do you Tweet?

Knitty does.

Twitter is one of those weird web things that you don't see a use for until you stalk it for a while. Some people use it for fan contact, like the fabulous Greg Grunberg [@greggrunberg] from Heroes and just about everything JJ Abrams has ever done. @woot is where you'll find Woot.com's deal of the day as soon as it's released. Other famous tweeters include John Cleese and John Hodgman and Leo Laporte and even Dooce.

You know the Facebook status line by your profile pic? It's kind of like that, but is meant to be changed any time you feel like it or think of something you want to share.

And now @knittydotcom exists to send you fast-breaking Knitty and knitting-related news as it happens. :-) Okay, it's much less serious than that. It's just for fun, though there may be a time when I'll send out something you'll want to know about right away.

You can follow someone's tweets [that's what the individual posts are called] without tweeting yourself, if you're shy. Or you can join in the fun. There are lots of built-in browser utilities that send you tweets as they happen, as well as programs like TwitterBerry [for Blackberry] and multiple options for the iPhone, too. These utilities also let you send your own tweets so those who follow you can see what you're up to.

If you've already got a Twitter account, just add @knittydotcom to the accounts you already follow. If you're new, just sign up for a free account and tell your friends! Let's start a Knitty.com Twitter army!

Broccowli!

Mama needs a test knitter before the pattern can be let loose on the world.

Interested? Write me at knittymagazine AT gmail and all that rot.
Eta: man , you guys are fast! I'm all set. Thanks, all!
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Meanwhile, the pic at right [of the fabulous Debra, glowing with luv] shows pretty much the typical fruits of my labors since we chatted last. I've been knitting cowls of all description, happily ensconced on the couch, with a blanket over my lap and a box of kleenex close at hand.

Yup, I -- like every other person I know, including my husband -- got a cold. Mine hit just after the issue came out, and just when I thought it was going away, I got hit with more of the same but worse. It's not the flu, but it's buggery annoying, that's for sure. It's meant 2+ weeks of nose blowing, hand washing and general sloth, and it's not done yet. I suppose there's no better time for this to happen than the holiday season, when the business world is pretty much shut down, but it sucks anyway. At least I didn't have a trip that I'd have to cancel because I was sick.

And yes, I got a LOT of knitting done. Lots of gifts, most of which I can't show here yet because -- having been sick -- I haven't been to the post office yet to get them to their intended giftees.

So getting back to work is a little harder than I anticipated. I figured I'd ease into things by getting the new pattern ready for test knitting, and lots of I-can't-share Knitty work.

And more knitting. And finishing the dining room curtains which have just been a pile of [really pretty] raw fabric for at least a year. New year, new curtains. Sounds good to me.

no ways.

Yup. Neil Gaiman got a box of his own -- as he should!, though it's not one of the airquotes official Coraline boxes, he reports. It is supercool, though. If you're one of my new converts* or an old-time Gaiman fan, you've got to go read the post and see what he got!

My favorite line in the post above?
"I think my favourite of the boxes is http://www.knitty.com/blog/2008/12/my-coraline-box.html but it's a close thing."

Dudes. That's my blog Mr G has linked to, and my box he's talking about! [Megathanks to Elithea for pointing this out to me.] I am just stunned that he's been by here...and I didn't even have time to tidy up!

In any case, welcome to anyone stopping by from Mr G's blog. Not sure all the content here may be to your taste, but who knows? Maybe you'll feel right at home. Can I teach you to knit?

*I've heard from at least three people in the last week that I've turned into Coraline-obsessed Gaiman fans with all these recent blog posts. There are uncountable numbers of us already and there's infinite room for more. Join us.

A little skin for a good cause

Okay. So about a month ago [really, just a month ago], as I was getting ready to go to the airport and fly to Calgary to teach at the Make One retreat, a group of women came over to my house, stripped my living room [and me] bare, redecorated us both and had a little photoshoot.

