Thursday, November 18, 2010

Long Time....Finally Home

October has been a whirlwind month, and I've been on the road every weekend. I am finally home until Jan, 2011, and am loving it. October was San Diego, Rhinebeck, a wedding in Vermont, and then Stitches East. I just got back nfrom Dayton OH. So let's back up to San Diego.

The North Coast Knitting Guild is a lovely guild with many members. It was nice and warm there, which was a plus, and I stayed with a buddy of mine, Linda Walters, who I met on my Norway/Austria knitting trip many years ago. We had such fun together talking, breathing, and almost eating knitting! She took me to a wonderful quilt shop, but alas, we got there 10 minutes before closing time. I went racing through the shop, loving everything I saw, but unable to make a decision about what to buy in such a short amount of time. Frustration!!


Rhinebeck....what is there to say.......sheep and wool festivals are the best fun around. Even though I taught for 4 days and hardly got a chance to shop, it was heaven just knowing that right outside my classroom there were 100's of vendors with beautiful things that I wanted to purchase. I did get a chance to buy some beautiful alpaca, 2 bowls with rabbits on them, a Golding spindle (love at first sight because I already have one that I love), and some Coopworth roving to spin on it. My students were so much fun, and were such lovely people. For 4 days I was surrounded by people who loved animals and fiber as much as I did.


My friend Donna's daughter had a lovely wedding in Vermont, which we attended. Because we were not going to be home until late at night I asked a friend to come into the house and put the birds in their cages and feed our bunny. The bunny was no problem, and she finally was able to use human wit over bird wit to get the birds into their cages. But we forgot to tell her is that the parrot is an escape artist. When we walked into the house, there he was, sitting on the back of a kitchen chair! He's able to lift up the little door by his food dish and scoot out.


Stitches East.......another fantastic show where I was surrounded by knit-lovers and gorgeous products in the market. To top all of this fun, the very next weekend was a fiber festival in Massachusetts. We stopped at the booth of Knitting Out Loud, and here is a picture of us.






Here is a picture of me and my favorite fiber-producing animals at the New England Fiber Festival.

I just got back from the Dayton Knitting Guild. What a great time I had with these guild members. Every single one had a fabulous sense of humor, and it seems like we probably laughed more than we knit. We had potluck lunches for both days of classes, but the greatest thing this guild did was break out a box of chocolates every day when people seemed to be fading. After a delicious chocolate (or 2!), we were all ready to get back to work. The guild sent me home with a 1.5 lb box of these chocolates. Oh my!!! I miss all of them already.






Monday, September 27, 2010

The Sock Blank




This title strikes me as sort of funny, as socks are anything but BLANK!! But for those of you who are new to this, a sock blank is a machine-knit piece of fabric about 12" wide and about 18" long. It is knit using two strands of sock yarn. You can dye this blank in any way you like, then ravel it out and knit with it. Some people suggest knitting straight from the blank and doing 2 socks at the same time. I know that the crinkles in the yarn would drive me nuts, so I raveled it out while it was still wet from dyeing and let it dry on my skein winder.

The first step is to soak the blank in water for at least 1 hour, but I always just loose track of the time, and I sometimes remember it the next day. Not to worry; it's always fine. I decided I wanted the socks to come out with lightning zigzags, so experimented with dyeing vertical stripes up the blank. Here is a picture of it partially painted with the stripes. and then raveled and drying on the skein winder.


When the yarn was knit up, alas, I did not get lightning zigzags, but I did love the the look of it.


Tomorrow is another day, another experiment. Today was busy doing secretarial work; I had to book a plane ticket and submit proposals to various places. I did get some time to work on my double knitting. I am teaching a class on this at Stitches East in Hartford Oct 28-31. It is a fascinating topic and very fun to do.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

self-striping sock yarn

The other day I decided to dye a 20 yd skein of sock yarn to make self-striping yarn. It was great fun. Here are the pictures to prove it, and the socks came out pretty nice. Of course, it's alot easier to just buy the yarn! I decided to try the two socks on two circulars. It was tough going at first, then I got used to it. By the time I finished the gussets (the bottom side of the toes are shown in this picture), I had had it. I put them on my beloved double pointed needles to finish them off one at a time. These socks are, of course, knit using the Strick-ly Socks method...that is, the toes and heels are knit flat. Everything is started at the base of the toes.

