Ex-plan

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This post was supposed to be about the knitting I’m taking on the plane to Vogue Knitting Live today, but it turns out that I made a bunch of rookie mistakes when I got to the airport, and as a result I’ve only got about 10 minutes to get it together, instead of more than an hour like I planned.  (I was also held up briefly at customs while the dude and I had a discussion about the concept of "Knitting Conference" and yes, I was going to one, and no.  I won’t be alone when I go there.)

I’d give up and blog when I got there, but there might not be time, since I have to be at Barnes and Noble for a "Meet and Greet" almost immediately after arriving- and from there, the next few days will likely happen at breakneck pace. In any case, if you live in NYC or going to VK live and you’re already there, I’ll be at that Bookstore tonight with a whole lot of knitters a lot more interesting than me (Click the link. It’s true.) and we’ll all answer questions and meet and greet and sign books if you have any.  I’d love to see you, even if you’re only there to meet Debbie Bliss.  You could wave at me- or show me your sock. I like that.

128 thoughts on “Ex-plan”

  3. I’ll just have to try to hunt you down to sign a book and look at a sock at Sock Summit, since that’s in my state and not across an entire country.
    Have fun!!! Can’t wait to see your pics.

  6. It is odd how people seem to just not notice that there are a whole lot of businesses involved in knitting: yarn manufacturers, yarn wholesalers, yarn retailers, pattern designers, pattern publishers, pattern wholesalers, pattern retailers …
    business make and/or sell needles, stitch markers, bags, cases to store your needles & stitch markers…
    Maybe you should write “business conference” on the form and if he asks what business say “knitting”.
    There are a lot of people employed in the knitting industry. Of course they have conferences.
    Sorry. You know this. But still…
    JoVE

  7. So the customs guy thought there would be only one person at a knitting conference? Would he be in for a surprise!
    Here’s hoping the snow tonight in the NYC area is tolerable (though to someone from Toronto that is probably a silly comment).
    Just watch out for the slush puddles in the City.
    and have fun!

  9. Enjoy yourself! Wish i was going to met you! I was just recently in NYC and definitely watch out for the puddles! With the ‘deep freeze’ you’ll be skating.
    I’ll be working on my sock and be there in spirit.
    I am always surprised at how surprised people are when you mention knitting conferences, if only they knew!

  10. Oh sigh. I firmly believe that Vogue Knitting Live should be held during the same week as Book Expo, only maybe during the evening so I don’t miss anything while I’m working.
    Until they make that change, bon voyage! And please come back and tell us all about it.

  13. While I love Debbie Bliss patterns/books, I would only show up in NYC in the dead of winter to see my fav knitting author — Stephanie, you’re the best.

  15. Cookie A gave me good advice on customs a couple years ago. Just tell them it’s a conference for work. No one else gets a conference for fun!

  17. Smile.
    I’d be there in a heartbeat, wave at Debbie Bliss, Nicky Epstein and the rest, and show you my sock.
    And then I’d thank those Barnes and Noble people for that pre-order thing with your newest book (waiting patiently).
    You’re going to have so much fun. Get a lot of knitting done.
    Your skirt and style are great.

  19. Looking forward to seeing you, Stephanie. Won’t be able to make the book signing tonight, since I will already be abandoning my family for the weekend, but I’m signed up for your lecture (and one of Debbie’s classes). Whee!

  21. “I was also held up briefly at customs while the dude and I had a discussion about the concept of “Knitting Conference” and yes, I was going to one, and no. I won’t be alone when I go there.”
    Oh jeez. Good luck!

  22. You totally have to talk to your boss about how she schedules you. 🙂 Slow down. Have a nice soothing drink in the lounge on on your flight. Please have lots of fun. Don’t forget to take a whole bunch of pix.

  23. Come to Baltimore sometime! I know both a great coffee shop and the best ever massage therapist. I will treat for both just to meet you!
    Nancy Jean

  24. Have a great time in NY! And while you are at Barnes and Noble I think you should pick up one of their colour Nooks. You could probably write it off as a business expense. 🙂

  26. Have a wonderful time in NYC. I will stay home and watch some more snow fall. Sure am sick of it. Will be in Manchester NH for SOAR in Oct. See you there.