Uh-whuh?? Yup. The genius women behind The Purple Purl, spearheaded by the insane fearless Miko [that's her in her redheaded glory on the right over there], decided at the 11th hour to do a naked knitter calendar to benefit an important charity. Yours truly was drafted to be Miss March.

The rest of the calendar is truly beautiful. [I'll let you decide for yourself what you think of my page, but I'll tell you that it's a rare picture of myself that I like, and I really like this one.] It's full of knitters of all ages and both genders. The mom of our Tushy Cushy model is featured in all her natural glory while wee Morgana was still tucked safely inside -- she was born a week later.

There is gorgeous knitting on every page -- though my page is more about yarn pr0n than finished objects -- and it's an absolutely beautiful and tasteful representation of our craft.

As the cover pic [above] and the little peek at my page [left] shows, none of our private bits show in this calendar. Carefully placed yarn and knitting did wonders for helping to maintain a minimum level of modesty.

Wanna see my pic bigger? BUY A CALENDAR! :-)

P.S. 90% of the yarn in this photo came from my stash. erp.

You have to have one of these calendars, don't you? Of course you do! Here are the details:

The Purple Purl is looking to raise a whole lot of funds for the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation -- Canada’s leading cancer research hospital. The calendars cost $20 Cdn each.

Thanks to generous donations from partners in the yarn world as well as the time, energy and expertise of the models, photographers and helpers means that 100% of the proceeds are going to the Foundation. Your $20 purchase of each calendar will go directly to the Foundation. We think that's kickass.

Are you in or near Toronto?
Get your copy at The Purple Purl - 1162 Queen Street E @ Jones. 416-463-1162.

Can't get to Toronto?
They're very glad to take phone or e-mail orders!

Within Canada: $20 Cdn plus $5.50 Shipping & Handling
In the US: $20 Cdn plus $9.50 Shipping & Handling

Phone: 416-463-1162
E-mail: thepurplepurl@gmail.com

The shop closes xmas eve and stays closed till New Year's day,
so if you'd like one, better take care of it today!

Let's sell out every last copy of the calendar and send a huge $10,000 check to the Foundation on behalf of knitters all over the world!

Neil Gaiman on Hanukkah and Christmas

Thanks to Laura Gayle for the link!

Neil Gaiman writes about his family's Hanukkah/Christmas struggle and the kids' ultimate triumph.

At our house, we never would even think of having a tree. But I was surrounded by non-Jewish friends, so I got my yearnings out of my system by decorating my German friend Monica's tree and spending xmas day with them. Their traditions included drinking Henkel Trocken punch [the addition of frozen strawberries made it punch], listening to the ultimate irony -- Barbara Streisand singing xmas songs -- and general post-holiday sloth. Oh, and Monica's brother's rum balls...Martin could make a mean rum ball!

In my later high school years, I subbed in for a christian friend at her job, one day a year -- xmas, of course. It was at the nicest nursing home in London, Ontario, and all I had to do as receptionist was answer phones and deliver Poinsettia plants to the residents as they trickled in all day. So strange to have the non-residents say, "bless you for giving up your xmas!" to me, over and over, year after year. Everyone said that.

I spent the day doing the job, calling Monica's family to celebrate long-distance, and working my way through the previous year's worth of New Yorker Magazine cartoons, issue by issue. [Heaven.] At the end of my shift, I opened the special desk drawer, removed my pay envelope and went home to my tinsel-free family.

I never wanted not to be Jewish. Like Neil, I just wanted the bling in my house, too.

--> Bling achieved.

WWW for December 17, 2008

Last Wednesday, we were making news of our own with the launch of our winter issue! Now WWW is back with all new news -- the best kind, don't you think?



We were sad to hear that Kim Werker was leaving the position of Editor of Interweave Crochet magazine -- a peek at the current issue's cover shows just how good an editor she is!

But there is exciting news about the woman set to fill Kim's shoes: Marcy Smith has been named Editor of Interweave Crochet magazine.

