Hannah is better and was better by Thursday, April 5th. I managed to get some work done the day that Stephanie came to town. Amazing, I know. But it has more to do with the relentless nature of deadlines than anything else. I did head back to Denver from Loveland at about 3 pm ( I was planning on participating in a conference call on the way down, but I couldn't connect to the conference call). I arrived at the Lodo Tattered Cover 4 pm, found a spot to park in the Union Station parking lot, bought an extra copy of the book (to send to a friend) and found the line upstairs. The Tattered Cover is the best book store. I've loved it ever since I was little--so just being in the store was enough to make me happy--but to find it filled with people I know and like--it was wonderful!
I was about 20th in line and had a great time talking to people in line. Right next to me in line was Cheryl from Colorado Springs who took my class in Convergence and is a friend of Amanda's from the Pikes Peak guild. I had a great time talking to Cindy Lair of Schacht and Connie Kephart--some how giant and poisonous insects became the topic that had us rolling on the ground.
I met a very enthusiastic young spinner who loves her fiber--Katie Russell.
Deb Robson was spinning, too!
I caught up with Kristi who was there with others from the Fort Collins knitting group. Her socks (on the cover of the Spring 07 Spin-Off) were also present. I got to spin! I had started some of the rolags from Designs by Diane at the photo shoot a couple weeks ago and I was dying to get back to it. All my free time has been consumed with getting ready for Bead Expo.
Eunny Jang and Katie Himmelberg were also there from Interweave. Since Eunny works from her home in Maryland, this was a chance for me to get to know her better. Though I felt kind of bad afterwards--I should have warned her how loudly I laugh before she sat next to me during Stephanie's talk. She was very gracious though and said that my laughter was infectious! My sister won't believe it. My family knows to sit far away from me in movies (not just the funny ones, either).
Sylvia from Posh and the Denver Stitchn'bitch had a great sign and was collecting hats for charity. I meant to make one and haven't done it yet. I'm bad. I also talked to Kat who I had met at a Red Scarf event last year--we figured out where we knew each other from. I wish we could do this every month--just hang out in the stacks at the Tattered Cover knitting and spinning and catching up.
All this happened even before Stephanie showed up. And then there was Stephanie! She totally deserved the standing ovation and feet stomping. Not just because she's so funny, not just because she captures the essence of knitters (and beyond), not just because she brings us together and helps us laugh at our quirkiness and how we must look from the outside--but because she's able to address serious things at the same time--important things. 
Such as women's business endeavours not being taken seriously with examples of the financial and career impact these attitudes have. She also addressed the ability of knitters to pool their resources to make a difference in the world--through their knitting (hats for charity, for example) and through their monetary donations--she has raised more than $300,000 for Doctors without Borders through Knitters without Borders.We're so lucky that she uses her power to motivate and inspire for good. And gosh, I really don't know how she keeps the schedule she has. She arrived in Denver at 9 am--so that means she left Minneapolis at some very early hour. She had interviews all day, then the gig at the Tattered Cover where she was signing books until after 10 pm--and then a bunch of us took her out to eat afterwards--and didn't get her back to her hotel until after 1 am. I was shocked it was so late--I'm normally in bed by 9:30 or 10--especially now that Hannah is on the scene because you never know when you'll be up with the baby during the night. And morning comes early in our house. And I like sleep. I really do. To sleep perchance to dream. Say--I had a Stephanie dream last night--I dreamed that she was floating in the clouds and pretending to spin and simultaneously knit a gorgeous Orenburg shawl--but she wasn't really spinning--she had wound the shawl into a skein and was unchaining it to make it look like she was spinning it (don't ask how--it was a dream!)--and then when she was done it billowed into a huge parachute and she was floating over the city of Toronto (it was night time--so all was dark, except for city lights and the hint of the sun coming up) giving us (we were watching her on video) a tour of the city from the sky. We landed on the top floor of the Art Institute and she was showing us around.
I spun three rolags from Designs by Diane that I bought at SOAR during the whole event--and over the weekend plied them into a skein. It is some of the most gorgeous yarn I've ever made--can I say that? I want to make socks--I've started them.
