Because Math is Fun
If you've been around for awhile, you may recall that a scandalously long time ago (back when Silk Road Socks was first up for order), I went on Lara Neel's charming podcast, Math4Knitters. Well now that there's a new book, it seemed only fitting to swing back by and chat with her again. You can listen to it over here. Fair warning, we totally ramble! Also, some day I will learn to talk more slowly...but that day has not yet come. And also in the category of fair warning, the eversion of Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet, Volume II goes out tomorrow. [...]
Remiss
Yes, yes indeed I have been remiss. My magical socks? The super fast ones? Well they are indeed quick, but they are not quite self knitting. I'll likely finish up the first one this weekend. In the meantime, I think I've figured out why this yarn seems to be magic. When you look at it straight on, it is blue. Blue and purple and green. But still, the predominant color is totally blue. See? Ok, when you turn it and look down the sock, you'll see the yarn has a bit of a halo. That halo, quite perplexingly, is not [...]
Sockupied
Some time last year, the charming Anne Merrow, editor extraordinaire of Interweave's Sockupied, got in touch and asked if we could hatch a plan. Um, yes. The answer was definitely yes. So we plotted and planned. Swatches were made, yarns were procured, patterns were written, and socks were knit...all in breathless secrecy. Some time last September the socks and pattern went off to hang out with the folks at Sockupied, and I got back to my regularly scheduled programing. Then, earlier this month, I got to see the socks again...all laid out and with absolutely adorable photos (I swear Interweave [...]
Unabashed
You know how I said each book ends up with its own distinctive palette? Well, all the yarn for the next book (yes, yes I am already deep into the next one, that's how it works) is here now, and it appears the colors for this one are sherbet crossed with Rainbow Brite (what can I say, I'm a child of the 80s, I think I had Rainbow Brite sheets). All I can say in my defense is that I was picking these yarns in the middle of February and it was gray. I promise they actually work beautifully with [...]
Promising
I'm unreasonably taken with this sock. Let's get a picture up to show you what I'm talking about. The yarn is drop dead gorgeous. It's String Theory Merino DK in Didgeridoo and I love it to distraction. It's a smidge more purple in real life, but it was early in the morning when I snapped this and the light was all glowy and yellow and I do not love you enough to either retake the picture later in the day or muck about in photoshop to fix it. This is one of those magic color changing yarns and it plays [...]
That’s Better
Last night I found myself feeling restless. I couldn't settle. I might even have been flailing around like an over-tired two year old. Then it hit me. I needed to knit. Not a swatch (swatching for the next book is well underway, and I like doing it, but it was not what I needed). A proper project. That realization made, I walked over to the card catalog (it's where the really really good yarn lives...the yarn I will totally absolutely be using just as soon as I have time), slammed through a few of the drawers, grabbed the prettiest thing [...]
Cycles
Now that I've done this book thing a time or two, you'd think I'd know what to expect (or at least not get surprised when the same thing happens again). But no. No, I caught myself off guard once again. Last night, while surrounded by a giant pile of swatches, I found myself thinking 'I really need to knit something, I have nothing to show the blog.' This happens every single time. Each book has a 'swatch like a maniac' phase. It follows the 'stare at yarn for days on end' phase and precedes the 'draw charts and write patterns [...]
Napping
One of my many goals in this life is to skip over being old and go right into being venerable. I like the sound of venerable much better than old. It has all the respect and wisdom bits, but sounds like it might avoid the creaky knees and questionable eyebrows that sometimes come with old. In the service of this goal, I'm prone to occasional bouts of age-inappropriate action. I figure if I'm going to outrun old and chase down venerable, I have to be unpredictable. The most recent of these bouts occurred this past Thursday when I somehow found [...]
Speechless
You guys are amazing. The response to the new book has been tremendous, and I am deeply grateful. Writing a book is always a leap of faith. I spend at least a year of my life bringing it into being. I spend ridiculous amounts of time pondering the yarn choices and the patterns and the charts and the pictures and all the supporting text. Publishing it myself brings a whole host of other considerations. Things like what paper should I use, where should I get it printed, what sort of cover does it need, how many copies should I get, [...]
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