Smith joins Interweave Crochet from The News & Observer daily newspaper in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she worked for 10 years in several positions, including four years as the Crafts Columnist and most recently as the Literary Editor. Prior to The News & Observer, Smith was a copy editor at The Winston-Salem Journal.

Smith has been a crocheter since age 8 and is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Crochet Projects, Illustrated (Alpha Books, 2007). Plus she's a knitter, spinner, and weaver.

"Five years ago if you had asked me to imagine myself in my dream job, this would be it. I'm thrilled to be joining Interweave Crochet and look forward to building on the magazine's success and continuing to push the boundaries of crochet in new directions."

We're looking forward to getting to know you, Marcy! Welcome!



More crochet? Okay!

Have you ever seen a 16-foot-tall crocheted pencil? Well, thanks to 32-miles of amount of Lion Brand yarn and the crochet skills of Robyn Love and her team, now you can.



Okay, this next one could go either way, knit or crochet!

You've seen Franklin's Panopticon and Amy's Vintage Office.

Well, the newest Color Commentary by Beth, and her fabulous team at Lorna's Laces has just been announced: Roadside Gerry, designed by the effervescent Annie Modesitt to honor her husband.

Visit Annie's blog to read more about the colorway, Gerry himself and Annie's thoughts about color in general.



Gift ideas? We've got you covered:
- Knitty's list of cool stuff for winter -- or visit the Cool Stuff Archives to see all the stuff we've ever written about! [and we only write about the stuff we like, you know]

- The Purl Bee has some great knitter gift suggestions

- The editors at Lime & Violet's Daily Chum have outdone themselves - read their Advent Calendar posts for great gift and pattern ideas!



Feeling a burning need to chart your shnoodle's face or your blog logo? Thanks to Microrevolt, it's as easy as clicking here.



Excited about the upcoming stop-motion animated feature, Coraline, based on the Neil Gaiman book of the same name? If you read this blog regularly, you know I am.

The people behind the Coraline movie have released a whole new playable website, and my favorite page is here. Click on it, upload your own photo, and carefully select a pair of button eyes. Poof: your eyes are buttoned, just like the Other Mother and Other Father.

Like mine? I chose the nerdy bookworm eyes, suitable for those who read Neil Gaiman novels. Yup, that's me.

Oh, that creepy old sewing kit on the page...does it look familiar to you at all?



WWW will be taking a wee holiday and we'll return the first Wednesday in January. See you January 7th!

um, holy crap.

Well, Wednesday was a fun day, eh? We went live after spending months getting the brand new, super-powerful server ready for you all and BOOM, she sploded.

[If you had any idea of the difference between what we had been running on for 6 years and the exponential improvement in hardware, capacity and pipeline with the new server, you'd be as frustrated as we were when it still wasn't enough to handle you all!]

Hub spent yesterday/yesterevening further tweaking the server settings, trying to make sure everyone could get in and by 11pm eastern time last night, we'd solved most of it. The server seems to be running smoothly now, and I find the download super-fast compared to an average day on the old server.

Thanks to 99% of you who understood we were doing our best to get it right! We'll be doing more prep behind the scenes before we go live with the surprise in 2009 and hopefully this won't happen again. But hey -- there are worse things than being so popular no one can get at your site, right?

---

Guess what I'm going to do today? I'm going to a small PJ sewing party with my friend Jen. I'm going to pull out my Featherweight and dig into my stash of quilting fabric and make as many pairs of ridiculous PJ bottoms as I can.

---

I've also got something to show you:

What's the yarn? Dudes. It's silk. From Briar Rose.

But Briar Rose doesn't do silk? They do now! Thanks to gentle persuasion from my friend, Jennie and yours truly, Chris at Briar Rose has finally added silk to her previously all-wool lineup! She gave me a gift of some of this gorgeousness at Rhinebeck and I wouldn't stop browbeating her until she agreed to put it in the shop, because I knew you'd want it too.

What's the pattern? It's a little something I've worked up for y'all. The whole thing will be available shortly, but I thought you might want a peek at the stitch pattern now. It explains why I'm calling the pattern Broccowli.

