Oh, so many questions...

I've got some more questions for y'all, but first, I want to show you some knitting. Yes, knitting! I started on my Sockapalooza sock the other day, and it's coming along nicely.



This will be the first toe-up pattern I add to my line, and that's the new Gone Surfin' yarn. Love it! It's a little bit different than the other wool/tencel blends I've used - it's fluffier and not quite as shiny. I was lacking a new Us Weekly to peruse yesterday while I ate breakfast, so I picked up No Sheep For You and learned all about alternative fibers. There was quite an interesting section on all the different by-products that can be spun into yarn (like Tencel, for example). It was a great read!

Anyway, the pattern should be available in a couple months through Gardiner Yarn Works. Now I've got to figure out how to work that Sockapalooza Knit Pligg thing...

Okay, now onto the discussion. Thank you to all who commented on my last post about shopping at your LYS - it was very enlightening. I'm a little surprised at the number of people who have been treated badly at their LYS. The next issue of Yarn Market News is going to be addressing the reputation of yarn shop owners as not-so-nice people - it will be very interesting to see what the shop owners have to say about that. I am lucky to have a really great shop, Close Knit, nice and close (but not dangerously close) to my house. The owner is fabulous, as are the other shop owners I've run into around town.

I will definitely be keeping on-line sources for my patterns, regardless. It's just a question of whether I sell them from my own site, or route them through an on-line shop run by someone else (like The Sweet Sheep, The Yarn Grove, Sandra Singh or Knot Another Hat, to name my current sources). I still have quite a bit of yarn over on my shelf, so none of this will happen for quite awhile anyway.

Now, on to my next question - what kind of patterns would y'all like to see added to my line? More socks? Should I branch out and do some kid stuff? Felted bags? Sweaters? Lace shawls? Should I add some easier stuff, or do you guys like the more challenging patterns? What would make you go crazy?

And just so my poor mom doesn't feel left out, here's a picture my brother-in-law took of the boy in his building gear.



Sorry, Mom, I don't have a new picture of the girl - you'll see her in person in a couple of days anyway! We can't wait!

I'm back! And I've got new yarn!

Sorry about the little hiatus, there, folks! I needed a bit of a break from blogging, I guess (and I just got distracted wondering if we remembered to put the lid back on the sandbox last night before we came inside because, if not, it has surely turned into the neighborhood cat pan by now...). The good news is, I think I've recovered from my malaise. The even better news is, there is new yarn for sale in the shop! I've got a bunch of goregous semi-solids from Nature's Palette and three beautiful colorways from Zen Yarn Garden - two in a tencel/wool blend and one in a wool/bamboo blend. Yummy! Here's a preview of the NP:



And the three ZYG colorways, just right for summer sock knitting! Here's Gone Surfin':



And Tea Cups:



And Peachy Mint:



There they are, folks! They're even more beautiful in person. Which brings me to a topic that has been hot on my mind lately - the local yarn shop. When I was at TNNA at the beginning of this month, I started to form a plan in my head to work towards disbanding my little on-line retail shop and start selling my patterns wholesale only. This is partly because I think ultimately it will be better for my business (assuming I can make a go of it) and partly because I really want to support and not undercut local shops. I really doubt that my piddly pattern sales are making a huge impact on anyone else's business, but who knows? My question for you is, does your on-line shopping cut into what you normally would've spent at your LYS, or doesn't it matter?

There are a surprising amount of politics in the business of knitting. There are lots of shops that are barely hanging on, and they rail at anyone doing anything that they perceive as harmful to their business (like selling on-line). This is just one example - I'm finding this whole knitting business to be a poorly-marked minefield that I'm trying to pick my way through with some casualties. There are plenty of rules that you are "supposed" to know that aren't necessarily obvious to an outsider but get you in serious hot water if you accidentally break. I'm slowly learning, and I think that getting rid of my direct on-line selling will avoid one of many potential touchy subjects as I'm trying to market my patterns to local shops (I'll still keep a few on-line sources for those of you who live in areas not served by a local shop, or whose LYS owner doesn't want to carry my patterns).

BTW (shameless pandering here), if you like my patterns, I'd be forever indebted if you'd mention them to your LYS owner...

