In A Haystack

One of the things I wasn't going to buy at TKGA was this sterling silver tapestry needle.  It comes from Crown Mountain Farms of Yelm, WA.  Yelm, WA is one of those wide spots on I-5 between Portland and Seattle that I thought didn't have anything I needed.  Boy have I been wrong.  Once I saw that Carson had one of these, I lost all my resolute determination and just about knocked down the cash register in the rush to get my own.  I'm so glad I lost my resolve and buckled under the weight of Knitting Tool Lust.  Using this needle is like putting on your great-grandmother's string of pearls in anticipation of the party of the year.  It's heavy, smooth, and trusty.  Not to mention easy to thread.  If you are looking for a special gift for yourself or anyone else you love, this is the ticket.  It's the needle equivalent of continental-size sterling hotel flatware.  Do not delay; succumb to the Lust.

In other news, my limited math skills have alerted me that I have four (4) weeks till deadline for all my patterns and samples.  This is the same thing emotionally as falling off a high ledge is physically:  Not really enough time to change anything; only enough to realize what's about to happen.

It leads me to reflect on the nature of needles and haystacks, and things that are either lost, or thought to be.  I seem to have misplaced my self-assurance.  It isn't that I can't give up sleeping, (I've already done away with housework, social interaction and basic hygiene), or that I don't know how to pace myself.  It's more a matter of cumulative fatigue.  I have been on this completely unrealistic production schedule for so long that I have no memory of what I used to do with my time before there was a book to write.  I think there may have been something to do with children, but memory simply fails.

However, it seems to me that the more beautiful the needle, the more worthwhile it is to dive into the haystack.  I just have to remember how much I like my designs, and how much I want to share them.  Where theres' a will, there's a way, no?

Birds Of A Feather

Last Thursday, the TKGA Knit and Crochet show rolled into town, and I was there to greet it.

Anybody know where I could get some YARN around here?  Of course, there was Full-Contact Shopping:

Schmoozing with the Knitteratti:

This is the lovely and talented Joan McGowan Michael, whose Ruby sweater is next in line for me to knit, as soon as I'm allowed to work on anything that isn't for the book...I have fond hopes of wearing Ruby with my kilt for Christmas.  Anybody wanna KAL?

Here's my new pal Carson, who is also working on the Master Knitter Program, and is at roughly the same point as I am.  Carson is on temporary Master Knitter sabbatical so he can write his book (I won't spoil the surprise, but you will LOVE it, and the knitters of the world need it BADLY).  Check back here for updates until his website is up.

Lindsay and I were in a fashion show, I acquired lite-up needles, and there was hardly any bloodshed (unless you count Continental Knitting, which I do not).

I took classes with Joyce Renee Wyatt, Melissa Leapman, Nancie Wiseman, Arenda Holladay, Janet Szabo, Candace Eisner-Strick, and Annie Modesitt.  Whew!  I am way smarter now, although I don't look any different.

I have never had so much fun, and I can't wait to do it again.
 

Same Thing We Do Every Day: Try to Take Over the World

Here's a snapshot for the memory books:  What it looks like when I write knitting patterns.

[sorry - original photo lost; use your imagination]

Here are the tools of the trade:  Calendar to let me know what project I'm supposed to be working on, if I were on schedule (which I usually am not), trusty Moleskine notebook with grid pages for schematic drawing and construction notes I take as I knit things, little box of tapestry needles and stitch markers, leftover yarn, and 11 ball bands from the sweater I just finished.  Don't ask me why, but saving the ball bands as I knit is the only way I can keep track of exactly how much yarn I use.  Why not just write it down?  No idea why, but I always forget and loose track.  At this stage, the sweater I am writing the pattern for is already complete, and has been photographed for my editor, in case she wants to know what I'm up to.  Absent from this shot is a schematic cross-section of the sweater in three sizes, with stitch counts...it fell on the floor.

If you squint really hard, you can see on the calendar that tomorrow through Sunday are devoted to the TKGA classes, show and sale.  I have been looking forward to this for a long time:  4 solid days of knitting and knitters, partying like Shriners!  I hope I will be able to clear my head enough to absorb the instruction.  I am trying not to feel desperate about the time it will take away from book-writing.  After all, all work and no play, blah blah blah.

Can't wait to see what there is to see and meet who there is to meet!