"Put your stick through the cowgirl's legs..." and other Harlotty adventures

Whew! I's seriously tired. But it's too late in the day for a nap and too early to go to bed, and of course I want to post about my weekend while it's still fresh. I think I'm going to have to split this up - one post today, about Saturday; and another one tomorrow with some pics of our trip home this morning.

So...Saturday morning, I got up shortly after dawn to help collect our posse for the roadtrip. We hit the ferry with minutes to spare - thank goodness for the reservations that J, our trusty wrangler and transport manager, had made. Getting out of the car on the ferry, we had to wonder whether this elevator was a sign of some kind:

Hoping it wasn't a portent, we hooked up with the other meet-up members on our own wee "knitting cruise":

The looks we got from other passengers were highly entertaining. The best was from the little old ladies that would pause in front of each of us, to inspect our work. It was like we were some kind of performance art installation or something.

Upon arriving in Victoria, Rabbitch, Wenchlette & I check into our hostel, which Rabbitch immediately dubbed the "hostile"

You have to admit, that's not a happy bunny. At least she got a bottom bunk. I got a top bunk. That was fun, getting up to pee in the middle of the night!

We then went in search of lunch, which we discovered in an Irish pub with the most amazing bacon-brie burgers....mmmmm! We proceeded to freak out the waitress by all knitting and taking pictures. Since it was International Knit in Public Day, it seemed appropriate.

J's first sock-in-progress:

On the street outside, the best busker ever:

Finally, it was time to head to the venue. Do we look the least bit excited?

We were, in fact the first ones there. With a lot of time to wait before we could go in. Of course, we filled that time in the best way possible! Wenchlette shows off her new nose cone:

Finally, the very nice organizers let us (and the dozens of other super-early-birds) into the auditorium early. Since the Yarn Harlot is something of a rock star in the knitting world, I thought I should get into the mood:

As the excitement built, lots of bloggers were taking pictures of other people blogging. People were fondling each others' knitwear in a manner that would be totally inappropriate anywhere else, but here - why, that was totally fine, of course! Wenchlette, J & I take simultaneous self-portraits:

I think the best part of the "pre-show" was the tall, tall man from near Jackson, Mississippi getting on the stage to ask us all to hold up our knitting so he could take pictures of the crowd for his wife. They were in port on a cruise, and being able to make this event was totally the highlight of the trip for her. I don't know what we were more impressed with: her luck (what timing!) or his good-natured enthusiasm on her behalf.

Oh, and there was the big, burly man all in black, wearing a cap with skulls around the border, and a long scraggly goatee looking for all the world like a Hell's Angel. Knitting. And not just any knitting - but bright yellow and pink fun fur. I damn near peed myself giggling. He had the biggest grin on his face, and was obviously having a gas.

Finally....the moment we were all waiting for!

No, she's not actually praying or invoking the knitting goddesses. I forget exactly what she was talking about at the moment, but it was a great pose. Also, of course, the sock-and-knitters picture:

My own sock-and-Harlot picture:

After a talk that was funny, thought-provoking, inspiring, and funny again (go dig around on YouTube if you want some highlights - there are posts from some of her other events this spring) there was, of course, the book signing. I got to hold The Sock!

She even rubbed The Sock on my sock, to spread some Knitting Mojo. Whee!

Waiting in line for everyone else to get their books signed:

Wenchlette shows off the progress of her new toe-up pink socks, which started as an skein being wound on the ferry that morning:

The pic doesn't do the colour justice. It was dyed by Rabbitch, who's starting to sell her stuff online.

Finally, after all the book-signing and stuff was done, we went to join a throng of other knitters at the Canoe Club (great microbrew!) Talk about freaking out the muggles! It was a lot of fun.

There were 3 guys at a table next to all of us (we took up about 4 tables...maybe 20 or more of us?) They were a little weirded out by the whole scene, but good-natured and willing to have a little fun. The Yarn Harlot eventually showed up for a well-earned refreshment, and these guys led the applause upon her entrance. Which encouraged all the newly-arrived knitters to make themselves at home at their table. Which culminated in an impromptu knitting session for the bolder one of the trio.

He was a little perplexed at first (I'm sure his intoxication didn't help!) but the Harlot explained the steps patiently: "Put your stick between the cowgirl's legs, and make a loop..." He caught on pretty quickly after that.

He proudly announced to us that he was a knitting virgin. I said, "No, you're not. You've just had your cherry popped, with the willing participation of dozens of knitters....lucky guy!" He grinned like a kid who had just been given his own cookie jar full of chocolate goodness, and toasted knitting. A night to remember!

We finally got back to the hostel about 1:00 A.M. and slept pretty well despite the rowdies at the bars outside.

Whew again! That doesn't even include the trip to the yarn store and my new lovelies...or the trip home which was the perfect ending. Tomorrow!