similar to last year, this experienced turned out to be the biggest stitch-n-bitch i've ever attended; with the understanding that i've never attended a wool/sheep festival...

everyone was super respectful, if not outrageously nice to everyone else, without it being fake. as stephanie said, and i paraphrase, knitting is a unifying thing. look around you, if it weren't for knitting, you wouldn't be caught dead with half these people.... although i don't quite see it that way myself. i like to revel in the idea of the unending diversity of those who knit; sometimes reality can be harsh... but NOT THIS SUNDAY....
i couldn't seem to get it together with the camera....i do understand these are all kinda blurry and difficult to discern.....basically, a buncha crappy picts....it happens....

i laughed the entire show, including some of the Q&A. stephanie's commentary on general society's perception of knitters is genius. i haven't read the book yet, (still working on a new earth) so i don't know if these are in there or not, but my three favorite bits are as follows;
1) stephanie started in about how non-knitters often have difficulty fathoming the mindset and behavior of knitters. one example was her explaining to a non-knitter how she and three of her friends were renting a van for the weekend to go to a wool/sheep festival. astounded the non-knitter asked, you're just gonna knit for the whole weekend? to which the harlot responded, NO, of course not. we're gonna drink, and spin too!

2) i had a surge of reaction when the harlot talked about how non-knitters often take verbal liberties with knitters. i have experienced this personally, especially when i was commuting on BART. most people feel very open/comfortable telling you exactly how they feel about you knitting, in a way they just wouldn't with a person reading a book or listening to a walkman, on the same damn train. i don't mind folks wanting to talk about knitting, but the passive/aggressive insults i can do without, especially since i'm not quick with the snappy comebacks. steph told this great story about her friend knitting in the waiting room of a doctor's office. the one other woman/person there was watching the price is right on television. out of the blue, she turned to steph's friend and said, i'm thankful i never got bored enough that i had to take up knitting, to which steph's quick-witted friend replied, i'm thankful that i have knitting, so i never got bored enough to take up insulting strangers. why can't i think of stuff like that?
3) the third topic that really spoke to me personally, was the discussion on theta brain rhythms. i can't begin to explain it, but you can read all about it at this wikipedia link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theta_rhythm
i have experienced knitting help alleviate headaches, nausea, and mild anxiety. i have also heard about knitting meditations, which must really be off the charts.... i can't get too involved in discussing this area at the moment. before you knew it i'd be dragging in prometheus rising, what the bleep do we know, and a new earth, and it could be six days from now until i was finished.... do either of us really have that kinda time at the beginning of the week?
after two hours, it was time to go, and go we all did....at pretty much the same time.

i think there were some suprised drivers at the center intersection. for a brief moment, it was like a critical mass bike ride.... hmmm....a knitters' critical mass....i wonder what that would be like?

many of the almost 1,000 knitters in attendance headed down to WEBS for the meet-n-greet. since we had all been assured inside the calvin theater that the yarn harlot would not leave until each and every book was signed, and each and every photo taken, i went home for a spell.
i worked on



bob the boar heartily approves of the endeavor....CRAB THAT MALICE!!! he cries with enthusiasm....


by 5:15 the whole scene was infinately more sane...



stephanie was beyond generous to everyone who waited in line. she signed my book, took the picture, and even name-dated one she'd signed for me in berkeley, ca (again with the harlot-coast-to-coast). this was nothing compared to what she did for other folks. here we can see she knit one row in this woman's project....again; sorry for the crappiness of the pict....

in addition to the book, i got a skein of sock yarn to commemorate the event. it's sort of a harlot-coast-to-coast thing. the top book and sock yarn are what i got at STASH in berkeley, ca. the bottom are what i got at WEBS. i think i chose colorways that accurately represent both coasts.....