  27. I never really imagined that Debbie Bliss was actually a real person. You, though — you’re like real-er than real.

  28. I love customs guys. You’d think that knitters wouldn’t be the weirdest thing they’ve ever seen, but you couldn’t tell by the way they act. Have a great time!

  29. I can’t make it to B&N tonight, but I’m signed up for your lecture tomorrow afternoon – can’t wait! I’m also taking four (ack! FOUR!!) classes at VKL, and am really excited about the knitterly weekend.
    Welcome to NYC, Stephanie!!

  30. I can only be there in spirit so I will depend on you and the world of blogging friends to give a run down of how it went. Safe travels. Happy knitting!

  31. Wow! What a lineup at Barnes & Noble! I wish I were there. In the meantime, I’d love to hear more about the customs interchange. Must have been interesting.

  32. Or as it says on the B&N website “Debby Bliss”. The book store is 15 minutes from my house, but I have a flu-ridden family to care for 🙁 If they were in good health you would have had one handsome baby to see!
    “Author Event
    Attention knitting enthusiasts! We are hosting a special meet-and-greet event with professional knitters Vickie Howell, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Debbie Macomber, Debby Bliss and Iris Schreier. Bring your questions and your latest projects!”

  33. Have a ball while you’re here in NYC. I’d go tonight but I think it’s going to be so crowded that I won’t even get in!

  34. Going to a knitting conference is for knitters as going to an auto show is for motor heads, but I think it may be easier to get our stuff home on the airplane or train. Usually our stuff is softer, too.
    My daughter and I are coming to Vogue Knitting tomorrow so we will miss you at B&N, but looking forward to all the fun on Friday and Saturday.

  35. Steph, if I were in NYC I would be at the event with bells on just to see you. And maybe Vickie Howell.
    And I’d totally show you my sock.
    (PS – please ask the wonder publicist to have you come through Eastern Iowa on a tour at some point. Please, please, please!

  36. I wish I could be there but time and job interupt my knitting life darn it!I really want to meet you. Your part of the reason I still try to sell my hand knits and designs.

  37. I am again envious. A minimum of 1/2 dozen local knitters that I know from Shreveport, LA (including the LYS owner) are attending the VK conference. I let the moths out of my pockets when I turned them out. May your trip be interesting in a GOOD way!

  38. I wish you a wonderfull time at the Knitting Conference – and I hope you’ll come back from it full of inspiration – and with some nice new yarns 🙂

  39. come to marylands eastern shore where we have knitters in droves, I assure you we will get a whole bunch of knitters to show. Maybe barns and noble in salisbury can get the word out

  40. Oh how I wish I could go and get to meet all of you, go to my first knitting conference, see New York City for the first time, and have all kinds of other firsts. Some other time. Have fun!!

  41. More interesting than you? Can’t imagine it…
    And look, B&N spelled your name correctly – that must mean something! LOL

  42. When I click the link it lists everyone’s names twice. Somehow that makes it sound even cooler to me. Have fun!

  44. Maybe we should have a WWKIP event at the airport – just so the Customs people get a clue!

  45. DUDE! I would totally be there tonight, except that I am going to St. Thomas Church (5th Ave and 53rd Street) for BURNS NIGHT!!!!!!!!! Where I will join fellow Scottish poetry lovers in getting increasingly snookered on Scotch. In church.
    You’re welcome to bring your knitting down to the church after the meet and greet.

  46. Hello 🙂 I met Debbie Bliss in Knaresborough. I asked the yarn shop Lady if she had Debbie Bliss and she said “Oh one moment”, went upstairs and came down with Debbie Bliss the person! It was fun to meet her. She told me about her cruise to Alaska because that is where I am from. I think I met you very briefly in Anchorage. It was fun to meet you too!

  47. So I have a book, my favorite book, that I bought on a whim a couple years ago at a resale book shop in TX. This book was how I was introduced to your work, so it is special to me. I was very excited about having you sign it tonight until I discovered that it is already signed, to Maria. I’m not sure what Maria was thinking when she sold this book. I can only assume she was down on her luck and needed some cash. Debating whether to bring it or not. I have your other books, but this is my favorite. Tacky?

  49. I’m amused that after all these years, all the books you’ve sold, all the readers you have on your blog, you still don’t realize that we find you just as interesting as all those ‘other’ knitters.

