Mission Impossible

Clearly, in the last several days, I haven’t been myself, as witnessed by the lack of blogging. It’s been a lot like Mission Impossible to move at this pace over the last few days, and I suppose it was inevitable that with this much going on, something bad would have to happen.

1. After leaving at the fantastical hour of O-dark hundred hours on Wednesday, I suffered a tremendous shock in a Northampton pub when I finally succeeded in getting Jayme-the-wonder-publicist to knit a sock.

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She’s doing fine (in no small part due to the fantastic Mind’s Eye sock yarn she’s enchanted with) but it really knocked me for a loop to see her sitting there, just knitting away. I never expected it to take mere months to bend her to my will. Now that I have her held tightly in my thrall – there are other things I will be sorting out. Like the flight at 0-dark hundred hours. (For any Storey Publishing people reading this blog, that’s definitely not Jayme’s beer. Definitely. That’s my beer. For sure. I just like, put it by her.)

2. There were this many of us at Webs.

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That is not a normal view my friends, not any way you slice it. No way. Even I was flipped out, and I’ve got the strangest possible life and some experience with whacks of knitters in one spot. Dudes, it was a LOT of knitters, and the Webs people were dynamite. Absolutely incredible. They were on fire with the organization and the chairs and the everything, even bringing water to knitters on trays in the back warehouse while they waited and/or shopped. Kathy and Steve really demonstrated that they know how to treat an economic force for good.

I managed, in the whirl of knitters and yarn to pin down a couple of examples of the sort of people I’m meeting out there.

Here’s Kait. Kait knit a washcloth for me that takes care of two states with one skein. This way is Vermont…

Kaitver3005

and this way is New Hampshire…

Kaitnh3005

and she selected the colors green and white because “Vermont is green in summer and white in winter (generally) and Vermont is the Green Mountain State and New Hampshire is home to the White Mountains.” See that? A washcloth with that much thought in it? Not a normal day at all. Not normal, and exactly freakin’ cool. (Also not normal? A bunch of people let Kait and her mum move up the line because they were having car trouble and didn’t want to drive in the dark. Very nice.)

Remember when I linked to the big knit glove?

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Amy borrowed a pick-up (since the thing won’t fit in her little civic, and hauled the thing to Webs. I laughed and laughed and laughed.

(I admit, up until she popped out of nowhere with the thing a little piece of me thought it might be photoshopped.) Amy? Wonderfully weird.

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Monica brought her 1st sock.

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Robyn brought me baby Sean, all the way from Montreal. (He’s so cute it gives you a little cramp.) Yes, he has a hockey bib on. That was one of the few normal things.

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Charlton was knitting some pretty big kilt hose of his own devising.

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Morgan and Alexandra are just as cute as little ladybugs.

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Karin signs her pattern (the Berthe Collar) in No Sheep for You, while I sign a book for her.

This?

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Perhaps we don’t explain this. Some things just….are.

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Aimie proves that it isn’t (as some had implied) too hard to knit MA into a washcloth.

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Jessica, the woman behind the buzz that is Ravelry.

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Caroline and Jennifer show off 1st sock mojo.

And Matti….

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Matti learned to spin that night, and this is her very first yarn.

Finally, my beloved Marcy,

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hostess with the mostess of one of the most interesting blogs out there. (If you don’t read it, you’re missing out. Marcy has a huge collection of knitting, spinning and fibre postcards and images, and she writes about them.)

Here is how many squares Webs collected,

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here is how many hats Webs collected,

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and here is SOME of the food that knitters donated.

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While I have come to expect the generosity of knitters, I do not think it’s normal. At all. A whole lot of people are going to have a life a tiny bit easier because of knitters. May a thousand stars shine upon the lot of you.

3. This hotel drove me insane and frayed my last nerve.

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I swear that every single hallway looked exactly like this, and the place was a maze. I was 10 minutes late meeting someone in the lobby because I was wandering hopelessly around the place. These are hallways to nowhere.

4. From Webs I went to The Flying Fingers yarn shop in Tarrytown NY. (HA! You didn’t know, did you! )

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Here’s Denise and Elise in this totally charming shop (Home of the famous Yarn Bus) where the yarn is almost stacked to the ceiling all the way around. I had a lovely evening (and got some lovely yarn. I’ll show you later.)

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It was really a fantastic evening, (not just because of the beer [which was excellent] or the yarn [ which was just excellent too]) but because it’s been forever since I hung out with a small gathering of knitters and just talked and hung out. While I was talking, I happened to mention the Principles of Knitting, and how this book has become almost an urban legend. Tales are told of knitters who just come across one at a garage sale being flogged by someone who has no idea of it’s value, or a knitter who owns one and is unaware that having it on a shelf is like having hundreds of dollars of yarn money in the bank. Meet Olive.

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While I was talking about that she got this crazy look on her face.

Yup. She’s got one in her attic, and she had NO IDEA what it was worth. This event at Flying Fingers was small by design, and I want to thank Elise for being willing to do a little one that suited me just fine. It was weird to be normal, which probably means I should do it more often.

5. I went to BEA. BEA is pretty darned weird all by itself, and if you aren’t freaked out when you get there, you are going to be seriously flipped when you leave. Lucky for me, I had been pretty shaken before I got there, so I just rolled with the weird. BEA is an industry tradeshow for publishing, and you can’t go unless you are involved with it somehow. Authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians…you get it. You can’t just walk in off the street. This makes it very difficult for your average Yarn Harlot to stack the place with knitters…but I managed. Here, in quick order and click ’em if you want em big, are the random knitters I found at BEA.

Knitter11Bea026Knitter10Bea0206Knitter9Bea0206

Knitter7Bea0206Knitter6Bea0206Knitter5Bea0206

Zabetknitsbea02056Knitter4Bea0206

Knitter3Bea0206Knitter2Be0205Knitter1Bea0206

We are everywhere.

