I ask for so little

Listen…hear that? Well, I mean, of course you don’t. You are, wherever you are and I am here and I don’t really expect that you can hear what I’m hearing but you know what I mean. If you were here, you could stand with me in the kitchen, cup of decent coffee in your hand, mail on the counter…knitting comfortingly nearby and you could tip your head to one side, stop moving or breathing for one minute and listen for it. You wouldn’t know what it was at first, if you were me and you lived here. You would feel sort of funny, like something was very, very different and then you would realize what the sound was.

It’s nothing.

There is no noise in the house. Not one person saying “She took my hair tie/ I can’t find a hair tie/ I left my hair tie right here, who took it” (I hate hair ties. I am convinced that second only to oil and fervent religion they cause more war and hate in the world…..) Nobody saying “She has had the phone for 17 minutes and you said we could all have the phone for 15 minutes and now she says that she was timing me and I had the phone for 25 minutes so that’s what she’s getting but I told her that you made the rule for a reason and that how much phone time I got isn’t the point and she said for me to “get out” of her room and that’s no way for a lady to talk so I unplugged the phone and now she’s freaking out for…like….NO REASON.” There’s nobody telling me that she can’t possibly live like this, here, with us and the intolerable way that we do….like, everything. The phone is not ringing. The fridge is not open. There is not an inexplicable hoard of teen boys hanging around the front porch calling me “Mrs. Pearl” (Which is not my name on so many levels) trying to get all Eddie Hascal with me while Joe thinks about locking our teenaged girls in a large ventilated box in the basement for their own good and our sanity. Instead my friends, there is silence. This is because it is a high holy day in the practice of parenting. It is, in the City of Toronto, in the province of Ontario, in this country we are proud to call Canada…..

The first day of school.

You may all take a moment to silently congratulate any mother and father that you know who made it through the summer with any semblance of her sanity intact. I love my children, I even enjoy their company, but man….that summer is long and loud.

To put the icing on the cake, Megan paid me and my knitting the highest possible compliment.

Oneskwonder

Look at that. It is the first day of high school and Meg is wearing a One Skein Wonder knit by her mother. ( Knit from malabrigo “Azul Profundo“, really only took one skein of this really, really soft yarn. Very fun pattern and, not that I would mention it to Meg, and I’m only mentioning it to you this one time, but this also matches my blue dress and I’m thinking it might be cute. I don’t want to discuss that a woman cruising 40 just professed any feelings to do with any clothing that may be “cute” and I don’t know that I really will wear it, I just thought that it was worth noting that I thought about it, and that’s got to mean something.)

That Meg is wearing this is remarkable, since as I’m sure you are all aware, what you wear on the first day of high school is so important that not only do you need to stay up until practically dawn the night before, bursting into tears at intervals out of the concern that you will select the wrong outfit, but you must also face up to the shattering reality that the rest of your life, every moment, your career, your potential, your ability to upgrade a computer and make good pie….all of it hangs on wearing the right outfit on the first day of school. It’s a lot of pressure….and she wore something her mother made, which must mean that it’s really cool, since your mum’s knitting has a high dork quotient to rise above.

Now I know what you’re thinking. What will I do with this silence. How will I spend my day? (Morning really….it’s a half day, but let’s not focus on that.) With this:

Yarnharlot

Yup. It came. It’s my author copy of my new book. (Sorry, I still laugh when I write that. “my new book”. How does this happen? Really, I mean….How? It’s like I went to sleep as me and I woke up some fantastically lucky person that they mail books to. It’s a freaky, freaky feeling to see my words in there and I feel as though I won the lottery.) It’s publication date was the 1st of September, and theoretically, it’s shipping to stores as we speak. Now begins the waiting for the fantastically bizarre moment where I spot it in the wild. I’ve tried to get on the bandwagon with this copy that they have sent me, but it’s just not possible. It’s too easy to fake one copy. We’ll just wait and see if it’s a real book when they follow through and mail it to a bookstore. There’s no going back then.

(Then I can start worrying that everybody will think it sucks, but let’s deal with one neurosis at a time.)

Note to Toronto readers: I have checked the Chapters and BookCity in Bloor West village and the big Indigo downtown. It’s not there. Don’t waste precious knitting time looking for me, besides, my mother has a plan.



