Happy New Year! (Almost)

I know it's traditional to do the whole retrospective/resolution thing. Problem is a stink at resolutions (making or keeping) and I stink equally at paying enough attention in a twelve month span to recap anything. So instead we'll do a week in recap, and resolve...well...nothing.

The holidays made things go by very quickly. I was treated on Thursday to a visit from Miss Em. She and her mom and soon to be brother (long story) Isaac stopped by for gift exchanging and Chinese food eating. Em made a new friend. She fell hard for Marvel, and spent a lot of time dragging him around and riding him and hugging him. She also has a penchant for books, so she and Girl read quite a bit. I am glad that Meg is practicing any child-rearing skills she may have on Emily and April and Aidan. They are entertaining, enjoyable, and perhaps most importantly RETURNABLE. She has proven that when her time comes, IF it comes, she would make an excellent mother. Makes me all proud. Prouder still at her determination to, oh, finish college and get married first. I am now debating getting Em a Marvel of her own for birthday...but there's so much other stuff she could have and Marvel could be a 'Melissa's house only' kind of thing...maybe I will content myself with tiny boots and an itty bitty cowgirl hat and some toy kitchen parts or something. Or more books. This is one smart cookie, as 22 month old babies go. She reminds me of Girl, which is hysterical if you know that Kristie said she could have a girl "...only if it's a girl like Meg was." That she managed to strike the jackpot and get a Meg-like kid is too funny.

We had a visit from April on Saturday. We got to babysit her twice in one day! We had a blast. We gave her her cupcake hat. We had a few bottles, and did a little napping and changing of the diaper. Awesome. You know you're a grandmother when changing diapers is fun. She's such a beautiful little thing, and I adore her to bits. She was very well-behaved while here, although I hear from her mom that she's not so sweet and peaceful at 3AM. I remember sleepless times with her dad. We had an old black and white TV with rabbit ears that was broken so the image was sideways (vertical?) and the TV could really only be watched if you were lying on your right side or if the TV was on it's side. I remember spending a lot of nights trying to sleep on the couch with Dan beside me doing his best imitation of a Very Awake Baby. Oh, that cat? He loves her. If she wiggles or whines he's right there, glaring at me for being remiss in not anticipating her every need. Hannah was the same way with Aidan. It's the coolest thing. (Yes. Disney Si and Am pajamas and the Brad Paisley shirt Mr W. won me in Portland. So I am in my jammies. We're looking at the kid, remember?)

Lest you think I've forgotten knitting in favor of Pseudo-Aunt and Omie activities, observe: I finished Mr W's quick and easy 2:2 ribby toe-ups today. The yarn is Franklin in Mountain Spring (closest thing to a Mr. W. colorway we've got going on there), with some navy blue Jawoll reinforcing yarn at the heel. I noticed his Lorna's looked a bit frayed, so thought maybe I'd extend the life of his socks a bit. This is one of two pictures...the other has him very Tinkerbell on toes after Girl informed him that he was doing it wrong and needed to get up on his toe more. If he didn't read this occasionally, I'd post it. But we don't want to make him squeamish. We may need him to pose more in future (especially since I cast on another pair for him as soon as the first were off the needles. Toe-up again, Brooks Farm Acero, and going with me to TNNA I have decided. Airplane knitting. For the. um. airplane. ride. with the. xanax. and the wine. yeah. it'll be great. sure.)

I also swatched and sketched. Or swatched last week and sketched this week. Started drafting patterns for these three swatches; two vests and a sweater. I am still not sure which is going where. The yarns are Colrain, Sheffield and Sheep Three. They all may end up self-published. Or they all may end up sold. Or a mix of the two. I debated submitting one of the vests to Knitty, but since the deadline is January 5th for spring and since I have not even cast the thing on yet that seems presumptuous, even for me. There is a limit. My fingers can fly. But miracles are a bit beyond me. Four days to write, knit and photograph a design...if I could embrace it as a challenge and go on the offensive it might work. The Colrain jacket I am planning to self-publish. That is sort of a hard and fast decision I made when I first saw the inspiration. It's a keeper I think!

