Rachael

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.

Oh, my goodness. It went past how-much-fun-do-you-think-I-can-stand right to THIS IS MORE FUN THAN DOWNHILL-SKIING WHILE KNITTING.

I've never skied downhill while knitting. I think that would be a mighty dumb thing to do, and I'm not encouraging anyone to do it. However, I think it would be FUN, and I can imagine (because I'm a big imaginer) that last night kind of felt the same way. (Of course, I think that winding balls of yarn REALLY FAST on the from the swift to the ball-winder is almost the same kind of thrilling, and I don't drive more than 70mph, so I might not be the person to talk to about excitement.)

But because you might not have been there (but 96 of your friends were! WOOT!), here are some pictures:

 

Me, outside Bookshop West Portal. FABULOUS place to launch a book.

 

Look at everyone! I was so wildly nervous they could probably hear my heart beating in my ears at the back of the room…

 

But then I started reading, and it was fun.

Lisa, Julie,and Sophie, of the PensFatales.

 

Before people lined up to get their books signed. And they really did! Line up, I mean! I signed for a long time. It was AMAZING and overwhelming and wonderful.

It was one of the best nights of my life.

 

Sisters and Gaynelle, my mother's best friend, who did a marvelous job of standing in for the little mama.

It was a wonderful, wonderful night. Oh, I love all this. Thanks, y'all, for being part of it.

There are three great places we could hang out this week.

#1 – MY LAUNCH PARTY.

Bookshop West Portal, 80 West Portal, San Francisco

Tuesday, March 16th, 7pm

(but get there early, like 6:30, for parking and free wine, because it'll start at 7pm sharp).
I'll do a short reading! You bring a Q, I might have an A! I'll have a gift or two to give away! They'll have the book for sale there, and I'd love to figure out how to really do a proper signing, and you can watch me blush like a hot pepper. (Please don't not come. I'm terrified no one but my family will come. Oh, augh. Nervous.)

#2 – BOOKCLUB GIRL!

Wednesday, March 17th, 7pm EST (4pm on the West Coast)  LINK HERE

This is way cool. I'll be on the radio, and you can either call in live and chat about the book, or email questions in to the show, AND THEY'RE GIVING AWAY FREE YARN! KnitPicks gift certs, to be exact.

#3 – LOS ANGELES WITH CRAZY AUNT PURL!

Knitter's Studio, 8118 West 3rd St, Los Angeles

Sunday, March 21, 2pm

This is GOING TO BE SO AWESOME. Me, and Crazy Aunt Purl, Laurie Perry, together at last. We'll read a little, chat a little, and yuk it up a bit, too. I can't wait for this one. (I just realized I have no idea where I'm staying that night. I didn't even realize it had come up on me this quickly! I'm flying by the seat of my pants here, people! Wild and crazy, footloose and fancy-free!)

Either way, I'd love to chat with ya, wherever you are. 

And now, I'm going back to sitting on the covered front porch that we redid this weekend. As soon as I hang the curtains, I'll show you a picture. We've reclaimed the room we used for dumping stuff and we've made it into a place to read, write, and watch the world go by. I'm so happy about that. I have sun shining on my neck and cats sitting in the warm spots near me. It's good.

Hey, guess WHAT?

I'm going to Stitches South, all three days! (And there's just the slightest chance I might get over to Maryland Sheep and Wool, too, just for Sunday, but that's still up in the air — let's hope!) At Stitches, I'll have a table at Carolina Homespun, and I'm so excited, for a couple of reasons.

Reason #1 – I've never been to Atlanta. What should I do there? I've always wanted to go there, and I can't WAIT to see the city.

Reason #2 – I adore Morgaine and Carolina Homespun. I actually bought my first wheel, my Ashford Joy, from her. The funny part about it is that we're both from the Bay Area, but I fell in love with the wheel (and the price) at Maryland Sheep and Wool, and I couldn't wait to buy it until I got home, so I bought it there. (I am not always sensible about these things. On the same trip, I packed a container so full of wool and taped it shut with duct tape that I begged the airport clerk not to open it. "It'll EXPLODE!" I said. NOT A GOOD IDEA TO SAY THIS AT THE AIRPORT.)

I carted my new wheel through security (I got some strange looks from the screeners, but they let me pass), and then pulled it out in the waiting area. People stared at me while I spun, and several people commented that I shouldn't be allowed to have such a contraption in the secured area.

Then a security guard approached me. He wore a turban and frown. I assumed he was going to shut down my spinning operation, since the TSA does, after all, have the ultimate authority to decide what can and can't be done or taken on board a plane. Instead, he leaned forward and said conspiratorially, "I used to spin. In my homeland. But I used a charka. Do you know what that is?" Proof again that fiber folk are the BEST.

#3 Charlie is there.