Be patient!

It's Saturday night, you know: Dolores probably has the poor man hog-tied in a closet so she can have her filthy way with a Mongolian acrobat from Cirque du Soleil. I assure you that the interview will be well worth the wait.

Lucky 13: Me 'n' Dolores. Bonding. (No, Dolores, I did NOT say "Bondage.")

Oy vey. After inviting Franklin Habit to be a host for the blog tour -- we all know how well-mannered, erudite, charming and full of grace and class he is -- I was informed that the interview will instead be conducted by Mme. Van Hoofen herself. I don't know quite whether to be insulted or flattered. I do know enough to be scared. So fasten your seatbelts, pour yourself a champagne mojito and go to The Panopticon for A Very Special KSF Blog Tour Stop.

Update: Franklin and I have been experiencing some minor technical difficulties with Blogger, so if his post isn't up yet but this one is, please don't fret -- he will post as soon as he is able. Thank you for your forbearance!

Allons chez Ve-Ve! Toute de suite!

Do you love it when I speak French (paging Gomez Addams)? Today one of my heroes and girl-crushes, Véronik Avery, hosts the KSF Blog tour. Like everything Ve-Ve does, her blog is beautiful, artistic and in exquisite taste. She will be visiting with Laura today. Please note that Mme. Avery just announced on her blog yesterday that she is working on her next book. Woo-hoo!

And for those of you lucky enough to live within driving distance of WEBS, I am thrilled to announce that Laura and I will be there for a book-signing on Saturday, June 28th, mid-afternoon. A visit to WEBS? It is a dream come true. . .

Peers

Last night Elvis and I had a talk about some of the other kids in his class. Now, while Elvis is incredibly smart in a book sense, he has a hard time deciphering some of the social cues that his schoolmates give off. He was telling me how certain classmates make him feel weird, and how he doesn't quite get what they're talking about all the time. After my heartfelt explanation of how when you're in school, you get stuck with kids in your class and if you don't get along with them, you just have to suck it up until you're an adult and can choose who to hang out with, and the importance of finding your tribe, and how sometimes people can be intimidated by really smart kids... it became clear to me that the nub of the problem (this time) was slang.

Apparently there is a kid who sits by Elvis who says things like "Oh no, you did-n't!" or when Elvis laughs and his face turns red, tells him he's having "a red crayon moment." Sometimes when Elvis says something, Matt will say "Inappropriate content" (whatever that means; that one's not in the Urban Dictionary). We had a laugh about it -- I couldn't help but crack up and then he realized that maybe it wasn't social death to not understand this strange pre-adolescent lingo -- and then I did the only thing a self-respecting mother could do:

I taught him the Z-snap and told him to tell Matt he's a hot mess.

Day 11: Meet the FitterKnitter

Are any of you old enough to remember Rowan Botany? (I know some of you are old enough to remember, but I thought it was polite to ask.) For those of you who have taken up knitting more recently, Botany was a great fingering weight, 100% wool yarn from Rowan. (Its technical name was Rowan True 4-Ply Botany.) I probably still have some in my stash, but lo and behold it was discontinued. There were many knitters who, after rending their garments and gnashing their teeth, weren't convinced a suitable replacement could be found. But Rowan introduced 4-ply Soft to take its place, and although 4-ply Soft is different from Botany, it's still good. Very, very good. Really quite very good. So join me as we take a trip to visit The Fitter Knitter, and talk about 4-ply Soft.

Threadbear Fiber Arts is our host today

Woo-hoo! I got to meet Rob and Matt, the Threadbear guys, at TNNA! They are amazing and wonderful and I wanted to kidnap them for a couple of hours and rub my cheek up against that sexy beard and talk yarn with them until the sun rose, but, alas, I got hypnotized by Abby Franquemont (who in addition to having a great name and being incredibly nice and fun) kept whipping her spindle around like a fibrous Cirque du Soleil act -- minus the Lycra.

I suppose it was lucky for all of the rest of the TNNA-ers that I didn't do a Kathy-Bates-hotel-room-kidnap thing, so Rob lived to knit another day and to blog with Lisa today about skinny yarns.

P.S. If you are ever in the mood for some spectacular yarns, skinny or otherwise, and have some cash burning a hole in your Paypal account, I highly advise a visit to Threadbear's website.

Day 10 of the Blog Tour: TurtleGirl

Meet TurtleGirl and her Bloggy Thing, the host of today's Knit So Fine blog tour. Our skinny yarn of the day is the ever-delicious Koigu...

