Harlot Trek

What a great day! After getting up at 6:30 am after a night of little sleep (that part wasn't great), I was off on a trek to Austin from my home NW of Houston. It is about a 2.5 hour drive so isn't that bad. I had a book-on-iPod to keep me entertained. My mission was to attend a lecture and book signing by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee the Yarn Harlot. It was her only Texas appearance on this book tour so I just had to go see her. (All pictures are clickable for large).

I arrived in time to get great seat in the Baptist church across the parking lot from Hill Country Weavers, the host for the event. I had to smile since Stephanie spoke at a Jewish Community Center in Albuquerque on Thursday and here she is now in a Baptist sanctuary. That didn't deter her story about willie warmers, though :)




I had to take a picture of her taking her picture of the audience with her sock. That blurry black thing in the front is my sock. Stephanie's talk was hilarious, full of her wit and wisdom (wait, not sure about that one) and was well worth the drive to hear her. She loved Austin's motto: "Keep Austin Weird" which about sums up the city.

Afterwards, I was lucky enough to get in the second group for the book signing. It was great to actually talk to her and tell her my cute story about Black Sheep Gathering. Oh? you haven't heard that one? When hubby and I were checking into the hotel in Eugene last month for the fiber gathering, the couple checking in before us asked why all the hotels were taken. The clerk replied that there were several conventions in town including one called the Black Sheep Gathering. They asked what that was and the clerk replied that she thought it was some group of bad motor cyclist dudes. I didn't correct her.. LOL.

Anyway, the sock and I had fun and got our picture taken with Stephanie and her sock. BTW - this is my 3rd Trekking sock for the summer Trek Along With Me knit-along and is in color 104. The second pair attended also but were on my feet so didn't get in the picture :) I'll post pics of them once they are washed and photgraphed.



The Hill Country Weavers is a fantastic shop. VERY crowded after the lecture but less so after lunch. I am on a bit of a fiber diet so all I bought were a set of Brittany Birch needles for a swap and 2 pairs of size 2.5 (3mm) Crystal Palace DPNs. I hadn't seen that size before. Oh! and some wool wash for my pal also.

After we left HCW's, the sock and I ventured over to The Quilt Store in north Austin. It was fun to see some of the new fabric lines but with my huge stash at home, I decided not to purchase anything.




Overall was a super day and the weather was hot (104 heat index) but cloudy. Here is a Saturday Sky for Sandy:

Till later ~~ Dene