Saturday could not have been more perfect (well except maybe for the weather, but we won't go there). Lauren and I headed out early to beat the crowd at Webs and get our shopping done before we got to see the Yarn Harlot. This trip doubled as a good excuse to cross off another one of my "things to do before I move to NJ". I can't begin to explain how huge and amazing this place is. You just have to experience it for yourself if you ever get the chance. After walking around and around I started to pick out some yarn for this pattern. When the owner (!) realized that there wasn't enough of the same dyelot on the shelf he took me back to the warehouse:



I nearly had the wind knocked out of me when I saw all this (and people, this ain't the half of it)! After I got that yarn I was able to walk through all this because Webs is having their anniversary sale. It was unreal to see the amount of yarn on the shelves. Lauren and I both found ourselves a little dizzy while taking it all in. I was a bit horrified when I saw this:


Note to Berroco - you are taking the whole "new yoga" thing a *bit* too far.


I nearly passed out when I finally read this sign after walking past it several times:



That's right folks! Half price on some of my favorite sock yarn!! Let's just say that this made my mission to find new sock yarn for HWJF very easy. A little too easy!

And Lauren had a very exciting moment when she opened a pattern binder to find her own creation:



How cool is that?!


After a couple hours it was off to a sushi lunch, a stop at another yarn store (which was a bit of a let down after Webs) and then off to hear the Yarn Harlot speak. While the room was a bit warm (ummm... hello... knitters wear hand knit sweaters... you could save yourself some money by turning down the heat!) the hour just flew by. The stories she told about her adventures with her *cool* husband (Hey Steph, there are a lot of us that think you are pretty cool too!), freakishly thin/tall women at parties who don't quite get knitting, and her dealings with the media and other muggles (I love that someone is using this term for non-knitters) were just hilarious. It was a wonder anyone could knit we were all laughing so hard. The only thing I think was missing is that we should have clicked our needles together instead of clapping. That would have been true knitterly applause!

After the talk it was a quick run back to Webs for the book signing. There were knitters lined up as long as you could see:



So we had a quick time for a pic of me and Lauren:



And me and Sarah who we ran into early in the day and sat near during the talk:


(My hair was apparently suffering the effects of the rain quite a bit at this point.)

I'm still kicking myself for not getting a picture with Katie who I also saw. We were both wearing our Good Bias shrugs!!

One other funny thing happened while waiting on line. We were given post-it notes to put on our books so that we could spell out our names. Part way down the line, one of the people who worked at Webs asked us to put them in the book on the title page sticking out so Steph could just flip them open to the right page. She then proceeded to ask me the question of the day -

"Do you know where that (the title page) is?"

Lauren and I both burst out laughing and I then composed myself enough to explain I was a librarian. Poor women. I probably traumatized her for life. She'll never set foot in a library again.



When I got the front of the line I had a short but amazing conversation with Steph where she not only recognized my blog but remembered that I had left her a comment when she wrote about one of her daughters taking up the french horn! At the end of her talk she had been asked whether she read all the comments on her blog, and she said she did. Every single one. I find that quite impressive. And she certainly proved it to me. And just to make it even more crazy, she even took my picture with the sock!! If I end up on her blog you will probably hear the shriek of joy all the way to Toronto.

I suppose I should show you the final haul:



That's one small bottle of Eucalan, the third Yarn Harlot book, 8 skeins of Cascade Pima Tencel, 6 skeins of Cascade 220 for a yet to be determined sweater, and 6 skeins of Regia sock yarn. And can you believe I have plans to go to the CT Sheep and Wool Festival next Saturday?

After all this it was back home to having dinner with my guy which consisted of pizza, wings and a double-overtime playoff game 1 win for my Sabres!!!


Now I ask you, what more could a girl want???