Snap

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This morning, at 8:20 am – official knitter time, I’m pretty sure I snapped.  It didn’t look too bad.  I’m a woman of considerable reserve, so even under tremendous pressure I am not the sort of person who cries or screams in an airport if they take leave of every bit of sense they ever had.   No, no – I’m pretty sure that this morning’s complete breakdown in an airport looked a lot like a woman drinking coffee in the Air Canada Lounge.  Only the perceptive would have seen that I was paralyzed for about 10 minutes.

8:20 this morning would have been the time exactly that I looked in my bag and realized that I am headed into about nine hours of travel, and I have left my sock in progress on the coffee table at my house,  where I carefully put it right in my path, in a clever little knitting bag so it would be all safe and toasty, just like always.  I’ve left the house times over the years, and I’ve forgotten my keys, my purse, my jacket, my credit card… hell… one amazing time I even left the house one kid short of a full load, but never, ever, ever have I  FORGOTTEN MY SOCK KNITTING.  Who am I? How does that happen?  I know I’m tired and I know that this month and this week in particular has been taxing, but forgetting your sock in progress is like forgetting to chew food or breathe.  I never forget my sock.  Never, ever, ever, ever.  Never – like the way I never kill people, or never scream in airports, or never cry in public, or never slap anyone – and for the record, I think the way I never do those other things is directly related to how I never forget my sock, and that should scare the snot out of everyone in a 20m radius of me today.

There’s some comfort – and let’s hope it’s enough to keep me out of prison.  I may be a woman on the edge, but I am still me – so there happens to be a random bag of cascade 220 scraps I was swatching stitch patterns with stuffed in the bottom of my bag-  totally by accident.  I’m packing a pair of cranky old knitting needles, one of which has a broken end – I have no idea why they’re in my bag, but at least it’s something.  It’s not enough to take me nine hours, but I can knit, rip back and re-knit those scraps all the way to Seattle.

It won’t be perfect, but at least it will keep my from biting people.  I think.
Seriously.  Who forgets their sock?

239 thoughts on “Snap”

  1. There’s got to be another knitter at the airport…or at the next airport. Can someone please find Stephanie and loan her a sock in progress?

  2. You Poor THING! We all feel for you. And we are collectively handing you our sock-in-progress!

  4. I swear it’s easier to forget a kid than a sock. But I have forgotten my knitting on a journey and spent the time picking the skin around my nails. Knitting is safer and less bloody. Airports should stock knitting materials for this purpose!

  5. The person who would do this is tired, over committed and one who will now put the bag of sock INTO her carry on the night before no matter what! that’s who she is.

  6. Sometimes these moments are given to us so that we can catch up on sleep. Or something.
    Or, if you want to hit up AC staff, I know a knitting flight attendant who does the Calgary run. And if you’re going through Ottawa, I think there’s a knitter at the AC desk. 🙂 If times get desperate, you let me know and I’ll give you names.

  8. Oh dear. This is bad news. Someone I know set up a business boxing up small knitting projects to sell at airports. If I can remember who that is and where they might be found I’ll let you know.

  9. I got to the beach last year and forgot the pattern for the sweater I wanted to knit. Yarn, needles, stitch markers, etc., were all in my bag, but the pattern was exactly where I’d left it: on the loom in my studio. And not one single other project I’d brought with me looked any kind of interesting. Good luck on the flight with your swatches!

  11. That is soooo aweful!! It’s almost as bad as forgetting your passport for an international trip! I actually felt the awefulness in my bones when I was reading your post. But at least you have Cascade! It could have been worse, I suppose.

  12. Ca you unravel the socks you’re wearing and kit something from the yarn? Of course the you’d have bare feet inside your shoes, but maybe having yarn would be worth it.

  13. I think it’s a sign from the God of Knitting (bless her little cotton cable socks) – she’s set you free to do what you must when you land.
    Just think – every purchase will be guilt-free!

  14. I have nightmares about this happening (right before I get up and stuff an extra project into my bag). Put out the word on twitter – I bet whereever you are, we can get a project to you.

  15. Just remember not to maim the person sitting next to you on the plane, who asks why you’re ripping up the same piece and knitting it all over again for the fifth time. They won’t have read this post. (OTOH, if they do read your post & still ask, I think it’s ok to at least think about shoving them out the emergency exit, although perhaps actually doing it is still a bad idea.)

  17. Oh, dear heart!
    Wishing you generous knitting row-mates and airport bookstores inexplicably stocking crappy boxed knitting sets.

  18. I know this sounds heathenesque, but airport book shops have pretty interesting reads. If you find something good, it could last the entire flight.

  19. You poor thing, if I was in driving distance from your airport I’d jump in my car with double points and several skeing of sock yarn as this is an emergency!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  21. Considering how hectic your life has been this past month so far, it was only a matter of time for this to happen. My utmost empathy as I’ve done it as well after a stressful day and headed out to knit night without my project… only discovered after arriving. It’s hard to drive and knit or I would have known as I was pulling out of the driveway.

  23. Frankly I would have called everyone I know and told them to break into my house and get the sock plus any other knitting they find laying around and drive hell for leather to the airport and pass it to me before I got on the plane. After all what are friends for?

  24. you poor thing! this is a crisis! and has reminded me to go home and put emergency yarn and needles in my travel purse as well as my carryon bag. You will survive! perhaps with paper and pen designing more fantastic knits. That which does not kill you, makes you stronger!

  25. why don’t you nap on the plane, then you can be rested enough to track down the nearest yarn store to the airport.
    Maybe the Cascade is from your mitts last year?

  26. This calls for pharmacuticals. OTC sleeping pills at the airport. STAT. Sleep through the flight. It’s a public safety thing really. Just one to take the edge off. It’s not something I normally recommend but this is an emergency.

  27. Sounds like the beginning of a non-stuffed Beekeeper’s Quilt.
    P.S. if the broken knitting needle is wood, see if you can resharpen it with a nail file or pencil sharpener.

  28. Yikes. I’m glad I wasn’t at the Toronto airport this morning. Actually… I’m not. I had a pair of socks in progress in my bag that I could have handed over.

  29. Oh, good. I’m not the only one that feels like biting people when the knitting is on the kitchen counter instead of in my hands.
    Safe travels Steph.

