A Trip to Loganberry Books and Fine Points, Inc.

Hi, Knitters,

Today I want to quickly share a fantastic book shop and knitting shop in Shaker Heights, Ohio. I went there on the Saturday after I filmed a segment for Knitting Daily TV. These are places you don't want to miss if you are in the area. I had a knit-in/meet and greet at Loganberry Books that was held along with Fine Points, which is located in a charming old house right down the block.

Here are a couple of links:

Loganberry Books

Fine Points, Inc.

Topsy-Turvy Inside Out Knit Toys

Right away when I saw the sign out front and the front of the shop I knew it was going to be a fun spot.

The book shop had a cute front window display waiting for me.

I was stunned at the size of Loganberry Books. The front are was huge with walls and walls of books but then it went on and on in the back. Above is the area I had the book signing. The kind staff cleared off a giant purple spool for me to put my samples on for display. 

Can you believe those books?

The staff was incredibly fun and kind and helpful. 

These two buddies are from Itty-Bitty Toys but I always bring them along wherever I go. 

I always love handwritten signs. There were lots of cozy spots to sit and read sprinkled throughout.

The shop sells both new and used books. I loved this Golden Book display.

This section held the Art books. I would have loved to browse around in here for awhile. 

I had a great group of knitters show up. They were friendly and fun. Some stayed and knit with me the entire time I was there and some popped in, had there books signed and left. Above is Kristi. Kristi stayed and knit with me the whole time and I really enjoyed getting to know her a bit. She brought her Egg to Alligator toy which was almost finished. She had finished it by the end.

I had the Egg to Turtle pattern for everyone to take. Kristi also finished the Egg part of that toy while she was at Loganberry. She is a speedy one.

The knitters loved the toys. 

Here is Kristi again with me. I am holding a fabric topsy-turvy doll they had at the shop. Someone had made it. It was Snow White on one side. In her skirt there were pockets that held each of the dwarves. 

This is Sarah from Fine Points. She brought yarn and needles from the shop in case anyone needed it and they did! Sarah is wearing a vintage dress from the 1960s and a sweater she knit. As you can see, she is pretty adorable. Sarah was fun to meet. I wish I had the chance to get to the yarn shop.

Sarah took a video of me telling about my favorite toy from the book and posted it on the Fine Points blog. Click here if you'd like to see the video.

Thank you, Sarah, for attending the event and bringing supplies! Also, follow Sarah on Instagram if you want to see a ball of creative energy! She is sawdustsparkle, click here to see for yourself!

These lovelies are in a knitting group together and they kept me company and chatted away. They were a fun group. I can tell they must have a great knitting time at their knitting group.

I signed lots and lots of books. Thank you to Loganberry Books for having me. It was a very fun experience. The knitters of Ohio are decidedly wonderful and kind.

I'll be back very soon with the big announcement that got delayed last week!

best, susie

A Day with Knitting Daily TV

Hi, Knitters,

Five winners have been randomly selected for the Unofficial Harry Potter Knits 2013 magazine. Thank you to everyone who entered. The winners, all by Ravelry ID, have been contacted, and they are: wolfcreeker, jaf61205, flowerdancer, smozerose, and rachelle. Congratulations to all. Please follow the instructions I pm'd you to receive the magazine. Thank you to Interweave/F+W Media for the opportunity!

In other news, the wonderful Paula Emons-Fuessle of the Knitting Pipeline podcast and retreats, is the next stop on the Topsy-Turvy Inside Out Knit Toys blog tour (all blog tour dates and links are at the top of my blog sidebar). Paula included a fun review of the book along with her friend and fellow bagpiper Heather on the last episode of her podcast. Paula is offering a giveaway for a copy of the book on a thread on her Ravelry forum. 

Thank you, Paula, for participating. If you aren't already listening to the Knitting Pipeline podcast you are really missing out. This is one of my favorite audio podcasts by far. You can listen right on her website or subscribe through iTunes (I do both!).

Here are all of the links to visit the Paula's website, listen to the podcast and to enter the giveaway on Ravelry for a copy of Topsy-Turvy:

The Knitting Pipeline website for show notes and podcast listening!

The Knitting Pipeline Ravelry group and thread to enter to win a copy of Topsy-Turvy!

Paula's beautiful pattern designs on Ravelry!

Wendy of Knit and Tonic is still hosting her Topsy-Turvy giveaway as well so go enter over there, too. Click here to go to Knit and Tonic.  Thank you to Wendy for participating.