Tomorrow, the bike trip, where we went, what I leaned and what I knit while I was there. For now, I’m off to do three things I’ve been dreaming of. Have a phone conversation without wrestling a teenaged girl to the ground for the privilege, drink a cup of coffee without having a conversation about lipgloss, it’s colours and what exactly constitutes “prostitute lips” and take a bath where nobody talks to me through the crack in the door and asks me if I can see a hair tie.

132 thoughts on “I ask for so little

  1. Quiet here too. Well, mostly quiet except for the 3-year-old running around yelling “I can play with Allie’s toys while she’s at school!!!”
    Enjoy!

  2. I always enjoyed school when I was a student, but not half as much as I do now that I am a parent. Congrats on surviving the summer, and on the new book-can’t wait to have a good, silent read.

  3. Congrats on the silence! Congrats on the book! The outfit I wore on my first day of High School I never wore again. It’s not that it was that sacred…it was that horrible.

  4. Enjoy the silence. I am currently “listening” to Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (from the Disney Princess Favorites Soundtrack) that is leaking out of the headphones which are a little too big for my 4 1/2 yo’s ears. At least the ones who leak rap “music” are at school!

  5. Hi Steph…My work environment is verrry noisy. I hear and marvel over the same sound you experienced this morning when I come home at night! Let me add, because it factors in…I live alone!!!
    Judi

  6. p.s.
    How could I exit stage left without saying *Congrats* on YOUR new book!
    Can’t wait for it to come to a town near me!
    Judi

  7. Silence IS golden – enjoy!
    And I don’t have to go searching for your book – Amazon will mail it to me this week – I can’t wait!

  8. Congrats on surviving yet another summer. What a weekend to celebrate – kids going back to school and your new book.
    I have given my husband massive hints for that for my birthday (next week)that I want an autographed copy of your new book. So if some man comes up to you with a copy of your book and demands an autograph for his wife – I am the cause.
    Will you be touring with this new book as well?

  9. Congrats on the book. It’s quite here too, so I guess I can hear it. And I’m glad to hear that this admiration for things I knit my daughter may actually last into high school. She actually chastises me for not knitting enough for her!

  10. Congrats on the book! I’ve been told by three different booksellers in NYC that they don’t expect to get it until 9.28. Bummer.
    As to the first day of school, I’m still recovering from this morning. My four year old daughter had her arms locked around my neck and sobbed, and I stayed at the preschool until the director started giving me the eye. Oh, it sucked to leave her there, but I couldn’t very well take her out of there. Sigh.
    Enjoy your momentary silence.

  11. Hi Stephanie,
    Congratulations on the book! I haven’t “stalked” an author by buying all their books since Stephen King when I was about 15, and perhaps Star Trek books and Babysitters club before that (can you say ec-lec-tic?), but I am thinking I might have to swing by chapters this evening, just to see if your book is there. I am looking forward to lining it up on my shelf next to your first book.
    Enjoy the back to school!

  12. Congratulations on so many wonderful things — to have your fine knitting paid what must be the ultimate compliment (the wearing of it on the first day of school), and to enjoy your moments of peace with your new book! Thank you, thank you, thank you for writing a second book. I’ve given your first one to all my knitting friends, and now I know what to get them the next time a gift-giving occasion arises (you know, like “Tuesday” or “first time I’ve seen my future sister-in-law in months” ). Big-time congratulations to you!

  13. Everything in the photos look great!
    The evil-ness of hair ties is only compounded by a black hole specifically for them.
    bookbookbook2!!! YA-AY!

  14. I really like that OSW! I really like how it’s very subtley variegated. Almost makes me want to cast on for another one… πŸ˜€
    Congrats on the new book – I’ll be running out to buy it just as I did the first one. Just think, you are a twice-published, beloved and well-received author, spreading your love of knitting around the world!
    Have fun celebrating your high holy day (with silent prayers of thanks, knitti–I mean, meditation, and of course the ritual drinking of the coffee).

