Okay, not to be too stalkerish myself, but CAP is just about as wonderful as any of you may have thought. No – MOREso! Shhhhh, don’t tell her, but I’m NOT going home – The cats are finally used to me and I know how to work the shower…
More classes, most going stellar. The aforementioned bad class apparently spontaneously imploded – must have been that time release thing – and the shop owner’s comments when I went to pick up a bag I’d left at her shop were very upsetting. Thankfully my next stop was to pick up my steamer, which I’d left at another yarn shop (get the idea I’m a little forgetful?) and it was the balm for my wounds.
With no prompting the shop owner told me how much her students loved the class, how much they felt they’d learned and – most important – how empowered they all felt when they left. It’s always nice to hear this, but yesterday it was vital because my next stop was Burbank to tape my Knitty Gritty episode. If I’d gone straight there from the first yarn shop, I think it would have been impossible to put on a good face (okay, very hard…) and do a decent segment.
Of course I have been worrying this to death in my head. I think what happens is that when someone has a certain amount of buzz or is well known for some reason, folks begin to feel that they don’t have any feelings. It’s not a lack of respect as much as a lack of understanding that just because we’re paid to teach, we still have a heart and soul and can be affected by a very negative student. Ideally this impact should be small, and part of being a teacher is learning to neutralize a situation like this, not let it make a class go south. In this case I was acting as teacher and – I felt – as a sort of substitute shop manager as there wasn’t one at the time. These two things together with the dynamic of a strong but negative student made it so difficult to teach this class that – well – afterward it was one of those horrible nights when I’m awake until the morning positive that I should never teach again.
I’m lucky that since the bad class I’ve taught two great classes – one at Knitters Studio (lovely store!) and one out in Monrovia at Unraveled (another amazing shop – large and well lit with a VERY loving staff and passionate clientele) Having a good class is the antidote for the poison of a bad class.
The Knitty Gritty taping went really well. Vickie is fun to hang around with between takes, I’m amazed that she can keep energy and focus going for so long! The production staff was kind, helpful, just great folks and my producer, Stefanie, was – as always – just wonderful. I’d catch sidelong glances at myself on the monitor – oy. Once again, I can live a rich and full life without seeing myself on TV. The thumbnail is STILL in bad shape (since April – this thing is going on forever!) so I got a manicure and had several fake nails painted to match, then I glued one on to the non-cracked bits of my thumbnail (ouch) so that when on camera it didn’t look like a medical investigation show. And, there’s always that masochistic thrill of removing a fake nail. I “did” the corset – but more than that I actually got to talk about Combination knitting, show it (albeit briefly) on camera and do a little lace, too. I love lace.
Tonight I teach at one of my favorite shops of all – Unwind in Burbank. I love this store, it’s so light and open and easy to shop in. On the east coast so many yarn shops are small (space restrictions) and dark – Stephanie’s shop is a wonderful place to just hang out (and I may just do that today as I have nothing on my agenda until my class this evening – freedom!)
I’m not sure if I mentioned that while in Boston I got stuck in an elevator for 15 minutes and had to be rescued by firemen. Mmmmmm, Boston Firemen… but – alas, did not have my knitting with me. Very sad. But exciting, and I would expect no less. Let’s hope for a little less excitement when I fly back to NJ tomorrow!