But before you go, check out this lovely stole here. Now apparently this stole is entered in some sort of newfangled web contest (you know me, I'm a humble housewife with a station wagon who doesn't always understand these knittin' kids and their interwebular rivalries) but it seems to me that is one kick-ass shawl so if the spirit moves you, go on over and vote for it.

Then I'll see you at Turtlegirl's!

Things I Learned at TNNA this year

1. The shuttle bus ride from the economy parking lot to the airport is often scarier than the plane ride. Adjust Atavan dosing accordingly and repeat as necessary.
2. Do not go drinking with Trisha Malcolm. Or you will wake up with the mother of all hangovers. Seriously, it lasted TWO DAYS.
   
3. Sherry from The Loopy Ewe is way taller than she looks on her blog. You would not believe it possible, but she is also even prettier and nicer in real life than she appears on her blog. (I know, right?)
   
4. You are not allowed to curse while taping a teevee segment that will air on PBS. Thank God for the miracle of tape editing. Corrollary to this rule: Even if you give the cameraman twenty bucks, he cannot make your ass look smaller on teevee. (But at least you can swear about it.)
   
5. Fans of Jillian Moreno and Amy Singer don't mess. If you jokingly try to heckle their booksigning, they will squash you like a bug.
   
6. You say "Oooo-nee", never "You-nee." If your daughter has a stuffed unicorn named "You-ni," and berates you if you call it "Oooo-nee," and you are terrified that you will call Eunny Jang the wrong name and then she'll never, ever publish any of your designs in Interweave Knits (not that she has yet, mind you, but still, one can always hope), then when you meet Eunny Jang, you remember how to pronounce her name by saying "Oooooo, it's ooooooni."
7. The ten-minute massage you splurge on at the CyberCafe is the best ten bucks you will ever spend.
8. Columbus is plagued by roving bands of young men driving up and down the main drag by the convention center yelling rude things at innocent conventioneers in the crosswalks like "Hey bitch, could ya walk a little slower?" Columbus needs to invest in some midnight basketball leagues and a few good traffic lights.
   
9. The really cool yarn companies love designers and sometimes give you color cards and/or free balls of yarn to swatch with. The not-so-cool ones act like you are a boil on the butt of the stitching community and blow you off. Ve-Ve knows what I'm talking about.
   
10. Franklin Habit is the most talented man in the world. Proof of this:
11. When you are a humble housewife who drives a stationwagon, and you go to TNNA, you will come home exhausted, dehydrated, hungover, overstimulated, with swollen blistery feet and a sinus infection, and you won't care a bit because you just had the most wonderful weekend in years.
    

Connie Chang hosts KSF today. . .

Sorry I'm late -- I got in last night from Columbus and apparently got some kind of nasty germs on the plane because now I'm sick. I have so much to tell you! I got lots of dirt on the new yarns, patterns and books that will be coming out in the coming months for fall '08. And of course, me being me, I made lots of new BFFs along the way (although no one will ever take the place of my original TNNA BFF, Ve-Ve).

In the meantime, cool designer Connie Chang is the host of the KSF blog tour today. Laura will be chatting with Connie over at Connie's blog. (See how diabolical I am? I gave poor Laura the day after we returned from Columbus. But she does get to chat with Connie Chang, whose patterns are amazing, so I hope that makes up for it!)

Still more stops on the KSF Blog Tour. . .

DK, the Nautical Knitter, is today's host of the KSF Blog Tour. We will be chatting about the fabulous Rowan KidSilk Haze. DK creates and runs the Secret of the Stole Knit-a-longs, and as a laceknitter (check out some of her patterns here) I bet she's got some interesting things to say about KidSilk Haze.

Day 6 of the KSF Blog Tour

KnitGrrl extraordinaire Shannon Okey is today's host of the Knit So Fine blog tour. Lisa will be visiting with her today at the KnitGrrl blog. Shannon's celebrating the release of her new book, How To Knit In The Woods: 20 Projects for the Great Outdoors, which I haven't seen yet, but I hope to score a review copy from Her Nibs this weekend. Through the miracle of the Web, Shannon, Lisa, Laura and I will all be in Columbus partying working hard while you are reading this. . .

