onto Georgian Bay in Ontario, (Map here, for the curious.) and really couldn’t be a prettier spot.

Owen Sound has tons of Waterfalls and the sock felt that it would be remiss if it didn’t see local colour. There were warning signs, but luckily…

Nopersons

They said nothing about socks.

Swing

The sock was swung leapt to a brilliant vantage point to see Inglis Falls. (Really, the best part about this was that there were two guys walking the Bruce Trail behind me as Emma and I tried to get the sock to a photogenic spot. They were trying not to stare, but really….two women swinging a half knit sock around a cliff edge while photographing the entire thing with an air of seriousness? I would have liked to hear them try to explain what they had seen back at home.)

Falls

Once we had already established our insanity, there was no reason to hold anything back, so the sock went rock climbing.

Climbing

From the perspective of a textile worker, one of the most interesting things about Owen Sound is this Black History Cairn.

Cairn

Owen Sound was the last stop on the Underground Railroad, and the cairn symbolizes much about the trip from the States to Canada and freedom. The ground of the cairn is tiles made by a local artist, each representing part of the Quilt Code. Slaves could not read or write (it was illegal to teach them) so instructions and information about escape needed to be passed on in other ways. The quilts could be hung out to “air” thus providing a signpost for travellers.

A “Log cabin” square could indicate a safe house, or “Wagon Wheel” could indicate that a wagon with hidden compartments for slaves to hide in would be leaving soon. Extremely interesting.

Free

The sock was gripped. Owen Sound also has a neat Mini-Mill…more about that (and, er…the yarn they sell) tomorrow.