I came I saw....I Rocked!

I fed my obsession this last week with 2 Apocalyptica shows in a row! One on Tuesday night and one on Wednesday. It was amazing as usual and the band rocked harder than ever. I started out my 2 day excursion by hooking up with Michelle from Wisconsin. We had an early dinner and then headed to the show. We had VIP tickets so we got there early for the meet and greet. I had knitted items for the guys along with a six pack of "Siren" beer for Mikko (Siren is his last name). The meet and greet started out with an impromptu acoustic performance of Bittersweet with Eicca, Paavo and Perttu. It was amazing. At first I wasn't going to record but then I decided this will probably only happen to me once so I'd better get my camera out and record it for posterity. The guys were so close I could have reached out and touched them. During the performance I was smiling at Paavo and he looked up and gave me a wink. It's a miracle that I managed to hold it together. After they finished playing they put their cellos away and came back out with Mikko for the meet and greet. I had Perttu, Eicca and Paavo sign my shirt, I forgot to have Mikko sign it because I had extra prezzies for him and it was at the end of the meet and greet and they had to get backstage. I gave Eicca his loop scarf and he remembered that I'd given him one in September. He said that it kept him from getting the flu. ;-) Paavo said that he'd worn the humping deer hat a couple of times since I'd given it to him and he immediately put on the hat that I'd made for him. When I gave him his hat Mikko seemed genuinely surprised that I'd made something for him. I handed him the boxed beer and I told him.."be careful, there's beer in there. He seemed a little surprised by that too, like hmmm...why would someone give me beer. But as evidenced by this pic posted on FB this AM, I see that he knows why I gave it to him. Of course the best part of the meet and greets, Finnish cello boy hugs!! Michelle and I squeezed in up front and got ready for the show to start, it was amazing of course and the stage was so close that we could have reached out and touched it. The only problem with the small stage was that Perttu fell off of it! He stepped right off, landed on his tailbone and his right leg was bent backwards. He was a real pro and didn't drop his cello or miss a note. He finished up the show without any more incidents. After the show it didn't look like anyone was hanging out so I headed back to the hotel, said my goodbye's to Michelle and got ready for the next day. The breakfast at the Hotel was crappy so I drove to Port Huron and had a really late breakfast at Bob Evans. I crossed over the Blue Water bridge and headed to London. I got to my hotel and checked in, tried to take a catnap but there was a high school basketball team there making a ton of noise so a probably only got 15 minutes of sleep. I got ready and headed to the venue a little early. I'm glad I did there was very little parking and people were already starting to line up. I got in line and fortunately there was an overhang to stand under which was great because it was cold and rainy. When I got in the door Amy, one of my FB Apo pals was waiting for me. She'd secured a spot for us right up front. The set up was a little different, they had a pit with security and more of a barrier set up. The venue was larger as was the stage. The opening band was really good and they announced that they'd just been signed by Adam Grontier's label. Adam came out and sang on one of their songs. Apo took the stage and put on another amazing show, I think that they actually rocked it a little harder in London. Maybe it was because they had a larger crowd or a larger stage but they seriously brought it. There was even a mosh pit! That's only the second time that I've seen a pit at an Apo show, both in London ON. Crazy Canadians! ;-) Of course Adam came out and sang the lead on "I don't care" which was the song that he performed on the Worlds Collide album. It was so awesome to see the song performed with the original singer. I hung out after the show to say my goodbye's to the guys and give them the air freshener that I'd forgotten to give to them in Flint. I figured with 11 guys on the bus..they needed it. It took probably about an hour or so for the first of the guys to come out, I think it was Mikko and Perttu. I asked Perttu if he was OK and he said yes. I hadn't noticed any bruises or scrapes when he was on stage. I didn't get to chat with Mikko, he didn't stay out too long. Completely understandable if you've ever seen him on stage, I'm sure he's exhausted after a show. Eicca came out and when I had the chance I gave him the air freshener. His reaction was hilarious, he said "OH thank GOD!!" in his thick Finnish accent. He then made all kinds of wild spraying gestures and said that he sprays everything with it. He gave me massive amounts of hugs, he even gave me a huge squeeze and made huggy noises in my ear. (Squee) Of course the last one out...Paavo, nothing new there. Hugs, kind words and a photo. I headed back to the hotel and drove home the next day. No issues crossing the border this time. Phew!

Of course as for the knitted Apo prezzies...............

I realized that I forgot to get a picture of Eicca's scarf. I used the Purl ridge pattern, knitted it with my hand spun Shetland that I also hand dyed black with Wilton's cake dye. When I originally dyed the yarn it didn't fully take and when I knitted the scarf it was coming off on my hands PINK. I immediately got on to Ravelry in one of the dying groups and posted as to what was happening. As usual Ravelry saved the day and someone posted a solution to my dilemma step by step that I followed to a tee. It seemed to have worked and there wasn't any run off when I rinsed and blocked it on a white towel. I hope so anyway, I'd hate to see Eicca with pink hair!

For Mikko and Paavo's hat's I used respectively the Traveller's hat and Claudia hat pattern and my favorite worsted Shepherd's wool. So soft and warm. Blue for Paavo and Grey for Mikko. I had a color in mind for Perttu's gloves and found the perfect black with red fingering weight on Etsy. I used the Fitted Fingerless glove pattern, no ends to weave in!

As for events on the horizon? Nothing concrete still taking kettlebell classes. I plan on trying to work on more pin-up photography. There are more events coming up in the spring as far as that goes. Other than that we'll see where life takes me. Just looking forward to warmer weather. I'm sure you are too!