  15. Oh, BTW, “Mrs. Pearl”? *snicker snicker* if the boys were resourceful, they’d bring yarn for the mother. Dude, successful courting requires some ingenuity these days. Gosh darn, if they brought you wool and coffee… Ok, his cool quotient may go down since mum likes him but doesn’t every daughter secretly want to bring home a boy mum likes?
    Maybe next summer you can train them to call you Mrs. Stephanie or Mrs. Yarn.

  16. The book is way cool, now I know what I can give a lot of people for Christmas. I’ll let you know when it hits Seattle, then you KNOW it’s real. One warning, we took our oldest to college last week. It’s too quiet.

  17. Hannah went back to school today, too. Dale went back last week. But today is the first day they’re both gone. Do you know how tempted I was to call in sick?!?
    It ought to be a national holiday.
    Congrats on the new book. I’ll be looking to get my copy signed on September 22nd.

  18. What perfect timing. You are a lucky Harlot. Also gifted and brilliant. Can’t wait to spy my copy on the shelves. Congrats on #2.

  19. The new book has been spotted! At the Barnes & Noble in Alexandria, VA (Potomac Yard). Congrats. Very excited for you, especially being a fellow Canadian and all.

  20. Congrads on the new book. I will look forward to foraging for it in all my LYS (great excuse to buy more yarn too) and waiting for my Amazon copy to arrive. Enjoy the temporary silence. It is golden until they leave the nest and then it becomes deafening. I shipped off my daughter to college (near a llama farm where the farmer spins) and my son to China (where he can’t seem to find his Mum some cashmere). I miss them so enjoy while you can especially the wearing of the shrug on the hallowed first day of cool, oops school.

  21. Congrats on the book. Amazon says that my copy is shipping this week. Are you coming to Stitches to sign at the end of the month?

  22. Enjoy the tranquility…it doesn’t last long enough–at least not at my house w/ a 3 yr old and a 9 month old.
    Megan’s hair looks awesome!! I love the 1 skein wonder too :).

  23. I have a birthday at the end of the month but I didn’t want to risk the possibility that loudly dropped hints might not bring this new harlot book onto the list of essential birthday presents. My husband is a lovely man but shopping for presents is one of those things he simply can’t do, 22 years is long enough for me to accept this as an unchangeable characteristic.
    So, I called up one of the independant bookstores here in town to order the new book and they already had 6 copies on order:) One of those will be mine some time this month.

  24. Oh, my gosh Steph. Prostitute lips? I almost ruined my keyboard by spitting out coffee all over it! Very sneaky, the funny at the end…
    Your new book is out!?!?! Before I went camping, it was still on Amazon pre-order status only (and I pre-ordered your last book, only to get it weeks after everyone else). Now that it is a real book, I’m going to click right over and buy it! Hooray!

  25. Congratulations on your latest book, Stephanie! I’ll see if I can catch this one in the wild – will report ASAP, of course.
    And the quiet of a home with no children after a summer – priceless, truly priceless.

  26. Megan’s hair is the exact color mine was at one point in high school, I love it on her and it looks great with the shrug. Enjoy the silence and the fact that you will have many more days of it to look forward to.

  27. Enjoy the silence and the BOOK! I can’t wait for it to hit the shelves. Maybe I should just order it from Amazon – out here in the boonies we may not get it for months – and Amazon is really reliable.

  28. Ooh, what a great day–silence and a brand-new book. And not any new book, but your very own, brand-new book! Now that definitely makes for a good day. Congratulations!!

  29. It’s possible to take a bath without someone walking in and offering you a pair of swim goggles?
    And there’s that one-skein wonder again…boy…I might even be able to spin enough for that one…
    Yes, for me. So I’m cruising forty too. So what. My kid’s not old enough to be embarrassed by me yet. Much.

  30. Congrats on the newest book. And the girls going back to school. Woohoo! I will be looking for your book this week…can’t wait to read it.
    By the way…do you know that on Amazon in the blurb about you they give away your secret hiding place for your best yarn? I’d move it if I were you. I’m just sayin… πŸ™‚

  31. So, now you have two books; are you giving up the baby-business?
    Does writing pay money, or only fame?
    Do you have another book “in you” or have you spilled everything?
    Happy September.

  32. Yippe!!! House to yourself and a new book for us! I’m off to wait at Barnes and Noble. Do you think it will be long?
    I know we will love it! No worries.