Here's the finished sock. There are diagonal ribs on the cuff, which are hard to see because the bright stripes sort of obscure them.


Stay tuned for my experiment with dyeing a sock blank.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Coventry Farmer's Market

Today was one of those beautiful and rare days that happen in September. Just when you think summer is over, you get a treat. The temperature was summer-like, but of course the light is totally different, and by 5 PM, it has already cooled off. To me, these days are better than summer.


Once a year, the Farmer's Market of Coventry holds its Fiber Day. Besides the usual summer food produce booths, there are booths of yarn, fiber, animals, and special demonstrations and presentations. It is held at the Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry. Nathan Hale is probably the most famous Connecticut resident. He gave up his life in 1776 when he was tried and hung as a spy. His famous last words, "I regret I have but one life to give for my country" are familiar to every American.


Ken and I set out from our home in Mansfield, 11 miles away, on our bikes. We arrived just as the market was opening. The very first stop was to see some adorable angora rabbits. Poor little guys were pretty hot already, but their considerate owner draped some cloth over their cage to give them some shade. Next were the beautiful and long-necked alpaca babies who refused to look at my camera. As always, you can smell the kettle corn wherever you happen to be. I was lured into a booth that sold both alpaca yarn and roving. I deliberated over the roving for the entire time, then decided that I already have lots of it at home. We bought some corn and tomatoes and headed home on our bikes.


These guys refused to look at me!

Can you smell it?
English tea treats and authentic Colonial garb.



Can you imagine this sock display?





I've been busy doing things that are not really related to my actual work, and when this happens, I know exactly why I am doing it. It's procrastination in the highest form. I decided I needed to dye some self-striping sock yarn. Why? I have no clue, but I had to do it. Now that's it's all dyed, I have to knit the socks from it. I am going to try the Strick-ly Socks method but do two at a time on two circulars. I have never been a real fan of this method, as I love my double points. The idea is there, so I have to do it. I have tons of other work to do, but these side-tracks happen to me every now and then, and I guess it's just my mind saying, "take a break." So I do.
Strick-ly Socks is now up at Amazon, and I gotten a few nice reviews. I've got to get to work on Strick-ly Shawls. There are some really beautiful ones I am working on, and lots more in my head. Here's hoping for another gorgeous summer day tomorrow!




Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Wool in Broadway

I have finally had some time to look over all the pictures from England, and I have located a particular one that I wanted to post. While in the beautiful village of Broadway we literally walked right into a yarn shop. Actually, in England, if you want yarn, you must call it wool. So we literally walked right into a WOOL shop. The owner, Pat, was lovely in every way, and I came out of the store with 6 skeins of Debbie Bliss Rialto 4-ply merino wool in a beautiful hue of coral. I talked with Pat about what's hot in knitting in the UK, and while socks are knit there, they are not the huge hit that they are here in the states. Here is a picture of the two of us in the shop.
Pat's shop is perfect in every way....a great selection of quality yarn, friendly advise, and she even had needlepoint for sale. Are you getting the drift of this needlepoint thing with me? I am in love with needlepoint!!! I love the finished product, and I love doing it. It's the perfect way to calm down while enjoying colors and wool.
Tomorrow I am flying off to Chicago for Stitches Midwest, which is always a good time. I will be teaching Knitting Backwards, Thumbing the Purl, Tradition!, Kumihimo, and The Ripple Effect.
I am hoping to score a few of the Signature circular needles which are just out.
For Stitches East, which will be in Hartford, CT on Oct 28-31, I will be teaching a new class called Double Dare. It is double knitting with double colors using two hands.
I will be teaching at Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival on Oct 14-17. I LOVE sheep and wool festivals, because not only is there yarn there, but also all things dealing with yarn....rovings, fleeces, spinning wheels and spindles, etc. It's an amazing array of color and texture.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Home Sweet Home?

I'm home. I'm not necessarily happy about it, but all good things must come to an end. If it weren't for everyday life, a vacation would be meaningless. We had three glorious weeks of vacation; now we are faced with the sometimes mundane things in life, like getting your own meals! Also, here in CT it is hot and humid, totally unlike England. It is hard to get used to that humidity again. OK, I'm done with complaining.

