Knit'nat

How Does My Garden Grow?

Very well, actually.  Let's have a tour, shall we?

This is the full view.  In all honesty, the garden plot isn't that big...I'd say maybe 3' x 10'?  But wow, does it pack a wollop.  We used to have some flowers growing in there, mostly calendula that my husband had planted willy-nilly, but there were also some wave petunias.  However, we've had a bit of a hostile takeover.

Here, let me explain:

 

 

 

So,at the beginning of the growing season, I bought a couple of tomato plants...a grape tomato, a couple of cherry tomato plants, and then some early ladies.  As you can see, the early ladies are being lazy bitches.  There is no redness!  In the 3rd photo, you'll notice what I call "volunteers" -- these are some plum tomatoes that showed up out of nowhere.  I think what happened is that there were some tomatoes that went bad last year, either through blight or through rot, and they made a reappearance, trying to impress me that they'll behave, honest they will.

Also in my garden are some herbs:

Top to bottom:  mint, thyme, rosemary, lemon balm, and basil.  I also have some catnip and some dill hidden in there somewhere.  Again, the tomatoes have kind of taken over.  And honestly, I cannot believe how they've taken over.  If my grandmother would see this, she would beat me to death.  We don't let our tomatoes creep all over the ground!  The tomatoes must be staked!  They shouldn't run free!  My father would also beat me, because he'd say I know better.  I really should know better...but apparently, the tomatoes don't want to listen to me, as they've got their own agenda, which is take over the world.

The good thing about this:  I love tomatoes.  I eat the cherry tomatoes and the grape tomatoes like they're candy.  I love to make a caprese salad with tomatoes, basil, mozzarella cheese, EVOO, salt & pepper.  Roast chicken with rosemary?  I'm all about that.  How about mashing potatoes with ham and gruyere, then throwing in some thyme?  Delicious!

Mint?  Oh, mint lemonade!  Mint simple syrup to add to my iced tea!  And (Oh Annette...!) -- mojitos!

But this garden is not the only garden that grows at my house.  In the front of the house, I have a small flower bed that I've tried to grow flowers in previously, with very little luck.  Impatiens?  Didn't work.  Petunias?  Either I had a bad batch or they got a little leggy.  This year?  I went for marigolds and, as a complete surprise, cauliflower.

What do you know, it's working!

In knitting news, I am thisclose to finishing Petri.  I have to sew the hems!  It's seamed!  If I really push myself, I can get it finished tonight.  However, I also have some blocking to do, for my very good friend Steven A.  He's got a blog post to write and a gift to deliver, and I need to get on it for his sake!

Whatever Happened to Originality?

I've been thinking about scones.  Not just any scone, but what look like lovely, tasty maple oatmeal scones from Ina Garten.  I knew that the scone recipe had been featured in a recent issue of Food Network Magazine, and I started hunting for it last night.  I couldn't put my finger on the magazine, so I turned to the web instead, and searched both Food Network and did a general Google search (only because I wanted to know what issue of FNM I had seen it in).

This Google search, though, turned up something interesting:  a lot of copycat things.  I mean, A LOT.  Now, let me preface what comes next by saying I am not a fan of the Pioneer Woman.  I've tried a few of her recipes, and while she has a great concept (beautiful photographs of food preparation and results), the end product is often less than stellar.  And really, did we need an entire post with 32 photographs of scrambled eggs with Velveeta cheese slices?  Is Velveeta even real cheese?  Anyway...that is not to say that I did not enjoy her cinnamon rolls, (I made them once) or that I don't applaud her ingenuity and her ability to home school, blog, get a book deal, travel, etc., because we all see that I'm not doing any of that.  Anyway...I'm digressing again.

The Pioneer Woman's concept of taking lovely photographs of her food may or may not be original, but apparently it's become quite the thing to do, as The Brown Eyed Baker, Confectiona, and Crumbly Cookie exemplify.  There's even a group out there called Tuesdays with Dorie that is apparently cooking (or baking) its way through Baking:  From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan.  This group apparently took the Julie and Julia concept to a new level, by asking others to participate (ooo, if you signed up you can choose what recipe the group bakes when it's your turn!) and blog about their recipe results.  It's a closed group, so apparently they have enough baker bloggers to keep them satisifed.  On a lark, I returned to my good friend Google and typed "Cook my way through", and turned up 56,000,000 results.  Fifty-six million.  

