Hoofin' it on up to see the Harlot

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For the uninformed or unenlightened, you may not have known that Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, better known as the Yarn Harlot, a relative rock star in the world of knitting and knit-blogging, was touring the U.S. to publicize her fourth book, and made a stop in the mid-Atlantic region on Thursday.

I, of course, felt compelled to go see her, and managed to wangle myself a ride with my friend (blogless) Lou, who graciously did all the driving:

- Thanks, Lou!
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We left Richmond around 2 pm, and with a little help from Nigel, my British-accented GPS, had a unbelievably trouble-free drive to Falls Church, (and if you know anything about D.C.-area traffic, you know this is nothing short of a miracle). After one quick stop in Quantico to pick up a late lunch, we arrived at the Bailey's Crossroads Borders bookstore around 4 pm, and one of the first things we saw in the parking lot was a car with this painted on their side window:

Not sure if you can read that, but it says:
"Yarn Harlot or Bust!"
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We knew then that we were in the right place, which was confirmed when we saw this sign on the front door:

Yippee!
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After walking in the door, we saw these two knitters patiently waiting and knitting near the table where they'd eventually hand us our numbers for the book signing:

At first we thought those two ladies were the only knitters there, so far. We were wrong. They were just the first in line. Here are more of the folks who got there before us:


Lou and I were numbers 22 & 23 in line, and made ourselves "comfortable" in this aisle:



Here are a few of our fellow aisle-mates:


...one of whom was wearing these adorable shoes, which only fiber-folk can appreciate:



Lou brought the Rooster she knit for the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sock Camp this past spring:


Roddy McFowl, as this rooster is called, has his very own pair of Socks That Rock:


Roddy & Lou got their 15-minutes-of-fame back in April when the Yarn Harlot blogged about Camp Cockamamie.

While we waited a little over an hour for the book signing number line to open, sitting on the floor in the Science Fiction aisle, I actually knit for the first time in about six weeks. Lately I've had some kind of mental block (fog?) about knitting, and haven't wanted to knit nary a stitch for that long. I have Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, knitting evangelist-extraordinare, to thank for busting that block and getting me knitting again while I waited to hear her speak. So, thanks, Stephanie! (We don't call her Yarn Harlot for nuthin!) I worked a few repeats on my Chevron Scarf, and it inches along towards completion, which I expect will happen sometime in 2010.

Lou worked on a hat, and I just had to get a picture of this cute stitch marker she's using:



While sitting in line, we saw Amy, better known as Crazy Lanea, whom Lou and I met at the Knitter's Review Retreat last year, showing her pretty mitered square blanket:


And after we got our numbers and our seats in the cafe, I looked up and saw Amber, a Northern Virginia knit-blogger whom I read but have never met.


Of course I had to go up and introduce myself and give her a hug. Amber is wearing a top-down sweater she knit a few months ago -- it looks adorable on her.

Here are a few crowd pictures of folks waiting in the cafe before Stephanie's 7:30 arrival:



It was a kick to be in that room with hundreds of knitters, all furiously working on one project or another. There was some good knitting mojo in that room, and it was a wonderful opportunity to see some really fabulous WIPs and FOs. I wish I'd taken more pictures of people's various projects, but there were just too many to adequately document. Everyone was polite and gracious to one another, as we all eagerly and happily awaited the guest of honor. Fun times.

We got to watch a beautiful sunset while we waited:



Also while we waited, I tired of working on my scarf, (I'm not 100% back to being a knitter, apparently), and so I discretely pulled this out of my bag and read a few more chapters:

Is that tacky to read one knit-blogger's book at another's book signing?
(If so, then, shhhhhhhh..... don't tell Stephanie)
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Look who joined Lou & I while we waited:

That's Beth, our fellow Richmonder and KR Retreat buddy.
Hi Beth!
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Finally, at long last, came the moment we were waiting for. Stephanie had arrived. But first, she was introduced by Daniel, the Borders bookstore manager, who was wonderful and gracious and fun and really got into the spirit of the event:

Daniel wears a hat knit for him 30 years ago by an old friend
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After some major microphone readjustments, (Steph is way shorter than Daniel), she was well on her way to providing us a delightful evening:

But before she got into the meat of her talk, she took care of a little business:

The audience takes pictures of the sock and Stephanie,
taking pictures of the sock and audience.
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She then proceeded to regale us for the better part of an hour with her theories about C.H.O.K.E. (Cultural Humiliation of Knitters Everywhere). I tell ya, if you think she's funny in writing, you should hear her in person. There's nothing like a writer getting to read their writing in exactly the inflection they've intended. She's got a dry, deadpan delivery and a precise Canadian accent that makes her material hilarious, and reminds me of an experienced comedienne like Rita Rudner. Mainstream muggles and members of C.H.O.K.E. don't know what they're missing.

While she talked, there were a few things vying for my attention, like this gorgeous sweater-in-progress:

Cables! Teal!
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and this adorable fella who flirted with those of us in the row behind him all night:

...but I still gave my primary attention to Stephanie.


After Stephanie's talk, and a short Q&A period, we then moved upstairs for the book signing.

Here's Lou, holding Stephanie's sock, while Stephanie holds Roddy:

(sorry it's blurry, Lou!)
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And despite my long-held belief that the fewer pictures of myself on the blog, the happier everyone is, I will share this one, as it was probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity:

rubbing elbows with greatness
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All in all, a really fun day. We made it home in less than two hours, right around midnight, without running into traffic in either direction. Another miracle. Many thanks, again, to Lou for driving, and to Stephanie for visiting our fair state. (Read about Stephanie's perspective on the day, here.)

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I support knitter-blogger-authors

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Case in point, #1:

I saw this at Barnes & Noble Tuesday night:


so grabbed it immediately. I've read up to chapter 11, so far, and am enjoying it. If you've never read Laurie's blog, then I'd highly recommend catching up on her archives -- she's a talented writer and highly entertaining.


Case in point, #2:

I'm going up to see the Yarn Harlot tonight, on the Falls Church leg of her book tour. Should be fun! I hope to report back here about it within a day or so.

Later!

That was fast!

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I placed the order for my new desktop PC on Saturday evening. I got an email last night (Monday) telling me it had shipped. And I got the shipment this morning (Tuesday):


It took me longer to decide what to get than it did to get here! I chose ground shipping, since it was free, and I don't think it would have arrived any faster if I'd paid for overnight delivery. It helps that they don't manufacture them in China. When I ordered my laptop (Toshiba) a couple years ago, I had to wait a couple weeks since those are made in China. Here's to the many benefits of buying "made in America"....

I decided on a Dell XPS 410, and took a leap by opting for Windows Vista as the OS. I got as much processor (2.66 GHz) and RAM (4GB) as they'd give me -- I heard that's best when using Vista, and a "mid-sized" hard-drive (500GB). It boggles my mind that one can easily acquire a terabyte (1,000 GB) of storage these days. Even more mind-boggling that people can fill that up. I guess HD movies take up a lot of space.

My Ali-cat approves:

"Thank you so much for the new lounge chair, mama"
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"It's soooooo luxurious!"

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I probably won't get around to setting it up until this weekend. At least my last system's monitor, mouse and speakers will work with it -- that helped save a few bucks. I sprung for a new, slightly fancier keyboard, (has a volume dial and some extra USB ports -- can't have too many of those).

The other day I read PC Magazine's review, slideshow, and a few of their other articles about Windows Vista, and I'm looking forward to using some of the new features.

Here's hoping this machine lasts me another five years, at least.

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Magical Concert Moments

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James Taylor is coming to VCU's Siegal Center on October 20th, and I'm trying to rally some folks together to go. So far I've got a couple siblings and a couple of friends who are interested, but no one has committed a definite "yes", yet. I'll have to rattle some cages soon, before all the tickets are gone.


