Thursday, August 09, 2007

Milestone

Yesterday, I reached an exciting milestone: I Fed-Exed the last garment I had to design and knit for the book. It's been a frantic few weeks of knitting, but to make this an even more satisfying moment, the last sweater I finished was my favorite. I really, really want to make one for myself.

I've already learned a lot during the course of this project, which I summarize for you before turning to the logistical challenge of taking three children, a neat-freak husband and a fluffy bunny to the beach for a week.

What I've Learned Thus Far About Writing A Knitting Book

1. The set of projects in your proposal may bear only a passing resemblance to the projects which actually appear in the book. This is not necessarily a bad thing.

2. Your finished projects may look a hell of a lot different from your mind's-eye view of how they would look. This is not necessarily a bad thing.

3. No matter how early you start or how detailed your plans, things will not be done as quickly as they ought to be.

4. No matter how early you start or how detailed your plans, there will be unfortunate incidents that set you back.

Corrollary to 3 & 4: Everything will take much, much longer than you think it will.

5. For me, at least, sometimes you just need to see the actual garment in person before you can decide if it looks right, and, if not, what needs to be fixed.

6. Having a tick-borne disease, the primary symptoms of which are fatigue and sore joints, is a cruel cosmic joke when you are trying to write a knitting-design book.

7. A good editor is worth her weight in cashmere.

8. A good test knitter is worth her weight in qiviut.

9. When Ann Budd emails you to say "that sweater is really lovely", it helps to put on a pair of Depends because (a) you're talking to Ann Budd and (b) getting a compliment from her makes you want to pee your pants.

21 comments:

Rosane said...

Congratulations on the book, Carol. I can't wait to see it. Also, congratulations on getting a compliment from Ann Budd.

Rosane.
P.S.: I don't believe I've ever congratulated someone for having received a compliment before. ;)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! It must feel wonderful to have it done and sent off. It sounds very exciting to me!

Carol said...

You must be so happy to have completed it AND gotten big-time compliments. Congrats!

Anonymous said...

Sounds an awful lot like writing a knitting book bears a strong resemblence to home renovation.

Congratulations -- I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product(s).

Bridget said...

I can't wait for the book, and even though I'm jealous, I'm glad you were the one who got a compliment from Ann Budd. I'm sure it was sincere, and well-deserved.

Carol said...

Well... I didn't reveal the rest of what she said, which is "It's a lovely sweater but your work isn't as nice as Bridget Clancy's."

Anonymous said...

Your book is already a "must-have" for my knitting book collection. Do you have a title? (Apologies if I missed a mention in your blog.) Do you have a tentative publication date?

Anonymous said...

Oh, sweetness, you know right well you're downplaying how smoothly you do so many things.
Because if you acknowledged how good you are, it would seem egocentric and not gracious.

Felicitations!

Anonymous said...

You go woman! This is terrific--you should be incredibly proud. We long-time readers certainly are!

This is a must have and I hope it is available soon. Congratulations, you are a terrific knitter, terrific writer and seem like a hell-of a nice person to boot. I can not think of someone else more worthy of having a book deal.....


Cynthia

Anonymous said...

did writing this book remind you of giving birth to the twins?

go have a stiff drink or two in honor of finishing!

now you can come to knitting group again - yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

(gigglesnort)

Anonymous said...

yeah, me again.

what does a fluffy bunny do at the beach? just curious...

you deserve a rest; how about this - YOU and fluffy bunny go to one beach; neat-freak husband and kids go to a totally different beach. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Anonymous said...

Congrats! It's those relatively smaller things like compliments, kicks in the ass, etc. that bring a creative process to it's end...just in time for it's new beginning as it's intended purpose...grasshopper.

Looking forward to seeing it!

Now, if you could just organize yourself and get that countdown clock to move faster...

Carol said...

Congratulations!!! Now you can take off your Depends & relax. Have a great time at the beach!

Big Alice said...

Congratulations! Can't wait to see the book.

"Corrollary to 3 & 4: Everything will take much, much longer than you think it will." - oh this is so, so true.

Ann said...

Hurray! I'm very impressed by the Ann Budd compliment!! However I'm distracted by the haunting thought of a fluffy, sandy, sun-screen-sticky bunny sitting on the beach ...

Anonymous said...

Congrats, that's so exciting! I can't wait to see it.

M-H said...

Well done. That's a real achivement.

Liz K. said...

Sigh. Phew! You did it! You could not have more perfect timing for your vacation.

See you when you get back.

xo

Carol said...

Fantastic! Finishing and a compliment from the knitterati - so kewl. #5 on the list is my personal fave. It's the most difficult thing about knitting; everything is a leap of faith.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the Fed-Ex milestone.

Depends! snort!

eyeknit said...

Congratulations on all the work thus far! If you ever find yourself in need of a test knitter (I knit for fiber!), drop me a line. I enjoyed meeting you at MD S&W this year, and love your designs. I'm going to make the Stonewall Socks soon. My e-mail is on my blog.