Remember, if you already have a copy of the book you and you win another, you could give the extra copy as a gift to a knitting friend or donate it to your local knitting guild or to the public library or donate it to a charity silent auction. I do all of these things with double copies of books and it does some good out there in the world!

Now moving on to my adventures from last week. I traveled to Cleveland, Ohio to film a segment for Knitting Daily TV, which is a PBS show, and is run through Interweave Knits. It was a great experience. The new series of shows will start running in January 2014.

Click here for Knitting Daily TV!

I was actually the last and final segment being filmed for the week. I arrived on Friday around noon, and filmed around 3pm. In between arriving and filming I had my make-up done at the studio. The make-up artist for Knitting Daily was friendly and fun. I always ask if they have worked with anyone interesting while getting worked on. She had done make-up on Joe DiMaggio and Michael Jordan. How's that for an interesting client list?

In the photo above, I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon waiting at the studio with Simona Merchant-Dest  (the tall and gorgeous drink of water on the left) and Brandy Fortune of Petite Purls and Just Like Me Knits - for which I wrote the forward. And yes, it seems I am always next to the tall one wherever I go.  For those who still imagine that I am tall, this photo will put things in perspective. It was fun to get to spend a little time with both of these talented ladies.

The photo above was taken from the monitor in the waiting room at the studio. The Fibre Co. (gorgeous yarns!) women, Kate and Courteney, were on just ahead of me. They filmed two segments and it was a pleasure to meet them both. Look at those adorable baby knits on the table they brought along for their segment. Those are some cute baby sweaters and can be found in this book. On the left is the one and only hostess-with-the-most-ess, Vicki Howell. I have met Vicki before a couple of times and she is friendly and smart and a great TV host. She does her job very well. 

See Vicki's sweater? It's called the Emmanuelle Sweater (click here for the info.) and I am going to knit it very soon. The sweater is even cuter in person. I have ordered the specified yarn and can't wait to cast on. I think it will be a quick knit.

So here's how it works when you film a segment for a show like this. I arrived, had a lunch with the crew and other guests, went to make-up, set out my samples on trays (the first photo), met with a producer to go over my segment (which had been planned out ahead of time), then you wait for your turn and you knit on your Opal sock (okay, not everybody does this), and then you film your 8 minute segment and you're done!

I saw and observed a lot in these few hours.....

Vicki's wardrobe board is organized here through photos. She is adorable and well-dressed.

The set was so well done and striking.

Here are the toys hanging out in the studio. Cute chairs, too!

Here I am on the set and ready for my segment. The promotional Egg to Turtle pattern is going to be available on the Knitting Daily TV website. I'll keep you posted on the pattern availability.

Anne Merrow and Louisa from Interweave went crazy over the toys as they helped me set up for filming. That was fun to see. They flipped every toy and ooohed and ahhhhed. Louisa told me she has made three of my Giraffes from Itty-Bitty Toys and Craftsy.

Vicki wore a cross-stitch tiger sweater which everyone loved. She does such a good job as a host.

Vicki also sported these leopard print peek-a-boo toe heels for our segment. She certainly is a stylish one. I wore my Birkenstocks ~ draw your own conclusions.

Here is the view from my downtown Cleveland hotel. I was on the 23rd floor and could see Lake Eerie in the distance. The next day was so much fun, I had a book signing in Shaker Heights, Ohio. I'll tell you more about that in the next post. I met many wonderful new knitters.

I want to thank Vicki Howell for inviting me on the show and my publisher, Artisan Books, for sending me. I had a great time and can't wait to see the new series of Knitting Daily TV shows debuting on PBS in January 2014.

Also, please continue to vote for your favorite hat (you can vote once per day!!!) for the My Mountain Hat Design Contest! I appreciate all of the votes so far. Thank you.

Click here to see all of the entries and to vote for the My Mountain hat of your choice!

Have a great Sunday and start to your week!

best, susie

Win a Copy of the Unnofficial Harry Potter Knits 2013!

(photo by Interweave/F+W Media)

Edited to Add: Wendy Bernard of Knit and Tonic has reviewed and is hosting a giveaway for Topsy-Turvy Inside Knit Toys! I am such a fan of her writing and I had that doll she is talking about. Please hop over and give her some love. Click here to go to the Knit and Tonic review and giveaway!

Hi, Knitters,

First, thank you for the support over on the My Mountain page. I made the semi-finals for a hat design and voting for the winner is currently going on. The My Mountain company wants and encourages us to keep spreading the word to get people over to the page to vote for the favorites. 

Now you are able to vote once per day. Please check it out (and daily if possible) and share with your knitting friends! 

Click here to visit the My Mountain Hat Design Contest voting page!

