No Sheep and friends

It's really cool, this life I have somehow managed to wrap around myself. I like it very much and wish to keep it.

Case in point: Wednesday nights are always fun because of the Lettuce Knit s&b. Not having to get up early on Thursdays means I now am a regular attendee, and I get recharged from hanging with the crazy people [regulars and noobs] that show up there. In the midst of the final production push for the winter '06 issue of Knitty, rather than slitting my throat, I went to LK on a Wednesday night, got work done, laughed myself silly, and felt more human afterwards. Excellent therapy.

This week, I got the first real copy of No Sheep For You, and I wanted to share it with the folks at LK. It felt so almost-weird to watch the copy get passed around the room. People paged through it, smiled at some pages, were stunned by others [Jenna's Morrigan sweater, for example. You'll see why when you see the book]. Tuscany got good buzz.

People filled the little store. Jen from Winnipeg [hi, Jen!] -- a reader of Knitty since issue 1, who had a great "how i learned to knit" story. A really nice woman who I hope will forgive me for forgetting her name, who visited us from Montreal. She's a recent arrival from France, is a great designer, and I'm sure I'll know her name soon enough, because I tried seriously to get her to submit something to Knitty. You'll love her work.

David came, which is always a treat. And this time, he came bearing gifts! I don't know why I was so lucky, but I now have this delicious assortment of fruity soaps, thanks to David. The marmalade [the orangy block], the lemon [yellow with poppy seeds] and coconut [the one with the heart] are especially yummy. I keep smelling them.


Aleta walked in, and I nearly dropped the Americo wrap in a rush to hug her. Aleta is a rare species during the school year, and it was damn nice to see her again, even if only for a while. Also, I like her friend Scott [also a knitter] very much, even if he has issues about his hat. [I''m sorry, Scott, but it's a Tilley. It is automatically uncool, unless it's a Tilley Hemingway wore or something. Go vintage.]

Rachel H, the blogless one, came in mid-evening, and she held out a small rectangular box to me. Having been at Stephanie's LK party and witnessing the giving of the coffee-tree-wood coffee scoop, I got very excited very quickly. Rachel had made something...for me? No way. But there was the box! So I opened it...and look:




Not only is it a beautiful pen. Not only is it handmade by Rachel H, just for me. Not only did she finish the wood to [her words] Norm Hall standards of smoothness and silkiness.

But the wood? It's COTTONwood, people. To celebrate the No Sheep For You booky thing.

I've spent the last 2 days trying to knit up a little pouch worthy of this pen, and have failed miserably. I'll keep trying. I think I'll do better once I find the stupid clover icord knitting tool thingy i KNOW is somewhere in this house.

Rachel H is one of those special people you wish you could have around you all the time. She radiates good vibes and is infinitely huggable. Thank you, Rachel. You are amazing.

Also infinitely huggable is miss Jen, who was in attendance, talking abstractly about fartiness, yet smelling like a daisy. Michelle showed us all her gorgeous brand-new engagement ring [a square diamond. be still my heart] and her huge smile, glowing right to the tips of her ears. So nice to see her so happy.

Lots more delightful regulars were there, but I'm out of bloggy steam. Anyway, guys -- thank you all so much for a lovely reception for the book. I'll be throwing a proper launch party later on in spring [with Megan's kind permission, of course], when it's warm enough for us all to spill over the LK steps and onto the front patio again.