Change of direction:  theatre.  All the musicals these days are re-dos or do-overs.  Grease, Footloose, hell, even Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King and other Disney classics are being made into musicals.  Rodgers & Hammerstein are probably rolling over in their separate graves, wringing their skeletal hands at the lack of new thoughts and ideas, such as Oklahoma! and South Pacific.  In this time of crisis (i.e., the recession, the BP oil crisis, and let us not forget our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan), who wouldn't be cheered by something light and happy?  Or have we all moved beyond such a time when the theatre was a way to forget your troubles, and moved to a place where we enter a movie theater, to be assaulted by digital surround sound, falling meatballs, large blue beings, and reminders to buy overpriced popcorn and turn off our cell phones?

Originality in knitting design must be a constant challenge.  How many ways are there to do a hat, or a scarf?  What about a shawl?  Are there new stitch patterns being created, or do we all turn to the Barbara Walker Treasuries, the Harmony Guides and the Stitchionary books to give us direction? 

At the store, as we knit along on the Stora Dimun shawl, each participant is doing one thing or another to show their originality with the pattern.  None of us has chosen the same yarn; Monica is using a yarn of different plies/substance, to create a shiny, silky, yet unbelievably heavy (and gorgeous) shawl.  David and I have both chosen traditional sport or DK weight yarns in similar colors (I think his is cinnamon and mine is rust).  Several people are using sock yarns (we've seen smooshy, alyeska and even Ultra Alpaca Fine), and Carla is not only using a variegated sock yarn, but she's also using stockinette, and, now that the lace is done, is using a different textured stitch pattern in each of the panels between eyelet rows. 

And now, after this treatise on our lack of originality, I have nothing more to say, and am going to retreat to the kitchen to bake some unoriginal maple oatmeal scones.

The Sound

On Friday, I had packed a lovely lunch for myself and my friend/coworker Anna - salads, with delicious chicken salad on them, and some crackers, and little treats.  Also in the bag was a sweater project that I had promised to do some finishing work on for my friend/coworker Steven.  I'm in the bathroom, finishing up my hair or brushing my teeth, I'm not sure which (and it isn't germane to the post), but then I hear The Sound.

If you have a cat, you know The Sound.

Not really a hiss, and definitely not a meow. 

It's The Sound.  The sound of a hairball being thrown up.  

I go out to the dining room, from where The Sound is emanating, and I see the cat, perched on the chair, head hanging over the bag.

The bag which contains the lunch.

The bag which also contains the sweater.

Noooooo!

But it was too late.  

Cat, one.  Me, zero.

I fished the sweater out of the bag and tossed it into a tub of lukewarm water with some body wash thrown in (not enough time to go down and fetch the Eucalan from the basement).  I threw away the bag, and the lunches.

And so began my day. 

In other news, the Personal Footprints discovery sock is nearly completed.  I am about 3/4 of the way finished with the Petrie top.  And in FIVE DAYS, I am leaving for Maryland Sheep and Wool.  I had a job interview on Monday, and think that it is not the job for me.  I heard back from a company that I had interviewed with about two weeks ago, and I am one of their top candidates.  They are contacting references this week and will make a decision by May 3rd.  

Life?  Is good. 

Baby It's Cold Outside...

But more than the cold, that was one helluva snowstorm, at least for this region!  

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you must live under a rock.  I remember, growing up in Conneaut, that snowstorms like this were the norm, not the exception.  I also remember growing up in Conneaut that we had a snow plow for our tractor, so that we didn't have to shovel the driveway, only the front and back steps.  Guess what?  

You guessed it, no snow plow. 

So a few before and during shots: 

 


Go, dog, go!

My legs ache more than my arms, and when the youngest and I came in, we made some hot chocolate and I whipped some cream and we are now relaxing with a delicious warm beverage.  Most things are closed today, including Natural Stitches, so just hanging out at home on a Saturday is a rarity. 

This morning after the hubby left (yes, he still had to work, although who they thought would be bringing their car for an oil change, who knows), I set about reorganizing my pictures on my computer.  I never thought I would be finished!  I am hoping to keep the pics somewhat organized.  I did run across a few odd ones for you, though: 

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Top to bottom:  Eggs in different colored shells (green, tan, brown); Squirrel!; OMG those shorts; kegger, anyone?; Sleeping Beauty; Wilson!

