Do not be fooled by our fluffy cuteness with wiggly noses, we are actually evil poop machines

These came home the day after the wedding. Somehow on the way back from returning the tables and chairs we rented for the shindig, there was a detour to the bunny shop. cripes almighty. Yes, they ARE cute. Yes, they ARE soft. Yes, their noses DO wiggle ever so perfectly. But they POOP. a LOT. And they are NOT coming into my house. It gets freaking cold in Kansas, so the boys and Jeff had better damn well figure something out. Maybe they can set up a little heater system. NOT. COMING. INTO. MY. HOUSE. Not gonna happen. Their names are Lion and Midnight. Beth wanted something cute and the boys wanted something fierce. We girls figured out we could call the brown one Dandylion, Lion for short, and the boys are no wiser. These aren't even the kind you can spin wool from.


Ah, airport knitting. I got about 3 inches done on the current Chickami. I'm using Frog Tree silk & cotton I bought at MisKnits in a dark navy. It should be gorgeous. THANK GOD for thick wool socks. After hauling butt carrying a heavy backpack and bag to try to make it to an earlier flight and fly standby (the ticket counter woman told me there was plenty of room) in heels, my toes were getting a bit sore. After learning that they'd actually overbooked the damn flight by 11, I had two hours to wander through the airport to the very other side of the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, and my baby toes were screaming. SO, what does a knitter do? Pulls out the pair of nice medium weight socks that rock socks knit up tightly so there's good squoosh factor, put them on and ditch the heels. Yes, I wandered through the airport at a leisurely pace in my comfy socks with no shoes. Damn I love knitted socks. They're better than a super hero's cape.

Minneapolis, yes. As a perk to the new job, I get to go there about 5 times a year. It's just been one week each month for April, May, June and probably July. Then it backs off to October and again in January. Minneapolis is freaking COLD most of the year. I don't know how those people do it, but more power to them. The best part? They have a TON of knitting shops. My current plan is to hit 2 or 3 each time I go to town. I should be good for the next 5 years and then can branch off into the St. Paul side. I went to a neat place called the Yarn Cafe, where they have FOOD and YARN and lots of tables to sit at. Oh, and diet coke. DAMN you gotta love that. They are also open evenings, so I had a fun time roaming around and sitting and knitting for a while one evening. A few hours beore my flight, I stopped by Skeins, a shop in Minnetonka. I can't seem to find a website for them, but they had really nice yarn and a ton of books. I behaved myself and spent less than $100 on yarn and patterns this trip. I was told of a neat knitting group that meets on Thusday nights, but can't remember where for the life of me. I'll call Skeins next time I'm in town and find out. I love sitting and knitting with new groups when I travel.

More knitting on the farm. Got back to KC Friday night, took off for the farm on Saturday morning for the day. THIS time I was prepared. I brought more bug spray than you would think humanly possible. I had the extremely toxic high deet stuff for spraying the top of our ballcaps, shoes and ends of jeans. The mildly toxic mid-deet stuff for clothing and bellies. The barely-deet and mostly picarin stuff for arms, legs and necks, etc. Also sunscreen. I was a spraying fiend-momma. I also reapplied often. Some of the locals were talking about how it's a bad year for ticks. EVERY year is a bad year for ticks for me, but they were right. We went hiking across a bunch of land Jeff is wanting to buy (this one is quite pretty without the whole rat-poop-filled broken down farmhouse with mold damage and animals in the basement.) It's just land. And ticks. And ponds, creeks, forests, pastures and ticks. I pulled off at least 5 from Jeff's clothes. Nature boy doesn't BELIEVE in bug spray. Yeah. I'm a believer. Our only come-apart was on the way home, Elizabeth had one biggie just starting to nibble on her belly. She survived that trauma and when we got home I did a MAJOR tick looking-over and we came out clean. Jeff came home the next day and I pulled more off him. OF COURSE he drove my truck, so every time I get in there I think of the ticks he brought home and probably laid thousands of tick babies just waiting to pounce on me when I drive to work each morning. No, I don't have a problem or anything. Hey, surviving my "wow, my freckles are moving.....wait, those aren't freckles.....holy FUXX they're EATING ME!" situation last year deserves a mild freakout now and then.





Came downstairs this afternoon thinking "those girls sure are being quiet on this playdate" usually a sign of trouble around here. The scene melted my heart. Junior weavers. Yarn everywhere. Our back porch rocks.