  30. Hang in there, Steph! You will make it in one piece. Hope you will bump into another knitter with extra yarn and needles. Travel safely!

  31. It’s time to get a coffee, a pen and a piece of paper and design a sweater. If you’re very picky and tweak it a lot you might fill in an hour or two.

  32. There must be something going around. I am also on a business trip and while i remembered to bring my iphone, ipad, and kindle, i somehow forgot the knitting. Can we blame mercury being in retrograde?

  34. I go crazy if I don’t have a book. Unfortunately you can’t buy yarn like you can buy reading material in airports. I feel for you.

  40. I feel your pain. I just got up and started my weekly work-from-home day, only to discover that I must have left my laptop at work last night. Strangely, I remember my bag feeling plenty heavy on the way out.

  44. I am sure will come back with something wonderful made from those scraps..
    Ugh! We are going on a small trip this weekend and it would make me so very sad if I didn’t have my knitting!
    A Knitters Notebook

  45. Oh my… you have been on the road too much indeed.
    I have 4 hours of knitting in an airplane today… I don’t have a sock but I do have a nice squishy shawl. It is in my bag. I will triple check it leaves work with me. I spent as much time packing the knitting projects for this weekend as I did clothes… it is a 4 day weekend in New Orleans and I decided two projects was enough. then added a third.

  46. I love you. I’m sorry you forgot your socks. I feel the same way when I end up anywhere without yarn and needles or hook. I’m sure you’ll be rescued by nice knitters in Seattle. Best of luck to you and those around you in the plane!

  51. Poor dear. My deepest sympathies. I’m traveling today and am very empathetic to your plight.

  52. QUICK !!! Get thee to a computer and go to knitmap.com and find the nearest knitting shop to the airport!!!!

  53. I can sympathize because I can’t sleep on airplanes. About a month ago I flew for the first time in a year or so and didn’t bring any knitting because I had too much going on that whole week before I had to fly that I just didn’t have time to knit or think about knitting. At the airport I was free of all those stresses and empty handed.
    It made me wonder why there aren’t any yarn stores in airports. New business venture anyone?

  54. I bet a quick email to the nearest yarn shop on your next stop will bring a GANG of knitters with yarn and needles to the airport to find you! Twitter away, send out the call! I would do it if you were flying through South Carolina!

  55. I almost puked for you. ALMOST.
    In prison you’d have time for a larger word count per day and no laundry. Just sayin’.

  56. Why don’t airports have yarn shops? Thank goodness you at least have something to work on. Knit slowly, like I do.

  57. Well … as someone who *does not do socks, ever* might I suggest you write something on the plane? You are, after all, a NYTimes best-selling author. Swatch for certain (with the broken-ended needle no less), but then turn to your real bread-and-butter. Maybe there’s the first chapter of your next best-seller all in your head, just waiting to be set free.

  58. Even on the days when I know that I will not have enough time to even touch my wristie or sock project, I cannot bear to leave the house without the project bag tucked in my larger bag. It gives me hope. One the days that I talked myself into leaving it, I end up going back to get it before I pull out the garage.

  59. this is why every airport should be equipped with a yarn store. there’s be a lot more happy travelers.

  61. You have nine hours. Go buy some sleeping pills (Dramamine or benedryl will do in a pinch) and knock yourself out for the flight. You probably need the sleep anyway.

  63. This is slightly off-topic, but if you ever need to know how to smuggle contraband knitting needles onto an international flight (like, say, coming home from London, where knitting needles aren’t allowed) just send me an email.

  64. Nine. Hours. Ugh! Maybe it is a sign you need to organize the photo files in your lap top? Writing would just be doing work… upload a novel and lose yourself in some other world… That would probably be the next best thing to swatching that I could think of. Safe Travels

  65. As I have traveled to Europe this year twice, I started to wonder why don’t they have yarn stores at the airports?

  66. My heart bleeds for you – one can only imagine the distress! I don’t even go to town, a distance of 12 miles, without something to knit just in case I have to wait at the bank, or run into someone and go for coffee. I took five knitting projects and my spinning wheel and fleece on my last vacation!
    If airport shops can sell books I don’t see why they can’t sell needles, patterns and yarn – or just needles and yarn if need be. Anyone can knit a scarf on a plane, even if the needles have to be plastic for “safety’s” sake.
    Hope you find some glorious things at your destination that will make up for this blip in your day.

  67. I am leaving on a flight this afternoon too, but to Alabama to visit my son at school. My very next task is to double check that my sock is in my carry-on!
    May I also add that you “Never, ever, ever, forgot your sock” kind of reminds me of a Taylor Swift song. You could have some fun with that. A Taylor Swift parody song to entertain the knitters in Port Ludlow this weekend 🙂 It’d be worth big money and get lots of hits on youtube!

  68. Airports sell everything else, why can’t they have a small yarn shop. Mainly sock yarn…. just small travel projects…. We need to start a petition for this!

  70. Oh, I wish I could bring you your sock. Or be on the plane and just give you my sock instead (you’d probably knit it better than I).
    I think the suggestion of sleeping pills made by Gina is an excellent one.

  73. A knitter’s nightmare come true. I was once returning from Mexico city with the same knitting I flew down with. a pair of socks….when I was stopped at the gate by the final security check point( NEVER MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH AN AGENT!)
    She pulleed over and wanted to take my knitting…I stayed as calm as possible. Luckily a flight attendant came over to ask what the problem was. I surely didn’t want to say that if I didn’t have my knitting I would go NUTS>>>>> that would have landed me in a Mexican Jail…never!
    She was nice enough to go and ask the Captain…and returned to knitting to me on the flight…..what a relief…I feel your pain…..

  74. When are the people who build airports going to smarten up and include some yarn kiosks along with the ear buds and chargers?

  75. This is why I think every airport should have a yarn store! I travel a lot for work and always think how lovely it would be to have a little shop to browse and chat with other knitters.

  76. Ye gods and little fishes, that is a tragedy indeed! I don’t know how you managed to hold it together (I’d’ve cried).
    Fortunately, we know you must have a computer or smartphone about your person. You will at least be able to read. With neither knitting nor reading, anyone at all would be expected to snap after 9 hours of travel! And when you do land, I entirely agree with the previous posters — you have a complete blank-cheque, guilt-free pass to purchase whatever yarn and needles are necessary to make your world right again!!