6. The sock now has ONE DEGREE of separation from Stephen King, since that hand that is holding it shook the hand of the man himself at the Rock Bottom Remainders Concert. (Please know, with some sadness, that it is not me that is holding it, but a knitter who works for Storey Publishing. I feel better about this knowing that all she could manage to get out while she met the man was “I love you”.)

Stephenkingdegree0206

While I have never been the same since The Shining, I will tell you that his last two books, Lisey’s Story, and especiallly On Writing. have turned me into a serious, serious fan. One Degree. Sigh.

7. Dudes! It’s Crazy Aunt Purl!

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She’s there pimping her new book, and I have procured two copies of the advance reading copies. One for myself, and one for a lucky knitter who wins it in Claudia’s MS ride give-away. Visit Claudia to make a donation and to get a chance to win some of the very good things.

8. I saw the Empire State Building with all these smiling faces of New York projected on it.

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It is so beautiful and weird that I can hardly tell you.

9. Debbie Macomber held my sock.

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10. Finally, I got to see something really weird. Really weird indeed.

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Ann and Kay in one place at the same time. Totally trippy. This last bit of weirdness (and the knowledge that I had to run really fast to catch a plane) was probably what put me over the edge. The knitters, the hallways, the yarn, the books, the signing, the other authors…..it was all too much and I finally lost whatever thread was holding my careful mission impossible together...and there has been a casualty.

Ann and Kay have provided me with a proof of life photo that demonstrates without a shadow of a doubt that my sock was alive and unmitered on Saturday after I lost it at BEA, but there is little that I can do.

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Though that lovely sock was a valuable member of my operation, it knew when it joined my crack team of travelling knitwear that if any member of my team was ever caught or killed, I would have to disavow all knowledge of it.

Godspeed and good luck little sock.

131 thoughts on “Mission Impossible

  1. Am I first? Really? I knew there was a reason I decided to take a study break right now….I am in the middle of studying for my graduate school qualifying exams (pass or go home, basically), and I have missed your blog the past few days! I love it!!

  2. Really? You’re going to let it go just like that?
    Maybe you’ll get a ransom note in the comments…

  3. Wow…..amazing report. I think about only half of the pictures loaded by the time I got to here (then I got a 503). ANYway. You and Crazy Aunt Purl AND Lynn Johnston in the same place. I would have exploded from glee. Relax and relax and start again, sorry about the sock.

  4. Congrats on surviving The Whirlwind of Weirdness!
    …I’ll admit to being a little jealous you got to see the hand-seat-glove-thing….

  5. Hmmm, your comments are acting up again – hopefully this is not a double post.
    I’m still volunteering for the stealth hostage rescue attack on Nashville…

  6. Congrats on surviving The Whirlwind of Weirdness!
    …I’ll admit to being a little jealous you got to see the hand-seat-glove-thing….

  7. You must turn over all your cashmere to us or the sock will be frogged. Await further instructions.

  8. poor lost sock; too young (and pointy)to fly home unattended, can’t walk cuz it’s footles; the needles have no eyes so they can’t see the map anyway and ….oh…the poor little sockie.

  9. Okay we need to put out an All Points Bulletin!
    I know you were the one working on that sock, but I had grown very fond of it, watching it on all its adventures, often amazed that a sock has a more exciting life than I.
    We must find the sock!

  10. Oh,no! That is a catastrophe of biblical proportions. I’m so sorry because I know the yarn is irreplaceable and of great sentimental value. I hope it turns up and that whoever finds it knows how important it is.

  11. Whoo…today’s blog is just so over the top for me in fun, funny and all good things. Wish I had been there at the BEA…more than a bit envious of all the great writers you got to meet not to mention the ONE DEGREE OF SEPARATION from the shining stephen king. I apologize for this next bit (taking advantage of your blogosphere)…I am the owner of a vintage copy of The Principles of Knitting (had no idea of its worth). Willing to swap for: a glass of lemonade and the company of Stephen King on the porch of his home in Bangor, ME (I have photos of that house and the trippy fence surrounding it…I am his biggest fan (hear evil laughter and sniggering a la Misery). I do hope your sock returns home unmitered, although come to think of it, a mitred sock…hmmm, interesting, very interesting.

  12. What a wonderful time. For some reason, only about half of the pic’s are coming up at this time. I’ll check back later to see the rest.
    CIA sock. Too funny.

  13. I’M COMMENT #12!!! I’m, like, usuall, comment
    #358 so this is totally awesome, Dude! I have one question… that green sock I see everyone posing with… I’ve seen it for a long time. Is it because you like that particular sock yarn, or is it your model sock?
    Great report! I’ve checked these stores out on-line. Hell! I check’em all out on-line! I’m so envious that you get to go to all of them!

  14. Sorry, I’m not buying the “if any member of my team was ever caught or killed, I would have to disavow all knowledge of it” line. I’m pretty sure the kidnappers are onto the reverse psychology thing. Besides, even if you cut the sock loose, you have to admit that you’ll miss those super sharp metal DPNs it lives on.

  15. Lost sock?! Horrors!
    Ohhhhh… I just got a wave of whatwouldidoifilostaknittingprojectinprogress?
    *shudder* I think I have to go lie down now.

  16. I read that post at Ann & Kay’s and was so sad for the wee sock, I could just picture it shaking in fear at being turned into a 2-circulars sock… I hope it finds its way back to you!
    Sounds like it was an awesome, awesome week.

  17. This post musta taken you hours to get together! whew!
    I lost my sock at the Calvin theater… this was not a good couple days for socks. Lucky for me though, the Webs people were on it. They found it and sent it to me- maybe they can hit the convention center for ya? Never doubt the Webs people. 😉
    So great seeing you again- you did a fabulous job, as always.
    Thanks for the Ravelry link (there goes our waiting list!)- oh boy!