Last but not remotely least I received a little package in the mail today from a certain blogger who was born on January first. Perhaps you've heard of January One? and Spin-Out? Always a fan of a worthy cause and with a particular soft spot for agriculture and humanitarian causes, I donated to Heifer for Spin-Out this year. Well, who needs Santa when there's Cara??? Even after I managed to inadvertently delete her first email in a haze of celebratory Christmas bliss (tequila, anyone?), I still managed to win! Check this out -

Much Awesomeness!
One skeins of Sundara Sock in Raspberry. Mmmmm. Two hanks of Capistrano Fiber Arts in a limited edition color that is VERY me, like super really very me. It looks like berry chocolate mousse, and we all know how I feel about that. Then there's a Sock Pal Bag from Mad Caterpillar, complete with simple sock pattern, darning needle and kitchener instructions and stitch markers. Last but not least a huge (whopping whackload) of Hello Yarn Mixed Berry Fat Sock - 512 yards. It is so big I cannot decide what to do with it. I just ogle a lot. Also included was a Hello Yarn magnet and small sheep (loved the small sheep nestled in the yarn) and a Spin Out magnet, two samples of Soak, and two photocards from Hello. It was a good day to be me!

Now I will go eat bad food (chocolate chili sirloin steak, garlicky mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts followed by tortilla chips, Smartfood, dinner of champions!), watch stupid movies, and maybe crack some champagne and lower a candle from the rooftop at midnight. Have a Happy and SAFE New Years Eve, and catch you in 2008!