  77. Airports really should have small yarn stalls with emergency stock for knitters. Several different sock yarns, maybe a few lace yarns & a worsted or 2, all nicely balled up & ready to go. And, of course, a few sets if DPN’s & circs in appropriate sizes along with basic accessories. Maybe even a few crochet hooks. Nothing fancy – just enough to get you through a long flight. And, wouldn’t it be fun to take a break & check it out during delays?

  78. And this is exactly why you should wear a bra. Discreet, secure storage. The needles are a bit tricky, but it can be done. Ask me how I know.

  79. Id be a little concerned over my own flying plans having just read this, but they do not involve Air Canada. Check out Veera’s Simple Sprinkle on Ravelry for those scraps. You might be able to work up part of a Christmas gift.

  80. This made me run to my packed suitcase to double check I had my sock and kerchief I was working on. I have a 2 year old who likes to pull Mommy’s things out of her bag so I was worried, I have a 6 hour flight to CA that is PRIME sock knitting time. They are still packed. I have backup knitting and yarn now, also packed. I think I shall hide my bags.

  81. Kim: bamboo dpns fit nicely among their fellows in a pencil case. As has been suggested, bras hold lots of stuff, yarn included.
    YH: at least you are heading to where yarn is. In some places I hear there is no yarn.

  82. Can we pretend we’re friends for a minute, so when I tease you, it’s totally taken in the spirit of friendship?
    Thanks.
    It seems to me, that there is a blog post somewhere about you going out to dinner with your family and forgetting your knitting. So, not only are you forgetting your knitting, you’re forgetting that you forgot your knitting (I know, we often block out things to horrendous to think about).
    Maybe this is just the beginnings of things to come. Next thing you know, you’ll forget where you put your knitting altogether (it’s hanging in the bag off your arm) or you’ll have lost your extra dpn (it’s stuck in your hair) or at the very worst, you’ll forget where all your cashmere is (why, don’t you remember? You mailed it to me!)
    Good luck surviving the trip! 🙂

  84. Oh, I so feel your terror. I have a plain sock project in a small nylon sack that lives in my purse–it may take months to finish but I always have it with me. It’s like that extra pen stuck in notebook, just in case. Because of course I have a current project that I’ve brought along as well.

  86. I have literally broken out in a cold sweat over this post. Here I am, sitting at my desk, in my office, with my knitting safely next to me, and I’m freaking out for you. Until you are equipped with knitting, I will pray for the safely of all humankind.

  87. OK, Presbytera, I’ll bite… please do tell!
    (Also, I was so, so sorry to hear about your mother’s passing a few posts ago. My deepest sympathies to you and your whole family. May her memory be for a blessing.)

  88. I deeply sympathize! I was in a similar situation – I got through Heathrow security with my dpns, only to snap all of them while trying to get my bag out from under my seat, with no needles in reserve. It was a LONG flight home.

  89. Wow.
    I’m really starting to worry about you, dear Harlot!
    I’ve wondered if the first signs of encroaching dementia in a knitter was the inability to count stitches….or at least to get the same number twice. Then I thought it might be the inability to follow a clearly written pattern or chart. But, really, I think forgetting your sock may be the ost ominous sign yet! Fish oil, vitamin E and REST!!!!

  90. Greetings from Home, Yarn Harlot:
    Just kickin’ back here in this cozy little bag wondering about your whereabouts. Thought we had a date. I don’t think I’m THAT big a heel. Come to think of it, I don’t have a heel, yet. What gives? Oh well.
    Just one question, “where do you keep the coffee?”
    See you when you get back!
    Love,
    The Sock

  92. I agree with the first comment. SOMEONE give this lady a half-knit sock!! If I were closer to the airport, I have one that is just itching to be finished. Perhaps twice.

  93. “What will I do to keep from biting people?” Sounds like the right attitude to me for forgetting one’s knitting when traveling. No matter how hard we try, once in a while stress is going to bite us in the arse. Hope you made your plane flight without any events that required the intervention of security. Maybe one of the passengers was a knitter and could have lent you something.
    In a perfect world, a knitter in your state of distress would be able to ask the flight attendant to make an announcemenet asking if one of the knitters on board would please be able to lend some yarn and needles to a knitter who forgot hers? Make perfect sense to me.
    Cheerio – Hester from Atlanta

  94. I’ll pray for you, sweetie. Knit and rip as much as you have to in order to get through this.

  95. I feel for you, I really do. We still can’t take knitting needles onto a British flight from the UK except in hold luggage. I call that cruel and unusual punishment….

  96. Oh no! I can totally imagine how horrible that is, not having anything to knit for that long flight. I will have three projects with me, in case one doesn’t work out for plane flying (I don’t fly all that often), and I would freak if I didn’t have it with me…or security took my needles away.
    Probably too late for you to see this, as I am sure you are winging your way over to the west coast (do planes pick-up signals? heh). But you could always knit some squares in garter stitch on the diagonal with those scraps. You know, in case…ahem…you wanted them to be part of a blanket or something, at some point?
    If I was on your flight, I would totally give you some of my yarn and needles.

  98. Oh dear, sending calming thoughts skyward (and to the west).
    I did just that same thing the other day. In my trip, there were 5 railroad crossings to negotiate and I got stopped by a train at 3 of them. with. no. sock.

  99. At least you aren’t forced to unravel your clothes and knit with toothpicks or something. This is why there should be yarn stores in airports, just like bookstores. But knitters are so wonderful, perhaps there is a knitter in your path who can help.

  101. This is why airport newsstands should stock a few balls of basic sock yarn (along with a multi-pack of basic bamboo sock needles and a crochet hook) between the candy bars and the travel toothbrushes.
    They don’t even know what kind of profit they are missing out on because if there is one overpriced essential I am willing to shell out on, it’s the yarn and notions to get me through a nine hour plane ride.

  102. Oh, dear. Now I’m picturing you on the plane, in severe yarn withdrawal. The flight attendant gets on the paging system, “Is there a knitter or other fiber artist on the plane? Yarn emergency in row 23!” And hopefully your fellow passengers are able to donate a ball or two to get you through the flight….

  104. Does anyone know someone who flies one of those fuel support planes? It could sidle up next to your jet and put a load of yarn in! I think this might count as a North American emergency, addressed promptly for everyone’s best interests… I also had visions of air balloon delivery or skeins of yarn being tossed upswards from below along your entire route. Not practical but distracting thoughts anyway. Wishing you many good distractions!