  33. My little ones aren’t in school yet…but I can’t wait for that silence! You bet ya that she paid you a compliment on wearing the one skein wonder! Worn on the first day of school…that is big time. I will be watching my chapeters for the new book. Can’t wait!

  34. One of my greatest joys as an adult is that I have plenty of hair ties. I keep them in a box in my closet. No one else uses them. I use one until the elastic gives and then I get a new one. When I’m not wearing one, I keep it on my wrist. The fact that I have not had to buy any hair ties in years makes me realize that I really wasn’t the one losing them. It was my sisters, just like I always thought.

  35. Nice new book, Mrs. Pearl!
    Very good on obtaining the status of a “first day of school OSW”! you know you made the grade with that one! hello! malabrigo! best for first days.

  36. I don’t even have kids, yet I’m savoring the silence from outdoors. I slept to a respectable hour (I work nights). But maybe its just feeling the collective sigh of relief of the mothers and fathers around. Its the first day of school here, as well.
    And I cannot wait to get hold of your new book. Perhaps a tour will be forthcoming for this one, as well?

  37. Congratulations on the outfit! And, naturally, the new book. Now how about making your publisher send you on book tour to Europe this time? πŸ™‚
    Maybe you should be happy the boys had the sense to call you “Mrs Pearl” instead of “Hey Harlot”.

  38. What about “Mrs. Harlot”?
    Can’t wait to see the new book, put a rave review of the last one up on my web site last week.
    Be well –
    MBT

  39. I can hardly wait for your new book (I’ve pawed through your first one so many times!), I have it on pre-order from Amazon.ca! Congrats!

  40. OK – I am DYING to know what Megan colors her hair with! I adore that color, but assume that it won’t look half as lovely on this (new) PTA mom as it does on your daughter…plus, I’m a little beyond high school (8 years, but who’s counting?) so I assume it won’t be appropriate either. πŸ™‚ I’ll probably get the first “MO-OM!” from my 5 year old son if I dye my hair.
    The Boy started kindergarten today – I feel lost not thinking that he’s at home with my mom where I can go home anytime and say hi. *sigh*

  41. Stephanie, I’m trying to heed your advice of last week and ‘hang tough’ as all three head out to brand new universities this month. The first day of school has always been a sad one for me — not that I’m so wrapped up in their lives that our girls can’t breathe — but I enjoy their company and I miss the laughter. Our eldest is a student teacher and today will stand ready to accomplish tough and incredible things before a brand new class of Grade III’s. One student is so brand new that she joined her parents in Canada this week after being parted by distance and economics for five years. We’re so fortunate, non?

  42. ARGH! Barnes & Noble here says they won’t have it ’til the 28th. Borders shows both that it was published on the 1st, and that it hasn’t been published yet, and they have 4 on order, but no idea when it will be in.

  43. Wow. A whole morning all to yourself? Where’s the Screech???
    Congrats on the new book; I can’t wait to find a copy!

  44. Wow! A Yarn Harlot book! I love it!! (I checked Amazon and it still says it is in the pre-order stages. Harumph.)

  45. Congratulations on the first day of school, I have to wait till Thursday to have all 3 at school and I can’t wait for the peace and quiet. My boys don’t wear hair ties so it is a battery thing in our house, there is always someone searching for their batteries for mp3 players etc and someone else always has them.
    I wore my OSW to take the littlest to school today and all MY friends thought it was cute….and I am not too far from 40!
    Good luck with the new book.

  46. Suh-WEET!!!!
    Chapters has finally ditched all the ‘available for preorder’ crap for your book and is now taking actual *orders*. Sadly, they are estimating 3-5 weeks for shipping and the book is not actually in any stores. However, it’s a start. I will be re-checking daily.
    Re: the first day of school – it was immediately obvious when I got to the subway platform this morning on my way to work that today was That Day. There were two teenage boys leaning against a supporting pillar with their mouths open, eyes wide, looking pretty dumb and drooly, and sure enough, about twelve feet in front of them was a private school girl wearing almost no skirt whatsoever (I’m talking mere microns – if that – shy of seeing butt cheeks). Le sigh. It ain’t just prostitute *lips* they’re putting on these days.
    But anyhoo…
    CONGRATS! Enjoy the book.

