That may not come as a surprise to many of you, as this is a knitting blog, or was primarily a knitting blog when I started it.
I've knit for a while now. I've been what the Harlot might term a small 'k' knitter. (I aspire to have big 'K' status some day. I'm working on it) I started small, with simple projects and cheap materials. It was all I could afford. I knit mostly in private, only at home, only when I was sure people weren't looking. I was embarassed to knit in public, not only because I wasn't very good when I started, but because I was afraid of what others might think of me for knitting. I didn't know anyone else that knit. I had no idea where to find others who did. But I was intrigued from the first batch of garter stitch mess that I started when I was nine and kept doggedly at it until I figured it all out, mostly on my own.
Then along came the internet and with it The Yarn Harlot. Here was someone who was putting into words exactly how I felt about knitting and all that surrounded it. And she wasn't just talking about or to me. She was talking about hundreds of thousands, nay, millions of peole. It was a simply stunning discovery. I started reading other blogs, started making bloggy friends, started a blog of my own. I still knit primarily by myself, still a little shy of my technique and ability and of meeting new people to find a group and join in. Until last night.
I met the Harlot.
I dragged my poor mother in law with me to Halifax last night to see the goddess of yarn herself at the Lord Nelson Hotel. What a hoot. For the first time in my knitterly life, I was in a room with more than one other knitter.
The lovely lady sitting in the front row (yes, I sat in the front row...Hello, my name is Marti. I am a knitter and I'm also a dork...though that may be a redundant statement) not knitting and looking in my direction would be my very kind and generous mother in law.
And not just a couple of other knitters, but a whole room full of them! Mostly my age, sharing similar tastes and sensibilites! It was, to be frank, hilarious. Hilarious to me because I've been toiling, still, in isolation all this time.
Photo taken by the very nice knitter sitting next to me, working on a swatch for a beach cover-up made of cotton, and discovering that she cared for knitting with cotton about as much as I do. Which isn't much. I wish I had gotten her name now.
Unless you're a knitter yourself, I don't think you can quite comprehend how nice and completely and utterly fun it was to be in a room full of people just sitting and knitting and talking about knitting, waiting for someone to come to the podium and talk more about knitting for an hour or more. That really will be lost on you if knitting isn't your 'thing'. But you can take my word for it...it's a lot of fun.
What's even more fun is to be in the presence of someone who is soooooo good at what they do. I can't tell you how much I admire (okay, envy) good story tellers. I can get up in front of a crowd and hammer out something akin to decent public speaking. But what just absolutely floors me is someone who can entirely capture a room with their story telling. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is just one of those people. Smart, wickedly funny, endearing, passionate...I could go on and on. Pick all the good adjectives you like. They all apply. It's like listening to your favourite band on CD, then going to the concert and knowing once and for all that they are just as good live, maybe even better. It's the same thing.
I highly recommend that if you're going to a book signing, that you take a photographer along with you. Preferably one who's son you are married to.
It's also amazing to me how someone can take a topic like knitting, seemingly simple enough, and really make it about something much much bigger. Charity, equality, consumerism, self-image...all these things, and so bloody funny to boot.
Again, for the uninitiated, holding the sock or getting your picture with it is kind of a big deal. Yes I know, I'm a dork. We've addressed this already. Would you rather be seeing pictures of me at a Star Trek convention? Cuz it just as easily could be.
In the end, the heart of the matter was don't let others define you and judge you for what you love or who you are. Which is a pretty important message, no matter what. As she pointed out, we outnumber golfers 2 to 1. I know, I was shocked too. So I may be a dork, put I'm totally not alone.
I would've liked to have hung around until the bitter end, maybe talked to a few more knitters about knitting, maybe met a few of the Halifax group who were so lively and excited in their matching t-shirts, maybe gotten over my shyness and gotten the Harlot to pose with Chicken Edith, who did come on the trip but didn't make it out of the bag, but by the time I was done in the line, I was nearly keeled over from starvation, so it was off to a veggie calzone with my name on it.
From now on though, I don't think I'll be quite so shy or self-depricating about my craft.
After all, I am a knitter.
