A Lamb, Some Acorns and a Pumpkin Patch

Hi Knitters,
Well, I whipped up this little guy last night with my needles and then sewed him up this morning. It is the toy lamb from the spectacular Debbie Bliss's Essential Baby book. It is an adorable design.The toy lamb is about 4 inches high and maybe 5-6 inches long, just the perfect size for little fingers. The yarn is Debbie's, of course, Astrkhan in ecru and Cathay in black, one of each. The Astrakhan provides the perfect woolly texture for the lamb's body with no extra effort. I used US size 5 needles.

Here is the lamb in pieces. You knit the head and the top of the body and legs in one piece, twisting the yarns as you change colors and casting on and off at the ends of the rows. The markers are placed as guides for the finishing at the end. Then there is a gusset for the underside of the body and legs. The ears are knit separately and stitched on at the end.

I hate to say this, I really do, but to be honest I didn't enjoy knitting or finishing this toy lamb. Although I truly love the finished toy lamb, the switching colors, the number of ends to deal with and the finishing at the end were simply not that fun to do.

As I become more deeply invested in knitted toy design I am becoming pickier about patterns and techniques. I just don't think it has to be that painful along the way. It was a tricky sew up and I just kept thinking of ways that this could have been so much easier. The body and head could have easily been knitted in one piece in the round, stuffed as you go along. The legs could have been knitted in the round and the one end used for sewing the leg to the body. Snip, snap, quick! No pain whatsoever! Now the thing is that many knitters don't like knitting in the round and using double-pointed needles. For them this pattern is perfect, to each her own. I just happen to prefer less seaming and quicker knitting.

I love the Astrakhan for the body and I am going to come up with my own sheep pattern very soon! I'll put my knitting where my mouth is and see if I can make it work. Debbie is forever my idol and I love, love, love her designs but as I get older in my knitting and designing I can see ways to make things meet my own preferences. That's the fun of it, I guess.

I made a few more of these Betz White acorns, can't get enough already. We even found some double headers to stuff with felt. I have been giving these away to my daughter's teachers, principal and librarian at her school. We wrap them up in cellophane bags and tie on some ribbon. It is too cute.

Here is my not so little gang at the Epplegarten. We did our annual pumpkin/apple picking last Sunday but we were met with a dismal selection of pumpkins to choose from. I don't know if it was the summer drought or the early fall floods that did the crop in but something went wrong. We could not find one decent pumpkin to bring home. Just look at the crop behind them, it's sad. Now we will have to go to the local market and buy some for our yard.

That's not quite as fun as picking it fresh but the apples, especially the honey crisps, were in great shape at the orchard. We picked an enormous bag of apples to bring home. I've already baked up a huge apple crisp and I'm planning on some homemade cinnamon apple sauce later this afternoon.

Have a good Tuesday!

best, susie

p.s. See my son in the white shirt? He put my nephew who is 10 and not shown in a wagon and and pushed him as fast as he could running down a hill at the orchard. There were a lot of people around, too. There were no injuries but my sister and I acted like we didn't even know them. Is that bad? We had a good laugh about that.

Beautiful Lakeside Fibers

Hi Knitters,
It is so funny when someone else has your camera and takes lots of pictures. In this case it was my daughter, she's eleven. She tagged along with me to the most beautiful knit shop anywhere in the world, Lakeside Fibers. I can't believe this shop is in my own city, Madison. We are so lucky. Anyway, my daughter entertained herself during the signing by taking lots of goofy pictures and some good ones, too. Unfortunately, I am in a lot of the shots due to my daughter's photography and a few people I simply made take a picture with me. Sorry about that but I want a picture of you!
This is the lovely Molly who helped organize the event today. Molly is a phd student at the UW in something like textile design. Get this, her masters thesis was the Elizabeth Zimmerman exhibit that was here in Madison last year. She received tons of press about this event and it was mentioned in some of the major knitting magazines. She does a great job and she's just fun to talk to and be around. She even took my daughter to the Nutsy Mutts and Crazy Cats shop next door while I shopped a bit. You gotta love that!