  47. Wow. Congrats on the book – (what’s the big deal? *ducking and running now*) – but I am just stunned by Megan’s new hair. GORGEOUS.
    And the One Skein Wonder is apparently THE thing to wear to school this year. Go see Purlingswine. her daughter, in exactly the same pose. Too funny. I’m totally not a shrug sort of person, though. I only picture it binding under my arms and making my upper arms look even fatter than they are. So I’ll stick with my poncho, thanks. (I know I’m “so last season.” Live with it.) ;-D

  48. Silence AND the book AND coffee! Couldn’t happen to a nicer person. Of course, it is pretty quiet here right now!
    That Laurie

  49. Hooray for school. Here it’s still a tense day since the wee ones are just in grade 1 and SK.
    But I like getting back to the usual routine.
    And hooray for the book. Don’t get too wrinkly in the tub.

  50. It is my baby’s first day of Kindergarten. The last of 3 starting school. He was ready nearly an hour ahead of time. I wasn’t. The nice KG teacher eased me out the door so I wouldn’t be late for work… sigh…
    Looking forward to the new book, Stephanie, your first one occupies a place of honor on the top of the bedside pile.
    Mary

  51. I feel like St. Stephen, but with knitting needles instead of arrows. Here we go again: “Darth Noble,” “Borders,” “Amazon”… A bookseller’s blessing on Susanna, up there, for calling an independent.
    But either way, troops, to help the Harlot, don’t just wait to find it in the wild, or drive around looking. CALL (on a daily basis, holding your nose to disguise your voice) to ask for bookbook so they get an idea that they should order some — or some more.
    (And um, if you’re in the U.S., you could always go to http://www.booksense.com — they’ll find you an independent in the right zipcode in seconds. I thanks you.)

  52. Wow. I can’t wait! For both the book and the first day of school. How is it possible that I am waiting for the first day of school for a child who just turned 2 yesterday? Well, it happens on Thursday. And I am so ready! 2 1/2 hours twice a week of silence. Ahhhhhh……
    Congrats on the book. Let the search for the first copy in Ottawa begin!

  53. I felt the same way when my son Jordan actually wore the socks, complimented me on how great they looked & that they fit perfectly! It makes you feel good! πŸ˜‰

  54. I don’t have complete silence, but with only one little one during the day, it sure is more quiet.
    She looks good in it and it really goes with her hair color.
    πŸ™‚

  55. I am SOOO glad I have boys!!! Dropped #1 son off at his first day of high school today also, with absolutely no drama and no requests for hair ties! Of course the entire football team want hand knit socks, hats or fingerless gloves in school colors with their individual jersey numbers on them. Hmmm, maybe I should talk to the coach about knitting practices for the off-winter season to keep their fingers limber…..

  56. Well, if your mum (Mrs. McPhee? She OK with that?) has a plan, then I think we can expect immediate best seller status.

  57. Dear Stephanie- Congrats on the book, raising kids, being married, being a knitter, but most of all SURVIVING THE SUMMER- we love them, they drive us nuts, and ohmigod it’s a short drive.

  58. Dear Stephanie- Congrats on the book, raising kids, being married, being a knitter, but most of all SURVIVING THE SUMMER- we love them, they drive us nuts, and ohmigod it’s a short drive.

  59. I checked at the bookstore (Barnes and Noble in Carmel, IN) and it will be on sale Sept. 28th!!!!
    I had them order at least 6 – me and my knitting friends will buy the first 5!!
    Way to go
    hope you enjoyed every minute of your day

  60. rams, just so you know… I’ve asked my local independent down here to order it for me. The owner was so excited to hear about the new BookbookBook, she ordered an even dozen… when they become F&$%@#*&G available, of course!

