Sunday, September 16, 2007

The Yarn Harlot AND Yarnhog --All in the Same Day!

Last June, Sanger High School had the temerity to schedule Justin's graduation ceremony without first checking The Yarn Harlot's tour schedule. Although I would have loved hearing her speak, you don't invest eighteen years into your kid and miss out of one of life's payoffs.
Consequently, I have been watching her "Harlot on Tour" posts hoping that she would be scheduled in California again before the end of the year. As luck would have it, she was the featured speaker at the Los Angeles Public Library on September 15th. When the schedule was posted on the Internet, I made reservations for two, hoping that Yarnhog would be able to attend as well.
Although I had never met Yarnhog (a.k.a. Suzanne), she and I had been commenting on each other blogs for several months and have an seem to have an almost eerie connection at times -- we are both fairly tall, we are both attorneys, we both have boys, we have the same make and model of computer, both of our fathers worked in the same field.......the list goes on and on. I emailed Suzanne, asked her to join me, and she agreed! The Harlot was scheduled to speak at 2:00 p.m. Suzanne and I wanted to get a good seat so we agreed to meet at my hotel at 10:30 a.m. She arrived right on time. We spent two hours getting to know each other. What a lovely woman. Then, since we wanted to get a good seat in the auditorium, we headed over to the Public Library.Even though it was only 12:30 p.m., there were knitters everywhere! It seemed Suzanne and I weren't the only only who thought arriving early was a good idea. We joined the line and did what knitters do best when confronted with a long wait --- out came the knitting needles, spindles and projects.
Suzanne sat down and started on her Icarus Shawl. Suzanne is knitting the shawl for a friend's wedding and her posts on it have been hilarious. She ordered the yarn on line. When it arrived she was stunned to discover that dental floss is thicker. She commented that she has completed 7943 rows and it seems to have increased in size by a whole inch. The wedding is rapidly approaching so she was working on it whenever she could. As we knit we chatted with other knitters/bloggers, including Cat Book Mom, Bee Bonnet and Dizzy Ewe.

When the door finally opened, Suzanne and I were delighted to snag front row seats! Next to us is Audrey, the lovely program director and librarian who set up the event.
The big moment finally arrived. Stephanie entered to a huge round of applause and immediately took pictures of the audience with the traveling sock.

Then she spoke to the assembled crowd. She was poised, charming and had the crowd in stitches (forgive the pun) with her offbeat sense on humor. Then, despite a grueling schedule which has her in seven cities in seven days, she graciously signed her books and chatted with the crowd.

This is Jean Roosevelt (goldenpurl.blogspot.com), the lovely knitter who collected the knitted hats donated to charity at the event.

And finally the requisite picture of yours truly with The Yarn Harlot herself. All too soon, it was time to leave and say good-bye. But what a wonderful day!

8 comments:

CatBookMom said...

Great photos! Thanks for the comment on my blog. I enjoyed meeting you and Suzanne. It's wonderful how we knitters get to know others all over North America, isn't it? I have a long-time online friend who is in the Toronto knitting guild and has the pleasure of hosting the Harlot at their meetings; Stephanie immediately recognized her name.

Jean said...

It was a wonderful day, indeed! You've done an excellent job of recapping the event here. It was delightful to meet you and Suzanne. I had no idea you had only just met in person that day. You seemed like long time friends - which is yet another testament to the wonder of the online knitting community and the power of blogs. Thank you for the pictures!

Olga said...

awww, you guys are lucky lucky dogs! I would of loved to part of your party!!!

knottykitty said...

Looks like you had a great time!

Sharon said...

Yay! I think it's awesome when fiber bloggers meet in person. And to go see Yarnharlot together--it doesn't get better than that.

Great post! Glad you two had so much fun. I only wish I could have come along. Perhaps someday...

Life's a Stitch said...

I've never seen her, but feel like I have, after reading your "review."
I'd also love the opportunity to meet multiple bloggers!
Li

James said...

I heard Yarn Harlot did a great presentation. My friend and avid knitter Christine helped put that event together (she's the third person in your photo with the Harlot, just over her left shoulder, wearing the big earrings). You can also see Christine's husband right above Jean Roosevelt. When they told me they showed up in someone else's blog, I had to check it out. :)

Ellen Bloom said...

Hey! That's my friend, Audrey in your pix. Audrey's husband, Jeff is the one who organized the event and works at the Library. Excellent photos of the day!