Faster Pussycat, Knit! Knit!

Last night I had the great good fortune to be invited to meet Miriam Tegels who holds the Guiness Book world record for Speed Knitting.  We admired each other's nearly matching sweaters, and she demonstrated her ultra-prestissimo technique to a pretty respectable turnout of 50 or so Portland knitters.  Here are some of them:

And this is our sponsor, the lovely and talented owner of Knit Picks, Kelley Petkun:

You know how in TV shows about wild animals, they sometimes have to film the gazelle, or shark, or cheetah in super-slow-motion so you can see  how they go in for the kill?  Well that is what we  need for Miriam.  The woman is a total blur.  She is a delightful, unassuming, white-hot streak of a knitter.  No lie, people:  this lady has established the land-speed standard for knitting, working 118 stitches in one minute, in an officially timed trial.  She shattered the previous records of English and American knitters, bringing home the glory to her little village in the Netherlands.  Miriam is also a wife, mother, and Yoga instructor, which I believe is a Trifecta in the knitting world. 

I met gobs of neighbor knitters, including Mims Copeland, who is adorable, and took a picture of me with my leopard project (I swear, it's almost done) for the blog she does for the Oregonian Newspaper.

It was a super evening of snacks, yarn, prizes and knitters.  What more could we ask for?