I Love Books, Not Just My Own.

First I do the whole disclosure thing here - yes, some books come to my door in boxes that I didn't pay for. The two books I am reviewing today are such as those. I am not paid to review them beyond the 'free book' part of the deal, and I will not review any books I don't like. If I like it, you'll see it. If I don't, you won't. The people who send me the books know this. Occasionally they send me a book I love and I forget to review it right away and then time passes and I get busy and I forget which one I was supposed to review, but that's more a personal problem, really. I was just sharing. These two are unforgettable, and not just because I am as the writer of 2 sock books and a collector of same.
The first, Toe-Up Socks for Every Body - Adventurous Lace, Cables and Colorwork from Wendy Knits by Wendy Johnson is a truly stunning collection of beautiful toe up sock information and design.

There is marvelous breadth and depth here. From the encouraging "Basic Information for Sock Knitters" which inspires you to begin modifying and designing socks, through a stunning series of patterns, culminating in a detailed technique section with clear images and instructions for multiple cast-on and heel applications, this book does not fail to impress. I have a particular love of twisted or traveling stitches and cables, and there are socks in this book of that ilk that nearly take my breath away. I was particularly struck by the beauty of the Diamonds and Cables Socks and Crocus Socks. I tend to avoid colorwork in my personal knitting life; I am not sure why this is, unless it stems from a childhood of various Red Heart intarsia and colorwork 1970's atrocities. In fact this would be my guess - one too many loopy hats in something brightly ombre, or vests with large ladybugs or owls yanked over my then 7 year old head may have left a rainbow of scars. Yet I am lustful over Wendy's lovely Norwegian Rose Socks. Brilliantly designed and beautifully photographed, this book is a must-have for any sock knitter.

The second book, The Sock Knitter's Workshop - Everything Knitters Need to Knit Socks Beautifully by Ewa Jostes and Stephanie van der Linden truly lives up to it's name.

From discussions on yarn, needles and tools required the books transitions to the basics of sock knitting; numbering double pointed needles, knitting a swatch (always a topic near and dear to my heart), clearly photographed and explained increase and decreases, Kitchener stitch - it's all here. This is a must-have book for beginning sock knitters and fledgling sock designers. Casting on and getting started with double points is covered in a way that gives knitters a choice between a single needle cast on or a multiple needle cast on (the method I use myself when knitting with double points). Multiple cast-ons and variations for cuffs are presented from basic to decorative (and adorable!). Heels and toes are approached in the same fashion - many options so that knitters can choose for themselves. The focus of this book is really top down, but directions are supplied for toe-up knitting as well. Time is given to knitting socks on circulars, as well as flat or back and forth techniques to take your socks in new directions. The book culminates with a section featuring 15 patterns, each rated according to difficulty using a yarn-ball scale as a guide. New to socks? Start with a one-ball pattern such as Babies' Socks - a great way to step into socks without the commitment of a large scale project. Looking for a challenge? Choose the 3-ball Mosaic Pattern. If you've not tried socks yet, this would be a great way to dip your toes in.

Unless of course, you want to jump in headfirst, in which case I know of a couple of books that might be of interest, but maybe I am biased.

Speaking of me (such ego), things are gearing up for a wild few weeks here. I will be on the Webs Ready Set Knit podcast with Kathy and Steve this week. It will air locally Saturday at 9am on 1400/1250 AM, or you can download it at iTunes after the show airs. Also on Saturday I will be teaching the first ever open to the public (but it's full now, so don't bother trying to get into it) Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time class at Webs. On Monday, a package of bees will arrive at Mr. Wonderful's place of work, and we'll pop them into our second hive. In for a penny, in for a pound, right? On Tuesday there will be 50 fluffy chicken butts in a cardboard box at my PO at some ungodly hour. On Thursday May 6th at Webs there will be an evening gathering to celebrate the official launch of Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks, complete with nosh and champagne and chit-chat and signing of books. Please come if you can, but register first with customer service by calling 1-800-FOR-WEBS or emailing customerservice@yarn.com. There's no fee to attend, but a head-count is a good thing - it simply would not do to run out of champagne now, would it? I'd love to see you there - really I am just perpetually neurotic that my various hosts will buy cookies and bottles of bubbly and boxes of books and then no one will show up and I will feel bad that they invested time and money in me, so please come and drink something or eat a cookie and definitely buy a book so that I can relax a little. On May 9th I will be wandering aimlessly at the NH Sheep and Wool with my husband who will be buying me yarn and raffle tickets and lamb and things - if you see me and you have a book and want it signed, I do travel with a Sharpie! Don't be shy, unless I have my mouth full of lamb, in which case if you could wait till it's empty that'd be nice. On May 22nd a Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time class will be held at Metaphor Yarns in Shelburne Falls, and then on the 29th of May I will be at the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool in Cummington, signing book at Foxfire Fiber's booth again. I love signing for Barb. Sitting there surrounded by all that luscious yarn and fiber. Mmmm. Then we get into June when I'll be everywhere from Rhode Island to Ohio and Virginia and home again. On June 26 and 27th there will be two 2-at-a-Time sock classes at Webs - one tops down and the other toe up. And then in July...in July I will be on my deck in the sun taking a nice long nap to recover from May and June!
Keep knitting, and hope to see you out there!