  50. With number of times you’ve traveled over the last few years, one would think that the customs guys would all know about “yarn conferences” & the like by now. That said, have fun!

  51. Hope you have a great time at the conference and sorry I can’t be there. When are you coming to Atlanta? I’d be there in a New York Minute!

  53. You are TOO funny! YOU are a MAIN ATTRACTION!! and in the dated words of Mr. T, I pity the fool… that doesn’t recognize. (that’s it just recognize, i have young, young adults in my household)Old meets new in this comment.
    I hope that you get to enjoy NY even just a little, with your busyness (and business).

  54. We handle snow really well in Minnesota, by the way. Don’t you need to add Minneapolis to the list sometime soon? Have fun…

  55. I’m in NY, but we’re expecting big snow tonight so you just know we NYers on Long Island are burrowing in to wait for it! LOL Good luck and enjoy it. I’ll be wishing I was there too.

  56. You sound like the most interesting guest at the event to me – with Debbie Bliss probably 2nd.

  57. Have a great weekend! I’ll be there in spirit, waving all three of my socks-in-progress at you.

  61. Special Knitting Event:
    Vickie Howell, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Debbie Macomber, Debby Bliss
    Um, do they have ANY idea how many people will want to see one or all of these women? I hope it’s a big store!

  63. Make sure you get a look at the Wall Street Journal article:
    How Authors Move Their Own Merchandise. It is from a couple days ago. Some interesting ideas to consider for your new book.

  64. I cannot wait until Sunday afternoon!! I.Am.In.Your.Mawata.Class!!! There is no living with me till then! Enjoy our fair city and see you Sunday. I will be the one with a silly grin and bags under my eyes as there will be no sleeping either..oh I am so excited!

  65. Sigh, I so wanted to go and see you! First my schedule changed, where I’m working nights til 2am OUTSIDE, where I wont get home til 4am. Do to that, it ended my registering for any classes. Then this week, I come down with a massive head/chest cold. So even if I wanted to I’m too sick. Perhaps next year. Have fun!

  66. I agree with Steven way up there above me. 🙂 I do hope there’s time for you to meet the others and have some fun! Wish I could be there.

  67. Well if it makes you feel any better, Barnes and Noble spelled Debby Bliss WRONG on their website. I’d rather show you a sock than meet Debbie Bliss. Just sayin.

  71. Well, yes those other authors/knitters are interesting but hey, so are you 🙂
    Have a great trip and don’t worry about blogging, we’ll love to hear about it when you get back.

  72. no offence, steph (cos i would totally come and see you at the book signing if i were lucky enough to be in NYC)… but DEBBIE BLISS will be there? OMIGOD!!!! I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE HER!
    got to meet her once, long ago at the creative sewing and needlework festival. sigh

  73. Debbie Bliss who? 😉
    Had a guy at the allergy doctor notice my sock in progress and comment on how knitting was a dying art. I just laughed. Someday we will rule the world and the muggles will know the truth – underestimate the knitters to your peril!

  76. I can’t be the only person to giggle like a teenager at “show me your sock”. I think I have a new motto.

  77. put ups not put downs please.
    give me one good reason Debbie Bliss is more interesting than you-
    aside from getting subpoenaed in a youtube video for having no cashmere in her cashmerino

  78. You know of course that you have now talked your way into a sock avalanche of mythical proportions. Do they have ST. Bernards at knitting conventions, just in case?

  79. Stephanie, this is off topic, but I had never knit socks before I “met” you, and I am just finishing up my sixth pair of socks, four of which were your Standard Sock Recipe from “Knitting Rules”. (“Recipe” is farking amazing, by the way.)
    Can you explain (like I am four)how one converts a pattern to a larger size? I would appreciate a blog post, or a mention in your next book, or even a Ravelry pattern, about how to do this. I have tried and tried to make socks to fit the men in my life and they all end up wonky.
    I have tried more stitches, I have tried larger needles, all without success. If you tell me it’s all trial and error, I’ll keep going. But if there IS some mathematical formula (yes, I see the joke) that works, can you explain?
    Plus I have NEVER understood how to swatch for socks. I have no problem swatching for sweaters on straights, but dpn swatching eludes me. It’s a damn sock, I’ll never get four inches on one needle!
    PLEASE help, because apparently I am now the unwitting founder of a knitting club at my place of work. I taught one girl how to knit, she told a bunch of her co-workers that I know “EVERYTHING”, (umm… how to knit and purl???) and so now I have seven women literally waiting for me to teach them to knit. Which is FINE and nothing could ever be better than creating more knitters….except I can’t translate stupid sock patterns!!!

