Knittah is Floored

I am floored/weak in the knees/faint/overcome with the vapors/verklempt.

I don't think I can adequately describe how exciting and fabulous it is to see all these pictures of SwatchGrrl and sheep and fiber and knit bloggers. Seeing and reading all of Noricum's Rhinebeck posts makes me so happy! It is not the same as being at the festival, but it is pretty darn close!

Fairs and festivals (craft fairs, quilt shows, etc) have always been one of my favorite things to do. I remember going to my first arts and crafts fair when I was growing up in Buffalo, NY. I don't remember the name of it (Mom? Help me out?), but I remember the euphoria I felt at seeing booth after booth of lovely (and not-so-lovely) handmade things. I always feel so inspired after a show, and I just want to go home and make stuff!

In my mind, Rhinebeck is the holy grail of yarn shows. Well, so is Maryland Sheep and Wool. But anyway, just the prospect of barn after barn of yarn and fiber and sheep and knitters . . . happy sigh. I always assumed that going to such a show was out of reach for me now because of CFIDS. Travel and crowds and trying to navigate a wheelchair on bumpy ground? This is a recipe for a severe symptom flare, guaranteed to keep me in bed for a week or more.

Thanks to Noricum, Rhinebeck is no longer a pipe dream. I truly feel like part of me made it to Rhinebeck. SwatchGrrl, my wool-and-acrylic alterego, made an excellent stand-in. I was there not just in spirit, but in fiber. All of the folks who posed with SwatchGrrl (and I will be visiting each of your blogs): thank you for being so friendly! I feel like we met, in a way.

One of the many curses of the severity of my CFIDS is isolation. I only leave my house once or twice a week. I rarely meet new people. I talk to the same friends on the phone, see someone in my family every few weeks, and rely on my husband to be my social representative at functions I cannot attend (my cousin's high school graduation, for example). If not for the internet, I would be connected to the world only through television. Yuck. Knitting websites, blogs and podcasts have been my virtual stitching group. I've relied upon them to learn new techniques, find great yarn, and skim the surface of the knitting community.

All that has changed. Swatchy and SwatchGrrl (and the Swatchys to come) take my place in the world. I did go to Rhinebeck. I did pet sheep and fondle fiber and meet cool people and drool over everything knitting-related. Noricum, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for proposing this whole thing in the first place, for carrying SwatchGrrl and taking such wonderful pictures. We have never met in person, but your service and kindness to me makes you one of my very dear friends.