Yarn. Harlot.

No doubt about it. Chicago has a checkered past. Although we've cleaned the Windy up quite a bit, you can still find the occasional harlot.

This one is different, however. She is Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka "The Yarn Harlot". And she visited our fair city this day to share her knitticisms with a gaggle of like-minded souls.

My friend Jana and I arrived at Arcadia Knitting about 30 minutes before La Harlot was to make her Chicago stop on the tour to discuss her latest book, "Yarn Harlot : The Secret Life of a Knitter". That left plenty of time for fondling (and purchasing) some sweet baby alpaca:



I also met up with another of the knitting blogosphere's design divas, Bonne Marie Burns of ChicKnits.

Once Stephanie arrived, we crowded into a smallish room filled with shelves of yarn and many admirers to listen and laugh with recognition as this petite, well-traveled woman regaled us with her reflections on yarn obsession, countless frustrations, and the fulfillment that is knitting. She believes there is something magical in making a finished object from the humble beginnings of a hank of yarn.

So do I.