Jeeze Louise what a day!
The Yarn Over Event is in it’s 20th year, and I am astounded at the work that the guild put into it! Shelley Hermanson and all of the other Guild folks worked like Amish at a barn raising to make an event that was well planned, effiicent and a butt-load of fun!
So much great stuff in one day – so many really fun and excited students – a chance to reconnect with Melissa Leapman (she’s such a dear) and spend some time getting to know Lucy Neatby (who I hadn’t really “met” before, although I’d taken classes and admire her work so much!) Then there were the vendors (beautiful yarns, buttons, beads, patterns, SOAP and exquisite pottery*
My classes were LARGE – I was afraid that there wouldn’t be enough seating for all of the students in the combo class, but as the other teachers and I compared notes at dinner last night we realized that this was a joyful experience because the students were all SO EXCEPTIONAL! They “got it” right away, even the ones who took an extra bit of time weren’t slow (not by any means!) but just a little more deliberate in their thinking.
This is the kind of student every teacher loves – someone who’s open to new things, will jump in and try stuff, and is ready to go along for a wild ride. We don’t necessarily want a class of expert knitters (heaven help us!) but a class of folks who are eager and engaged and full of knitting curiosity. I had TWO of those classes yesterday, and I am the luckiest teacher in the world!
By the end of the Cable class it was obvious that EVERYONE could use a nap. I used to push, push, push my students right up to the last minute of the class, but I’ve begun to realize that sometimes discretion is the better part of educating. When folks are full up of info, their heads are spinning (and exploding) and they just want to have a cup of coffee or a nap, you can undo a lot of what you’ve done by pushing them into one more knitting calesthentic. A long and hard lesson for me to learn, but it’s sinking in. It’s refreshing that I have so much to learn, too!
Today my search for a cheap flop house continues (not really, just inexpensive with wireless internet in a not-scary neighborhood). I have my eye on a motel in St. Louis Park, and that will give me a chance to visit THAT neighborhood.
I may drop in to a knitting session later today at Borealis Yarns and – I’m not kidding – look at REAL ESTATE. [Gerry – I know you read this – here are two links: Minnesota Jobs and Craig’s List MN Jobs
I mentioned in my classes that I wanted to move here, and talked about my husband and what a great guy he was (low key, funny, not a show-off, very good at what he does, kind) and someone said, “Is he from Minnesota?” I do hate the stereotype that NY area folks aren’t nice – we’re VERY nice – but there are SO MANY of us that you can’t help but get frustrated and lose your cool sometimes. That may be what folks see and remember when they visit NY and NJ, which is sad. But folks here ARE very nice – everyone I’ve met is very welcoming – and that’s a refreshing thing.
Did I mention that I am LOVING this place. And it’s raining so my breathing is sub-excellent, but I still love it. I asked in my class should I move to St. Paul or Minneapolis and the strong vocal vote was for St. Paul. But after class a woman came up and quietly said, “You know, those ladies were from St. Paul. It’s nice, but Minneapolis is nice, too… You’d like Minneapolis.”
Last night the Guild took the teachers out to dinner – a quiet spot in a comfortable, sports-bar-ish family restaurant with a prom party going on. The kids were so cute in their prom clothes, and it was LIGHT YEARS different than what prom dinners have become in NJ. I never went to prom, but I know that our own school’s experience was very low key compared to the expensive big deal that proms tend to be in NJ and NY.
I had a beer (!) and a filet mignon sandwhich (new experience for me) and was so happy and full and content! Lucy Neatby and I talked about our kids, Charlotte Quiggle and I talked about our parallel past lives as Time Inc., employees and our shared friends, and I relaxed. I realized as I finished my sandwhich that between the exhaustion and beer I’d better get myself back to the hotel while I was still awake enough to drive, and even found a short cut on the way back. (That was the PT Cruiser magic.)
*Sheep, spindle, nature and yarn themed pottery by Jennie Lanners (she doesn’t have a website, but she is WORTH seeking out! – if you email me I’ll send you her email address and she’ll be at the Shepherds Harvest fair May 13 & 14. I love nice pottery, I usually buy a piece – but her stuff was just stunning! She’d sold out of the mug I wanted, so I’ll be ordering from her when I get home (that way I won’t break the mug on the way home, which is a GREAT possibility!