I am excited about the new things connected with my work. One of the great things to look forward to is the brand new VogueKnittingLive, which will be in NYC on Jan 21-23. It is a huge and impressive line-up of teachers, classes, and market, and is in mid-town Manhattan. I am off to Chicago on Wed for Stitches Midwest, which is always a great venue. Then in October there is Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival to look forward to. And of course, there are always those new designs lurking in my head that are just begging to be tried out with needles and yarn.

Back to the vacation.....when the Queen Mary pulled into NY harbor at 5 AM, the entire ship was up and out on deck to see the view. It was impressive to see Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty all lit up in the pre-dawn hours of the morning. People were even drinking champagne at that hour. Here are a few more pictures of England and our trip, and I promise, this is the last of it!!

Chocolate covered strawberries and champagne awaited us in our cabin onboard the ship.
Hiking through the Cotswolds always took you straight through sheep meadows. Here's my little sheep friends who seem to have the idyllic life.

This is the architecture of a typical Cotswold town. Most of the buildings were built out of the local limestone, which has turned a honey-color as it aged.

I promise I will not speak of my vacation again. It is time to buckle down to work and stop mooning over how delicious it was to NOT work!!









Saturday, July 31, 2010

England in a Nutshell

The beautiful Cotswolds...words cannot describe the beauty of this part of England. From the lush rolling hills to the grazing sheep in the meadows, to the pristine little villages and country cottages built of honey-colored stone, the Cotswolds are your quintessential England. Today was a visit to Anne Hathaway's cottage, a beautifully kept 15th century cottage with gardens beyond compare. There I succumbed to a counted-cross stitch picture of the cottage. Thankfully, it is very small, so it's possible I will finish it in my lifetime. Last night we saw a production of Julius Caesar by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Again, no words for this. It was a highlight of the trip. Here are few pictures of Anne's cottage:








A few days ago we did a 10 mile hike from Bourton-on-the-Water through the Upper and Lower Slaughters; through hill and dale, meadows of sheep and cows, to a well deserved pub lunch 1/2 way through. Could I walk the next day? Barely. Was it worth it? Yes.

We have walked through the little villages of Broadway and Chipping Camden. In Burford I scored big time, finding a needlework and yarn shop all rolled in together. I bought Elizabeth Bradley needlepoint, and some counted cross stitch. The yarn was upstairs, and passed this time, but in the next yarn shop I bought some Rowan. The shopkeeper, Pat, was more than happy to listen to me prattle on about my new book, and even said she was going to order some for the shop.

Ducking into 15th century buildings for a spot of tea and a sweet treat, or just strolling the side streets and marveling over the beauty of the old houses, this has been a trip filled with a million gorgeous sights.

We are now at our last B and B. The view from our bedroom is that of a rolling meadow with grazing sheep. Ditto for the view from the john in the bathroom.



Today I fulfilled my dream of sitting in an English country garden sipping tea and working on my English needlepoint. Why does tea taste so much better when served to you in a garden filled with roses? Why do the English have such gorgeous gardens, and all I can grow is stones? The weather.....cool, never too hot, and apparently just the right amount of rain. True, it does rain almost every day, but so far, we have not encountered torrential downpours...just light drizzle or showers. The sky can clear as fast as it can cloud up and rain.

Tomorrow we are visiting Hidcote gardens, maybe another beautiful little village, maybe we will have a grand tea in the afternoon...who knows. On Monday we drive back to Southampton where we will catch the QM2 to steam home, having the much deserved rest from too much sight-seeing!!
Cheers to all!!
Candace’s Log, July 26, 2010-07-26

We are waiting to disembark from the Queen Mary 2 after 6 days at sea. Yesterday, the last day, was the only day we saw the sun. The rest of the trip was shrouded in fog and 95% humidity. Nevertheless, it was great fun. This was our schedule, give or take a few particulars.

9:00 AM: Wake up, go down for breakfast and be served in the grandest style possible. Order anything you want. I went for the fresh fruit and yogurt, Ken ate everything!

10:30 AM: Go to gym and workout for 1 hour on the exercise bike, do yoga, stretching and weight lifting for ½ an hour, walk around the promenade deck for one hour.
Back to the room to shower, then down to the buffet for lunch. Platters and platters of all kinds of fresh fruit, salads, cheeses, 3 or 4 hot buffets, lots and lots of desserts. Each day was a different specialty, set up in the middle. One day was sushi, one day was a chocolate buffet, etc.
After lunch there could be a movie in the planetarium, or a concert by the string quartet, or deck sitting and knitting. Deck sitting can easily turn into a nap.