Miranda, the shop manager, also needs a big thank you for having me. Miranda runs the shop so well. It is a thriving place.
My beloved peaknit, Stacey, made the effort to come and see me. I really had to force her to be in this picture with me but it was worth it. The thing is that Stacey learned to knit at my old shop and she took classes with me when I used to teach there. Now she is a big-time knitting blogger with people just waiting to see what she is going to knit next. Her knitting commentary and project selections are some of the best out there in blogland.

When my first book came out last year I didn't even have a blog. After Stacey came to my event at Lakeside Fibers last year I found her blog and it inspired me to start my own. She is the reason I even started this whole blogging thing and I love doing it. She inspires knitters with her writing, insight, humor, keen eye and especially her honesty. She is a smart cookie!
This is Natalie and she wanted one (or two) of everything.
This is Natalie's mom, Stacy. She learned to knit with me at Alphabet Soup, too. She and the other Stacey remembered each other from the old shop. We used to have so much fun over there, I am not kidding. There were quite a few visitors today from my old shop which I love to see. It's too bad when some things have to end, I miss that place, too. It was good to see friends I hadn't seen in quite awhile.
I thought these pictures were so funny. I had no idea my daughter was doing this right next to me at the table. There were about a dozen shots like this. I love it. Kids are so funny without even trying.
What a goofball and nice lips!
My dear friend Yuly came to visit. She will kill me for putting this up here but I had to. She is a beautiful knitter and designer and she is even working on her French baking skills.
She brought me the lightest, flakiest, buttery cranberry scones ever. Oh my goodness, Yuly, they were wonderful. That's right my family and I ate them right up when I got home and they are gone. Yummy treats don't last long around here!
I had such a wonderful afternoon around here. I signed lots and lots of books, saw old and new friends, chatted up the knitting world and mainly hung out. I think we stayed about 4 hours! It was relaxing, comfortable and fun. The staff at Lakeside is friendly, down to earth, laid back, helpful, fun and smart. You couldn't find a better knitting shop anywhere. There is a quiet but inviting elegance here that is truly unique and very indicative of Madison.
The cafe in the back of the store is gorgeous. Look at the view from the back windows, it is breathtaking. There is a large deck off the back of the shop and cafe. It was packed with knitters and people the whole time I was there. There is a large crowd that just hangs out here having coffee and eating and meeting friends and knitting. It is that kind of place.
And the yarn! On top of the food, coffee and bakery, there is so much yarn and it is displayed in the best of ways. The selection is top-notch. Lakeside is current with yarn trends and the amount of stock is staggering. This is the Cascade wall. That is all Cascade 220! There are knitted samples and swatches everywhere you turn. This is only one wall of yarn. There are several more rooms of yarn before this.
If you are in town make your way over to this shop. Their site has been recently remodeled and I think very soon it will be open for shopping! This will be a great resource and as soon as it is ready to open I will link again to remind people.

This was good fun. Thanks for a good day in Madison, Lakeside Fibers.
best, susie

Crochet Picot Edging Tutorial

Hi Knitters,
On tour I met several knitters who were worried about the crocheted picot edging I used in Itty-Bitty Nursery on a couple of projects. There is nothing to worry about because it is so simple! Hopefully this tutorial will help to show how easy it really is.
Enjoy.
best, susie

Priceless

Hi Knitters,
This afternoon I took my daughters out of school to come along with me to the St. Mary's Care Center for a knitting hour with the residents. This is a living facility for older people who need medical attention. What a wonderful place to be. The staff was warm, happy and friendly and so welcoming. My daughters had a ball with the residents, just as much fun as I had.

The picture above is my daughter is working on a blanket for a church knitting group. This is the church across the street from our house where she tagged along with a friend to their Saturday knitting group. They make squares and sew them into blankets to give to people in need. She brought her square along to knit on today.

We arrived at the care center at 1:00 and the ladies had bingo at 2:00! There was no messing around with that schedule. I love that! After our visit as I was packing up my stuff my daughters walked down the hall with the group to the bingo room to check things out. When I was ready to leave I walked to the room to pick up my girls and there was my 11 year-old daughter smack-dab in the middle of the group quietly playing a round of bingo! I had to wait for her to finish the game before we could leave. Could you ever love anything more than that?