I love me some Sweet Baby James, and I've seen him in concert several times. My first JT concert was back in college in '86 or '87. (Ouch, I'm old.) He played at JMU's Wilson Hall auditorium, a fairly small venue, and because my friends & I had lined up early enough for tickets, we were seated very close to the stage. It was an incredibly intimate concert, as if he were playing at a local pub, for just a few fans -- the very best way to see JT.

Earlier that day of the concert, my friends and I were walking by Wilson Hall on our way to dinner when we heard music coming from inside. We managed to peek through an open window, and saw JT himself warming up and doing a sound check. Singing sweetly to an empty room, with nary a fan around, except the sound man and us interlopers at the window. An incredibly thrilling, magical moment that made that evening's concert all the more special.

During the fall of my sophomore year at college, some friends & I learned that Bruce Springsteen was coming to the Hampton Coliseum in January. So, the next logical step, of course, was for us to camp out all night in front of the local ticket seller's door, to ensure we got seats. Our bed that night was a cold, hard sidewalk at Southside Plaza in November, which we shared with at least 100 other Bruce fans. (I'm still amazed that my mother allowed me to do that. It's nothing I'd let a kid do nowadays. Not in that neighborhood.) That all-night ticket-stalking campout turned out to be an experience all its own. There was a true sense of camaraderie among the crowd, as people swapped concert stories and played bootleg concert tapes into the wee hours.


We were cranky with lack of sleep by the time the ticket seller's doors opened the next morning, but, by gosh, we got our tickets. And the concert in January was amazing. That man and his E-Street Band puts out a 3-hour, adrenaline-pumped experience that made every minute on that cold, hard sidewalk in November worthwhile.

Here are my friends and fellow Bruce fans, "celebrating" in the car before the concert:

Good times.

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Our tickets were for nosebleed seats which we certainly enjoyed, but during the concert intermission we managed to find friends with floor seats, and so squeezed in with them, without security being any wiser. And during his performance of Dancing in the Dark, I stood up on a seat and took pictures of Bruce with a smuggled-in camera. The Boss then proceeded to create the next magical moment in my life by pointing at me while he sang the lyric, "Hey there, baby...":

"...I could use just a little help...."
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To say that I was thrilled would be an understatement. It was 22 years ago, and remembering it still thrills me today. The fact that I was able to snap the shutter at the exact moment he pointed at me was a once-in-a-lifetime gift. So what if it's little over-exposed. I know he was pointing at me, even it's not crystal clear to anyone else.

(You'll have to forgive the low quality of the above photos -- they are actually pictures of pictures, as my scanner/printer is unavailable whilst I'm without a functional desktop PC. And no, I've not made a final PC decision yet, but I do know it will be a Dell XPS system, and I'm leaning towards Windows Vista. I'll more than likely place my order on Saturday.)

Anyway, I have one final magical concert moment to share, and it actually has nothing to do with the performing artist. At least not directly. Once again, it took place during the 1980's. (Ahhh, that sweet, sweet decade of my youth.) I was working at a central Virginia amusement park as an EMT for their First Aid station, and at times the job required the occasional medical standby at various concerts held at their amphitheater.

One particular concert was given by Amy Grant, a contemporary Christian singer-songwriter whom I'd never seen before. The opening act (whom I can't remember) performed their music and left the stage, and the crowd became expectant for Amy to appear. And waited. And waited. I watched from my position standing near the gate to backstage, and the crowd of about 10,000 was getting a little restless as the time between acts stretched longer and longer. I found out later from my colleagues that during the lengthy delay, Amy had been brought up to the First Aid building to be examined and treated by the nurse for a wicked-sore throat. And I heard the news with the rest of the concert crowd that the show was to be canceled -- Amy was too sick to perform.

Here we go, I thought. Bring out the SWAT team and the tear gas -- we've got a potential riot on our hands. I had seen the unruly crowds that performers like Luther Vandross, Jimmy Buffett and Patti LaBelle attracted to that venue. I was working the evening that a concert-goer was shot at one of those events. And I was there (attending, not working) when a drunk concert-goer hit Jimmy Buffett in the head with a beer can, after which he promptly stopped the show and walked off the stage. No good can come of this latest announcement, I thought. I've seen it first-hand -- concert-goers don't handle disappointment well.

