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June 7, 2008

Yarn store owners across the country are discovering Knitspeak.  The little pink book is flying off shelves and into knitting bags all over the place, according to the store owners I met at their trade show in Columbus.  Some are including it as course material for their beginner classes, others keep a desk copy near the register for reference.  A near-beginner knitter told me that she uses it all the time because patterns are new to her.  An advanced, been-knitting-for-years knitter told me that she's found it useful as well - can the book please most of the people most of the time??  I was pretty overwhelmed (and therefore wired!) by the folks who had actually read it, used it, and liked it.  I felt like they understood the gift I was trying to offer through the pages of the book.  In short, it was a lovefest all around!

February 16, 2008

This was not a true Knitspeak event, but an adulatory visit.  I dropped by the Abbott Yarn Shoppe in Beverly, MA to visit with Virginia McGlynn (the shop used to be on Abbott, but now it’s on Cabot, in case you are wondering).  It is probably the only yarn store in the world that has a cash register with a wooden handle and buttons for gas, oil, and t&t (tubes and tires – the register belonged to the original owner, who must have gotten it from a gas station).

Ms. McGlynn is the author of several self-published knitting pamphlets that have a very wide distribution, and rightfully so.  Her books and her encouragement were a strong inspiration for Knitspeak.  The late Mr. McGlynn’s whimsical illustrations in the books will make you smile.  Knitting Illustrated for Beginners and Others is a clear and concise handbook, Finishing Illustrated for Knitting and Crocheting is full of great tips and tricks; and Simple Knit and Crochet Patterns Illustrated for Watching TV While Talking on the Telephone could easily solve your “what to knit for family” problems for years with basic patterns for family hats, blankets, and stuffed bears.

September 15, 2007 – Candida’s

Giddy is the word my neighbor used to describe me when we encountered him in the alley behind our house. Richard was driving, as always, and I was shouting out the window, all made up and wearing my new “book signing outfit,” which can be seen in all the photographs of the signings so far. We should have known it, but both of us were completely bowled over by the feeling of love and celebration circulating around Candida’s that evening. My husband thought he was dutifully accompanying me to “one of those knitting things” in which he would be peripheral at best if there were no heavy furniture to move. Instead of crowds of knitting enthusiasts eager to have their Knitspeaks signed, there were friends of the first order, elated to see the new,pink book, and to talk with Richard and with me. In short,people we love and who love us. In the face of all that emotion, Husband promptly found a computer problem to solve and retreated with his friend from nursery school to solve it. I held forth about the book and answered questions, so happy to see all these great friends gathered in one place to help me celebrate. It was a great time. Oh, yes, and lots ofpeople bought books!

Candida’s World of Books
(pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, as in “Canada,” but with an extra “d”)

Store Hours
Tue. - Sat. 10 am - 9 pm
Sun. noon - 6 pm
Mon. closed

1541 14th Street, NW
Washington DC 20005
(202) 667-4811
toll-free (866) 667-4811
Fax (202) 667-4813
Email info@candidasworldofbooks.com

October 6, 2007 - Yarn Garden

Portland’s Youth Hostel is a great experience, party because its kitchen is so counter-intuitively and unexpectedly spic and span, and because there was a baby as a wake-up call rather than a rooster crow or somebody’s cell phone, and very much because it is a short walk to Grand Central Bakery where a jammer and coffee is a great way to start the day. Or end the day. Or spice up the middle of the day. A jammer is like a flakey scone with either berry or apricot jam in the middle. Probably a million calories and most likely containing lard; I don’t want my dreams busted, so I don’t want to know. I had to stop eating Ikea meatballs when I found out they had pork in them, so that I could hold my head up among friends and family who suffer my snootiness when it comes to avoiding pork in my food.

A couple of knitters who had attended the focus groups came to the signing, and it was a great moment when I could point to the page in the exact book where what they had discussed had taken root. The Yarn Garden is like a set of large boxcars full of colors. At one end is the pattern-and-gadget room, and at the other is the cafe. It's hard to decide which is the engine and which the caboose. Does the chai drive the knitting or do the patterns drive the knitter to sit with the chai and knit? The answer, of course, lies somewhere in the rooms in between, packed floor to ceiling with fabulous yarn.