Finally, I can't go another day without thanking my fabulous pals and FINALLY posting pictures of the swag they sent. First, my No Sheep SP sent me this gorgeous skein of Tilli Tomas Soie de la Mer (60% silk, 40% seacell). It is incredible! I have no idea what I'll make out of it, but for now, it's the hank I keep next to my computer to pet for inspiration.



And here is yet another fabulous package from my SP10. I'm amazed at how spot-on she is with her gifts!



Apart from the incredible book, there's also bath stuff, German sock yarn, Plymouth Bamboo, a vanilla candle and a dishcloth. Fabulous! Thanks, pals!

Bleck.

I am still here, but I've been severely under the weather for the past week or so. I hope to be out from under this little black cloud in the next week, but for now I'm in serious hibernation mode.

I want to send a little shout-out to both my SP10 and my No Sheep SP - I got great stuff from both of them that I will post about as soon as I get my mojo back.

Running geeks

I should really be putting the knitting guild newsletter together right now, but I'm deep in procrastination mode. Yesterday Bill and I made our 2nd annual trek down to Hayward Field in Eugene for the Prefontaine Classic track meet. Even though I can't for the life of me get Bill excited about going to a fiber festival, he has somehow managed to get me excited about going to a track meet. It was particularly fun due to the lack of small children (there were small children there, but we weren't responsible for them in any way).

It was a perfect day for the meet - not too hot, not too cold, and the rain managed to hold off for the most part. One of our favorite games to play on the drive from Portland to Eugene is "spot the hawks". For some reason, there are a gazillion hawks circling the skies along the I-5 corridor. On the way down, we counted 27 and we hit a record number of 31 on the drive home. That's a lot of hawks!

We were in the 2nd row of bleachers and had a fantastic view of the track (other than the fact that we were on the opposite side from the finish line - you can't have everything, I guess!). I got to try out the setting on my camera where you hold the shutter down and it just keeps clicking away so that you can somewhat capture action sequences. I ended up taking around 300 pictures (thank goodness for gigantic digital flash drives), many of which look like this:



I did manage to capture some cool pole-vaulting sequences:



I was having a great time with these until Bill yelled at me not to use up all my pictures on pole vaulters (and I was starting to feel like a jinx anyway since every single sequence I shot ended in a scratch). He was most keenly interested in the mile and the 2-mile, both of which were great races yesterday. This guy (who is from Wisconsin - can you tell?) set a new American record in the 2-mile (even though he came in 3rd!):



The guy who won the mile ran it in the fastest time ever run on American soil. Bill got to slap his hand during his victory lap. I only somewhat managed to capture the moment...



It was an interesting contrast to go from Friday night's Harlot reading, where I was in the company of all nature of knitting geeks, to Sunday's track meet, where I was surrounded by running geeks who could tell you the name of every runner, what their best time was, what the world, American and track records were for their particular event, etc. etc. etc.

I'm getting to the point where some of the names sound familiar (Adam Goucher, Alan Webb) but I couldn't necessarily tell you why. I'm guessing I feel much like Bill does about this knitting business - he's heard the names Pam Allen and Amy Singer, but he couldn't tell you what they do (other than it's something related to knitting). I was completely out of my element, but I had an absolute blast. Not only that, but I got half a sock done on the drive!

Oh, and just in case anyone missed it, I made the Harlot's blog! Woot!

Could there be a better way to spend a Friday evening?

Following a long afternoon of watching the kids turn the backyard into a mud pit (Sydney somehow figured out how to turn on the hose and, silly me, I didn't think much of it until I realized both kids were up to their ankles in muddy water and the grass was totally flooded), I made Bill pack up the muddy kids and drive me downtown in rush hour traffic. There I met up with my ladies, Donna (who we're stil pestering about that whole lack-of-blog thing), Katrina, Chris & Amanda (who came with her very charming mom and gorgeous brand-new-one in tow), to go see The Harlot.

We had a nice leisurely dinner at Henry's, which is on the next block over from Powell's, stressed out slightly by the fact that Donna & Katrina had discovered a disturbingly large pack of knitters hanging out in the space where Stephanie would be doing her reading. This was at 4:30 (the reading was at 7:30). There weren't any chairs out yet, so there was nothing to be saved. We had to go on blind hope that getting there after dinner (6:00) would be soon enough to find us some seats. I consoled myself by staring at the baby's adorable little perfectly round, pink head. He is too cute. Almost makes me want another (I mentioned this to Bill and all color left his face - I think there would be a major uphill battle there).

