I’m back in St. Paul (what a beautiful sight that is, coming into the city from the east on 94 in the evening!) and I have about 9 hours to do some laundry, get some rest, then fly out to Detroit tomorrow.
On Wisconsin!
I had the BEST time at the Midwest Masters in Neenah! Barb & Linda at Yarns By Design did such a wonderful job of keeping everyone happy, fed and busy! And they have a really lovely and well stocked yarn shop, too! We need to start calling it Midwest Mistresses, though, I didn’t see ONE man there…
I’d never been to this event before, but now that I’m a midwesterner it just seemed fitting – and it was FUN!
My classes were SO good – I feel like the wire class went on so long, and I worked the poor students like sweatshop workers, but I think everyone left with a good understanding of different types of wire and what they can do with it. For the class members, here’s a link to the pattern we started in class…
My classes today were so great – really excellent classes! The combination class was as enlightening for me as for the students – I always learn so much from my classes, seeing the way that students do things, figuring out new things from watching so many folks knit… As usual, I ended with the Cabling Without a Cable Needle and it was so great. I love ending on a high note!
The lace class was far more advanced than I’ve had before for a lace class, so I was able to really go into detail on some nuances about left and right decreases that I hadn’t been able to work into previous lace classes. It was a testament to the caliber of the students at the weekend – all were SO good, with a great amount of security and confidence about their work – wonderful to see!
One of the best parts of the weekend was spending some (too brief!) time with other knit teachers. Joan McGowan-Michael, Kathleen Power Johnson & Susan Lazear – and then having a nice long lunch with Joan today. So great! Joan’s new book is absolutely EXQUISITE, and I’m kicking myself for not getting one and having her sign it today!
Last night was the banquet – I’m usually so tired that I’d beg off events like that, but I went down to the ballroom last night and was recruited to emcee the Show & Tell and call out names for the door prizes. It was a blast – and I’m enough of a ham that I’ll generally say, “YES!” when someone asks me if I want to get up in front of a crowd.
I used to be sort of ashamed of that – thinking I really should be more retiring – but dang it, I am what I am. I get a lot of my energy from other folks, it’s just the way I’m made, and I was thinking as I drove home that I’m SO lucky I’ve carved a career for myself where I get to roll that exhibitionism along with my love of knitting and technique.
Scene of the Crime
Tomorrow my flight for Detroit’s in the morning, I’ll get in late afternoon (changing planes – somewhere…) and then have dinner with my friend Lisa. It will be SO great to see her again!
Drew’s flying in too, and we’ll be doing a segment of Needle Arts Studio together on Tuesday – it’s good to be so tired, I can’t be nervous! Never having taped this show before, I don’t know what to expect (but I’m prepared for lots of waiting with LOTS of knitting!)
After the show’s finished taping I’ll drive down to Lambertville to teach at Vintage Yarns. How odd that will be for me! I grew up in Toledo – when my dad lost his business when I was 12 we had to move to Temperance, MI (right next to Lambertville) for a couple of years and it was pure hell as far as the high school angst went.
I had some friends, but mostly I was the oddball red-headed kid, butt of all jokes and not able to salvage my self-esteem with the honors math and French classes I’d been taking at my old school district in Toledo. That was the year that I became a teen runaway. Ah, my Linda Blair period. Jeeze, that sucked.
So back I go – to the scene of the crime – wondering how it will feel to drive around an area where I was so desperately unhappy. I was 14, life was rough, my dad was , well, incredibly depressed and self medicating and I just wanted to be AWAY. Being a teen in 1970’s Toledo was a hard place to be.
I’ll be back home on Wed evening – back home! And not leaving again until TNNA in June. I do, however, have to finish my current project (the sweater I’m doing in Lorna’s Laces for the TNNA fashion show) by Friday. It looks very nice and as soon as it’s premiered at the show (that sounds hoity–toity, doesn’t it…) I’ll have the pattern up and for sale on my website.
Gerry looked good when I got home – he says he felt good all day, and went grocery shopping with the kids. His feet are really swollen, though, so we have to check on that before I leave tomorrow. The doctor told him that he’s gained 10 lbs this week. Now THAT’S more like it! Thanks again for all of you good thoughts and kind comments!