  105. Okay…time for someone to open a knitting kiosk at Pearson, Dorval, Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver International airports…with books, materials and supplies for all who knit, embroider, crochet…eh?

  106. Oh my god, Steph… I mean… oh my god! I wish I were closer, I’d bring you some yarn and needles. I call my purse knitting “my patience” and god forbid I have to wait somewhere without it. But 9 hours on an airplane? They’d throw me out without a parachute. The only other alternative would be to drink myself stupid. Good luck, and if they’re going to throw you out, ask to be tossed into Lake Superior. at least you can get to my house from there and I’ll give you wool.

  107. This is just like you saying you had no knitting going on that earlier trip to the states this year. And then you said, “so, I wound the yarn I had with me.” You. Have. Knitting. With. You. The sock in time out can figure out its sins and repent by the time you return.
    Now, me, on the other hand: on the three-hour drive to O’Hare with my kids on the way to a four hour flight with lay-over found my ten year old daughter had NO SHOES ON. None packed. No socks. Bare foot. In O’Hare with a flight. At least she saved those precious 4 minutes of slipping them off in security.
    Of course, I did have my sock in progress…

  108. Even better than a few kits, would be a knitter’s lounge, like the fancy airline clubs. Needlework lounge would be better, for those that do more than one thing. Particularly the hub airports and big international airports. I’d pay to join a club where I can hide from the irritating televisions and arguing couples while I wait for my flight!

  110. Today, I’m carrying a knitting bag AND a one of your books in my purse just in case and I should have zero time between now and when I get home to knit. I’ll say a prayer for you.

  111. Luckily you’re headed to Seattle which can easily over supply you with materials to start new socks (at least for the next plane ride!).

  112. Shouldn’t every airport have emergency knitting (yarn and needles) in a little vending machine?
    Maybe you could nap and dream that you are knitting that sock?

  113. In September I left for Yellowstone -25 hour car ride, 2.5 week trip- with my husband, 5 year old, and 2 year old without The Project I had been saving for our trip. Not that I didn’t brig other options but it was not the same. My 2 year old had taken it out of my bag when he discovered I also had granola bars in there. I had a fit. My husband offered to turn around but we were 2 hours down the freeway. I put on my stiff upper lip and told him that it would be Fine. Just Fine.
    Totally not fine.

  115. Hey, didn’t you forget to take your sock when you went out to a restaurant a few month ago? I thought I remembered some lines about running home to fetch it maybe in time before the starters would arrive. Well, I guess that situation at the airport is not comparable, you can’t turn back and there is never a shop selling stuff for crafters at the airport. Anything else, but no yarn, no needles, nothing else. Well, if you could have scissors on the plane you could cut a shirt or blouse into stripes and try to knit with your fingers, but wouldn’t be fun either…

  117. This is why I never leave home. Must always have at least 10 WIPs within a 1-minute walk…

  118. Hyperventilating in sympathy — that is truly a horrifying story. You should have posted your itinerary; “everybody” reads you, so surely someone could have intercepted you along the way and handed over needles and sock yarn.

  119. I hear they sell books in airports. Really good books.
    In the past year, I’ve flown 62 hours (plus I’ve spent countless hours waiting for flights) with no knitting at all. Knitters told me I couldn’t knit on flights to and from both countries I visited (I’m not sure why I couldn’t knit flying out of Canada, but I sure didn’t want to lose my only bamboo sock needles so I didn’t try). I did knit all day long on the bus tour of one destination and by the lagoon at the other (in fact, I knit complete pairs of socks at both destinations–I don’t need to bring home souvenirs because socks-knit-at-destination are souvenirs, LOL!). But 62 hours of flying with no knitting! Argh!

  120. I would want to stab my eyeball out with a 2mm double point needle if I forgot my knitting or it was confiscated. Oh yeah I forgot the sock!!!!! LOL

  121. OK, I seriously consider this an emergency. If this ever happens to you at PDX, you call me and I’ll sprint there with emergency yarn and needles.
    We need to set up a knitting emergency response system. A Twitter account or something. That way, the only people on it are the ones willing to rush to a location with an emergency stash.

  122. Knit a square for Judith’s blanket!! 5 inch x 5 inch!! See you tomorrow, Yarn Harlot! 😀

  123. There are not enough words to comfort you. I would be crazed beyond anyone’s understanding. Hope someone is FedEx(ing) your knitting overnight so it can be there soon after you arrive. Just saying.

  124. I forgot my sock-in-progress yesterday when I took my little old neighbor out to do her errands! There I was, waiting in my car while she picked out yarn at the local craft store, with no knitting to do. NONE. It was the longest twenty minutes of my life.
    (And no, I couldn’t go into the craft store and buy more yarn…my small town JoAnn only stocks the bare minimum of RHSS and I have no intention of crocheting an afghan in the near future, so there was no point. RHSS is my elderly neighbor’s drug of choice, so more power to her.)
    🙂 We do need to set up a knitting emergency response system. My case didn’t really require it, but nine hours on a plane with no knitting? Alert the authorities!

  125. Just this week, I forgot my knitting when I was taking my turn chaperoning “Game Night/Computer Lab” at our local community center. Amidst all the shouting and laughter and running around and spaghetti sauce on the floor, I almost said, “hey kids, would you all please promise to be very, very good while I run home and get something? Hmmm?”
    I tried to be mature about it, but in the end I bumped my own son off the computer he was using and spent 45 minutes trolling Ravelry in order to get my fix. It was either that or someone was going to get hurt. And as my mother used to say, “It’s all fun and games until someone comes up crying.”

  126. Perhaps the Captain can make an emergency announcement asking for a knitter with yarn on the plane to come forward….just like they do for Doctors. I do agree about yarn shops in airports….we need them!

  127. That’s about how my day went yesterday, I got to the airport for 52 hours out of the house, and didn’t have my driver’s license or credit cards with me. Massive fail. I just wanted 52 hours away, in a calm fashion. Totally didn’t happen. Drink something. fast.

  128. Oh, my. I am so sorry to hear you forgot your sock. I absolutely would not have gotten on that plane. If I have to sit without my knitting for nine hours, well, um, let us just return to the beginning, I would not have gotten on the plane. You were very brave to get on that plane.

