Because I did.  But, it was a good thing.  Instead of giving in to my startitis (and the excuse of having a tangled mess of yarn standing between me and the end of my clapotis), I took clapotis with me.  I spent the way to Michigan working on untangling parts of my yarn.  I still have a long way to go, but I have enough to work with for now.  I didn’t knit much in Michigan, but spent the way back on Clapotis.  In a random knitting in public moment, the guy sitting at the row beside me said, "that’s not regular knitting is it, because it doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen knit".  I told him it was in fact regular knitting but looked different because of the yarn and the dropped stitches. 

In Michigan, I discovered one very important thing, I have become hopelessly dependent on air conditioning.  Seriously, it was hot in Michigan and there was no a/c in the dorms where we were staying and I didn’t have a fan.  It was <gasp> too hot to knit.  Forget being too hot to knit, it was too hot to move. Luckily, the closing banquet of the conference was in the pleasantly air conditioned Fredrick Meijer Gardens.  We got to walk through the gardens before moving into the Grand Ballroom for dinner.  Here are a few pictures I took.

A large glass panel that hangs at the top of one of the greenhouse sections. Some of the many cacti that were in the Arid section.  I was kind of afraid of falling on them.This is an aloe tree.  I had seen aloe plants, but never an aloe tree.

Once the conference was over, I was able to travel to Threadbear and to see my college friend on Saturday.  Threadbear is amazing!  It is by far the largest yarn store I have ever been in, and it’s just like a yarn store should be in my opinion.  It’s arranged in kind of a winding fashion, so you’re constantly surrounded by yarn.  Around every corner there is some sort of seating area, whether it’s a couch, a couple of chairs or a table for classes.  I got to meet Connor and Tate (Rob and Matt’s dogs) and Connor came over to be for some pets.  They were both precious, and I got to see some of their personalities, as Tate was laying in Connor’s spot and Connor was not happy (but in the sweetest way, walking around trying to get people to help her get Tate out of her spot). The only downside was that Rob and Matt were in Ohio, so I didn’t get to meet them, but hopefully there will be another time for that. Believe it or not, I did not buy any yarn for me.  The only treasures I bought, other than the newest Interweave Knits, were for my Secret Pal.  I showed incredible self restraint, and you’ll just have to wait until pals are revealed to see what I bought. 

That was my trip in a nutshell, it was long and hot, but I got a lot of good ideas for work stuff and I got to re-connect with an old friend.  Oh, we had a great lunch and I got to met his wife and we talked about old times, it was great.  He’s the same guy who I saw as my big brother in college, only in a more grown up version.  Funny how that happens, the whole growing up thing.