Before I get into my “real” post today, I want to thank those of you who have reached out to check on me after the tornadoes here in Michigan yesterday. Scary business, for sure. I always say I live in Kalamazoo . . . but technically, I live in Portage. (I’m essentially right on the border of the two, side-by-side towns. My kids went to school in Portage, we pay taxes in Portage, my address is Portage. But geographically, we feel like part of Kalamazoo and are more involved in Kalamazoo “stuff.”) Anyway. A tornado (maybe two?) hit Portage yesterday and did quite a bit of damage.

But not to my house.

In fact, we were unscathed – even though we’re only a couple of miles from the scenes you may be seeing/hearing about on the news. Tornadoes are so fickle. So just know that JoJo and I were camped out in a safe space in our basement, and Tom was driving home from our cabin up north. (He was not driving home because of the storms; this was the plan all along.) (He missed all the excitement.) When it was over, I was hesitant to even look outside . . . but all was fine. Not even any branches down in the yard. And although it flickered a lot, we never lost our power. I will say, though, that it’s pretty disconcerting to hear the weather folks announcing that “if you’re near the intersection of X and Y, take cover immediately” when that intersection is . . . YOU.

Anyway. I just thought I’d check in and tell you all that I’m fine, my house is fine, my garden is fine, and my still-in-progress fence is fine. (Send good juju, though, to all those in my community who were not so lucky.)

And now, on to today’s post. Which seems awfully trite in light of tragedy.

So I’ll just say this . . . I’m no longer a “Hitchhiker Virgin.”

I finished my Hitchhiker, and now I get what all the fuss is about. It was a delight to knit, and I’m really happy with the way it turned out. And, really. What more could you ask for in a knitting project?

How about you? Have you made a Hitchhiker? How many? And . . . what are you working on today?

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You can read all about my Hitchhiker – and see a lot more photos – here, in my Field Notes.