  129. I suddenly remebered something you had written in one of your books! You had written that you could replace writing with knitting, and knitting with writing.
    So just write on the plane! I would take that oppertunity to work on my novel (I’m a teenager, I have no time anymore with school and preping for universtiy 😛 )

  131. aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhh! nin hours of empty, restless hands!!?? the agony… Courage, ma belle!

  133. Maybe someone has left knitting with the airline hosts? They are usually interested in what I’m doing…otherwise you might stalk other passengers–carefully!!

  134. Steph, you made me laugh so hard I just spit my soup all over my computer monitor at work! I, like you,never ever EVER leave home without a sock in progress and did the same thing today. It must be a phase of the moon or something like that I am going to blame it on today….yeah that works! You have my deepest sympathies : (

  135. To fibersong @ 2:37, what a GREAT idea! I would never waste good yarn money on joining any other kind of travelers lounge, but a needlework lounge? Totally worth it.
    And Steph, I feel your pain. NINE HOURS? Without a sock? Good thing you’re headed for Port Ludlow – surely Tina will have yarn for you to “borrow.” ;o)

  136. I was once trapped in a beach house during a rainy week with (gasp!) no knitting needles, some ugly acrylic yarn, and some people who think I’m, well….let’s just say they think I’m less than perfect. Anyway, I wound up sharpening some pencils and knitting on those just to keep me sane. I’m just saying…..

  137. Yes Presbytera, I’m asking….how do you hide needles in your bra? circulars? Mimic the underwire? Excessive use of cleavage? Hmmm. That’s talent right there. I’d be too afraid to try. Well, that and I have no cleavage.

  138. I am so glad that other people shared my first thought, which was that a small fiber store in the airport is long overdue.

  139. I think that an emergency knitting response system would be great. And yarn stores in airports. And airport bars that open at 8 am.
    Would this be a good time to use all those various scrapes of yarn to start a baby surprise jacket for Luis? Or is he too big now?

  140. Forgot your sock?????? It must have been the yarn devil at work. You’re way too young for senior moments, and that yarn devil is a tricky little fellow. Happy yarn shopping!

  141. I hope the person sitting next to you doesn’t freak out when you start the knitter’s withdrawal twitch. Perhaps a sign should be pasted on your hand that explains the situation? Beg for sedation!
    In the future, I suggest you duck tape your sock + yarn to your body. Have sock needles in your carry on that are never removed from that place (with backups).
    A yarn kiosk in airports is a grand idea!

  143. If you can just make it to Port Ludlow, Tina will have much beautiful sock yarn and maybe even needles. Call her and set that up. Until then, it’s you and the scraps. Would they make a multicolored hat so you will have something for the Christmas box?
    Julie in San Diego

  144. Many years ago, my husband was away at training for work. We had a fight over the phone, and I packed myself up, and drove several hours to where he was so we could sort things out. So distraught was I at the time of packing that I managed to forget both my knitting and a book to read. Hubby and I sorted things out, went for a drive to explore the lovely city he was stuck in, and happened upon a knitting store. Not only did I get my yarn, but I also encountered your first book there. May the knitting goddess give you unexpected yarn in your travels.

  145. Those airport reading stands/strores have huge collections of magazines. The Vogue holiday edition seems to show up everywhere. Am I the only one who loves looking at patterns and then deciding all of the mods that I would make? I’d start planning the math using the calculator function on my iPhone. Just saying…..

  146. Someone once suggested emergency knitting stores in airports; I wish that had caught on. I think the suggested name was “Terminal Knitting”.
    I came to the hospital last week having thoughtlessly grabbed whatever yarn on the way out the door. Eeeyow.

  148. 9 hours and no knitting.. I once flew from Sydney to SFO (13 hours) with no knitting. They didn’t allow knitting needles on the plane at that time. It was hard but I did survive (barely). I learned to do Sudoku puzzles, which, btw, I have not done since. They are very poor substitute for knitting.

  149. Maybe Karma is calling you to meet a new friend in one of the airports. Or you are supposed help someone in a situation where you will know what to do. Other than that, I got nothing. Too bad you weren’t coming through my neck of the woods, I would have had a hand off…no problem. Xmas is coming fast and furious, you could have helped me make an extra pair of socks:)

  150. I am so sorry. I can only imagine the horror. First denial, then a more thorough look through the carry-on in an increasingly frantic manner. In my case, this would be followed by a frenzied dumping of the bag in utter disbelief. (I think you’ve nailed the disbelief part.) Thank goodness for the random scraps of Cascade and the needles.
    To Amaryllis @ 12:12 who said, “In some places I hear there is no yarn.”, I would reply, “Yes. That place is called ‘Hell’.”

  151. I NEVER. WANT. THIS. TO. HAPPEN. TO. ME!
    i might have been found sitting in my seat in the plane sucking my thumb and rocking back and forth.
    You poor thing.

  152. Three words: Yarn Vending Machines
    They sell skin care products, entire meals, snacks, drinks, medicine, and toys out of vending machines. Why not yarn?
    It wouldn’t have to be fancy, maybe five or six basic colors of sock yarn, prewound into two balls with a set of needles and a pattern.
    Could put a set of kits in for the hookers among us, too.
    Hmmm…time to put R&D on that and start looking for investors.

  153. I know your pain. I once forgot my dentures and my knitting. I was more upset about the knitting.

  154. I have a wife that knits when I drive not out of sheer pleasure but so she won’t rip my throat out when I don’t drive the way she wants me to. Maybe have someone meet you at SeaTac airport with a sock in progress?

  155. For pity’s sake, what did you do to tick off the Knitting Deities this time???? At least you have the Cascade scraps and some needles. Beats knitting dental floss with a couple of Number 2 pencils. . .and saves on the cost of all those little airline bottles of vodka (or gin, bourbon, tequila, etc.)

  157. “In prison you’d have time for a larger word count per day and no laundry. Just sayin’.” Jennifer
    Seriously, I wish there were “like” buttons on here!
    Have heard nothing on Twitter or the news about anyone flipping out, stealing other people’s knitting, or unraveling people’s socks on the plane while they slept… So I’m hopeful that you’ve by now made it to Port Ludlow and surrounded yourself with needles, yarn, and knitters.