I have also been knitting away at a few things.  Probably the most sad thing that I've worked on recently has been the Hedwig socks for Matthew.   


Why is it sad?  Because the child is growing, and rapidly...and the sock is too damned tight on him to fit comfortably, so I must rip it out.  And I am at the toe decreases.  All that knitting...down the drain. 

I'm also working on the Discovery Sock for myself from Cat Bordhi's "Personal Footprints" book.  I am to the point that I need to draw a line on my leg.  I'm trying to do this project with my coworker and good friend Anna; however, we both seem to be a little unwilling to bare our feet and draw on our legs during work hours.  

 Finally, the big thing I've been working on has to be Bill's Sweater.  I'm using Cascade Eco Wool in the mocha colorway and am loving the yarn and the pattern.  I am almost ready to bind off the bottom...woot!  

Speaking of sweaters, I have misplaced one I'm working on.  I don't know where it is.  The last I saw it was at work...and then who knows what happened to it!  It is the Daily Sweater from Mason Dixon Knitting #2, and I think I'm going to frog it anyway...but it would certainly be nice to know where on earth it got to!  

I do not think that I have much else interesting to say.  I think I may go pop in Pride and Prejudice, pick up some knitting, and enjoy my snow day. 

Thanks for dropping by!

Brr-Flipping-Brr

Wednesday morning, gray skies, and cold.  COLD, I say!  But it is January, I live in Western Pennsylvania, and I should expect cold, right?  Right. 

I am happily trudging through my day today.  I don't work, but I do have Hurricane Knitters tonight where I'll get to see Jen, Jenn, Amy, Angela and Melissa.  I'd like to see Blogless Dee also, but her work schedule has been a bit crazy, I guess.  Sarah is on maternity leave!  If you haven't done so, stop over to her blog and take a peek at the loveliness that is her daughter. 

I am working on finishing Matthew's "Hedwig" socks.  If I were a smart person, I'd have taken a picture of them to post here, but I haven't done that.  I have had "camnesia" with regard to my knitting, and I'm going to try to resolve that in the next few weeks here.  That's a goal for 2010 - more pictures!  I'm also working on the 2nd of my New Pathways socks (upstream architecture, Yarn Pirate "Killer Bee" yarn) (again, no picture).  The monkey socks and Goddess Knits Anniversary Shawl are still on the needles (big surprise there, eh?) and I've cast on for a sweater for myself (The Daily Sweater from Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines) and am swatching for a top down sweater for Bill.  Whew.  Plus I am working on a secret project for our staff "stash exchange" knitting - this has to be done by Saturday! 

Since I don't have any knitting pictures, I'll distract you with these pictures of a late December rainbow, snapped while driving on Route 228 just before Christmas. 

  

Keep on keepin' on, everybody!
 

Mumbo Jumbo

There is so much rattling around in my brain right now, I have no rhyme or reason going on.  I want to post about so many things but want to do it in a somewhat cohesive manner, yet just can't seem to find the right way to go about it.  So here is the mumbo jumbo for you:

KNITTING CONTENT:

1.  Mr. Greenjeans is nearing completion.  I finished the left sleeve yesterday and started picking up the stitches for the button band last night.  I wanted to take a break from sleeve island, and the button band is very simple 2x2 rib.  I'm looking forward to having this completed, because it is the official Rhinebeck sweater.**

2.  Bella Mitten #1 is done and #2 is about 1/3 of the way done.  Natural Stitches is going to raffle these off closer to the time of the release of New Moon.  Is it new moon?  Whatever the heck movie is coming out about sparkly vampires, that's when we're raffling.  The mittens are knit of Malabrigo chunky and are WARMWARMWARM!  Please watch the Natural Stitches blog for updates.

3.  I've started the 2nd sock from my Yarn Pirate Killer Bees yarn (did you even know I had a first one?).  I suppose pictures are in order. 

4.  Now I have to decide what the hell to knit next.  But I think I want to knit Margot, from the new Knitty.  I have an entire bag of Cascade 220 and I think that would be a perfect sweater.  I'm also jonesing to cast on for the Harbour Lights Shawl but haven't found the perfect yarn for it.  I have some alpaca from Highland Alpacas hiding in my stash, so maybe I'll do that.

UNEMPLOYMENT* CONTENT:

Last week, or maybe it was the week before, I had a call from one of the staffing agencies I'm working with about three jobs.  Then there was a lack of contact, and apparently the positions have been filled.  however, yesterday I was contacted about another job, so let's hope something positive is coming my way.