The one thing I decided (besides we're absolutely buying stock in a bug spray company) whenever we do move out to our farm to be (years from now, don't worry) is that I really REALLY don't want my own animals. I've got no problem with a farm dog or two and some cats (OUTDOOR farm cats). Those are ok. I've got a problem with having to take care of them every freaking day. And the poop, OH GOD the poop. You've got to DO something with it. Yes, the image of me spinning yarn from my animals and then knitting into amazing hats and sweaters to keep us warm in our later years will have to NOT include fiber from my own animals. I'm going to make friends with people that have animals, help them during shearing time, and then the poop is not my responsibility. Yes. I have issues. I'm ok with that.



PS, I promise to post more than twice a month so these things don't take an hour and a half to read. Sorry!

Friends don't let friends knit drunk, on a boat, in total darkness, while decreasing a toe, but apparently new husbands do

OK, so maybe not drunk, but seriously tipsy after two and a half strong pina coladas made with REAL coconut and lots of rum, yum! Yeah, I knit an ENTIRE toe of one sock in the dark while drinking and rocking on the boat in the dark. DARK dark. Only stars above dark. Impressed Jeff's aunt and uncle (the captain of the boat and his wife, also a captain) and impressed the hell out of myself as well. Until the next morning. Holy hell, I've never seen a more fugly piece of knitting in my LIFE! Entire two inches had to get ripped back out. But sitting on the boat watching the sunrise? Knitting on wollmeise? It doesn't get any better than that. I brought 2 skeins of wollmeise along for sock knitting and the best EVER knitting project bag from Carmen, aka Girley Purls. Oh and I was totally singing "Give me Two Pina Coladas....one for each hand..." the entire honeymoon. I know it. Yeah, I'm still singing that song.

The first night, before much limbo-ing and pina coladaing. I was actually carried under a LOW limbo pole by a large Bahama Man and I've got to say, that was something you don't see every day. Jeff's cousin has that pic on her camera, so I'll post it later.

My survivor-man, after throwing rocks up at the coconuts and gathering them as they fell. The man spent almost three hours beating these on sharp rocks until he got two of them peeled down to the final layer. We're going to use a drill to get to the coconut milk. I've heard the varieties out on that island either tasted like heaven or like stinky feet. Let's hope these are the angelic ones.


The sock that had two knitted toes. See what a little pina colada will get you?


A little deck walking. Can you believe the colors of the water?



OK, you KNOW he totally licked that thing, don't you? Claws and all. Jeff caught at least 4 crabs and almost pulled this giant crawfish out while we were snorkeling. He really IS Nature Boy. After a mild come-apart while snorkeling, I realized I truly am Nature-Over-There-Me-WAAAAAAYYYYYY-Over-Here Girl. My kind of snorkeling is where you float along, and say "Oh, how lovely, way down there, at least 50 feet away from me, is a beautiful creature. How about that?" THIS kind of snorkeling is more of the HOLY SHIT THESE THINGS ARE ALL TOUCHING ME!!!!! MAKE THEM STOP TOUCHING ME!!! Seriously, we were IN the fish. Beautiful fish, colorful fish but IN the freaking fish. INCHES from the damn reefs. I had the same freaking out feeling as when I was being eaten by the thousands of itty bitty ticks in the country last spring. Damn nature.


This starfish was left behind on a low tide, so apparently dead. It came home with us. It was also the color of my other pair of wollmeise socks that were completed on the honeymoon, therefore they will be called my Starfish Honeymoon Socks. It is now brown, still big and VERY smelly and will probably take 20 years to fully dry out.



These were knit while looking at this kind of a scene the ENTIRE week.


Are you tired of this long post and pictures yet? It's almost over, I promise. Stay with me, you HAVE to hear about the fishing! One morning we were anchored outside of a cut, where the Atlantic Ocean comes into the Sea of Abaco. I guess this means good fishing. Not being much of a fisherwoman, I figured I'd sit and knit and watch Jeff do his stuff like a good little wife. WELL, the man proceeded to set up some complicated crap on this super fishing pole, rigging up lures and smelly fish parts and the like. Then told me that after he got it all set up just so, I could HOLD THE POLE until something happened, where he, being the fisherman you see, would come and take the pole away. So I could be like a hook on a dock. Yeah, that'd be fun. After telling him just where and how he could put that fancy pole I walked up to the front of the boat.

