What I know.

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Everywhere I go I learn some interesting things. I know that the Mississippi River is at it’s widest in Memphis, that Washington DC has the 2nd tallest escalator in the world, that the bookshop in Mount Vernon has an Opera House (where they never did Operas) on the top floor. I know that New York is glittering and that in Jamaica Plain in Boston “Riverside Drive” goes, most confusingly…by a lake. I know that Rhode Island isn’t an island, but that (astonishingly) Nantucket is. I know now that the South starts in the middle and that Florida (despite being as South as you can go,) is inexplicably not in “the South”. The “Mid-West” goes pretty far into the east, and the only state that you can say “Upstate” in is New York. (I learned this after very cleverly -with the help of my atlas- working out that I was in the top part of Tennessee. I remarked to a fellow traveller that this must be “Upstate Tennessee”. It wasn’t.)

Atlas

I have remarked several times now that (not that I would ever dream of pressuring you) it would be much easier for travellers if you would contemplate dividing your country into geographic regions based on geography, rather than attitude.

It makes the atlas more useful. Note that I have a “stand-in” sock for this shot. In order to make The Sock last for an entire trip I’ve had to stagger it with other socks in progress so it doesn’t get knit up to soon. It’s all about pacing. This one is at the toe.

Here in Massachusetts there is much to learn. The sock and I were astonished to learn that Amherst is the birthplace of the Dewey Decimal System. (I can’t be the only one who thinks that’s seriously impressive…right?) and the sock visited Emily Dickinson’s house.

Emily's-Hous

The sock is reclining on a sign that bans several activities, but inexplicably says nothing about posing a sock atop it.

The sock then trouped it’s wee arse over to Willow Books. Here is what I saw.

Acton1-1

Did I miss anybody? (Here’s the other side)

Acton2-1

I remain astonished. Completely astonished. No, wait…astonished and grateful.

I had a beer with the local lovelies afterwards.

Locals

Check in with Yarn Harpy for the full biz.

From Amherst I was driven (thanks Kelly) to the waiting bosom of Kaleidoscope yarns and the warmth and loving concern of The St. Albans Sheep and Wool Festival. Never heard of it? Stay tuned.

90 thoughts on “What I know.”

  1. I love the geography bit! When I first moved from Illinois to Pennsylvania (the western bit), I was excited to be moving to “the East.” I was roundly corrected by people who had moved here from New York. According to them, I was still in “the mid-West.” Perhaps it is an evil plot to scramble the brains of Canadians? 😉

  2. Multiple socks? How very Harloty.
    I took my sock in progress with me when I went to the UK – not a stitch was done! The poor sock had to pine away whilst I walked around Soho, attended a “footie” and “flew” the Eye. I didn’t even bother to unpack it when I went to Paris – I don’t think it would have survived being ignored while I went to the Eiffel Tower or rode on tour buses.
    It got its revenge tho – when I got home I found a tangled mess in the suitcase.

  3. You and the sock probably have a better grasp of American geography than most Americans do.
    I can’t wait until you come visit us out west!

  4. Speaking as a Californian, I think the “Midwest” should be called the “Midmid”. Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, Arizona, and New Mexico should be called the Midwest. (I developed this theory when I was about 7.)
    Harlot, dear, some of us are still dying to know what you bought at Maryland Sheep & Wool.

  5. I need an atlas to find Tennessee but what do I know, I’ve lived in what some call Northern California for all my life. Despite that this Northern bit starts somewhere… I have no idea where the Central part stops and Northern part starts. San Francisco is somehow Northern despite being quite far from Oregon (the state on top of California). We call Northern and Southern, confusingly enough, No. Cal and So. Cal. What happened to Central, I don’t know. CenCal sounds like a diet pill. No. Cal like a cough medicine and So. Cal like an enrichment milk or video game.

  6. You forgot that Maine (as far north as you can go)is Down East, especially the farther north you go.

  7. Wheras my Chicago-born colleague is amused that in Michigan “Up North” is considered an actual answer to “Where are you going on vacation?” (There are polo shirts with a discreet, embroidered “Up North” on the breast.) But then, this is a state where people indicate their hometown by pointing to the palm of their right hand.