  80. The conversation at customs must have been interesting! I like those stories of my friends going to or coming back from Rhinebeck too 😉 Have fun in NY!

  81. hey stephanie – i’ll be at vk on friday (patent knitting class), and saturday (lunching with knitting friends at connolly’s pub on w. 54th). and hitting the market. and kinearing. hope to run into you there (sans sock… forgot to turn a heel and it is in the frog pond for a timeout… darn knitting and beer drinking with friends).

  82. Why the hell do you have explain knitting conference? When I lived in Manhattan the only “free” celebrites I saw were a motorcade of Lyndon Johnson and the Pope. I obviously was there at the wrong time.

  83. Just want to clarify one one of my questions from my previous comment… I said I couldn’t figure out how to swtach for socks because I will never get four inches on my needle.
    My confusion comes because, in your book, you mention how knitters sometimes get different gauge when working on straights as opposed to dpns. If I do a swatch based on your advice in the book, isn’t that essentially a “straight” swatch? If I am swatching with only two needles and carying the yarn in the back, that’s not the same tension I’m going to get once there are five needles involved, correct?

  84. Why didn’t you just tell the guy you were going to NYC to film “Socks and the City”? (With all those A-list professional knitters, who needs Sarah Jessica Parker???)

  85. Dear Yarn Harlot,
    Won’t you come to Florida…
    North Florida, specifically…
    In July…
    When I’m done with my teaching certification classes…
    And before I have to start working on lesson plans for the next school year?
    I’d really love to be at one of your meet and greets.
    Just give the idea a think or two.
    🙂

  88. Just curious, is there any sort of sock you like seeing?
    Maybe one you’ve designed or perhaps out of a favorite yarn? Could it be a first timers sock?
    Please forgive if you have answered this question before.
    Cheers, and have fun in NYC.

  89. Could the wonder publicist perhaps schedule you for a part of Vancouver other than the airport? You wouldn’t even have to go through customs . . .

  90. Gosh I wish I could be there too! I would so love to meet you Steph. 🙂 Do you ever come through Wisconsin or Illinois??

  91. I’m with Stephen A. You’re a freaking rockstar-you routinely sell out, with standing room only, crash servers and fill civic centers. Heck one event had women throwing their panties at you. We’re snowed in here, school’s already been delayed 2 hours and I’m confident it will be cancelled because more of the white stuff is predicted. I’m cozy at home knitting and dyeing alpaca.

  94. NY in the dead of winter sounds lovely, however, I will be sitting in my Illinois home, basking in the minus zero wind chill, warming myself with all of your books this weekend. I checked every one out of the library anticpating a ‘winter read-in’ with these cold temps. I’ve yet to figure out how to read and knit at the same time without a audio book… ah well, there’s time! Someone will come up with something I’m sure! Good Luck, and if I ever were in the area… you’d definitely be the main attraction!

  96. How very CLEVER of you to schedule your NYC visit for this particular storm and not the 2nd previous one where the truck drivers thought they would “teach them a lesson” and do a half-assed job altogether. I’m sure the place will be packed and equally sure most will be there for you. Do the other authors/designers crash their web sites (do they bother to blog for the joy of it)? I think not. You do deserve to have a great time.

  97. NYC…an Aviation Cocktail at the Temple Bar. Just Sayin’. Or a Waldorf at the Empire Room. Or a Manhattan at the King Cole Bar at the St. Regis. Or a Jack Rabbit Punch the Campbell Apartment. Martini at Bemelmans (they have bunniess and elepants on the walls!)? Elderflower Martini @ the Blue Bar at the Algonquin? Something bubbley at the Oakroom at the Plaza? Something speakeasyish at 1534. A beer at the Spotted Pig? You can likely knit at all of them.
    oh, there’s Museums and Galleries too.

