Yarn Harlot: Postcards

Postcards

I meant to send you several postcards from Squam. Blogging, tweeting... I was going to show you what it was like while I was there, but the combination of teaching and being busy and having spotty wi-fi meant that I didn't. (Also, there was an afternoon where I had to choose between a swim in the lake and a blog entry, and you lost. I'm not sorry either.) Sadly for you, that means there were no postcards. Happily for you, I'm now at home, and you get all of them at once.

#1. Squam is pretty.?

#2. So pretty. (That was our dock. Every cabin has one, and we made the most of ours.)

#3. Somebody yarnbombed the snot out of the place. Everywhere you went, the woods, the classrooms, doorknobs... Yarn-o-rama.? Makes a knitter feel at home, let me tell you, though I can't stop wondering who's job it was to keep track of where they all were and remove them after.

#4. There were pom-poms hanging everywhere. You'd be walking through the woods and there one would be.? A little yarnish note.

#5. If you ever have to go on a road trip with anyone, go with us. Not only were my carmates kind, funny and easy-going (and yes, that car is full of yarn)... we did a car lunch that you would have died for.?

#6. Like fresh lemonade.

#7. Like little individual pasta salads in wee mason jars, and camping cutlery with real cloth napkins, tied up with a little hand-dyed silk.

#8. Like a cheese tray and home made crackers. (Sheep's milk cheese, naturally.)

#9. Denny even made lavender wands for us to hang from the suit hooks of the van. (Heaven knows we have no suits.)

#10. The baby we took with us (Marlowe) was a constant source of entertainment and joy. (That smile? That was on her face for all 5 days, including the 11 hour car ride each way.)

#11. She even liked going to classes.

#12. Except when she looked like this.

#13. That means that mostly, her mum looked like this.

#14. We shared a cabin with Amanda (aka Soulemama, though I like first names, don't you?) and it turns out I like her as much as her blog.? Despite our different lives (she has a farm, I have a city) we share many values, especially around families, the very young, and trying to live in a way that treads lightly on the earth and those that we meet.? I haven't told her yet, but we're going to be pen pals.

#15. It turns out that one thing that Amanda and I have in common is a complete and total lack of direction. We were separately lost in the woods in exactly the same way a few times, and arrived at the cabin relieved that we weren't going to have to live out among the trees, wandering hopelessly and eating bark and lichen. It was eventually decided that we must never set out together, alone. We were grateful.

#16. We taught, we talked, we ate, we laughed, and that means that my friends looked like this.

I love them. I love Squam. Today, there is laundry, and no groceries, and an exploding inbox, and a dirty bathroom - but before this, there was a lake, and clever students, and a beautiful space and ... I love Squam.? I wish you'd been there.

PS. #17. On the first day there, the Torontonians learned about ticks and were repulsed and afraid. Ticks are far more common in the US than they are in Ontario, and we were absolutely flabbergasted by the laissez faire attitude our American friends showed towards a bloodsucking arachnid that stuck its head in your body and was hard to remove. We spend four days fearing them and looking for them and feeling them crawl on our bodies, even though they weren't there.?? On the last night, we breathed a sigh of relief that we'd avoided the disgusting things entirely.? That was moments before a half dressed Denny burst out of the bathroom screaming "TIIIIIICCCCCCKKKK!!!"? and there one was, stuck to her leg.? She closed her eyes, we all smothered her in love, and Megan removed it from her with tweezers while we all said helpful things like "Be sure and get the head!" (We heard that from someone.? Seemed central.) The tick was removed (as well as the head) Denny took a shower and was rewarded with a big glass of cider.? Peace reigned for 10 minutes until I felt a little lump on my leg under my pants.? I pulled up my pant leg and saw it.
TICK.? The hysterical scene repeated itself.? Megan screamed "I'LL GET THE TWEEZERS" and Jen yelled "I'LL GET THE CAMERA."

Denny and I have 96 combined years on the planet and we each got our first tick in 15 minutes.? We feel lucky to have escaped with our lives.?

PPS - Because someone will worry. Not a deer tick. No risk of Lyme Disease. Disgusting, but not dangerous.? Thanks for caring.?

