Oh, and I Wrote a Book!

So totally encompassing were the events of this June that in relating them, I neglected perhaps the biggest one of all:

Released on June 1: Available HERE

The delightful Knitmore Girls have given it an in-depth review!  Have a listen HERE (the book review segment begins at 35.23, if you're pressed for time - but then again, why rush?)

Free "Dolly" Pattern!  Because Hats Hats Hats!

But Wait! There's more!  You can channel your inner punk rocker for FREE!  That's right.  You know I wouldn't fail to give you the first one (Gateway Hat!) for free.  Click HERE to rock hard and Wig out.  Yeah, I said it.

This is only Thursday, so if you start now, you could have pink hair this weekend.  Because, really, what do you have to do that's more important than being Fabulous?

Fair Warning: It might get loud in here.

Old Friends Who Just Met

So there I was, setting up to teach Norwegian mittens at Yarnover in Minneapolis.  Among the knitters filing in and finding seats, a petite brunette approached me with a sly grin.  She held this out:

Yep.  It's the very first copy of my new book, set to debut on June 1.  Which could only mean that the adorable holding it was none other than Linda Neubauer, my editor.  It may surprise you to learn that even though Linda has been my boss for over a year, we've never met.  In fact, there has only been a single phone conversation, with all of our other communication taking place via e-mail.  Crazy world this is, where you can work hand in glove with someone for over a year and never meet them.

Linda stayed for mitten class, which was even better, and we all had a great time together.

Flash forward to last Sunday when a soft-spoken lady came in for introduction to stranded colorwork, and introduced herself as Scottie Lover, who has been a friend of the blog since almost the very beginning.  After I squished her nearly to bits, she told me about her adventures in Scottish Terrier rescue, and I showed her this design, in the new book:

So these two friends, along with many, many others, brightened my trip to Minnesota.  All I had to do was fly 1,714.9 miles to meet these pals, with whom I connect virtually almost every day.  Small world, no? 

Thanks, Knitting!

It's Good to be Needled

Last weekend I managed to drag myself away from the spinning wheel (Not. Easy. There may have been self-bribery of an undisclosable nature).  It's time to start the new book!

The working title of this project is The Creative Kids Photo Guide to Knitting.  Part of a series my publisher is starting, this book is all about adults and kids knitting together.  I'm really excited about it because it's about how kids and adults can spend time connecting and learning together, rather than just another "how to knit" book.

Of course, my handicap is that I already know how to knit.  I have to be really careful that I don't assume too much, or dumb anything down, either.  So I've decided to force allow my family to help me. 

Lindsay, at 15, is almost not a kid anymore, but she learned to knit recently enough that I can count on her to remember what it was like better than I do.  Campbell, at 12, doesn't knit currently, having rejected it at around age 6.  I haven't forced it on him (for reasons I no longer remember), so I'm hoping his ambivelance can be overcome by blackmail my great teaching skill.  And Phillip, my youngest, (45), has never knit a stitch in his life.  The very suggestion of my teaching him to knit causes a vein in his forehead to throb menacingly.  But he's bravely volunteered to help me by trying to learn how.  He understands his value to the project as a brand-new knitter, and we both agree that if I can teach him, then other kids could learn from me, as well.

I decided one of the projects for the book should be to make your own knitting needles.  Campbell and I visited no less than five retail establishments to round up everything we would need.  We got:

Hardwood dowels, in sizes equivalent to US 3, 8 and 10 needles
A multi-hole manual pencil sharpener (more rare than you would think)
A rainbow of permanent markers
Sandpapers and spray lacquer
All sorts of wierd things we thought would be fun to stick on the ends of the needles:

Phillip's are the purple and red skulls hiding in the back.  Campbell rocked the black and red dice.  Lindsay made the squid fishing lure ones.  And mine are the beaded numbers.  You'll notice that we stained each set two different colors.  This is to aid remembering which needle is doing what when we move on to actual knitting.  So far, so good.  Nobody got hurt, and only one kid managed to get their needles glued together with lacquer. 

Yeah, it was Phillip.  Good thing he's cute.