'Twas the Day Before Christmas

And the blogger realized she had not posted in, oh, forever, so she sat down and started typing randomness as it flowed from her brain.
Oldest Stepson is due sometime today. Girl and Mr. W are at work. I have had a sauna and a shower and am prepared for MIL's gathering this evening. The gifts are wrapped, the cookies are baked. Hell, this is, baking the cookies of my childhood and not being able to touch them. Truly hell. It's almost painful, watching Girl and Mr Wonderful lap up batter and nibble on delicate spritz cookies while I stand by, sighing, and despising my gluten free lifestyle. I could, given time, approximate the cookies using "alternative" flour. But please, let's be real. Will a rice and garbanzo based spritz cookie even be CLOSE to the real thing? I think not. Meringues for me, thanks. Girl reminisced about her childhood and the thousands of cookies we've baked over the years. I limited it to four varieties this time for my sanity. We did Vanilla Spritz, Almond Spritz (both shown here) then Ginger Creams and Meringues for me. Well, and other people, but me really.
In other exciting news, I got to BABYSIT!! This blog could become nothing more than a repository for images and experiences of grand motherhood. I will resist the urge, but will say that we had, during our four hour visit, a prolonged conversation about knitting. April enjoys watching Omie knit. She's amazingly alert when awake, loves to hold her head up and look about her. She was fascinated by my knitting the way Aidan was fascinated by bright lights (earning him the title "Bug Boy" - as in moth to a flame?). Stared and made lovely O's with her tiny mouth, and was very intent on learning the difference between knit and purl. I took, of course, pictures. I wanted pictures of her with needles, but must wait until I have an assistant to hold the camera. OK, look at he picture, and give a collective "AWWWwww!!!" because she is, is she not, the most adorable thing ever?? She looks less like her father now, and a bit more like her mom although she retains bits of my son. I love her. She smiled at me. Gas, sure, but melts me anyway.
In all of the excitement of the book launch I forgot about this - for quite some time my knitting books had been gathering in piles in front of the bookcase intended to hold them. It was a disaster. We researched new bookcases and were quickly put off by the cost ($800?? For unfinished pine shelves?? I don't think so). We needed them to fit perfectly in one space, so just running out and buying something was not going to work. Thanks to Katy and her Ikea catalog we found something we thought might work. One drive to New Haven and we returned with this - a semi-custom library area using the Billy shelving system that cost us a whopping $190 - not, i suppose, including the drive, or the lunch out, but still a far cry from $800 for unfinished pine. We also snagged the wood and kindling boxes and the rug they sit on. The dog we already owned. Practically an Ikea catalog shot, isn't it? I LOVE it now. Everything is more or less organized, although I have not settled on the categories, so the little labels for the bookends are not in yet. I must consider more, ponder a while. Try to think like Dena. Katy tried to find the little bookends at Ikea and couldn't. I don't even know how Mr W. found them - I wasn't with him. They are perfect though, with a slot to put a label in for ultimate library organization.
Speaking of Katy, as a reward for her stellar brilliance in creating my postcards and posters, and the template for my patterns, and for dreaming up the idea of having people knit me chickens, I got her a small token. You will all be shocked, as I know I was, to hear that Young Katy was deprived of that American institution known as the Easy Bake Oven. Every year she asked and every year was disappointed. I can relate, sort of. I always wanted a horse and never got one. And I had my hand-me-down Easy Bake Oven taken from me and really never recovered. So what, I was trying to bake a little pan of house paint. No harm, no foul, right? My parents did not agree and my oven was confiscated. I blame my mother. If she'd just given me the leftover cake batter there would have been no issue. I managed to find, on eBay (love eBay!!) not just any Easy Bake Oven, but a classic vintage one, nearly mint in it's original box with a popcorn popper accessory. I have told her that I expect to be fed a gluten-free easy bake feast sometime very soon. At the least I need to see the popcorn popper accessory in action. Popcorn in an Easy Bake? Modern kids so miss out on life.
Knitwise, I finished April's Hermine although it is huge, or looks it when I look at her. I love the colors, love the way it knit up. And I didn't even change the pattern. Much. Well, maybe just a tiny and unnoticeable bit. Now I have to decide what to do with it. Do I put it up till she grows? Do I find a baby it will fit now? Decisions, decisions. April has a lot of little duds already. Technically, I suppose, she does not need another sweater.
I also submitted this scarf to The Smart Knitter newsletter and it was accepted. It will appear in the January issue. It is called the Auracauna Scarf because the color reminds me of the eggs we get from our blue egg laying hens, which are technically Americaunas, but who's counting? And the shape of the cable is ovid, egg-like. The yarn is Valley Yarns Sheffield, which is just a really really yummy blend of merino (70%), silk and angora (15% each). It feels like it costs a lot more than $18.00 to knit this scarf, which is why I love Valley Yarns so very much. Value. Bang for my buck. The ability to churn out a whole vest for $18 or a sweater for $35, or a luxury feel scarf for $18. What's not to love?
I also forgot to tell you all about our amazing anniversary evening which occurred the day before the launch. For those of you who are local, there's a little spot just north of here in Brattleboro, Vermont where this amazing group of people create the most delicious and decadent food in the valley. The place is TJ Buckley's, and they are open by reservation on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. To celebrate the launch and the anniversary we took Girl and Miss Tray Tray and Number One and his wife. Number One and I voted for a return trip in February for our birthdays. The place only holds about 18 people. In my dreams, we'd take the whole sample knitter crew up and take over. It's just unreal. Mr. Wonderful had scallops. I had bass. Everyone else had beef. The meal was, as always, exceptional. Everyone left happy and desperate to return. Mr Wonderful also gave me a pair of diamond earrings that will have me eating out of his hand for years. Or at least months. What a man. Diamonds, and all on his own. Brilliant. I am now neurotic about them, but assume this will fade in time.
Everything has been kinda weird and off-center in Melissa's world for a few weeks. I suspect it'll get weirder. I don't feel drawn to wax poetic about anything. Actually I have been very into swatching, and suspect that when I return I will have something to show for it. I've got three garments in my head itching to get out. I feel obligated to release them. And there's always TNNA which I am sure will inspire at least a post or two, right? Or so they warn me.
Until next time, Merry Christmas!!

No words?

OK, that's probably a lie. I mean, really, when do I NOT have words? And I have pictures, too, of my first-ever book launch party which was a wildly rousing success thanks entirely to Kathy, Karen M., Mary, all of the Webs staff, and even Steve. And there's more people to thank - Gwen Steege and Erin Holman, my editors at Storey. The entire Storey team for taking a chance on an unknown, first-time author. The folks who knit samples for the book; Kristen, Katy, Tamara, Mary-Alice, Rue and Karen M. (Again. That Karen M, she's just an all around workhorse and general good egg, arriving at Webs at insane hours of the day to receive shipments of plastic feet and fetch and carry food and drink, knitting sample socks, you name it. Sheesh.). The folks who test knit for the book - but I am not entirely sure who they all were so I can't list, lest I leave half out. And Mr. Wonderful who I really did not thank properly in public, but I bet he's fine with that. And Amy, an amazing friend and publicity maven (all hail Amy!), who now can spin (spin, Amy, spin!!), and who has exceptional taste in gifts.

