Kiss My Knits!

And I had a great time. We got to see our friends, and their kids are adorable. Example one and Example two. Yes, that’s my Swiss Army knife, but he cut himself on a tree, not my knife, I swear. And yes, that is my sheep blanket, which is holding up well through repeated machine washings. It was a narrow scrape, but I managed to avoid “baby fever” and will stick with just the one I have now.

We started out late on the trip up and so we missed an item on my timetable – I thought we could stop and have dinner in Richmond, maybe hit World of Mirth and Got Yarn. Due to a traffic delay caused by a wrecked car-carrying 18-wheeler around Durham, it was 7:15 by the time we hit Richmond and those stores were closed. We elected to keep driving. Good thing, too. We hit bad patches of traffic a couple of times and then took the 50 fork of 50/301 (wrong!) and so it was midnight by the time we reached our friends’ house. I was exhausted, as I had done all the driving since my husband doesn’t like to drive my car. He’s a foot taller than me and the car is a bit tight for him. We hadn’t made reservations, and by the time we arrived, the hotels were all booked. Apparently they’re next to bars, and people drink until they’re plastered and then rent rooms for the night. So we wound up staying with our friends, which was nice.

We hit Bowie and Annapolis the next day, including stops at Yarn Garden (I needed #6 doublepointeds for the top of a hat) and some brewing shop (my husband and his friend brew beer). My friend and I had a good heart-to-heart in the car while the guys went in. It left me more depressed than I was before, but I’m sure it was still good to let a lot of those feelings out.

Then it was off to the waterfront to wander around and eat sushi. A good time was had by all, although I was so exhausted that I know I looked like a zombie, and my friends asked several times what was wrong. Well, I’d had about 5 hours sleep after a tiring day and am walking around in 90+ degree heat. I was trying to soldier on and be a good guest, and I think I did all right, but I was utterly wiped out. I kind of figured that if their 3-year-old could keep it together, so could I.

We started back home on Sunday, and this time we arrived in Richmond at 12:15. We decided to stop and grab lunch and maybe try World of Mirth again. We got close, and it was very crowded. Whaddya know, it was the Carytown watermelon festival! So we parked and walked around.

We found 17 bucks in cash on the street when we came out of an antique shop. I was flummoxed. It had clearly fallen out of someone’s pocket. We waited around for a while, holding it clearly in our hand, to see if anyone came by looking at the ground or inquiring. They didn’t. With no way to find the owner, we decided that it would be okay to use it, but only if we spent it all at the festival. So as we wandered, we gave a few bucks to the humane society, firefighter’s fund, etc. and did leave it all in Richmond. I still felt guilty, but I honestly didn’t know what else to do.

Anyway, we ate some watermelon, hit some stands and stores, and generally had fun. When we were roasted to an even crisp, we got back in the car and drove home. We listened to Harry Potter in the car on the trip, and got as far as chapter ten. Good times.

Our daughter apparently had a good time with her grandmother. They swam every day, and she went to a play and to Mass, so she had some new experiences. I’ll be picking her up shortly.

In knitting news, I finished the vegan Jayne hat. Someone ordered one from cotton, as she is vegan and didn’t want a wool one, but also didn’t want acrylic. I loooooove this cotton. It’s Araucania Nature Cotton, the easiest cotton I’ve worked with. It’s not tiring on the hands like the other variegated South American offering I’ve worked with, Manos Stria. The pompom on this hat is a little droopy, which is just the lack of spring in the cotton, but the hat itself feels very good and is surprisingly resilient. I’m pleased with how it turned out. The only thing I’m considering is getting some fray check to paint on the ends of the ties so they don’t unravel.

So, all in all, a wonderful weekend. Can’t wait to do it again!