A caterpillar once asked, "Who are you?" I am a daughter, sister, and wife. Friend and confidante. Writer. I'm a pet owner, cook, and sock-folder. And I'm a knitter. I wear a lot of hats (most of my own creation), and that's how I like it.
Last weekend, I attended Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat, where I took classes with the famous Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. She has been my knitting idol for years, and I was giddy at the thought of getting to learn from her in person! In case you were in any doubt, she is every bit as funny, fabulous, and knit-tastic in person. Really, she blows me away with her skill. But she's also genuine. Authentic. She's the real deal: a real person who happens to have published several books, can knit at more than 60 stitches per minute, and travels all over North America to share her crafting wisdom.
In the middle of my second class with her, she started lecturing about something that seemed very familiar to me. She was talking about something that I had already studied and practiced. That may not sound like such a big deal, but to me it was like the heavens opened up: I knew the things that the Yarn Harlot knew! She has a couple decades of experience on me, but for a few minutes in that class, I could have been the teacher. I could have been her.
And it hit me that I want to be! Okay, not THE Yarn Harlot. I'm not going to steal her identity, get a perm, or give up on meat. But I want to write, teach, and live knitting. Woven through the tapestry of my life, through all the things that I am, is this obsession with fine alpaca yarn, nickel-plated circular needles, stitch markers. I love project bags, entrelac, and charts. My relationship with Ravelry is at least co-dependent, if not based entirely on maniacal stalking.
Who am I? I'm a twenty-something. And the caterpillar's question left out all the things that I'm still trying to become. I am a writer and a knitter, and I want to become so much more of both.
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