Old Friends Who Just Met

So there I was, setting up to teach Norwegian mittens at Yarnover in Minneapolis.  Among the knitters filing in and finding seats, a petite brunette approached me with a sly grin.  She held this out:

Yep.  It's the very first copy of my new book, set to debut on June 1.  Which could only mean that the adorable holding it was none other than Linda Neubauer, my editor.  It may surprise you to learn that even though Linda has been my boss for over a year, we've never met.  In fact, there has only been a single phone conversation, with all of our other communication taking place via e-mail.  Crazy world this is, where you can work hand in glove with someone for over a year and never meet them.

Linda stayed for mitten class, which was even better, and we all had a great time together.

Flash forward to last Sunday when a soft-spoken lady came in for introduction to stranded colorwork, and introduced herself as Scottie Lover, who has been a friend of the blog since almost the very beginning.  After I squished her nearly to bits, she told me about her adventures in Scottish Terrier rescue, and I showed her this design, in the new book:

So these two friends, along with many, many others, brightened my trip to Minnesota.  All I had to do was fly 1,714.9 miles to meet these pals, with whom I connect virtually almost every day.  Small world, no? 

Thanks, Knitting!