The girls are already begging me to go back for a visit and I am right with them. I am definitely going to go back and knit with them at their knitting group sometime soon. Every once in awhile you bet we will show up and knit with them.

Aren't they great? I brought a couple of books to donate to the knitting group. The woman in the purple sweater, Adele, was particularly happy about that. She wouldn't give that book up for more than a minute and then she wanted it right back. That is so cute! Hardly anyone got to look at the book. I think I may need to send over a few more copies. We chatted, I demonstrated a few quick things, my girls visited and took pictures for me.

Adele made sure I signed the book for the group. My daughter handed out samples for the ladies to hold.

This cute woman was so funny, I forgot her name. She was there with her mother. She looped the big carrots on her ring finger and kept telling everyone that she only had a "five carrot ring." I told her I was going to steal her line and look I already did!

I saved the best for last. This beautiful, smart 102 year-old woman (I had heard she was 101) immediately jumped in and started teaching my daughter how to purl. I will never forget this moment. To see my daughters both enjoy the company of this fascinating, on the ball woman touched my heart in so many ways. The girls enjoyed all of the residents. I loved the way they just jumped in with no fear or reservations. It is incredible to see the openness and accepting ways of children. This was a good day for me.

Her name is Sally and boy is she a treat. Here she is helping my youngest with her purl stitch.
That was her thing, teaching the purl stitch. She enjoyed the hour and everyone enjoyed her.

This is too good for words.

Priceless.

best, susie

The Good, the Bad and the Plain Silly

Hi Knitters,
So last Wednesday as I was hoping to leave for Cincinnati and connecting through Chicago I was told that O'Hare was a complete mess and that flights were getting cancelled left and right. A chill went down my spine. The kind man saw my angst and quickly found a straight flight for me leaving later that afternoon on a different airline. Lo and behold there was one measly seat left just for me. Oh yeah! My husband drove me back home where I happily hung out for a couple of hours before he drove me back to the airport again. I love him for driving me and picking me up.

I get on that new flight, nestle into the last window seat in the last row of the plane and the woman sitting next to me sits down and pulls out her Cherry Tree Hill sock and starts knitting. Okay, I had to laugh to myself. This was meant to be. I pulled out my Regia Kaffe Fassett sock and we had a good old time chatting up the Madison knit shops and patterns and so on.

See those holes up there on my gusset pick up? So do I. It was a little dark back there in that seat. The holes make me laugh. I finished up my first ankle sock and started the next. The knitter's name I was sitting with is Molly and she was knitting a pair of socks from the Favorite Socks book from Interweave. They were beautiful and complicated. That was a good thing.

I read this IK Holiday Gifts issue on my way home to Madison. It is a good one and it is on the new stands right now. If you subscribe to IK you don't get this in the mail so pick it up if you are interested. The cap on the cover is beautiful thanks to Mary Jane Mucklestone, Jared Flood (aka brooklyn tweed) has a phenomenal hat inside, and Kate Gilbert knits a fantastically complicated fair isle stocking. There are some lovely socks and scarves, too.

I check two suitcases everywhere I go. The small suitcase has my clothes and the larger suitcase carries my trunk show. It is jam packed to the brim with knitted samples and demo stuff. After every leg of the trip when I open my suitcases there is an inspection notice on top. I am telling you I wish I could see the inspector's face when he opens my bag of samples and then has to close it, not an easy feat. There are feathers, pillows, knitted animals and a mobile for that matter. I am sure they must think I am insane.

As I was waiting to fly home through a connecting flight from Dallas (I flew through Dallas four times in three days) I noticed a feuding couple at the gate. They were middle-aged and the husband was extremely agitated with his wife. He was berating her for shopping 24/7 in a loud voice. I thought to my tired self, please don't let me sit near them. Please. You know what I am going to say next.

I quietly sit in my aisle seat as the couple passes me by, phew. Not to last, the woman who was no shrinking violet herself, comes back to sit in the window seat next to me. She keeps shouting to her husband and complaining about her travel agent for seating them separately. Her husband announces to the plane that he is going to "sit in the toilet." Okay by me. I offer to let her husband sit next to her, no really, I am happy to move, really. She likes this offer and begins beckoning her husband to come forward.