3:30 PM: Tea in the Queen’s room. You sit down at a little table covered with white linen and beautifully set with fine china. Waiters come around with little sandwiches, scones and pastries, and tea or coffee. They even had gluten free cakes and scones for me.

4:30 PM: Back to the deck to sit, knit/read.

6:00 PM: Go for a swim and then sit in the hot tub.

7:30 PM Dress for dinner



8:30 PM: Dinner in the dining room. There were 4 formal nights, so Ken was in his tuxedo, and I was in my long dress. Three days into the voyage the long dress got too tight to wear. It was abandoned for a looser style. We had a table by a window in the dining room, so we were able to watch the ocean as we ate, and the last night we saw a glorious sunset over the water.

10:30 PM: Dancing in the Queen’s Room or in the disco. While I hated the music in the disco, it felt fabulous to be able to move around fast to displace all the food from dinner!!

12:00 or later, as we had to turn the clocks ahead 1 hour each day, sleep.

The ship is beautiful, the food is wonderful and abundant, and the relaxation that comes with all of this is well worth the price. For a few days one can forget about world strife and all the problems of everyday life. There is a library on board, and last summer I checked out Wally Lamb’s novel, The Hour I First Believed. I got to chapter 16. This time I checked it out, read considerably further, and hope to check it out on the return trip and finally finish it. Did I knit? YOU BET…in between the naps on the deck. I had started a cotton lace top before we left, and just finished it this morning before breakfast. I am now working on a second linen skirt; also have some socks going.

There even was a meeting every day at 2 PM for people who do needlework. I went once, and saw what everyone was working on. One woman was doing bobbin lace, which was totally incredible; another was doing counted cross stitch, another doing needlepoint. There was a few sock knitters, a sweet teenage girl doing knitting, and assorted other knitters. Who woulda thunk….

Once we disembark we are getting the rental car and heading up into the Cotswalds. Do I miss home? A little bit. More later when I can finally connect to the internet. The prices onboard the ship to connect are ridiculous.

One last thing…I was in a shop onboard and saw the most beautiful crocheted bolero. I bought it. But of course intend to make one exactly like it when I get home.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Oh no!!

It's inevitable; we found the first errata in Strick-ly Socks. Here it is:

Strick-ly Socks, page 54, Happy Feet Basketweave SocksBasketweave pattern for round 14 should read: (P1,K1)3x, p1, P7 ( instead of K7 as written), (p1, k1)3x, p1.

I think it is pretty minor, and the person who drew it to my attention was able to see exactly what was wrong and do it the correct way. There are blocks of ridges in between blocks of ribbing. To make the ridges when working in the round, every other round needs to be purled.

Now that I know I am going away on vacation, I somehow have gotten a whole new burst of creativity. This is lethal; I want to bring all my new projects along to work on, but I know that I won't have room in the luggage, and that I probably won't be able to spend as much time on them as I want. There will be sightseeing to do, driving on the wrong side of the road (I have to sit shotgun while Ken drives, reminding him every few miles to keep left!). Yes, we are going to England; Cotswalds, to be specific. I will try to post pictures from our B and B's, and write about what we are doing. The almost best part of the trip will be taking the Queen Mary 2 transatlantic both ways. Deck 7 is the Promenade deck, and I love to sit on a deck chair and knit, but mostly I get lured away from it by watching the ocean. It's constantly changing colors, and it never ceases to amaze me. Spending 6 days on this ship is like stepping off of the real world. For a few glorious days, all the troubles of earthly life disappear. It's just me, Ken, the ocean, and doing whatever we want whenever we want.

So what about my burst of creativity? I finished my linen skirt and absolutely love it--want to start another one; have started a cotton lace top to wear over a tank top, have several new shawls in my head that I want to start (next book is Strick-ly Shawls), and of course socks.England is filled with beautiful needlepoint, so I have no doubts that I will come home with some.

Monday, July 12, 2010

The new Video at YouTube

It's finally here-- our new video at YouTube showing how to do the Strick-ly Socks provisional cast-on. Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCo_BY3mCF4
Let me know what you think of my Hollywood debut!!

