Among The Famous People

It was bright and cold when I set out for Lexington to see the Yarn Harlot at 7 AM yesterday. I chose my clothes carefully--my new design Heart's Ease socks and my bright red wool sweater. The red sweater wasn't a special choice --but more on this later! 8 years ago, when I lived in a very drafty old house in North Carolina, I made two of these sweaters. Each one consisted of about 800 yards of random bulky weight handspun. I dumped each into a dyepot, and knit these red and blue sweaters to keep warm. They're my sweatershirt equivalent.

About 30 miles into my drive, I realized that I'd forgotten both my camera and my sunglasses. Hence, we'll rely on descriptions. For roughly 2.5 hours, I saw: cows. grass. more cows. a very few cars. roadkill. cows. You get the picture! Eventually I drove into horsey country and saw the thoroughbreds at Keeneland.

I made it to Lexington in time to grab a cup of tea and hear the panel on knitting and fiction. Then I spilled the hot tea on my sweater. Luckily, it was red, so no one could see, right? Stephanie Japel of Glampyre Knits was there, and she is more gorgeous and glam in person than in her photos. Whoa. Susan Anderson of Itty Bitty Hat fame was there, as was Ann Hood, the earthy, funny, insightful novelist. It was a fun time, but I was self-conscious because honestly, I felt like people were looking at me. Was it the split tea? Could they see the spill? Was it because I was wearing a winter weight sweater and everyone in Lexington was in their pastel summer clothes? I recognized no one besides the famous Stephanie Japel, so I headed downstairs for a sandwich. In line, I met Holly, the Film and Fiber podcaster. Whoa again. Famous people everywhere! Lovely Holly invited me to have lunch with her and a friend named Jessie. (I think.) We were -like- instant knitting friends. Really fun. They insisted that everyone was looking at me because of the red sweater. Was it Manos yarn? Nope! Joanne's yarn!

Then I went off to the book signing room. I bumped into friends from Bowling Green, including famous music expert Nolan Porterfield . Next I spoke with Kentucky State Treasurer Jonathan Miller, who is running for KY governor this year...at last, a KY candidate with views I can respect! The famous people were everywhere, I'm telling you!

Then, of course, I headed off to hear Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's talk. I sat with my new buddies. They took a photo of me wearing the red sweater! Stephanie, aka The Yarn Harlot, was hilarious, even with a sore throa. She told us about why knitters are amazingly charitable people who stun fundraisers. She explained why we, the 50 million knitters in N. America, should be proud and stop letting people embarrass us, disparage us, or even get in the way of doing commerce as knitters. All in all, exactly like the blog, but better--in person.

I donated my hat (Annmarie and others, are you serious? You think people would like my "Represent" hat pattern? Should I write it up for my website?)

On my way out of town, I got my books signed. Stephanie took a photo of my socks! I felt famous! Of course, I had to put my foot on the table, and uhh, you know, not everyone puts their feet up on the book signing table, but ...you guessed it, I'm not everyone. I was overhot by then in my wool and dreading the drive home. However, everyone in line admired my sock,so I felt better.

The drive home wasn't too bad (glad I didn't stay later, though, I was so tired). The professor and the dog guys spent the day planting our warm weather veggies! Our garden is full now--with radishes, lettuces, peas and onions almost ready to eat, and now, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, and other yummies in the ground. Everyone lived happily ever after, especially after hearing the Yarn Harlot. The End.