  18. Phew. You know how a really stressed-out baby sometimes needs swaddling and silence? Hand Joe a queen-sized flannel sheet and tell him to get a’wrappin’. (Just to show my heart isn’t made of aluminum, I won’t even mention the day of the week.)
    The hell with the photos showing or the comments doubling up — a whack of knitters are all trying to cram into the closet at once. It will subside in time….

  19. *sniff* the sock? You just turn your back? Oh, Harlot. No.
    I’ve stuck up for canadians all this time… I thought the stereo types weren’t true. I am dismayed.
    What about the needles? Won’t you fight for your needles? *wink* american knitter runs in fear….
    Seriously. As a pastoral counselor- I have to give a bit of advice- Woman… if you’re forgetting your knitting… YOU NEED TO GO HOME AND REST.
    ts

  20. It was great to see you at Webs. I must admit that I feel a bit weird about wearing a T-shirt (door prize) that has your face on it. 😉

  21. also- the hallway shot? Totally reminded me of the big-wheel scene in the shining….
    random nugget of info you don’t need- I’ve been to the hotel where they filmed scenes of the movie— Near Denver in the mountains….. the bar was freaky. (and there was no-one in it… maybe we weren’t supposed to goof around in there- too bad we did. )

  22. Btw, a revised edition of PRINCIPLES OF KNITTING is apparently scheduled for 2009 publication.

  23. You make it back to the blog after a few days off and so many knitters crowd on that the photos won’t all load and the comments line is chronically buzy.
    I can empathise with the travel fatigue. I just took what is normally a relaxed May/June trip with a few marathon days of frantically trying to finish the weed eating and brush trimming before we need to head back north and turned it into something rather too frenzied when I tried to be in two states at once because Sally Melville was giving workshops back in Seattle while I was supposed to be in California. At least I got to choose the gawd-awful hour of my flights. Control mitigates much frustration.
    May you nap peacefully on the piles of laundry that reproduced while you were gone and may some kind book publisher mail your sock back to you. Having worked in book selling, I don’t hope for the latter but the world can amaze you sometimes.

  24. I see one other comment posted about half of the pictures missing on our end. Anyone else? What a great trip! I’m sorry about the sock suffering such torture in the hands of evil villans, though. And Jamie! Knitting! Woo-hoo!

  25. I am one of those microscopically small folks in the photo in Northampton – laughing harder than I have for ages. Gosh, it was fun – especially with the needles clicking fiendishly in the background the entire time. How I hung around WEBS all that time and missed seeing the life-size glove I simply can’t imagine. But I did see (and admire!) the blanket. Even if parts of were crocheted (I am open-minded about these things!).
    Maybe we could ransom the sock for the benfit of MSF?
    I will be back to see the rest of the photos – somehow I often get your posts with spaces reserved, but no picture in them. Weird.
    Lucky sock getting to visit the Rock Bottom Remainders concert – the idea of several of my favorite authors being turned loose with musical instruments – priceless!

  26. Clearly, you’ve been having way too much fun. So has your sock. I’ve longed to see the Rock Bottom Remainders concert, but not because of Stephen king. I’m a fan of Amy Tan and I think she plays drums–or just stands there and looks funky–I forgot which. Maybe I could attach myself to your sock and just enjoy the ride!!! You and sock are having too much fun. It’s time to share!!!!

  27. After all this (heck, after a fraction of it!) I would just ‘go with the flow’. Enjoy and embrace the strangeness – sounds like you had awonderful few days!

  28. Wish I could have made it to BookExpo this year, but the library wouldn’t send me. (pout)
    The Calvin was certainly crazy, but you gave the crowd a great show. It was wonderful to see you at WEBS. I am really sorry I didn’t let you take my purple pen (kind of), but happy to say no smudges were left in my book from the ink.

  29. Wow! What incredibly bad timing to be asking another knitter for her book autograph in front of THE knitter who we were all there to see…and then to have said knitter capture my timing snafu on camera…
    I feel I should do knitting penance (is that like crocheting with perfectly good sock yarn, or something?)

  30. So! You would make a liar out of me! (I left words of comfort for your sock on the Mason Dixon blog — I told the sock not to worry, that you would do whatever was necessary to get it back.) For shame! …such lovely yarn, too.
    With that said… the pictures from the Webs event are great! I hardly took any (no, I don’t know what I was thinking). I also enjoyed your Flying Fingers and BEA photos, but the best one might be Jayme-the-wonder-publicist knitting her first sock. It might be the empathy: I started my first sock on Wednesday, too, and it has grown since I showed you that diminutive bit of ribbing that evening.

  31. Webs was so much fun! Your talk was great and it was so fun to meet you:)
    Stephen King….love his books, particularly “Eyes of the Dragon”, which is one of my favorites. I grew up in seeing him all over town too, as I grew up where he lives!

  32. Had a great time at WEBS event. Your talk was great and you were wonderful to hang in their and sign sooo many books for all of us. I hope your poor sock is returned unharmed. It looked so scared.

  33. I am still soaring on the energy from being with over six hundred knitters and the laughter at the Calvin. Amazing feeling, all that yarn love in one place. It was wonderful to meet you, Stephanie. You were graciousness personified in taking time to be present and open to each of the hundreds of people who lined up to have their books signed. And thank you for bringing the Bohus sweater for us to drool over–it is truly magnificent both in color and creation. It was a treat to see it in person.
    As for the sock, while an initial position of no negotiations is standard, hopefully common ground can be found so it can come home 😉 Will you still love it if it is mitered or gasp-log cabined?