  8. Oh how I wish you could have come out to Nantucket! It’s a beautiful time of year out here! Perhaps on your next book tour! We have a lovely shop called Sheep to Shore….great yarns and wool and wonderful people.
    Safe trip!
    mj in nantucket

  9. But harlot dear, if we divided the country by geography and not attitude, sure you’d know how to get somewhere, but you wouldn’t know how to *be* when you got there.

  10. Safe travels, Dear! You’re making me miss my old yarn stomping grounds in VT. If it can, the sock should swing by the Ben and Jerry’s factory for some free samples in Waterbury. Sniff! Can’t wait to read about it!

  11. oh, you’re going to hate this – South Carolina uses the term “upstate”. Meaning the northwest section, naturally, not really the top half of the state! Wish you were coming here, but I’m beginning to believe I’m the only person in the state who knits . . .

  13. As a native Floridian…we are southerners. Everyone that has moved here isn’t but the natives, especially those of us that are pre-disney, actually do have southern graces , southern accents, southern heritage and southern values. We’re southerners through and through! The nation knows Florida only by its tourist attractions and Miami. The rest of the state is full of farmlands, farmers, etc. If you get very far off any inner state you’ll swear your in the heart of the bible belt in less then 5 miles!
    Sorry…had to speak up for us disenfranchised southerners!

  14. And the Vermont boyfriend of my 20s referred to any part of Vermont south of St. Johnsbury [which is pretty durned far north] as “downstate.”

  15. Now you know you have another sock in tow..heheheh pun intended! I like the stand in sock! It looks happy!
    It is unfortunate that the country is still divided by attitude. But old wounds never seem to heal.. give us another 100 years or so and perhaps we will come around by then.
    And oh yes.. I had the unfortunate opportunity to be on that escalator in DC when it broke down! What a hoot that was!
    Will the sock sock sock be all yours or are you donating it to TSF?
    Enjoy your last days before returning to your fist love.. Mr. Washie!!

  16. As Theresa mentioned, we have an “Upstate” in South Carolina, although I’m not sure those yankees in New York will admit that. 🙂

  17. It was so great to meet you! I blogged your visit as well (though be forewarned that there’s no other knitting content in my blog).

  19. [Michele — your blog won’t let me post the following comment:]
    Michele — Great photo — and good quotations! Nice to hear the extemporaneous stuff (coffee/maps.) Good reporting!
    But quick, quick — go back and change the text to “BACON Powder Story” — the correct spelling gives away the punch line! — Susan Ramsey (rams)

  20. A book I recommend for you, on geography and areas and attitudes – _The Nine Nations of North America_, by Joel Garreau. See if your library can get it. I think you’d find it fascinating. It’s getting a bit out of date, but the essentials carry across just fine.

  21. Here, here to what Kris says. (Ha ha! We Floridians know all about being disenfranchised. No?)
    Florida is still in the South, oh say, until about Jupiter. Further south than that, and most people are transplants, and mostly from the North.
    Even in Miami, the older natives are still very Southern. Miami, back in the really old days, used to be plantation country for sugar and oranges. It wasn’t until after the turn of the century that Miami was truly a tourist mecca and became all citified. That was when the railroad was built (thanks Henry Flagler).
    I’m a native Miamian, and definitely a Southerner.
    W. 🙂

  22. Just to confuse things a bit more, in JP the Riverway does indeed follow the meandering path of the Muddy River. And those large bodies of water? They’re ponds. Jamaica Pond and Leverett Pond. (Shhh, and there’s a Secret Pond between the two in the woods that all the doggies love to swim in. Please don’t tell the Park Rangers.)
    Enjoy your travels. When you’re done you’ll have to fill out the visited states map at http://www.world66.com/myworld66/visitedStates.

  23. I used to live in South Carolina, but I lived in the “Low Country”. I am a native Michigander and am fortunate to live there once again (so sad I couldn’t make it to K’zoo!)and yes, I too vacation in the UP!