I picked up this spool of fishing line that looked like a big spool of thread. It had two hooks on the ends and a sinker. I cut up some hotdog bits, dropped them into the water and BAM, BAM BAM BAM BAM! Every time it hit the water I was pulling out fish. Serious fish. Poor Jeff, his fancy pole and lures and funky floaty system didn't catch one damn thing. I caught over 18 fish. EIGHTEEN FISH! His uncle about wet himself laughing about it. Jeff would get to the other end of the boat, sit down with his pole and BAM I'd catch another one. Hell, I was even catching TWO AT A TIME! hotdog and hooks on a string, baby. High tech fishing. Jeff did catch a barracuda while we were sailing, but it dropped off before I could get a picture.

Jeff finally gave up the pole and figured I was catching dinner that night. After checking the book to see which ones were good for eating, we saw I was catching things called saucer eyed porgies, and grunts. About 6 different kinds of grunts. These things were beautiful, yellows and blues, stripes, polka dots, gorgeous. Oh, and why are they called grunts? They grunt like pigs while they're out of the water. I'm even holding Jeff's pole AND pulling fish out of the water at one point. Damn, that was fun.








Best. Trip. Ever.

Because there's nothing more romantic than saying "I do" under an antler gun rack

OK, seriously? There was a gun hanging on antlers over our heads? I had no idea until I saw the pictures. Dude, I just got married under an antler gun rack? Seriously? Oh and you KNOW it was loaded. You know what? Does that seem funny, yet perfectly fitting to anyone but me? The morning wedding was supposed to be outside but it was still freaking cold and so we had the ceremony in the "Cowboy Room", aka Jeff's folks' study/den/sitting room. It was just the immediate family and was wonderful. My old boss is now a minister so he and his wife came to town to perform the ceremony. It was very special and I am so happy!

Here's the new family:


The redneck wedding cake, which I think was one of the highlights of the day. Jeff's sister created this for us and used the wedding cake topper from her wedding ten years ago. We had a lovely place for it, but then the sun came out (thank GOD) and it would have melted anywhere we put it. This left us short of tables. What to do? Well, my inlaws rigged it up on a piece of plywood balanced on a kitchen stool. It doesn't get any more redneck than that, does it? My family rocks. Thankfully the sun came out, since at one point I counted over 40 children running around tearing up the backyard of my inlaws and that of their neighbor who graciously let us use their playground and basketball court to go with our badminton set.





Oh, and of course there was knitting...



The good pictures are coming later, including those with me in the gorgeous wedding shawl made by Cheri! My sister-in-law took amazing shots and I can't wait to get them!

The day was exactly like we wanted it, family and friends outside, grilling, eating, dancing, having a ball. The only sad part was that I wasn't organized enough to get my best friend here in town for the party. I owe her a really big girls' trip out somewhere soon. I'm thinking Vegas!

We're off for a week in the Bahamas! Woo Hoo! Much knitting of socks, sitting on beaches, drifting in the sailboat and doing absolutely nothing. Can't wait! Normal crazy knit blogging to come after I come back full of freckles. Between Jeff and my pale skin, I'm hoping we don't both burst into flames the minute we get off the plane.

Antler gun rack, knitters, big ass fire and monster charcoal grill? OH and some mike's hard limeades. You betcha. It doesn't get better than this.

Preppy much? Yes, thank you!

Pattern: Aleita Shell by Bonne Marie Burns in Interweave Knits Spring 2008 magazine
Yarn: Aslan Trends Artisenal 1.5 skeins, cotton, polyester and alpaca blend, heavenly cool
Needles: sz 3's for bottom border ribbing and 6's for the rest
Deviations from pattern: Realized my fronts were working up too long, so did faster increases at end and my shoulder seams are just over the back of my shoulders, I actually like the look better. I also said OH JUST FUXX IT when I was nearing the end and there was all this neck band knitting and grafting and sewing and finishing. I just seamed the shoulders to the back and put it on and wore it.

Wore it at work today with my khaki capri pants and little penny loafer slide shoes. I was flashing back to my preppy 80's days. Love the vest, did not love the way the pattern had to be written to save space for magazine article. Way too many "at the same times" for my taste.