  34. Ohhh, ROFLMAO! Lord love a duck, I dunno how you manage to get so much into one post, woman, but bless you for it. I *so* sympathize with that hotel. I’ve got a wonderful friend who’s taken me to several Highlander cons, and I *swear*–they were different chains, different cities, but man, at least 5 of the hotels we stayed at had identical floorplans! (What, there’s an architect with a monopoly?) And what’s worse? I’m pretty damned sure it’s the same floorplan yours had, because that looks awfully familiar! They should all be named Hotel California…
    And the sock, oh, the poor sock. Thankfully not Virginia’s Yarn sock, but still. One of your constant companions, sundered from you, its companions and familiar routine; the poor, poor baby. What vile durance and horrifying adventures await? How will it survive the lack of concern about chairs? Is there going to be a serial blog, and who’s getting the movie rights? Our collective breath is bated. Meanwhile – hope you manage *some* rest before the left coast, ’cause we’re getting excited out here!

  35. Whew! I hope you are getting some rest. Thanks for all the links… they’ll keep me busy if I get a little knitting time tonight. We’re about to dive off the deep end of home renovation – windows, siding, etc., and I’m freaking out (just a little bit). We’re going with blue (soft silverish blue) for the siding – not taupe, not tan, not beige. Blue. Livin’ on the edge, I tell you!

  36. The whirlwind does not stop. I am hoping to head up to see you in Petaluma Thurday, why is it that flying to New York was a no-brainer, but driving I am hemming and hawing. Oh those Bay Area roads. Congestion.

  37. The hallways look like something out of The Shining. I live directly beneath NH and VT and can tell you with absoloute certainty that this is exactly what they look like – green, white and reversible.
    The Javits Center is huge and BEA is like…it’s like 2,000 Webs Tent Sales in one place at one time, only without yarn – just books. I thought I was going to herniate a disc with the schwag.
    Bummed to have missed the Webs thing, but thoroughly impressed with the turnout. My kid was there and said it was “amazing”.
    Can Jayme really be ‘had’ for beer?

  38. Stephanie, there are no words (OK, never mind, I guess these are words, aren’t they) for how FUNNY you were at the Calvin. Seriously, I haven’t laughed so hard at an author appearance since seeing David Sedaris a couple of years ago.
    You have a better accent than him, by the way.
    Anyway, did you know the Daily Hampshire Gazette ran a front-page story on the WEBS/Calvin event on Friday? An editor there is a friend of mine–I emailed him a hint that maybe 600 knitters at the Calvin was worth at least a photo–and he sent over an enthusiastic intern who wrote a terrific story. 28 column inches! Three photos! They called you a “yarn world superstar!”
    I can mail it to you if you want. Just holler. Or, I could scan it and email a PDF.
    Thanks for an evening none of us New England knitters will ever forget!

  39. So, um, how much is POK worth? How much yarn could I buy if I give up my copy?

  40. Hope your feet, knees, and back have recovered from BEA quicker than mine have!
    It was great to see you again there!

  41. I’m sure you’re just trying to fake out the sock ransomers by making them think you don’t care. Meanwhile Jack Bauer is on some covert op to retrieve it, right? C’mon fess up….I won’t tell…. right?

  42. Wow, it sounds like you’ve had quite the time! Many famous faces, famous places… but, that poor sock… Let no knitting be left behind!

  43. Oh, no! You can’t pretend you don’t know the sock!
    NO!
    Steph!!!
    Two CIRCS? That poor sock…
    arrrghh.
    (wish I’d been able to be a WEBS – that’s just awesome…)
    (((hugs)))

  44. Hiya! It was a blast to see you at the Calvin in Noho last wednesday! I don’t know if you remember me or not, but I was the guy who stood up and asked about Knitting Peer Pressure. It’s JUST ONE SCARF!
    Anyway… I’d like to thank you for a most enjoyable evening! I didn’t get the chance to make it to the signing afterwards, maybe the next time I see you speak 🙂
    I hope to get the chance to read your books at some point. Highly entertaining, from what I’ve been told.
    Until then… IT’S JUST ONE SCARF! 😉

  45. My mother owns a copy of POK, and I have custody. She has promised to leave it to me in her will. Until then, it is only removed from the bookshelf with great care, and for brief moments.

  46. Oh no!…Maybe the sock will be like the travelling gnome and go from place to place until it finally returns to you?

  47. Hi Stephanie. My friend and I had such a good time at Webs and your talk at the Calvin was hilarious and interesting. It was our first time to Northampton, and I think we will be figuring out a way to get back to Webs asap- its so wonderful there! Thank you for signing all of those hundreds of books and being so chatty and nice. The Bohus was pretty wickedly beautiful, I can’t believe I met it!

  48. I knew it wasn’t a good sign when you hadn’t blogged for so long. Ah poor sock taken and hidden from you oh Yarn Harlot. Oh dear what will it do without you to look out for it. I hope it returns unfrogged.
    Congrats on the great job you and the Webs people did….you all did it Represented with panche. You got to sit in the knitted chair, how cool dude and meet Crazy Aunt Purl. She is sooo cool as well. Thanks for the great blog entry.
    Hope you can rest up at bit before your next trip out.

  49. Hi Stephanie. My friend and I had such a good time at Webs and your talk at the Calvin was hilarious and interesting. It was our first time to Northampton, and I think we will be figuring out a way to get back to Webs asap- its so wonderful there! Thank you for signing all of those hundreds of books and being so chatty and nice. The Bohus was pretty wickedly beautiful, I can’t believe I met it!