Posted by Stephanie at June 12, 2012 4:09 PM | TrackBack

I desparately want to squeeze little Marlow. What a happy face!!

Ooops, I meant Marlowe. Meep!

No laissez faire attitude from the American regarding ticks. Ew. Ick. HATE. THEM. and FEAR. THEM.

Squam looks lovely. Maybe someday.

I really, really, really think you need to reinvent Squam in Europe - in Switzerland if possible. Do you have any idea how many people over here would think they had died and gone to heaven if you could do that one teeny weeny little thing for us!! Pleeeeease!!!

What a lovely place - good times with friends,old and new!
I've read that the best way to remove a tick is by covering it with a cotton ball drenched in veggie oil. This supposedly makes them leave your flesh of their own accord so that there is no possibility of their little head being left embedded in you when you pull them off. sorry, that's gross. We have ticks in northern NY and, unfortunately, increasingly, we have lyme disease.
You're probably safe at home now, but keep the cotton ball in mind for the next time at Squam.

No laissez faire attitude from this American regarding ticks. Ew. Ick. HATE. THEM. and FEAR. THEM.

Squam looks lovely. Maybe someday.

I really, really, really think you need to reinvent Squam in Europe - in switzerland if possible. You have no idea how many poeple would think they'd died and gone to heaven if you did! Pleeeeease!!!

Really thought it was going to read "Denny was rewarded with a big glass of WINE....I'd still be drinkin' it.

awww man! i wanna see this tick pic!

I guess y'all don't have chiggers up that far north either. Reckon we have all those nasty beasts to ourselves.

If you ever have to deal with a tick again, which I sincerely hope not: http://www.budget101.com/myo-pesticides/easy-tick-removal-kid-safe-repellent-3822.html

no ticks in toronto? another great reason to move to Canada. but there are ticks in the rural areas, right? otherwise I'm going to be even more cross that Grandpa didn't move to Alberta when he had the chance.

Other ticks have Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. You didn't want to know that. Stay healthy.

And aside from being ticked off, what a beautiful, wonderful place and experience there!

I have bad news for you - ticks are common in Northern Ontario, workihng as a geologist in the woods we'd regularly get 30-40 climbing on us a day, and 2-4 embedded a day. Plus, they know now that wood ticks also carry Lyme :(

The first time my brother got a tick was on the back of his neck. He went to my mom and asked her what that little thing on the back of his neck was. She looked and said, "It's a tick." and led him into the bathroom to remove it. He said "What's a tick?" Mom: "It's a little bug that sucks your blood." Him: "LIKE A VAMPIRE??!?!? GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!!!!"

Sorry that you and Denny had to have your first tick experience. So glad that you have no risk of lyme disease. Looks like wonderful fun at Squam. Wish I could have played.

Marlow is adorable and do I correctly recognize that blanket?

Yep, mild winter equaly muchos ticks. I hear that cotton ball soaked in liquid soap accomplishes the job, too (and I'll bet a wad of soap/oil-soaked wool would also work and be easier to find with that crew.) Vaseline was the old trick, at least the one that didn't involve fire. #thingswewishwedidn'thavetoknow

Nothing worse than getting something up your pants leg. When I was a kid, we were in a sandwich shop in the middle of Pennsylvania and my mom was in the rest room. She found a bug up her leg, flipped her wig and threw her pants out of the bathroom screaming "get your father" at me and my sister. We got some funny looks!

Squam looks just heavenly! I'm glad you had a good time and didn't get too lost. Sorry about the ticks! Part of nature, really.

Squam is a beautiful place, and yes, unfortunately, we have to share most of the beautiful places in NH with ticks. I hate them, but we see them so frequently now, especially that we have a dog, that I have gotten very nonchalant about just picking them off and tossing them in a bottle of rubbing alcohol (kills them). Found one on my back at the end of last tick season, ended up on 10 days of horse-pill-like antibiotics "just in case". So far, so good.