Friday, July 9, 2010

TKGA in Manchester, New Hampshire

I'm here teaching at the TKGA (The Knitting Guild of America) annual conference. Yesterday I taught my class entitled 2 by 2 to a lovely group of women. It is all about how to use 2 colors to jazz up your knitting. Today I teach Austrian Traveling Twisted Stitches for 6 hours, and tomorrow I will be teaching my new class called Vivaldi's Concerto. Musicians like to make fun of Vivaldi because they say he wrote one concerto 400 times. The class is all about how to make a sweater from the top down, and all the variations you can do with this construction.

Last night I signed books at the Elegant Ewe booth, but had a chance for a quick run through the market. My most favorite "needle people" were there, Tom and Linda Diak, with their gorgeous hand-crafted needles. They are from Grafton, Vermont. Tom makes the needles and Linda makes gorgeous batts of blended roving. Both products lure me in every single time.

Here's a picture of the smooth and fabulous needles, size 0, of course, for socks.
Here's a link to their website
www.dyakcraft.com

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Judy Pascale doesn't knit socks, but..........

Below is what my dear friend Judy Pascale has to say about Strick-ly Socks. She was unable to post it in the comments part of the blog for some reason. I promised her I would put it somewhere on the blog.


Candace’s newest book Strick-ly Socks utilizes an unconventional technique that makes me (not usually a sock knitter) eager to try knitting some. As her frequent teaching and traveling companion, I have had the opportunity to watch her develop each fascinating step to her technique---from toe to heel so to speak.
The great thing about socks is they come in pairs so you’re sure to have double the fun.

Enjoy,
Judy Pascale


Judy and I did a knitting cruise to Bermuda in May, 2009. It was great fun. Here's a picture of Judy sampling different flavors of rum cake!. She liked them all!!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

The perks of my job

I have to admit it, I have a great job. I get no health insurance, no sick days, no retirement, no nothing...but I get YARN. And in the long run, that's all that really matters, right?

I was in Columbus teaching at Knitter's Connection, where there was a lovely market. I was walking through looking for potential yarns for my new book on shawls. Buffalo Gold!! There it was, the yarn that everyone has been talking about. Expensive, soft, beautiful shades of colors as well as natural colors and blends. I introduced myself, and the gracious owners offered me any yarn in the booth. Since I did not want to take yarn that might be a potential sale right then and there, I had them send me the skeins I requested. It came today. Here is a picture of it. It is called "Lux" and is a blend of 45% American bison down/20% cashmere/ 20% silk, and 15% Tencel, all in a sofly shaded color called Mountain Berry. You can see other beautiful yarns at their website





Another beautiful yarn I received was from Kimber Baldwin of Fiber Optic Yarns. She said to me, "Take anything you would like from the booth." Now isn't this just the height of generosity? I chose a very bright, citrus colored skein, and even started knitting the shawl.

You can see the other beautiful yarns at her website kimberba@kimberbaldwindesigns.com

She is a chemist, and really knows how to dye!!


One more thing...I met a woman who makes incredible knitting bags, and her name is Barb Parsons. I asked her if she could make a bag specifically for sock knitters who use double pointed needles. Now this is SPECIFIC! I always am loosing my point protectors, and if I don't use them, the next time I pull the sock out of the bag, parts of the stitches are always off the needles. She came up with an brilliant velcro tab system inside the bag. You insert your needle ends into the space, press the tabs down, and your needles stay put. Here is a picture of the beautiful bag she sent me. These bags are only $40, and the workmanship is incredible. You can contact her at bg@parsonsEtc.com

I know I said before "one more thing", but there is one more thing. I have 1/2 ton of yarn (literally) in my basement, which is for my business Merging Colors. This does not stop me from buying yarn. At Columbus I scored 3 skeins of 100% cashmere for a mere $18 per skein. I love yarn; I love to buy it, I love to touch it, I love to knit with it!!

Let me know if you are interested in other unique yarns that I come across in my travels. I really do like to promote the small, sole owner companies, using their yarn in my books and patterns. They work so hard to make all this gorgeous yarn for us.