KSF Blog Tour continues

Today, through the magic of teh internets, I am simultaneously on my way to TNNA in Columbus AND having a virtual chat with LynnH of ColorJoy. We'll be talking about the versatile laceweight yarn Zephyr. So come on over! In the meantime, I promise to collect lots of good gossip for you from Ohio. . .

KSF Blog Tour Day 4: Kat Coyle

It's particularly fun for me when I get a chance to meet a designer whose work I have admired from afar. Kat Coyle has lovely designs that are often featured in Interweave Knits and KnitScene, and she also has a highly adorable book of kids' knits, called Boho Baby Knits: Groovy Patterns for Cool Tots that was released last fall. Today, Laura is going to chat with Kat on Kat's blog so let's go see what's happening there!

More KSF Blog Tour: Day 3

Today I visit with Faina Goberstein, of Faina's Knitting Mode, to talk about Dale Svale, the yarn used for the main body of the Skater-Inspired Sweater. I did not know Faina before we started planning the tour, but I'm very pleased to get to know her! Faina and her co-author, Dawn Leeseman, have a book coming out next month, called Casual Elegant Knits. See you at Faina's!

KSF Blog Tour: Day 2

Most of my regular readers know that I'm a proud alum of Rosie's Yarn Cellar. Today, the KSF/Skinny Blog Tour visits the Rosie's shop blog, RosieBlogs, for Lisa's visit with Courtney Kelley. (Love the new blog header, Courtney and Kate!) Both Lisa and Courtney are masters of fine yarn, so they should have some interesting things to say.

Don't forget: KSF Blog Tour starts today!

While the clematis bloomed



I have been busy writing blog entries for the Knit So Fine/Skinny Yarns blog tour!

Fourteen consecutive days -- fourteen blogs for you to meet (or revisit if they are already old friends).

Some of the entries will be written by me, but my wonderful co-authors, Lisa and Laura, will also be writing some posts so you don't get sick of me yammering on for two straight weeks.

Each day will take a peek at one of the skinny yarns we used in the book, and other inside details about the creating of the patterns, or interview questions supplied by the bloggers, extra photos, reviews of the book by the bloggers, and so on.

Today we start with Andrea of The Fiber Forum, and look at one of my all-time favorite skinny yarns: Zitron's Trekking XXL. So head on over there and check it out.

Laceweight update today!

I'm loading a laceweight update on Black Bunny Fibers and it should go live around noon EST. I've got several large batches of merino laceweight -- each batch has 2000 yds

which are perfect for making Laura's lovely lace stole from Knit So Fine:

I've also got some smaller batches of my regular merino laceweight (around 880 yds/100g)...

Meet Laura!

A couple of you have asked me about Laura. "Who is this mysterious Laura?" you say. "I know Lisa from Rosie's and her previous books. But who is Laura?" So I bring you a special GKIYH interview with my co-author and friend, Laura Grutzeck.

CS: Tell us a little bit about yourself.


LG: This question always makes me panic on job interviews. I never know what they want to hear…is it okay if I skip it?


CS: Okay. (This is going well....) Well, if you won't answer one trite interview question, then I shall ask you another. When did you learn to knit?


LG: I learned to knit when I was around 10 years old. My mother taught me. Even though she doesn’t enjoy knitting, she felt it was her duty as a mother to teach me. My grandmother loved to knit, so I guess it skipped a generation.


CS: What are your favorite yarns to knit with?


LG: Thin ones, naturally! :) I do use heavier yarns sometimes, but I seem to do a heck of a lot of knitting on size 2-4 needles. I love yarns that have some color variation, so I am a big fan of hand dyed yarns, tweedy and heathered yarns.


CS: What are your favorite needles?


LG: I like plastic needles a lot, so I use Denise and Bryspun needles when I can. I think my favorite set of needles is a set of Bryspun double pointeds in size 2. I use them all the time - I actually bought another set because I was worried I would lose a needle from the first set and never be able to replace it.


CS: What are your top 5 favorite knitting books (other than Knit So Fine!)?


LG: Barbara Walker’s Treasuries of Knitting Patterns (we will count this as one, ok?); Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book – my mother taught me to knit and purl, everything else I learned from this book. Knitting From the Top by Barbara Walker – learn to knit anything from the top down. Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Workshop – learn to knit anything from the bottom up. A Stitch in Time: Knitting Patterns of the 20s, 30s,40s by Jane Waller – this book looks like a bunch of Xerox copies of old knitting patterns that have been bound together. There is no “reinterpretation,” just the actual patterns. It is awesome.


