Cub Reporter

Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen.  I'm reporting live tonight from the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat.  For starters, let me just tell you that this joint (the very tony Hotel Murano) is crawling with Knitteratti.  I got on the elevator with none other than Lucy Neatby.  When we got off, she went straight over to chat with Vivian Hoxbro, who was in deep conversation with Eugene Bourgeois.  I was here maybe eleven minutes, racing to my class with Elsebeth Lavold (for which I was late due to a MapQuest discrepancy), and I had to beat back the knitting celebrities with a US size 10.  Totally. Starstruck. 

In my class, I made this:

which is the Viking Rune word "love".  Betcha didn't expect to learn a dead language today, now did you?  Me either, but what a blast - I am reeling with ideas for what to knit another one of these on.  Cuff of a sock?  Hidden in some tangled cables on a cozy turtleneck?  Elsebeth actually asked the students in my class ahead of time to choose a word we wanted to work with.  Then when we arrived, she presented us each with our very own chart.  How cool is that?

After that I found my room, spread my gear around, then made for the marketplace, where I delivered the Faery Ring.  Marilyn King, owner of Blackwater Abbey Yarns, is a completely delightful lady, who also happens to have lots of yarn.  She is very kindly distributing copies of the pattern to interested parties.  I got a genuine kick out of watching people try on the sample sweater.  I am extremely gratified to report that I saw 6 people wear it, all different shapes and sizes, and every last one said she felt pretty in it.  It was flattering to all the body types who tried it while I was there, which was my intent in designing it:  Something that would make knitters feel beautiful and special, no matter what their size or shape.  Well-played, if I do say so myself.  Of course, there is zero chance of developing a fat head around here - at the evening chartity event I sat directly behind the Three Graces: Cat Bhordi, Tina Newton, and Stephanie Pearl McPhee.  No kidding, the staff here are probably thinking they should spray for knitting rockstars - the place is positively lousy with them.

Totally blissed out in Yarnlandia.  Tommorrow: Ganseys!