  24. Argh and I missed you in Acton. I am so sad. However, I missed because I picked up my new bike which I ride along the Riverway in Boston on my way to work. I’m sure you’re glad to be headed home soon. Happy Trails!

  25. And I thought I was the only one that “toured” my socks. In Chatanooga, Tennessee, I knit on the old-time railroad car as we road the few miles of its tracks. DH took pics to prove it.
    I’m truely enjoying your traveloge. So pleased at your “triumphal tour” – well deserved!

  26. Glad you are learning about the US! Terribly confusing though, isn’t it? I only know my region, and that’s a lifetime’s worth.
    I used to live in Middle Tennessee, west of Nashville about 30 miles. There is no Upstate Tennessee because it is so long and squished as a state. There is west, eastern and middle. You can drive top to bottom in no time, but going east to west will take you forever!
    Theresa- I was born and raised in Greenville, so I was going to mention Upstate as well!

  27. Wonderful, wonderful evening in Acton! I’m originally from Virginia (and, btw, in Virginia, we *do* consider Floridians to be Southerners).The story about the “bakin’ powder” in the biscuits made me (a) laugh and (b) nostalgic for really good biscuits! Please come back to the Boston area again–we love having you here.
    I have to know, though–what’s the one question you ask Canadians to prove that they’re really Canadian? And may I have the honor of dubbing you an honorary New Englander in my blog? We would be proud to call you one of us, even if you’re only on loan.

  28. TX has neither and upstate nor a downstate but we do have a Panhandle and a Hill Country – yes, “country” and not “county”.

  29. You seem to have a firmer grasp on the geography of the US than many who have spent their entire lives here. It’s pretty sad, actually, but geography is one of the subjects that’s given short shrift in schools (especially world geography, but then again, we are woefully undereducated about most things pertaining to countries other than our own). Sorry, didn’t mean to go off on a rant.
    BTW, how was your daughter’s performance? Did that happen yet?

  30. Here in Minnesota (where you’re not coming… sniff), we have the Twin Cities, and we have Outstate Minnesota, or Greater Minnesota. Both mean any part of the state that is not the 2 largish cities attached at the hip in the southeast-middle of the state.
    And, we go “up north” for vacations too 🙂

  31. Ah, the perils and illogical nature of US geography. Not to worry, the complete randomness of it has caused many a grade school child (or maybe parent) to wonder at the quirkiness of our fine country. Thanks for putting up with us. Glad you (and the sock) are having a lovely time.

  32. I positively SNORTED at the sign saying nothing about having a sock posed atop it. You are PRICELESS.
    And, the bitch of the NY “upstate” thing, is that, the majority of the state is referred to as “upstate”! You were in Saratoga Springs…hellooo! Look at how much WHITE space is ABOVE where you were and how much was actually BELOW.
    Pisses me off. I’m from Potsdam, NY. (Find Albany. GO 4 hrs north.) Our pediatrician was in Cornwall, Ontario (yes, Canada). We used to drive the “gruelling” 17 minutes to cross the border for Chinese food. For a lark we’d ride our bikes to the St. Lawrence River…for the love of god…wanna talk about UPSTATE!?!
    Ahem. Not yelling at YOU, of course (multi-socking Harlot that you are), just the system.;-)

  34. HA! I love the whole idea of Americans navigating by attitude rather than geography! It is so true, guilty as charged. And Rams, up-north to me is Traverse City…I know, that’s sad. If you don’t where that is Steph, look at the palm of your right hand, and T.C. is somewhere around the top of your ring finger…;-)

  35. Teresa is indulging in the colorful exaggeration and tall-tales-telling for which midwesterners are so widely celebrated. Not. Traverse City is actually almost exactly at the crotch between your ring and little finger (whence a vestigal sixth finger emerges, Old Mission Peninsula.) Sigh. Traverse City. I do wonder, though, where =they= go for vacation?

