Archives for March 2010

Guess what I got in the mail yesterday?

An extra copy of Sweater Quest! That's a great thing, because I wasn't willing to give away my copy. I wanted to keep my greedy hands on it. But I *will* give this copy away.

Leave me a comment here, telling me about the most difficult thing you've ever attempted to do in knitting (or if you don't knit, tell me about another difficult thing you attempted and how it went). I'll randomly draw a winner of the book on Friday.

Also, don't forget about what else you can win! My drawing is coming to a close! You could win one of three $25 Barnes&Noble gift certificates or THE LOVE SONG SWEATER itself! Link to How to Knit a Love Song somewhere and give it a review (your blog, Facebook, Goodreads, etc.) and make sure I know you've done it so I can be sure you're in the big hat. (If you're unsure if you're entered, feel free to shoot me an email.)

A review gives you three entries. But if you haven't had time to read the book yet, you can still be entered to win just by finding the book and taking a picture of it, posting it somewhere (or just emailing it to me). Or posting a picture of YOU with the book gives you two entries! 

There aren't that many entries, darlings, not in the big scheme of things. You have a good chance. (As of now, there are only 125 entries for four prizes. Looking good.)

And I'm extending it by three days — I'll draw on April 4th, since I'm slammed until then, and won't have a chance to do it right. And you want me to do it the best way possible, so YOU can win, yes? Yay!

Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously
by Adrienne Martini

Adrienne's a blog-pal of mine, and I've known her virtually for years. But you know what's better than having good friends in the knit-world? Having friends who are good writers. Even better, having friends who are great writers.

I loved this book. In it, Adrienne decides to make Mary Tudor, Alice Starmore's Fair Isle classic, in a year, and while she's a knitter, when she makes the decision to do so, she's not really a Starmore kind of knitter. She's never done a steek. She's not really sure how the now-unavailable yarn substitutions should be made, or what they will do to the authenticity of a Starmore.

People, she's Julie, working her way through the cookbook. Let's face it. It's awesome. It's for us.

And she's funny as hell. She knows how we bond. It's kind of like how moms bond (although she knows knows that not even all moms bond, just mention breastfeeding in a room full of mothers).

HAHAHAHAHA. Seriously. I almost fell out of bed laughing.

So today, I'm over at her blog, answering questions about my book, and I'm hosting her here, answering some questions about hers.

Welcome, Adrienne!

In your introduction, you said that for a knitter who had only been knitting for thimbleful of years, "Mary Tudor would be a foolish, humbling choice to attempt." Have you always been someone who has chosen things that might be right outside your grasp or was this something new for you?

I've been pondering this questions for almost 12 hours now and still am not sure I've hit on the perfect answer. In short, I've always been of the go-big-or-go-home school but am also not much of a danger junkie. tackling a sweater that is just above my skill level is a low-risk endeavor that suites my personality well. Jumping out of an airplane strikes me as total madness. If I fail at the sweater, life will most certainly go on. It will still be a story, just not one that will keep you warm on cold days. Fail at skydiving and, well, the result are almost certain to be catastrophic.

I don't think you can really learn anything if you always stick to your comfort zone. You have to keep reaching or else you stagnate.

Which came first, the idea for the book, or the idea for the sweater?

The idea for the book came first – but only by microseconds. Once the idea popped into my head, the Mary Tudor sweater popped up next, which caused me to think about all of the issues surrounding Alice Starmore, Fair Isle and Fair Use. Then I was dashing out of the shower to write it all down before I forgot it all.

Where is the sweater living, right this very moment?

It's in a magnetically locked briefcase that I keep handcuffed to my wrist. No, not really. It's someplace far less glamourous, which is on the top shelf of my closet in a plastic bag from "Discount Liquors." I'll be bringing it with me to signings and whatnot, though, and I've been toying with the idea of raffling it off for charity. Not quite sure I'm ready to part with it yet, however.

What is your daily (or weekly) writing process?

I'm probably not the best person to ask about process, since I don't know that I really have one. I do blog everyday, which I don't really consider part of process as much as an eclectic diary of pictures and stories that I would otherwise lose track of. In terms of actual work – I worked for newspapers (and still frequently freelance for my local rag) for long enough that I can sit and write on queue and with little preamble. My work may lack gravitas and poetry but it is, usually, concise and quick. It's a skill that I was happy to have after having my first baby, when writing time was thin and my need to write was great. Now, with two kids and my day jobs, I appreciate those years knocking out copy even more.

Thanks, Adrienne! (Pop on over to her blog to read my interview and more importantly, to see pictures of her Mary Tudor! And pick up your copy today!)

A free copy of Kristan Higgins's new book, The Next Best Thing, over at the PensFatales, today! She tells a good tale of mortification, I tell you what.

Oh, my goodness! Do you see that? That's four ounces of a colorway that Lynn Ruggles of I Spin the Body Electric dyed. It's called Cypress Hollow Red which she dyed to match the book. I swear, when she gave it to me, I thought for a second maybe it was some kind of divine coincidence — how could she POSSIBLY have found such an amazing color that was called the same name as my fictional town that I MADE UP? Then I blushed as red as the book and the Shetland fiber from her sheep as I realized she'd dyed it just for me.