Also, my daughter donated 10 inches of her hair to locks of love. She rocks. And looks quite cute in the shorter 'do. Here's the before and after:



And these pics show that I had no fun whatsoever at our knitting conference, right? Gwen, it was so much fun hanging out with you again! And of COURSE I didn't take my pic with Stefanie while WEARING one of the sweaters I've made that she designed. No, that would have made sense. Instead this is the 2nd day and I'm sporting my glee sweater which I'm thinking is absolutely a keeper. I'm going to calculate out the stitches to make a smaller one for Elizabeth next fall.

Man, is there anything sexier than tall knitting redheads in the midst of all that yarn?



Three days till I'm getting mallied. Mallied? Mallied! We've decided against all the organized kids' activites. No jumping thing, no organized games. We're apparently going for the bedlam approach. We've got a volleyball net, ONE volleyball (can't you just hear the fights already?), a ton of badmitton rackets and birdies, a bunch of balls for kickball, etc. I'm also getting a lot of little bubbles, jumpropes and other misc. crap for them to be put into a big bucket. I may be overly hopeful here, but I've also got extra bottles of sunscreen and non-toxic bugspray (Avon rocks). Even though it's forecasted to be rainy and cold tomorrow and part of Friday, I'm SURE it will be sunny and gorgeous Saturday.

Because nothing says "Here comes the bride!" like a giant goiter on her chin...

Holy crapamoly. I'm still here. I'm just not quite here. Better blogging next week, I promise! In the last week and a half, I've survived being part of the motley crew that put on the Knitting in the Heartland convention that SO SO SO rocked. OH man, there's something liberating about being among that many other yarn junkies and feeling totally normal! Ok, so not quite totally normal. I think I scared a few women when I was moaning and trying to decide which yarn to buy at that damn Textiles a Mano table. Damn I loved that yarn. So I ended up buying yarn there at least three times that I can remember. The last time I almost made it without buying anything. Almost....you see, when there was only one big-ass skein of gorgeous earthy brownish yarn in my hands the thinking was "what could this be?" I almost set it down and walked away. But then there were two. Yes, BUT THEN THERE WERE TWO! Two skeins of 800+ yards for $22 each and they were soft and did I say gorgeous? TWO SKEINS? 1600 YARDS? That could grow up to be anything. It was too much for this yarn junkie. It went home with me. Along with a crapload of other fibery goodness. I've not even piled it all up for pics for ravelry or blogland yet.

Stefanie Japel? You all know how much I love her designs. I think I'll ask to be buried in that sleeveless cascade 220 sweater if I've not worn it to bits. If you've not bought Fitted Knits yet, go get you one. The book has so many good patterns and just good common sense taught so you can make other things fit that way too. I'm still floored by the idea that you can convert any kind of a flat pattern sweater into a top-down or bottom-up raglan with simple math. That realization was magical for me, just like the time I turned my first sock heel. Pure knitting magic.

Joanna, Johanna, Teri, Sandra, Carmen, Holly, man we put on one hell of a fun show. Seriously. I had a blast. You guys rock. Thanks for dragging me along for the ride.

Let's just say I bought so much yarn that I wasn't even sad that I wasn't able to visit even one yarn shop when I went to Minneapolis right after the convention. I think it might even carry me over for the non-ability to purchase vacation/honeymoon yarn. I'm thinking there will probably not be very many yarn shops on the islands of the Bahamas. You never know, but I'm actually feeling like I've bought enough yarn lately. How scary is that? Yeah. There was a LOT of yarn bought. Pictures soon. OH and the knitting project bag I got from Carmen's table? Oh man. It's freaking amazing. It's black on the outside, quite respectable, with the lining that is so cool I find myself flashing people (mostly knitters so don't worry) with the inside lining peeking out. Again, pictures do better justice. I promise. Soon. It rocks.

What else? So Knitting Convention done. check. Trip to Minneapolis for a three day interview. check. Got home to a bullying issue with my daughter that freaked me out but she didn't seem too worried. Police and principal involved and took care of everything. check. Negotiation of job offer. check. Accepted job (I get to stay in KC). check. Wedding and family party in FOUR DAYS. OK, since it's almost midnight it's probably closer to THREE DAYS. crap crap crap. The fact that it was SNOWING here in the morning of last weekend didn't have me worried. It's Kansas, right? Weather changes. In fact it was gorgeous today and in the upper 60's. But then the weather forecast is calling for snow and rain at the end of the week. It's an outdoor barbeque and I am wearing my damn sundress one way or another. check.

