i'm going mental, i must say.

but it's a good kind of mental. the knitty-production kind which means never leaving my office [my house] for more than a short break and dreaming in pixels and stitches per inch.

it's all for good reason but i figured you wondered where i'd gone and didn't want you sending out the troops just yet. okay, maybe send one troop, skilled in multiple massage disciplines [thai, swedish, maybe a little shiatsu on the side] and beverage making. and housecleaning. and laundry. and litterbox changing.

i extra-special hope you'll love this issue. you'll see why when we go live. and that's all i'm saying.

Wanna get your mitts on some yarn?

There's no better way than to attend one of our Knitty Yarn Roundtable Nights! I've just announced the next cycle of openings -- September, October and November. You can RSVP for one of the events in the cycle...this is the fairest way to give everyone a chance to play. Instructions on how to RSVP are on the Yarn Roundtable blog.

Did you know:
- Everyone gets to knit all 5 yarns at each event
- Many of these yarns will be new to you, some will be old friends
- The Purple Purl -- our hosts -- makes great coffee, tea and has amazing baked goods.
- Everyone goes home with a little something...and sometimes a big something. There are always door prizes at Knitty events, you know!
- It doesn't matter where you live; if you can get to Toronto for the event, we would love to have you! We've had guests from all over the US and Canada!

Wanna see the results of previous Yarn Roundtable nights? Peek here and here!

Notes from an audiobook addict

If you've been reading this blog for a long while, you'll know I'm a huge fan of audiobooks. I spend so much time using my eyes [on the computer, for knitting, beading, etc] that when it comes to focusing on print on a page, I don't last very long, which is frustrating. Plus there's nothing better than being read to, imo, especially by a good reader. I love that.

So I figured it's about time I shared my favorite audiobooks with you. Not all at once. :-) Let's do it a book or series a week, okay?

Unsurprisingly, I'll start with my favorite, one of the most unique audiobook series I've ever come across: His Dark Materials series written by Philip Pullman.

In the audiobook version, Pullman narrates along with a cast of character voices that make the story come to life. Pullman may not be the most brilliant writer of our time, but he is a brilliant storyteller, and when you listen to his trilogy told as he [likely] imagined it as he wrote it, there can be nothing better. Be sure, if you're going to get these books, that you choose the UNABRIDGED versions, narrated by Philip Pullman and the Full Cast. There are other versions available and I wouldn't want you to miss the whole experience.

The first book, The Golden Compass, was recently turned into a major motion picture staring [sigh] Daniel Craig and a whole bunch of other people, but mostly Daniel Craig. The second, The Subtle Knife, will likely never be made into a movie and the third, The Amber Spyglass, I highly doubt. There's a strong anti-church theme to the books that grows with each volume. If this upsets you, please don't choose these books. You won't like them.

I don't necessarily share all of Pullman's views, but I found all three books fascinating, captivating and hugely entertaining. In fact, I'm re-listening to them now and am nearly at the end of the final book. Pullman is stunningly innovative and I love the fine details of the alternate worlds he creates and especially the two main characters [you won't meet one of them till book 2, so I won't give away anything here. I hate spoilers.] and the armoured bears. Our world could use armoured bears, if you ask me.

If you click here, you'll be taken to a page on Audible.com that offers you a free audiobook download -- that you get to keep -- with a trial no-obligation 14-day subscription. I'm all about the free stuff, and I've enjoyed being a customer of Audible, so I don't feel weird about passing the information on to you.

I'll have another book for you next week.

where we wuz this weekend...

god, i love this lake.
Originally uploaded by amysinger

here. right here in Milford, Pa, at the tippy top of the state.

i didn't get more than my feet in the water [it was a wedding weekend, not so much with the swimming] and just looking at this picture makes ache to be up to my neck in the lake. sigh.

the wedding [a renewal of vows, actually] was really beautiful and i loved seeing my family and getting to meet my new cousin, who is my new BFF.

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i loved reading about your weekends! you guys were busy!

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in other news:

- my teevee boyfriend got married this weekend. [p.s. that link is a bit rude -- it's to dlisted, but it's also funny]

- as I picked up Boeing to put her in the carrier to take her to the bunnyspa [vet's] for boarding, I noticed something horrible on her chest that wasn't there three days earlier. Boeing suddenly has an abscess and I got pretty angry at myself once I figured out how she got it -- a chew toy had been chewed to a shart point and she actually punctured her skin with the damned thing. she's already had a first shot of pen. g and is improving, but we'll continue to be worried about her until she's healed. if it weren't for the small hole filled with goo on her chest, you'd never know she had the thing -- knock wood, she's acting totally normally, which is good.

yup, really angry at myself. chewtoy put aside [out of bun reach] to show doc in case he needs to see it. sigh.

what's shaking this weekend?

squeezle wants to know what you're doing this weekend!

looking as cool as a Fisher & Paykel

My office has recently had a makeover. Wanna see?



