i had a DAY.

And though I've had a lot of fun in my life, I've had surprisingly few DAYS*. At least in recent memory. You know the day with the friend you can laugh with so easily, time passes and you don't even need the espresso you were sure you'd have to chug just to stay awake? One of those days.


That's Tanya. Yes, I know. That's just the back of her head. I cannot explain it. Tanya is so freaking gorgeous, I'm scared to introduce her to my husband, yet she is without question the least photogenic person I've ever met. This is as close to capturing her on film as I may ever come.

Anyway, yesterday was about laughter, buying stuff we didn't know existed until we happened upon it, starting a fan club for our waitress at the Last Temptation [she may be joining us at LK one of these weeks], drinking white sangria, eating dead squid bits and avoiding a trip to the hospital over a possible instant allergic reaction to alpaca [not mine -- hers!]. There were also stories exchanged with Aleta about former boyfriends and vests. A damned fine day.

*When your BFF lives 5 hours away, your spontaneous days of riotous fun together are pretty rare.

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Where's Knitty? It ain't September yet. Soon, my pets. Soon enough. :-)

More about the cool Calgary thang

Got the date wrong earlier...it's the weekend of November 10th -- and details are in the Make 1 Yarns Newsletter (in PDF format).

Hope to see lots of you Albertans there! I've never been to Calgary...I'm so psyched!

what i've been doooooing

Okay, who's gonna guess what this is going to become? Hints in the previous post. Except I've gone a little Bliss with this version because, as Jillian reminds me, garter stitch ain't the friend of the Big Girl. Where's the i-cord edging? It was pulling the fabric inwards too much, making the piece too small, but i DID do the recommended swatch and think it's a kickass technique. Just not in thick/thin cotton yarn.


The yarn, btw, is Araucania Nature Cotton in periwinkle, a color my camera refuses to photograph as anything but blue. So a little photoshop has been used to get in the right ballpark. [I probably set something in Italy when i was reading the manual all the time and now i have to figure out how to set it back!]

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News! Going to Rhinebeck? Jillian and I are going to be hanging with the cool Morehouse Merino people at their store from 6-8pm on Saturday night. Come see us! Fondle the merino on my behalf!

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More news: Are you in Calgary or vicinity? Are you a Big Girl knitter? Get ready for the event of the century the weekend of November 10th. Details to come. You will plotz, I'm telling you.

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Okay, enough with the news. I've got work to do and a full cup of espresso + milk at my side, so I'm gonna go do it!

Immersing myself in EZ

It started with a last little bit of writing for No Sheep this week. Elizabeth Zimmermann came to me in a rare lucid moment as the perfect solution for the prose-based challenge at hand. That made me pull out my very small EZ collection. I read Knitting Without Tears and Knitter's Almanac the first two nights. Wednesday, I bought The Opinionated Knitter at the LK s&b and devoured that. Today, Knitting Around.

Does everyone who knits now know just how much they owe to EZ? She pretty much reinvented our craft and turned generations of blind followers into knitwear designers.

Damn, I wish I could have met her.

lacewings est fini!

My model: the beautiful Tamarah.



I just love what blocking does for this baby.

I am also stunned that I am someone that loves what blocking does for the lace shawl I just knit. How did that happen?

[for those who missed it, this pattern is available only at Lettuce Knit. Yes, they will do mail order. Call them.

p.s. BGK2 seasilk is back off the needles. It was sucking big black holes of not-good-enough and I have to try again. Again.

did you guys light a candle or something?

i slept on it. i woke up and wrote a good chunk of the No Sheep introduction, sent e-mails, caught up on stuff, took some photographs, wound a skein of seasilk...and found the exact right stitch pattern within 5 minutes of sitting down to do just that.

i'll be doing this baby for about another 89.9 inches, but as it's seasilk and simple lace, i think we can surmise that i'll enjoy the process. it also means i can turn off the designing part of my brain which is creaky and a bit cantankerous and get back to writing and making some Knitty.

did you know there are two rabbits living in my house? how the hell did they get in here? we're going to have to plug up the holes or we'll have a houseful of adorable forest creatures to feed.

I'm going to be a lot of places very soon

Not simultaneously, though.

I'll be updating the schedule page soon, but until then, here's a little more on the NYC events at The Point NYC. They'll be announcing details shortly, so keep an eye on this page.