Glad you had fun here-come back soon! Maybe on a book tour??? :)

Some people say all things in nature have a purpose, part of the balance in nature. Well, I wish someone would tell me the purpose of ticks!
I'm itching, just reading about them! Signed, Minnesota resident :-)

I'm an Albertan who has lived in Maryland for ten years. We recently bought a bit of country in the city - a half-acre, mostly wooded, with a lovely house on it. I've had my first tick ever, and there was much freaking out.

No pictures, though.

Your tick story is too funny! And just to let you know no matter how many times you find one on you you are still allowed to freak out. They are nasty little suckers. ;-)

My friend use to tell me, when you get old and are looking out the window doing dishes,these are the times you will remmeber.
Not bad I would say.

I HATE ticks. I have tried very hard to figure out what their place in the universe is.. because I do believe every living thing has some sort of purpose. But Ticks???? I hate them. I remove them periodically from our cat, but when I had to remove one from my husband's back I damn near passed out. (you wrote a lovely blog, but all we heard was TICKS)

Squam looks like it was a wonderful, fabulous, fun, restful, place to be. I'm sure you enjoyed it!!

Re Ticks: I'm a Southern girl (Georgia) who has dealt with ticks forever. Mostly on the animals - but occasionally on the humans. Unfortunately, most of the above mentioned suggestions regarding anything like oil of any sort, vaseline, soap or any of those actually works. (Neither does a match should anyone ever suggest it - which I would hope you would know better than to try regardless.)

Funny story about a tick - I'm a single mom with a 9 year old boy and about two years ago he hollered from the shower that he had a tick on his penis. I did not believe him till he came and showed it to me. And there it was right on the end. Pulling that off was difficult for me and painful for him! (He continually gets them in his scrotum area - I personally do not understand how he does not feel them crawling into that space!!)

Sounds like a wonderful trip. My son and dog are tick magnets in our own yard. It's why I have "tick keys" everywhere for easy removal. So long as one applies it is the correct direction, the key works like a charm (as the dog never liked the look of tweezers coming at her!).

Sounds like you had a great time! I do wish I had been there. Even if there were ticks.

There's nothing like hearing your youngest child say, "Hmm, I have something on my arm. OMG! IT HAS LEGS! IT HAS LEGS!" And just recently, I had to pull another off the back of my middle child. She's old enough now that the Dr gives a strong one-time dose of antibiotic. Which she promptly threw up. Because that's a side effect. So that was fun.

Ew, yes - American here, and I too think ticks are disgusting.

Maybe I shouldn't tell you about the time my husband and I went hiking in Virginia, then came home and found over 100 ticks on us (both of us combined)? We spent hours, stripped down in the bathroom, freaking out and picking them off each other.

I so wish I had been there with you. It looks lovely, but the question is did you finish the projects you took?

No ticks? Ah, yet another reason to love Canada. I'm betting you don't have any stinkbugs up there, either.

In regards to Ticks...I heard that a hot match head will remove a tick far easier than tweezers. At least that is what my mom told me...she's had many run ins with Ticks at Girl Scout Camp. I have been lucky...so far.....

No fair telling us there's a photo and then not showing us! *[pouts]*
Squam is gorgeous - someyear, I'll give myself the gift of joining you there. Many thanks for such lovely postcards!

I'm sorry but I laughed so hard about the ticks. Living in Oklahoma and native Texan it is about the first thing you learn as a child. That and catching fireflies.
By the way, just soak a cotton ball in soap (like Dawn) and place on tick for for 20 sec and tick is gone.
How could we not enjoy living in the woods each summer just because we were scared of a little tick. PattiO

May you ALWAYS choose a swim in a beautiful lake, over blogging...

I'm so glad you're back! You are a very talented photographer.
And now, I feel obligated to mention that that adorable baby should still be rear-facing when traveling in a vehicle.

I believe you and Franklin Habit have companion Squam-love postings, although he didn't mention the ticks. I'm making it a goal to be at Squam next year.

But, but...I wanted to see the tick.

Must.Squeeze.Baby.Cheeks!!!

And now I want to go yarn bombing, just because it makes me smile.

Glad you had such a fabulous trip.

Sounds like a magical time, ticks or not.