Guess what? Her husband does not want to sit with her! Not kidding. He yells up for us to have a good time together. Oh yeah, it's true. I am now right in the middle of an embarrassing domestic squabble. I am so exhausted at this point I can barely keep my eyes open. The wife is completely humiliated. I am embarrassed for her. She then goes on to kind of whine at me how everyone is just so crabby around here and how she just wants to get home to see her dogs. Then the wife states loudly, "I was just going to sleep anyway!"

There is a God!!

I snuck in a bit of knitting here and there on my sKnitches breath mint sock that I started months ago. It is lovely yarn that I got here.

When I arrived in Lexington the wonderful Diane from Magpie Yarns met me at the airport and it was midnight when she picked me up. What a sweetheart. The guilt I felt was apparent but then I did something else that was so silly to add to it. I had mentioned briefly that I am having some lower back issues. I am on the mend but the help I received from kind knitters and drivers was so appreciated. Diane wanted to help me pull my big suitcase off the baggage claim. I pointed out my bag and she pulled it off and we quickly started heading toward the door. A woman came frantically chasing after us and I looked down and saw that Diane was pulling a bag along that wasn't mine. Oh gosh, Susan, you fool! The woman was kind and I was apologetic to everyone involved, but poor Diane. We went back and sure enough my bag was still on the conveyor belt. Oy. We laughed about that one.

On the way to Little Rock, through Dallas of course, I pulled out this fantastic Noro Silk Garden Lite I got at the Woolie Ewe. When I saw this yarn I remembered seeing someone knit a pair of socks somewhere and thinking I would like to do that. I cast on 48 stitches on size 4 dpns and look what I got! I love them. I did a 5 1/2 inch cuff in knit 3, purl 1 rib. I bought 3 balls of the silk garden #2011 and I only needed two, but that's okay. I think I may have enough for another complete pair. I love and adore the mismatched look of these, so fun.

I actually finished an entire sock on the flights from Lexington to Dallas and then Dallas to Little Rock. Let me tell you why. The first part of the trip went fine, I think I got through the heel turn. The second part of the trip got a bit dicey. After we boarded the plane we sat for quite awhile. Finally, an announcement from the strangest flight attendant I have ever encountered came over the speaker. She told us the plane was having maintenance issues and we were to remain seated. She also gave a brief and sarcastic lecture about how purses are actually carry on items and were not to be stored on one's lap or in the pocket of the seat in front of you. I have never seen anyone do either of those things but apparently she had. All of sudden I knew things were going downhill and fast.

As we are seated the pilot comes on and tells us they basically need to re-boot the plane just like a computer. We were informed that we would be sitting in the dark for several minutes (it was at least 10) as they turned off the plane. Ugh. All I could think of was that Jet Blue flight where people were stuck on a runway for 11 hours and how I should have used the restroom one more time before boarding.

Passengers quickly scrambled for their phones and began a series of loud phone calls telling their people of the situation. One woman was particularly loud and it was clear she was making sure the entire plane could hear her call. It was a cringe-inducing call that included a lot of "baby" and orders about what to do and who to bring to the airport. I muttered something in a hushed whisper to myself like, "Please, God." It wasn't meant to be out loud but I heard the cute woman next to me chuckle when I did it. I knew I liked her.

We were then instructed after they turned the plane back on that it was a no go. We had to de-board the plane and wait at the gate for instruction. The flight attendant had a lengthy talk about not going anywhere away from the gate. I am not kidding, she was a fake. She was wearing a loud patchwork Halloween vest. Much to my delight my seatmate, Jill, pointed out that in the dark plane this vest was strangely illuminated by the fasten your seatbelt sign as she stood in the aisle. This vest is not part of their uniform selection I am sure. She also sported a pair of sunglasses propped up on her head holding back her incredibly ungroomed hair. She gave the most unscripted talks the entire time the flight went on. I kept saying to Jill that she was an impostor flight attendant. We could not stop laughing at one point.