*I do realize that by working at Natural Stitches, I am not truly unemployed; however, NS was to be my "spending money" job and has instead become the "bridge the gap" job (meaning it bridges the gap between the unemployment bucks and the bucks we need to live on). 

I think it is pretty funny how unemployment forces you to re-evaluate things, such as how there is a hell of a lot more menu planning involved now than there was a few months ago, because I could always run to the store to pick something up or we could just grab a bite out.  Now, grabbing a bite out is a luxury, and running to the store is saved for when we're out of milk, or every other week when Bill gets paid. 

Speaking of unemployment, if you've never read any of Jen Lancaster's books, you are truly missing out.  I think she is hysterically funny, and am reading "Bright Lights, Big Ass" and laughing hysterically.  Yes, you do want to smack her when she takes the Prada bag to the unemployment office, but you do find she is terribly funny. 

TRIVIAL STUFF:

I think the following songs should be banned from the radio:
1. All Summer Long, by Kid Rock.  The opening strains make me think I'm going to hear Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London for just a second before I realize that it is ONCE AGAIN the Butler, PA Anthem***.
2.  Anything by Lady Gaga.  Seriously.  Poker Face makes me want to puh-puh-puh-puh-puh-poke her eyes out.  
3. Touch Myself by the Divinyls.  Nothing worse than a group of teenage boys realizing that the song is about masturbation and laughing themselves sick in the back of your car.  (Thanks, Bob!)
4. Waking Up in Vegas, by Katy Perry.  Oh-ver-played.

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I am annoyed at the number of people on Twitter who follow me for no apparent reason other than to feel important.  I receive at least one message a day that so-and-so is following me, and when I look them up, I'm all like huh?  At least three times have been links to "adult" sites, then today was someone who must have an app that lets him know if someone uses the word unemployment in their tweets because suddenly "thejobguy" was following me, and I made the mistake of following him, only to have a bazillion tweets from him in the space of 30 seconds.  Then there was some exercise or fitness dude.  (I had a gym membership until unemployment hit and then I had to let that go because food for children is more important than exercise equipment for me.)

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On my way to work this week, I saw a black smart car with a flame job being driven by a big burly guy.  It was at the corner of Negley and Washington.  Do you think I've seen him again?  NO.  Do you think I got a picture?  NO.

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I do, however, have other pictures that have been begging to be posted.

Someone needs an intervention:

I see you:

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi:

One of These Things is Not Like the Other:

Is that a plastic sword in your shirt or -- nevermind.

Dude has more hair than Aslan:

Ain't no way I'm riding that!

Where the hell are the (fashion) police when you need them?

**Yes, I'm doing Rhinebeck even though there is a lack of full-time employment.  I have a birthday in November and that's what I've asked for is $$ for Rhinebeck.  Plus, the bills are paid and we have food, so I can buy the plane ticket and not feel bad.  Nobody said I had to buy yarn.

***Because it consistently makes the "Top 9 at 9" on our local radio station, All Hitz 97.7 FM.

Enough of the Oh-Woes-Me Stuff

I'm back.  I'm alive, I'm working part-time at Natural Stitches, I have the best friends anybody could ever ask for.  I am job searching, and that is really all I can do, right?  So there will be no more self-hosted pity parties, no more schlepping around in my pajama bottoms and tank top.  I am woman, hear me roar. 

Or rather, see me knit.

I started working on the Mr. Greenjeans sweater a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately, I do not have any photographic evidence of it.   I am also working on what I've dubbed the pumpkin scarf, which is actually a scarf of Tilli Tomas Pure & Simple in novea melon colorway.  It is a scarf from Victorian Lace Today, and I had to rip a good portion of it out on Friday, because I did not have enough yarn to finish the 2nd border. 

I have finished the 1st upstream sock and need to cast on for the 2nd.  Again, we are lacking in photographic evidence.

However, I do have photographic evidence of my Norwegian Woods shawl being finished, and blocked...

...and winning a blue ribbon at the Butler Farm Show!

Now, I was rather disappointed that it wasn't all spread out so everybody could see its beauty, but that's okay.  I won! 

I also won a blue ribbon for the Cardigan for Arwen:

My winnings, other than a sense of pride and accomplishment, were $4 for the sweater and $3 for the shawl. 