For all those posting home remedies other than tweezers http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html Please just follow these directions, yes it takes some delicacy, and yes, you have to get close to the tick, but using other remedies such as matches, cotton balls soaked in solutions etc can cause the tick to purge (vomit) into your bloodstream before ( and if at all) it detaches putting you at higher risk for exposure to illness.

So sorry about the tick, but you had that gorgeous baby with you.. so I don't feel too bad!
thanks for the post. I'm glad you went swimming!

I do seem to remember that although ticks become scarcer further north, the biting flies and mosquitos take up the slack. Still, nothing prepares you for that first moment of discovering a little arthropod hitchhiker! Marlowe is lovely- -can't believe how big she's gotten in what seems like such a short time.

I realy need the recipe for the pasta salad. Can you assign someone the job of posting it, or sending it out. I love the food and drink from Mason/Ball jars. That is just my thing.

I would love to go on a road trip with y'all!!

Wanna hear something even worse? Down south, there are species of ticks that are very small. TINY. Tiny like the head of a pin.... and they live in colonies. Encountering one means encountering hundreds. Removal is best achieved with things like duct tape so that many are gotten in one fell swoop.. or rather, one fell riiip! It also requires a visit to the doctor for a steroid shot. icky icky icky!

Also... 8 years ago, when my dear sweet first born was at the crawling stage, I found her happily playing on the floor. It seemed she'd found a smooth round pebble and she was busily gumming away at it. I fished it out of her mouth only to discover to my horror that it wasn't a smooth round pale little pebble. IT WAS A FULL TICK that had dropped off the dog after drinking its fill. EW EW EW EW EW!

Now, go look at unicorns riding rainbows to bleach that story from your mind...
http://www.unicorn-pictures.com/cute-unicorn-in-the-sparkly-gardens

Marlowe seems to love her blanket and why wouldn't she, it's as gorgeous as she is!

I spend a lot of time at Pinery Provincial Park which is in Ontario, just an hour west of London and I can confirm, Ontario has ticks!

We get those nasty things here every spring. So far I have found them prior to the tweezers removal stage (just crawling around). Just seeing one on someone else (or reading about it) causes the itch to begin. Didn't know not to use a match head though, so, see, I learned something!

I too, would love the pasta salad recipe. I am into 'canning jar foods' these days.

thanks for the rest of the blog post, but, well, the ticks almost wiped the rest from my mind. I'll need to go back and reread... to a certain point.

Oh, Squam sounds wonderful .... and looks beautiful ... and the car trip sounds worth it all on its own. Must try out new daydream ...

Don't you think the UK would be a good location for a European version?

Cannot ignore the tick issue, though -- we only have little pathetic ones in the UK, not dangerous as far as I know, which I remember my (doctor) stepfather removing by touching them with a blown-out match (yes, I will read the proper instructions someone posted, and not mess around with matches in future!). How come my lovely American husband never warned me about ticks and took me to the USA twice in a complete state of innocence??? I shudder in retrospect ...

OK, I give up, what IS the name of that baby blanket pattern?

I really want to go to Squam!! It looks like so much fun! maybe eventually...

P.S. If you ever get a tick again (which I hope you dont), light a match then blow it out and press it on the tick. It will back its head out so its easier to pick it up.

You have every right to be concerned and excited about ticks. A lovely girl here at church is fighting hard to overcome meningitis caused by a tick.
Everything about Squam is wonderful--the ticks and mosquitoes remind us it is indeed reality and not just a daydream.
I always tell my family the journey is part of the wonderful experience as your car picnic certainly proves.

Looks like Squam was fantastic. So glad, cause 11 hours in the car is a long drive in my book.

And ticks, yeah ugly, scary, dangerous. But at least they're easy to spot, remove, and get on with life. For my money, fleas are worse. Around here they infest fast, transmit plague AND can cause your pets to get tapeworms too (ask me how I know. Go on, I dare ya. ;-)). They say the roaches will be the only ones that survive but I bet the roaches will be saluting the fleas before it's all over!

Better a tick than a bear. You can't use tweezers on a bear.

But did you have enough knitting?

I grew up as a mosquito and chigger magnet, but no ticks in my town.

A little of the glow just went off Squam.

On the other hand, I might be for hire as the sacrificial tick attractor for a Squam scholarship. It could be worth it. Maybe. I'd have to see that picture first.