  50. You didn’t link me! (pout) I’m glad you liked the dishcloth. I may make one in a solid color that will show up better, but I like your photo and how it makes it show up just fine. Also, how I don’t look like a total beet in it. I had a hot flash when you pointed the camera at me.
    Sometime we should sneak you up to Northern Woolies and have a nice ol time yarn shopping. Her shop is small, but she’s such a nice lady (and very technologically-challenged).
    Thank you for spelling my name right, both here and in my book. You will say you had it in front of you, and I will tell you that Many Many people over the years have had it in front of them, too, and still spelled it wrong. I don’t know where my mom got that spelling, but it was the 70s, she played the guitar and sang folk music, so maybe y’all can figure it out. 😉
    It was wonderful meeting you and I hope you had a great time!

  51. So if I promise not to have a podium and 300 knitters show up, you’ll come to my house and just hang and knit???
    Dude, I’m on it!!!
    This is me, not inviting anyone! This is me, setting out two chairs! This is me, chilling the beer!
    (twiddles thumbs)

  52. You are one freakin’ lucky woman! Sounds like too much fun. You don’t expect normality in knitters do you?? (My mom has some socks signed by Steven King!) Now I gotta go check some of your links!

  53. Hmm, looks like you’ve had a DOS attack (denial of service). Who would want to do that to our lovely yarn harlot??
    Glad you had fun. Pitty about the sock though.

  54. Speaking of hats, blocks, etc, is there an organizer/collector for Portland? I haven’t found any info yet, though I’ve just sent questions to a couple of local knitting lists. Looking forward to hearing your talk, Stephanie! Maybe this time I’ll have the nerve to get in line to meet you. Nerves can go both ways!

  55. Driving to Noho with friend to see YH: $5.00 gas
    Buying yarn: $$$$ (don’t ask)
    Seeing YH: (she said I was clever!) Priceless
    Showing up at a conference the next day on DV and kids, and waving knitting around like Jack Sparrow hoisting his colors when a presenter suggests (reminiscing of her childhood) that no one knits anymore: wierd, but I REPRESENTED!
    Seeing the look on my case manager’s face: peerless
    PS. Can you post my resume?

  56. Stephanie,
    It was wonderful and inspirational to hear you speak yet again in Northampton. Just so you know you aren’t the only one, I, too, have a half-elf magic user and a bag of dice I just can’t bring myself to get rid of, even though it’s been 17 years since…she died. It was very sad. Everyone cried. The dungeon master cried. He even tried to save poor Ariana. She lasted many campaigns over 18 months real-time. Last original party member. I never played again after that fateful night. *Sniff*

  57. Was that NoHo Pub by any chance, Fitz Willy’s. Sigh. Did you happen to see the Mexican place nearby? Seriously yummy food!
    Which hotel is that? It’s not either of the two i worked at when i lived in the area, i can tell you that much!

  58. Stephanie, I am so glad my husband & I drove from NY to see you at the Web’s event! I didn’t think anything could top your blog or books but seeing you in person was the greatest! Husband says you are so hilarious you should charge a cover to get into your appearances! I agree! We had such a great time. I know you thought you knew us but now you really do! So come on down to the Albany, NY area we have a great yarn store where hubby is from in Hudson! Or if we see you at Rhinebeck we can say “hey, I know you!”lol I don’t know if you lost the little card I gave you for my new blog but I put the pic of the 3 of us on it! Thank you for holding an event with the great folks at Web’s.
    Your friends in knitting,
    Diane & Eric

  59. Well! Looks like someone had a whirlwind good time! Hotels usually have maps of how to escape in case of, you know, emergencies. You could probably get the front desk to make a copy for you. After all, knowledge is power.

  60. Looks like you had a great time. Someday I am hoping to write a book and then maybe I can meet you there too 🙂
    Sent you an email regarding a Lemonade Stand for Alex on Jun 9th. You can find the virtual stand at
    http://www.firstgiving.com/peewee. I hope you got it. Talk to you soon.
    Marly
    knitthing.blogspot.com

  61. This is a really great, fun report of your stay. Knitters (and quilters) are a mightly weird and wonderful bunch – what state would the world be in without them!

  62. This is a really great, fun report of your stay. Knitters (and quilters) are a mightly weird and wonderful bunch – what state would the world be in without them!

  63. Forgot to say that I hope your sock makes it’s way back home… kind of like the roaming gnome!
    Diane:)

  64. Dearest Harlotted Person: I have to share with you one of my favorite words referring to clicking pictures when you want to see them bigger in a blog….it’s “embigify.” Is this not a wonderful wonderful word? It’s not ass!!! It comes from Melinda of the blog “Chicken Without A Head” on Ryan’s sidebar. I LIVE for occasions to use this word.

  65. Have you tried contacting the authorities? That’s what you are supposed to do in the movies, but they always try and pay the ransom.
    These people seem dangerous. Are you sure you have all of your credit cards…who knows what else they stole.

  66. Will the sock be returned?
    Will a ransom be paid?
    Or will Stephanie really turn her back on it?
    Tune in next week – same sock time, same sock channel!

  67. It was so much fun to finally see you in person Stephanie, even though I wasnt able to wait in line at WEBS. Due to medical problems I was unable to stand in the line to meet you. I know that they said that anyone with issues such as this can cut the line but I think my pride got in the way. Since I dont look ‘sick’ I didnt want people to think I was being rude or lying just to get to the front of the line. I just wanted to tell you that knitting has been a true life saver for me through the darkest times of my life and continues to be. “Crazy talk” is what others (muggles) out there seem to think when I start rambling about knitting and how it has changed my life. When I was going through chemo and to many surgeries to count last summer for treatment of breast cancer, I taught myself to knit. Within a few months I learned how to knit socks and now I cant stop! Even though I have only been knitting for a short period of time (Crocheter since I was 8 but I wont go there, LOL ) I cant remember what my life was like before I knit and I am not joking when I say that. I can totally understand your fear of a wool blight and yes, I worry about those things too! Again it was truly a pleasure to hear you speak in person and maybe someday I can take a picture with your famous sock!
    CurlyBrunette in Connecticut
    I was having so much trouble trying to get this comment to go through without getting an error message so I sent an e-mail also. :>)

  68. harotless just simply harotless
    and what of bohaus does she know
    of your rules this is a case
    for the blunt needles sisterhood
    we shall protect all cast offs
    and give them a safe home

  69. Maybe I’d let a sock go… Ok that’s a lie. I wouldn’t, couldn’t… The yarn! The needles! The love!
    Jealous of every NY minute. Glad you enjoyed them all.