But I misjudged this crowd. After the announcement was made and the ticket-reimbursement instructions were explained, the arena became very quiet. There were no angry shouts or even grumbles. Instead of immediately filing out in bitter disappointment, thousands of people remained where they were sitting, and in front me, all around the amphitheater, they formed circles, held hands, bowed their heads and prayed for the well-being of Amy Grant. I had never seen anything like it, and it was so spontaneous and unexpected, it moved me almost to tears. I still well up now, as I write about it. That experience permanently changed the very core of me.


Amy did make a full recovery and came back later that same season to perform her postponed show. Many of those original concert-goers held on to their tickets and came back again to see her. I worked that new show and it was a lovely experience -- the performer, the music, the crowd. Definitely a refreshing change from the beer-soaked crowds of other shows.

And so I look forward to another magical experience with James Taylor this October. Even if it's just enjoying another great rendition of Fire & Rain from the comfort of my nosebleed seat.

Do you have any magical concert moments?

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Why, hello there....

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...remember me?

I really didn't intend to take such a long absence from the blog, but with my desktop PC pronounced dead (official autopsy this evening by GeekSquad deemed it not worth repairing), I feel like I'm missing my right arm. I just don't want to make my laptop the primary vehicle for organizing photos, so I hesitate to do so to any great extent.

The good news is that the GeekDude was able to back up the data from my old hard drive for me, and now I'm shopping for a new desktop.

This then begs the question -- Windows XP or Vista? Anyone have experience with Vista? What are your thoughts?

For now, I'll leave you with a picture of the Ocracoke lighthouse, taken while on vacation:


I love Ocracoke.

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Back home again...

...and, hey, it's not good.

(my little homage to John Denver.)

I received a couple of lovely welcome-home presents in the early moments of my return last night -- a crashed computer, and cat vomit in several locations around the house. One rug is beyond repair and is now in the trash. Let's hope the computer is not destined for the same fate.

Thanks, guys. Makes me want to leave home permanently.

Today I'm "recuperating" from my vacation, checking email, unpacking and doing laundry. My desktop PC, the workhorse of my life, is terribly ill, and so GeekSquad has been summoned for a housecall. The earliest appointment they could give me is a week from tomorrow, and so I'm relegated to this tiny laptop for the next eight days, at least. That's what I get for buying a small, travel-friendly, lightweight one -- a tiny keyboard to fat-finger all the live-long day. You pays your money, you makes your choice.

Vaycay photos will probably be uploaded here within a few days, (boy, I miss my desktop PC).

In the meantime I'm trying to figure out where's the best place to buy prescription (far-sighted) swim goggles. Anyone have any luck getting them locally? How about the internet?

Time to shift another another load of laundry from washer to dryer.

Do I seem grumpy?

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Beach bound

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...and back in a week or so.

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Counting Our Blessings

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Had an email from my brother this morning. It seems his #2 son was making a left turn out of James River High School on Robious Rd. yesterday afternoon, coming home from football practice, and was broadsided by a van. Van driver just had a small scratch. #2 son has a severe concussion and the burden of knowing he totaled his older brother's white pickup. But no broken bones and no organ damage. A miracle, to be sure, based on the the damage to the truck.

Very scary stuff.

I've been plugging along today, doing my work, and then every half hour or so I'll remember about the accident and shoot about ten grateful prayers of thanks heavenward. My most recent jolt of remembrance brought tears to my eyes, perhaps after finally realizing the full potential of what could have been. A small taste of what his parents must be feeling.

Thank you, God, for protecting my nephew.

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Fall Fiber Frolics

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(what's with me and all the alliteration lately?)

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I've got to make some decisions here, people. Autumn is rapidly approaching, and there are so many fiber events on the calendar (yay!) that I need to make a decision about which one(s) I want to attend.