  36. Theresa – I’m a knitter in South Carolina too! In the lowcountry. Well, not for much longer. We’re only here ’cause my hubby’s in the military.

  37. I once asked where was Upstate NY, thinking it is just the northern part (Buffalo – Syracuse). It is not it is “Everything north of New York City”. So Upstate NY is everything but NYC. Mind you when I was in Winnipeg, I said I was from SW Ontario and they thought I meant the part of the province close to Manitoba. I guess everything is relative, since looking on a map the SE corner of Manitoba is next to Ontario, and south of there is Minnesota (correct?) but Southwestern Ontario is nowhere near that area.
    Did you find your peacock laceweight?

  38. I love that the Dewey Decimal System was created in Amherst. My aunt’s a librarian, and one of my friends here in CA is working towards a degree in library science. And get this – the friend got her undergraduate degree in Amherst. In computer science, but clearly it was fate that she eventually end up a librarian.
    Also, I think of Florida as being in the South. And I’m pretty sure my friends who grew up there or live there now agree with me.

  39. Birthplace of the Dewey Decimal System is way impressive–I love that kind of stuff.
    New(ish) knitter, even newer to blogland. Love your knitting and blogging. Please come to Princeton New Jersey–we are always passed through as people move from New York to Pennsylvania. Honestly, if you get off the Turnpike, much of the state looks and smells way better. Plus, we have some of the nicest LYS in the country–three excellent ones Glenmarle Woolworks (my favorite…yummy yarns), Wooly Lamb, and Pins & Needles–all within 10 miles of one another. Lots of knitters would love to meet the sock.
    A sock comes everywhere with me. She’s actively avoiding doing any real work today and angry that we are not outside soaking up some sunshine. When she is completed and on my feet, a brother will begin and will probably get to go to Paris with me. Poor girl is angry–furthest she went was to Cleveland.

  40. Rams is *ahem* correct on where Traverse actually is (I do indulge in tall tales from time to time). My husband, who grew up in Traverse, points to the top of his pinky(?) when stating where he is from. I think it is my large palms and short fingers that make my “map” way off scale. Oh, and my T.C. in-laws vacation down South: Lansing.

  41. New York has an Upstate, but no downstate (that would just be NYC). And as far as I know (being a Chicagoan), Illinois has a Downstate but no upstate. And Downstate can mean both a general “south of the Chicago metro region” and more specifically “the Capitol” (Springfield). Any downstaters care to correct me if I’m wrong? Am I, in fact, living in what is known as “Upstate Illinois?”

  42. What? Beantown’s Muddy River is a lake? No, it’s not, but you may have been looking at Jamaica Pond. The Arborway (near the Arboretum), The Jamaicaway (near Jamaica Pond), The Riverway, The Fenway (not Fenway Park but near it), and Charlesgate East are all the same road, following the same Muddy River which flows from JP to the River Chuck, on out to the Land o’ Goshen.
    And there is a Rhode island: Aquidneck Island, also called Rhode, floats in the Narragansett Bay, consisting of the towns of Portsmouth in the north, Newport in the south, and Middletown (your guess is as good as mine).
    Many happy returns to your HOME!!!

  43. Don’t forget if you live in anywhere near New York City, the term “The City” only refers to New York.
    I’d have to agree that anything north of NYC is “upstate”. Went to college about 40 miles north of NYC and it was always referred to as upstate.

  44. Same here. We are 50 miles NW of “the city” and we are also referred to as Upstate. Yeah, whatevah.
    Steph, what is the name of the Stand-in Sock’s perty yarn? Inquiring minds want to know.

