111 Knitters at Threadbear

(Franklin Habit's 1000 Knitters photo shoot at Threadbear Fiber Arts in Lansing, Michigan)

I got out the door Saturday morning around 9:30 am to head for Lansing. The weather forecast for Saturday had been mild all week, an inch or two of snow and middling temperatures between 20 and 30 F. Friday we even had "sun", which meant there were gaps in the clouds through which I could see blue sky.

I made pretty good time and eventually pulled into the packed parking lot of Threadbear. I went in and filled out a model release and took my ticket. Things were all organized so there wasn't a jam-pile in the back, where Franklin was shooting. Meanwhile I got to walk around for a while and pet yarn.

When my number was called, I found I was waiting right by the laceweight! Argh! You can imagine how painful that was. They were calling numbers two or three ahead, so while Franklin was photographing one knitter, another one or two were waiting.

I know other bloggers have said this, but he's very good at putting you at ease. One of the, er, "features" of my introvert side is that I tend to get an adrenal rush in "on stage" situations, which can include anything from suddenly having to talk to an answering machine, to public speaking, to meeting someone new. My hands were shaking pretty hard, but he was so understanding that I did manage to knit my row.

And yes, I wore the "Introvert" shirt -- truth in labelling, you know! Plus it's a great conversation starter. I've had such good conversations even with other introverts started by that shirt that I ought to put it up on Cafe Press.

After I had my turn in the chair, I went yarn shopping.

But first I found needles, size 00 and 000 circulars (1.75 mm and 1.5 mm) just in case I should suddenly decide to knit something small.

After much prowling around and feeling of lovely yarn, I ended up driving home with a ball of Meilenweit Mega Boots, a couple of skeins of Steinbach Sockenwolle, two incredibly beautiful balls of Elegant Yarns' Charming, one of the laceweight Daphne, and two dense little balls of Habu Textiles' 1/12 silk mohair.

The bag sat in the front seat with me so yarn could be petted while I drove home.

I don't know about the "one to two inches" in the snow forecast, but the roads home were much worse than the roads to Lansing. There was not much snow, but what there was was slick as glass.

Aside from the poor driving conditions in the afternoon, I was not sorry at all to have booted myself out of my comfort zone and gone to Lansing!