This year I was talked into going on an excursion with some of the members of my knitting guild.
I kept hearing all these stories about "The Market" and I had to go. It was so much fun. Yarn fumes would dazzle me and I would be helpless in the face of so much fiber, would loose my good sense and spend all my cash whether I wanted to or not.
(They don't know her very well do they?)
I planned my packing carefully, I needed knitting projects for the train ride, food and other necessities and decided to take my day pack so I would have my hands free. I put an old canned food box inside of it so that it would stand up on its own better, as without something inside, the thing tends to spill its guts when you open it to pull something out.
Fiona found this arrangement irritating and tried to tell me in no uncertain terms that I didn't know anything about packing:
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I evicted her and packed my bag as I pleased.
So the day finally arrived and I got on the train in Sacramento with some of my knitting peeps and rode to the Stitches West Yarn People Convocation. Where Yarn People Gather
While wandering through the displays of all things yarn-like, I stumbled uponVicky Howell working in one of them. I was a little surprised. I didn't know she was going to be there. I didn't gush. You woulda been proud of me. She looks just like her picture by the way. Pixie like with flaming red hair. I didn't ask for her autograph, even though I could hear Mamallama's voice hollering in my ear.... "ASK her you nit wit!"
Sorry M, maybe next time I'll be braver.
But I did have a photo moment to remember. I met Jess and Casey, the owners and code monkeys ofRavelry . They were adorable and very sweet to let my friend E. and I have a picture with them. It says something about what a geek I am that I would rather have a photo op with webmasters rather than TV stars.
(Geeks, you gotta love 'em)
However. Unlike Vicky Howell, I am probably the most un-photogenic person who ever walked the earth. No, I mean it. And listen, I don't want to hear your stories about how bad you think you look in photos. I don't want to be rude or anything, but my photos suck a LOT worse than your photos.
And after taking a good look at the original photo, and wondering why I reminded me of someone.... It came to me. I decided I looked pretty much like Stan Laural, may he rest in peace.
So here I am with Jess and Casey.
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I am also grateful to Stan for giving me a wonderful image that captures how I feel about how I looked in the shot.
Thanks Stan.....
Your a brick to do this for me.
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But even though I take a rotten photo, it doesn't stop me from having a cracking good time. I met lots of great people. Everyone goes around touching everyone else's knitted items that they have worn. I was with E. who was wearing a certain sweater that she had knit just like the one the Yarn Harlot made.... well EVERYONE wanted to touch it and ask her questions about it. I coulda made some serious coin charging for permission to speak to her. Even more for touching the sweater.... but I didn't think of it until just now. Drat.
I heard a person talking in one of the booths. They were discussing a certain knitting pattern. And one lady said to a man who was working in the booth..."Oh I read all about this on your blog!" I looked at him and said, "Now that we have the internet, everyone is famous huh?" He laughed.
One of my favorite parts of the day was when I took an Introvert's Time Out in a quiet corner, and met a man who looked a lot like Santa Claus who knits baby blankets for his grandchildren while commuting on the train. He said he had just cast on his first pair of socks. Well, I had to tell him the Skydiving/Sock Knitting saga going on at our house.
Anyway, I gotta stop now and send this photo and link infested post out into cyberspace....
where ALL God's children are famous.
Even the really unphotogenic ones.
P.S. All I bought was a five dollar sweater pattern.
My Scotswoman's reputation is intact.
I may be immune to yarn fumes.