  158. Seriously. I forget my sock. Family trivia night at the coffee shop. My knitting bag w/sock is sitting on the footstool in my living room.
    I think it’s contagious.

  159. Those dodgy little airport shops that sell earplugs, nasal spray and improbable items of a personal grooming nature should have a line of grab-n-go knitting projects in little baggies for when we forget a project or finish one early.

  161. Oy the agony! I can’t even stand to think about how you feel. But I agree, lots of great ideas for the alternative – may one of them bring you joy in flight. 🙂
    I love the posts of fellow knitters! It makes me sigh with relief that I’m not so weird to need my knitting near me… everywhere. It can’t be further than an arm’s distance away, ready for me to pick up and knit at any free second. I have to be able to see it, smell it, touch it – but ew, no, not taste it, that would be too weird.
    Happy journeys Steph! 🙂

  162. I know you can get wine at the airport and I would suspect dark chocolate can be found too. This situation definitely calls for both.

  163. *timidly raises hand* I-I do…
    But it was accidental, I swear! It’s just that that same accident has been happening every time I leave home…

  164. I left my clothes at home before driving 8 hours to see my mother. The craft bag was safely tucked next to me in the passenger seat. Since I didn’t know the city, I had to buy several outfits at Wal-Mart with my impatient father hovering around the dressing room like a wasp. I am leaving tomorrow to go see my parents again. Needless to say after reading this, I just went and added an odd ball mitten project to the glove compartment…..I think my suitcase is in the trunk…I think.

  165. ‘Ello,
    While I am mostly a quiet reader of your blog, I felt the need to point out that you do have SOME form of knittting with you. Might not be what you want but heck it is something…plus in my heart of hearts, I think that if you didn’t have that little bit of yarn you would have really TRULY lost your natual mind
    Brittney E’Lise

  166. You have my deepest sympathies. I just endured something all too similar. My voting tale of woe:
    Tuesday morning I ran down to vote, figuring I’d get it done quickly. I always vote at this time, and it usually takes no more than 10 minutes start to finish, so I only took my ID with me.
    Except … not this time. Thanks to some politicians trying to limit the numbers of Democratic voters in northern Virginia by reducing the number of voting machines in this part of the state down to idiotically low numbers, I instead found myself in the Line From Hell. By the time I made it inside the building and saw just how many more people there were in front of me than I’d originally thought, it was too late to quit and lose my place in line. I figure there were at least 350 people in the line while I was there, and by later afternoon it had more than doubled in length; and there were exactly FIVE voting machines for all those people. Insane!
    Three hours later I staggered out, having spent three hours with NO phone, NO Kindle, and NO knitting. I’m still cursing the politicians who created the whole clusterfuck, I might add!
    You can make it. It takes a lot of willpower, but you’re a much stronger person than I am. You can do it, I know you can!!

  167. I am traveling next month. I have a sudden strong urge to go through a skein of yarn and needles in a piece of luggage, although you know if I do I’ll grab the wrong one on my way out the door.
    Glad there’s yarn in the world where you’re going!

  168. I tell anyone out there again…a yarn shop or even kiosk, in an airport would work. Might not be able to have all the nice sharp objects…but there could be wool and maybe the plastic/bendy interchangeables. I have often thought this will rooting in my knitting bag in an airport. My heart is crushed at no knitting for 9 hours on a plane…knit, rip, knit rip.

  169. Now that you’ve landed, you might appreciate the following quote from the movie Airport 1975:
    [Barney attracts the attention of a woman sewing]
    Barney: Pardon me. Don’t your hands ever get tired?
    Passenger: Idle hands…
    Barney: By the time we land you’ll probably have a rug!
    Passenger: [confused] A rug?

  170. What a downer. About 25/30 years ago there happened to be a Yarn shop in both the Denver and Chicago Airports. They lasted about 2/3 years, next thing they were gone. I was so sad. It was a very well known designer (can’t think of her name)
    When it is a woman thing, it doesn’t stay long.

  172. I would shadow box that Cascade swatch & hang it by the door as a reminder of the horror of this day.

  173. Lily at 9:54 AM, yes, of course it’s Mercury retrograde.
    Sarah at 12:09 PM, those little padlocks they sell for luggage are great for keeping 2 year olds out of your packed bags.
    AlisonH at 11:24 PM, put backup knitting yarn and needles in every piece of luggage you own. Consider it storage.
    It is also possible to do fingerloop braiding and simple idiot cord with just yarn and your fingers.
    Just saying.

  175. I did exactly the same thing lat month – almost.
    It takes probably about 12 hours to fly from Halifax to Vancouver – with a stop-over in Toronto. I had yarn and I had needles, but the pattern I had “saved up” to knit while on the trip, was at home!
    There was no chance to check out nearby yarn shops in Vancouver – the conference (non-knitting) was just too busy.
    But travelling patternless wasn’t so nerve-wracking for the first part of the return trip.
    Why?
    My cell phone had fallen out of my bag at the Toronto airport on my outward trip. So I was concentrating on retrieving it in Toronto, following the first leg of my journey homewards.
    Come to find out that my first flight landed at the same time as my connecting flight to Halifax, so there was no time to go collect it.
    I have no memory of the Toronto to Halifax return flight.
    You will have better luck – because of where you are heading. And why.

  176. To Marg at Mirror, AB
    Guess what? WINNIPEG has an International Airport too! Last time I was there it was pretty bland and dismal, and a yarn kiosk could do nothing but liven the place up.
    Funny, you’d think that places where lots of people have to wait for long periods of time would be geared to traveller comfort, yet the complete reverse is true.

  177. So glad I read this as I depart on a plane tomorrow with the family for a two week vacation and so am checking and re-checking to make sure there is enough yarn and needles to keep everyone calm and carrying on. Hope things even out for you.

  178. Of course you won’t see this till long after you land, but I’m guessing you’ll be able to locate supplies at the other end for the return trip. Or maybe something in your checked bag?

  179. I wonder how the SOCK feels? SHE LEFT ME BEHIND!!! What did I do to deserve this?
    We would love a blog from the sock after you get back to know how it feels? I used to love it when the socks would “talk”.