What, it doesn't look so different from the last time, except significantly messier? Well, you're not paying attention, then.



Every good office should have a ukulele. [and a Pee-Wee bobblehead and a set of 3 Serenity action figures including Captain Tightpants in said pants and Jayne with a bigass gun].

But wait -- here's the best thing. Did I buy this $14.95 custom-designed hanger to get my uke out of oops-i-just-sat-on-my-uke range?



No. I went to Rona and bought this, except smaller and in grey:


For 80 cents. What the hell costs 80 cents anymore? Not even a pack of gum. I feel quite clever.

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Also! The Knitty Calendar Contest ends tomorrow night at midnight! Have you sent in your entry yet? You know you want to.

Let me be your boogaloo!

The 1980s wasn't all about Duran Duran. I just think you should know.

I was searching for chords for Jane Siberry songs and ran across this. This is one of my favorite Siberry songs. Jane is so young in this video, and so adorable. I guess I was young and adorable too when I watched it the first time.



[If this gets your musical juices going, find more at Jane's site --Sheeba.]

knitting! really! actual knitting!

a little yarn pr0n to get you in the Saturday knitting mood. last time you saw this yarn, it looked like this. i am so deeply in love with this yarn. as are all the people who've been lucky enough to touch it. there is always a little soft moaning accompanied by noticeably dilated pupils. :-)

i'm knitting Sonnet, but with lace instead of garter and moss stitch. it's a sexy, slippery silk. the finished fabric will, without question, stretch. why am i going on?

i have decided to keep knitting in an act of blind-but-with-a-little-experience-faith. i have mentally upsized my gauge from the actual 4.5sts/in to 4 sts/in, in order to accommodate the fabric growth that we all know will happen. i reduced the needle size so that the fabric is tightly constructed [yet still drapey and lovely] before it gets a chance to grow when worn.

it all sounds like a crapshoot, yes? but it's fast knitting, so i'm not dedicating months of my life to a potential future frogfest.



i'm already at the first armhole, and the fabric is gorgeous. sizewise, i think it will be fine, especially since the lace feels infinitely flexible. in No Sheep, i wrote about how to test your geeky thing before you start knitting to get a good idea of what might happen to the finished fabric. no, i haven't done any of those things. because i'm quite sure that this sweater will either work or it won't, and i just won't know until the body is done. this huge mass of gorgeousness in 2-ply hand dyed silk will do whatever the hell it wants to, and until i've shaped it into a sweater body, no amount of swatching, pre-washing and blocking in advance will predict the result.

and i'm okay with that.

It's very freaky, Bowie.

It really happened. Baseballic proof above. Below, video proof. The first clip is hysterical -- they drove me out on the field in a van! If you listen, you can hear the announcer saying something about "Amy Singer, editor of Knitty..." and then a whole bunch of stuff I can't make out.

Surreal? You can't even imagine. If there weren't pictures, I'd swear it didn't happen.

[For the full photo thread, click the baseball pic above. I captioned them, even.]





Yes, I threw it respectably well enough. The ball made it all the way to the mascot's catcher's mitt, no troubles. But my favorite thing was the huge cheers I got from the knitters in the 200 section. The roar was clearly coming from my people and there were a LOT of them. 900+ tickets sold. You guys make me proud to be a Toronto girl.

Oh, I hear there was knitting afterwards. I tried to knit two rows, frogged both, and spent the rest of the game chatting with friends and, at the end, finally watching the field. We won, and it was a great win -- last hit of the last inning kind of thing. Love baseball when it's good.

brunettes, not fighter jets!

In honor of this, and with much trepidation and also the strapping on of some very large balls, I present my online ukulele debut.

Groupies may apply to peoplewithverylowstandards@knitty.com



This song is not in my key vocally [I'm sort of high-alto], but I could play all the chords, so I left it as it was. And the reason I decided to put the video up despite all common sense is that I'm quite proud of my uke playing after just over a week of practise. The singing-along is a necessary evil.

All other knitter/ukulele players, raise your hands! Bring your ukes to stitch nights! Amuse your fellow knitters, and have everyone sing along! I'll be bringing mine to Rhinebeck and encourage all of you who are coming to do the same!

Seriously, though. I just sang for you on teh interwebs. If you're in Toronto tomorrow night, you'd better come out and represent for the knitters when I throw out the first pitch. No coming in late. I will likely never be on the pitcher's mound in a huge stadium again in my lifetime. You don't want to miss that, do you?

say hello to my leeeetle friend.

:-)

Wow.

Have you seen this yet? What a beautiful magazine.

I'm not a large water-dwelling mammal who's moved to the metropolis and learned how to breakdance.

A little music to get you in the weekend [long-weekend in Canada] mood, courtesy the WIUO.