Saturday afternoon, Ms. Stephanie Pearl-McFee appeared in Los Angeles for a talk and book signing.  The last time she came to L.A. was August of 2005, I'd had the good fortune of helping arrange her visit to The Knit Cafe, and bunches of us sat on every available surface on the store, ate yummy food, and laughed ourselves silly. 

This time, she came to speak at the Central Library, downtown.  I love downtown L.A. -so close, and really easy for me to get to by train (that's pretty rare here).  Besides being really really lovely, the library actually has a big enough auditorium to hold all the knitters who want to hear Steph speak!  I was really impressed at how evident it was that Steph has grown accustomed to speaking in front of large crowds - despite her sometimes writing about freaking out on her blog, she's very poised (but still hilarious and obviously down-to-earth) up on stage, giving a very funny and thoughtful talk. 

She also still, despite the crowds and the exhaustion that would set in for any normal person with her traveling schedule, takes the time to talk and have fun with everyone who waits to have her sign her book. I also noticed her signature has totally sped up since the "At Knit's End" tour.

First tour...



Current tour.

Smart woman.

Thanks so much for coming all the way out to L.A., Stephanie!

The talk/signing was also the perfect occasion to meet up with my friend Lori (who naturally passed the Yarn Harlot's Canadian test with flying colors and thoughtfully explained what the heck was going on to me later) and enjoy a nice walk over to the fashion district and... well, basically spend a bunch of money at Michael Levine.  Lori was wearing the cutest shirt in a lightweight cotton print - it turned out that she'd made it the night before!  She makes great clothes that are totally inspiring to me.  It turned out that the shirt pattern was modified from the basic shirt in Sew U - a book I own, enjoyed reading through, but have yet to make anything from.  I have seen the error of my ways... and I have now bought plenty of yardage in two really cute cotton voile prints to correct the situation.   And some fabric swatches for my bridal party (and it will be a party... oh yeah).  And possibly a cute flower embellishment.  Um, and some notions... I did put the $36.00 worth of buttons I was looking at for no reason back in the box, though.  I don't think I've ever before excercised button restraint, it felt kind of good!  I managed to find everything I wanted for a really great price.  Score!

Lori - it was really fun to hang out with you - thanks for driving all the way up here and listening to me and my rambles, and of course, for snapping the pictures of me and Steph! 

Exciting news for today - I have another post up on Whipup - a review of Fibre & Stitch, a new website.  Check it out!