Here's what's on the calendar, so far:

• October 6-7: Fall Fiber Festival, Montpelier, VA
• October 11-14: Stitches East, Baltimore, MD
• October 20-21: New York Sheep & Wool Festival, Rhinebeck, NY
  
• October 26-28: Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair, Fletcher, NC
• October 27-28: Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival, Berryville, VA
• November 8-11: Knitting at the Beach, Duck, NC
  
• November 9-11: Knitter's Review Retreat, Berkshires, MA
• November 17-18: Carodan Farm's KnitXperience Knitters Retreat, Graves Mountain Lodge, Syria, VA

This list doesn't even include another knitting retreat that a local Stitch 'n Bitch group is having down at the beach, the same weekend as Stitches East. I'd already decided there were too many other fiber events going on to even consider that one.

Plus, there are some great classes being offered locally. Our local knitting guild is having a special workshop in early September on top-down Aran cardigans. Knitting Sisters in Williamsburg is having Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably workshops in late September. One LYS, The Knitting Basket is having a class on Thrummed Mittens, also in late September -- something that appeals to my always-cold-in-winter hands. And of course, our four other area yarn shops all offer a host of good classes. A knitter could go wild (and broke), taking them all!

It's a fun problem to have so many options to choose from. Which shall I attend? Chances are, the closer the event is to home, the higher probability of my attending. But, ya never know -- I could easily be talked into something farther away, if I'm feeling adventurous.

Which will you be attending?

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Pursue Perception of Perseids in Powhatan?

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The annual Perseid meteor shower is underway, with its peak being tomorrow (Sunday) night. There's a dark sky observing area out in Powhatan that I'm considering driving out to, in order to watch them. Being as I live in the city, which is, like any city, lousy with light pollution, that's really my best bet to see lots of shooting stars.



Clear skies and decent weather are predicted. Anyone care to join me?

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A Couple 'o Hats

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Longtime readers may remember my post about this year's Sedalia Spring Fiber Festival back in April. Way, way back in the sweet, sweet springtime, back before the earth flew too close to the sun and scorched in summertime temperatures that reached 107°F.

(Yes, that's what my WeatherBug told me we hit on Wednesday, although the "official" high was "only" 104°F. Hottest I've ever seen it get here in Rivah City. But not the hottest I've ever been. That would be two summers ago when I was working in Palm Springs, CA, when it got to 115°F every day, and it was still 100°F at midnight. Bleh. But I digress.)

-

Anyway, you may recall my Spring Fiber Festival purchases:


Including some Kid Hollow Farm Wrapped Yarn:



Which, for some reason, had a catnip-like effect on my Ali:

yarn wrastlin'
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I think the residual smell of cedar on the yarn does that to cats, maybe.

So, I finally got around to knitting up that yarn into a couple o' hats for a couple o' nieces with summer birthdays. Just some simple roll-brim hats which take next to no brain power, and are therefore perfect projects for me:

Specs:

• Yarn: Kid Hollow Farm Wrapped Yarn (90% wool wrapped with 10% mohair/Border Leicester)
• Colorway: Kiwi
  
• Gauge: 3.5 stitches per inch
• Needles: U.S. size 10 (6 mm) Denise circulars & Clover bamboo 8" DPNs
  
• Pattern: cast on 70 stitches, join in the round, knit every round for ~6-7", decrease & finish according to Super Simple Hat Calculator
• Size: ~20" circumference
  
• Recipient: niece ML - 14th birthday

Specs:

• Yarn: Kid Hollow Farm Wrapped Yarn (90% wool wrapped with 10% mohair/Border Leicester)
• Colorway: Chico
  
• Gauge: 3.5 stitches per inch
• Needles: U.S. size 10 (6 mm) Denise circulars & Clover bamboo 8" DPNs
  
• Pattern: cast on 70 stitches, join in the round, knit every round for ~6-7", decrease & finish according to Super Simple Hat Calculator
• Size: ~20" circumference
  
• Recipient: niece RM - 14th birthday

And look, here's the happy recipient now! (Okay, two weeks ago.)