  45. Ellen beat me to it: Rhode Island the state isn’t an island, but it refers to Aquidneck, or Rhode Island, which does exist. The full name of the state is actually “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation”, the longest name in the US.
    As for the upstate issue, it isn’t well-defined. I’m from Buffalo originally, and we do NOT consider ourselves “upstate”. We are Western New York, which is sometimes referred to as the Niagara Frontier. I can’t speak for other parts of the state, but I usually think of upstate as the area around the Hudson Valley and the very-far north part of the state. Then, moving westward, I think of the area west of Syracuse as Central New York, and then there are the Finger Lakes, and then the Genessee Valley (Rochester, etc.), and then there’s Western New York.
    If you want one more factoid, the Niagara Peninsula of Canada is WEST of Buffalo, not north. My bedroom window looked out on Fort Erie, and two girls in my (private) high school drove across the river every day to come to school. It’s a nice area, with good beaches and wines. 🙂
    Jessica
    Buffalonian by birth
    Bostonian by choice
    about to marry a Rhode Islander

  46. other nearby massachusetts firsts:
    Holyoke (a few towns south of amherst): Volleyball was invented there. Also the first commercial Valentine’s cards.
    Worcester (central MA, where i live) (confusingly pronounced Wuss-turr): Flush Toilets. The birth control pill. and The Smiley Face (yes, that yellow one. invented Harvey Ball. in worcester).

  47. You have become the ultimate traveller . Oh, the beauty of our world that allows us to do these thyings . You will have so many stories to tell the family upon your return—-if they will sit long enough. Never mind, we love to “listen”. I am soon to become a grandmother and so I must go and knit, knit , knit. K1,p1.

  48. Hey, Steph!
    Not long to go now before you get reacquainted with Mr Washie!
    I wonder if all the underpants in your house will have spontaneously combusted again?
    I *blush* still haven’t finished reading the bookbookbook cos I’ve been stringing it out. Over two weeks now!

  49. I’ve got to put my 2 cents in about Michigan and Up North. My brother (now my sister & brother-in-law, too) lived in Petoskey, and they refer to southern Michigan as “Downstate”, however, we “Downstaters” never call northern Michigan Upstate (only “Up North”). When I lived in San Francisco, everyone in the Bay Area referred to it as “The City”. When I first moved there, a native Californian told me she was from the South. I thought she meant Alabama or South Carolina. No, she meant L.A. 🙂

  50. As a west-coaster, I’ve always been a bit boggled by how far east the “midwest” really is… I was born in Colorado, which isn’t even considered part of the midwest, even though it’s just slightly west of the middle of the country.
    I also puzzle over the common inclusion of Idaho in my own region, the Pacific Northwest. What relation does Idaho have with the Pacific?
    In any case, i’m enjoying reading about your travels in this crazy country, and can’t wait until you making to this side of things…

  51. Oops… make it to, not making to. I know the preview button is there for a reason, but I never use it anyway… and look where it gets me.

  52. Ok….well I was going to make a comment on where “Upstate NY” really begins, but Dhi beat me to it. I’m also from Potsdam, NY and love it when my cousins in ALBANY tell me we are in upstate NY and where I live is the land that Canada forgot. Mind you my dad’s is Canadian and I had the grace to be born in Brockville, ONT. Love your observations about the States, brings back fond memories of my Gram throwing me on a train one summer and taking me through Canada. Travel safe and say hi to Mr. Washie!

  53. What a lovely day in the Mountainous state of Montana, which by the way will loath to be called part of the Midwest. The Midwest, although, parts are beautiful have no mountains. In fact I am staring out my backyard to 10,000ft peaks as I knit away in the fading sun. That, my Californian friend, is your geography lesson for today.
    Wonderful site, loved the finished projects gallery, especially the sweaters.
    Happy Trails!

  55. You have learned quite a lot (Florida is definitely NOT southern). But don’t make me get a Toronto native to spill the secrets of nonsensical Canadian geographic division. I was wondering how you hadn’t finished that pair of socks yet.

