Hello, blog!

Yes, I realize it has been almost a month since I last visited you. Do you forgive me? We've been a little busy around here, what with the arrival of a book, knitting of new designs and preparation for the biggest sock knitting gathering ever attempted... But now I'm back for a bit, so pull up a chair and get comfy, because I've got a lot to tell you!

First announcement - Toe-Up! arrived here just over a week ago and the fun hasn't stopped since (fun as in drafting Bill to help me pack and ship box after box of books, which is not at all fun to do, but it is fun to think of all those books going out to all those yarn shops...). Here's what the living room looked like on arrival day:



That's only about half the boxes. Bill had a great time trying to figure out where to stash them all (there are still about 400 books in the living room, but the pile is considerably smaller than it was, thanks to everyone who's buying copies). We've got books in both our big closets downstairs, books in the hall, books in my office, books upstairs behind the bathroom door, books in our bedroom...books everywhere!

The book also has its own webpage now - toeupsockbook.com. You can see photos and materials lists of all the patterns.

Last weekend, Donna and I headed for the Northwest Needle Market in Seattle, where we exhibited and I taught my toe-up sock class to a very fun group of shop owners/employees. Three of them were from the Vashton Pharmacy, which is on an island in Puget Sound. The pharmacist is also an avid knitter, so she talked her husband and business partners into letting her sell yarn! How cool is that - a pharmacy/yarn store.

I was very excited to debut the book, but never expected to sell out of three whole cases of it! We sold every copy we took with us, including the one I'd given to Donna (but hadn't yet signed). Several shops in Portland now have copies, including Twisted, Dublin Bay, All About Yarn and Close Knit (well, they'll have them after I drop them off this afternoon...). I'll be doing an informal booksigning at All About Yarn on Monday morning at 11 am, if you happen to be in the area.

The needle market was the last remaining milepost between the beginning of summer and the craziness that is going to be Sock Summit. Portland doesn't know what's coming...although they might be getting a small inkling (the mayor's got one, anyway).

Are you going to be there? Be sure to stop by Booth 815 and say hi. I probably won't be there, since my schedule is beyond crazy all week. If you want to join me in doing some fun stuff, check out our Sock Summit happenings page. Also, be sure to join us at the Ravelry meetup on Saturday night - Gardiner Yarn Works is a sponsor!

Once Sock Summit is done, there's no rest for the weary. If I survive, we're planning to head out the very next week for our annual trek to the heartland. We're stopping in Kalispell, MT, on the 16th so I can teach a toe-up workshop. If anybody lives in Billings and wants to hang out the morning of the 18th, let me know! Then we're heading to the Black Hills/Badlands and on to MN. I'm teaching at The Yarnery in St. Paul on the 22nd and will be doing a booksigning at their Friday-night knitting on the 21st. Check out the Toe-Up! events page for all the details.

Whew! And now that the weather has cooled off a bit, the kids are insisting on going outside. Which means I get to sit on the front porch and watch them. Time to get some knitting done, and I hope to see many of you next week at the big socky wonderland!