When we headed over to Powell's, you could see knitters criss-crossing the store like hungry sharks. We headed upstairs to stake out seats and were lucky enough to find six together to the left of the podium, three rows back. There was a lovely lady sitting by herself on the aisle, and I think that people assumed the row was all saved. I dumped my knitting and headed off to find a copy of the book. On the way I ran into Yvonne and Leslie and saw a bunch of other people who looked extremely familiar but I wasn't sure from where. If I've met you before but rushed past you with a quizzical look, it's because I felt like I should know you but couldn't figure out why! I wish I had Lily Chin's ability to remember everyone I've ever met, but sadly, I (obviously) do not. Shortly after we arrived, it became standing room only.

Stephanie arrived looking fabulous in her newly-completed sweater (which she had to take off almost immediately because it was about 100 degrees in there, what with all the knitters). Her talk, as usual, made me laugh to the point of tears. I had to rip back an entire row after her story about "dropping the k-bomb", which is the term she and her husband use when he lets slip to the muggles that her four published books are about knitting. I was stupidly knitting a lace shawl in Kidsilk Haze - lack of focus caused by hysterical laughter combined with sweaty hands from sauna-like conditions does not bode well for either yarn or stitch pattern. I was chiding myself the entire time for not bringing a sock.

We were at the very end of the line when it came time to get our books signed. I'd turned my phone to vibrate for the talk, and finally felt it buzzing about 9:45. I answered to a ticked-off Bill (who was probably convinced I'd been kidnapped while trying to navigate my way home on MAX) who chewed me out for not calling. It was getting way too late for him to load the kids up to drive me home, so Donna very graciously volunteered, even though it's in the exact opposite direction from her house. Just another example of the kindess of knitters!

We finally made it to the front, where I got to have a chat with Tina from Blue Moon (who looked to be responsible for Stephanie while she was in town) and Tammy. Then, I got to meet the Harlot herself. I gave her one of my sock kits (since isn't one of the benefits of being a celebrity all the free stuff?), which prompted her to say "I like you!" and make me all giddy. She got the Lazy River pattern with some of the brand spankin' new Nature's Palette yarn in it (this is the yarn used to make the sample). I've got a bunch of it ready to go up in the shop once my camera battery charger is located and time for photography is found.



Ugh, could my hair be any flatter? Thank you Powells and your lack of air conditioning... As Stephanie examined the kit, Katrina helpfully piped up and told her that it was one of my designs. Then, Tina tossed in that I was the designer of Knee High to a Grasshopper (the Blue Moon Rockin' Sock Club April pattern), which was enough notoriety to earn me a picture with The Sock! Oh, man, I got to hold The Sock. Thinking back, I wish I would've admired the yarn or examined the pattern, but I was trying too hard not to fall down.



Stephanie assured me that the picture didn't look at all dorky, but we'll see (if I'm lucky enough to make the blog line-up). I think every picture ever taken of me, with the possible exception of one or two of my wedding photos, is dorky, but I may not be the best judge. At this point, I was starting to feel hummingbird-like and said a few more stupid things to the very gracious Harlot before I grabbed my newly-signed book and sat down on a nearby bench to collect myself. I'm getting all sweaty just thinking about it!

All-in-all, the evening was the perfect ending to a very knitterly first half of 2008. And to go along with it, Lisa informed me that the Fall Knitscene preview is up. Go check out the Ribby Retro Socks! I don't know what the deal is with my knee-highs (I swear they grow shorter in the mail on the way to Interweave), but again, what were supposed to be knee-highs ended up mid-calf on the model. Lisa knit the sample for me, so it's not just me with apparently freakishly-short calves. I'm scratching my head at that one...

Where did the week go?

How the heck is it Friday already? I've been home a week, but it feels like I just got back yesterday. I feel like I'm living in some sort of crazy alternative time-warping universe.

And why is it that I woke bolt-upright at 5:30 this morning with no hope of ever going back to sleep, even though I've been exhausted all week?

And why does the cat insist on licking the corner of my elbow while I'm typing? Why do I have so many questions?