I Should Blog

But I can think of nothing to say. So we'll do one of those posts with images and brief bits. I am working on a third book, celebrating the launch of the second, and generally over my head busy lately.
We did fit in a day in Maine.We saw lobster boats, lobster men, and lobster pots. The only lobsters we saw were red and on plates with butter, bibs and wetnaps. There is a great spot in Ogunquit called Perkins Cove, home of Barnacle Billy's. It was lovely. Placed our order, retreated to the deck, and waited for our tasty pal. I am not enamored of lobster having eaten entirely too much of it as a kid. But it's nice once in a while. Gene sits and waits like a kid for his meat to be cut while I make quick work of the shell. I still remember the first time he ever ordered one. He had no idea what to do with it. I think now he could get to the meat if he had to, but if your wife is going to have it all out for you in a minute or two, why bother? Also, if my mother knew that I now eat the bits she always yelled at me about not touching, she'd die. My dad made a face when I said I had become a bit of a tomalley fan. I also used to sneak the roe when no one was looking. My parents were very inland folk.I love climbing on rocks and taking pictures of objects. Like shells.Or damaged lobster pots mimicking cresting waves.
I ordered some yarn last week. Great segue, I know. I am not feeling subtle today. It is Monday after all!This is painfully yummy Black Bunny Fibers Stella Sock, and everyone should have some not just because I am all about the sparkle. I have plans for this yarn. More will be revealed.
This weekend I burned a pan to a crisp while attempting to make chicken wings for friends.The kitchen failures have become a bit of a trend. I am slipping. Apparently cooking is not like riding a bike. Speaking of bikes, in my defense, Gene had called me downstairs to try a modification on my bike trainer and I got distracted. Never leave sugar unattended where heat is involved. I know better. But I am a slow learner.
We went for a hike above our house.We live very close to a Vermont state forest, and the land up at the end of our road is quite secluded. If you leave my house and walk two and a half or so miles you will be in Vermont. We saw the prints of our moose friend. He or she is around seasonally. The attraction being both privacy and...
beavers. Who have made a series of three dams, and are working hard at turning the area into a lake. Moose like lakes. Given sufficient time, the beavers will be successful. The topography lends itself. Eventually, left to their own devices, another three or four acres could easily go underwater. Of course then if their dams fail many bad things will happen, like some pretty significant flooding of some recently created wood roads. But then isn't that the nature of the planet? Constant change? Change is good. I am rooting for the beavers, which is unusual for me. They're generally kind of a nuisance. But they were here first.
When we came back from our walk we found that the chickens had gone across the road and into the pasture. Far into it, almost into the woods.This is them returning home after I called them. I leave home for an hour, they head into the brush. Trouble's name is chicken!
More soon, with some actual knitting. Right now we're all about the writing. There's a couple of projects on the needles. Yarn soon, promise!

Crazy, Isn't It?

