I think we're having a book, folks!

I've heard the comparison between writing a book and having a baby so many times and I have to admit, there's definitely a kernel of truth there. Writing the manuscript and polishing up the patterns felt like the first and second trimesters. A lot of work put in, but not a lot of certainty about what would come out. With my first book design session behind me, I feel like I've finally entered the third trimester and the end is in sight. Seeing the book format come together was sort of like the big ultrasound that happens around the sixth month (if memory serves...I can't remember the exact timing). It's starting to actually look like a book, and it has sunk in big-time that there's no turning back now!

I am quite delighted to present a couple of sneak peeks here, at long last. Here's our cover:



I'm really quite delighted with it! We also came up with a pattern intro page style (although it's definitely not final, it does give a sampling of the flavor of the inside):



We still need to work on the background color, but I really, really love the photos Gail has taken. It's so much fun to see them in context!

And, last but not least, the logo for my publishing company:



Now I need to get the websites for both Sydwillow Press and the book (toeupsockbook.com) up and running. No rest for the weary! To top it all off, I ended up with a horrible muscle spasm in my left shoulder (a reward for all my hard work on the book on Monday & Tuesday, I guess) that has left me unable to knit and, when it gets really bad, unable to do much of anything! I have so much knitting to do, so I pushed through the pain yesterday and was rewarded at 2:30 am with the inability to find any sort of comfortable position. I got up and read a Dean Koontz book of Bill's for a few hours until I could finally go back to sleep. I've got a renewed sympathy for people who live with chronic pain - it really does take over your life when you can't find relief. I hope it resolves itself soon or I might be looking for a new career!

Now that the whining portion of this broadcast is over, I want to give a heads-up that the blog book tour for my designer friend and author Joanne Seiff is coming here on April 6. Her new book, Fiber Gatherings, is hot off the presses and it is awesome. I've got a baby sweater and hat design in there, which you'll hear all about on the 6th. I've got an extra copy of the book, and I will hold a giveaway contest for it (details on that on the 6th as well). So, before I mention the 6th one more time, come back here on April 6th so you don't miss the fun. I'll try to make it back here before then myself, although my track record does speak for itself! If I don't, I'll see you on the 6th!

Somebody, please kill me...

I thought I was going to get lucky and slide past this one, but no. Owen's horrible illness of last week has visited itself upon me and boy does it suck. I spent a miserable night trying not to gag every time I took a breath due to severe throat scratchiness, and when I wasn't doing that, I was waiting for the next gush to come forth from the nose. It's not enough to have a stuffy nose - no. I've got the kind that seems fine, and then all of a sudden opens like a faucet with absolutely no warning. I have to have a hanky in hand at all times.

The good news is that being sick gives me lots of knitting time. Bill takes care of the kids (although today they're going to my in-laws' after school because Bill's at the NCAA basketball tournament all day today - lucky guy!) and I get to sit in front of the TV and knit. The deadline is ticking down (book designer meeting is Monday), so I really need to get my butt in gear. The only problem is I've been almost too sick to knit. You know it's bad when I can't even work on a bulky stockinette slipper sock...

This afternoon I've drugged myself up and I'm going to try to finally get some of the book's technique photos knocked out. Wish me luck - all I really want to do is curl up in bed and watch Wedding Crashers for the 36th time!

This is what a crazy person looks like...

What a month I'm having! I've been teaching toe-up sock classes and workshops, speaking at local guilds, trying to make mozzarella and failing miserably, furiously knitting the remaining samples for the book, trying to figure out how the heck I'm going to pay to have the book printed (I'm still hoping for a visit from the Money Fairy who will swoop in, just in time, with big bags of money - you know, the kind with the big "$" on the front?), and planting my vegetable starts. It's exhausting, I tell ya! Here's the status of a sock I was hoping to have done in time for my photo session this afternoon:



I don't think it's gonna happen. As I started to get the first pairs of sample socks done, I decided that it would be a good idea to show several pairs in different sizes and yarns. Yeah. The photography is supposed to be done by next weekend, and I've got at least three more pairs of socks that I'd *like* to knit, not to mention a slew of technique photos left to do. I know I always say I work best under pressure, but this is ridiculous!

In the meantime, the kids keep themselves mostly entertained playing Rock Band.



Sydney has gotten surprisingly good. Owen...not so much. He prefers to try to hit his sister with the drum sticks.

We're going to try to do the cover shoot for the book this afternoon. I'm a little nervous, but I know that Gail will do a fantastic job. It will be interesting to see how it turns out in the end. The guts of the book have come together nicely but I still don't know exactly how well it's going to clean up. The design process is going to be very interesting (hopefully in a good way).

And now...back to the knitting!

Hey, strangers!

One problem with blogging so infrequently is that I forget what I've blogged about and what I haven't. I suppose I could go back and read my previous post, but that seems like too much trouble. Heh. I've got a few things to talk about today, the first of which is something I've been promising for a month now and have yet to deliver on - my review of the Addi Clicks!



I'll start with my one complaint, and that's the lack of extra cables. I'd love to have a few more cables in a few different lengths. But I'm guessing that's on the horizon and once they get production ramped up, I'm sure I'll be able to buy more cables. It's just because I want to have a project going on every set of needle tips...

Other than that, I love this set. I've got two Denise kits, which I love (but they don't work with every kind of yarn, I've found, because they're stickier than metal), and a Knit Picks Options kit which I never use because I hate the pointy needle tips (I'm a freak that way). The Addi Click set has the lovely blunt Addi Turbo tips and the cables go into the needle without requiring any special tiny equipment (like the Knit Picks set does) that I'd inevitably lose within two weeks of buying the set. It took me a few minutes to figure out exactly how to click the cable into the needle tip, but once I did manage, I was immediately convinced of its awesomeness.

The other great thing about this kit? The case. I was standing at the table switching needle tips and cables when Bill walked in and commented that I looked like a hit man with my weapons case. Considering all the pointy metal bits and cables, you could conceivably take someone out with the Clicks although that might negate the lifetime warranty...

Next topic! I'm going to be hustling myself and my samples around NW Oregon during the month of March, so if you're in the area, here's the haps:

March 7: "Toe-Up Socks Revealed" workshop in Hood River, details and registration here.

March 12: "Secrets of Getting Published" talk and trunk show, Portland Knitter's Guild, 7 pm at Cafe Pallino, SE 30th & Division.

March 14: Sock talk and trunk show, Millstream Knitting Guild in Salem, 9:30 am at Mission Mill Museum, 1313 Mill St SE.

And on March 19, my co-conspirator Donna will be doing a beginning lace workshop with some of our samples and patterns at the Tigard Knitting Guild meeting, 7 pm at the Tigard Senior Center.

In the midst of all this, I'm getting my book ready to go to the book designer. Whew! I won't mention the fact that we got a little box in the mail the other day, and that little box contained an extremely addictive little game, and we hooked that little game up last night and played for two hours, and it's virtually impossible for me to knit while playing the drums...although I could almost manage while wielding the microphone.