The Marquise will see you now
I am on vacation with my dear friends J., Red, and The Cardinal, so this will be abbreviated (as I shall almost certainly be called back to the beach directly), but I have a few important points to make.
1. Did you see my sister’s lovely gauntlet pattern, Marquise, over at Elann? I could not be prouder. And what do you think is right smack dab on their home page? You guessed it!
I knew her when…
Go check it out and you can say the same.
2. The Outer Banks in North Carolina are stunningly beautiful this time of year and the area is full of gracious and welcoming people.
Exhibit A: Our beach. We seem to be about the only Northerners here, but we’ve learned to pepper our speech with “y’all” and “all y’all” in order to blend in and earn the trust and respect of our fellow vacationers. It doesn’t work, but at least we’ve given it the old college try! Y’all.
Exhibit B: The Cardinal masterfully flies a Kite at lovely Jockey’s Ridge State Park. If all y’all had been there, you would have been impressed.
3. There is a great yarn store, Knitting Addiction, exactly 0.2 miles from our vacation rental home. Reason enough to love this house, even without factoring in the hot tub and the fabulous…
…Rundown Cafe, which is practically next door. Try Ja love…and a fresh softshell crab sandwich.
But back to the really important stuff. Knitting supplies and suppliers. I got a delightful little Knitting Addiction knitting bag (love these little clear bags!), the local version of which is now a standard souvenir for me wherever my ramblings take me.
Because life is really, really, really too short to knit with ugly yarn.
Knitting Addiction in Southern Shores, NC. Check it out when you hit the Outer Banks, people. Could not be lovelier or have a more friendly staff, namely Brittany and Jeanne. And yes, that is a ball of Tofutsies you spy there. I don’t see a color number on the ball band, but if I were in charge, I’d call it “Sunkist.”
4. I have been knitting, but nothing too grand.
My Cherry Tree Hill Gems Merino sock with a nascent eye-of-newt heel.
Here’s a close-up of the stitch pattern, which I kind of made up on the fly:
I am quite entranced with the effect.
5. My friend Julie, a North Carolina native, assures me that S.L.U.T.S. stands for “Southern Ladies Under Tremendous Stress.” She has formed a S.L.U.T.S. Society in her hometown and apparently the meetings are very well attended.
But when you think about it, if you publicized a meeting of the S.L.U.T.S., you’d expect a fair contingent to show up, wouldn’t you?
They just might not all be ladies. Ahem.
6. And yes…
…unattended children will be sold as slaves.
Thank you. —The Management.
And with that, I gotta run. I have a rather sizeable coterie of small children to sell into slavery, and then I’m gonna mix me up a margarita and hit the beach.
More soon, y’all.
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:25 am
Sounds like all y’all are having fun. Love the new socks and YAY for Sarah. Annie Modesitt–look out!
Enjoy your vacation.
August 2nd, 2007 at 1:21 pm
You’re at OBX! How did you (Yankees) end up there? Is this your first trip, or a standing outing? We’re long-time devotees, four or five decades at this point. Rundown is indeed fantastic. My other recent favorite is Meridian 42 (basically across the street from Rundown; a little pricey but the food is legitimately amazing. Wait come to think of it, is your knitting shop in the same complex?) And then more Mexican food at Coastal Cactus (on the bypass). It seems you’ve got internet access, but, just in case, there’s a coffee shop with free wifi at MP6, called the Front Porch Cafe. It’s very hippy-dippy (one year I scored a bunch of birthday presents with the “Patriot Act/Disappearing Civil Liberties” mug they were selling–the Bill of Rights is printed on the mug, but you pour in your coffee, everything but the 2nd Amendment disappears). Just goes to show, the South is definitely weird, but not exactly uniform! Y’all.
(PS, on the subject of the lovely notice about unattended children–I assume you’ve seen the–less politically fraught–sign at Darwin’s announcing that unsupervised children would be given a shot of espresso and a free puppy?)