  70. Wait, so you’re letting the sock go? No reconnaissance mission? No bartering? I thought for sure they’d extract some mitered squares in exchange for the sock’s safe return to Toronto…

  71. Thanks for the heads up on Principles of Knitting. Had do idea I had such a valuable book sitting there on the shelf. Security for my old age!

  72. I emailed the publisher (Simon & Schuster) of Principles of Knitting last September and received this reply: ‘There is a reprint for The Principles of Knitting planned for September ’08; check back with us in a few months to see if this date has been changed.’ I haven’t checked back yet to see if it’s still planned for that date, but hope it’s in the works!

  73. Stephanie, the answer is obvious – come to Bangor! It’s a very friendly place and I bet Stephen King would be willing to come hang out for a bit with a fellow author. He is very friendly too – he used to say hi to my dad in the supermarket back in the 70s. 🙂
    Also I really liked the knitted gnome/elf/whatever that just *is*

  74. The WEBS event was a total blast! You rocked the house! My muggle husband was laughing right along and thought you were charming. Definitely worth the drive up from Maryland!
    My only regret was that I couldn’t make it through the book signing line. I checked back several times throughout the evening, and it never seemed to get shorter than the back of the warehouse. I’m extremely agoraphobic, and standing at the back of warehouses is not a good thing (making it through the Calvin was hard enough!). And of course, I look perfectly normal by all appearances, so I was afraid requesting “pre-boarding” might end in a brawl, LOL. Anyway, that’s me in the orange shirt and big (faux) leather bag in the background of the ‘knitted gnome’ photo. I was really hoping there would be no evidence of my checking out at the cashiers with about $!____! hundred dollars worth of yarn and roving, but alas, there I am. Busted. (And I went back the next day, too. What can I say. First time at WEBS. Left all self control by the roadside.)
    Was your husband at the Calvin? If not, I think you might have a stalker. Let’s just say someone off to the side of the theater was very intently taking pictures of you, the crowd at every angle, every person who stood up to ask a question… Man, I sure hope that was Joe. 😮

  75. *sniffle* I wanted to be there at Webs – it’s only a two hour drive for me but work got in the way. It looked like a blast!

  76. The joke is that more people in Massachusetts have been to Florida than to another part of Massachusetts. As someone who grew up on the eastern part of the state, I’ve been to Florida more than I have the western part of the state.
    But for you, many people traveled.
    I laughed so hard. Tears were rolling down my face. There was no way I could knit my sock without dropping every stitch.
    I spent 2 hours at Webs dropping off hats and food and shopping and didn’t even know that there was a warehouse for customers to roam!
    Three questions:
    Q1: What time did you finish signing books?
    Q2: The WEBS people said that they weren’t closing the shop til the last knitter left. Do you know what time that was?
    Q3: At the Calvin Theatre, the WEBS people said to make the Warm Up America squares 7×7 inches, but the Warm Up America site was 7×9 inches. Which should I make?
    By the way, we got goody bags – a ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and Susan Bates #8 needles (metal needles hurt my hands, so I’ll give them to some little girl that I’ll teach to knit) to make a square for Warm Up America.
    Thank you for a fabulous day.

  77. OH NO! Not the sock!!! Maybe it will return ala “The Incredible Journey” …One can hope….one can pray…(tear sliding down the cheek, sniff))

  78. Ha! What a funny-strange whirlwind. I was in stitches when I read Mason Dixon’s post about the Sock that Was Left Behind. I had a sister like that… I wonder if you ever just casually walk into a knitting store unannounced and how people react. Must be kind of funny-as in funny-haha.
    I do love the color of the Home Alone sock.

  79. Part of your crack team and traveling knitwear just got to be tooo much for the wee sock–it’s probably just gone someplace to have some R.&R., although its too young to be out on its own, someone will return it to you SOON I’m sure . Locusts and ants have nothing on knitters when they decide to swarm eh ? what a good turn out . Hopefully we will get to see Jayme’s first sock when its finished too. Good Luck Jayme you can do it . Thanks for the pictures they are super.

  80. It must some bad kharma caused by leaving at 0-dark hours that resulted in a string of lost socks in progress. I, too, lost a pair at the Webs event. Purple Koigu. Cover pattern from new Interweave Knits sock book. Magic loop with Addi lace needles. 3/4 complete. Comfortably ensconced in a Ziploc bag. Boohoo!

  81. Wow, this post must have taken half a day to upload and link.
    It looks like it was a fabulous weekend and so funny that poor Olive had the legend in her attic and found out through a good deriding what a treasure she had.
    Your poor sock. Anne and Kay wouldn’t happen to have any Scottish in them would they? Kidnapping and ransom being a proud tradition and all. Will there be retaliation? Please? It’s been a while since Norma, Jenla and Rabbitch had their catfight and hockey is almost over for the season…

  82. I think the Knitting Gnome took your sock. (The gnome is crochet, but she *is* knitting, so that’s something, right?)
    I promise, I had something way more normal in my knitting bag: a washcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I just couldn’t resist giving you a gnome. You’re right, some things just are. 🙂
    So glad to see you at Webs and to be around that many knitters. Even with all the dropped stitches (because of all the laughter) I managed to get through quite a bit of knitting that evening. It must have been all the awesome knitting mojo in the air.
    Thanks again, Stephanie!

