I drove up to Chicago on Sunday, to take a class with Cat Bordhi. Hosted by the Windy City Knitting Guild, the class was in a lovely lodge-like center in an arboretum.

I left my house around 5 a.m. and drove through a slightly hazy morning. I took US-30 west to shave 42 miles and 7 minutes (according to Google maps) off my route. It was a pretty easy drive and I made good time, up until I was near the I-94 and I-90 split, where, for some reason, the exit to I-90 came to an absolute standstill.

It took me a few minutes to get out of that, and, by the time I did, the clock on my dashboard read 9:10. I was a bit panicked, but I decided that I had driven too far for them to kick me out for being late.

I arrived at the arboretum and was surprised to see almost no cars in the parking lot. Had the other 23 students carpooled? I was further alarmed when I went into the classroom and found only a few, forlorn balls of yarn and a whiteboard with stitches drawn onto it.

There was a helpful-looking lady at a desk in the front office. I went to her and asked if she knew anything about the knitting class. She said, "They should start trickling in around 8:30."

I started to stammer about the time, but a wall clock caught my eye. It was only 8:15.

It's an hour earlier in Chicago? When did that happen? Who is doing the math around here?