A Brush with Fame

I haven't met many famous people in my life. And the ones that I have met, by some arguments weren't all that famous. There was that guy from Alvin Aileywhen I was in Switzerland. And as far as the biomedical world is concerned, one could argue that working for Jeff Hubbell or collaborating with Gary Sibbald would be a brush with fame. But tonight I met the most famous person I've ever met. People all over North America have gathered to hear her speak. Thousands have bought her books. Thousands more read her blog. She is ... Stephanie Pearl McPhee ... and she is The Yarn Harlot. She was here in Toronto speaking at her home guild and I got to be there.

It was kind of funny preparing for the event. I knew, from reading her blog regularly (I check for updates thrice daily), that she usually takes a photo of her audience. I also knew that Stephanie liked the front row to be full and I wasn't about to let her down. I also knew that I was going to be sitting among knitters. I HAD to wear something handknit. Trouble is, I only have two items that I've handknit for myself. The first is a black tank (cotton Little Black Top from SnB Knitter's Handbook) and the second is the purple OSW that I knit about a little while back. I'm not very proud of the black tank – it doesn't fit as well as it should and the knitters would definitely notice the bias. So, I went looking for my OSW. I looked all over the place. I had it in the laundry on Sunday – it had to be close at hand. And yet – I couldn't find it anywhere. So, I settled for something handknit, just not by me – my red scarf. I selected my favorite jeans and a crisp white cotton shirt. Perfect for highlighting my gorgeous scarf.

I dashed for the shower. I realized that there was no conditioner for my hair. I pondered the irony for a while. I mean, I was meeting Stephanie, the woman who wrote fitfully on her blog about the time she went to a reading with the conditioner still in her hair and here I was with none. I thought maybe I'd look stoopid but decided that probably she wouldn't care. I blow-dried my hair. I put on make-up. I shaved my underarms. That's how important this event was to me. I even, almost, ironed my shirt. Hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen! Somehow, though, I knew that being cleanly shaven, made-up, or ironed wouldn't really matter to Stephanie.

When I got to the auditorium, the place was nearly full. The entire front third of the seats were already taken; even the front row. I took a seat near the back. I took out my knitting and worked on Rob's dad's gift. There were knitted sweaters and bags and scaves and hats EVERYWHERE. It was quite an impressive display. The meeting began with a guild update and then knitwear show-and-tell.

And then Stephanie spoke. She was very good. Very funny. I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. Just like I would have expected. The only thing that struck me as different was that I thought when she read her own words from her book she wouldn't have a “reading voice” on. You know how we all have a reading voice. I just always had in my mind that when you read your own words that it wouldn't sound like reading, it would sound like talking. And guess what she was wearing. Guess! She was wearing jeans and a crisp white cotton blouse. The perfect backdrop for her to show off her orange lace shawl. !!

Stephanie writes knitting humour. I think actually she just writes humour with a strong knitting bent. I know it sounds crazy but it's wonderful. She writes a lot about obsession with yarn. When she signed my book (as she has signed so many before), she wrote “obsession is normal”. We all share some obsession for knitting. Although, I'm not quite as monogamous with my obsession as some. I share it among the knitting, the cooking, the dancing, and the frisbee. I think the obsession Stephanie needs to be most worried about is the knitter's obsession with her.

I mean that I'm pretty sure that there are more than a few people – like myself – who have a little crush on Stephanie. She has the kind of demeanor that makes you want to be her friend. The kind of open frankness that leads you to believe that you actually know her because you've read ever single one of her blog entries for the past year and her two books and her shorts in Knit Lit. She's extremely fun. I think too that it's the joy she exudes in being passionate about her job. Clearly she loves what she's doing and it's infectious. Inspiring even. My hands got all sweaty and I blushed when she spoke to me and asked about my scarf while signing my bookbookbook2. Stephanie definitely needs to watch out for crazy obsessed knitters developing a Yarn Harlot obsession.

Unlike many of the crazy Yarn Harlot obsessed knitters out there, I happen to live not too far from her. Maybe someday I'll get to meet her at a LYS or SnB. And Steph – if you ever read this we do ever meet – please forget all about it. I swear, I'm totally normal.

Talk to you soon,

B