Okay, on to other news today. I recently purchased a copy of the Unofficial Harry Potter 2013 Interweave Knits magazine through the Interweave Store (click here!) for $14.99. I love the Interweave Knits special issues. They are fun and clever and they kind of make you feel good. I purchased my own copy mainly for the cover cardigan called, Ginny's Cardigan.  Anyway, right after I purchased my copy I was contacted by Interweave/F+W Media to host a giveaway for 5 copies of the magazine. It was perfect timing and I genuinely love the issue. So here it goes.....

(photo by Interweave/F+W Media)

Ginny's Cardigan (above) has a lace panel running down the back that looks like stacked owls, which I love, and then the rest of the cardi is in stockinette stitch. I have the yarn picked out and can't wait to dig into this fun design. I like this one and many other designs in this issue because they aren't all costume-y looking but rather inspired by Harry Potter. There are a couple of more costume-like designs thrown in just for fun.

Click here to see all of the Unofficial Harry Potter projects in this issue! There are 32 designs.

The following are a few more of my favorites from the issue and projects that will be going on my needles soon.

(photo by Interweave/F+W Media)

Heliopath Vest!

(photo by Interweave/F+W Media)

Hermione's Time Turner Mitts!

(photo by Interweave/F+W Media)

Mudblood Cardigan! (I have red worsted weight all set for this one!)

(photo by Interweave/F+W Media)

Narcissa Socks!

There are sweaters for men and women, scarves, hats, shawls, mitts, vests, wraps, socks, mittens, gauntlets, a cape and more in the issue. Click here to purchase the issue or click here to look at all 32 projects.

I am so excited to offer 5 of you the chance to win a copy of the Unofficial Harry Potter Knits 2013 magazine! Thank you to Interweave for the generous prize offering today! 

Please note that the winners must have a U.S. mailing address!

Please leave one comment on this blog post to enter to win. Please leave your Ravelry ID or an email address for me to get in contact with you if you win. Please be patient for your comment to appear on the blog and don't keep entering the same comment. I have to approve the comments due to spam so sometimes it takes awhile for your comment to appear.

If you feel like it please tell me your favorite Harry Potter book or your favorite project in the magazine. It's not necessary but I'd love to hear your Harry Potter thoughts.

I think you will love this magazine if you are a Harry Potter fan or not. There are loads of great projects for everyone.

Good luck and let the comments begin!
best, susie

My Hat in the Mountain Hat Design Contest Finals!

Hi, Knitters,

I made the final 18 for the My Mountain Hat Design Contest! I am so excited about it! 

If you are so inclined, please hop over to the My Mountain Facebook voting page, like the page and then vote for your favorite hat. You do not have to be a member of Facebook to vote! The photo of me wearing the hat is kind of washed out.

Click here to vote for your favorite My Mountain Hat Design!

Voting stays open until September 23rd, 2013, ending at midnight PT.

Shelley Brander of Loops in Tulsa (she carries the yarn, Lova, for my hat in her shop) is working with My Mountain and she made this collage to post on the design page.

Another shop, The Wool Cabin (owned by my friends Suzette and Alison) in Salt Lake City also carries the Lova yarn if you would like to give them a call (801-466-1811) to order 2 skeins to make my hat. The Wool Cabin has great customer service and they will mail the yarn right out to you. 

The pattern will be coming soon through My Mountain! I didn't realize that they will be publishing the patterns for all of the semi-finalist designs. That's cool. 

Click here for the My Mountain website! 

Here's a little information about the hat if you want to get ready for the pattern:

2 skeins of Lova in the Beige-Orange Spot colorway required (it is a super-bulky yarn) Click here to see all of the colors of Lova!

US size 11 and 13 sixteen-inch needles and US size 13 dpns

The hat is made to fit a 20-23 inch head circumference. It is unisex. 

Pom-pom is optional, of course. If you make the pom-pom every last inch of the 2 skeins will be used which I love. No leftover yarn!

The aim of the My Mountain campaign is at the young skiing crowd who knits and crochets fun hats to wear on the slopes. That's why I wanted to keep my hat pattern fairly simple, chunky, fun and unisex. 

The fun slip-stitch pattern is easily memorized after a couple of times through. The stitch pattern goes so well with the fun coloration of the yarn. The slashes of neon color shine through with the strands carried across the right side of the fabric.

The hat could be thrown in a pocket and worked on while riding up the chair lift, it's that easy and fun! I designed the hat to be long enough to go over the ears for warmth. This hat will be the perfect gift knit for the upcoming holiday season, too.