Fortunately, we quickly got on another plane at another gate. I continued to knit on my silk garden sock and finished it, pretty fun stuff (I finished the second one today). Jill, it turns out, is a pediatric doc at the Arkansas Children's Hospital, where she figured out I was going for the Knitting for Noggins event. Her mom is a knitter and donates to the event. Even better, her mom, who I met last year at the event, has an uncle who owns the Octopus car wash in Madison. Okay all of you native Madisonians, who hasn't been to the Octopus car wash? It is a staple here in town. Jill joined her mom at the event the next day and we had a good laugh about the crazy plane stuff. I really enjoyed Jill and her mom.

Very quickly, Debbie Bliss's Essential Baby is a wonderful new knitting book. You should really take a look at this one. In Plano I bought yarn for a project in here.

I bought the makings for this adorable toy lamb at the Woolie Ewe. They have the most fantastic selection of Debbie Bliss yarns at this shop. If you are interested it is the place to shop for Debbie Bliss yarns. The yarn is the Cashmerino Astrakhan in ivory and Cathay in black. I'll show you when I am done. It should be a quick knit and isn't that cute? Debbie wins again with this book.

Lastly, I snagged these bag handles I have been wanting forever and a day. Woolie Ewe has a great selection of these Grayson E leather handles that are distributed by Meunch Yarns. I can't wait to put these to use!

One last note, tomorrow I am going to be at the St. Mary's Care Center in Madison at 1:00. This is going to be so great. Carmela asked if I would visit their knitting group that meets on Thursdays and I jumped at the chance. Apparently there is one member who is 101 years old and she is still on fire with her knitting. She teaches new knitters, too. I don't know anything about the other members but I am looking forward to a nice knitterly afternoon with them.

I would do anything for St. Mary's Hospital or care center. St. Mary's is where I was born and my youngest daughter was born, and where both my mother and father were cared for extensively during their sicknesses. Just the thought of those kind, hardworking doctors and nurses brings tears to my eyes.

I will be there with bells on!

Phew, I didn't even tell it all! More to come!

best, susie

How It's Supposed To Be

Hi Knitters,
I'm home. As my youngest daughter jumped out of my van this morning she turned back to me, smiled and said, "This is how it's supposed to be." She missed me and I her and everyone else around here for that matter.

The picture above is how I started the week. This is my set up before I went on the first tv spot in Cincinnati. That whole morning is such a blur. My media escort, Kathy Tirschek, had me going a mile a minute, zipping here and there. It was great fun and a bit crazy but we made it with flying colors. I did a radio interview that is available in podcast form here. It was loads of fun to do. The interviewer, Mark DeWitt, had absolutely no idea about knitting but that made me keep on my toes because I never knew which way he was going to go! I just listened to it and it turned out to be kind of a funny interview. If you listen make sure you take note of his questions and you will be sure to have a chuckle.

Anyway, I did a few more interviews for tv that were great fun and the last woman who interviewed me was a long time knitter and she was so excited about the book and the chance to talk about knitting.
I had no idea what a scenic city Cincinnati is. It is gorgeous with rolling hills and historical homes and beautiful bridges. I loved it. Now, I don't have a picture from Books & Co. in Dayton but I had such a fun time there. I was scheduled to come at the same time a large knitting group meets. That was perfect! This group had every age group represented and this is always the best. They are my favorite kind of group, chatty, funny, laughing, inquisitive, excited and just plain old nice. We had such a great knitting time together. Thank you and I wish I lived there so I could be a part of this group. If you are in that area head over Books & Co. on Thursdays at noon and you won't be disappointed with this crowd of knitters. I really mean that.
This is the only shot I have of my time at the Woolie Ewe in Plano, TX. This picture is not indicative of the time I had there. I have never been so bombarded with fantastically fun knitters in my entire life. There were 35 knitters in my class to start with. The lovely Pam Johnson said there could have been more if there had been more space. I couldn't believe it. We had a couple of hours of baby knitting fun together. This group has enthusiasm seeping from their bones and I loved every minute of it. This enormous knit shop was jam packed the entire time I was there. I signed more books than I could count. The staff was unbelievably kind and hospitable. Pam is sending me a bunch of pictures so I will post again about this event to share those with you. Pam, thank you for everything. It was a pleasure.