You may groan, and I wouldn't blame you.

---

Me? I'm going to dig through a bag of fabric. Wheeeeee!

you gots questions? i gots answers.

Thanks to everyone who shared my joy over the Coraline box! I'm still pinching myself...and while we're waiting for the rest of the boxes to turn up, I figured I'd answer the questions from the comments.

Liz: How do you get a job like that? I dunno, but the production company is Laika and here's their careers page. How cool a job would that be?

To everyone who mentioned the secret code [sweaterxxs], it's not really a secret...it's meant to be shared! In case you missed the WWW update last week, here are the rest of the codes for the website:

stopmotion : the Biggest Smallest movie ever made.
buttoneyes : Meet the cast...
moustachio : Bo Henry, art director of Coraline, shows off his remarkable moustache tricks.
armpithair : Every hair in the film was placed there by hand...
puppetlove : Director Henry Selick explains what it must be like for the puppets in the film.

To those who recommended mounting options, thank you! I do want it to be accessible somehow but can't just screw it to the wall. It also needs to be protected against dust if I'm going to leave it open. One other concern is that it was meant to be displayed flat, and hanging it up vertically may put the tools and their little leather straps under too much stress and they may come loose [!]. So I'm thinking about that, too. Maybe a coffee table with built-in display under glass? Hrm.

To everyone who didn't know about the book, I'm thrilled to be the one to share it with you. Jeloca mentioned the audiobook version, read by Mr Gaiman himself, and that's how I read the book -- or rather had it read to me. I bought it at Audible.com [click that link for a free audiobook download if you're not yet a member]. Perfection.

Jeloca: I didn't need a reason to buy a DS or a Wii. You bad, bad enabler, you. :-)

Sharon: Lucky Portland! And yay you for getting to go home again!

Seanna Lee: You beat me. I've never gotten to hear him speak live yet. He's been to Toronto many times, but I didn't learn about the man until long after his last appearance. If he comes back, I'll be there, though.

Dawn: You described it perfectly.

Andrew: I don't think I knew about him when we had our walk. But I do still have "Little, Big" on my wishlist to read some day. :-)

Anonymous: You said it. A brilliant marketing scheme that makes people feel good AND want to see the movie. I hope they give the person who came up with the idea a big raise. Also, a thought...there are 50 of these sent out to active bloggers, but less than 20 have shown up. I wonder if they're sending them out staggered to prolong the excitement?

Obi-Shawn: The customs slip [because I'm in Canada, so they had to get it through customs with proper paperwork] said this was an exact replica of the sewing kit used in the movie. It looks identical to me, and if it's not the one they used, perhaps it was their backup prop in case of disaster. It matters not to me -- it's just as fabulous whether it got used or not.

Kim: You absolutely said it. The internet has been called the spreader of a lot of things, but I think the warm fuzzies that this gift represents is something the media doesn't talk about much. We should do something about that.

Okay, it's late. Night, all.

My Coraline Box

All over the web, boxes have been surfacing, each containing artifacts from the upcoming stop-motion 3D animated feature, Coraline, based on the book by Neil Gaiman. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I adore the man and his work. And his voice. And all that. I'll stop now. Sorry.

Anyway, when I started seeing Coraline boxes appearing on blogs of all sorts, I dreamed of getting one, but didn't imagine I really would. And then this arrived in the Knitty mailbox. Dudes, I cried with the happy when I realized what it was.

There are 50 boxes in total. This is box #8.

click to read the letter

Now that you've seen the images, I have to tell you something: most of the tools are not metal, despite what your eyes tell you. I have seen them from millimetres away, and if I didn't touch them, I'd never believe they weren't metal, machined to look so menacing and evil. I don't know what they are made from -- some sort of modelling material -- but they're very light and perfectly sculpted and painted to create the illusion that they clearly have achieved. This is not CGI...this is all work done by hand. Remember that when you watch the movie next February.