Lots to do. Back to work!

catchup

you might be wondering:
1. how was Snakes? it was hysterical. i think the people at other showings got even more into the spirit of what i'd expected [yelling, throwing rubber snakes, rocky horroring it, basically], but still - full of gore, gratuitous snake bite locations and an amazing scene near the end which i can't even hint at because it would ruin it. it's got to do with the big dude in the orange shirt. and, of course, the LINE. also, watching Jen knit a sock through the entire thing.

2. lacewings is gorgeous. finished pictures to come. mayhap i can bug someone at LK on wednesday to oblige. i also managed to get a few necessary photos for No Sheep as I was blocking it.

3. work? i seem to have taken the weekend off. don't tell my editor.

i am also in design hell. i can imagine that many designers can pull a stitch pattern out of the sky when they need it and it's perfect. me, however -- i'm the one that's swatched about 12 patterns, and none of them are working for the piece i need to design for BGK2. don't tell jillian.

seriously, i have pulled every single stitch book out off my shelves, gone through them all page by page, and none are right. once again, i have to put it aside until i can see more clearly.

i am in restless, not sure where i'm supposed to be mode. hoping it will pass soon. i have stuff to do.

aleta says BLOCK THE CRAP OUT OF IT

and I comply.

just to show how much MORE lacewings you get after blocking, this should serve as a public service announcement: block your lace!

also, don't lecture. this is an interim pic. i use WAY more pins than this. i do have to block in half like this, because my blocking board is small, but the bonus is that both sides always match.

will it be dry in time for SNAKES????

how NOT to finish a lace shawl

1. bring 99.9% complete seasilk lacewings shawl to LK snb.
2. drink nothing but jasmine and honey-laced green tea [iced].
3. giggle a lot.
4. knit to the end of the shawl and then start to bind off.
5. giggle and lose focus.
6. reach to tug the strand i'm binding off with only to realize it's come off the needle and i'm now undoing my bind off...and my lifeline-less lace...like a zipper
7. scream.
8. frantically grab all the stitches i can find on the needle in any order, just to get them.
9. pout.
10. go home, turn on rockstar: supernova on the tivo and commence the thing that must be done if i have any hope of sleeping [rip back 2 rows, plip the last row, stitch by stitch, until everything's safely back on the needles]
11. for good measure, knit one row to be sure it still looks like lace

binding off for real will commence this afternoon. this cautionary tale is brought to you by the "save the binding off of lace for when you're alone and can concentrate" society of upper canada.

p.s. just ripped back what i knit last night. things are not progressing to plan. hrm.

calling all GTA knitoids

This Friday, we will follow Queen Denny of the serpents to a showing of THE FILM.

Denny was not actually present at the time these plans were made, but her loyal subjects feel certain that she will make herself available for this event. This Friday night...we're still waiting for showtimes to be announced. Denny, speak and let your minions know when we should assemble at the Alliance theater in the Beach! [Other more central locations were discussed and dismissed due to serious deliquent potential for annoyance and knitting disruption.]

The group requests we all bring knitting and headlamps if available. All are welcome to join us, spouses included, once Denny has made her proclamation and we know which showing we're actually going to.

Okay, the 7:30 show tomorrow night? If we're all agreed, I'd recommend we get our tickets in advance (they'll sell them early), meet at the pub across the street [it's called Murphy's Law] at, say 6pm, have a pint and a nibble, maybe, and then go over together. Everyone in?

I've got snakes!!! [for the love of pete and anyone like pete, click the link.]

Things! Whee!

Now that No Sheep for You! [seriously, knock wood, they're keeping the title...which is just the latest reason I love Interweave as much as it is possible for a writer to love a publisher] is not the only thing I'm allowed to think about, lots of other things are floating around my head. Let me list them here, shall i?

Stuff to knit:
- must design lace seasilk yum for BGK2
- crapabble blossom linen bubbly curtain for either my office or the side door of the house
- finish lacewings shawl [possibly tonight at LK, I'm THAT close]
- finish hemp towel, which may require the purchase of another ball of hemp. is a $26 hand towel excessive? it will certainly be an only child.
- start to knit my Suss sweater from Suss Twisted [probably for use in BGK2 -- you'll have to wait and see how]

Fun stuff to think about:
- tonight at LK
- accommodations for Rhinebeck
- being at Rhinebeck
- buying spindles at Rhinebeck
- my 3-day crazy The Point extravaganza, which culminates in the NYC Knit Out. [deets to come]
- did I mention Rhinebeck?