  180. One word-Alzheimer’s
    So let’s just hope not, and buy lots of sock yarn at your destination.

  181. I always thought it would be a great idea to have a chain of knitting shop kiosks in airports.

  182. Oh no! My sympathies. Please keep us posted on how you are surviving! Hopefully there is a yarn shop right there and open after your 9 hour flight.
    Or will Tina meet you at the airport with yarn? (I like this idea the best)

  183. Although I feel awful for your distress, I have to say that the comments have sent me into fits. Knitters are my very very favorite people. So, on the lemonade out of lemons, there’s that.

  184. Who forgets their sock…but that only works if you’re a sock knitter. But traveling especially with all the waiting you do in airport really requires some kind of handiwork, which reminds me I need to get something to get for my Thanksgiving trip to Texas. I too could go batty waiting around. And I’m not one to just eat, eat, eat while I wait. Although it’s not impossible. And listening to music on my iPhone? Not me at all. Magazines, knitting that’s what soothes me most. Glad you were able to make the most of bad sitch, yarnharlot!

  185. To Jo at 12:46: It’s hard for me, the caregiver for my husband who is in his 60’s and who sufferss from Alzheimer’s, to to have a sense of humor regarding dementia. Dementia is so not funny – ever. Just trying to raise consciousness about this horrible disease. I know you meant no harm.

  186. I travel a bit more than you (maybe) and I’ve forgotten my underwear. THAT is a tough one. I hope you’ve got lots of books downloaded and personally I’d nap a lot.
    I’m also a podcast fan and my fave is The Smartest Man in the World from Greg Proops. They’re free and hi-larious. (via iTunes)
    So hang in there and have some wine…

  188. Ummm….. sounds like “revenge of the swatch” to me!
    You may my deepest sympathies.
    aloha,
    Lisa

  190. I can relate. I snapped yesterday when they took away my sock in progress when I had jury duty. Seven hours of sitting in an over-heated room waiting to see whether any judge needed a large group of grumpy people to exercise one of the duties of citizenship. They need to fix that.

  191. Maybe you subconsciously need to forget the sock knitting for a little while. The world won’t fall apart. You can actually look beyond your knitting and see new things, gain new perspectives, and add to your creativity. Good luck!

  193. Re vending machine comment above. Could be your money maker for life. Mystery Yarn Harlot knits available from vending machines in airports world wide……that would make me venture further afield on holiday.

  194. I personally would invest money/buy stock in a company that develops the Knitter’s Emergency Vending Machine. They have those machines for everything else why not something really useful to womankind….mankind too!

  195. … and this is why a chain of yarn shops in airports would do very, very well.
    “Oh? You’re about to sit in a chair for 5 hours? Here, take this pretty, soft stuff and these instructions and get yourself addicted. There’s a dealer at the other end when you want more.”

  196. Kate at 1:35, that just made me think of men in dark jackets, fedoras, and sunglasses: “Psst, ma’am… wanna hit? What’s your poison?” “Gimme some of the Italian merino, I swear I’ll pay your associate when I get to Portland… I promise, just gimme…”

  197. Regular people DO NOT understand that you are calm because you knit-you do not knit because you are calm. This is really a frightening post…. 🙂

  198. One more question to all-just sorting my stash and was wondering if there is an amount that is considered “too much yarn”….is it 100 skeins, 1,000 skeins….(or is that considered a store…) it’s funny that THAT does not stress me out, but the thought of forgetting my project makes my heart race. Weird.

  201. To Donna at 12:26 – last time I had jury duty I was never called. Got up at the crack of dawn to get downtown on time and then spent 6 hours sitting on my duff in the jurors holding pen. BUT they let me bring my knitting, so I was just fine. I even called ahead to see if they would let me bring it, with every intention, if necessary, of traveling downtown to the courthouse ahead of time to show them the oh-so-peaceful bamboo circs I planned to use.
    Personally, I think they should INSIST people bring their knitting.

  204. I laughed so hard when I read this. I could have posted it myself. First of all I am a flight attendant and I could NEVER forget my knitting! I also keep spare yarn and spare needles in my bag. It keeps me from choking people. But also, I live out in the country and of course I knit in the car. This, I am convinced has saved my marriage. Everything is at least an hour away from us and on one occasion when I have forgotten my knitting, my husband has turned the car around 20 min into the drive to get it. Knitting is essential to all forms of travel!
    As a Flight Attendant, I only wish I had seen you and could have shared my spare yarn and needles if need be.
    Further more, I think someone needs to open a yarn shop in several of the larger airports for just such occasions!

  205. Where would I be without your stories….like others, you help me feel a little less crazy and not alone. Obviously, you’re only as far away from yarn as your closest fan….there was probably one on the plane with you!!!

  206. I’ve just read this post to my husband. His response was if this was me, he wouldn’t get on the same plane with me.
    He packs when we go away and ALWAYS makes sure I have knitting supplies in the case and my hand luggage. He considers it essential to a stress free holiday for the whole family. In fact, on our recent trip to Spain – a mere 2 hour flight – my daughters also checked I had my in-flight sock with me before we left the house…
    When we travel to the States I use cocktail sticks – actually an old pair of bamboo needles I’ve cut down – to ensure I get them on the flight.

  207. I hope that no one sitting near you gets cranky. I pity them if they did. Forgetting my knitting haas PANIC written all over it!

  208. What comes to mind is the cartoon of the sheep knitting her own fleece. Can you find an end on your sweater (I know you have handknits with you) and re-knit it?

  210. How are you still free?I’d be in prison for beating a stupid person within 3 sec.! Seriously ! I Know there has to be the = of yarn + needles somwhere!! Good Luck

  211. I recently was caught on a train for 15 minutes after finishing a hat. Neither phone, nor ipad or ipod filled the void. I DID get through it, but I still wear the scars. (Inside).

  212. I felt like I was breaking out in hives while I read your story. I have an overwhelming urge to put some sort of knitting into every bag I own! Wait a minute – I think I already have something in every bag I own. 🙂

  215. Who, Yarn Harlot, forgets her sock knitting or knitting in general when she knows she has something really boring to wait for? ME OF COURSE!
    I don’t know if the Dept Of Motor Vehicles is the same as an air port but…wiiting is on the menu. I have been stuck in that land of many monments with no knitting and…I did think about biting people…and throwing chairs, pacing back and fourth and at times, running the 10 miles back home and getting my knitting.
    You see…I just knew that I could run home on both feet, get my knitting run back and my number would still not be up….
    bjr

  216. …time to open a yarn shop in LAX or Chicago O’Hare….
    Folks like Step just can’t be left alone in such a situation. Biting people is illegal after all….
    bjr

  217. OMG – I just returned from our cabin up north and discovered I left the directions and knitting notes from the lace sock pattern up there! I haven’t a clue where I am in the 12 row repeat on the lace part. This is a bad week for those of us who knit socks … I never did forget one of the kids, though there were times I would have gladly sent them packing to the orphanage 🙂

  218. Oh you poor thing! I have to confess, I don’t even go into the bank without a sock in progress. After all, you never know, somebody might hold up the bank and I could be stuck as a hostage for hours.