  83. You know, all of this has been a great exercise in what sort of project in progress would be worth negotiating with terrorists? And what sort of terms would be acceptable? Sleeves (arms) for (sock)hostages? Maybe we should send in the special forces to liberate the sock? We could claim we are looking for stolen WMD (Wool, Measuring (tapes) and DPNs.) We wouldn’t need at SWAT team –maybe our special forces would have a different acronym –SWATCH (Special Weapons and Tactics –Circulars Hated) or HAT (Harlots Against Thievery). (Okay, that’s the best I can do without more coffee.)
    (Actually, that’s probably way more whimsy than anyone really wanted anyway. Back to lurking after I say, “COME BACK TO AUSTIN!”)
    Barb

  84. Is it not just the greatest to be surrounded by such great, creative, unique and weird as hell knitters? What a bonus, how great is life with sticks?

  85. You and your sock are having WAY too much fun! And the sock went to a Remainders concert!! I’ve lusted after tickets to a concert since I learned Amy Tan was the drummer!!!! Way too much fun…….

  86. I am looking forward to seeing and hearing you this Saturday in Victoria! You do have fans here in Canada too!! I really enjoyed your post about your daughter Amanda, it is a real talent to be able to put down in words how you are feeling. Your daughter is very lucky to have such a great mum like you!
    See you soon,

  87. Couldn’t get a word in edgewise here yesterday so I decided to wait it out. Thank goodness I had a spinning class to go to last night!
    Thank you for posting my picture (the one where we are both signing a book) and the link. I do not expect you to read all the blogs so I will tell you here real quick that I was the one at the Calvin who said during the Q&A when I applied for my business loan for my yarn shop, the loan officer made me pretend I am a car salesman and I had to explain yarn categories in terms of cars…
    also I am the same woman who had opened her mouth real wide and announced a couple of months ago she will knit 20 hats, 2 for each of your stops in North America between March 30 and May 30th. I only got 12 done…and brought them to WEBS.
    Also I was too shy to ask to get my picture taken with you.
    Thank you for everything you do, Stephanie, and for being funny and smart and caring (except when it comes to lost socks, apparently.) 🙂

  88. “While I was talking, I happened to mention the Principles of Knitting, and how this book has become almost an urban legend. Tales are told of knitters who just come across one at a garage sale being flogged by someone who has no idea of it’s value, or a knitter who owns one and is unaware that having it on a shelf is like having hundreds of dollars of yarn money in the bank.”
    Oh. My. GOD!!!! Holy H-E-double-hockeysticks!!!! Add me to the list of knitters who had no idea of what I have! My knitting grandmother had passed away without having been able to teach me to knit (she lived 10 hours away) and had left me her knitting needles. I had been looking for a book to teach myself and saw this one at the bookstore when it first came out. I agonized over spending $30 on a book but got it anyway. It’s been sitting on my bookshelf this whole time and I had no freakin’ clue until I saw your post and then wandered over to Amazon to see what they were asking for it!

  89. Stephanie, if indeed you feel a twinge of longing for the poor little sock-napped sock, I have a photo of what is probably your last happy moments with it at BEA up on my blog.

  90. Stephanie, it’s always a pleasure to see you whenever the opportunity rears its head. May your wild and woolly adventures continue, and may good knitting yarma someday reunite you with the sock.

  91. Steph- my mother in law and I both THOROUGHLY enjoyed meeting you at WEBS. Thanks so much for coming out and giving us the “Canada Test”.
    We’re now holding out all hope that you’ll come to Calgary!!

  92. Hi gals – wanted to share a great Stephanie moment. I’ve attended the BEA convention for over 25 years, having been in the book biz since 1979, selling cliffs notes, and working in various bookstores. ALways a big knitter. I went to this years BEA since I’m now a manager of a private school store in Maryland. I knew Stephanie was autographing at 10:30 in a distant location, and I used BEA logic – Maybe, just maybe, she might head up to the Story booth – her publisher, when she was done. I got there at 11:15 and there she was! With no one around! I got to chat one on one with her for about 5-10 minutes and loved every second of it. I felt blessed as a knitter – I kept looking over my shoulder, expecting to see hoards of fellow knitters but alas, BEA is not open to a big knitting experience. I’ve met all kinds of celebs at this convention, but this is the best.
    She is wonderful and real and great to talk to.
    I won’t forget it! I told her we all love her to pieces – and the poor thing was so hoarse. but I got to hold THE SOCK and take a picture!

  93. Love the POK stories. I found mine, sans dustjacket, in a local used bookstore for $18 and almost swooned when I checked the used book sites online to find out what I’d scored …
    It’s a separate item in my will …

  94. Ravelry? This looks blinking AWESOME!!!!!! I can’t wait to see it up and chugging away. I certainly hope the keepers of the lost sock are following the Geneva conventions. I’ve started a second blog. . . I must be crazy.

  95. Amazingly, I found two (2) copies of POK (on separate occasions) at a local used book store. Both were priced under $20, and I felt like a thief until I got out the door with my purchases. Both copies went to online knitting friends who had given up hope of ever owning the book. My own copy of POK was purchased at full retail price, at Barnes and Noble, when the book was still in print.

  96. That sock is not lost — it’s been knitnapped!! Never fear, sockie dear…we all know those knasty knitnappers won’t get away with it for long….
    P.S. Debbie Macomber held your sock?! That’s *zero* degrees of separation. Wow!!

  97. I found a copy of The Principles of Knitting at the annual fund raising book sale for our public library last month… $4. Nope, not a typo… $4! I feel I should probably apologize to the nice lady whose foot I stepped on when I lunged for it! Amazing that it was still on the table three hours into the sale, considering how many book dealers with barcode scanners were there. It was meant to be mine!