It's good to be home, but I can't quite get my head back together. I'm hoping the weekend will help. Bill is working from home now that he has started his new job and hasn't found office space yet, so that's throwing me off, too.

Tonight, I'm off to see the Harlot with Katrina, Donna, Amanda (who is giving us a first glimpse at her brand-new one!) & Chris. Powell's booked her at the big store tonight (unlike last year's extremely crowded gathering at the smaller "home & garden" branch), but we're still going to get there early, just to be safe. If you see me there, be sure to say hi! I'm the one who looks like she hasn't slept in a week because she can't stop thinking about this yarn. Yum!

A-movin' and a-shakin'

Today was the first day of the big market (where the convention center opens up its huge space and shop owners and other needlework-related businesspeople wander through miles of booths), and what a day it was. I started off with an 8 am class from Sally Melville on creativity. Even though I'm not a huge fan of her designs, I found her to be an excellent teacher and it was a very fun class.

One of the things that really struck me was her mention of her two kids and how they grew up around knitting (i.e. a positive creative role model) - one is now a professional musician and the other just opened a yarn shop even though she never showed any interest in knitting until the age of 25. She talked about how her kids constantly witnessed her sketching, swatching and ripping (and sketching, swatching and ripping some more) and how great it is for children to be in an environment that fosters creative experimentation and shows them that mistakes are something to be learned from as opposed to something to be avoided at all costs. So, in doing what I'm doing, I'm creating a positive learning environment for the kiddos. I like that idea!

After class I met back up with Margaret and got to have lunch with her, aran goddess Janet Szabo (who has just finished her first volume of cable stitch patterns and gave us a sneak peek - love it!) and Lily Chin. Yeah, I had lunch with Lily Chin today. And let me tell you, she is a hoot! We went to a brew pub across the street from the convention center and were by far the rowdiest bunch in there (this without a drop to drink). I don't even remember what we talked about, but it sure was fun.

We headed back to the market and Margaret and I wandered around, petting lots of yarn. We checked out the little Gardiner Yarn Works corner in the Nature's Palette booth (it looked fantastic) and ran into the lovely ladies of The Yarn Grove who I've talked to many times via e-mail (they carry my patterns) but had never met in person. We stopped to see the original Lacy Cabled Scoop at the Y2Knit booth and chat with Susan & Jill Wolcott. Here we were tempted by the retreat they're doing for people in the knit biz in Tuscany in October 2008. Tuscany! I'm starting to figure out how to work that angle...

Next, we headed over to see our friend Chris de Longpre at the Knitting at Knoon booth. Chris has been famous for awhile for her series of on-line knitting videos, and she's just released a DVD which should be showing up in your LYS very soon. Here we ran into Rae (of Rae's Yarn Boutique), her mom and Lynn H of ColorJoy who is absolutely delightful in person. Chris & Rae were both at Cat Bordhi's retreat with Margaret and me.

Some other sightings - the delightfully Irish Maggi Jackson of MaggiKnits, the back of Pam Allen as she walked out of the Classic Elite booth on our way in (nothing to do with us - she was well out before we were anywhere near in), and Amy Polcyn hanging out by the SWTC booth, which was chock full of her designs (including an incredibly cute one featured in the fashion show last night).

We stopped by the big booth of the extremely talented Janel (editor of Spindlicity), who has the most incredible new yarn line, Chameleon Colorworks. She has this incredible yarn called Evolution that is 100% merino but feels like cotton. It knits like wool and has the memory of wool (and none of the fuzziness of cotton), but it is just amazingly soft. I am seriously in love. She was joined by Cookie A, who was showing off her spectacular sock pattern line. We got to talk to her briefly, but then she had to go back to writing up orders. Go, Cookie!

We then ventured into the Interweave booth, where things got really crazy. I found a preview copy of the Fall '07 Knitscene, in which I have a sock design. Then, I ran into Lisa Shroyer, who's the assistant editor and so nice to finally meet in person (we exchange lots of e-mails). In the meantime, Margaret ran into Melissa Leapman, who introduced herself to me and explained "I write books" to which I responded "Um, yeah, I know who you are!" She was so cute and just very nice. Then Amy Singer and Jillian Moreno happened by. I went over to stalk - I mean talk to - Amy about Sea Socks '08 and how psyched we are that Brenda Dayne's going to be on the boat with us. Then Eunny walked in and started talking to Kathy Zimmerman. At that point, I had to go breathe into a paper bag. There's only so much knitting celebrity I can take all at once!

