yarn harlot

Yarn Harlot Day at the Detroit Public Library!


As promised- an update on the wonderful day the Yarn Harlot came to visit!

This is a quick recap of a *very* exciting day:



Jill (Knitterella) drove out to my house Saturday morning. Because we had never met (and really only started talking via Ravelry on Wednesday), we were a little worried that the other might be a little crazy. Turns out we are both crazy (ok... not really) and really enjoyed each other's company!



Navigating the library was a little trickier than we thought it would be. Our instrustions were as follows:

Take the elevator down to floor A. Turn right, turn right again and proceed through double doors... turn left, go down a long hall, turn right take the elevator back to the first floor. Turn left(?!?!?)We eventually made it (we had to ask for help quite a few times along the way) and set up shop in a crowd of knitters. Thanks to Alice (who came all the way from Iowa), I was very flattered in being asked to sign a copy of my French Press Felted Slipper pattern. There were a few more of these throughout the day...to all of you, thanks for making me feel so special!



And then there was Beth (it is Beth.... right? Beth, are you out there?) who wanted to get a picture of me. I'm not so big on posing alone- so I wanted her in the picture as well. It was so nice meeting you- I'm glad we got a little chance to talk!


*As a side note- a special thanks to my Mom who came along and helped Jill and I navigate the library halls, carry our mechandise, and take pictures- Love you, Mom!




The market place was an absolute whirlwind. We met so many wonderful knitters and saw such spectacular handknits. We closed up shop, headed to the auditorium, and eagerly waited for the Yarn Harlot to come out.

And finally, the moment we were all waiting for! Stephanie came out and delivered an amazing speech... all about knitting! There were many times that Jill and I would look at each other and nod in complete agreeance to the words Stephanie spoke.





Although Stephanie did come and introduce herself during the market- there were many people around and I did not get a chance to get a picture. I was pretty bummed that I wouldn't have a picture of us to put on my blog- but my Mom came to the rescue once again. After we loaded up the car, my Mom volunteered to circle around so we could snap a quick shot.



I love this picture- despite the fact that I look a little too excited to be there. But I was, so I suppose it captures the true essence!


***If you were at this event and have posted any pictures or perhaps a blog post, throw the link up in the comments. I'll add all the links to the bottom of this post so everyone who was at the Detroit Public Library on Saturday can see everyone else's pictures. ***

Other Links:



http://yetanotherslippedstitch.blogspot.com/2010/03/detroit-in-which-library-lady-goes-on.html





In the 'D'

Just a quick post to let you know about an awesome (& free) event that is taking place today at the Detroit Public Library. Stephainie Pearl-McPhee (that's right, the Yarn Harlot) is speaking for their Celebrate Authors Series.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
(A.K.A. The Yarn Harlot)

Humor
Saturday, March 13, 1:00 p.m.*


Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, knitter extraordinaire, is a best-selling author of five books, including Things I Learned from Knitting and Knitting Rules! Ms. Pearl-McPhee is also the author of the award-winning blog The Yarn Harlot. Bring your needles!

Main Library – Friends Auditorium
5201 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202
313-870-5152

*Although the Yarn Harlot speaks at 1, there will be a marketplace beforehand geared specifically at knitters that starts at 11!

A few months ago I was contacted and asked if I would like to have a table to sell patterns. Would I ever! What a treat for me. If you are anywhere around the area- stop by, I'd love to meet you. I will be selling my three patterns (including the Montebello Texture Cowl- just received them in the mail yesterday!) and have sample knits of these and previews of patterns that are soon to come!

I have also invited fellow knitter, Knitterella to share my space with me. You may have seen some of Knitterella's gift tags featured in Vogue Knitting, Interweave Knits (Holiday Issue), and Knit Simple. She also has new items that will be showcased for the first time.

If this is not enough, I will also have my good friend Kelly's creations for sale at my table. Check out her Etsy shop to see more!

I have never been to any sort of knitting event before, so I am really looking forward to this. It should be a great day... I'll update next week!

On Being 'Harlotized'

Many of you have heard by now. Even more of you are here just because of it. But for those of you who don't know, it's true... I've been 'Harlotized'.

You may be wondering why there is a can of spam(the oh-so-delicious pork and ham treat) in a post about being 'Harlotized', but there are some who are wondering what it even means to be 'Harlotized', so I'll start there.

It all began last monday night, December 7th. I was checking my email when I noticed that a certain Stephanie Pearl-Mcphee purchased my French Press Felted Slipper Pattern. Could it be? The Yarn Harlot herself was purchasing one of my designs? I went straight to her Twitter Feed to read "buying yarn for French Press Slippers".

Just because of this little mention, I saw a small spike in slipper pattern sales over the following days. I had to ask myself what kind of crazy power this woman has...she didn't even put a link up and people started buying my pattern!

Fast forward a couple days; this is where the real craziness began. On Thursday, I got home from work to find my email address flooded with new mail. Not only were there hundreds of new emails, but every time I glanced down at my laptop screen, there were more- the list just kept growing.

At first I assumed there was something wrong- but then the realization hit me... I had been 'Harlotized'. No sooner than this idea popped into my head, I went straight to the Yarn Harlot's blog. And there it was!

Oh, to write with such power to command thousands of reader's attention. No one does it in a way quite like the Yarn Harlot does. As you can see, the post needed no pictures. There were just a few links to click along the way... and the results were astonishing!

I didn't even read the whole post before it struck that I had to start sending out emails as fast as my fingers(or the three year old computer) could. You see, when a customer purchases a pattern from me on Etsy, there is no automated system like Ravelry. I have to do the grunt work myself- send out an email with PDF attachment. (And contrary to popular belief, I didn't actually sell out of the PDF- the link Stephanie used was one specific pattern. When that one pattern sold, it said 'Sold Out', but there were always others up in the shop).

I got to work on the emails and it was not long before I got this:

I was flagged for spamming for sending out too many of the same thing to different email accounts. I changed my email address in Etsy, got back to work, and encountered this:


And so it continued for 6 different email address before I realized I could upgrade my Google account to Google Apps. I quickly shelled out $100 and started sending emails from the original address (after a few hours had past and I gained access again, of course!). It wasn't too long after that I ran into this problem:


AGAIN!!

Things have slowed down to a point where I am not getting locked out anymore, but I'm afraid Google, Yahoo, and Hotmail will probably be monitoring my IP address for the next year or so!

All in all, I can't thank Stephanie enough for giving my pattern so much exposure. She has quite the following, and I am blessed to be mentioned on such a wonderful blog. I am forever indebted to the Yarn Harlot for her 'Oprah effect in the knitting world'!

What about you? Do you have the pattern yet? If not, head on over to Roxanne's blog, the 60/40 where she is hosting a giveaway. Two copies of the French Press Felted Slipper Pattern will be given away on Saturday. All you need to do is get to the post and leave a comment about your favorite holiday tradition.

While you're there, check out the rest of Roxanne's 'Homespun Holiday' series, you'll be happy you did!