Just Like Heaven

The Hosts

Saturday night I went to my favorite getaway - the Lakehouse. Abbie and Benji's dad has a little lakehouse somewhere between here and Memphis. The drive is just long enough to feel like you're far away, but just short enough to go away for a night. Abbie and I have been spending weekends there since I turned 16, sometimes with her brother (a.k.a. my "otha-brotha"), sometimes with friends, and sometimes just to get away for a girl's weekend.

The Next Generation

There are certain Lakehouse rules. Some came from tradition, others from necessity, and some from, well, we might have been drinking when we made those up. It can't be a Lakehouse weekend without wine coolers (don't ask why - just drink your darn wine cooler and get on with it). We also have to play certain games - Connect Four, Uno, and gin. There's really nothing else to do there after dark but drink and play cards on the screen porch.

The Neighbors

Guests must have a smile on their face within 10 minutes of arrival, and if you're not having a good time, go home. You'd better be easily amused, because you're on your own for entertainment. You're not allowed to know what time it is. There are about 15 clocks in the 4 room cabin, and none of them work. It's either time to eat, time to go to bed, time to get up, or time to go fishing. Everyone must pitch in equally when it comes to groceries, cooking, cleaning, etc. We all go there to get away, so no one person should have to take care of everyone else. The most important rule is that you have to go home stinky. You can't go to the Lakehouse and drive home clean. That would be just silly.

Little Tay and Auntie Em

This past weekend was fairly typical. Abbie, her daughter, Benji, and a couple other friends arrived earlier, so I showed up just in time for dinner (working Saturdays isn't always fun, but at least I got out of dinner duty). Afterwards we put little Tater to bed and sat on the porch for a quiet, but fun night with friends. We went to bed at about dark-thirty, every little bed and couch full.

The Fish Whisperers

The next morning, Benji and his niece collected sticks to give to Mommy. It's funny how we all revert back to high school at the Lakehouse. It's like we're playing house. When we all lived with our parents, the Lakehouse was just that. It was our own special place to get away and feel like adults, but now we feel like teenagers there.

Baby Turtle

After a great day, we cleaned up, packed our gear and headed home. I was about an hour away from Nashville when my legs started to hurt a little. Abbie and I were so concerned with not letting Tater get too much sun that we might have forgotten to re-apply sunblock. My legs are fried. It hurts to bend them, touch them, or even wear pants. It looks like I'll be wearing long skirts all week.

Other than the burn, I came home rested, happy, and most importantly, stinky. And it's not even summer yet. There are many Lakehouse weekends to come.

Sides Hurt From Laughing

The Harlot came to Tennessee, and did not disappoint. That woman can say "Hello" and I'd laugh uncontrollably.

There was a great group at Borders, and I always get a thrill seeing this many people knitting at once. It makes me feel just a little bit more normal (which doesn't happen too often).


The Harlot also brings people together. Here's my pal JP (it stands for Just Perfect) and his friend Ashley. His blog rocks, he's fun, charming, and an amazing knitter.


I just had to throw in a picture of the two of us - we usually chat via e-mail, so it's extra nice to see him in person. I showed him how to do magic loop, and he got it instantly. ('Cause he rocks).


These are two of my favorite knitters, Jen and Kim, who are now sock Queens. They both took sock classes from me, and it makes me feel like a proud mama to see just how much they love sock knitting.


After catching up with friends and knitting a bit, the Harlot spoke. Hee Hee Ha Ha almost peed my pants funny!!! She's funny, smart as anything, and tells the best stories.


We all got in line to get our books signed. She met TBY's incredible owner, Dana, and we took a group picture. OMG she's holding my sock! And OMG I got to hold her sock!!!! How cool is that? My eyes are actually open in this picture too!


The night was a blast. I'm still all keyed up from having so much fun. It's the same feeling I get after going to a great concert. My non-knitter friends have asked me about the Harlot - apparently they don't understand the term "knitting humorist". She's a rock star in the knitting world, and she liked my sock. Cool.

The Harlot is Coming to Town!!!!

I have spent the last 45 minutes trying to locate one of my favorite pictures of all time - The Yarn Harlot and I, both with our socks. I would never ever delete that picture, because it's awesome, but it's gone from iPhoto. It's gone from all of my photo backup discs dating back to 2006. I was so excited that I had a good picture of me with a knitting rock star, but it's gone, so picture this:
The Yarn Harlot, in front of a gorgeous wall of yarn, holding her pretty blue socks, and yours truly, with my eyes actually open in a picture (it's rare), holding my pretty blue socks.

She came to the store about 2 years ago and I had just quit for a new job. (Still trying to remember why I left the store in the first place.) The owner asked me to come help, and I not only heard her chat, took pictures, and got autographs, I went out to dinner with the Harlot (and a few famous Nashville bloggers too). We drank wine and knitted and ate good food and it was such a fun night.

She's coming to town again, tomorrow night, and it should be just as much fun (even though I don't have the dinner invitation this time.) I'm starting some socks tonight to honor the occasion, and a good friend will be here too!

On a side note, the happy socks didn't make me happy. At all. My mind was set on a cool diagonal lace pattern, and the colors pooled no matter what size needle I used. After 4 hours and a headache (and a glass of wine) I finally put them down and decided they needed to be stockinette socks, no funky lace. It doesn't pool anymore, but I'm waiting for my magic loop class to begin for those - it's an excuse to knit a sock along with the class.

I picked up some psychedelic-lookin' Arucania sock yarn recently, and started a pair last weekend (or was it the weekend before?). After a lot of careful swatching and about 4" of leg knitted, I tried it on to show off to a friend and realized it was way too small. Painfully small. It wouldn't even fit over my heel. Whoops. Tonight, after I get my other work done, I'll start with 8 more stitches and see what I can get done before tomorrow night. The timing is great - I'm in the mood for something lacey yet psychedelic.

I've been working on another, somewhat secret, project. I have a great dress - brown, strapless, with a strip of pearly-white embroidery under the bust. It's perfect for summer parties and weddings, but I feel somewhat exposed in the dress, and need a little cover up. I thought about designing something, but that takes a lot more time and energy and I might wear the cover up in about a month. That was too much pressure.

I bought some Blue Sky Alpaca's Alpaca Silk and started to crochet Short 'N Sweet from The Happy Hooker. It was cute, but the fabric wasn't exactly what I wanted. So of course, I'm designing something, kinda. It's a cop-out design - I'm taking a great short sleeve wrap pattern from an old issue of Rebecca Magazine and changing the lace pattern and shape to fit my needs. I can't publish it, but it's coming up very quickly. Here's a sneak peek:


I started graphing and swatching on Saturday night, and now have finished one sleeve, the back, one front, and am 4" up the second front piece. It's just gorgeous. Hopefully it will be blocking by this weekend, but I'm not holding out too much hope for this week. Thursday is SNB so I work late, Friday I have a late lesson and am babysitting after that, then Sunday and Monday I'm helping a friend move. Ugh. Looks like I'll have to take my pencil, calculator, graph paper, and new design wherever I go.

Wait, didn't I just say that I'm re-starting that sock tonight? I'll start the sock, then work on the design.

Hope to see everyone at the Harlot tomorrow! It's at Borders on Franklin Road in Brentwood - just go here for details.