Knitting, yarn, and book signing goodness

Last night was the Los Angeles leg of the Yarn Harlot book signing tour. I packed up my book, my Kiri to work on while there, samosas for the table of munchies at the back, and a knitting bag I made up for the sock (well, Stephanie as well, but that sock looked like it might be needing creature comforts). I had never been to the Knit Cafe, so I left early in hopes of beating rush hour traffic. It only took an hour to get there (in what universe is this a positive thing? Oh, right, this is Los Angeles, after all. Sigh) so I got there close to the start of the signing. Dropped off the samosas and grabbed a chair in front so as not to disturb too many people.

Stephanie did some reading from the book, then talked about knitting in general and the things she has seen on tour so far. She was funny, witty, and real and put the whole room at ease. We all laughed at the things all knitters seem to have in common, including less than appreciative partners. It seemed like everyone in the room was knitting something interesting, and there were a lot of sideways glances to check out whatever was in the lap of someone down the row or in back. Then on to book signing for those of us who hadn't gotten there earlier. I brought up the knitting bag, and the sock took to it immediately:

Got my book signed, handed Stephanie a plate of samosas that were passed on from the back of the room, then went to look at yarn and grab some chips from the table. So much yarn! And so many really great people. I met Mary-Heather and she's just the nicest person. Then off to look at yarn again. I didn't get a chance to look at the Kidsilk Haze (still haven't seen it in person, which is probably just as well for my checkbook), but I did find this:

That's Petite Voodoo by Twisted Sisters. Half wool, half silk. Oh, my, is it ever soft. Not sure I'll even knit anything out of it - I may just keep it in my knitting bag and fondle it from time to time. Lovely, lovely stuff.

There's a picture of me with Stephanie, but somehow the lighting ended up doing odd things and right now you can't tell there are actually people in it. I'll add it in if I can fix it later. I was very glad to meet Stephanie in person and hopefully didn't seem like too much of a crazy stalker person, what with the bag and baked goods. All in all, it was wonderful to get away from the boys for a night and do things that I really enjoyed - meeting new people and playing with yarn. Well worth the drive.

Picture fixed! Stephanie is holding one of the samosas. Note that even without the dress sandals, she's still taller than I am.