That lunch looks amazing - just lovely.

I would almost accuse you of planning the whole trip just to indoctrinate another Knitter (that would be Marlowe), but I can see the flora and fauna are what drives this.

I hope you are there next year - because I will be there - I'm making a plan - it looks like a slice of heaven.

That is one perfect baby too - wow!

Both my sons, my dog, and I have had Lyme disease. We clearly harbor it in our yard. My son is about to go on a cross country bike ride, so I have gotten him a tick key to take with him. We keep those little keys and "tick spoons" in the bathrooms! They are a hard thing, with a v-slit, so you slip the v under and around the tick's neck, so that when you push towards the tick's back, out he comes!

Hope this doesn't sound too dreadfully personal - which means of course it will - but what I really love in these photos are the images of real women, in real women's bodies, real women's hair and skin, and not a stinking pushup bra between you. You glow. You are gorgeous, each and every one of you, and you did it all with the assistance of good food, good company, some good alcohol and rafts of delicious fibre - not with cosmetics of fashion. Thanks for representing!

Ticks and lack of dignity:
My nephew was 16, 6'4 and "all grown up". He spent (and spends) a lot of time in The Bush (as we call the Woods up here, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula).
One day, after being out in The Bush, he went to my mother's house. While in the bathroom he discovered a tick on his scrotum. He had to have his grandmother remove it. He has been mercilessly teased about having his grandma going after his balls with tweezers ever since.

#1 If you have to live in a car for 11 hours, that's the way to do it. 2# Squam looks gorgeous! #3 Ticks are gross. (glad no chance of Lyme disease.)

I have lived in tick country nearly my whole life, and I STILL flip out over finding one of the nasty little buggers on me. The only thing worse than finding a tick on you is finding a slightly(or more)PLUMP tick on you . . . if you get my meaning.

A few years back my roommate was working at an archaeological site in Virginia and she went home, took off her socks and boots to discover what looked like black socks on her legs from all the ticks, she had to scrape them off with a credit card. She is now known as the queen of ticks.

There are worse things than ticks out there.

eek! i somehow posted my comment to the wrong page!... let me go see if i can find it, cos it makes NO sense elsewhere but here...

ok, this is what i meant to post here that ended up elsewhere: oh i just want to kiss and hug that baby! then, i will hand her back... just need the occasional fix. sigh... :)

First, Squam is gorgeous! I haven't been there in years, but I periodically watch On Golden Pond to recapture the beauty (that's Squam).

Second, I hate to tell you this, but there is growing evidence that other types of ticks can also carry Lyme (Not sure if that's a new development, or a new discovery.) Either way, if the tick was attached and eating, keep an eye out for that bullseye rash. Do NOT let Lyme get ahead of you!

I HATE ticks. We have them around where I live and I've only ever found one on me but I fear finding one on Little Man. Of course, now we're going to be moving to the ocean so I don't know that we'll have the same risk of ticks there that we do in southern Wisconsin...

i live near woods and have a cat who brings in a tick now and then. coming out of the shower the other day without glasses (or sight) i thought i was looking at a scratch and even touched it....put my glasses on and ......TICK!!!!.....I'm still not over it.

I got rocky mountain spotted fever once. Seriously not fun. Boo ticks.

There's an abundance of ticks in the southern Ontario these days. You can buy special tweezers to remove them, especially the heads. UGH!!

I'm so glad you had a lovely visit in my wonderful state of NH! Squam is beautiful and only an hour's drive from where I live, but sadly I don't get there hardly ever, but mostly because I live on a similarly beautiful lake :-) Sorry about the ticks. We had a particularly mild winter for us which means a bumper crop of ticks and mosquitos this year :-(

Ticks aside (gross! blecch!), can someone post the pasta salad and crackers recipes? Looks like a great trip!

Squam looks beautiful, but, OMG - that baby!!! What a doll! BTW, how cold was the lake - pretty early in the season for lake swimming - even south of the border! Judy

What a beautiful place! And that squishy, happy baby leaves me breathless. ...and wool everywhere. Ya think ya found heaven? Thanks so much.