The hats are not only for skiers but for anyone wanting a fun winter hat to wear. My family would love to have a few of these Lova hats in our house to throw on in the winter and I will be making more in different shades of the Lova yarn. 

Lova is really fun to knit with. You will love it. Check out all of the colorways available (click here). I would like a couple skeins of each to make a bunch of different hats! 

Please cast a vote for your favorite hat!! It's such a squishy, fun yarn and hat.

Click here to see the finalists and to click to vote!!

I appreciate you taking the time to look at the finalists and vote if you do.

I'll be back soon with more!

best, susie

Knitting Daily, Loganberry Books and My Mountain

ETA: Stop the presses! Jaala Spiro of Knit Circus has just posted a Topsy-Turvy Inside Out blog tour post!! It's incredibly sweet and well-written. Don't miss it. Click here to read and enter to win a copy of the book! Thanks, Jaala!

Hi, Knitters,

I've had a few new things added to my schedule a little at the last minute!

One new thing is that tomorrow, September 6th, I am leaving for Cleveland, Ohio. I will be filming a segment for Knitting Daily, which is an Interweave PBS show. The show is now hosted by Vicki Howell. In my segment I am demonstrating some toy-knitting techniques using the Egg to Turtle pattern. I'll be sharing two different techniques for picking up stitches directly onto the body for seamless construction, a bit of kitchener stitch and face embroidery. The Egg to Turtle pattern will be available on the Knitting Daily website when the show airs. I am not sure of the date when the show will air. I'll keep you posted on that when I find out. 

Click here for the Knitting Daily TV website!

On Saturday, September 7th, I'll be popping over to Loganberry Books to host a Knit-In/Meet and Greet/Book Signing from 12-2pm! This event is being co-hosted by Fine Points, Inc. I will have the pattern cards for the Egg to Turtle pattern for everyone who stops by. Also, I'll have the trunk show for Topsy-Turvy Inside Out Knit Toys with me. If you are in the area, please stop by and say hi! I would love to see you there. One more thing, if you don't have time to sit and knit, please still stop by and say hello. I totally understand if you are unable to stay the entire time.

Here is the information for where I'll be:

Event: Egg to Turtle Knit-In with Book Signing/Meet and Greet

When: Setpember 7th, 2013

Time: 12-2pm

Where: Loganberry Books (Click here for the website!)

13015 Larchmere Blvd.  *  Shaker Hts., Ohio 44120  *  216.795.9800

(my son ~ the model:)

Moving on.... I designed a fun, fast, simple hat for the My Mountain hat design contest. I was contacted by Shelley Brander of Loops in Tulsa. She asked if I would want to design a hat for the contest. Shelley sent me the yarn called Lova. It is a super-bulky yarn in a natural oatmeal color or beige color with slashes of neon orange. My sons both loved the yarn. 

The contest entries have ended now. Schachenmayr sent out tons of yarn and I guess Vogue Knitting made some announcement about the My Mountain hat contest somewhere, too. The response was enormous. They have received 215 entries!

Sometime over the weekend the My Mountain group will have selected 15 designs to make the finals and then it will be open voting to select a winner. I have no idea if my hat will be selected for the finals or not. I'll let you know if my hat makes it.

You can vote for your favorite hat by liking the Facebook page for My Mountain first and then liking the hat design of your choice.

Click here for the My Mountain Facebook page!

Click here for the My Mountain website (free hat patterns here)!

The hat I designed is a chunky unisex hat that covers the ears nicely and that has an easily memorized and fun stitch pattern. The My Mountain group is aimed at the skiing crowd (who like to knit and crochet their own unique hats) but it could be for anyone really. 

I used every last inch of the two skeins of Lova I received which is about 110 yards. The pom-pom is of course optional.

Click here for the yarn information!

Anyway, the hat is fun and cute. I loved knitting it. The hat knit up so quickly on US size 11s and 13s. After the first couple of rounds you have the simple stitch pattern memorized.

Maybe you'll vote for me if I make the finals and you like my hat? I'll keep you posted. (I'm not even sure what the prizes are if you win - I'll have to see if I can find that information.)

Last, but not least, my beloved editor from Artisan Books (my publisher), Trent Duffy, drove through Madison on a cross-country road trip last weekend. I was thrilled that he was in town. He lives and works in New York and the odds of him ever getting to Madison were slim. 

He came over to my house and I made him breakfast on Monday morning. Above in the photo we are on my deck after breakfast. He threw in a couple loads of laundry while visiting - he had already been driving for a week by the time he got to my house. He was helping a friend of his move back to NYC from Boise so they were driving his car back across the country. I have never seen a car packed more efficiently. Every inch was being used. 