This past weekend Girl entertained a dog named Abby. Abby is wonderful, brilliant, very well-trained. She's some mix of stock dog, herding dog or heeler. She looks like she'd be great with cattle - low to the ground and stocky, and potentially relentless. This makes her a tad restless, especially when removed from hearth and home. She likes to herd all of the stuffed animals into a pile in the middle of the living room. That takes about thirty seconds. You can send them off to the far corners of the room again, but she's got them back in their pack in a matter of seconds. Sitting still is difficult for her, especially with the glaring distractions of Dazee and Boo, chickens crowing in the yard, cat blowing in and out and humans opening and closing doors and generally wandering about.I took all 3 dogs for a 2 mile walk on Saturday morning, thinking this would tire them out. I was partially right. Boo and Dazee crashed in heaps - Boo managed to get himself jumped on by another big dog, so was traumatized and therefore exhausted. Dazee takes 4-5 steps for every one of mine, so for her that was a pretty long hike. She really wanted a piece of the big dog, but he was much too busy snapping and growling at Boo. Abby, as soon as we were back in the front door asked if we could go again. More. Now. Please. Please?!? By Sunday afternoon I found myself sitting in a chair trying to make everyone relax for a few minutes. Just a few. I managed to get them to remain in their spaces for a whole ten minutes. It was most impressive. Note the Zen-like expression on my face as I try to remain as still and calm as possible while making sure each dog has some sort of physical contact. Very effective.
On Monday morning I headed out for a bit of a trot with Dazee and Boo. I assumed they had recovered from their little walk on Saturday. Dazee had and trotted gamely at my side. Boo, in spite of my going north instead of south, has indeed made decisions about "outside".I expected this really. All four paws planted firmly into the dirt of the upper part of our road. Immovable. He is long on memory and easily traumatized. Being jumped by a Weimaraner has had it's effect, and I doubt I will be able to get him further than a half mile from home ever again. In his mind the outdoors, which has always terrified him, is now populated by mean, angry dogs seeking to kill him.
I finished these socks this week. They're currently called Beachside, although their new owner (Webs) may change that.The yarn is Valley Yarns Superwash DK. The pattern is written toe-up 2 at a time. And there's BEADS! And cables.
The heel is simple stockinette, although heel stitch could just as easily be used. I just liked the simplicity of the stockinette on these. I love them. I hope you do too! I'll let you know when the pattern is available from Webs, in case you want to make a pair for yourself. They would also make a great gift sock I think.
It's getting close to time for Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks to make a public appearance. I don't think I am nervous so much this time as excited. I want to share it. I hope everyone loves it. I already do!

Win Free Stuff (maybe, but it's worth a shot, right?)

As far as I am concerned, answering a few questions in exchange for the chance to win free yarn cannot possibly be a bad thing. So read on, click through, and take a few minutes to share your opinions with TNNA

Please complete the 2010 NeedleArts survey at www.Needlearts2010.net. The needlearts community needs your advice and opinions, whether you are a beginner or an expert! This survey is only conducted every few years. Your input is very important and will be included in a published national report.

Your answers are anonymous. No one will use your survey responses to market to you.

In return for your participation, you will receive valuable benefits:

* Gain a chance to win one of five $100 needlearts gift certificates.
* Ensure stores and suppliers provide what you want.
* Explore your needlearts interests.

Your valuable input will help the needlearts community, too:

* Advocate for more programs to support the needlearts, such as Helping Hands Needlearts Mentoring, Stitch N’ Pitch, and Stitching for Literacy.
* Help independent retailers and family-owned suppliers succeed by giving them the customer feedback they need.

As a thank-you for completing the survey, The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA) is offering the chance to win one of five $100 needlearts store gift certificates. To enter the sweepstakes simply fill out the survey at www.Needlearts2010.net and then click on “Sweepstakes Entry” on the page you see after submitting the survey.

The 10-minute survey asks about your experiences with the needlearts you enjoy: crocheting, cross-stitch, embroidery, knitting, or needlepoint. Let us know which types of projects you prefer, the kinds of new products you want, and what you’d like to see needlearts shops do better.

The survey is sponsored by The National NeedleArts Association, a business organization dedicated to supporting the needlearts community. Hart Business Research is conducting this survey for TNNA and compiling the results into a major national report, The State of Specialty Needlearts 2010. Please complete the survey right away at www.Needlearts2010.net. Survey closes April 19, 2010.

