H as in Harlot
Maybe half an hour before the start of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Seattle appearance last night, a man enough older than me that I'd call him an older man stood in the aisle and called out "Sue, Sue." He moved up the aisle directly across from us, looked at a sheet of paper in his hand, then called again, "Sue? Sue!"
"Frustrated?" asked Cindy from the end seat.
"Yeah," he replied, "she said to meet her here. She'd be easy to find. She'd be the one with the knitting needles. Right."
About an hundred women, all holding knitting needles, laughed - a very Harlot moment before the Harlot even appeared.
Stephanie was in her usual good form. Her talk touched on many of her usual themes - mostly the lack of understanding of knitters by non-knitters and the mystifying and amusing results.
This time she also talked of research on repetitive motion and it's uses and benefits. One of the studies, dealing with the mitigation of traumatic stress inducers by performing simple repetitive tasks, actually mentioned knitting as a possible repetitive activity, but concluded that it was impractical to routinely carry emergency knitting. That got a laugh, too - from a roomful of knitters working on portable projects.
I think slightly fewer knitters showed up last night than did last September, maybe 300 rather than four, but still the signing line ran about 2 1/2 hours long. Apparently, despite the smaller crowd, Third Place Books ran out of books and had to bring in more during the talk. I and my friends were glad I'd made the trip to buy books the day before.
And, once again, Stephanie amazed me with how much she knows and remembers about her blog readers/commenters. She even remembered the date of my birthday, totally amazing my friend Ann. Chatting like she didn't have close to an hour's worth of people in line behind us, she said Sock Camp was a lot of work, but fun and she didn't have to get on a plane every day during it. She did not seem road-weary, but then, she never does.
As we walked out I wondered what she thinks of this life she now has. I doubt she expected it when she first started to post on-line. Sure, it's her job, but it's become so much more, so all consuming. I hope she feels it's worth it for her, not just for us.
Remember to comment by midnight tomorrow, Wednesday, for a chance in the drawing for the Schaefer yarn or a signed copy of Stephanie's book.
I, too, have wondered what she must think of how her blog has changed her life. It has got to be just wonderful, but when she starts the road trips in support of her books, I think the madness kicks in. It's wonderful that she has a supportive family.
Stephanie didn't make it to Florida but You Tube has a lot of her appearances.
Posted by: Maria Margenot | April 23, 2008 at 04:39 AM
I was amazed at Stephanie's memory and I had a wonderful time! Thanks again for taking me, Ann
Posted by: Ann Cook | April 23, 2008 at 07:12 AM
Wow- great pictures! Obviously your camera doesn't fight with you over flash shots like mine does! If I had waited in the signing line I would have had to swim home! LOL!
Posted by: Heidi Jill Price | April 23, 2008 at 09:25 AM
Great pictures! I enjoyed the evening of seeing Stephanie in person and the
opportunity to knit in her presense. It was also great to meet other knitters in the area.
Posted by: Janet Deters | April 23, 2008 at 01:39 PM
Ooh, and you're wearing the Mountain Colors cardigan! It looks great.
Gotta laugh about the guy looking for a knitter. I can't help but wonder if 'Sue' was pulling his leg. *g*
Posted by: RobinH | April 24, 2008 at 04:04 AM
Karen, you look terrific! Thanks for taking us along. Apparently, The Yarn Harlot got rained out on the Chicago leg of the tour. :(
Posted by: Karen B. | April 27, 2008 at 09:57 AM