Explanation of the giant goiter zit on my chin. And a few brewing on my right cheek. And at least 11 more across my entire face. Not worried because 14 zits must be lucky. You know, I could have 13. That would be bad. right? An almost forty year old bride should not have freaking zits on her chin. It's just not right. This one is so big that I may have to knit a cozy for it. A zit cozy? Oh yeah, I'm doing just fine here. No freaking out or losing my mind what-so-ever.

Glampyre is coming to town! And amazing Yarn Shopping in KC!

OK, I don't know whether I'm more excited to meet this designer whose patterns I freaking ADORE or to get to shop at the vendor market! Holy crapamoly. Anyone in the KC area, come out to the Radisson Hotel at 12601 W 95th Street in Lenexa. It's at I-35 and 95th Street.

The Sunflower Knitters Guild is putting on the Knitting in the Heartland fantabulous event this weekend! Saturday and Sunday, April 5th & 6th. There's still a few spots in some of the classes and they'll take last minute signups. There's also a Knitting 911 going on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. If you're registered for classes it's free, otherwise there's a $5 fee. Bring any projects you're having issues with for some great help!

For a class schedule and more info on the event, click on the Knitting in the Heartland link above and get yourself a printout of the brochure. Glampyre is also known as Stefanie Japel, one of my very favoritist designers around. Anyone that's seen me at a knitting event has seen my sleveless turtleneck from her book Fitted Knits, knit out of grey cascade 220. I'm also seen about town in the two-tone fitted shrug from her book, mine made with one tone of teal. I also made a teal shrug for my cousin as a Christmas present that was really hard to give away since hers was made with dream in color yarn. I think I've loved Stefani's designs since I made a couple of the one skein wonders from her website years ago.

The vendor market is going to get a LOT of my $$ this weekend. I've been holding myself back (mostly) at yarn shopping and plan to be a true yarn whore. There's going to be yarn, yarn, and more yarn, spinning stuff, fibers, bags, buttons, sheep cards, (you KNOW I'm leaving there with pictures of sheep people) and other amazing stuff. Click here to see the vendor list with links to their websites!

Stefanie will be signing and selling copies of her book Fitted Knits as well. The vendor market goes from 10am-5:30pm Saturday and 9am to 4pm on Sunday.

Just because I'm so excited about this, I'm going to revisit the pics of my favorite Stefanie Japel creations...

Introducing the Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy Sweater!

OH how this sweater amazes me. I amaze me. It amazes me that a couple of pointy sticks and a bunch of string, anyone can make something as happy as this. Knitting is freaking miraculous. TWO STITCHES. A simple knit stitch. A simple purl stitch. Sometimes I forget just how magical the whole thing is. Then a moment comes along and I just sigh. And then dance around the house with a sweater or a sock or just a little square of something. And totally freak out my children. God, being a knitting mom is awesome. A normal mom can just embarrass them the normal ways. We have SO MUCH MORE AMMUNITION. bwaa haa ha haaaa. But I digress, did I say how amazing this sweater is to me?

You know what? The whole seaming thing wasn't that bad. SSSShhhhhhh. I actually enjoyed that part. The whole set-in sleeve thing? not so much. But, I totally flashed back to my sewing days in jr. high home-ec where apparently my dislike for sleeves began. Flashed back to a VIBRANTLY colored cotton fitted dress with a full circle skirt, fitted bodice and SLEEVES FROM HELL that somehow became a SLEEVELESS dress. Imagine that. I'd totally forgotten until I was easing in the stupid sleeves into their stupid holes on this sweater. The sleeve hatred must have started when I was 13 years old.

SO, what did your children do on spring break? A cruise? Skiing? Rock Climbing? Mine were lucky enough to get a shovel and a hose. This is the three day "pond" experiment. A mom that dances around the house with her knitting, singing at the top of her lungs AND a hole in the ground? MAN don't you wish you could be my kids too? I'd better record these moments so when their therapists blame me for their issues in their mid-forties I can remind them of just how great it really was.