And Then There Were Two

It took me a minute to remember how these socks were born. We drove Girl to Indiana more than a year and a half ago to leave her at the mercies of a freshman dorm. I knit a lot along the way. I say "we" drove, but in truth Mr. Wonderful drove. My sole responsibility on road trips is to say things like "You missed that exit" and "Are we ever going to stop so I can pee?" and "You drive like crap." Generally at that point he references the fact that I never drive on road trips, and would I like to now. I decline and return to my knitting. I did once drive across South Carolina.
But about these socks. They didn't start as this colorway or this weight. They began as fingering weight socks in a colorway called Scottish Highlands. This is one of those "vision + yarn choice + stitch pattern = fail" moments in which I discover that while the concept is sound, something just isn't right. Maybe swatching for a pattern when you've just tearfully and forcibly dumped your youngest child and only daughter off at a college halfway across the country, cruelly wrenching her from home and Gerbil, isn't such a great idea. Maybe, based on circumstance, the poor Scottish Highland socks were doomed from the first moment the swatch was cast on. Maybe parenting is the hardest, worst, best, scariest, most painful, most rewarding job I've ever had. I stuffed the swatch to the bottom of the bin, grumbled, and moved on to something else - I don't remember what now. Denial is my favorite defense mechanism in yarn and in life. Stuff it to the bottom, forget about it and move on. It never happened.
Home again, just the two of us - an odd thing, feeling both empty and full at the same time, when has it ever been just the two of us? - I hauled the swatch out and began the quest of the yarn box. This is where I poke and dig and try to find something I think will work. My hands found a yarn. Wrong weight. Wrong colors. But perfect.The yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock heavyweight; the colorway is Lunasea. I love them. These are wonderfully thick, warm socks suitable for cooler weather as a hiking sock or a house sock. I love thick wool socks in cold weather. The stitch pattern is quickly and readily memorized, and knitting them up is a relaxing and peaceful act. Well, I think it is. Mary Kubasek-Haber actually knit them. We could ask her. Regardless they are sort of phoenix socks; from the ashes of my stitch pattern denial and yarn angst rise these beautiful, simple, peaceful, methodical woolies. Come May, you can knit a pair for yourself - just snag a copy of Toe Up 2-at-a-Time Socks from your local library, yarn or book shop, and cast on.
If you are in the Boston area next weekend, please come and join us at The Wellesley Booksmith for a wonderful full-day knit-a-thon event. There will be presentations and demonstrations, signing of books, and general fibery goodness. I will be there, along with Gail Callahan, Kristin Nicholas, Judith Durant, Wren Ross, Jill Stover and Roseanna Means. 10% of proceeds of the charitable book fair will benefit Women of Means which seeks to provide "...free, patient-centered health care to women and children". Worthy. Also, anyone looking for a job? The need a nurse case manager. I'd apply but it would cut into my knitting time, I think.
I have also updated the 'where I'll be' thing in the sidebar (I think it may need it's own page soon) to include book signings at both the New Hampshire and Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Festivals - Sunday (Mother's Day) in New Hampshire from 11am-2pm and Saturday in Massachusetts, same times. I will once again be signing books for Barb Parry at Foxfire Fiber booth. There will be books available at both events, and I look forward to seeing you there! I think a new sock book would make a lovely Mother's Day gift, don't you? (insert grin here!)
On the home front - apparently in spite of our best attempts at apicide (I made a word!), the bees are not only alive but thriving. We've done so much wrong and they still soldier on. We're taking it a little more seriously now. We're even going to add on a second hive this spring.I am hopeful that this will ensure honey in a quantity greater than a pint come fall.
Spring is springing - baby garlic is poking it's slender green top out to take a look around.I love garlic and I planted a couple of new varieties this year thanks to my Garlic and Arts Festival quest. What is not to love about two days of eating garlic raw? If you're in or near Western Mass in October, I cannot recommend this event highly enough.
I also found one tiny gray asparagus spear blinking against the light.These beds should have good yield this year, as it's their second in full production. We eat it like there's no tomorrow, so it will be nice to grow our own. I am hoping to have enough to freeze, which although so wrong will allow us to extend the season.
And then I found this one lone onion,overlooked in the fall harvest, too small for much of anything, but struggling to make a go of it. I pulled it, and added it to dinner - sauteed mushrooms and chard from last year's garden, plus the chopped sad little onion, a bit of garlic and some clarified butter. It was all quite excellent.
I am glad that winter is heading out trailing green growing things in it's wake. In four days spring will officially be here. In three Girl will be 22. About that denial thing...

You See Socks. I See People.

Today a preview copy of Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks appeared on my doorstep. I was thrilled. I will admit that once again I cried. There's something powerful in this second book. Like a second baby, you're not walking in blind; you know what's up. It's going to be hard. It's going to be the worst, best work you've ever done. And when it's over you hope that you can stand back in awe of what's been created. And, for better or worse, most of you will see "me" in those pages.

