Wherein the author of this blog meets the legendary Yarn Harlot
Sunday was Palm Sunday. And it was also the day of the Yarn Harlot's visit to Ann Arbor. Now that was good times!
On Sunday, I had planned that directly after church I would change, grab some lunch, and go. I did invite a parishioner to come with me (she knits during church- a clear sign of a Knitter). She did want to come, so I changed out of the clergy collar, grabbed some lunch, got in the car and found that we were low on gas. I had been out of town for the previous week (visiting friends from seminary and my sister), so I was not on the "Does the car have enough gas" wavelength. Add 10 minutes. We stopped to fuel up, but the pump's credit card swipe thingy was out of order. Add 5 minutes.
Finally we (Judy and myself) got on the road. Judy remembered a shortcut, but because of the bridge constructions, it was closed. Add 5-10 minutes as we circle back and go the long way.
We drive up to Ann Arbor, behind numerous slow vehicles, driven by clearly selfish drivers who only want to drive in the left lane, even though they are only going the speed limit. (Inner dialogue: "What do they think they're doing? The left lane is for speeding. Damn, I'm going to be late seeing the Harlot. I'm going to miss the event. I wonder if I tail them if they'll get the hint and pull over") You should know that I am not usually one to tail someone. This shows the extremity of my anxiety to get to the Harlot's event.
Finally we get to Ann Arbor and find the library, only to realize that the public parking lot is full! We drive around, trying to find parking, get screwed by pedestrians who take their sweet time crossing, one way streets that will not let us get to where we want to go, and a usually functioning entrance to the parking garage that was converted into an exit. We were not thwarted in our mission, however. We arrived at the library at 2:15.
On the way, we saw all these people with pink bags.
Turns out the pink bags were from Busy Hands, the closest LYS in Ann Arbor. We were informed by people with pink bags that the Yarn Harlot had been delayed by 2 hours.
We decided to enter anyway, claim a place, and knit awhile.
It was packed! And no one was leaving. So we sat on the stairs and had an impromptu knitting circle. It was great. The booksellers had free chocolate (God bless them) and we all had yarn. We just sat there, knitting, grateful for the time to work on a sock or two.
Also, because it was April Fools' Day, the library was hosting a Feast of Fools. The kids made hats and then modeled them for us. That was pretty fun, too.
Finally, around 4:30ish, the Yarn Harlot appeared. She was great. It was definitely worth waiting for.
And then she signed everyone's books and even someone's spinning wheel. She took a picture of me because the next day was my birthday. I got to hold the sock!
Afterwards, Judy and I went to Busy Hands and I picked up a sweater's worth of Malabrigo worsted weight. It's purple and beautiful and soft. And it was on sale for a little under $8 per skein.
At the yarn store, we met Nia, who had also come for the event, but she came by herself. The three of us went out to eat at Palio's and had a lovely time.
A beautiful day all around!
On Sunday, I had planned that directly after church I would change, grab some lunch, and go. I did invite a parishioner to come with me (she knits during church- a clear sign of a Knitter). She did want to come, so I changed out of the clergy collar, grabbed some lunch, got in the car and found that we were low on gas. I had been out of town for the previous week (visiting friends from seminary and my sister), so I was not on the "Does the car have enough gas" wavelength. Add 10 minutes. We stopped to fuel up, but the pump's credit card swipe thingy was out of order. Add 5 minutes.
Finally we (Judy and myself) got on the road. Judy remembered a shortcut, but because of the bridge constructions, it was closed. Add 5-10 minutes as we circle back and go the long way.
We drive up to Ann Arbor, behind numerous slow vehicles, driven by clearly selfish drivers who only want to drive in the left lane, even though they are only going the speed limit. (Inner dialogue: "What do they think they're doing? The left lane is for speeding. Damn, I'm going to be late seeing the Harlot. I'm going to miss the event. I wonder if I tail them if they'll get the hint and pull over") You should know that I am not usually one to tail someone. This shows the extremity of my anxiety to get to the Harlot's event.
Finally we get to Ann Arbor and find the library, only to realize that the public parking lot is full! We drive around, trying to find parking, get screwed by pedestrians who take their sweet time crossing, one way streets that will not let us get to where we want to go, and a usually functioning entrance to the parking garage that was converted into an exit. We were not thwarted in our mission, however. We arrived at the library at 2:15.
On the way, we saw all these people with pink bags.
Turns out the pink bags were from Busy Hands, the closest LYS in Ann Arbor. We were informed by people with pink bags that the Yarn Harlot had been delayed by 2 hours.
We decided to enter anyway, claim a place, and knit awhile.
It was packed! And no one was leaving. So we sat on the stairs and had an impromptu knitting circle. It was great. The booksellers had free chocolate (God bless them) and we all had yarn. We just sat there, knitting, grateful for the time to work on a sock or two.
Also, because it was April Fools' Day, the library was hosting a Feast of Fools. The kids made hats and then modeled them for us. That was pretty fun, too.
Finally, around 4:30ish, the Yarn Harlot appeared. She was great. It was definitely worth waiting for.
And then she signed everyone's books and even someone's spinning wheel. She took a picture of me because the next day was my birthday. I got to hold the sock!
Afterwards, Judy and I went to Busy Hands and I picked up a sweater's worth of Malabrigo worsted weight. It's purple and beautiful and soft. And it was on sale for a little under $8 per skein.
At the yarn store, we met Nia, who had also come for the event, but she came by herself. The three of us went out to eat at Palio's and had a lovely time.
A beautiful day all around!
posted by Abby | 12:03 PM
1 Comments:
I have been reading all 511 of the yarnharlot comments (for her April 4th entry, about her visit to Ann Arbor) and came to yours.
Am totally amazed that a pastor would publicly write "get screwed by pedestrians".
Tsk Tsk. But it MUST have been frustrating while trying to get to the library on time. (That was before you knew that Stephanie was going to be very, very late getting there to speak.) I doubt if she is ever going to come here - Nova Scotia, Canada doesn't have a large enough population base - but it would be just my luck that something would prevent me from getting to see her, if she does.
Happy knitting! I hope your afghan is well over halfway done and that your second sock is completed.
Take care,Janey
janeyknitting AT yahoo DOT ca
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