Best Quote I Heard All Day
If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent out Texas and live in Hell.--Philip Henry Sheridan

Indeed. Sorry, my Texan readers, but Little Phil's quote still holds true. (Extra credit to those readers who know who he was.) I must say, though, that the people who I have met here have all been terrific. OK, I know. It's HIS home state. Well, I won't cast aspersions on the fine citizens of North Texas. He ain't from here, anyway.

Scene leaving DFW airport with Susan, getting on 35E. Does this look any different than westbound rush hour traffic on I80 in Jersey? Nah. And what was worse--it was about 1 in the afternoon.

I understand that San Antonio is very nice. However, I like hills. No hills here, other than Flower Mound, or so I hear. Great name for a town, no?

And the fucking killer crickets. Worse than the damned Canada goose shit that coats NJ parking lots. These crickets will eat your toddler for lunch. And they're all over the place.

With only the cellphone camera, the pictures are a bit limited, I fear.

Howsome-ever, the room was upgraded to a suite, with a HD TV in the sitting room. So I'm not too cranked out. It's been fairly grueling, with Susan and I team-training user groups. But we finished by 3:30 today and took off for the hotel pool and Jacuzzi. Plus, we had a hugely expensive dinner last night courtesy of our VP of Sales at a place called Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, a Houston-based chain, that makes Ruth's Chris look like Sizzler's.

So I ain't bitchin'. Except I'll be glad to return to Sopranosland Friday afternoon.

Clothes or Yarn?
I would say my luggage was balanced appropriately. Enough clothes and plenty of yarn. Plus, I packed my Comet spindle and actually have done a little spinning in the evening. Ted would be proud of me.

And I've been working on the Squeeze Socks. If the stitch pattern looks familiar, it's because I've used it before with fingering-weight sock yarn. This time, it's worsted weight. Cascade 220, to be exact. In a man's size 12. So the rib is compressed, making the sock look weird. I do have a live model lined up, though. I liked the socks Joe made, so I decided to swipe the cuff-heel-toe second color deal.

And I packed about 4 different sock yarns because I expect to have the Squeeze Socks done by tomorrow. Yeah, I knit in the lobby before meeting Susan for breakfast. And of course, it was nothing but knitting on the plane.

Did you know that you can take knitting needles onto planes? WOW. Who knew? Loopy suggested that I send many posts to the KL, asking if it were OK. I decided to take my chances. And knit half the leg and the heel during the three-hour flight here. Oh yeah, and we took off on time and landed a half hour early. Go figure.

Open Mic Thursday
So having loaded the suitcase with yarn selections, I have no terror of running short of something to knit. And it is a true fear. I often refer to my knitting as my Linus blankie because it's my comfort, especially away from home.

But yarn shops away? Here's your topic for this week:

When you travel, do you compile an itinerary of yarn shops? Or do you pack your luggage with projects and eschew fiber shopping?

After asking about knitting on planes, the single most annoying question on any large knitting list is the "Any Yarn Shops in Curacao?" type of query. Of course, I suppose that's arguable. There may in fact be far more irritating questions asked by the professional maroons who infest these lists.

The New and Improved Spin-Off
I have to say, the latest issue is excellent. The redesign is actually much more successful than the recent redesign of IK, in my opinion. The beauty of this redo is that the magazine retains its unique personality while getting an infusion of modernity. Not easy to accomplish. The articles have improved greatly over the past few issues. I recommend the ones on using mini-combs, working with camel down, dyeing a silk hankie.

However, the greatest improvement is in the book reviews. Finally, real reviews. The good, the bad, and the ugly as opposed to flat reportage. Whether this will apply when Spin-Off reviewers write about Interweave Press books remains to be seen. That will be the proof of the pudding.

So I will be back over the weekend. And as usual, I am post-dating this so I can get some sleep. I may post on Sunday, if I'm not otherwise occupied by a rare and handy friend.

Best Quote I Heard All Day
Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you because I love you.' --Erich Fromm

I read this the other day somewhere and I was blown away by it. Succinct. And very true.


No FibreFest North for Me
With huge unhappiness, I've had to cancel my trip to Wiarton from September 28-30 because I have to go to Dallas for the week of October 1-5. Well, to be more precise, Denton, TX, where I will be training a pile of our newest client's employees. I have not been to Dallas since 1995, when I spent an uneventful and rather boring January weekend in Arlington, covering a doll show at the Marriott across the way from the Rangers' stadium. Talk about drizzling ennui.

I have mixed feelings about this trip. On the one hand, it's always fun to go somewhere new. On the other hand, I'm not the world's most enthusiastic flier. I do it but I don't like it. I'll be taking the camera and the knitting, though. Susan, my boss and buddy, wants to learn how, so since she's going to be stuck with me that week in Denton, looks like she'll be my captive pupil.

But there are two trips that will not be canceled by any client, thank God: The Rhinebeck weekend. A one-day foray down to Baltimore for Stitches Market on the Saturday. Yeah, I'll be incognito in my Foster Grants and perhaps a fugly sweater, if my sister can find one, which I'm sure she can at some hideous garage sale.

Open Mic Thursday
Apropos of the upcoming fiber extravaganzas, here's this week's topic:

Of the three, which would you like to attend most? And if you have been to all three, which was the best? Stitches, Rhinebeck, or Maryland Sheep & Wool? Or would you rather stay home and go to some S 'n' B at an overpriced coffeeshop?

I have my preference, which I'm sure you already have figured out. I have attended all three.


The Squeeze
Loopy takes credit for this moniker, since I am not naming names so that I don't cause any untoward embarrassment. But The Squeeze sometimes reads the blog so he knows who he is. I'm happy to report that all is well in Squeezeland. The Squeeze likes my socks. And actually asked for a pair.

And I'm right now concentrating on that, knitting manly socks on the train because they can be shoved into a laptop bag without much damage. Which led me to thinking about redesigning a pair I did last year, making them in Cascade 220 so that they're heavy socks. Not usually my modus operandi but this weekend, I'll see how it swatches up.

No Obligatory Knitting Shit
Nothing this week. I'm lucky if I do a few rounds on the socks before I nod off on the 5:31 out of Hoboken. I have two unfinished projects that I'd like to tackle this weekend, along with the Cascade 220 swatch: the Magenta Diamonds, which needs two rows ripped out and the final top edging done, and the Lavold pullover that needs one sleeve finished.

Other than that, all I have to say this Thursday is: LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE! SHE'S A HUMAN BEING!

My role model at 15 was Jean Shrimpton. Anyone remember her? You have to be of a certain age, I suppose.

I so wanted to be her at that age. And she was and is a very smart woman. She's 65 now but I bet still striking. And rare and handy. Not like the Twit Sisters, Britney, Paris, and Lindsay.

Oh yeah, and I'm putting this up before midnight, cheating as usual. Because I'm fucking tired, so bite me.