But I know better. I see people. Lots of them.

I see Gwen Steege, Pam Art and Deb Balmuth at Storey who's dedication to the idea that an unknown author could sell books resulted in not one, but two of them. I see editor Kathy Brock, taking time to email me and make certain that the mundane wasn't - that it all made sense to the majority. I see the art director Mary Winkelman Velgos, hesitant that I might not like the design, but relived when I did. How could I not? Who wouldn't love it? You take my words, my intents, my plans and you make them so, so beautiful. I see photographer John Gruen, confused by all of the crazy sock knitters but willing to believe us when we said that this or that shot was truly vital. I see Dan and Amy and Alee working to market me and these little bundles of joy so that you all get a chance to take a look inside both of us. Thank you all so much.
I see Kathy Elkins who said I could when I said wasn't sure I could. And kept on insisting I could until I did. Twice. Thank you.

I see my tireless and dedicated sample knitters; Dena Childs, Tamara Stone-Snyder, Mary Kubasek-Haber, Mary-Alice Baker, Kristen Gonsalves, Rue Shanti and Barb Giguere. I see care and love in every stitch of these socks. As I turn the pages, your names call out to me from the images, reminding me of each of you in ways I am grateful to acknowledge. I see the time and effort you put forth for a mention on the last page of 169 pages, with all the thanks and love I can muster in words. And it isn't nearly enough.I see Tamara Stone-Snyder, my amazing and gifted technical editor, working her hardest to be sure that every word, every direction, every number and every nuance could be as clear and concise as it possibly could be. She put her blood into this book as surely as I did, and I am forever grateful for it.

I see my husband Gene, 20 years in and still hanging tough with a woman who's not exactly easy to handle. It takes a strong man to take on me and all I bring along.

So if you should chance to buy, rent, beg, borrow or (please, don't) steal a copy of Toes-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks I challenge you to look really really close. Find the people. Because they are in there, and without them, I would be nothing.

Thanks, guys. I love you.

When Gerbils Gave Names to Socks

Another sneak peek into Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks today!

When Malabrigo introduced a sock yarn that felt softer than a baby's butt and looked like...well...Malabrigo, what choice did I have?
(photo ©John Gruen)

Timing is everything. This yarn entered Webs through one door and almost literally went out another. There was a waiting list for the stuff. Nearly every color was gone before the bags were even open. And there was I, desperate for some of this yarn for this book and willing to take any not-back-ordered--not-sold-out color that might be available. The color I got was velvet grapes. And I love what I got! Because it's Malabrigo it does feel like velvet, and the color reminds me of my Aunt Blanche and Aunt Kay's ancient concord grape vines.

The patterns happened the way many patterns happen for me. I began a stockinette swatch and as I swatched and watched the colors move I decided that texture would be desired. I did a little more swatching with some knit and purl combinations and decided that a crenellation was called for. The knitting and the choosing of the pattern was pure pleasure.

The naming was not. I had lists of words associated with crenellations. Castle. Tower? Battlement? Parapet. Nothing seemed to fit. I was becoming pretty vocal in my desperation for a name for these socks, which I think by then I was calling "these bloody stinking socks", but maybe I am not remembering rightly. Girl was home for a break from school at the time, and I was whining really loudly and not very prettily about my inability to name this one last pair of socks. Her boyfriend, generally a quiet boy - he seems wary. I do not know why. Perhaps I give off a "get the heck away from my daughter" vibe? - said slowly, so as not to risk being pummeled for dating my daughter, "What about The Keep?" I started at him for a long moment. I thought. I debated. And then my mouth opened and I said "Gerbil. You are brilliant. Thank you." And that is how the socks pictured here came to be named by a Gerbil. And in the ensuing year I've adjusted to the presence of the Gerbil in my daughter's life. Well. Mostly.

The socks are, I think, lovelier in person than this picture shows. There's a lot of activity, lots of angular motion like a maze, making the whole naming by the Gerbil a bit ironic. I think gerbils can learn mazes, like mice, can't they?

In other book news, please join us on Thursday May 6th from 6-8pm at Webs to celebrate the launch of Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks. Registration is free, but sign-ups are required. Please contact Customer Service at 413-584-2225 or customerservice@yarn.com to register. Hope to see you there!