But, as usual, I digress. Too often in my life things are not uncomplicated. They generally end well, but the path to the end point is littered with spent kleenex and empty wine glasses and occasionally a body or two. This launch was no exception. I was greeted on Wednesday at Webs with the following information: a potentially large storm was headed for the Northeast, beginning late Saturday night into Sunday with projected snow totals ranging from 3 inches to 3 feet, threats of high winds, and the potential for significant icing. Sunday, December 16th. Of this year. Sunday of my launch party. Sunday with 160 odd registered attendees all heading for Webs. Sunday I have been waiting for all my life. My arch nemesis, Snow (aka 'White Death'), the one thing that could land me in Arizona or Texas as a permanent resident, was trying to ruin my book launch party.

After much discussion a plan was hatched - a plan I at first considered insane - to move the launch from Sunday to Saturday. I know that when Karen and Mary first mentioned this plan to me my response was somewhat less than stellar. I know my face probably showed what was in my mind; "they have got to be kidding they cannot be serious this is a joke right, this has to be a joke? oh.no.they.are.serious." Now, on the one hand my feeble and neurotic brain was relieved. I mean, move an event from one pre-holiday weekend day to another with 48 hours notice and you've probably reduced the guest list from 160 to more like 20, right? And being a somewhat neurotic person the idea of confronting 20 folks versus 160, well, that seemed sort of soothing. But what about the other 140? Once a decision was made to change the date of the event officially, Webs customer service staff went doggedly to work alerting people who'd registered via phone and email of the intended change. Really an amazing group of people because the message got through, because there was a whole lot more than 20 people present! Observe - full parking lot, cars as far as the lot extended in all directions they tell me:
Big room full of people:
I would not be exaggerating if I said that we were about five chairs shy of standing room only. At one point Mr. W got up to take a picture of the room and when he stepped back to take his seat, there was a knitter in it.

Me, behind Kathy, who's protecting the audience from Steve's questionable champagne opening skills:

For someone not accustomed to this activity I think he did pretty darn good under pressure.

Me trying to remember to speak s.l.o.w.l.y. while holding the rapt attention of my listeners:

The end of the post-speech signing line:

The front of the signing line:

It's not so much that the hand gets numb, as that it just fails to respond to the letters you are telling it to write. You say "OK, hand, make an h" and your hand says "No. I want to make an a." And then you try to negotiate. I discovered early on that getting annoyed with the hand only caused it to rebel more. "HAH! Tell me to make an h?? WATCH THIS!! ajksnfiuhniubntvi!! How'd you like THAT??"

Super cool people came - Number One:

April-in-December brought her mother and great-grandmother along, but really came only to steal Omie's heart again:

And a motley band of non-knitting teenagers. Well, OK, two can knit. And one's actually 21. And the rest are practically 20. But who's counting:

There was also Miss Tray-Tray who managed to escape the glare of Mr. W's flash, just about all of Tuesday morning drop-in, nearly all of Thursday night drop-in, Harriet, Jean, Ann B, Ann R, a TON of Ravelers and bloggers, Marcy without Liz (very sad), and Rebecca of the International Sock Crisis also without her Liz (also sad), and a host of others who I hope will shout-out in comments if they were there.
And me, sort of watching it all happen like a cross between slow motion and fast forward. I signed 108 books. I got chickens:

I love them all very much, but Ernie and Bert hold a special place in my heart as I envision a hungry Steve roaming the house in search of supper while Kathy perches in a chair insisting that she is making chickens and the whole house can go to hell for all she cares.
I came home with the amazing floral arrangement on the table at the front of the room, and it's bigger than my dining room but unbelievably beautiful thanks to Sharlene who is a genius. Perfect selection - no sneezing on the part of the author (phew!), and so beautiful! I also came home with feelings of warmth and love and everyone's good wishes for the future. And a lot of people asking for the second book, which I will be more than happy to oblige them with.
Heart-full right now, and verging on a bit of weepiness, it is difficult for me to put into words - and this is where maybe there are none - what this experience has meant to me, how incredible the support of my friends has been, how I have learned through this. And there's so many people along the way, so many moments I should now be remembering and writing and saying thank you to...but I am just so full in my heart...

