Hangover

I woke-up this morning with a hangover.

As a 30-something, having a hangover is not something new to me. I know I've at least had one in my lifetime. However, this hangover was not from over indulging in "adult beverages." The cause: 12 hours of yarn goodness. Yes, I was yarn drunk. Myself and a few other of my knitting peeps took a field trip to Stitches Midwest yesterday.

Since Schaumburg, IL (the city in which the convention center is located) is one of my old hoods I played the role of "GPS" for the day which was fine by me as long as our driver realized I do not share the number of feet you will need to turn in. I did however do a better job than normal at this role. Instead of saying "turn at this street" without giving a direction in which to turn, I clearly indicated to our driver where and what direction they would be turning. I'm very proud of this as I see it as a growth in my GPS abilities. Upon our arrival we found ourselves fighting for a parking space. Normally we would have had the advantage in this situation because we were armed with knitting needles, however this time everyone else in the parking lot was as well so there was no advantage.

I was drunk the moment my eyes laid sight on the marketplace. There it is was - row after row after row of yummy, gorgeous yarn goodness. Many hours of yarn petting and ogling were ahead.

The hours went by quickly. At times I got separated from my group. At one point I stood at the "yarn pit" for about half an hour looking for a just the perfect yarn for my first sweater. The "yarn pit" is a booth where high quality yarns were sold in bulk for about half of what they normally cost. I found the perfect yarn for the sweater - Mirosal Sulka (60% Merino, 20 % Alpaca 20% Silk). The perfect shade of blue. The only problem: My sweater needs 750 yards for my size so I want to get at least 850 yards just in case. The Sulka pack of 10 was only 550 yards and there wasn't a second pack to match.

CRAP MONKEY!

I guess it wasn't meant to be then. Funny enough, I would later learn that one of my friends had been at the yarn pit about an hour or so earlier than I and she was looking for a second pack of the same exact Sulka I was looking at.

As I walked around the marketplace I saw many fellow knitting peeps from the various groups I have been too. Some of them I had seen recently, others not so recently. One person I did not meet-up with was Cantor D's secretary. We had been exchanging e-mails about our knitting projects and had decided that Stitches would be the perfect time to meet up. However, things were crazy and the time slipped by in a blink. Oh well, I'm sure I will meet her another time.

After we had made the first lap around, my peeps and I went back to the car to dump our purchases. This would free-up our hands for more purchases. Before we went for shopping round number two, we took a break. Shopping takes a lot out of you.

After catching some dinner, we returned to the convention center/hotel to knit with fellow Ravelers. On our way in a very drunk individual (and I'm talking adult beverage drunk, not yarn drunk) stopped me telling me I had committed a huge offense. What was my offense? I was only carrying one hank of sock yarn. OMG! Seriously, that was my offense!? Honestly, when she first stopped me what I thought she was going to say was that I was wearing socks with my flip-flops. If that had been the case I really wouldn't have cared - my feet were cold. Honestly, I didn't care that I was only carrying on hank of yarn, but I did care this person would let me go. So I talked my way free from them.

Once we got settled in the lobby of the hotel I broke out blankie. I had neglected the blankie all day and had a few things of yarn to add to it. That's when more craziness began. Blankie got A LOT of attention by those passing by. A lot of people stopped to take a look at it and ask me questions. Honestly, it made me a little uncomfortable. I can't really articulate why I was uncomfortable, but I was. I hadn't brought blankie along to attract attention, just to keep hammering away at it. One of the girls who asked me questions about it is making this AMAZING blanket that is WAY more different and unique than anything I've seen. It even made me wish I had bought some of the bulk Noro we found at the yarn pit. That blanket, in my opinion, was worth ogling.

I arrived home about 12 hours after I had left. It had been a fun-filled day. A day filled with many storied and new inside jokes.

Well worth a hangover!

Until later . . .