Thanks to everybody who came to the Nicky Epstein event at the shop on Friday. It was a huge success! We had nearly thirty people (including an actual fella) and everyone seemed to have a great time. Nicky and her husband Howard are just the loveliest people, and they stayed for hours til the last person had been hugged and the last book had been signed. I love it when a plan comes togther!

Hairspray
I talked the Snook into going with me this afternoon to see Hairspray… and I absolutely LOVED it. Loved everything. The music, the costumes, the joy. I love love LOVE Nikki Blonsky, and when she got to kiss dreamy Zac Efron at the end I squealed to the Snook (forgetting momentarily that he was not, in fact, an enthusiastic girlfriend): “And she was working at an ice cream parlor when she got the part! Isn’t that the cutest thing EVER?!” I had been expecting to merely tolerate John Travolta’s stunt-casting, but he was fantastic. I can honestly say this is the only Travolta performance I have ever enjoyed. He just disappeared completely into the role, and I can only imagine how difficult it was to dance in that (amazingly realistic) fat suit. I even loved perky little Amanda Bynes, though she did seem to get progressively more orange throughout the movie. (The Snook speculated that it was to lessen the contrast between her and Seaweed.) I bought the album off iTunes as soon as I got home and I imagine I’ll be boppin’ along to that for a while now. If you like musicals, this one is highly recommended.

(And if you don’t, go anyway. You’ll survive. The Snook didn’t love it, but he didn’t fall asleep either.)

My friend Nora‘s cousin Max recently performed performed as Napoleon Dynamite at some sort of assembly… and now it’s on YouTube. And it rocks! I love how you can see him really start to get into it towards the end. That is a level of coolness to which I could only have aspired in high school.

Name That Color. Now that is a phenomenally useful app! Especially to someone like me, who is constantly trying to come up with descriptive names for colours of knitting yarn. (Link courtesy of Patrick.)

I was pleased to see that our very own Pierre the Yarn Snob got name-checked at the end of this Knitty article on depression… until I realised that the author referred to Meg as a guy! Quelle faux pas!

New Knitty is up!

Updated to add: Oddly, I liked most of the cardigans and hats and disliked most of the socks. That’s weird. I really dig this yoke sweater, and this little bag is so cute. I also think I could wear this funny hat, though I prefer it in the non-slubby yarn. There are a few things that make me scratch my head though. This seems like a prop in a future Darwin Award story. It’s a total strangulation waiting to happen. These, I’m sorry to say, are some of the ugliest socks I’ve ever seen. And the Woodins? Are simply mystifying. Though that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Attention, my fellow American-Australians! The David Jones Food Hall in Sydney currently has a massive display of Libby’s canned Pumpkin Pie Mix. Pumpkin Pie Mix! In Australia! I literally GASPED when I saw it today. And then I gasped again when the woman at the checkout charged me NINE DOLLARS for it.

Don’t forget… the Nicky Epstein Book Signing is tomorrow! I’ve been unpacking boxes of her books all afternoon. We’ve got all three “Edge” books ($49.99 each), “Knitted Flowers” ($39.99), and the new “Knitting Never Felt Better” ($39.99). See you tomorrow at the shop!

Sometimes I get really tired of being the “knitting Rain Man,” the person who’s expected to know every single knitting pattern and yarn EVER, and who constantly gets interrupted all day by questions about it. And I’m not talking about interruptions from customers; I’m talking about staff. It’s flattering to be the go-to person, but I think I’m about done with it.

Good news for Pommies (and Steve and Nath): British pubs have been spared from switching to metric and will continue to sell beer by the pint.