Yeah. I had it right the first time. No words.

A Little Glitch

Due to predicted winter weather for Sunday, Webs has made the decision to move Melissa Morgan-Oakes 2-at-a-Time Socks Book Launch to Saturday, December 15th from 1-3pm.
We hope that everyone can still make it. We just want to make sure that everyone stays safe!

If you are registered and still planning to attend (or are not registered and are planning to attend) please call Webs and let them know.

Hope to see you Saturday, 1-3pm!!

Meanwhile...I stole this from the Purling P's...lightens my mood considerably, really!
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Varies with gift and giftee. I tend toward a less is more aproach so if I can recycle gift bags, I will. Historically, more than one Christmas has found gifts wrapped in funny papers under the tree.
2. Real or artificial tree? None this year. Artificial otherwise. My days of real trees are long gone.
3. When do you put up the tree? If I have one, usually the weekend after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take it down? January 2nd
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Oooohh...this is hard. Either Baby Alive or my acoustic guitar which I never learned to play but wanted very badly.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, same one for 22 years.
8. Hardest person to buy for? Mr. Wonderful!
9. Easiest person to buy for? Indigestion.
10. Worst Christmas present you ever got? I couldn't say. No, really, I want to live.
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Neither.
12. Favorite Christmas movie? Wow. Um. Small One, probably.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Two weeks ago.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I'll never tell...(blink, blink.)
15. Favorite thing to eat on Christmas? Scalloped Oysters which I can't have any more because there's wheat in them thar Royal Lunch Milk Crackers, and Aunt Blanche's giblet gravy, but she's not alive any more and I don't know how she did it.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Depends on my mood. I have both, so I can choose. The fakey tree is pre-lit with white, but I add color if I want them.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Elf's Lament and What Child is This?
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home or close relatives - not more than fifteen minutes.
19. Can you name all of Santa’s Reindeer? Yes. But you'll have to trust me, because I could have googled them.
20. Angel or star on top of tree? Angel.
21. Open presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning.
22. Most annoying thing this time of year? CROWDS.
23. Do you decorate your tree in any theme or color? I have, more than once, and it was fun.
24. What do you leave for Santa? Who?

Steal at will, then let me know, and the P's too!!

Well, Slap My Thigh and Call Me Omie (again)!

Introducing the most beautiful baby in 20 years, here with her Daddy, Auntie Girl, Omie and Nana - four generations:

And with Mommy, who's smiling because she knows that's the most beautiful baby in 20 years she's got there:

And just a quiet moment with Auntie Girl, who's already making babysitting plans:

And pondering life on the outside, which is cold, but tolerable with all the loving arms around her:

And with Mom's mom - aren't grandmas just the proudest things?:

And with Daddy who cried and said "Mom, she's so beautiful. She's just so beautiful..." over and over. Real men cry when their babies are born:

I've got plans. We're going to fingerpaint. Maybe not today, but soon. And we're going to Ruggles Pond to catch tadpoles. And we're going to make dirt-castles, and eat ice cream from cones and not use a napkin. And eat watermelon and spit the seeds, and go see Winne the Pooh at his house in Florida. I told her so. She seemed pretty on board with everything. I haven't told her parents yet. They might not understand.

Will Walk for Chocolate. And a Cause.

(First, Mr. Wonderful updated the official MelissaKnits website this past week, for which he deserves applause in the form of clicks. If you feel up to it, pop over and take a look around so his hit counter goes up. It will make him smile. We added an "Upcoming Events" toggle and swapped some things around. I like the look. I was kind of a neurotic nag about this, not a fun wife, and so any support we can offer him will make my life, and his, a little happier.)