  61. Wow – what a difference in Meagan from the girl in the graduation dress and ball cap to the young woman with the new do and the shrug this morning! She looks beautiful.
    I’m impatiently awaiting MY copy of bookbookbook2 to arrive at my desk. I pre-ordered months ago, so just have to wait for Chapters – Indigo to get off their duffs and send it to me. They frustratingly changed the availability status on it from ‘pre-order’ to ‘temporarily unavailable to order’ to ‘ships in 3-5 weeks’ pretty much in the same day… bastards…

  62. You know as soon as Megan was in her class she probably said off-handly, “Thanks, my mum knit it” where upon all the other girls went home and whined to their Mothers, “Why can’t you knit somthing cool!!” hehehe
    I can’t wait for the new book! A Huge Congratulations! Its been on my Amazon wishlist from the beginning but it still says “unavailable” so now I get to bug them πŸ™‚

  63. Pssst! Newbookbookbook has climbed from about #6000 in Amazon this morning to #1702 when I just peeked. Your publishers should be kissing the ground you walk on!

  64. I remember those days not too long ago. My neighborhood of mother’s always threw a party that first day of back to school. I just wanted to stay at home, enjoy the quiet and do my needlework.

  65. roggey — I (and, no doubt Stephanie) adore you, as always. But why is it impossible to find an e-address for you on your otherwise fine website? What if I had information for your ears alone, huh? What then?
    Who’s your independent — Women and Children First?

  66. Just wait until one of the girls is dressing up to go out with her friends and asks you, “Do these look like f*ck-me shoes to you?” and you’re not quite sure how to respond on sooooo many levels.

  67. Many congratulations on the new bookbookbook!!! Can’t wait to get my copy. Will you be coming back to the Bay Area on tourtourtour2? I’m sure that Stash would love to have you. If I send you my copy of bookbookbook2 when I get it, will you sign it, please? If I just happen to slip a bar of Scharffen Berger in the package, too????? Which type do you prefer, semisweet, bittersweet, extra bitter, mocha???
    Ah, the quiet. My daughter is so talkative that I sometimes felt I was drowning in words. Enjoy the school year, except for those evil days off.

  68. My day of silence comes tomorrow – and oh, how I am looking forward to it – and I don’t even have teenagers yet! Congrats on the book! Can’t wait to get mine. The shrug is lovely – and what a compliment she gave you! wow. I will hope to be so lucky when my daughter gets to that age.
    Enjoy your soak and cup-a-joe.

  69. Shall I take/send you a picture when I find The New Book in the wild? I will, you know, I’m weird enough to do it. (So say my teenage stepdaughters.)
    Um, was that 14 yr old Megan wearing that cute blue thing? Because when did she turn 20? Last picture I saw, she had braids and looked like a teenager, but that last picture with the hand-knitted thing (a knit from The Harlot to go with Prostitute Lips?) she looked like she was off to her job at the modeling agency.
    Enjoy the silence. I am trying to, myself, but the dogs keep standing on the doghouses, looking into my bedroom window and whining, so I think I have to let them in.

  70. Cannot. Cannot. Cannot. Wait. For. The. New. Book.
    Am hounding DH (as he works at bookstore) to check the stock constantly.
    Ahh, the joy of the first day of school…Unfortunately, some of us crazy people chose to teach, and alas, only leave our children in the hands of teachers to take on everyone else’s children. For 8 hours. Only to come home to our own children. Take mine. Please.

  71. Congrats on the new book! I too had my first day back at school. Am I insane?
    Thanks to you Steph…may I be so familiar…I knit my FIRST pair of socks this summer. You are my inspiration!
    Enjoy the quiet….you lucky author!

  72. How I envy you! The first day of school here was enjoyed by my kids while mom (the teacher who works in a different district) went back to work πŸ™

  73. Does this mean you will be on a prolonged bookbookbook tour? I think you need to come to upstate NY. πŸ˜€

  74. Congrats on the new book and the great gift of silence. My motherhood career is still in toddler stage so there’s not a lot of silence around here but….. the kid still has no idea what a hair tie is so maybe we’re quite fortunate after all.

  75. Ooooo Wait…if you ARE planning another bookbookbook tour please please PLEASE come to Atlanta. Or Georgia..or atleast the South. Pretty please?