Things I want to do in the next month:
- sell/swap a spindle or two [really nice ones. keep your eyes peeled]
- re-learn how to spin on my wheel
- really learn how to ply so i don't forget again
- re-involve walking in my life, now that i'm not tied to a computer [even if only mentally]

I also have an issue of Knitty to get out. But now, it's time to get ready for mayhem in Kensington market. If you haven't been, and you're anywhere near, you must come. I bet it's really nice and cozy in winter, but nothing will beat these cool nights in summer, on LK's front patio with knitting and laughter and maybe a beverage or two.

i dood it.

With the help of my trusty 2-shot Bialetti [bought in Pienza], lately filled with Motta Oro, which I actually prefer to the excellent but insanely expensive Illy...

[and yes, that's a 4-shot pot in the background. That one belongs to hub. His capacity for caffeine consumption inspires awe.]










...and this sentiment [i bought two signs at Bagno Vignoni - this one, which is on the door to the bedroom, and one that reads "studio", which is now attached to my tiny office]...














and a lot of swatches, I seem to have written a book. I sent it to my editor just moments ago, and though there is still lots of work to do*, the biggest part is done.

*Introductions to write, illustrations to direct, galleys to proof.

But mostly, today there is dancing in my house. Happy happy happy.

Meet chapter 2.

Stephanie had a suggestion for what to put in the still half-empty chapter 2 of No Sheep: a really nice photo of the lacewings shawl, with the caption "Silk good."

Stephanie is smart.

As you can see, knitting continues. Writing was on hold this morning while my beloved editor was checking into something for me. Looks like I can continue.

Meanwhile, last night at Lettuce Knit was a freaking blast. We had a massive hoot, got to see Emma's formerly sweater-for-two sized down to fit just her [there was appropriate cheering], and talked and laughed until it was time to go home.

I never had the energy to do anything after work when I had the day job. It kinda sucked the life out of me. Getting to hang out with these crazy people once a week is a real privilege.

Also, I bought two skeins of Louet linen in crabapple blossom for the Mason-Dixon bubbly curtain. I will, however, not be casting on for it until the seasilk shawl is done. Something tells me the curtain would be kickass Rhinebeck-road-trip knitting. If I can wait that long.

pro. gress.

of course, with a week till the book is due to Interweave, i'd better be making progress, eh? eh?

sorry. i'm punchy. i have found, however, that i like how i write when i'm punchy.

meanwhile, emma's going to be at LK tomorrow night, and emma almost never is there. so that means i need to go. seasilk will be coming with me. and maybe the latest sample bag i'm testing that may make grown knitters weep.

going to knit the seasilk now. it makes me feel better.

more attempts at lace-based sanity

You might remember this skein of Seasilk in glacier. It's been staring at me a long time.


Yesterday, I cast on for a Lace Wings shawl [scroll down] -- pattern available only at Lettuce Knit. I made a few changes to the pattern to suit my taste [I added a central rib so I could use YOs instead of KFBs to increase] but otherwise, am happily knitting along on a pattern of someone else's design. It makes me feel even better than the hemp towel does. Sorry, hemp. You're on hold for now.

Seasilk all the time for me, baby.

[I wrote a lot of words this weekend, and yet am not nearly done. If I think about this too much, my brain will make a boomy sound. Instead, I knit seasilk.]

denny gave me the clap.

and i'm a lucky so and so, aren't i? sorry the pictures don't show off its full radiance and HUGEness, because this mama is a big one. but this is what happens when you must be your own photog.

it's made from Crystal Palace choo choo ribbon and it's all soft and fuzzy and warm. it's the patented garter-stitch clapotis that denny has made famous among our people. i am really looking forward to wearing it, because that will mean the world has cooled down a little. also, it's like a big hug from denny all the time, except without the screaming in your ear.

why did denny do this for me? just because she's nice. thank you, denny.

sanity, thy name is hand towel

when faced with a looming deadline [14 days!], what is a knitter to do? a little mason-dixon heresy. their hand towel...but in hemp!

it's all research for the book, really. [cough cough] it's not just a happy pattern that, even in my current frantic state, i can memorize and knit without looking at the book. it's a little fabric tranquilizer.

how the HELL did i ever have a day job?

just asking.

sitting at my satellite office [that'd be one of the 3 *$ in the beach], writing more words for No Sheep. so many words need to be written!

also, it's so hot outside it has ceased to be canada. we now live in some kind of pre-apocalyptic northern global warming zone. really quite scary.

despite horrific weather, all sorts of good stuff happened in the last week, and some of it involves travel. i'll be updating the events page at my other site once the manuscript is out of my hands. that site needs an update, too, but no time just yet.

HOW did i ever have a day job?

back to the baa-free zone.