Friday, July 2, 2010

Strick-ly Shawls

Now that Strick-ly Socks is out, it is time to turn my attentions to Strick-ly Shawls. I have almost all of the shawls knit at this time, but have to sit down and work on all the charts, and basically write the book. My wonderful test knitters have volunteered to knit some of the shawls.
I have gotten side-tracked a bit because of the call for class proposals. I came up with a few new classes that I am very excited about. One is called 3-D Scrappy Chic. It's fun, easy, and totally liberating. There are NO rules. And you can use up all kinds of leftover yarn. There are a few other classes that I came up with, but am still working out the details.
I just went to Facebook and decided to join. I got sort of tired doing it, then thought about the task of having to go there everyday and checking my mail, responding, etc. Then I got more tired thinking about it and closed the tabs. I know, I know...everyone says I HAVE to get on Facebook. Maybe another day when I am more awake!!
Thanks for reading, and thanks for the lovely comments about the sock book.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

I started the new skirt

I am excited to say I started the Cindy Craig skirt. I am doing the waistband now, and I love knitting with the Louet Euroflax linen. It is so hot and humid here that it is almost hard to knit, as my hands get so sweaty so fast. After doing a few new class proposals, I am going back to the skirt. I still have to figure out how to get pictures up on this blog. Once that happens, I can show the progress of it.
Stay cool everyone!

Monday, June 28, 2010

The Studio in Kansas City

I am back from a lovely weekend of teaching at The Studio in Kansas City. I had 4 great classes, wonderful snacks in the classroom and a group of fabulously friendly and loyal knitters. Many had taken my classes elsewhere before, and were brave enough to sign up again!! My new book, Strick-ly Socks, had its second debut there, the first being in Columbus at Knitter's Connection. It was well received both places, so I am very happy that people like it. One of the classes I taught at The Studio was on the new sock construction.
Cindy Craig, the manager of the store, was a lovely hostess, as was Alie, the owner, who's daughter, Emma, I had in a class at Stitches years ago when she was about 5 years old. It was mind-boggling to see Emma again, as she is taller than I am. I am very excited to start knitting Cindy's new skirt pattern, Flouncy Skirt, with some Louet linen that I have been saving for the perfect project. I think this it!
Isn't it a great feeling when you finally find that special pattern that you have been searching for? This is a basic stockinette stitch skirt but has a beautiful lace border at the bottom. Sometimes I just want to do miles of stockinette stitch, and when I am done with the miles, I have this wonderful lace bit to keep me happy.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

apparent Ravelry breach of etiquette

I finally, finally got around to seeing what Ravelry is all about. I have been a member for over a year, but have never really had the time to sit down and figure it all out. There are a million sock groups there, and I went looking around alot of them. Many are about one specific sock book, so I clicked here and there, and there was information about the book, a picture of it, where you can buy it, posts announcing where the author will be teaching, book signing, etc. To me, it was a form of advertising, but also in the same token, informational. And I took no offense.
So......I decided, based on what I had seen, to post a few messages at various sock groups announcing the arrival of my new book. Apparently, I worded one of them in such a way that a few members thought I was trying to self-promote my new book. All of us self-promote in some way, but for me, I assumed that people are interested when a new book comes out, and I meant my post to be merely informational.
Whenever the topic of my books come up, 9 times out of 10 someone will ask me about them. I don't think they are doing it to be merely polite; I think they geniunely want to know about them. I know that I am always interested in a new knitting book, and I seek out descriptions of it, where to buy it, etc.
All of this has gotten me quite stressed out. Those of you that have had me as a teacher know that I am just a pushover for kids and animals, and I really don't have a mean or bad bone in my body. I sometimes think that email, computer posts, etc can be so misunderstood, because you don't have the person's facial expressions to help you figure out what they really mean. People often just misinterpret the real meaning, over-analyze it, or read into it far too much.
I will try to post while on the road, but unless there is free wi-fi, I am much too cheap to pay, so will post when I get home.

I'm here


I have finally done it. I created a blog. So many people have asked me in the past if I have a blog, and my first thought is, "why would anyone want to know what is going on with me?" But I guess some people do. Most of what I write about will be knitting.

The first thing I want to announce is that my new book, Strick-ly Socks is finally here. Yarn shops can get it from Unicorn, Up North Fiber Arts Supply, and Wool and Wicker from Canada, and I will have it up on my website, http://www.strickwear.com/ very shortly. The new book is all about a new method of knitting the toes and heels flat. It sounds impossible, but there are no seams. I am going to put up a video soon on You Tube showing some of the techniques. I am teaching the class this weekend at The Studio in Kansas City, so if anyone is from that area and wants to sign up, please go to their website to get more information.



This is my first post, so I am a bit overwhelmed about what to say.