Sunday afternoon, the hubs and I went to Borders for me to get a new book. I have now finished “The Good Earth” (thanks for the recommendation, Mamma Loves) and “The Namesake” and could not get excited about “Dr. Mary’s Monkey” (sorry, Former Secretary). While at Borders, I saw a display for a writer of knitting books. I thought at first that it was a patterns book, but sat down and flipped through it anyway. It is a book about the humor in knitting.

Now, not to overstate the point, I am a nerd. I read a lot, am a tax attorney, and love yoga and knitting. And married a computer geek. Even so, I never found all that much humor in knitting — what with the cursing when things go awry (and for me, that is all too often), the constant counting, and the reading of patterns. But, oh, was I wrong! Ms. McPhee is one hell of a writer and her muse just happens to be knitting. And it is sad that only knitters will enjoy her writing because she deserves a bigger audience. (On the other hand, McPhee is a best-selling author selling to the multitudes of knitters in the world).

Well, upon closer inspection of the rack that displayed her books, I noticed that she was coming to the store the next day for a signing. Once I read half of her first book (aptly titled “Yarn Harlot”–isn’t that great?!) Sunday night, I kept thinking of her signing throughout an otherwise rough Monday. So I decided to head back to Borders and check it out.

The hubs and I (along with Sun) arrived a wee bit late. Turns out McPhee was also giving a lecture. Well, within no time, I was laughing aloud and feeling the tension from the day wear away. I learned a lot (not about knitting but about how many knitters there are in the world and how smart we are and how much disposable money we have!). Sadly, I bolted out early when I heard Sun crying from the music department. I did not get my books signed.

Today, McPhee wrote about her recent visit to New Orleans. And it is spot on. I am not the least bit surprised that she was astute enough to capture our spirit in such a short period of time. And like Monday night, I learned from McPhee. This time it was about the “bottle tree.” I have never heard of this nor believe I’ve ever seen one. Too bad for me. I will now be on the look-out for one.

So although I failed to get McPhee’s signature, I got a lot from her lecture and her blog. And for that, I am grateful indeed. And inspired to finish my afghan.