August 2nd, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Miss one update on Elann, and LOOK what happens!!! Someone I “know” publishes a pattern. I feel like a dear friend has made it in the big time! Congrats, Sarah! And Ellen, I hope you’re having a loverly vacation!
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Hi Kate! I have seen the Darwin’s sign. Very amusing.
But you know, I actually thought the “selling children into slavery” sign referenced an era when children used to be swept up off the streets of, say, London and sent to the colonies to work. Usually for nothing and usually more or less to death.
Perhaps I’m being too academic and I should be more offended. I’ll contemplate that.
August 2nd, 2007 at 7:41 pm
And another sign I am personally quite proud of that was laminated and posted several places at a Master Gardener series of seminars……
“Unruly children will be composted.”
I have an identical ball of Tofutsies sitting in the basket on my desk waiting for inspiration. I am anxious to see what you do with yours.
Enjoy the holiday and the margarita.
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:43 pm
I once saw a sign that read : “Unattended children will be given chocolate and a kitten”
Knit on….
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:24 am
Sounds like y’all are havin’ a great vacation! I think I’m about to put the Outer Banks on my short list of possibilities.
August 3rd, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Thanks heaps for the great review on Knitting Addiction. We love to hear that people had a good time here. If you have found us on the blog, we’d love to see you in person:)
jeanne
August 3rd, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Hey Ellen,
This is Geoffrey from the Outer Banks. It was so nice to see all of you again this year and we of course hope to see y’all here again next year. The thing you quickly find out about people you meet while vacationing on the Outer Banks is that you will become fast friends with them (must be something in the salt air) and they will continue to pop into your life in various, often surprising ways, or at least that has been my experience. Even if it is only from summer to summer that’s somehow enough because there’s something about this magical place that binds people unlike anywhere else I’ve been.
I want to make sure that we have your e-mail address correctly. Mine should be viewable to you as I had to include it to post a reply. Please just shoot me an e-mail when you get a chance and I’ll be sure to save your contact and pass it along to my mother, the Queen S.L.U.T. Herself; I’m sure she could make you an honorary Southern Lady Under Tremendous Stress, should you so desire, haha.
And yes, it is appreciated when we hear y’all “Yankees” (from my family that term is used completely playfully and with fondness, not so with all Southerners, unfortunately) trying to use “y’all.” However, much like Frenchmen can tell non-native speakers from natives we can tell when our words don’t slide as easily or with the same cadence or twang off the tongues of “foreigners.” Don’t know if it’s common up north but double contractions (such as “wouldn’t’ve,” “shouldn’t’ve,” “hadn’t’ve”… ooh, and on a side-not, the wonderfully useful “widjadidja” (see the Urban Dictionary’s definition if you’re not familiar)) are a must-have in the South; incorporate any of these into your vocabulary when mixing with locals and you’ll be well on your way to fluency in a whole new kind of English!
Again, it was great to see you and please keep in touch.
–G
PS
Judy and Jake tell me to look into Tufts for graduate school in International Studies and that it is near to where you live… I’ll definitely give it a look if for no other reason than that I hear the Boston area has quite possibly the perfect “college-town” atmosphere, which is hard to imagine after the jewel that is Chapel Hill.
August 4th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
…unattended children will be sold as slaves.
Good. I’ll leave my kids there.
I love the yarn. The colors are amazing.
August 5th, 2007 at 12:09 am
Oh OBX is lovely. I spent a week there earlier this summer and also found Knitting Addiction. You are so right about the staff and the shop is a fiber paradise. Did you get a chance to meet the sweet grey cat named Purl? I’m glad that the Southerners accepted you, and a little y’all will get you far in in North Carolina.
August 14th, 2007 at 9:57 am
Hope you had a wonderful time – the sign is great! Loved your tote SO MUCH I called the got two of my own!!! Thanks for the stash pointer!!
November 24th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
I was at my sister in laws today and she had napkins that say S.L.U.T.S. AND A COOZEY,,, where can i get that kinda of gift ideas? Wanting to buy for Christmas!!