Sweater Details:
Pattern: Laced-Front Sweater in Lingerie Knits book by Joan McGowan Michael
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers (OH how I love Cascade 220, yeah, I sing about that, too)
Needles: sz 6 circs
Icord: sz 6 Three Stitch i-cord 60 inches
Worked exactly to pattern specs, only complaint was that the ribbing pattern didn't match up just right at the side seams.

mattress stitch, here I come...

I apologize for the lame picture of the sweater parts below, dark blue doesn't take well with my cruddy old digital camera. This will probably be the last sweater I ever make in pieces. I really like the whole cast off, sew in a few ends, and be DONE with it joy of finishing an in-the-round sweater. Do you know how many seams I've got to sew? A buttload. Wish me luck.



Oh, I also got about 5-6 inches chopped off my hair. So far I'm loving it. I feel like I look more like a normal woman instead of the biker-chic frizzed out nappy looking thing I usually resemble at the end of each day. This flippy, shorter version holds up to my life much better.


Hope the easter bunny brings yarn for you all! I know he will for me as I helped him shop. I'm guessing Jeff will get beef jerky, but am not quite sure yet. We'd better get our baskets out and ready. Cadbury eggs make me as happy as wollmeise yarn. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I don't honestly know which I'd rather have.

One week to knit, five months to sew on some damn hooks & eyes.

Finished! Boy, I can knit fast, I just can't finish to save my butt. I did a little photographing in the company bathroom ala Crazy Aunt Purl. Ok, I just noticed you can actually see part of a toilet in the background. Sorry, everybody, that's just the kind of high-class blogging entertainment we provide here at the Knitting Virgin. Wore this today with a black skirt, black tank underneath and I think it's a keeper. I was so inspired by our big Sunflower Knitters' Guild turnout last night I went home and pulled out all my needing-a-little-something-projects and got to work. My accidentally felted picovoli has been hacked up and sewn up and generally tortured and will soon be felted a bit more into a unique felted bag. Pictures soon. I also unpicked and reknit the edging on my red sizzle sweater's armholes that were strangling my armpits. Yes, I have worn it anyway many, many times because I'm JUST that lazy.


I also was going through my new work clothes finds at the consignment shop nearby. I went stash-diving, damn I love stash-diving. Pulled out some green that just might work. I think I've made enough picovoli's for now, so I may just Zimmerman myself up a cap-sleeved summery top to wear underneath this one out of the *gasp* acrylic yarn there. It's not an exact match, but I think it'll work out. The design on the needles now is a start of a sweater that's not meant to be. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying acrylic is the devil or anything, in fact this stuff is pretty sweet for non-wool fiber. It just seems so wrong to me not to be using wool as the last, um, four or five summery patterns I've done have been out of pretty darn warm merinos and alpacas. I LOVE them as I can wear them all fall with no sleeves and be just warm enough but not to be so hot that I burst into flames as I often do in full wool sweaters. BUT I live in Kansas City, where it's at least 4000 degrees and often humid as hell so these won't make it for my summer under-jacket work attire. Yes, my office is cold as heck but I have to make it from the house into the truck and across the parking lot without melting entirely. So, cotton mixes and acrylics are on my to-do list.

I've also frogged the start to my wedding present socks for the hubby to be. They were working up too damn small. I did only have a few inches in before I decided it just wouldnt' work. I really knew it at about 2 inches, but kept going with the whole "this MAY just work....." crap. Back to the needles for those. If I could have found a thicker yarn than the trekking handpaints I bought that even looked remotely like deep sea waters I'd have bought it up.

Coming soon....the story of how nature boy was working on cleaning up the camper, damaged the boyfriend sweater, and fixed it himself. Oh lordy. It involves bleach and a sharpie marker. One that's supposed to be red, but looks much more lot hot pink. He was so proud, "look baby, you can't even tell!" yeah. I'd need about 6 more mike's hard limeades to not be able to tell. Just wear it backwards, ok?


Oh how I'm loving this camper. I know it won't entirely keep me away from the great outdoors, but it should sure make the great outdoors much more attractive as it's viewed through a layer of screen! PLUS it has airconditioning! Yeah, I'm so not going to get to use that, but it's there. Anything that puts another layer between the bugs and the dirt and me, I'm a big fan. This camper is so much bigger and cooler than the one my family had as kids. The side that has all the kitchen stuff and table even pushes out sideways with the two ends with the beds on each side. I'm thinking our outdoor adventures will be MUCH easier to take. Damn, I know I just totally jinxed myself.