  56. That’s more on US geography than I ever learned… Then again, I was always a bad geography student, and had a hard enough time to learn where everything is in Europe. 🙂 (I’ll tell you a little secret… I still can’t even put the biggest Finnish cities on a map, and I’ve lived here all my life.)
    Sounds like you are having a blast on tour! Hope all the people you meet and places you see take your mind off the homesickness bit. And don’t you worry, I’m quite sure Mr Washie isn’t cheating on you with the girls or Joe! 😉

  57. Stephanie- I’m loving hearing all about your travel adventures but I must correct you…yes, to all the relocated New Yorkers and Cubans, Florida is not “The South” but to this Florida native, it sure is, suga! 🙂
    BTW, did you know June 11 is World Wide KIP day?
    I thought in your travels you might spread the word since, after all, you and your sock are the Goddess of KIPing!! There is more info on my blog if like and feel free yoink my button too!
    Enjoy your bookbookbook tour, I am!!

  58. Seconding Cynthia, come to New Jersey! It’s the Garden State, justly famed for its tomatos and other fine produce (vegetarians rejoice!). Princeton is in Central Jersey – there’s also North Jersey, South Jersey, the Jersey Shore, and Jersey City. Not to mention Jersey knitters, who would love to meet you.

  59. North Florida is in the south – I figure any place that serves sweet tea as the norm is southern. If you have to ask for unsweet, that’s southern.
    South Florida is an entirely different ball of yarn. Not knocking it at all, I like it, just different from N. Florida – oh yes, grits plays a role in it too.
    Cathy

  60. I think your tour guide misinformed you. The second longest escalator in the world is is actually in Wheaton, MD. Being from there, I will concede the point that most people in Wheaton will tell folks they are from DC, b/c despite the honor of having the second longest escalator in the world, no one outside the D.C. Metro area has ever heard of Wheaton, MD.
    What’s really amazing about that escalator, despite its relatively unknown location, are the commuters who take the stairs instead! Not me, five minutes of knitting time is five minutes of knitting time.

  61. Hey Girl!
    Just dropped in to say hi, and how great it was to see you in MD! So glad I have my box of the bookbookbook to take with me to Mass. and Maine!
    I’ll be mailing off the stuff I mentioned to you at some point … it’s now in storage (for, like, a year?!?!), along with 95% of my fiber stuff (talk about PAINFUL! I have to go down in the basement to visit! Which I do quite regularly). So, I need to go find it.
    Hope the rest of your tour goes smashingly!
    Love, Jen

  62. I would like to point out that the further north and towards the center of Florida you get, the more southern things become.
    Dear Harlot, my mother is someone I know who would be excited (and probably knows already) that Amherst is the birthplace of the Dewey Decimal System. She’s a retired junior high school librarian who “fell in love with it” when she was in college.

  63. Stephanie, I presume since you’re going everywhere that you’ll be at NH sheep and wool tomorrow, sunday May 15, (if you weren’t there today). See you there.
    Theresa, from way back in the posts, I’m moving to Bluffton SC next month. So, you won’t be the only knitter in SC, just the only one upstate! (Tomorrow will be my last sheep and wool fest, presuming that they are not done south of Maryland…)
    Wendy
    Wendy, now in MA, next month, SC

  64. I went to grad school in the Midlands of South Carolina at USC Columbia. I did get the chance to travel to both the Upstate and Low Country. Stephanie, my husband insists that I tell you he would love to hear your accent, and he will be glad to show you his rifles any time you want to come to Alabama. 🙂 I read much of the book to him. My socks are going to get to go to Chicago with me next month for the American Library Association annual conference. One of them already went to the AL Library Association annual conference in April.
    Paula

  65. Here in Southern California, we have the High Desert and the Low Desert. If you’re in LA, you might be in the Valley, but if not, you’re probably in the Basin. We have Hahamonga, Cucamonga, Azusa, Morongo and Anaheim. Better still, we have Bustamante, Schwarzeneggar, Issa and Villaraigosa. It’s exhausting.

  66. Just a friendly HELLO! I got a chuckle over The Sock’s pose at the Emily Dickinson house! Am thoroughly enjoying your wonderful book.

  67. Ah, to add more to your confusion, you can’t get any more southern than my part of Florida. I’m in the North Western part of Florida, the Florida Panhandle. It’s as deepsouth as one could hope to get. So cut off from the rest of Florida that it is referred to as the Redneck Riviera, referencing all the tourists we get from Mississippi and Alabama.
    I hated I missed you in Memphis. I tried to get off work to make a trip back home for a long weekend but was never able to get it all worked out.