  98. How to make a group of knitters turn extremely pale: mention that you got a remaindered hardcover copy of The Principles of Knitting back when you were in college and paid $25 for it. It’s totally true. Has the dustjacket and everything. And in my house, dude, books need dustjackets. Hell, I could use a dustjacket.
    I am NOT telling my husband how much that book is worth. NO WAY. I’m not sure I really needed to know, though, that it is now worth just about the price of a double-treadle Lendrum I wanted. Sigh. Would I sell off a Hiatt for a Lendrum? Not sure. That would be like…
    disowning a half-knitted sock.
    *cough*

  99. Will someone please explain why Principles of Knitting is worth so much? Is it out of print?

  100. The huge knitted glove is amazing. My father comes and stays with me in the summers. He has two, count ’em two, of those lovely hand chairs outside his “digs” at my house. These chairs are in my backyard as I write this. Hopefully he doesn’t see this and ask me to knit a glove for the dang things. Unbelievable. See you at PDX!

  101. OK – comment first, read later: you and Crazy Aunt Purl in one place – TWICE (she has you too). What a wonderful story. Helas! Does this mean I have to write a book to get to BEA? OY…. I mean to keep track of the Drama of the Captive Sock, too. Can you imagine what S. King could do with such a plot? I’ve read all the stories about white women captured by Indians and I have to tell you—oftimes the women refused to go back. Your sock may be yearning to be mitred even as we speak… {shudder}

  102. Please, please, please tell me that negotiations are occurring behind the scenes for the sock so far from home. It’s being brave, but it wants to come home, Steph.
    Thanks for all the pictures and anecdotes, even if the combo of them plus thousands of reading knitters overloaded the server or whatever. I felt like I was there! (Both Theres!) Vicarious knitting & travelling — awesome!

  103. Of all the sock yarn in all the world, what are the idds that the lady in yellow would pick the exact same yarn I picked for my first ever sock? Cool. (If you are the lady in yellow,drop me a line and we can compare notes!)

  104. Of all the sock yarns in all the world, what are the odds that the lady in yellow would pick the exact same sock yarn and pattern for her first sock that I picked for *my* first sock? Cue Twilight Zone music! (If you are the lady in yellow, stop by my blog so we can compare notes!)

  105. Stephanie,
    Sorry to tell you that the building with the faces on it isn’t the Empire state building, it’s actually 30 Rockefeller center.
    I think the empire state buliding is actually jealous of the faces. 🙂

  106. A few years ago, I was on the train heading to work, reading the paper, and I saw that Stephen King was going to be in town doing some reading for the local school district’s reading programs, along with Dave Barry and Scott Turow. Well, I happened to have a copy of The Talisman at work, and the bookstore was only a few blocks away, so I thought, what the heck, I’ll go and try to catch a glimpse. Some glimpse, huh? It was quite thrilling and I’ll never forget it. I just now posted a photo of the actual inscription.
    Oh, and nice whack of knitters you had there, girl. Only you!

  107. Principles of Knitting MUST be good – the price is nearly a dollar a page!
    $457.36 (on Amazon) for 571 pages.
    But I wouldn’t be able to afford any yarn.
    Janey
    janeyknitting AT yahoo DOT ca

  108. It was absolutely lovely meeting you at BEA. Thanks for humoring me all those times. Maybe next year there will be more chairs for the knitters. :o)
    Shayna
    (The girl with the toucan.)

  109. OK, call me crazy, but I think this MIA sock would be a perfect chance to raise some money for Knitters Without Borders. Clearly the knitting community would like to see your poor sock home safely (and perhaps still on dpns). Why not challenge them to raise the ransom money? Better yet, how about having the sock move from secure location to secure location (read: knitting blogs) with original threats each time?
    Just my two cents. (and I am prepared to pay more than that to see this sock home safely!)

  110. Dear Yarn Harlot: I blame you for whipping me up into a covetous frenzy. After reading about POK, I looked to see if it was on our local library shelf, and it WAS. I checked it out and brought it home, just to tote it around. For free.
    I also brought home the library brochure that outlines the penalties you will endure for various infractions, and the WORST they do to you for “losing” an Adult Non-Fiction Harcover is fining you $40.00!!!
    I ran my plan by my husband, and told him it would only cost me $40.00!
    “And a week in Hell”, he added.
    Sigh. It will be back in the library in three weeks. Just let me know when You all are flying in to town to come and “check out” this book.
    I’ll pick you up from the airport.
    Cheers

  111. why is that book “The principles of knitting : methods and techniques of hand knitting” so valued??????
    I want one. yes I do. I’ve seen it for over $300.00

  112. Hey Yarn Harlot,
    I’m trying to organize a bundle of knitted stuff (hats, mittens, afghans, vests) to go to afghans for Afghans. The collection point is Yarn Forward in Ottawa. If I sent you my flyer, would you consider posting it on your blog? The deal is that they are the collection point, and I’m paying the shipping, so I’m trying to hustle up some free adverts wherever I can. Let me know! Thanks, Anita

  113. I love The Principles of Knitting! Fortunately my local library has a copy! There’s a rumor that Principles of Knitting is on the reprint list for 2008.

  114. Hey, it’s Charlton, with the kilt hose. I Kitchenered up the toe tonight. You can take a look at them at http://chromatico.net/blog/2007/06/elsinore_socks.html. Enough people said “I saw you in the Yarn Harlot’s blog! You *must* post a picture of your socks when they’re done!” that I finally got around to re-starting a blog, something I had been thinking of doing for a while.
    Oh, and the front-page coverage of the event managed to feature a picture of me in the audience very prominently, so even muggles have been calling me and emailing me about the socks.

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