It was such a wonderful reading; want to know why? The store, Fuzz (605 Americana Blvd.), was wonderful, and the owners, Mary and Diane, made me feel so welcome. And the attendees were so great, and it was different from the other readings I've done in this way: For the most part, the people there didn't know me. They had no idea who I was. They'd never heard of my blog. They hadn't already read the book. They didn't know any of my stories. And they STILL got excited about the book. They still smiled at me and laughed at the right spots and they were warm and generous, proving the rule that knitters are just generally AWESOME. They just come that way.

And look at this: Melanie didn't come, but blogged about not coming HERE (with a picture of me and everything).

(You can see in her picture the box that Fuzz gave me, a cigar box painted by a local artist named Marilyn. It's GORGEOUS. And the inventor of the KnitKit was there, too, and I got one of those, also! What a wealth of riches. I hope that I was able to give a little something back, because Boise gave me so much. Honestly. It was such a treat.)

And now I'm going to sit and read Knitting Traditions. Have you seen this Interweave extra single magazine? It looks SO great. I can't wait to dive into it. Woot!

That really was awesome.

And I have to admit, I was nervous. My plane was delayed due to fog. And I only had a short time to get to LA, pick up a rental car, and drive to the Knitter's Studio, where I was to meet with Crazy Aunt Purl, Laurie Perry, and do a reading. My heart was pounding.

But finally, the plane took off. Long Beach Airport was small, Oaklandish. Enterprise was great, no line. There was no traffic. I made record time.

Laurie, on the other hand, who was only doing the reading as a favor to me, was stuck in NIGHTMARE TRAFFIC FROM HELL due to the LA Marathon.

But she made it. And there was much rejoicing in the Land of the Knitter.

You know when you meet a knitter and you just know them? It was like that. It was like, Hey, whassup, look at this yarn, sit down and let's talk a while, and okay, I'll see you soon, MISS YOU ALREADY. She's good people. I knew that from the moment I hugged her, but it was cemented the moment she was in the middle of telling a juicy story, looked behind her and said, "Oh, I'll just finish that in a minute." And I turned around to see MY DAD standing there, and she didn't trip at all, just smiled and went with it.

And I gotta tell you, my dad and his girlfriend Lola showing up unexpectedly like that? A highlight. They brought a fruit basket. I didn't know I liked fruit baskets, but YES, I DO.

And Lola got a shot of me signing, which I didn't really have before:

And of me and Dad, and I gotta say, there'a resemblance here (Hello, NOT AFRAID OF PATTERNS):

And a nice shot of Lola in the bookstore where they found my book (I'm tempted to say they planted my book there, since I've just found out that Eliza's Gift is a Doubleday bestseller in New Zealand, but not many other places just yet):

Edited to add: I guess they didn't place it there — it was already sitting in that spot! Wowie!

Yay! So Laurie and I had a great reading (with WONDERFUL attendees — THANK YOU to those of you who came — it meant the world), and then I went to see a great bluegrass show (put on by Ed Hems! LOVE HIM) with lovely Snargle Sarah (I manage to see her every 2.5 years, it seems) and her charming husband. I ate figs and brie, and drove a powder blue rented Hyundai (which I valet parked — HAHAHHAHA) and signed stock at the Century City Westfield mall, and felt oh-so-very LA. And for once, I didn't hate LA. In fact, I liked it.

I kinda loved it.

It was great. Next up, Boise.

Hiya! There are three upcoming readings you might want to know about, including a newly added one….

This Sunday, March 21st, Crazy Aunt Purl and I will be doing a little flamenco dancing reading at the Knitter's Studio in Los Angeles at 2pm. We hear there's a marathon, and you should look up the road closures here (but hopefully the roads will be open by then) and you can use the valet park (guys in orange on 3rd Street, $3.50). I'm TOTALLY jazzed about this, and I hope you can come!

Then, as my whirlwind world tour continues, I'll be in Boise, Idaho this Thursday, March 25th! At FUZZ, 605 Americana Blvd, at 2pm. Please come by — it's a great shop, and I hope I get to say hello to some local knitters.

NEW SIGNING – EAST BAY! – Mark your calendars:

Saturday April 10th – A Verb For Keeping Warm, 2703 7th Street, #133, Berkeley, 2-4pm. Woot! Close to home! Huzzah! You should come!

And now, I'm just thinking about getting through my work week and getting myself to LA. I haven't taken a plane flight to Somewhere for a while, and even though it's just an overnight trip, I'm really excited about it. While I love to travel with Lala, and even though I'm looking forward to going to see family in Boise later this week, there's something SO exciting about traveling by myself. Wandering in the airport alone. Choosing to buy an eleven dollar bottle of orange juice, just because I can. Slouching low in an airport seat, pretending to be a spy (what? You don't do that?). Airports always shake loose creative ideas, don't they? Is it being surrounded by all those people that you don't know? All those families and stories around you, close enough to touch, all the eavesdropping you get to do… I love it. I can't wait.