RM -- a little out of focus
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RM actually attended that fiber festival with her mother and I, and picked out the yarn. But I'm not so sure if she likes the hat. It's so hard to please teenagers. That's okay - I don't remember a thing I got on my 14th birthday. I also gave her a Barnes & Noble gift card to make up for any disappointment. :-)

As easy as this mindless hat recipe is to knit, it did take me four tries to get a gauge I liked with this yarn. The yarn label gives no gauge or needle recommendations, and the thick-and-thin nature of the yarn doesn't offer any clues. I was knitting these down at the lake last month, and after my third frogging I thought everyone was going to tie my arms to the rocking chair to stop me before I ripped again. But the fourth time was the charm. And you gotta know I love those colors!

A week from today (or tomorrow - haven't decided yet), I leave for my late summer vacation down at the beach, and I'm really looking forward to it. I haven't thought about it at all, which is cool -- it'll be a nice change of pace.

I mention it now because, given my slackened blogging pace this summer, it's very possible I won't have another post here until after I return from vacation. (We'll see -- maybe I'll feel chatty this weekend. There are still one or two topics I need to blog about before they become too dusty and covered in cobwebs.) This working for a living really cuts into my fun time, ya know? Since I sit on my arse all day in front of a computer to earn said living, after I'm off the clock, if I do feel like "playing" on the computer, I tend to spend that time reading blogs and playing on Ravelry.

It's not like I have whole lot to show-and-tell these days, anyway. I'm knitting, but it's just the tiniest amount you could possibly knit and still call yourself a knitter. I'm still blaming the heat. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Has nothing to do with just being lazy. Uh uh, no sir.) So, finished objects will be slow in coming. And since I'm working from home, I can go for days without leaving the house, which makes for a very boring and non-blog-worthy life. Zzzzzzzz. Sometimes I do miss the days when I traveled a lot for work. At least I had something to write about!

But there will be knitting at the beach, for sure. And maybe an FO. Maybe not. We'll see.

A momentous event occurred last month, which I failed to recognize here in a timely manner. On July 20th, I had my 2-year knitting anniversary -- my knittiversary. Two years ago on July 20th, 2005, my SIL Jenny, (who had given me a Learn-to-Knit kit three days prior, on my birthday), taught me to knit three days later on her birthday. And my life has been irrevocably changed. A new obsession hobby, a whole host of wonderful new knitting friends, a new blog. I'm so very grateful to have found this craft.

When Jenny taught me to knit, she was a beginning knitter herself, and what with her crazy-busy life, (my brother for a husband, three kids, a full-time job, training for and running in marathons, redecorating their newly remodeled house, etc.), she hasn't advanced much beyond the garter stitch scarf, (not that there's anything wrong with that). Heck, I'm not all that further along myself.

So, this year, on Jenny's birthday, (my knittiversary), I gave her some lovely yarn in her very favorite color:

Araucania Nature Wool (in chunky, I believe)
(thanks again, Gina!)

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...as well as her very own set of pink Denise Interchangeable circular needles, and a few sets of Clover bamboo DPNs. Oh, and a little "coupon" from me for hat knitting lessons down at the beach, and her very own copy of the Super Simple Hat Calculator. I'm going to make a hat knitter out of her yet! (Insert evil laugh here: Mwoooahh-ha-ha-ha-ha!)

Should be fun times, down at the beach! And if you need a reminder of what a beach vacation looks like, feel free to re-read my account of last year's vacation, starting here.

Good times!

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Wake Up, Number 37

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For the past few days, my heart has been with the folks in Minnesota as they, like the rest of the country, relive the horror of Wednesday's bridge collapse over and over again as it's aired on CNN.

And everywhere around the country people are wondering about the safety and stability of bridges in our own hometowns.

I think about the Huguenot Bridge, which took me to high school every day for four years, and more recently, seems to be closed for repairs every single weekend. And yet, although the paved surface is a patchwork quilt of pothole fill-ins, it is not cosmetic repaving work that's being performed on Sundays, and that makes me more than a little uneasy.

