Lesson from last September: When the Yarn Harlot's coming to town, ya better get there early. Last year she came on a weekday evening and I hurried from work (yeah, that was when I HAD a work to come from) and stood way, way, way back in the line. This time, Whit was on the job and we were among the first 10 or so folks in line. At some point, some of them snuck into the Ben & Jerry's but we got caught and had to stand outside again.
That turned out to be good news because we stood for 40 or minutes with some wonderful new friends and I got to play security guard at the front of the line. (In the interests of full disclosure, I was way too busy knitting and talking and Debra had to do all the heavy lifting in the security assignment.) We met some girls from Dothan, Alabama (Hi, Donna and friends!) and schmoozed with some old friends as they wandered back and forth.
But it also put us at the front of the line to talk to the intrepid newspaper reporter who came to see the show. Turns out she's a knitter and a customer of Knitch, the store that sponsored the day's events.
We spent about an hour or maybe two knitting--who's counting when you're knitting with friends?--and finally Stephanie showed up, a little the worse for wear after a luggage mishap with the airline. (Note to Stephanie: In a week when three airlines go out of business, be glad you only lost your luggage!) (Note to Delta Airlines: Never come between a knitter and her yarn!)
Yeah, I know that's not much of a picture. This year we were seated higher up and further back which meant we didn't have to twist our necks to see Stephanie, but the photos weren't too great. But the sound carried just fine--if you could hear the one-liners with all the laughing and clapping going on.
And in the midst of the (very) humorous points made, she also had some very interesting research to share about the effects of knitting (and similar repetitive, relaxing activities) on stress levels as well as on cognitive capacity. Seems we're smarter, less stressed, and less likely to be victims of serious memory disorders. That can't be a bad thing!
Thanks for coming, Stephanie. And thanks to Kim at Knitch for the wonderful day (and by the way, thanks for my lovely Alpaca yarn I won in the raffle!) And thanks to Whit and Joyce and Debra and Betty who made the day even more special by sharing their company.
Finally, the article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for your reading pleasure is here:
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/living/stories/2008/04/06/knit_0407.html
3 comments:
Heehee...I was one of the last people to be able to stay inside the Ben & Jerry's foyer! I remember from last time that they wouldn't allow the doorway to be blocked and only a few people could stay inside.
Normally I wouldn't have minded, but my friend & I were NOT dressed for the coolish weather. We'd thought we'd be standing on that sidewalk in the humid sunshine.
I'm glad you were playing security guard! I was mighty ticked off at some ladies from my local S&B who came to stand in the foyer at around 12:55. They claimed it was okay because 1 person in the group was up ahead "holding" their place. So you did end up with 5 inconsiderate people ahead of you. My announcement that they were cutting in line did nothing to shame them.
I can see myself holding up my sock in progress at the bottom of your photo! It's just my arms & the top of my head behind the lady in the blue shirt at the bottom left.
Hey! Sounds like you are having a great time. Too bad the NZ law won't let Alpaca fur out of the country. Charles now has about 150 Alpaca. That's a lot of fur.
Love,
Your flatmate
Hi Diana,
Finally had time to find your blog. Really enjoyed meeting you. Hard to believe it has already been a week. Hope to be able to make a meeting of the AKG.
Donna C. from Dothan
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