Grand Central Bakery & Cafe
www.grandcentralbakery.com
2230 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Portland, OR
(503) 445-1600

October 8, 2007- Canvas Works

525 Columbia St SW
Olympia, WA 98501
http://canvasworks.net

Canvas Works is ample store, almost cavernous among yarn stores, but that is because it also houses fabric and other delights that a knitter should ignore because of the known peril of fabric stashing. One acquisitive addiction is bad enough, thank you. The store was buzzing on the evening of the book signing, with an upstairs class in the loft and a knitting gathering below. The store staff and the two captive audiences were gracious about hosting and listening to my book spiel in the midst of all the other activity. Books were bought. Then dinner was had at Swing Wine Bar overlooking Capital Lake. http://www.swingwinebar.com/

October 13, 2007 - Stitches East

At Eleganza Yarns booth #125

The Saturday morning book signing at Stitches East in Baltimore turned into a Sunday afternoon book signing when yours truly, the author, forgot to bring books along. Stitches was a bit intoxicating so I did not stray far from Eleganza’s booth for fear I’d never find my way home. Eleganza had great show specials and cool knitting t-shirts, and I had to keep reminding myself I was there to sell, not to buy. With all due respect to Paul, Kristi and Lenni of Eleganza, the highlight of the afternoon was when a nice person who works in a yarn store came over to say that she had seen Knitspeak at her store, browsed through a copy, and immediately advise the owner to order 17 copies. Wow!! Flattering? I’d say so!

October 20, 2007 - Yarn in the Farms

Home territory of sorts. I live in a big city. The nearest post office is over a mile away, the branch library just about as far. We have one large grocery store and a smattering of restaurants. The nearest yarn store is clear across town, and that’s something of a new phenomenon. My dad lives in a teeny, tiny village on the north shore of Massachusetts. In the center of the tiny village is a gourmet French-style bakery, a high-end Italian bakery, world-class dining, a fabulous wine store, a post office, a branch library, a bookstore, a gorgeous beach, and more (Dentist! Print shop! Gas Station! Car Repair Place! Hair Salon! Pizza Shop! Bank!). If you walk away from the center of town, there is an ex-train station that houses a handmade chocolate shop. But even closer than all these conveniences, even closer than a cup of coffee, or a gallon of milk is: A FABULOUS YARN STORE!!!! Could Beverly Farms be any closer to Paradise??

Yarns in the Farms is truly a special place. I was struck by a "duh" moment (the opposite of an "aha" moment), while visiting for the book signing party for Knitspeak. As part of the event, I asked a set of trivia questions, some having to do with common knitspeakish abbreviations and pattern syntax that are covered in my book, and others having to do with the culture and history of knitting. It turned out that very few of the questions went unanswered and it gave me another picture of the value of the community - as individuals we did not have all the answers to these knitting condundra, but as a group, we knew the answers to all kinds of brain-stumpers and oddments having to do with patterns, and stitches, and tendencies of knitted fabric. Sure, there are books like mine out there on the market to help you through, but on some random day of head-scratching and hair-pulling-out over one's knitting, how much more rewarding to stumble intoYarns in the Farms, have a cup of tea and sit on the couch, and get one's questions answered in person, in community.

November 3, 2007

Springwater Fiber Workshop was winding up its weaving class as I got there, and the fall day was still clear and sunny, so people mostly skeedaddled out of the shop to cram in an hour of sunshine enjoyment. Except, that is, for my cousin (first, once removed) Ellen and her friend Rise who stayed to hang out and talk knitting, among other things.

November 10, 2007...

... is gearing up to be a great day at Shuttles, Spindles & Skeins in the
Table Mesa Shopping Center in Boulder, CO. The shop has the books and a sign up, my mother-in-law is providing cake (for the store) and a pedicure (for me) in honor of the occasion, and then a reception back at the house for family and friends. More later.