Huguenot Bridge, Richmond, VA
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Although of a different construction than the steel-trussed I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, the Huguenot Bridge is still at risk. In May 2006, the deck, superstructure and substructure of the 57-year-old bridge were rated as poor, while the August 2006 underwater inspection rated the footings as just "fair". Not comforting. Fortunately the bridge is scheduled for replacement in 2010. Here's hoping it holds up that long.

I've also had the phrase, "Wake up, Number 37" rolling around my head these last few days. If you've seen the movie, The Mothman Prophecies, then you know to what I'm referring. If you haven't, then I won't spoil it for you. But it's a fantastic movie, in my opinion -- spooky, (in a fun, Sixth Sense kind of way), but not gory, and has a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat, heart-stopping ending which makes watching all the spooky stuff worthwhile. And of course, Richard Gere (my sister's hunky "co-star" in the upcoming Nights in Rodanthe flick, heh heh), is in it.

But what happened on Wednesday is not a Hollywood movie. Real people were injured. Real lives were lost. And thank God there are many more survivors than originally expected.

Yesterday I emailed my friend Marci, a Minnesota native currently living in Florida, and asked her if anyone she knew was involved. Her answer was thankfully, no, but she does have a friend who takes that bridge home from work every evening, usually right around the same time as Wednesday's rush hour collapse. Her friend went home by another route that night. And I'm guessing her friend is feeling particularly grateful to be alive these days.

Wake up, Number... ?

Have a safe weekend, everyone.

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Tuesday Night Knitters celebrate Unraveled!

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Tuesday night, instead of meeting at our normal Barnes & Noble venue, our knitting group trooped over to the Far Country known as the West End, across the mighty Rivah James, and gathered at Unraveled to help owner Mary Jane celebrate her yarn shop's three-year anniversary.

I went the entire night without getting a picture of Mary Jane, (shame on me), nor did I knit a stitch as there was lots happening that would have surely distracted my middle-aged attention-deficient brain into all kinds of mistakes, but I did manage to get a handful of pictures of a few of the folks who came.

Here are Robin C., Sheddy and Renny all wearing my favorite color teal, so I of course just had to lump them together and force them to take a photo:

the gals (and the color) are so pretty! :-)
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Here are a few other folks who joined the party:

Any, Lou, Judy, and Patsy were seriously knitting
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Robin C., Issy, Deb and Renny were also heads-down, serious knitters
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Jane modeled her newest FO - her CeCe cardigan,
which she knit start-to-finish on her beach vacation last week
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Jane's sister Lawre had a trunk show of all her lovely knitting bags and fabrics
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Linda finished her E.Z. surprise baby sweater:

Cute 'lil sweater!
And if you blur your eyes, doesn't it look like she has a normal-sized head and a tee-tiny body?
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At one point in the evening a few of us decided to walk a few shops over to Deluca Gelato, Richmond's only authentic Italian gelateria, and man, was that stuff fabulous! I got the chocolate-chocolate chip, my first ever gelato, and it was incredible. I was sure that something with less fat than ice cream surely couldn't be as good, but I was happily proven wrong. I will be going there now every time I'm in the neighborhood! A yarn shop and a gelateria? Twist my arm!

Patsy seemed to enjoy hers:

As did Issy:


Mary Jane was also kind enough to put out yummy snacks for us, so we were happy knitters!

front: homemade cinnamon buns
back: cheese & crackers
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And Cathy just seemed happy overall:

Mmmm-hmmmm
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Finally, I will leave you with a picture of this beautiful freeform-knitted purse that Ann, who works at Unraveled, knit up as a shop sample:

Love it!
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Mary Jane sells the purse forms in her shop, and I believe Ann teaches a class on free-form knitting, in case you're interested!

Well, that's all for now. Maybe I'll get inspired and blog again this weekend -- I do have a few other things to share. We'll see!

Happy weekend, everyone! :-)

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