The owners are a mother-daughter team, Jill and Sue, and they do a terrific job with this shop. It is the place to be. They are cooking up a knitting retreat idea for next fall and I have been invited to be a guest teacher. It is in the initial planning now but hang on to your hats because I am not the only teacher they are inviting. If things work out I could have the opportunity to meet my all-time knitting hero in person. Just thinking about it gives me chills. The Woolie Ewe is launching a redesigned website in the near future and this is the place to go. They have more yarn than I have ever seen in one spot. What fun!

Also, in Plano I met a phenomenal needle felting expert named Linda. She teaches a needle felting group that does the most interesting projects, some even involve sculpture. It is hard to explain but they made a character sculpture of a pelican man that involved porcelain features and loads of roving. I have never seen anything like it. Wow!
Next I was in Lexington and I love going there. This is the third time I have been there on book business. It is always a pleasure. The lovely Diane was a perfect host to me. Her beautiful, elegant knit shop, Magpie Yarn, is beyond wonderful. I am so glad I got to see it. It is warm and welcoming and the organization of the yarn is completely eye-catching. Diane gave me the most sensational gift from her shop and I will be sharing more about that later.
They (meaning Diane and Jane, the other owner who I saw briefly) have the shop organized by color. I tried to capture a bit of this but it is more stunning in person. They have beautiful knitted samples displayed in the most elegant, appealing way. Diane is one of the most charming, sweet yarn shop owners I have ever met. She welcomed me so warmly and I appreciate it to no end.

I had a book signing at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, a spectacular bookstore. I love going there. The turn out wasn't huge (possibly due to a little football game between LSU and Kentucky and many other large events going on in the city at the same time) but the knitters who came were wonderful. We had a nice time together and I signed lots of stock for the store if you are looking for a signed book. Rachel, the bookstore host, was wonderful as always. She even knitted some samples for display before I got there. Thanks Rachel and let's definitely do it again!
On to Arkansas, Little Rock that is! This event deserves its own post. I stayed at the beautiful Peabody hotel where ducks are paraded through the lobby to sit in the fountain. They even ride the elevator from their very own room. It is really cute to see. Then I was off to the Knitting for Noggins event. I really am going to write about this again because the good work of these knitters deserves a lot more than a couple of sentences. It is a remarkable event.
Here I was just setting up for the talk and knit a thon. The people started filing in about a half an hour before the start time. The crowd grew to about 150 knitters and the number of donated hats grew to an astounding 5,000 collected just this one day. Let me tell you, it is a humbling sight to see these knitters and crocheters coming in with bag after bag of beautiful handmade hats. These hats are high quality hats and extremely well-done. I looked at a ton of them and was so impressed by the quality of work people were donating. It is a touching day and I am so honored to be such a small part of it.
These two women were the winners of the day by donating 1,000 hats they had crocheted just for this event. They were the cutest, happiest, most inspiring women I can't even tell you. Let me say it again, 1,000 hats between the two of them. They were so proud of their achievement. Their hats were beautifully done and they had them organized by size and color in those large zip-loc bags. The woman on the right is Melissa and she was one of the workers at the event.

The grand total for the Knitting for Noggins hat collection is now at a staggering 20,000 hats after yesterday. Robin Armstrong is the main force behind this charity knitting event and she should be applauded for her efforts. Way to go Robin.

My presentation was webcast and as soon as that gets posted I will link to it so you can share in this charity knitting extravaganza!

I will have more coming, but for now there is cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping to be done! I have lots of funny stories to share with you from the trips but I am too tired to do written justice to them right now. I will post tidbits as they come to me this week. I have a lot more to share.

Thanks to everyone!
best, susie
p.s. I got mention in the Chicago Sun Times. I haven't even looked at it yet but Jaime, my publicist, sent the link over to me so I'll share it and hope it is a good one.
p.p.s. The Woolie Ewe does commisioned knitting like I have never heard of before. If you are looking for this service definitely contact them. They are a full service knit shop!

Travel Update

Hi Knitters,

I want to give people a quick head's up for my upcoming stops just in case you can come out to see me along the way. Some of the times have been changed and a few things have been added.

Wednesday morning (tomorrow) I am doing a radio interview from home for a Little Rock program. I don't know anything more about that. Then I fly out to Dayton, Ohio.