  219. Oh, my, we have not heard from Stephanie. Shall we put out an All Points Bulletin on her……or start collecting money to bail her out of Jail????? This could be serious!

  220. So, it’s been a few days, and radio silence. I’m starting to get a little worried. Is it possible that a 9 hour flight and no knitting could actually lead to an International Incident? Has anyone seen anything in the news about “yarn blogger gone mad on airplane?” (-:

  221. Chris (my other half) and I once discussed having a chain of knitting kiosks in airports. We’d stock them with sock yarn and needles.
    Should’ve done it.

  222. Oh, goddess lady of wool! I dearly hope there is a knitting shop within feet of the Seattle airport. Hang in there… Consider some Dramamine. If you snooze through the flight, you won’t kill people (hopefully).

  223. My heart skipped a beat when I read this, then I relived it later in the weekend when my half-completed sock went AWOL during a trip to a family event. Panic ensued of course, phone calls were made to the two places I had been, the car was checked, then to my utter shame I searched again and the bag was inside my black hat in the bottom of my backpack and I couldn’t see it. I will never hear the end of it, but I was just so happy to find it I don’t care. I also had my reading glasses in the bag, but they were not nearly as important….
    BTW, a first for me on a plane this weekend – the flight attendant told me to put my knitting down during takeoff, presumably because she was afraid one or more of the metal dpn’s I was using would pierce my neighbour if we had an emergency. Gotta admit, a sock in progress does look a little dangerous 🙂

  224. Years ago, when I was frequently visiting my parents who both had Alzheimers, I broke not one, but TWO, sock needles in transit. Unwilling to twiddle my thumbs and needing to knit to stay sane as the conversation repeated itself endlessly, I resorted to using (I) a toothpick and (2) 2/3 of the broken needle, which I had to keep turning around (and its not easy to knit off the broken end!). I’m still as sane as ever…whatever that means…and the sock looked fine, but now I always travel with a whole spare set, secure within a little case, so that that never, ever, happens again!

  226. Last Christmas, while sleeping on the floor at my uncles house, someone stepped on the bag that had my knitting–with a Christmas gift sock in it. One of the bamboo needles snapped exactly in half. I had brought an extra needle for “emergencies” sake, but lost it the day before during a 6 hour car ride to my grandparents house in a different relatives car, my cell phone died two days beforehand at the airport, and I had no car. I ended up (very carefully) knitting the sock using half of the snapped needle for a couple of hours until I could be picked up from my uncles house and brought back to my grandparents. When I got to my Grandpas house, I searched my aunts car and found my spare needle in a hidden compartment under the seats. The socks didn’t get finished until after Christmas.
    My 10 year old neice, who received a half-finished pair of socks on Christmas Eve, is a little knitters slave driver. Every time I sat down she would bring me the sock and tell me to keep knitting.

  227. Dear Stephanie,
    I need to ask you a question. Alas, I have lost your email addres when my laptop was stolen a couple of years ago. Please ping me an email… I promise, it’s super quick! 🙂
    Many thanks, Gosia

  228. What???? No sock???? I’m amazed you didn’t scream!
    Unless I leave my handbag at home, I can’t leave home without some sort of sock-in-progress. It lives on one side of the central divider, while my purse/glasses case/phone/Filofax live on the other. When I travel for work, my handbag gets stuffed into my carry-on-case so that I can be two-bag compliant at the airport. (The other one is my work laptop bag.) Seriously, how do men survive with just pockets to carry stuff?

  229. At Alderney airport on the Channel Islands there is a large basket in the waiting area containing needles and yarn and passengers can help themselves, knit a square and leave it in the basket. Someone then sews all the squares together to make blankets for charity.

  230. Just so you know – I had to go out and add to my personal stash of sock yarn since I read your post. An attempt at making your situation better by making sure I had in my possession what you needed? I guess. And…I’m on pins and needles waiting to find out what happened! Did some knitter rescue you? It’s like a book series that just ends right in the middle of the drama and you can’t wait to go out and get the sequel to find out what happens – AHH!

  232. If it makes you feel ANY better, I went to a conference last week and forgot my laptop at the security checkpoint. You know how you take it out of your bag? yeah, I forgot to put it back in.
    All the traveling I’ve done, I’ve NEVER done that. And because I left it at the TSA checkpoint, it was at the TSA lost and found, which wasn’t open on the weekend when I came back, and not open yesterday due to the holiday. Luckily I was able to get a loaner laptop at the conference and I have an old spare laptop from 2005 at home, but man….WHO DOES THAT?
    Me, I guess. And leaving a sock? now, you’ve done that. But only once. I promise.

  233. Now is the time to make out the knitting emergency list. I am certain there must be a knitter within fifteen minutes of this airport and, in point of fact, every airport you might ever fly from. I challenge the readers of your blog who reside within this distance of any major airport to supply you with their names and numbers. I am 20 minutes out of LAX on Sunday’s and holidays, and up to an hour an a half during rush hours but I will speed to the airport with sock yarn and needles should you ever find yourself in this fix in LA and I’d bet serious money you have a “me” near every airport in the US and Canada.

  234. Thanks a Bunch!! That seriously explains the near Blizzard that Winnipeg had!!
    Hoping everything is Better in your Knitiverse (a distinct branch of the universe devoted to knitters) today!!

  235. I keep checking back to see if she survived! Should we start getting worried if she takes longer than a week to post again? LOL, Just kidding!

  236. I agree with Tabitha, getting worried that we haven’t heard more for nearly a week! I’m sure it would have hit the media sites if rampaging passenger was restrained whilst shouting out “NEEDLE ME NOW!”

  238. You are all hilarious. I am reading your blog for the first time. I can’t stop laughing. Great for a Monday morning.

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