Probably the most memorable thing from the Farm Show, though, was this sound byte from Matthew:

Mom, why is that sheep wearing Spandex?

I'm Still Standing...

...though perhaps not better than I've ever been*.  Things are still plugging along; what can I say?  School is out, the boys are home for the summer, doing what boys do.  I am still stealing my neighbor's wireless, which is rather difficult sometimes because I can only get it outside or if I'm near a window, and the front window works best, but requires me to use the back of the couch as the laptop support.  Can I tell you how difficult this is? 

Since we last spoke, I've completed the Norwegian Woods Shawl, started a scarf from Victorian Lace Today, fallen in love with that scarf to the point that I would TOTALLY call off work to knit if I had a sick day (which I don't, so that's good), worked a few rows on the Goddess Anniversary ohmygoshwillitneverend Shawl, agreed to knit a baby sweater shop sample for Natural Stitches, taken the kids to Cedar Point (yes I rode most of the rides, including coasters), and on July 6, my first son will be 16, at which point I expect to totally go gray. 

I have many pictures to share with you but tonight is not the night, I am feeling woozy and need to get to bed, it has been a rather long day. 

Before I go, though, I have to mention it.  Michael Jackson, dead at the age of 50.  We all knew it was coming but who would have expected it so soon.  The radio program I listen to in the morning was talking about how this has become a media circus, just as it did when Heath Ledger passed away.  I am going to show my age here, but I remember when Elvis died (we were vacationing in Vermont and my dad saw it on the front page of the daily newspaper there).  My mom bought every paper she could find during that vacation, because it was Elvis.  I liken the passing of Michael Jackson to the passing of Elvis; for he is the king of pop, one of the biggest stars of my generation.  My kids think Michael Jackson was weird and, granted, he was a bit out there..but I tell them how in the 1980's, he was The Big Thing.  The glove.  Moon walking.  Billie Jean.  Thriller.  Beat it.  I remember that I wore out one Thriller album and had to buy another one. 

I'm sorry to see him gone, but I'm glad to have been around when his music was IT.  RIP, MJ. And may you find the Neverland you were looking for. 

*with apologies to Elton John**.

**who I totally thought would have died before Michael Jackson. 

Burning Question

I have a mind for useless information.  Zip codes, phone numbers, etc.  One thing that has stuck in my mind is a question I was asked during the interview for this job (yes, the job that I now complain of very frequently).  It was the only time I have ever been asked this question, and it pops up and rolls around in my head every once in a while (kind of like a cold sore - never really going away, always lurking beneath the surface to rear its ugly head).  But it's a good question, so I shouldn't really put that nasty spin on it.

Actually, it was two separate questions:

What are your hobbies?

What have you learned from them?

The first part of the question was easy.  I love to knit.  I love to go offroading in my Jeep.  I love to cook and bake.

The second part of the question I had to stop and think about.  What have I learned from my hobbies?  What does knitting teach me?  How about offroading?  Or cooking, for that matter?

Cooking - mistakes can sometimes be disastrous but they can sometimes be recovered and in the recovery process, perhaps you find something new or better, or easier and faster.  Plus cooking feeds my family.  Plus there are always new things to explore (and that, actually, applies to all of my hobbies -- there are always new things to explore).

Offroading - having been perched precariously on top of rocks or door-deep in mud, offroading has taught me that it is okay to go outside of my comfort zone. 

Knitting - teaches me that endurance and perseverance pays off, mistakes can be corrected (or covered up!), and that it only takes one thread (pun intended) to form a common bond. 

Knitting has opened up worlds for me.  Most of my "inner circle" of friends are Knitters.  I've been to places I wouldn't have otherwise gone, with the hope of finding the perfect yarn.  There is humor (Franklin, and the Yarn Harlot, to name two).  There is comaraderie (knit nights, Maryland Sheep & Wool, Rhinebeck, my LYS).  There is learning (oh, there is learning).  There is patience.  There is solitude, and there is gratification.  But mostly, for me, it is the friends.  How empty my life would be without my friends - and I'd like to thank you all for being here and putting up with me. 

Enough of the waxing poetic!  How about some fiber content?

