Twist and shout!

My alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Let's take a look at Demne while that sinks in.

4:30 a.m. in the morning… Saturday… way early morning.

We hadn't sprung forward with our clocks yet, so, thankfully, the sky was getting light and the sun was rising by the time I left the house. I made good time and my phone GPS truthfully guided me; the only thing bugging me was that I wished I'd thought earlier about calling my cousin Rae to join me (as in days earlier, not hours). I think she'd have enjoyed it, so next time for sure!

Many of the classes were already full by the time I registered for the Knit-In, though I don't think I'd have chosen differently; I signed up "Print Ready! Prepare for Self-Publishing" by Jaala Spiro, editor of Knitcircus. (No, I don't have any plans at the moment.) We were the inaugural class and it was terrific, she was terrific! It was a good general knowledge class (if that's the kind of thing you want to know) and for me, in some ways, refresher course. I enjoyed it very much and would never have guessed that it was the first time Jaala presented the material; she was well prepared, stayed on-track, allowed/welcomed discussion but didn't wildly deviate or go off on tangents, and was sure to answer/address all of our questions. I would take another class from her, on any subject, without hesitation — highly recommended.

A big priority was seeing Kate and Marnie from Twist Collective. I've known Kate forever (in blog years) — she was still living in France when we "met" – no husband, no adorable daughter, no Clapotis! It was having a voice but no face (at the time, my mug was nowhere) and being able to develop relationships with people such as Kate, Cara, Wendy – so many people (young, old, it didn't matter) – as a knitter first, woman second, woman maybe old enough to be their mother way down the list, that really solidified blogging for me. I'd already bought into blogging, the community with blurry lines sold me the farm. And I actually did meet Kate and her family a few Rhinebecks ago. Marnie lives in Oregon and often visits the beach near where I got married, had a baby, and used to live… so I get to "visit" once in a while, too!

There was a fashion show of garments from the Winter 2011 issue (Kate, on the right, is wearing Midtown) and oh.my.god, there is just nothing like seeing them all in person! In addition to learning more about the magazine in general, it was great to hear commentary about each specific item, and to actually see (or hunt for) the construction techniques and details that make them Twist-worthy. I want to cast on for just about everything I saw! We also had a bonus preview of the Spring issue (Marnie, on the left), and I'm far enough away with my less-than-stellar camera phone pic that I'm not giving any secrets. There's a pink cardigan ahead — details are on the way!

I caught up with my local friend Ann, lunched with Angie, met Nora, and spotted both Amy Detjen and Franklin in the wild. I did a little shopping… a hank of merino and bamboo in a color that just wouldn't let me go, and buttons for Demne. I have to wait for one of the buttons to be mailed.

Then I went out to my car, cracked the windows, pushed my seat down, and closed my eyes for a while, waiting for my sister to call about dinner plans prior to the play…