I am so honored to have received such a gift and want to thank the team in Portland, Director Henry Selick and Mr Gaiman for the whole fabulous Coraline experience.

Because this Coraline box is so uniquely configured, I am hoping to find a way to mount it safely to the wall [in the Knitty office, of course]. Because having it sit, closed, on a shelf would just be criminal.

You'll find the full set of images in my Flickr stream, captioned, for those as obsessed as I am.

WWW for December 3, 2008

Lots and lots of jellytots for you today! Let's go!



For those that fondly remember Cider Moon hand-dyed yarn and fiber, unavailable since the two partners went their separate ways, each can now be found at their own shops.

Jacki's been open at Yarnzombie for a while now.

Gail and new partner Laura have just opened their new place at Tuscan Grove.



From Interweave Press: Studios magazine will begin publishing quarterly in 2009. "Studios features creative spaces that are big, small, and in-between," says Editor Cate Coulacos Prato. "Some of the artists that we feature in the magazine have the perfect studio. Others talk about how to make do with what you have... No matter what your interest and regardless of your physical circumstances, you can create a studio, maybe even the studio of your dreams."



More from Interweave Press! Knitty's friend, Kim Werker, has stepped down as editor of Interweave Crochet. Her last task will be to select designs for the spring 2009 issue.

Unrelated news, but under the same category, Kim's pet site, Crochet Me, has just been acquired by Interweave Press. Read more about all the big changes on Kim's blog. Go wish her good things in her new adventures!



A contest from the fine folks at STC! They’ve heard that this is going to be an extra-crafty holiday season and so they've posted a little holiday questionnaire on their blog. On December 12, they’ll randomly choose five responses and send the writer of each one the STC Craft book of his or her choice.



Another annoyingly patronizing article about knitting from the mainstream media. Interestingly, they use a skein of Lorna's new Pearl yarn in Amy's Vintage Office to liven up the page.

[Question: what kind of fleece costs $800? Was that spinner fleeced? My understanding is that they're closer to $100ish, depending on weight and the quality of the wool. Spinners, please feel free to educate me in the comments!]



For those who read last week's WWW, the first item spoke about Coraline the movie, and the amazing, minute sweaters knit for the characters. Little did I know that the producers of the movie would be sending me one of the 50 Coraline mystery boxes they've built, each containing selected artifacts from the movie! Mine just arrived last night, and I'll be revealing the contents on this blog tomorrow. [Toronto knitters, I'll be bringing the box to Lettuce Knit tonight so you can have a peek in person. Sorry, guys -- can't make it after all. But I've got great pictures for you for tomorrow. :-) ]

I have never been so excited to open a package for as long as I can remember.



And that's all for this week! Winter knitty will be out quite soon, so stand by for that. In the meantime, get knitting!

omg omg omg omg omg omg omg

I went to the Knitty mailbox today and found this waiting for me.



Here's a clue about what might be inside:



(for those who know what this is, you will understand the blurriness of these pictures is justifiably attributable to sheer weepy joy. a full post on the contents will follow. i haven't even opened the envelope inside yet. i'm just savoring this, piece by piece.)

Dim Sum With 2 Amys!

Posted with LifeCast

Amy is here! She took me out for a dim sum lunch @ Bright Pearl and we had a blast, and an awful lot of squid and har gow.

She's got a new Blackberry. I've got the new iPhone. And the two of us were uploading photos of each other to just about everything. Facebook, Flickr, our blogs, you name it.

See? I told you I needed the iPhone for important business thingies! [No, really -- more on the businessy stuff for the iPhone after Knitty comes out. I have my priorities straight, really.]

---

Meanwhile, now that Amy's officially living in Toronto, we're not showing our best weather manners. It couldn't decide if it wanted to rain or snow as we picked up a small supply of groceries for her new place this afternoon, so we just got cold and wet.

But it's okay. She's got a fabulous attic apartment [the kind Rhoda had, except without all the beads and most of the furniture] and it's all good.

I'm glad she's here.