  76. In my daytimer, it says on September 6th “First Day Of School – Mom’s vacation starts!” It is so nice when the kids are back in school – although my oldest doesn’t start community college until the 19th, but he appreciates the quiet, too. My youngest has been especially smarmy lately, so getting him out of the house and with other people that have some sort of standard of behavior is a double blessing. Of course my middle son has already had his first high school crisis. His French teacher is actually French (and a former college professor), and she is HARD. So he is begging for a French tutor to prevent his GPA from being destroyed his first semester in high school. And then there is soccer practice, and baseball practice and the ice cream social on the 8th and a music parents meeting on the 14th (I have to run that one) and curriculum night on the 12th, and….and….and….
    Uh, so the kids being back in school is a GOOD thing, right??
    But I am waiting for bookbookbook2 to show up at my bookstore, too (they say they won’t have it until the 28th, either – drat!). And too late for my birthday!
    Love the OSW, as well. Megan looked great in her first day of school outfit. I have two nieces that would look smashing in it. Gotta get the pattern. Too bad hubby wouldn’t give me a girl (him and his darn “Y” chromosomes). I have to do all this adorable girl knitting for other people’s daughters!

  77. Aaah, the double edged sword–I work at a school…
    Congrats on the new book, and on making it through the summer in one piece, and, on the ultimate compliment EVER with the one-skein wonder.

  78. Other mothers ask me (and my husband does too) what are you going to do? I knit a dishcloth–what? short rows are fun and addictive. Took the dog (and myself) for a speed walk, cleaned the table and chair (can’t go overboard–they have MONTHS of school), and finished the Jane Austen over lunch. I still work 4 days a week and this was my DAY OFF. All hail the first day of school!

  79. Congratulations on your second book … read that again … YOUR SECOND BOOK! What an accomplishment! Also, I recently purchased an iPod and couldn’t wait to download your podcast. I just listened to it and I’m still chuckling to myself, funny girl!

  80. Tomorrow is Irena’s first day of 1st grade. My ritual: a manicure and haircut. I deserve it! Plus, I look pretty haggard at this point.
    And – I’ll also be calling the local independent book store to order my copy of bbbII.
    Any spinning get done today? I started the second sleeve of DH sweater (no body yet, just the sleeves). I might have gotten more done tonight but I fell into Glampyre’s website and it took me a while to extricate – great stuff. Thanks for the link.

  81. I have three daughters…my oldest is 13, middle–8, youngest 4. We all use those damn hair ties. There are never enough!
    I’ve been thinking of making the one-skein wonder for my 13 year old and her 13 year old cousin. According to your daughter that would be great! Yeah!
    My first day of silence is tomorrow when the 4 year old goes to preschool…Aahhhhhh! Can’t wait.
    Kathie

  82. This entry is exactly why you get a book with your name on it. Keep this post for your next book because it’s a great essay!

  83. Just dropped my one and only off at kindergarten. It’s quiet all right – too quiet. @:-(
    [but check back with me next week and ask me how the quiet feels…..!]

  84. Awww, look at the poor bare arse — I mean, *bum*, on that cover sheepie! We should really set up a knitting circle to knit her/him/it a nice bun warmer. Lovely OSW, too — Meg was the belle of the first day ball, I am certain.

  85. Congrats, I Can’t wait to sit with my mother, and with Jenn, and giggle all over again at your writing (and not in a bad way!) You really have a knack, thanks for sharing with us again πŸ™‚

  86. Stephanie, what can I say, you are a knitting goddess and we love you. You always manage to crack me up!!! I wonder how you find time to do all you do, I have 3 kids, and never enough time to knit, I think maybe its because I clean too much? Still, I also have a day job in a bookstore and we cannot get your book here in Australia, we have to order through Amazon!
    Could we petition your publishers I wonder???

  87. Ah Stephanie! I am so with you on this one. My two rambunctious boys went back to school two weeks ago; the younger of the two finally going all day as opposed to half a day. I have gotten more knitting and cleaning done in those two weeks than I did in the entire summer.
    I love them, but school is a wonderful thing.

  88. P.S. How stupid of me!!!! CONGRATS on the new book, and the first day of school outfit, my 5 year old wont even wear my knitting!!!

  89. Stephanie! Your book! It is super fantastic! Can ya believe it? I’m really looking forward to reading it.
    But more important, congratulations on a quiet house. That’s the daily miracle as far as I’m concerned.
    xoxoxooxxooxoxo

  90. Oh, I’m jealous. My boyfriends younger daughter goes back tomorrow and the older on Friday. What kind of skewed logic is that??? Why wait a whole week for them to go back to school for one day??? However, it will be nice not to listen to them surreptitiously fighting when their father and I aren’t in the room with them.

