She came, she talked, we laughed...

...and sweated! Man, was it hot last night! But fun! Stephanie and Susan arrived at my house last night around 5ish, and we proceeded to chat, knit, laugh and eat, slowly being joined by other members of the York Region Knitting Guild executive. We laughed, told stories, laughed some more, ate, drank - I had stocked in a supply of beer for Stephanie since the poor girl had been traveling through the southern States, and while I adore the American people, and count many of them as dear friends, their basic beer leaves something to be desired to Canadian taste buds. Yes, I have enjoyed many an American micro-brew - my husband is in the brewery business, so beer is near and dear to us.

Anyhoo, as I said we sat around (inside - the deck was just too smokin' hot) and had a grand old time. My husband and son stopped by for a nanosecond - Son was way more interested in going out to Chuck E. Cheese (a huge treat!) and husband was feeling a little surrounded, I think. A houseful of knitters can be a touch scary!

Here's Stephanie sitting in my kitchen (can you tell a young child lives here??) She also took pictures of the quintessential Canadian knitters table as she called it - beer, butter tarts, knitting, and a Clifford the Big Red Dog plate. (a relic of a past birthday party. Norma would be proud of my Yankee tendencies to haul out the extra paper plates!)
After the nosh (my veggie quesadillas and homemade salsa seemed to go over well...) we headed off to Needles and Knits in Aurora for her talk.

The girl is funny. I mean, really funny. Very self deprecating, very insightful and a ton of fun to listen to. Unfortunately, the heat was kind of overpowering, and the three fans we had going didn't quite do the job, but everyone survived to head downstairs to have Steph sign books and chat.

Steph with Susan (in black) and Connie - two of our Guild members. Susan missed the meeting the first time Stephanie came, so she was thrilled to be here for this one!

Helga didn't want her picture taken, so here's Steph with Helga's sock!


Here's Stephanie with Boop. Boop, I'm so glad you made it to the talk! Boop came all the way from Fenelon Falls, with her best friend as a surprise for the best friend's birthday. She had RSVP'd too late and we didn't have chairs, but due to some late cancellations, we were able to fit them in. Boop was also recovering from oral surgery and was pretty loaded up with Tylenol Threes. No worries, Boop! You didn't embarass yourself. (She thought the drugs might make her silly. She was silly, but not embarassingly so.)
After the signing (and another nosh at the shop), it was time for some shopping! Tove, the owner of Needles and Knits (I can't believe I didn't get a picture!!) had just returned from a knitting retreat in Iceland. She had brought back some Icelandic lace weight as well as some copies of "prihyrnur og langsjol" (sorry for the lack of Scandinavian letters), otherwise known as "three cornered and long shawls", home of the "Herna Herborgar" shawl. Steph (among others) swooned, and got out the credit card! Stephanie is one of the great yarn enablers of our time - who knew I would go home with new book, and Icelandic laceweight?

I got her back - she got a whack of the Icelandic laceweight, more sock yarn (can't wait to see the Arrrr-gyles!) as well as some manly Canadian sock yarn to send to Franklin. Hi Franklin! I was even wearing my Franklin shirt last night! One of the funniest parts of the evening? Tove (who is Norwegian) trying to get us all to pronounce the names of the Icelandic shawls correctly. It was a bunch of us all sounding like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets.
All in all, a great evening. Stephanie, any time you want to come back (and get more of that SISU wool), you are more than welcome. The fridge is stocked with beer, the quesadillas are ready to go, and the knitters are waiting. Only next time? Let's try for October. or December. or February.
LuckyCanuck - many, many heartfelt thanks for your chauffeuring skills last night. You too, are welcome back anytime you want to make the trek north. Just over a month to Kitchener!