This past Saturday was the 4th Annual Hot Chocolate Run in Northampton. There's also a walk, conveniently for those of us who will only go so far for chocolate and a cause. Call me a wimp, but running just is not my thing unless there's a treadmill with impact reduction involved. Now, we're not residents of Northampton being some 30 miles to the north, but we do both have a soft spot for the cause. The run is in support of Safe Passage, which assists women who are victims of domestic violence, and strive for a community "where violence is not the answer".
It was a brisk morning, a whopping 23 degrees F here when we left. We got to the start/finish on Gothic Street and pinned on our numbers, and waited in the crush for the start of the walk. Walkers began a half hour before runners on a nearly 2 mile loop. We were about halfway back in the pack, which made for a little frustration for me. This is odd because I have stubby legs and usually am trying to keep up with people. There were a lot of families and kids in strollers and on foot, and many dogs. I decided I totally want a poodle mix of some kind for my next dog. They're just so happy. We made it back to the start/finish in time to see the runners head out, which was fun. Then I drank cocoa, then I drank half of Mr. W's cocoa and proceeded to get nauseous from too much cocoa too fast. My breakfast had consisted of my usual banana, sans cup of decaf, so I'd stupidly not had anything to drink since getting out of bed. I figured it was just a couple of miles. I should have had a water bottle on me. But it was totally fun and I want to do it again.
Walking out...

walking back...

RUN! (Have fun with that...)

A better woman then I, Amy, Director of Publicity at Storey Publishing. Feel free to contact her and beg for my appearance at a yarn or book store near you. Bonus points if you've got contact info for said yarn/book store, double bonus points if they're interested. I think Amy's wearing about fifty million layers here. But she looks happy, which is unusual - most runners I see look kind of sad and pained. Of course, she'd seen me, and had to know she'd end up here so she might be faking it.

A penguin and a polar bear, from the logo designed for the event by Hilary Price who authors the syndicated Rhymes with Orange strip, which, if you have never read you really really should. They were cute, and ran the whole course in those outfits, for which I give them great kudos.

Kids - love this. Get them out there young. Mr W's youngest ran when he was young. It was really good for him. I love it when the kids want it so, so bad.

Then it was reward time...this is...it's...(sniffle) a GLUTEN FREE PIZZA!! Melissa Loves Hillside Pizza. This is my second visit - the first was broccoli. This time I got spinach and garlic. Oh, my, YUM.

We next stopped at World Eye Bookshop in Greenfield for the Holly Hobbie signing of her Toot and Puddle books. I didn't remember to bring my camera (because I am Craptastic Blogger!!)I bought two, one for Emily and one for April and Holly signed them graciously. I love these books. Girl had the first one well past the time when she should have just for the illustrations. Omie wants them ALL! Then I came home and started another sweater for April. I am obviously not done exorcising my grandma knitting. This is Hermine from Baby Knits from Dale of Norway: Soft Treasures for Little Ones in Jawoll solids and Artyarns Ultramerino 4, UM4-111. This book is totally out of print. I own two. I love this book.

Check this out - books under lock and key for the launch. Things like this make me giggle.

Also giggle making is the British Edition, published by David and Charles. So now both editions sit side by side next to my monitor, so I can giggle all day. Also note the blue book there, with the white A just visible? That's a book called Ask the Pilot which Katy says will make my brain all better about flying. Yeah. Sure. That and a bottle of Xanax and a good, stiff drink.

I went to Gail's house last week. I love going to Gail's house. When I go to Gail's, things like this happen.

Now I am going to go watch the snow fall, and eat my last two slices of gluten free pizza, and knit a little, and ponder the meaning of life (not really, but it sounded good!)

More Introductions

(no. still no grandbaby. patience. babies come only when they are ready, or some OB reaches in and hauls them out.)

But - This is Number One. I think he's pleased with it. At the least it amuses him while he waits to be Great (great grampa!!).


Even Tucker appears impressed, and he has no opposable thumbs, nor can he read.


And I do still knit, when I am not ferrying about this book. To wit: finished 2:2 rib socks of leftovers and Regia 4-ply.


