what I did on my summer vacation:

written by the sock, edited (and editorialized) by Kristen

(pictures screwed up by blogger, but we're both at a cafe and instead of trying to move them around now I'm going to go with it....)

WE started out in the northeast - I was almost a sock then, before I was oh so horribly ripped out and re-skeined. (oh please, you were frogged because the pattern just wasn't working for me. I promised to redo you asap.) From there we travelled to Quebec and I became a bilingual sock! ('scuse me, but I was the one speaking all the French; if I remember it correctly you were pretty quiet.)

The rabbits (lapins) were all over one particular cafe in Quebec - they were bustling with people and food and, unfortunely, no rabbits.

The good pictures from that trip (the ones that YOU are featured in aren' t always the good ones) were already posted. I had a wicked good time with the statues even though I was only a lowly ball of yarn at that point. (that was when the term "yocks" was born. I am not sure I like that term. I am not sure I am worried about what you are sure of.)

From there it was back home, then back to the apartment (to pack - I was happy to lounge in the heat while she lugged and smooshed) and before I knew it we were off to Utah! There were a few tense moments when we weren't sure they'd let me on board, but my bamboo needles were deemed travel-worthy and then we were off! (I agree that airport security isn't an exact science yet.)

The mountains were amazing - and they were right there! None of this "going to the mountains" craziness, because the mountains came to us! (I think the sock is a bit confused, as we actually had to go to the mountains - they didn't move for us. It's right about the whole "right there" thing though, and more then once I had to catch myself from outwardly exclaiming "Look - more of them!!") We met up with a local and I felt downright doted on. I could have used more time with her. (Margene commented that she liked the yarn - it was the first time during the trip I had time to sit and just talk and knit.)

There was talk of a trip to a beach, but that never happened. (it did - but the sock wasn't invited. I spent time with three of the cutest youngsters that side of the Mississippi, and feared what sand and sun might do to my opal beauty. The "beach" was really more of a muddy shoreline, but I made the best of it and did my duty as a visiting friend and introduced the youngest little one to the joys of mudpies. He wasn't disappointed and a good time was had by all! (His grandma was a great shademaker))

Then we were off again! The trip northeast was good; at that point the first sock was almost finished and my other half was started on the plane.

She insisted on trying me on OVER another, nonknitted sock. I was SO embarressed. (I tried it on for two reasons: one was to check the fit (and I felt funny about being barefoot at the airport) and the other was that I hoped the sight of me deshoe-ing to try on a handmade sock would bring another knitter out of the woodwork. It worked, and soon I was chatting away with a woman who had just finished a knitted blanket for her gandson.)

I wasn't too happy that she tried to read while knitting; I fought the whole situation and tried to be as attention demanding as possible. Then she showed me that she was reading about knitting, and I gave up. (Harry Potter, book 5, thankfully had knitting in it. Otherwise I'm not sure how I would have gotten away with reading and working on the sock. I never got around to reading it when it came out (I had started med school then - there was no time for fun reading) and though I own book 6 (thanks dad) I haven't started it yet. I know what happens, but it'll be another few months before I can get to it.)

Once we were back, the cleaning began. In order for her to get something called a "security deposit" back the apartment had to be spotless. This mop was provided by the people in the building - they obviously have no idea what fine yarn is. (The sock is right on this one - it was the crappiest cotton yarn I've ever seen. How they get away with calling it "finest qualtiy" is beyond me.)

Then we hit the road (again). I was almost finished when we arrived in Albany - look what was in a neighbors yard! (picture to be added later - it won't upload from here.)

The bad news of the boreds came (boards) and soon I was put on hold. I was finished over a weekend with lots of crazy tofu eatting people who admired me from a distance but refused to get too close. I wasn't going to hurt them; I'm not sure what the problem was. Then a new set of socks was started.

The new socks and I (even though we hadn't been "finished" because she can't find the chibi thing because it's "packed") had a good time at her alma matter; her parents got a brick with her name on it, and we had yet to see it so we took a trip over to the campus. She also got excited about seeing all this fabric on the wall - I still don't know what that's all about.

(I used to be an avid quilter, and one year as a part of a "strange-to-people-who-haven't-heard about it, or head the whole story" college activity/fundraiser known as Rally, we made a quilt. It was my senior year of college, and another gal and I were in charge of putting together the guidelines and the final product. We were working on a deadline, so don't look too close at those sitches. Each of our classes has a mascot (first years adopt the color and identy that the graduating seniors had) and we were the purple cows. People from each class made their "square" (with a bite out of it) and then I sewed it together. I still look at the purple cow I put together and smile. This quilt was in my car when I was in the car accident, and it means a lot to me. Luckily the sock didn't put up too much of a fight when I threw it up on the wall.

there was lots of talk of future socks too - something about finding Lornas Laces on sale somewhere? The sock speaks the truth; at a place called the Periwinkle Sheep, LL Shepard Sock was in a "sale" bin for $6 a skein. There were only a few colorways, and only one of most of them, but I can get two socks from one skein. My friend Katie and I had a very, very good time at the Periwinkle sheep.

Katie holding our goods - she got lots of different novelty yarns for Christmas scarves. She blames me for getting her into knitting, but that's a whole 'nother post.

From there we went to another yarn store (again, that could be a whole 'nother post) to get more sock yarn! Look at all the other future yocks/socks! (the far teal-ish blue varigated yarn is my first (and only) artyarns supermerino yarn, also from the Periwinkle Sheep. It was $5 in the bargin bin, and too good a deal to pass up. The Regia is from the Yarn Depot and while we were there I found the skien of Trekking for $2 in the bargin "trunk." I sent Kate back out to the Periwinkle Sheep to get me more LL's and she's promised to write a guest post about the experience.)

Now however, we're getting ready to head back to the grind. Looks like there's a lot more of this in our future....

I hope you all had as good a "summer" as we did!