  68. Stupid bloglines just told me that I missed about 8 posts. I should have known you wouldn’t ignore us for that long. I love your “geographical” observations. It’s all so true!

  69. What I find fascinating is that I am currently knitting the exact same socks. Now my sock and I can experience your travels vicariously!

  70. Hi Steph, missed you at MDSW — too busy rolling around on the skeins of kid mohair at the Brooks Farm booth. Obviously someone forgot to tell you that the NY upstaters are a bit touchy about that designation [smirk]. Never mind, I grew up on Long Island and was confused all through school about why you had to go west to get to the east coast cities… And by the way, Dhi, there IS an official Downstate — the medical school in NYC, affiliated with Cornell in “upstate” Ithaca, is the Downstate Medical Center.

  71. I think I’ll be buried in comments here, but I enjoyed meeting you in NH on Saturday. My husband (aka the Sherpa) says hi!
    Hope you had a safe journey home – it must be nice to be back.

  72. I couldn’t stop laughing while reading your book last night. Hubby read a couple of pages and asked if you were writing about me. He just can’t believe that there are more people out there this obbsessed with knitting and fibre.

  73. As a Low Country (SC) girl who lived in the Midlands before she moved to the Midwest (IN), I have so enjoyed reading these comments. I’m in Columbia, SC now visiting my Mom and a little sad over the state affairs in the LYSs here but excited because tomorrow I see the Atlantic Ocean again! Folly Beach here I come (by the way, Folly Beach touts itself as the “Edge of America”). On my way to the beach I will be visiting as many Low Country yarn stores as is humanly possible. I’m so tempted to quit teaching at Purdue, move back to Columbia, and open up a truly kickin’ yarn store. I even have a name picked out:)Happy knitting, y’all!

  74. As a girl from the Low Country (SC) who lived in the Midlands and now lives in the Midwest (IN), I have enjoyed these comments. I’m back in Columbia, SC visiting my mother and tomorrow I’m off to see the Atlantic Ocean again! On my way, I’ll be traipsing through as many LYSs as is humanly possible. The sad state of LYS affairs in the Midlands has tempted me to quit teaching at Purdue, move back to Columbia, and open a kickin’ knittin’ store. I even have a name picked out:) Tomorrow, I’ll see what the Lowcountry has to offer.
    By the way, I’ll be visiting the ocean at Folly Beach (near Charleston), which is the self-proclaimed “Edge of America.” Happy knitting!

  75. As a girl from the Low Country (SC) who lived in the Midlands and now lives in the Midwest (IN), I have enjoyed these comments. I’m back in Columbia, SC visiting my mother and tomorrow I’m off to see the Atlantic Ocean again! On my way, I’ll be traipsing through as many LYSs as is humanly possible. The sad state of LYS affairs in the Midlands has tempted me to quit teaching at Purdue, move back to Columbia, and open a kickin’ knittin’ store. I even have a name picked out:) Tomorrow, I’ll see what the Lowcountry has to offer.
    By the way, I’ll be visiting the ocean at Folly Beach (near Charleston), which is the self-proclaimed “Edge of America.” Happy knitting!

  76. I hope I am still on Stephany’s Blog. I am new to checking out Blogs. I like yours very much, would you share with me the name of the Opal Yarn that you used to start the socks in the movie house. I have made many Opal Socks, but this is so pretty, please tell which one this is. I only buy my Opal Yarn on line. This one started with the turqoise and then had some pink and purple, it is so beautiful. The other question I have is what is a Birch where can I get the pattern? Stephany. BTW, I had the same experience with under the bed storage. I was so mad, and did not even cut my finger in the process, but the stupid bins did not fit, and I just yesterday gave them to the ga arbage man. I did not need to have them stand in my way in the bedroom, when I was looking for relief from that.After we come back from vacation, I am going to call for info about a California closet make-over. Thank you, Stephany, Rita

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