After we made our escape, we ran back into Janet and I told her about my panicked exit from the scene at Interweave. She laughed and told us about one of her early teaching gigs where she got seated at dinner between Nancy Bush and Sally Melville and pretty much spent the whole time just sitting there, flustered and speechless. It was good to know I'm not the only one who gets freaked out by the knitterati...

I am now back in my room, completely exhausted. Time to watch some mindless TV and do some knitting! I can't believe my four days are nearly up - tomorrow is going to scream by. I've got a class with Teva Durham in the morning and then I'm going to head to the airport early so I can split a cab with Margaret (I spent so much on cabs on Thursday, I feel like I need to cut back now!). I won't get home until after 11 pm, which will be 2 am Eastern. I'm finally almost adjusted to East Coast time, just in time to head back west. Sigh. I know you all feel just so sorry for me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm so worn out from all that name dropping, I'm going to go put my feet up.

Where am I?

Columbus? Portland? Stranded in stormy Minneapolis? You knew I wouldn't really fly home right away, didn't you? I managed to survive that lonely first night and have been ridiculously busy ever since.

Yesterday was quite the day. I was scheduled to take a sock class from Lucy Neatby from 1-8 pm, but I'd forgotten to bring any of the materials I needed for the class. No problem - I Googled "Columbus, OH yarn shops" and found a shop not too far from the convention center. Then I Googled "Columbus, OH bus" and figured out how to get there on the bus. I went to the bus stop, hopped on the bus, and started looking for the street where I needed to transfer from the north-south bus to the east-west bus. The streets were not jiving with the map I was holding, and as I realized what had happened, we left downtown and entered a neighborhood that was looking not so savory.

Turns out, my internal sense of direction had failed me miserably, and I was heading the wrong way. Not knowing anything about the city, I decided that I was going to sit tight on the bus and ride all the way around. I stuck my nose in my book, and when I looked up, I was riding by Capitol University and the neighborhood was looking much better (I found out later I was in the Bexley neighborhood of SE Columbus when I meant to be in the Grandview Heights neighborhood of NW). So I hopped off to try to turn around. As I was crossing the street to the bus stop to go the other way, the bus sped past. According to the schedule, the next one wouldn't be coming through for another half hour. This was around 11:00 - I still had plenty of time, but I didn't want to push it too close to 1. Fortunately, the cab company I'd used to get downtown in the morning had a very easy number to remember - 777-7777. I called them to come rescue me.

The cabbie was completely stumped at how I'd managed to find myself in this neighborhood when I was trying to get to a shop on the exact opposite side of downtown. After we'd be driving for awhile, I was extremely glad that I'd sprung for a cab! Now I was starting to worry about how I was going to get from the shop back downtown in time for my class. I blasted into Heavenly Creations, grabbed some Plymouth baby alpaca and some Crystal Palace needles, and chatted breathlessly with the lovely owner, who was nice enough to give me a 10% discount for being in town for TNNA. It was really a nice little shop - I wish I would've been a little less discombobulated when I got there!

After realizing that the bus back to downtown wouldn't come by until 12:15 (and I didn't have the wherewithal to take that chance again), I called my friends at the cab company yet again (the dispatcher and I were best buddies by this time) and headed back to the convention center. I arrived, a bit sweaty but generally no worse for wear, in time to grab a coffee before my six-hour class. Whew!

Now, the class - ah, the class! If you've been living under a rock, you might not have heard about Lucy's new series of knitting instruction DVDs. Well, I am now convinced that everyone must go get them all. Now! Her bind-off method is worth the cost of the disc all by itself - it's one of those life-changing things (or at least it will be for me, she-who-hates-to-bind-off).

I'm not sure what I liked best about Lucy - her purple hair with bright pink patch up front, her soothing English accent, her extremely imaginative socks scattered throughout the room, her story about applying for a visa to teach in the US and being categorized as an "alien of extraordinary ability", or her encyclopedia of brilliant knitting tips and tricks. All in all, an evening very well spent.

And now I'm off to dinner and the fashion show with my delightful friend Margaret Fisher. You all were right - it's good I stayed!