And April's Peace Baby, in Valley Yarns Superwash (Yes, even the variegated; it's a cast-off color from Gail, so no you can't have any, sorry, and on top of that I don't think we produced the solid either. But the yarns awesome!!), minus dove - which I will do shortly, I am resizing it to fit perfectly and not be too large. I did some mods, like, oh...well...I did it in the round. And I did an attached I-cord instead of the hem. But that's it really.


Now we just need the baby to come and fill it.

That's all for now - I have to go get a tissue. See. I just got an email from Amy telling me she's going to drop off the...uh oh. I can't even THINK it without laughing out loud. I do not know WHY this has hit me so hard, but I find it hysterical that there is...oh no...snort...A BRITISH EDITION!!!

One Down, One to Go!!

Ahhh, new babies. Nothing like 'em. One of the much anticipated babies came today. She spent the night on a cold garage floor and was found by Mr. (truly amazing, supportive and) Wonderful when he was heading out for work. I brought her in and cried over her. I made her as comfortable as I could while I got ready for work. Today was radio/podcast taping day for the book promotion on Ready, Set, Knit; Webs own podcast. This will air Saturday at 9am on WHMP locally, or can be downloaded as a podcast. In it I say "ummmm" a couple of times, and generally embarrass myself by things like not being able to remember the names of my sample kniters (Kristen Gonsalves NOT Kirsten, for example). It's cool. I highly recommend it, just for the laugh. I hope I improve with experience. Otherwise, someone should shut me up.















Isn't she adorable? You should see her spiral. Her 17 patterns. Her beautifully laid out technique section. She's so lovely. We got in the car and headed for Webs. I knew there were a lot of people waiting for her. First she met Mary...



















Mary made noises that sounded like "squee" and ooooh-ed and aaaaahhh-ed over the pages, and the spiral and the beautiful pictures. Then Karen came in and saw her...



















She was very excited. Her sample socks are called Coquette. Without Karen Minott and my other sample knitters, Katy Wight, Mary-Alice Baker, Kristen Gonsalves, Tamara Stone-Snyder, and Rue Shanti this book would never have happened. Seriously. No way could I have designed and knit 17 pair of socks in 13 weeks, AND written patterns and the technique section, taught at Webs, not killed my kid or husband, and fed the dog at least once a day. No way. They saved my life, saved the book. Mr. Steve even seemed excited about the new arrival - and that's a lot for a guy!



















Next we went into Customer Service and saw Linda. She just wanted to hold the baby - look at her reaching out for it. That's grandmas. 'Gimme that baby!'



















Finally Kathy got to see her.



















Kathy, who has been a stalwart supporter, incredible friend, and comforting listener since the beginning, and really shares responsibility with Stephanie DeSantis at Storey for really making me send in that proposal a year or more ago, should have seen her first. But you know, you take a baby out, and everyone wants a glimpse. Next we taped the radio show/podcast, and I returned to Webs to find a button for my Peace Baby sweater for April (the next baby coming soon!!) After taping we found Pixie taking a lunch break in the classroom, and introduced her.



















While Pixie was flipping pages and oooh-ing and aaahh-ing, Megan (not mine, a different one) came into the classroom. As you can see her joy knew no bounds!



















By this time, baby and me were getting a little tired. It'd been a long day. Way too much excitement for me, though the book seemed ready for another round. On our way out the door, she found a few more fans - from left to right: KT (I knew Meliabella would tell me), Eliza and Marion.















Now, retrospectively - the holiday we recently celebrated...Banana Cream Pie for my MIL's Thanksgiving dinner, from scratch, and really really yummy (if I do say). There was a pumpkin too, but this one is really my fave.















Then there's my faithful assistant, who's sole task is to clean the bowls before they go into the dishwasher. He totally loves this job, which you'd think was an oddity, until you realize he does it with a spatula and his tongue.




















Friday was spent peacefully at home, with Mr W. Girl, Son #1, a good bottle of wine, a few bottles of Molsen XXX and an amazing turkey. Brine, The secret is in the brine. Go ahead. Ask me why Mr W is so intent on his arm. It involves Poor Mel, and a lot of hyperactive cat stimulation that almost always results in injury to the human. You'd think one of them would learn. So what am I thankful for? Every minute.