Madison Knitters Guild Rocks!

Hi Knitters,

Oh my goodness! I never knew how much fun the Madison Knitters Guild was until last night. I was the guest speaker for their monthly meeting last night. I have never attended a guild meeting of any sort before so I didn't really know what to expect.
I set up my trunk show for Itty-Bitty Toys. I also brought some projects from Itty-Bitty Nursery and Itty-Bitty Hats. It was fun to pull out some of my older book projects. They still look good!
There were over 300 people in attendance. There wasn't an empty seat in the house. It is interesting because the Madison Guild recently changed their location due to the ever-growing attendance at the meetings. Now they are filling up this venue to the brim! They will have to switch locations again. Impressive!
What a great position for the guild to be in! Too many knitters!
It was fun to see such a large audience enjoying each other and knitting and sharing projects. I just loved the whole thing.
The trunk show tables were packed full and the toys got lots of love! They have been sitting in my suitcase so it was fun to pull them out and plump them up a little. The toys are holding up so well even with the hundreds and hundreds (maybe thousands by the time my tour ends) of hands hugging and touching and squeezing them.
I literally sold boxes and boxes of books! It was so fun! I signed and signed and signed. I couldn't believe the support and enthusiasm of my hometown knitting crowd. Knitting is alive and well in Madison! You are an awesome group of FUN knitters.
It was a treat to see many familiar faces from my past and present. I always love seeing old friends.

I would like to thank the guild for having me. A special thanks goes out to Kay Moffat for being my right hand for the entire night. I grew up with her beautiful daughter, Chris, and she knew my mom really well. It was nice and comforting to have her there. She was incredibly helpful! Thanks, Kay!

Thank you to Kate and Connie. I have never had a better time at an event. The energy was just intoxicating. The audience was really fun and funny and participatory. It was a love fest.
After I spoke there was show and tell. I loved watching the knitters proudly share their newest knit. Above this woman is a brand-new grandma and she made a jingle bell hat for her grandchild.
This is Heidi and she made a sweater for her son. Gorgeous!This woman made her beautiful sweater. It got lots of oohs and aahs.
This is Amy Anderson. She is well-known Madison designer and knitting teacher. Amy makes a lot of hat patterns and she shared a bunch of her newest hat designs. They were lovely!This is my buddy, Sara! She is from Platteville and comments on the blog all of the time. She is fun and positive and it was a treat to see her again. She made some simple child size leg warmers and they were really cute.
This man made a double-knit hat for a friend. The hat is reversible and well-done!
This was my favorite share of the night. This is Beth. She made that fantastically complicated sweater on the table. She was asked when she started the sweater and she said November of 2009. The crowd gasped. One woman yelled out in a funny, joking way, "We don't like you." Everyone laughed. It was so funny. I loved it. Beth also made her looooong stocking hat that sits on her head and wraps around as a scarf! I want one of those so I may have to design something like that. Isn't she cute?

That's that. I felt so good and happy after the meeting. It was an incredible night. Madison is cool and the knitters in Madison are even cooler. It is THE place to be!

best, susie