18.5.08

things i learned at knitblogcon (a.k.a. the time i od'ed on narniness*)

1. Loop is Philly's answer to Purl Soho, and I think I love it just as madly and deeply. (Well, okay, maybe not just as much as I love Purl as I would never want to betray Joelle & co.)

yarn & narn @ loop

top: the wall of Koigu (not pictured are my brains exploding all over the place at the sight of this display)
bottom: my good knittas, lounging and knitting on the lovely little space in the middle of the shop.

May I point out that the lighting and display were perfect here. I wish every yarn store owner would take into account how important it is to have good lighting. Also, I wish yarn shop owners would take note of how much carpeting sucks in their shops (i.e. causes customers to break out in a huge allergy fit). Seriously, I wish we had a yarn shop like Loop in Boston. The staff was courteous and friendly without being pushy and weird; they were knowledgeable and helpful. The store was beautifully laid out, with the most organized needle display I have EVER seen. That needle display was the stuff my anal retentive dreams are made of! They had a great selection of fiber in just about every color of the spectrum (which blew my mind as my LYS seems to think the only colors worth knitting are various shades of doo-doo brown). And no one complained about the fact that we hung out there forever. It was a cool, clean slice of heaven.

2. Knitters like to get their drink on:

clinking & drinking

3. Julie Frick really is the Queen of Cowls:

Julie the Queen of Cowls

top: Julie looking radiant and beautiful in a cowl knit for her (CORRECTION: knit for Christy) by the insanely talented Caro
bottom: me in the lovely Beech Wood Julie knit for me

4. I really don't watch enough TV. Man, how sad is it that I cannot hold my own in a simple conversation about TV shows? I was kinda drooling on myself blankly while everyone else was deeply immersed in talk of GossipGirl and Heroes. Sorry, guys! Apparently, I live under a rock. Or maybe a bridge. I'm like a hermit under a bridge. Or is that a troll? Wait, I'm not a troll, but I think I'm definitely a hermit. Who doesn't watch TV, not for any political reason or socially conscious effort, but because our reception is crap and we refuse to get cable. And we refuse to Netflix TV shows when there are so many movies that I have yet to watch. Still, what a dork I feel like sometimes.

5. Diana and Caro are pretty much the awesome-est traveling companions EVER! I would go anywhere anytime with you peoples!

6. I got to learn about "The Story of the Sack-Dragging-Freak." Enough said. Also, Pam is the funniest story-teller ever.

7. Apparently, not pooping for three days makes me sick and cranky. Who would have thunk it? TMI? Maybe? Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhh, so, hmmmmmm, yes, and moving right along....

Thanks to our hosts, Megan and her other half, Michael, and these little guys, who were so cool, calm, and collected dealing with so many people that they've never met before all up in their space:

our kitty hosts

top: Simon Flavius, wee kitty esq.
bottom: Edwin Claudius Cat

And yay! I am happy to say that Megan likes the cowls I made for her:

Megan is so frigging cute & stylin' in that cowl

Megan in the Monkey Cowl

More on those tomorrow or sometime soon, once I recover from the shock of being around so many people all at once - OMG! I was in a social situation! *gasp!* Holy fucking horror! I have to admit feeling like the big red monster from the Bugs Bunny cartoons at several points during the weekend, like just throwing up my arms, screaming "PEOPLE!" and running for them thar hills. If I seemed weird at the end, it's because I felt really really sick and thought I was going to pass out for a second there. I think I OD'ed on all the narniness*. I have to say, it was kinda worth it, though. I had such a great time!

* narniness |när NEE nes| noun - state of crafty and knit-related bliss
ORIGIN - Matt, 2005, combination of "nerdy" + "yarniness"

10 comments:

melissa said...

i'm so jealous! sounds like a super fun weekend.

Anonymous said...

yep, jealousy here too!

Melissa said...

glad they got your out from under your rock! :) I totally love loop too!

Anonymous said...

Oh, the narniness! It was GTs (good times), friend!

Cindy said...

Wow, that second cowl is amazing (well, they both are, but I love the pattern and yarn in the bottom one), I can't wait to hear about it!

Elinor said...

Narniness, indeed. KBC definitely rocked. We most certainly need to do that again. I'm so glad I got to meet you!!! And let me just say that your photos are really outstanding - damn! What's your secret??

Unknown said...

I'm still coming down from the high!

Sarah said...

I am so with you on the "omg! people!" reaction. Still can't believe I hung out with friendly, smart, funny people all weekend and nothing bad happened (um, that I can remember. Maybe I've just blocked it out.)

So great to meet you!

nova said...

Well, I am looking forward to the next one. Though, I am sorry to not have had the opportunity to travel with you. Thanks for the recap, vicarious liing at its best!

pamela wynne said...

Narniness? Brilliant!