CS: What was your favorite part about working with me on this book?


LG: My favorite part about working with you? Hmm, that is hard to say, there are so many great things about working with you! I really enjoyed brainstorming with you and Lisa to come up with ideas for the book and the designs. It was really interesting to see the different ways we solved our “design challenges”. It was kind of like being on Project Runway, except none of us had to be eliminated, thank goodness. Also, when we were all frantically trying to finish two sweaters on size 3 needles in two weeks, it was great to be able to share the pain with you!


CS: Which of my designs from Knit So Fine are your favorites?

LG: I love the bohus sweater. I really want to knit that one.

CS: I can't decide which of your designs are my favorite. I love the lace stole, but I also love the asymmetric cardigan and the lattice cable sweater.

Who are your knitting heroes and why (present company excepted)?


LG: Aw, Carol, you know you will always be my knitting hero. I am inspired by knitters who come up with new ways of doing things, so I am in awe of Barbara Walker, Elizabeth Zimmerman, Norah Gaughan, and Debbie New.


CS: What is your favorite sock yarn?


LG: I don’t think I have a favorite, but I do seem to buy a lot of Trekking XXL and Black Bunny Fibers sock yarn.


CS: Other than GKIYH, what blogs do you enjoy reading?


LG: I usually read the blogs of people I know, so besidesGKIYH, I read the Rosie’s blog; Mindy’s ; Wendy’s; Veronik’s; and Courtney’s. I also like Kristin Nicholas’ blog a lot, because Ienvy her color skills and farm life, and you havev gotten me into Franklin .Oh, I also read Purl’s blog, the Purl Bee, because it is just so darned good-looking. If I were a blog, I would want to be the Purl Bee.

CS: Why don’t you have your own blog?

LG: I am pretty shy, and unfortunately this extends to blogging. I get anxious when I have to talk in front of a group of people, and blogging makes me feel the same way. Even answering these questions is making me kind of nervous! Also, most bloggers have all of these interesting things going on that they can photograph and write about; they raise goats, they bake, they travel, they talk to sheep, they have babies…I mainly just sit around and knit, so I don’t have much to blog about.

CS: If you could have any job in the knitting industry, what would it be and why?

LG: I think I would like to be the designer for a yarn company, although I also enjoy tech editing. I love designing, but I often do my best work when I have some limits or guidelines I have to follow, like yarn or color choices, type of garment, etc. When I am free to design whatever I want, I sometimes just doodle around and make endless swatches, or end up doing lots of theoretical knitting math. So working for a yarn company would make me more productive. Feel free to contact me, yarn companies! :)

CS: Thanks, Laura! And for my readers, in addition to KSF, Laura has designs featured in Stitch N Bitch Nation; Vogue's Ultimate Sock Book; and she has designed for Manos.

Wherein I discover a new setting on my camera

The "Fireworks" one:







Happy Memorial Day to all from the photogenic Hopcyns:



On a more serious note, I send heartfelt thanks to all of the men and women who have sacrificed for our country through service in the armed forces -- and I thank their families too.

Podcast alert

A couple of days ago, I got to chat with Kathy and Steve Elkins, owner of (drumroll please) WEBS. Ah, WEBS. You can tell they are one of the all-time best places to feed your yarn addiction because their website's URL is www. YARN . com. I have always loved the way you get an automatic discount of 20 or 25% if you order over a certain amount (it's like working at a yarn shop without having to deal with pain-in-the-butt customers!). And they have the best sales. If you haven't checked out their Anniversary Sale, you still have a few days left. Amazing prices on the good stuff, like Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Cascade 220, Debbie Bliss Rialto DK (a really nice, supersoft merino) and RYC Wool/Silk (Steve put that one on sale just for me). I can safely say that Webs is one of those places that has my husband periodically saying to me "Do you think you could move some of this yarn into the garage?"

Kathy and Steve invited me to appear on the official WEBS podcast, called "Ready, Set, Knit" which you can find here. The episode I taped will be broadcast tomorrow morning (9 a.m. on station WHMP in western Massachusetts) and available for download on places like ITunes. I thank them for giving me a chance to babble on about KSF. And I hope I get to podcast with them again soon! (hint, hint)

For my Amurrican readers, have a terrific Memorial Day weekend. If you're near a computer, check back over the weekend: I'll be posting a No-Bull Book Review and also an interview with Laura Grutzeck, one of my co-authors.