Done but behind

Thursday night was pretty great, and I meant to write about it first thing on Friday morning, but I think that I procrastinated on some of my exhaustion, and so I woke up, realized the book events were good and over, and was promptly overcome with the urge to lie down. When that passed I found I was really in the weeds on a baby shower deadline, and had to do a serious who-do on the space time continuum to get it done in time for yesterday. I’ll show you that tomorrow.  I know I’m not blogging enough when the unblogged knits start piling up- and they are.  There’s socks and a sweater and I spun some yarn and they all deserve a blog post, so this week I’m going to try and be really good and catch up. For starters though, I’m going to pretend that today is Friday, and then tomorrow can be today, and the day after that I’ll try to make it a two in one.  Or something. In any case: I showed up for the Toronto event ready and raring to go- if by raring to go, you understand that I’d checked real estate listings for where else I could live, then headed downtown.  I always worry about the local events.  My reasoning is that I don’t really need to worry about screwing up in other cities.  If I screw up in Baltimore and do a whole event with my fly open (for example) I can simply – should I find the humiliation a little too much, never go back to Baltimore. If I screw up here, I have to move, as well as endure a retelling of whatever I did to humiliate myself every holiday from then on, since my whole family will have witnessed it.  If you’re me, that’s enough to make you supremely nervous, and I was.   I checked my fly about a million times, then stepped up to get it done. Hello Toronto!



The bookstore had about 35 chairs, and we had considerably more knitters than that, but I think the Toronto knitters actually enjoy smashing bookstore expectations, so all seemed well.  I read, rather nervously, since every time I looked up I saw my family.  When it was over, the real fun started. I got to see a a baby – this is Megan and the charming Miles.

There were first sock knitters, like Rayna and Ellen.


And then there were first sock knitters not like Rayna and Ellen – Like Juli, who explained that these socks are her first started pair of socks, and her first finished pair of socks.

…Or like Ann, who just stepped up and held up her socks, and I said "Oh wow! First socks?" and she said "Nope".

The honesty of it cracked me right up.  There was my Mum and my Sister and My daughter and Hank.

I don’t know why Mum, Erin and Amanda look so bored there.  I swear they looked enthusiastic two seconds before.  Probably an immediate knee-jerk response to me taking out my camera and saying something about the blog.
This is Becky, and this Dr. Who scarf is the first thing she’s ever knit…

which considering that it’s an authentic length, says something good about her stick-to-it-iveness.

This is Heather, who was out celebrating two years since her bone marrow transplant – and considering that she’s alive, that says something about her stick-to-it-iveness as well.

Meet Emily, who’s a brand new knitter, and obviously destined for greatness.

I don’t know if it’s the glasses or the knitting, but she reminded me of me at that age.  Lovely girl.  This is Stephanie and her first scarf – which is Entrelac of course.

I shrieked "KEENER" at her in the most affectionate way possible. I think she understood.  Also in that category was Jen, who showed off her first and second pair of mittens.

Her first pair of mittens is so perfect that she felt compelled to tell me that they don’t fit "If that helps."  It did.  (We were all on fire for the sweater she was wearing too. Gorgeous. We had to do a search to figure out what it was – and since a bunch of you will ask… it’s Metro.  We’ve all added it to our queues.)
Emily and Morgan did their knitterly part for Movember.

(Pattern here. I know you’ll want to know.)
Just to round it out – Look! 

That’s Martha and Glenna, in the same place at the same time.  They’re knitting twins, and for the longest time Glenna used to come to knit night.  I knew her, liked her, we’re sort of friends, and then Glenna moved and stopped coming, but this person who looks, sounds and knits exactly like her started showing up. For the longest time I didn’t know who Martha was, just that she was not quite Glenna, and after that for a long time, I sort of that that Glenna was just screwing with me. That she didn’t really have a twin sister, she just liked to pretend she didn’t know me some weeks, and to pull that off she called herself "Martha".  Turns out they really are two people.  Who knew?

We rounded the evening out by heading over to a pub (two really, but that’s another story) and while we were there, Joe held baby Marlowe.

I know that might not seem amazing to you, but to me it was staggering.  He wouldn’t stand up (he was afraid of dropping her) and he wouldn’t let her mama Jen get more than an inch away (in case the baby needed her) but he did hold her.  I took about a thousand pictures. I couldn’t believe that he had willingly taken charge of a baby, but it turns out that Jen just sort of handed him the thing, and he had no way out.  He conceded that he had turned Marlowe so she was facing away from him so she couldn’t see him and cry.  He thinks he’s too big for babies and makes them nervous.  He couldn’t be more wrong, but I think it
‘s sweet.  It was a lovely bit of icing on my evening’s cake. 

Thanks Toronto knitters, I love you guys, and I’m so glad I don’t have to move.
This time.