KNITTING WITHOUT DOG HAIR IS NOT AN OPTION

OK, I am gradually recuperating from Wednesday. Just to give you an idea - I left the house at 09:30am and got home after midnight. IT WAS FABULOUS. I am still thinking - WOW, I actually stood behind the Yarn Harlot in a group picture. YAY!!!

So how did the day go? The usual suspects met at Knitch at 11am to go lunch and "kill" time until the fun began. Which was about 5½ hours later. We sat on the back porch of the Dark Horse, in the shade, on a beautiful Georgia fall day.

I started a new sock - of course to honor the Yarn Harlot and her traveling sock - and I'm going to write up the pattern soon. Jen offered to test-knit it to make sure it's understandable outside of my head.

I started two to test gauge - one on size 0 and one on size 1. I should know better by now. I don't like my socks on size 1. So the pink trial sock went back into a ball and I continued the variegated sock. I am searching for a name for the pattern. Help me out, will ya?

I want to share some class with you as well. Nice knitting still life, hmmm?

A very nice shot of Jen and Regan. Looks like Jen is joining the nose warmer craze that Regan started...

Melissa finishing her UGA hat - ooops, I think I'm supposed to say that it's a Falcons hat:

Before we left, the whole porch was full of people. Amazing!

Around 4:30pm we all got ready to walk over to the Hilan Theatre. It is hidden in a building that you have to enter through a Ben & Jerry's on the left side of the place and a Starbucks on the right. I'm sure they had lots of business that day.

And, the lovely knitters that we are, we all got in line...

And this is the last picture I took inside the theatre...

And wouldn't you know it, all the snarkies are in it except their fearless leaderess. ;-)

And why is that the last picture??? Because that's when the camera died. All of a sudden it made a very strange sound and that was it. Sandy's camera started acting up, too. Hmm - I wonder if all the funny stories and all the laughter the Yarn Harlot spread around had an impact on electronic devices? That almost sounds like a sci-fi movie to me. "THE DAY A CANADIAN KNITTER MADE THE EARTH STAND STILL..." And that's actually almost how it felt - 600 people mesmerized by a very very funny woman who spoke about her knitting adventures and the CHOKE (Cultural Harrassment of Knitters Everywhere) movement all around us. And boy was she funny. I actually bought her book on CD at Knitch last night and Jacquie and I laughed all the way home - squeeeee (this one is for Regan!). Stephanie reads the book herself and listening to it is just like reliving Wednesday evening forever.

So, I had to steal a few pictures from the other bloggers - blame it on the dead Nikon. THANK GOODNESS FOR BLOGGERS!!! And I compiled a list of the ones I saw (and remember...) at the event:

Chickengoddess
Deb in Atlanta
Evil Science Chick
Famous Steve Knits
Farie_Knits
Frank the Reindeer
Gotta Knit
Hockey Mom Knits
Knit4Bears
The Knit Factor
Knit in Your Pants
Knitterboy76
Knitters = Angry Mob
Knitting, with dogs
Knit Witch
Jen from Knotty Girls
Knotty Mouse
La,La,La... Random Musings
light wading for the unadventurous
Lotus Knits
PostModern Artisan
Quiddity
Scrappy Knitter
Snarky Katey and her snarky friends
Sticknits
TURBOchic KNITS
Turtlegirl’s Bloggy Thing
Wool & Words
Woofgang Pug Knits

and... the Yarn Harlot

Let me know if I missed you and I'll add you to the list. And go check out each other's blogs. I'm sure there will be a ton of pictures everywhere. Unlike here...

I was knitting on the sock while waiting for the Yarn Harlot, and I ripped twice, unnoticed by my neighbors, thankfully, because the fellow knitters are all such delicate flowers and always so terrorized by ripping. Then I decided to start knitting the cuff (it's a toe up sock with a cable/lace pattern) on a bigger needle (back to size 1). Which was a bad idea, and I ripped that too once I was back home. Crap - but oh well, gotta do it right, right?

After the Yarn Harlot spoke for over 1½ hours, a bunch of us went to dinner around the corner. And I have to say, kudos to Harry & Sons. I have never seen a place be soooo accommodating to a group of over 15 people. (I lost count because people kept showing up and showing up.) Within a few minutes, they added 3 tables to the 2 tables we already had them put together for us. And their service was very quick, and they gave us seperate checks, too. And have I mentioned that they have exeptionally good Sushi and Thai food? AMAZING!!!

We were in a bit of a hurry because we were all scheduled for a book signing back at Knitch. Again, the timing was perfect - we got in line at the store just a few minutes before the Yarn Harlot showed up. And here is the final shot of the evening:

Doug, Melissa, Lou, Stephanie, me (peeking), Jane, Regan, Sandy & Jen

I didn't touch the traveling sock, but because I wore my cowboy suede poncho, the Yarn Harlot actually sang the first few notes of "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" to me. How cool is that...

I think I spent the day with the nicest knitters I know. Y'all were the perfect crowd to go see the Yarn Harlot with!

Can I lay down now and go to sleep??? Well, actually - I'm going to head over to Knitch in an hour to decompress. :-) Almost as rejuvenating. Have a great weekend!