Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

You listen better whilst knitting!

Knitting in the crowd!

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee!

The Sock in Jacksonville, Take 3

The Sock in Jacksonville, Take 4

Mary’s Foxglove Sock (which is gorgeous!)

Kathleen’s Margarita Sock

Wearing Karen’s Clapotis and Chris’ sock being admired!

(I tried to upsize these, but they got a bit pixelly.)

More to come!

Speaking of driving, I know that so many of you who attended came from a distance.  Thank you for that.  To the gals who came from South Carolina and Georgia, and flew from Tennessee, hiked over from Gainesville, Tampa, and Tallahassee, and drove up from Orlando and even further south - just goes to show how very popular is the Yarn Harlot.  Thank you for being part of this - it was so much more than Jacksonville, we just had the pleasure of being in the middle for once!

If you missed the visit, I do have signed books at the shop.  And it’s a very good book!  Let me try to share a bit of what you missed - or refresh your memory if you came - Stephanie spoke about public speaking, about herself and the world, herself against the world, the world against her, and who can’t relate to that?  She shared her reeling schedule, spending just 10 hours at home the weekend before - which included Canada’s Thanksgiving.  She conveyed that she’s a regular person who just happens to write and love knitting - reading an essay about the personal satisfaction of a beautiful sock from Free Range Knitter, The Yarn Harlot Writes Again.  In particular I loved hearing about the contact with her editor after she handed over the manuscript, waiting and waiting and waiting for their response.  The impatience she conveyed was palpable.  Her editor’s response, key.  “Stephanie, it’s been 4 hours.”  I haven’t laughed so much in a long time.  Stephanie’s got an ear for comic delivery and was so very entertaining.  I know that getting to meet a celebrity, one who’s so much like us, was a treat for everyone.  A lot of you thanked me, but I’d again like to thank you as well.

We had a gift for Stephanie that included what everyone got from KnitWitz on their way in and also a skein of yarn from Luxe Knits, dyed by Natasha especially for the occasion in Jacksonville teals.  This yarn is still available in the shop and it’s gorgeous!  Kate also had a sock bag, niftily constructed to not interfere with yarn, and more sock yarn in Mangrove (Kate, have you got anymore of that?).  I hope Stephanie comes back to Florida - maybe in the winter, as many of you cheered her to do, when it’s in the 60s for us, and the 60s below back home for her?

I want to thank in particular everyone who attended, you helped make it possible, and also Kathy H., certainly a wonder publicist at Andrews McMeel, Dolly for her generous assistance and advice, Teresa, Kate, Marilyn, Linda, Jolene, Becky, Barbara, Randi, Lory, Lisa, and Gwen the Master Drawing Assistant who, for all her 7-year-old protestations of stage fright overcame them anyway!  All of these amazing women helped me handle everything with as little freaking out as possible.  Especially I want to thank Maura from The Yarnery in Saint Paul, Minnesota, who taught a class at the Needlearts Market last June on Event Planning.  The class was subtitled “How to Host the Yarn Harlot” - and I credit Maura and the class she taught with bringing this dream to life.  Thanks lastly to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee herself, for stepping outside her comfort zone and mixing it up with knitters online and in person and in print - I think you totally rock.

Now on to the results!  Last Thursday we were able to give away over 50 prizes in drawings.  These included items from Berroco, Checker Distributors, Colinette-Unique Kolours, Muench Yarns, Universal Yarns, and Westminster Fibers, as well as from KnitWitz!  We also started 3 raffles that evening.  As you may know, every fall KnitWitz urges you all to give to a cause.  But we also try to make giving fun!  This year it’ll be Knitters without Borders (Doctors without Borders), and you’ll have a chance to win one - or more - of three prizes each containing over $150 worth of yarn and supplies from KnitWitz.  I’m pretty sure that 2 of those prizes also received the same niftily constructed sock bag that was given to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee!  The raffle tickets are $1 each, you choose which fishbowl to drop your ticket(s) in, and the raffle will run through to Saturday, December 20, when we’ll draw the winners.  This will give people who couldn’t attend the kick-off a chance to win a prize as well.

After all was said and done on Thursday, we took in about $600 over and above our expenses, which includes a contribution from another yarn shop.  Thank you, Hanks in Gainesville!  For your information…

• The venue, without which we would not have been asked to host this event, cost $749.
• The printing of the tickets cost $212.
• The total number of tickets sold was 153 (the numbering of these tickets started at #100).
• Net receipts is therefore $569, plus a donation from Hanks brings the total to $619.

So KnitWitz will be sending $1,000 this week to Stephanie for Knitters without Borders.  But remember, our fundraiser is going through December - so stop by to inspect the raffle prizes, and please buy more of those blue tickets for your chance to win!  Watch here for photos of the prizes!  We’ll update the total for the raffle in December, and be keeping track of it in the shop.  Thank you to everyone for your gracious support of this wonderful charity that brings the blessing of medical attention to those who risk being forgotten.

If you took photos at the event, and are willing to share, please send them to me at kathe AT knitwitzinc.com.  I’d love to post them here so everyone can see.  I had to borrow a camera because of batteries (wouldn’t you know?) and I know there are others who’d love to see if they got into a shot or two.  So mine are a bit delayed.  Thank you in advance!  I’ll start posting them as soon as they come in!

UPDATED MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2008, 15:18.

Additionally, KnitWitz chooses a charity each fall for which to work or knit.  In the past these have included Fisher House, our troops overseas, underweight babies in third world countries, and Heifer International.  This season will be no different.  We’ll be working for The Yarn Harlot’s own “Knitters Without Borders“!  For more information on Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s visit and the Knitters Without Borders fundraising drive, please stay tuned to this blog and to the KnitWitz mailing list, which you can JOIN HERE!

It was a lot of fun to have this blogtest (contest-on-a-blog).  These are the colors that the winner has to choose from.  Let’s call the red at the top: noon, and going around the circle clockwise: 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 o’clock.  I’ll announce the winner in this post, but first… the Midnight Knit-In!  We had a lot of fun on Saturday night!  We’ve never done a make-and-take before, either, but nearly everyone did their own felted soap.  It’s a relatively quick fiber project that makes a super gift.  And with the holidays right around the calendar-corner, it’s time to start thinking present-ly.  Handmade felted soaps sell for a lot more than the time usually involved to make them - unlike our handknit garments!  If you’d like to know how to make them yourself, just let me know next time you’re in the shop.  It’s easy, and fun - especially for kids or the kid-in-you! 

Okay, now for the winner!  This was a very precision event.  Never having done a cyber drawing before, and with a handful of entrants, I decided to let everyone speak for themselves.  I printed out the comments, cut them into similar sized strips, folded them up neatly and….

Once in the hat, we needed a volunteer hand…

And the winner is….

Congratulations, Ellen!  You’ll indeed get to “try this yarn” - I hope you enjoy it.  I’m awaiting your reply with your color choice!  Thanks to everyone who entered (I’ll be doing this again!) and to everyone who attended the Midnight Knit-In!