  91. Now is the day that causes revelry among parents… and a wee bit of chagrin for us teachers. πŸ™‚
    I adore kids, and junior highschoolers are a category all their own (come on, if Degrassi wasn’t a scientific study in preteen drama, what was it?), but I have to say that my only inclination by the time I got home from the first day with my 10-14 year old musicians yesterday was to consume a large glass of wine. πŸ™‚

  92. And what is this third book I see you will have out next spring. Wow you are a prolific writer!!! (and knitter).

  93. And I thought I was the only one who savored that guilty pleasure of a tub in the middle of the day!

  94. Congratulations on the new book! Are you and it, or you and the “old” book going to be at the Kitchener/Waterloo Knitters Fair on Saturday?

  95. Darling Meg looks fabulous in her new OSW! Congratulations on your new book, too. I can’t wait to get my own copy. πŸ™‚
    Karma in Seattle

  96. My sister, who teaches high school in Maine, reports that sweaters along the line of the One Skein Wonder are absolutely au courant this year among the students (along with destroyed jeans), so you hit the fashion trend right on the nose.
    A friend of mine who works at the bookshop nearest the university which employs me says they’ve had about 20-30 eager in-person requests already for your book. He ended by asking me (not for the first time) “What IS it with you people who knit, anyway?”

  97. “Prostitute Lips–” ohmygosh–where the heck can you go with that? I’ve got one for you: When I told my teenaged niece that I couldn’t really walk very far in my beautiful new high heels, she patted my arm and replied sympathetically: “Oh, Aunt Diana, in school we call those ‘limousine shoes’!” Yikes!

  98. Oh, Stefanie, I am so looking forward to that book. I so enjoyed the last one and ordered the new book on August 12 from Amazon. I just can’t wait until it arrives.
    Congrats on the book and on surviving this summer. It is back to school for me next Monday and the kids will be back in school on Tuesday….finally!
    Love, Hugs and Warm Greetings from Germany

  99. Congrats on the new Book! I don’t think you have to worry about us thinking it sucks…at Knitting Camp this Summer Meg Swansen told us she laughed so loud at it that she scared her cats! I can’t wait…

  100. Great picture of your daughter, and why NOT wear the OSW with your blue dress… age is just a number and you probably would look cute in it, and you did make it. I haven’t gotten to making mine yet, simply because too much other knitting is in the way, but it’s almost fall now, so the yarn will probably get spent elsewhere… I was willing to try it at 50, so go for it girl!

  101. Silence in New Brunswick. The Oddballknittery and I spend each first day of school. savoring the silence with coffee, liberally spiked by times. This year we skipped the coffee and headed straight for the booze. The youngest turned ten, got her ears pierced and has capri pants and snake hairclips. My life as I know it has shifted irrevocably. Thank god they are both more interested in making music with the pipes and drums than getting into trouble!

  102. YAY on the book – I dread the first day of school…. I trade in my 4 kids for 300 of someone elses! UGH! What am I thinking πŸ˜‰
    Your daughter looked lovely and I hope she had a great first day of High School!
    Cath

  103. I have been so busy at school (I am a high school teacher!) that I just read this entry (in San Antonio, Texas school begins in August). And while parents are congratulating themselves for surviving their children for a mere 2.5-3 months, we teachers are in the trenches (limited funding, over-worked, under-paid) with a herd (do children constitute a “herd?”) of 25-30 teenagers (gasp!) trying to instill a love for our subject matter ( or at least endure it so that they can get the credit they need). Now I do commend you for surviving but please remember the teachers who see them every day for 9 months. πŸ™‚
    By the way, I am having a wonderful time!

  104. Loved book #1 and am waiting very impatiently for the book #2.
    Hope you enjoyed the coffee, book and bath!

  105. Wow…as a fellow sufferer of a mom of teenagers, I am impressed! She CHOSE to wear it? That is a compliment of the highest order. Congrats on the new book, too. I’m stalking my bookstore to get my copy. Please, please tell me that your book tour will bring you out to Arizona. You know, it is really nice here in the winter…no snow!

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