  103. Have fun in New York (sorry about the snow!). I really wish I could be there, but somehow I missed the update to your tour page and didn’t realize you would be so close until this past Monday. And by then, everything was sold out. *sigh* I live in South Jersey, so don’t suppose you are coming there or to Philly anytime this year? NY is the closest you come from what you have listed on your page, but I am hoping that maybe in the fall you’ll be back this way? *Hopeful*

  104. 1. It’s the 86th and Lexington Barnes & Noble if, like me, you didn’t click on the link
    2. I wish VKL were more affordable. $20 for a one-day marketplace ticket – just to shop!

  107. i enjoy following your blog. Could you add the option to subscribe to posts via email? Thank you for your consideration of this request. amber

  108. I so enjoy your blog. I’m very new to knitting, and very interested in what people think about while they’re knitting and whether knitters are happier people in general.

  109. I have a joke for you from the Prairie Home Companion Jok Show tonight. “Why do women knit?” “Why?” “To give them something to think about when they talk”. The whole audience booed. There are WAY too many knitters out here to get away with that joke!

  110. I live in CT but was and still am to broke to go. I hope you have a good time. Don’t drink too much, but just enough to forget the airport dude and that your feet hurt…
    bjr

  111. When are you going to Vegas? Because I am going there next month to see my son who’s fiancee broke up with him between Christmas and Thanksgiving. I think, after two months (during the holidays, no less) of being a devoted mum (after him being not so much the devoted son, because, after all, who needs a mum when things are going so well), I sincerely deserve the distraction. Please come and let’s put some money down on 18 red. Over and over again.

  112. Great lecture yesterday(oops, it is after midnight, so I guess it was 2 days ago? Friday at VKL)
    Srsly, you should write up the Your Brain On Knitting and submit it to the NYT or New Yorker or something. I found it fascinating as well as fun and funny. The world needs the benefit of your considerable research and talent of storytelling.
    Thanks for a wonderful hour!!!

  113. after listening to you on Friday in NYC I realize you need to publish that lecture as an essay. Maybe NYT? Your research and presentation of the info needs to be presented to the other side!!
    I’m sorry you still get scared talking in front of crowds. I’m sure everyone there Friday loves you, and doesn’t want to scare you at all!!
    Knit on! Write on!!

  115. Why is it that every time I hear the name Debbie Bliss I have this picture in my head of fluffy things knit in baby yarn colors? I know that’s not all she knits or designs and that she’s a wonderful writer and designer (having gotten a book or two at the library), but somehow… her name sounds so… fluffy. Is’t that shallow? I’m not interested in her because of her fluffy name. Ugh.
    I’d come to see you. Totally. Nobody else.

  116. By the way, I have a Debbie Macomber friendship shawl book. In which, she did not design ONE SINGLE SHAWL. However, there was a very nice add for her novels and knitting needles in the front. I feel that’s cheating. How is it Knit Along With Debbie Macomber when she probably didn’t knit a single sample in the book, let alone design one? I mean really, could you publish a book with any less effort? I wonder if I could do that; write the forward to a book and then have other people do all the work for me, and slap my name on the front?

  117. I don’t know why you’d think I’d show up to see DB first.
    You are surely the coolest harlot ever!

  118. NOW you tell me! I was in NYC starting Thursday afternoon for the “knitting conference” and didn’t know about that “Meet and Greet”. But I did get to meet you, which was really neat and wished I could have signed up for your classes, but the scheduling prevented it. It was a great event, wasn’t it, as anyone who attended will attest.

  120. There are other demands on your time other than chatting to us here?! Really? >:-)
    I’d wave a sock at you if I had one without a big error in it….sigh.

  121. That’s hilarious about the customs officer. “Will you be by yourself?”. With customs guys and their attitudes it’s either laugh or cry.

  123. I had the same conversation with US Immigration on the subject of Stitches Midwest. Apparently that doesn’t register….but then neither does Rhinebeck….go figure.

  124. They’re going to run out of chairs. Heck, they’re going to run out of ROOM to put people. No matter HOW well that B&N thinks they’ve estimated the need for chairs, they’re going to run out of space.

  125. hey buddy,this is one of the best posts that I’ve ever seen; you may include some more ideas in the same theme. I’m still waiting for some interesting thoughts from your side in your next post.
    Auto Cash Hijack bonus

  126. Yeah! I finally made it all the way through the blog to the most current! Reading this is so much fun. Thanks for the uplift, Stephanie!

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