I agree, Squam is sooooo magical! And I feel lucky to have been able to spend a few days there learning new knitterly techniques, eating yummy food, walking gloriously green paths, making new friends, finding (and executing!) yarn bombings, taking pictures of lovely flowers and people and buildings and docks and water and sky and trees, sitting by the fire and knitting for hours on end and just soaking up the blissful beauty. Despite the ticks, despite the bear, despite the rain, despite the cold, despite collapsing docks, despite getting lost in the woods (I think we all did it!)....we experienced such joy!

I am so insanely jealous that you had such a fantastic time at Squam. I've been wanting to go for the almost 4 years I've lived exactly 1 hour away and have not yet managed it.
One of the top 10 reasons my husband has us moving back to the West coast is a total unapologetic fear and loathing of ticks. We've had a ton of 'problems' with them since living here including 3 weeks of antibiotics for our 4 year old son. No laissez-faire attitude here. Glad yours weren't deer ticks. Thanks for making me laugh out loud with #17

So fun to see you at the Art Fair! I'm glad you got to swim in the lake; I barely caught a glimpse of it. Next year I'd love to earlier and take some classes. We were so lucky with the weather as it's been so rainy in New England this spring.
Too bad about the tick(s). Sounds like you bravely soldiered on.

It appears that you had a fantastic time. Yep ticks are icky, really disgusting and gross. But I swear not all that common in many parts of the US. I hate 'em. I use DEET in tick infested locales. Smelly toxic chemicals, but never a tick to be found. I used to do 10 day backpacking trips in heavily infested areas and managed to avoid them. (My marked up copy of the trail mapped is annotated "bug filled hell" in places.) I credit my survival to modern chemistry.

I live in Manitoba and I'm a biologist, which means I get to be outside but also that I have a had ticks crawling on me a lot. I screamed the first time too but I'm a lot more complacent (don't get me wrong, I still think they are gross). There is a phrase that I use to describe that feeling when you think you have a tick but don't: "phantom tick", as in: AAAAAAH PHANTOM TICKS CRAWLING UP MY LEGS!!! ;) I'm just thankful they don't stick around all summer!

Wonderful post, loved the photos. Ticks? Freaky!

But help - what is that lovely cardigan in the last photo, with the big cables down the front?! I'm knee-deep in startitis, and that cardi is calling my name!

Thank you, Stephanie, for traveling so far to share your wit and wisdom with us. Though you undoubtedly had the very best of companions, 11 hours x 2 is a LONG drive! I loved both my classes with you, taking home all kinds of new ideas and techniques. Squam was a wonderful experience, and I am very glad you were part of it. Be well.

Beautiful photos, and it looks like a lovely time. I do so want to participate in a knitting retreat sometime in my future!!

We have ticks in BC. I have never had one, and I never worry too much when I am hiking :) They are creepy, ugly little creature though.

Have fun with your "being back home" chores!

I got a tick about 30 years ago -- same reaction. I was a smoker at the time and had a roommate who had experience with them. She had me light a cigarette and then took the lit end and warmed the tick's butt. It backed right out! Remember for next year's Squam. You can do the same thing with a lit then blown out match head.

EEW! Night hike at CA nat'l park and then something moving in my jeans leg. Just what husbands are for: finding and killing ticks. I never want to see another one!!!

Wow...that looks amazing and awesome. Squam that is.

And, btw, I'm 'Merican and ticks still freak me out. So did the wolf spider that jumped out of my daughter's closet onto me, possibly leading me to teach my four children (...well, at least the 3 talking) some inappropriate-for-company words.

I've enjoyed my time in NH in the past, but now.....ewwww.....even though there was a report of a kid getting a tick in a school yard here in Whitby, just east of Toronto! so no where is safe!
What a wonderful time you must have had, and I'm really glad to see I'm not the only other person to wonder why that precious baby wasn't rear facing. It may be law to only 20lb AND one year, but most safety organizations (and some European countries) recommend at least two years :)

I for one am going to concentrate on you swimming instead of blogging: good for you!

kareem abdul jabbar karl rove miramonte elementary school mark jenkins super bowl commercials 2012 mia amar e stoudemire