Rites of passage.

Why in the world would 400+ knitters, of all shapes, sizes, genders, and ages gather in once place? Was it Earth Day, or The World Forestry Center that brought us all together, desperate as we were to learn about the most effective stand density for Doug fir in year 25 of a 50-year rotation?

And there's a forestry reference on my knitting blog. I am so cool you could keep a side of meat in me for a week. (Now I've added science fiction humor quotes. Time to move along.)


It was, of course, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, better known as The Yarn Harlot.


She was truly wonderful, funny and fresh (as you can read in her post on the day). I will admit to fearing that the talk would be sort of a rehash of her blog, or tired knitting humor. It really wasn't. Her commitment to a bit (drunken yarn company executives, anyone?) was unparalleled. I also enjoyed how she honestly seemed taken aback by the size of the crowd -- since I felt the same way. As a knitter, and one who knits in public and attends my very own weekly knitting circle, I have difficult time describing why it was so odd to see, literally, hundreds of people sitting in one place and knitting. Why should that seems so extraordinary? The topic of the talk spoke to this a bit -- knitters are all different, and few other hobbies/activities/arts are so easily portable. Waiting for a plane, for an appointment, people are usually either reading or watching TV. Knitters stick out, and no one really knows what to make of us. Putting us all in one room sort of turns all that on its head.

One thing that does unite us -- we like to show off our work. I wore a mohair/alpaca/merino blend in an absolute oven of a room until I almost passed out. But my sweater looked good.

It was quite fun. Aside from the Yarn Harlot, my new knitting buddies BlueKnit and MonkeyCat (her excellent pics are here) were along, adding to the sense of knitting community -- and troublemaking. The three of us, in search of food, after claiming our seats, took a shortcut back to the car. We rounded a corner, only to bust into SPM being interviewed. On camera. And she definitely noticed, as we ran away (literally!) giggling like high schoolers. Oops.

Aside from that mild humiliation, I had a grand time checking off another knitting rite of passage (LYS owner recognizes me? Check. Knitting group? Check. Blog? Check.). On to the fiber festivals and the taking of sock pictures in front of public landmarks!

Most recent podcast: Cast On.
What I'm reading: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz.
Currently listening to: Joshua Morrison's Home.