Socialized

Tonight I got my knit on at Yarn Haven. (About time, right? I mean the place is only about 15-20 minutes from here.) I was not expecting that big of a crowd! I was told that a typical turn-out is 25 people. WOW! There had to be around 20 tonight.

Everyone was so nice! I met Sarah, Karen, Emily and several others whose names I promise I'll catch the next time—I remember Patty and Elaine. OK. That's pretty good for me on a first meeting. The first words Sarah said to me were, "Are you 'Knitty Banter'?" Wow! How cool/weird to be "recognized". She told me her name and I knew her blog, too (and Karen's). The only local blogger (so far) that I've met online who wasn't present tonight was Becky. But she'll be there next week. All three of them have been in my Bloglines roll for awhile now. I heard the word "blog" tossed around a lot—I imagine I'll be surprised when I learn who else has blogs and who doesn't, and who else I've been reading.

It was a lot of fun. Everyone had an interesting project with them and the knitting levels ranged from just beginning to really experienced knitters so I fit in somewhere in the middle. But next time, I'm taking something less intense. I took the Waving Lace Socks (on size #1 DPNs using Lorna's, charts) and I probably would have been much more sociable had I not finished the first toe-up last night (I could have been knitting that instead).

I'll admit it, I have KIPhobia. Fear of knitting in public. If I'm in front of muggles, no problem. But in front of other knitters? I feel like I have fourteen thumbs and they're all on backward. Yes, it's true! I honestly fear having my knitting ability judged. I know. Laugh. Please. I do. The sad thing is, it extends to everything except singing. I can get up and sing in front of people—wait, should I admit this? The other bloggers might read this and want a command performance. I mean I can do it in the right situation—like in a bar with a band or karaoke machine, not just open my mouth on the street and sing. But I digress. I feel like a dorky beginner in front of anyone remotely horse-oriented (despite my L1 pass and my L2 student status and plenty of PNH clinics), or when I try to spin in front of "real" spinners.

Yes, I know, it's only knitting. I'm not being graded. Nobody really cares if I'm good or not, if I split my stitches, or if I'm Lily Chin fast, or slower than molasses. It's for FUN. Right? Right. I know that. And I HAD fun! I'm planning to go next week even. But because of my KIPhobia, I could not bring myself to attempt to cast on for toe-up Sock #1 as my first impression because I just learned that cast-on, even though they would have been much easier to knit (stockinette all the way, baby). No. I had to pull out the Waving Lace. Good grief! :-) It's all good, though. Eventually I relaxed. Believe it or not, I'm really quite shy underneath it all. No. Really. I am.

They were all so nice! Karen and I lusted after some of the gorgeous new sock yarns and the alpaca-soy blends (40% off!!!). I almost bought some Addi's but I couldn't remember which magazine had the sock pattern in them or what size I needed. Next week. Or tomorrow. Whichever comes first.

Emily is a new knitter (don't know if she blogs yet). She finished a dishcloth tonight (first project ever) then cast on for her second project—a felted vase/pot—in the round. I believe there is even a color change involved! I'm impressed. She's catching on quickly and I wouldn't have known it was her second project if she hadn't told me. Well, she IS related to Sarah. So the knitability is coded into the DNA. ;-)

Sarah and Karen brought along the Tulip Baby Sweater kits they ordered from Threadbear Fiberarts (one of the sweaters the Harlot has been knitting). The kits are great. They contain several custom colors of yarn and are packaged with just enough yarn to knit the sweater with little left over—making it more affordable than buying whole skeins of each color. The colorways they chose were just gorgeous. Sarah also shared with us some custom yarn from Cider Moon.

I'm so glad I ventured out from my cave for a change. It was good to meet other knitters and see what everyone is doing. Solitary knitting is great, but I think I'm going to like being less of a hermit.

Well, it is getting close to Dog-Time and I'm starving, so that's the update.

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Labels: knit night, SnB

posted by Jeanne @ 10:21 PM