I know this nighttime photo is dark. We went out for dinner and stopped by the capitol building on the square for photos. It was really nice having Trent in town and I loved the time we had together. We have been working closely together on my books for the past 7 years now.  

Trent is safe and sound back in New York. He traveled for 10 days, through 14 states, and clocked in 3,580 miles! Impressive.

I'll be back after my adventures in Cleveland. I'll try to get some good photos of the action for you!

best, susie

p.s. I have a big announcement coming next week. It was supposed to be today but it got slightly postponed.... I'm really excited about it!

The Lullaby Rain Shawl by Paula Emons-Fuessle

Hi, Knitters, 

We are in the midst of moving boys back to college and then recovering from moving boys back to college. It is a bittersweet time but I keep reminding myself that I wouldn't want it any other way. All is as it should be. With the older boys leaving I am extra-appreciative of my girls still at home.

I do want to share with you another project I finished knitting a couple of months ago but only blocked a week or so ago. The project is called, Lullaby Rain, and it is designed by Paula Emons-Fuessle. Lullaby Rain is a pattern released through Quince & Co.

(photo by Carrie Bostick Hoge for Quince & Co.)

The photo above is what really got me wanting to immediately cast on when the pattern for Lullaby Rain came out. I think this is one of the best project photos ever. There is a story, a mood, a great display of the shawl, the colors are breathtaking, the wind in the hair.... soooo good. Quince & Co. and Carrie Bostick Hoge, the photographer, should be acknowledged for their wonderful combined work. 

Here are the links:

Lullaby Rain Shawl pattern information and purchasing information 

Quince & Co. Chickadee (I used the Frank's Plum colorway.)

Paula Emons-Fuessle of the Knitting Pipeline podcast

Paula Emons-Fuessle's Designer Page on Ravelry (I have knit 2 of her 5 shawl designs and want to knit the rest to have the entire Paula/Quince shawl collection - all in Quince & Co. of course!)

In the first photo above I had just finished a couple of the stitch patterns. I lengthened the first and second sections by a repeat or two. Then I finished the rest of the shawl as written. This worked out well. The next sections are lace and the rows get quite long by the end of the shawl.

The shawl has a beautiful picot edge bind-off. I don't mind doing this kind of bind-off one bit, in fact, I quite enjoy it. I love how dainty and sweet looking a picot edge looks. It is well worth the extra time it takes to do this sort of bind off in my opinion. 

Signature Needles US size 6, 32-inch circular

Right after I bound off my Lullaby Rain shawl I had to get ready to go to SSK in Nashville. Then since I got home from SSK it has been incredibly busy with the family, sports and getting ready for school. It seems like one thing after another without any sort of break (it is all fun so I'm not complaining). Needless to say it took me months before I got my shawl blocked. That seems silly but it's true.

Here is the shawl unblocked. It is very small and scrunchy looking. I have to say if you haven't knit with Quince & Co. Chickadee you really should give it a try. The yarn is a sport weight 100% wool and is tightly plied to create a springy, bouncy yarn. The end result is a yarn that shows off lace and texture to their fullest and it is truly is light as air. Chickadee feels so good in your hands and on your needles. The other good thing is that Quince & Co. yarns are very reasonably priced. I think the three skeins needed for Lullaby Rain came to a little over 20 bucks. That is a very good deal for such high quality yarn.

I finally got around to blocking out my shawl and really there isn't much that is more fun in knitting than blocking out lace. I love to block out my lace and shawls strenuously. I will stretch and stretch and stretch out that lace with my pins and wires. I really enjoy it.

While the shawl was drying I already knew it would be my new favorite. The finished shawl is so light and airy and sweet. The construction makes it sit right on my shoulders without budging at all. We had some very chilly weather a short while ago and in the mornings I was wearing the Lullaby Rain in those early hours. Now it is too darn hot and humid again to wear wool but soon, very soon. I think I will wear this one so often that I might have to make another to have on-hand. I love everything about this design, the yarn, the name, the droplets in the lace, the picot edging, the fit, the size.... just everything.

My son took this photo of the back of my shawl. Isn't it pretty? 

Thank you, dear Paula, for your clever and beautiful shawl design. Thank you to Quince & Co. for continuing to release beautifully thoughtful, wearable and fun patterns for us knitters. I have never seen such a fun new company like Quince. Quince captures everything I love about knitting and more. I am mesmerized by this company and can't recommend it to you more.

Have a good holiday weekend (if you are in the U.S.) and I hope you are able to squeeze in some knitting time.

I'll be back soon with more.

best, susie