In Dayton, OH on Thursday, Oct. 11th I am doing a series of tv/radio spots some are live and some are taped:
WXIX-TV 19 in the Morning 8:10am (live)
WRRS-FM Cover to Cover (taped show)
INC-6 Northern Kentucky Magazine 10:05am (live)
WCPO-TV 9 Noon News (taped segment)

Then I arrive at the Books & Co. at the Greene where I am scheduled to do a signing/trunk show from 12-2pm. At this same time a knitting group that regularly meets at the store will be there. It is, of course, open for anyone else who wants to show up, bring your knitting or not, your choice. I will bring my suitcase filled with an itty bitty trunk show and I can do some demo stuff and answer questions. I hope to keep it really casual so wander on by if you are in the area.

On Friday Oct. 12th I am in Plano, Texas. I am basically at the Woolie Ewe all day starting at 10:00am. There is a class then a book signing and trunk show. I fly out later that afternoon to Lexington.

In Lexington I have a book signing on Saturday, Oct. 13th at the beautiful Joseph-Beth Booksellers from 2-4pm. I was there last year and loved it. What a beautiful book store. I am hoping to make it over to Magpie Yarns before the event for a quick visit.

Last, but not least, I am in Little Rock on Sunday, Oct. 14th, for the queen of all charity hat knitting events, Knitting for Noggins. Last year I think they raised close to 20,000 handknit and crocheted hats for their organization. It literally became a worldwide effort. At the last event I gave a brief presentation that was webcast on the Arkansas Children's Hospital website. I don't know if this is happening again but last year my family was over at my mom's house and they gathered around to watch the event live, as it happened. I loved that. I even snuck in a "hi, mom" at one point. That was fun. Anyway, I am speaking at 2:20 for a short bit and the site is here if you happen to be hanging around your computer at that time.

Well, I have to pack and get to bed. That schedule makes me tired just looking at it. Hopefully I'll see some of you out and about.
best, susie

Betz's Acorns

Hi Knitters,
Oh, I couldn't resist after seeing this. Betz is so darn clever. She took the acorn tops she collected with her sons in Maryland and glued little felt balls in to replace the acorns. I simply love this, it is so smart. Who doesn't love a good acorn with a touch of felted goodness?

My daughter and I tromped around the neighborhood looking for any fallen acorns this afternoon. We have a ton of trees in our own yard just not the acorn producing type. Finally we struck gold just up the street at a neighborhood park. Luckily, we brought a baggie along just in case we found more than would fit in our hands. With our baggie loaded up with acorn treasures we marched home, pulled out the felted balls and some tacky glue and went to town. Betz used more subdued colors for her acorns but you know that's not going to happen over here. Hot pink and turquoise acorns? Of course! Thanks to Betz for such a quick and simple fall craft project to do with or without your kids. She is too good and I love her sharing ways. You should try this one!

Also fun is this little ankle sock I started yesterday. I bought this Kaffe Fassett Regia sock yarn at the Yarnery in St. Paul. The colors are beautiful and very autumnal. You should check out the other colors, too.

I am feeling the fall!

best, susie

Let's Start At the Very Beginning...

...a very good place to start.

Hi Knitters,
Actually, I am starting at the very end. I ended up my Minnesota visit at Needlework Unlimited which is one of my favorite places to be. I was graciously welcomed and that shop is something else, it is huge and brimming with every great yarn you could ever want. Karen Rumpza is a savvy owner with her inventory. The knitters there were wonderful and plentiful. There was a steady stream of happy faces that included a brand new baby named Thora (and proud mom and grandma, too), and the lovely Lesli (check out the fantastic blog she just started!) and her beautiful daughter, Ella, kept me company for quite some time. Ella, who is seven, is an enthusiastic knitter to say the least, and she had the cutest felted bag that she knitted herself, so fun to see. Anyway, I went through stacks of books, both hats and nursery kind, and it was a relaxing and pleasant stop, thoroughly enjoyable. I would go back there anytime.