I finally(!!) finished those last 5 rows of Chart B on the Norwegian Woods Shawl.  I am now on to Chart C, which is an awful lot of yarn overs.  No, I didn't start Chart C yet...I looked at it, said uhhhhh, and put it away for a day or two.  Maybe this weekend.  We shall see.  In the meantime, you can see what I've accomplished:

   

I'm also on to the front of the bodice of the Hey, Teach sweater, which I have dubbed Lesson Two, as this is the second time I'm knitting the pattern.

      For those of you familiar with the pattern, yes, I am rebelling by having knit the sleeves before the bodice fronts, and by knitting the bodice fronts at the same time (this is a bit of an undertaking, keeping straight which side is which, but I am not regretting this choice...yet.). 

So tell me...what have your hobbies taught you?

 

So a Heathen and a Hari Krishna Get On a Bus...

My bus was leaving at 1:30 a.m. on Friday...I needed to be to the bus station by 12:30, or so the folks at Greyhound said.  I arrived at 12:32, checked in, picked up my ticket, and headed to Gate 8 to wait.  While waiting, a bus arrived and some passengers disembarked and began milling around the station.  Two of the passengers (both women) were dressed kind of -- oh, shall we say eccentrically? -- with yellow paint on their foreheads/noses.  Well, I paid no mind, worked on Mauney's cowl, and waited for the boarding to begin.  Come to find out, the passengers that were milling around were actually continuing their travels on the same bus that I was scheduled to ride.  When it finally gets to be my turn to board, the only seats left are aisle seats, and the one next to one of the eccentrically dressed women turns out to be the one that looks like the best deal to me. 

Side note:  Eccentrically dressed woman #2 was seated behind woman #1.  Apparently they were not traveling together.  This tidbit becomes important in a few minutes.

While we were waiting to leave, I kept stealing glances at my seatmate, who seemed to be muttering, but not really...her lips were moving, but not in discernible words, so I thought to myself "oh, this is NOT going to be good..." - but she wasn't rocking back and forth and didn't start clawing at the window, so I figured all was well.  Or as reasonably well as things can be on a crowded bus headed from Pittsburgh to New York City at 1:30 a.m.

As we headed out, I decided to make some polite conversation - introduce myself and all, since I was going to be sitting next to this woman for the next 8 hours or so.  Her name was Bonnie, she lived in NYC and had been visiting relatives in Cleveland.  She asked how long I had lived in Pittsburgh and I told her I didn't actually live in Pittsburgh but (here is my mistake) lived in Butler.

B:  "Butler, Pennsylvania?"

Y:  "Yes, it's about 45 minutes away."

B:  (Becoming VERY animated) "Really?  Butler, Pennsylvania?"

Y:  (Becoming somewhat wary) "Yes...."

B:  "Wow!  Our spiritual leader once stayed in Butler!  He was from Butler!  He lived in Butler with this family and he translated texts and -- "

Hari Krishna Lady #2:  "Did you say she was from Butler?"

B:  "Yes, she's from BUTLER!"

At which point they carried on a hurried conversation which I didn't quite follow, followed by Bonnie explaining to me that she was a Hari Krishna, and then she gave me the whole spiel about the leader and the translating of texts and living in Butler and can we touch you and are you really from Butler and did you know and yadda yadda yadda. 

After a lot of polite head nodding and eyes glazing over on my part, we kind of drifted off to our own thoughts, and eventually Bonnie drifted off to sleep.  I wish I could have kinneared her, but I think the flash would have angered some of the other passengers.  I slept a bit on and off, and at 4 a.m. when we had a rest stop, the madness started again, for Bonnie had a picture of the spiritual leader dude imprinted on a button (kind of like soccer moms have their kids' pictures on buttons), and had to show him to me and tell me again all about the translation of the texts, and did I think I'd have time to visit the temple where they pray, etc., because her group would be so excited to meet someone from Butler.  I politely declined (thank goodness for short layovers!), and I eventually drifted back to sleep - followed immediately by the guy in front of me slamming his seat into my knee, which left a mark. 

I watched the sunrise from the bus, discovered why Agent Gracie Hart said that NJ is called the Garden state because "Oil and Petrochemical Refinery State" wouldn't fit on a license plate, and saw the Manhattan skyline. 

    

The bus ride from NYC to Kingston was without incident, and I was picked up by Kim and her lovely dog Stella!  Upon arriving at our lodging place for the weekend, Kim gifted me with the most beautiful Malabrigo laceweight yarn.  Look, yarn!  And I didn't even get to the festival yetl! 

Next chapter:  Adventures in Seaming.