The photographer for the book, Liz Banfield, lives in Minneapolis so I am always telling people that all of those great babies are from Minnesota. I have to mention that I met the mom of the gorgeous little girl who modelled the tea set in the book. Her name is Piper and she has a great story. Right before these photos were taken, maybe a week before, she was adopted from China! The mom wasn't sure how she would react to being a model, but she was perfect. Liz Banfield knew her from the neighborhood. It was great to meet her and hear about Piper in person. Piper's mom is pretty cute herself!


The other person I met was baby Chloe's aunt who showed up at Needlework. Chloe is in three pictures in the book. She is in the stroller wearing the circles stroller jacket. She has the best cheeks I have ever seen! Chloe is also wearing the rosebud hat next to the fruit loops bag. Her family is so excited about her being in the book. It was touching to see how proud her aunt is of her niece. I signed a book for Chloe and thanked her for being a model in my book. These kinds of meetings make everything worth it to me, pure and simple.
Saturday morning I went to the Midwest Booksellers Convention. Wow, was that an interesting look into the book selling market. Independent bookstore owners came through in large numbers and they get free books and other stuff from the hundreds of publishers who set up booths. It is like Christmas and everything is free. I set up this little table of goodies at the Workman booth. It attracted a lot of attention because of the knitted samples, people love a good knitted cupcake. I signed and gave away 60 copies of itty bitty nursery in less than an hour. I met quite a few knitters/bookstore owners as well. Many of these little book shops have a knitting shop right nearby. That was good fun.

The best part of of the convention was meeting my beloved Danielle face to face. In this day and age you can work with someone on a daily basis for months and never meet them in person. Isn't that kind of strange? It is to me, I like to know what someone looks like and I have been known to make people describe themselves over the phone to me. Sorry about that.

Danielle was my publicist for itty bitty hats and she is amazing. She is a jack of all trades in every sense of the word. She can literally do anything and everything and manage any crisis in a matter of moments. She switched jobs at Workman and is now in sales and marketing. Workman is lucky to have her. Plus she is just so darn fun. We went out to dinner on Friday night (actually, I just remembered it was my birthday that night) at a great restaurant on Nicollet Mall called the Newsroom. The food was delicious and we ate a ton. She looked so cute and New York sassy and I looked, well, Midwestern mom. That is making me laugh. What can you do? I am what I am. Danielle is a knockout and a kind, thoughtful, hardworking young woman. I love her to the core and I am lucky to have the opportunity to work with her and to spend time with her. Thanks Danielle!

Oh yeah, I did a taping for KARE 11, the NBC affiliate in Minneapolis, which will be shown on Tuesday, Oct. 9th on the Showcase Minnesota show. If you're in the area and are able to see that spot, I would love to hear how it went. One funny thing is that during the taping my cell phone went off, it was my sister wishing me a happy birthday. We laughed about that later. I thought they would stop the tape so I told Corbin that my phone was going off, but she just kept on going! I got a bit distracted so that should be good for a laugh. Despite that the taping went fine and I hope it looks good. Let me know!

On Thursday I went to The Yarnery in St. Paul. What a great shop! The staff was friendly and warm and they had a wonderful event all set to roll. You can see pictures here. I forgot to get my camera out. I met the lovely Eva who is a great itty bitty knitter. She was such fun to chat with. The beautiful Sylvia was there with her bear and I helped her figure out the feet construction. Her bear was so cute and she is so excited to be expecting her first grandchild soon. I want to hear all about that, Sylvia. Also, the beautiful baby Will came and hung out for a long while. He was so sweet. I love meeting those babies. The Yarnery just opened an online shop for their store. Check that out for sure and they are selling the patterns for these fantastic felted snowmen with accessories. You will see their ad in the new holiday Interweave Knits. That is one cute pattern! I loved being at this shop so much. What a treat of a night.

Well, one last line of business. I had the pleasure of being featured in the business section of the weekend edition of the Capital Times newspaper here in Madison. You can check out that article here and the reporter Katie Dean did a super job. Thanks, Katie for being thorough and making the effort to come to the Knitting Tree event. I was really impressed. I can't imagine how hard those reporters work and at such a fast pace, incredible.

Wow, can you believe all that? For anyone who made it through this post, thank you! Now I am off to clean my house which you also wouldn't believe.

best, susie